Since my last update, I’ve been to a ball where I was nearly murdered, 3 new states, had several different speakers, my nephew was born (YAY!!!) , and I got to experience a bit of India.
We had a “Get a Clue Ball” where it was a mix of a live version of Clue and Mafia. We all got dressed up and had a good time. A lot of people were ‘murdered’ and the Mafia won because we didn’t ‘kill’ all of them soon enough and didn’t know that Joshua Miller was Mafia. Anyway, I believe they are going to put one on again next year and make improvements. That was on November 14th and we left for North Carolina early on the 15th. We took a school bus, two 15-passenger vans and a 12-passenger van. It was about a 10 hour drive. It seemed like it took forever!!! I think I slept all the way through Georgia on the way there. It was really pretty in South Carolina! It actually looked like Fall!! North Carolina was great too!! We went to a conference called The Gathering, which means about 8 different east coast YWAM bases came together, there were about 200 people there. I was very blessed along with 6 other girls to stay in a house on the YWAM Charlotte base, which meant there were 7 of us to one shower. Some of the other girls stayed at a church where there were 3 showers (one of them only cold water) to 22 girls. Our speaker that week was Winkie Pratney. He’s been in YWAM for a looong time! He’s from New Zealand so he’s a little bit hard to understand at times. You also have to pay attention because he makes some funny noises and if you’re not listening, you don’t know what he’s talking about. He taught about some really cool things. One thing that’s been reiterated to me this whole DTS is how big God is, yet he still wants a personal relationship with each of us!!! It blows me away every time I think about it!!! Mr. Pratney showed us a fractal and how it’s the same pattern over and over and you could go deeper and deeper and the pattern will always stay the same. This is a picture of God to me because he’ll always be the same. He played a clip of crickets chirping then slowed it down to be the same lifespan of a human and all of these crickets chirping sounds like a choir singing. It was amazing!! I got chills and it brought tears to my eyes. He also showed us an animation of what goes on inside one white and one red blood cell. Each one is busier than New York City at any given moment. It was a good week!!
Adam Lucas Duncan was born Tuesday, November 24th, at 4:12 am, CST. It was hard to not be able to be there, but I knew that was going to happen when I came here and it was a sacrifice I decided to make. That knowledge didn’t make it much easier though. I got a picture of him and have been able to see pictures on Facebook and I’ve been able to use Skype to see Chris, Christin and Adam.
Yesterday we had some India team building time. We went to Bass Pro Shop to look at/buy hiking backpacks to take to India. Only one girl, Jamie, bought one yesterday. I’m going to look online and try to find a cheaper one. Then we went to an Indian restaurant called Punjab to experience some Indian food. We then watched Slumdog Millionaire at the house next to mine. It’s such a good movie!!!
I’ve tried to keep this short, so that it’s not a book. More things happened that I’ll try to remember and write about later! Now it's been a week since I wrote this so I'm already a week behind. I'll try to update on Christmas break next week!
Sunday, December 13, 2009
Friday, November 6, 2009
Lordship week
Last Friday, a guy named Coach Powers came and did a seminar on health and getting your body into shape so you can serve God into your old age. So M, W, F Angela is heading up doing a calisthenics workout and does sprints on Tuesday and Thursday. I went on Wednesday and this morning and I am pretty sore, but it’s a good sore!!
This week we have been taught by Ezra Griffiths. He works on staff here at YWAM Orlando. He has been teaching on the topic of Lordship. He reinforced some things I’ve learned before, so it was a lot of making my foundation stronger. He told his testimony to show what God can do by picking someone up out of a pit of mire. Lordship is about centering God, obedience and surrender. Every once in a while, Ezra would go off on these little tangents, but it was stuff we needed to hear. We went through the works of the flesh, which are found in Galatians right before the fruits of the Spirit. He made the point that Jesus lived out the Fruits of the Spirit out 100%. He went through the works of the flesh and explained exactly what they mean. He also gave the Greek meaning for the words, which I love!! I would love to know Hebrew and Greek so get the full effect of the Bible. He talked about the word “lasciviousness” which means to stir up within you desires, which is flirting. I was convicted about this, because I’ve never seen anything wrong with it. But there it is, right in God’s Word!! He said that as a single woman the thing I should be looking for in a man (besides loving Jesus and a relationship with God) is self-control! And the thing I should be working on is being content wherever I’m at. I need to show patience and give grace to those around me!! Lordship is a lifestyle and it’s not easy. I want God to know that anytime, any place, anywhere, I am His woman!! We looked at the Fellowship Offering in Leviticus 3:3-4 and how it explains that we should be offering God our choicest parts, our minds, and more than we need to. We went over serving God with our heart, soul, mind, and strength. I was challenged to ask myself the question, ‘Are the two things keeping me from Christ comfort and convenience?’ I need to break my life open and offer to God the most valuable thing I own, which is my life. He really highlighted that we need to be praying for the unsaved. Imagine not knowing any Christians and never having anyone pray for you!! What would that be like!? What a dark place!! What are you praying for, American Christian? The prosperity religion prayer? He talked about money and that the reason we are blessed is to bless others!!
Ezra read from Foxe’s Book of Martyrs about John Hooper who was on fire for at least 45 minutes and was praising God through all of it. He talked about the fact that Jesus said that if we follow Him, we will definitely go through trials and tribulations!! He said that when God gives you a vision or goal for your life, look for mile markers to make sure you’re still on the right path.
We heard about how there is still a lot of the world that hasn’t heard the Gospel. I want to be one of those people that goes out there and tells those people!!!!!! Here I am Lord, SEND ME!!!! We are all commanded to fulfill the Great Commission – are you supposed to go or send???
I am out of time, but yeah, those are the biggest things I took away this week!
This week we have been taught by Ezra Griffiths. He works on staff here at YWAM Orlando. He has been teaching on the topic of Lordship. He reinforced some things I’ve learned before, so it was a lot of making my foundation stronger. He told his testimony to show what God can do by picking someone up out of a pit of mire. Lordship is about centering God, obedience and surrender. Every once in a while, Ezra would go off on these little tangents, but it was stuff we needed to hear. We went through the works of the flesh, which are found in Galatians right before the fruits of the Spirit. He made the point that Jesus lived out the Fruits of the Spirit out 100%. He went through the works of the flesh and explained exactly what they mean. He also gave the Greek meaning for the words, which I love!! I would love to know Hebrew and Greek so get the full effect of the Bible. He talked about the word “lasciviousness” which means to stir up within you desires, which is flirting. I was convicted about this, because I’ve never seen anything wrong with it. But there it is, right in God’s Word!! He said that as a single woman the thing I should be looking for in a man (besides loving Jesus and a relationship with God) is self-control! And the thing I should be working on is being content wherever I’m at. I need to show patience and give grace to those around me!! Lordship is a lifestyle and it’s not easy. I want God to know that anytime, any place, anywhere, I am His woman!! We looked at the Fellowship Offering in Leviticus 3:3-4 and how it explains that we should be offering God our choicest parts, our minds, and more than we need to. We went over serving God with our heart, soul, mind, and strength. I was challenged to ask myself the question, ‘Are the two things keeping me from Christ comfort and convenience?’ I need to break my life open and offer to God the most valuable thing I own, which is my life. He really highlighted that we need to be praying for the unsaved. Imagine not knowing any Christians and never having anyone pray for you!! What would that be like!? What a dark place!! What are you praying for, American Christian? The prosperity religion prayer? He talked about money and that the reason we are blessed is to bless others!!
Ezra read from Foxe’s Book of Martyrs about John Hooper who was on fire for at least 45 minutes and was praising God through all of it. He talked about the fact that Jesus said that if we follow Him, we will definitely go through trials and tribulations!! He said that when God gives you a vision or goal for your life, look for mile markers to make sure you’re still on the right path.
We heard about how there is still a lot of the world that hasn’t heard the Gospel. I want to be one of those people that goes out there and tells those people!!!!!! Here I am Lord, SEND ME!!!! We are all commanded to fulfill the Great Commission – are you supposed to go or send???
I am out of time, but yeah, those are the biggest things I took away this week!
Friday, October 30, 2009
Week 5
This week Al McBryan taught on the Nature and Character of God. I had a hard time getting into the teaching. I will admit I didn't follow him very well until yesterday. His teaching style is hard to take notes on because he's a little bit all over the place. But he just challenged us in our thinking of God. Yesterday he talked about the Garden of Eden and the Fall of Man (Genesis 3). It was really interesting b/c he brought up some things that have never even entered my mind. For instance, Adam and Eve being like children in their thinking, like not knowing they were naked b/c like small children, they weren't aware of being naked. When the serpent lied to Eve, there was an element of truth in what he said. In Gen. 3:5 the serpent says, 5"For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." And in v.22 God says, "Behold, the man has become like one of Us, knowing good and evil;..." But the connotation that the serpent used he meant, 'God doesn't really love you. He's keeping something from you that is good and He doesn't want you to have it." Al introduced the idea that God did eventually want man to have the Knowledge of Good and Evil, but not yet for the same reason little children are forbidden to do certain things or have certain things (touch a hot burner, have a knife, etc.). He wanted us to have the knowledge without ever being evil. Hebrews 5:12-14 says,
12 For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need again for someone to teach you the elementary principles of the oracles of God, and you have come to need milk and not solid food. 13 For everyone who partakes only of milk is not accustomed to the word of righteousness, for he is an infant. 14 But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil. Adam and Eve became aware of good and evil and then were punished because they struck out on their own. There is a word play in the Hebrew language in this passage. I didn't write it all down, so I can't explain it, but I remember Al talking about it. I really want to learn Hebrew!!! I had never thought about these things, but it does make sense. He told us not to take his word for it, but to hold it before God and see what He says about it.
He also talked about predestination and stuff like that. God is not the one decreeing the things(evil) we see going on around us. He thinks it is nonsense to believe that God already knows if we will spend eternity in Heaven or Hell. He says that God designed the world and has made the future somewhat open and unknown, with some things being predestined. He believes that Omniscient means God knows all things, both actual and possible. Meaning that yes, God is all-knowing, but since we have free will, He doesn't know what we'll choose, but whatever we do choose, He knows what the outcome of that decision will be. Isaiah 5:1-4 says, 1Let me sing now for my well-beloved
A song of my beloved concerning His vineyard.
My well-beloved had a vineyard on a fertile hill.
2He dug it all around, removed its stones,
And planted it with the choicest vine
And He built a tower in the middle of it
And also hewed out a wine vat in it;
Then He expected it to produce good grapes,
But it produced only worthless ones.
3"And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah,
Judge between Me and My vineyard.
4"What more was there to do for My vineyard that I have not done in it?
Why, when I expected it to produce good grapes did it produce worthless ones?
Then v. 7 says, 7For the vineyard of the LORD of hosts is the house of Israel
And the men of Judah His delightful plant
Thus He looked for justice, but behold, bloodshed;
For righteousness, but behold, a cry of distress.
Al asks, how can God honestly ask the questions in v. 4 if He is the one causing everything. Evil didn't have to happen! Jeremiah 26:3 says, 3'Perhaps they will listen and everyone will turn from his evil way, that I may repent of the calamity which I am planning to do to them because of the evil of their deeds.' If God already knows everything, why would He say "that I may repent?"
Anyway, I'm not really sure how I feel about these things, but I just thought I'd share what I'm thinking through. Please pray that I'll be able to figure out what I think I feel about it! Love you all!!!
12 For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need again for someone to teach you the elementary principles of the oracles of God, and you have come to need milk and not solid food. 13 For everyone who partakes only of milk is not accustomed to the word of righteousness, for he is an infant. 14 But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil. Adam and Eve became aware of good and evil and then were punished because they struck out on their own. There is a word play in the Hebrew language in this passage. I didn't write it all down, so I can't explain it, but I remember Al talking about it. I really want to learn Hebrew!!! I had never thought about these things, but it does make sense. He told us not to take his word for it, but to hold it before God and see what He says about it.
He also talked about predestination and stuff like that. God is not the one decreeing the things(evil) we see going on around us. He thinks it is nonsense to believe that God already knows if we will spend eternity in Heaven or Hell. He says that God designed the world and has made the future somewhat open and unknown, with some things being predestined. He believes that Omniscient means God knows all things, both actual and possible. Meaning that yes, God is all-knowing, but since we have free will, He doesn't know what we'll choose, but whatever we do choose, He knows what the outcome of that decision will be. Isaiah 5:1-4 says, 1Let me sing now for my well-beloved
A song of my beloved concerning His vineyard.
My well-beloved had a vineyard on a fertile hill.
2He dug it all around, removed its stones,
And planted it with the choicest vine
And He built a tower in the middle of it
And also hewed out a wine vat in it;
Then He expected it to produce good grapes,
But it produced only worthless ones.
3"And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah,
Judge between Me and My vineyard.
4"What more was there to do for My vineyard that I have not done in it?
Why, when I expected it to produce good grapes did it produce worthless ones?
Then v. 7 says, 7For the vineyard of the LORD of hosts is the house of Israel
And the men of Judah His delightful plant
Thus He looked for justice, but behold, bloodshed;
For righteousness, but behold, a cry of distress.
Al asks, how can God honestly ask the questions in v. 4 if He is the one causing everything. Evil didn't have to happen! Jeremiah 26:3 says, 3'Perhaps they will listen and everyone will turn from his evil way, that I may repent of the calamity which I am planning to do to them because of the evil of their deeds.' If God already knows everything, why would He say "that I may repent?"
Anyway, I'm not really sure how I feel about these things, but I just thought I'd share what I'm thinking through. Please pray that I'll be able to figure out what I think I feel about it! Love you all!!!
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Outreach!!
So yesterday they let us know where we are going on outreach!! I am going to INDIA!!!!! YAY!!! I'm SOOOOOOOO excited!!! We talked a little bit about what to expect and what our fears are about going. I cannot wait! But at the same time, I am learning and growing so much in God that I don't want this time to end either!! but it's be so great!!! We are going to be in the southeastern part of India called Tamil Nadu.
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
10/18/2009
I learned SO MUCH this week!!! Oh my goodness! I don’t think I’ve ever taken so many notes in my life!
It is awesome how God uses Michael Berg in this week of teaching about the Father Heart God has for each of us. He gave his testimony and he did some crazy things in his past, but he is totally forgiven by God and that old man is dead. All week was pretty convicting for most people. It made me realize how crappy I’ve been to my earthly dad, and mom for that matter. I’m going to pick some points out of my notes that might seem like they should be obvious, and some of them I’ve known, yet haven’t known but God has given me a knew revelation about them to make them more than head knowledge:
10/13/09
Hurt people hurt other people; healed people heal other people. Christianity is a process; you are immediately in the family when you ask Jesus into your heart, but you change over time, the same way a baby changes after it is born into a family. Do not use your body as a tool of manipulation – EVER!!! Serving yourself and being “free” is actually bondage. Isaiah 61:3 talks about us being “Oaks of Righteousness” An oak tree is strong because the roots go deep and make a sturdy foundation. It gets affected by the storm, but stands firm through it.
A. To know God
Original language for “to know” means that to know God is not merely knowing about Him but rather to know Him more intimately than a husband and wife know each other. We have been taking Christianity too lightly!! We should be filled with wonder of who God is!! When you see the Grand Canyon or mountains or the ocean for the first time, you are filled with awe and wonder. When you grow up around those things, they become the norm and you get used to them. So if you grew up in the Grand Canyon, maybe it’s time to go see the ocean. God doesn’t want to give you information about Himself, He wants to give you revelation! The Bible should not just be a textbook for us but the longest love letter ever!!! He wants me to know Him more than I want to know Him.
B. To Trust God
Webster’s definition of “trust”: a firm belief or confidence in the honestly, integrity, reliability, justice, etc. of another person. Trust is earned and learned. The more we get to know God, the more we’ll trust Him. When God tells us to be like children, it’s so we’ll trust him. Did you ever jump off of something into your daddy’s arms? It’s like having the faith in your dad that he’s going to catch you every time.
C. To Love God
As we develop trust, we develop love. W.A. Pratney said, “Love is an unselfish choice for the highest good of God and His universe according to their real value. The opposite of love is a selfish choice, putting yourself first. In Matthew 22:37-40 we are told to love God with our whole being. And Philippians 2 says when we love God, we should do the things that please Him and avoid the things that displease Him, which is obedience. Obedience is a loving response to a loving relationship.
D. To Serve God (Obedience)
We should not be obedient on the basis of fear and not on the basis of duty. Ministry should be natural because of our loving relationship with Jesus.
False Concepts of God affect how we pray, how we read the Bible, how we live our Christian lives and our relationships with God. Anything we think is true we need to hold before the Lord to see if it’s true or not, so that we can have a better understanding; that we might have and expanded understanding of God.
A. Right Concept of God
The Nature of God
Uncreated = He has always been
Triune God = 3 in 1
The Father
The Son
The Holy Spirit
John 14-16 talks about the role that the Holy Spirit plays
When we pray we are talking and relating to the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is so involved in our lives, we have just scratched the surface. He is always with us, we are never alone!! Henry Blackaby said, “Every Christian needs to have the manifest presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives”
Omnipotent = all powerful
Jeremiah 32:27, Job 42:2, Jeremiah 6:1-12, Psalm 89:6-8, 66:7
Don’t get impressed with yourself, it’s the power of God in you that should impress.
Omniscient = all knowing
Romans 11:33-34, Psalm 147:5, Job 37:16, 1 John 3:20
We can never say, “Nobody knows and no one understands me.”
Omnipresent = everywhere at the same time
1 Kings 8:27, 2 Chronicles 2:6, Proverbs 15:3, Jeremiah 23:24, Psalm 139:7-10
B. The Character of God
1. The Names of God
El Roi – the God who sees me/God of vision
El Shaddai – God Almighty in His ability to provide
We should never make a decision based on what’s in our wallet or bank account, but based on the Word of the Lord.
Jealous – Exodus 34:14
Human jealousy is selfish and God’s jealousy is selfless. Jealousy is the fear of being replaced.
Jehovah-Rohi – The Lord is my Shepherd – Psalm 23
Oh man, this is all notes from ONE DAY!!! Crazyness!! I'll try to share more later!
It is awesome how God uses Michael Berg in this week of teaching about the Father Heart God has for each of us. He gave his testimony and he did some crazy things in his past, but he is totally forgiven by God and that old man is dead. All week was pretty convicting for most people. It made me realize how crappy I’ve been to my earthly dad, and mom for that matter. I’m going to pick some points out of my notes that might seem like they should be obvious, and some of them I’ve known, yet haven’t known but God has given me a knew revelation about them to make them more than head knowledge:
10/13/09
Hurt people hurt other people; healed people heal other people. Christianity is a process; you are immediately in the family when you ask Jesus into your heart, but you change over time, the same way a baby changes after it is born into a family. Do not use your body as a tool of manipulation – EVER!!! Serving yourself and being “free” is actually bondage. Isaiah 61:3 talks about us being “Oaks of Righteousness” An oak tree is strong because the roots go deep and make a sturdy foundation. It gets affected by the storm, but stands firm through it.
A. To know God
Original language for “to know” means that to know God is not merely knowing about Him but rather to know Him more intimately than a husband and wife know each other. We have been taking Christianity too lightly!! We should be filled with wonder of who God is!! When you see the Grand Canyon or mountains or the ocean for the first time, you are filled with awe and wonder. When you grow up around those things, they become the norm and you get used to them. So if you grew up in the Grand Canyon, maybe it’s time to go see the ocean. God doesn’t want to give you information about Himself, He wants to give you revelation! The Bible should not just be a textbook for us but the longest love letter ever!!! He wants me to know Him more than I want to know Him.
B. To Trust God
Webster’s definition of “trust”: a firm belief or confidence in the honestly, integrity, reliability, justice, etc. of another person. Trust is earned and learned. The more we get to know God, the more we’ll trust Him. When God tells us to be like children, it’s so we’ll trust him. Did you ever jump off of something into your daddy’s arms? It’s like having the faith in your dad that he’s going to catch you every time.
C. To Love God
As we develop trust, we develop love. W.A. Pratney said, “Love is an unselfish choice for the highest good of God and His universe according to their real value. The opposite of love is a selfish choice, putting yourself first. In Matthew 22:37-40 we are told to love God with our whole being. And Philippians 2 says when we love God, we should do the things that please Him and avoid the things that displease Him, which is obedience. Obedience is a loving response to a loving relationship.
D. To Serve God (Obedience)
We should not be obedient on the basis of fear and not on the basis of duty. Ministry should be natural because of our loving relationship with Jesus.
False Concepts of God affect how we pray, how we read the Bible, how we live our Christian lives and our relationships with God. Anything we think is true we need to hold before the Lord to see if it’s true or not, so that we can have a better understanding; that we might have and expanded understanding of God.
A. Right Concept of God
The Nature of God
Uncreated = He has always been
Triune God = 3 in 1
The Father
The Son
The Holy Spirit
John 14-16 talks about the role that the Holy Spirit plays
When we pray we are talking and relating to the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is so involved in our lives, we have just scratched the surface. He is always with us, we are never alone!! Henry Blackaby said, “Every Christian needs to have the manifest presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives”
Omnipotent = all powerful
Jeremiah 32:27, Job 42:2, Jeremiah 6:1-12, Psalm 89:6-8, 66:7
Don’t get impressed with yourself, it’s the power of God in you that should impress.
Omniscient = all knowing
Romans 11:33-34, Psalm 147:5, Job 37:16, 1 John 3:20
We can never say, “Nobody knows and no one understands me.”
Omnipresent = everywhere at the same time
1 Kings 8:27, 2 Chronicles 2:6, Proverbs 15:3, Jeremiah 23:24, Psalm 139:7-10
B. The Character of God
1. The Names of God
El Roi – the God who sees me/God of vision
El Shaddai – God Almighty in His ability to provide
We should never make a decision based on what’s in our wallet or bank account, but based on the Word of the Lord.
Jealous – Exodus 34:14
Human jealousy is selfish and God’s jealousy is selfless. Jealousy is the fear of being replaced.
Jehovah-Rohi – The Lord is my Shepherd – Psalm 23
Oh man, this is all notes from ONE DAY!!! Crazyness!! I'll try to share more later!
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
week 3
Well,
Here I am in week 3 of the teaching. This week the speaker is Michael Berg, our Base Director. He told his testimony, which is amazing because is shows what God can do with such a messed up person and still use them in His ministry. He's teaching on Biblical Restoration. He is helping us form right concepts about God. Today he taught on the Father Heart of God. It was an incredible and emotional session.
Some of you might be wondering what I do all day long. Here is the short version of my schedule:
We have quiet time M- F from 7:15 am to 8. We get picked up around 8:10 and taken to Evangel Assembly of God where we have classes and everything. On Mondays we have blank page intercession then a class session til about 12:30 when we have lunch. After lunch, we have recreation time. We've played sand volleyball, ultimate frisbee and dodgeball so far. When we get back from that we have Community Responsiblities (CR's) til about 5:15, then dinner at 5:30. Monday CR for me is meal clean up, so I have my one-on-one with Lisi, one of my small group leaders. Monday nights we have the option of going to "Porch Night" which means we just go to the house with a pool and hang out have some snacks and non-alcoholic mixed or iced drinks. Sun-Thurs we have a 10 PM curfew. Tuesday we have class from about 8:30 - 12:30 with a 30 min break at 10. After lunch we have outreach prep. We haven't actually split into outreach groups yet so we have our geography test and then something called Hot Topics, which means Jesse, one of the leaders, picks something and splits us up into two groups and we have to debate the topic like pirating music and movies or why Jesus is the only way to heaven. If you know me very well, you know I don't really like debating, so this is a little hard, but it's good because it makes me believe in what I believe in more strongly. On Tuesdays, my CR is cleaning the business offices of YWAM Orlando. Tuesdays after dinner we have something called Family Night, which is kind of like a Wednesday or Sunday night church service. Tuesday is a LONG day!! My brain is already so full it's hard to take in more information. Wednesday mornings we have outreach intercession where we pray for India and Dominican Republic. Then a class session, lunch, CR's (I'm off on Wednesdays, so I come to the library across the street to update my blog and stuff). At 3:30 someone from a dept. is going to come share with us about there dept. here at YWAM Orlando. Then we go home and make dinner as a house. Thursdays we have Worship & Warfare, class, lunch, CR's (I do the weekend/breakfast/Wed. dinner/snack shopping run with a gift card to a grocery store called Publix) then dinner then home. There is a Wal-Mart shopping run after dinner too. Fridays we have class all morning, lunch, Scripture memorization and more outreach stuff, I think, CR's, dinner, home. On Fri and Sat we have a midnight curfew. It differs what we do on weekends. Mostly we just hang out and build relationships.
Yeah, so that's how a typical week goes. I probably forgot something, but oh well. I don't really have a picture, but here's the link for pics I've put on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2054392&id=205300824&l=ab80e1c2d2
Here I am in week 3 of the teaching. This week the speaker is Michael Berg, our Base Director. He told his testimony, which is amazing because is shows what God can do with such a messed up person and still use them in His ministry. He's teaching on Biblical Restoration. He is helping us form right concepts about God. Today he taught on the Father Heart of God. It was an incredible and emotional session.
Some of you might be wondering what I do all day long. Here is the short version of my schedule:
We have quiet time M- F from 7:15 am to 8. We get picked up around 8:10 and taken to Evangel Assembly of God where we have classes and everything. On Mondays we have blank page intercession then a class session til about 12:30 when we have lunch. After lunch, we have recreation time. We've played sand volleyball, ultimate frisbee and dodgeball so far. When we get back from that we have Community Responsiblities (CR's) til about 5:15, then dinner at 5:30. Monday CR for me is meal clean up, so I have my one-on-one with Lisi, one of my small group leaders. Monday nights we have the option of going to "Porch Night" which means we just go to the house with a pool and hang out have some snacks and non-alcoholic mixed or iced drinks. Sun-Thurs we have a 10 PM curfew. Tuesday we have class from about 8:30 - 12:30 with a 30 min break at 10. After lunch we have outreach prep. We haven't actually split into outreach groups yet so we have our geography test and then something called Hot Topics, which means Jesse, one of the leaders, picks something and splits us up into two groups and we have to debate the topic like pirating music and movies or why Jesus is the only way to heaven. If you know me very well, you know I don't really like debating, so this is a little hard, but it's good because it makes me believe in what I believe in more strongly. On Tuesdays, my CR is cleaning the business offices of YWAM Orlando. Tuesdays after dinner we have something called Family Night, which is kind of like a Wednesday or Sunday night church service. Tuesday is a LONG day!! My brain is already so full it's hard to take in more information. Wednesday mornings we have outreach intercession where we pray for India and Dominican Republic. Then a class session, lunch, CR's (I'm off on Wednesdays, so I come to the library across the street to update my blog and stuff). At 3:30 someone from a dept. is going to come share with us about there dept. here at YWAM Orlando. Then we go home and make dinner as a house. Thursdays we have Worship & Warfare, class, lunch, CR's (I do the weekend/breakfast/Wed. dinner/snack shopping run with a gift card to a grocery store called Publix) then dinner then home. There is a Wal-Mart shopping run after dinner too. Fridays we have class all morning, lunch, Scripture memorization and more outreach stuff, I think, CR's, dinner, home. On Fri and Sat we have a midnight curfew. It differs what we do on weekends. Mostly we just hang out and build relationships.
Yeah, so that's how a typical week goes. I probably forgot something, but oh well. I don't really have a picture, but here's the link for pics I've put on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2054392&id=205300824&l=ab80e1c2d2
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
The First Week
Well, the first week was pretty intense. John Bills spoke on Hearing the Voice of God. I learned a lot. I grew up around people that heard from the Lord, but I guess I had a stigma on myself that I couldn't. My viewpoint on that has changed drastically. We also have like 3 hours of intercessory prayer a week. This is kind of new to me and is a little bit scary because it's part of the unknown, although there is nothing to fear. God longs to show believers what is on His heart and it's been pretty crazy this week. On Monday we had blank page intercession and one of the groups got some pictures of a huge boat and like pirates or something. So they prayed into that. Well today we found out that there was an incident between a French military ship and some Somalian pirates and no one got hurt even though there were shots fired. I don't know many details, they just kinda told us a little bit about it after class today!! Crazy! Last week in my intercession group we were praying for India, Nepal and Indonesia. I just got this picture of a big wave going over Indonesia. I didn't say anything at the time, but when I told someone about it later she said that she heard something happened then we looked it up and there had been tsunamis and earthquakes around Indonesia. That rocked my world!!! God is so good!! This week we are watching videos of Dean Sherman speaking on relationships. The videos are from the early 90's, but once you get past his clothes and hair, they are really good! God has been showing me some things about myself and that I have to forgive myself for mistakes I have made in the past or God can't forgive me! Anyway, I can't wait to share more about what I'm learning, but I have to go for now!
Monday, September 28, 2009
9-26-09
Friday we had a big breakfast at Evangel, but usually we will be eating breakfast at our houses. Food is like a really big deal here!!! It’s good but bad at the same time. I heard the base director, Michael Berg, kind of takes pride in having good food here, and that not all bases get it this good. But it seems like we eat every couple of hours!!! Craziness!! We had orientation all day Friday which was kind of boring and a lot of the info had been in the info packet that I got after I was accepted.
For groceries here at our house, we have a shopping run once a week where we get a gift card to a store called Publix (kinda like Dillons, if you know what that is) and one of us has to shop for breakfast, weekend meals and Wednesday dinners at home. I was assigned to do the shopping this week. My roommates are kind of health nuts, so it will be interesting for sure! Lindsey was raised Vegetarian, but now eats chicken and turkey bc she needed more iron, Jackie is allergic to gluten and Alicia has been having some stomach problems and is planning to stop eating gluten as well. For anyone that doesn’t know me well… I like food!!!! =] My mom is an amazing cook and I’m used to her kind of hearty cooking!!! I will surely miss it!! That was kind of long, but I think everyone was satisfied with what I got mostly.
We had our first (and hopefully only) Dorm Meeting Friday evening. Aleese just went over house rules with us and where and what we have to clean and stuff. Curfew was covered which is 10 pm Sun-Thurs and 12am Fri-Sat. Also we do not have tvs in the dorms. Grace and Eric have one in their room, but we are not allowed to use it unless specifically invited to watch a movie or something. We are not allowed to gather around a laptop and all watch a movie together either. If I want to watch a movie, I can in my room with headphones. I am really going through some So You Think You Can Dance and The Office withdrawals =[
Alicia, Jackie and I went to bed pretty early last night, but Lindsey went and hung out with some other girls. I was just really wiped out!!! All this adjusting and transitioning is exhausting!!! It’s been kind of interesting. Since I left my house in Wichita I was nauseous until I woke up this morning (Saturday). I also felt like I was on the verge of tears most of the time and I have cried several times since I’ve been here. But I am feeling a lot better now. That doesn’t mean I miss people any less though!! I’m just excited to see what God is going to do in me!!
Today we had some more orientation; we had to do a little skit, which I actually didn’t get nervous to do. That is very unusual for me bc I hate getting up in front of people and I’m not usually the skit kind of girl!! After lunch, we went to hand out flyers for a BBQ, hangout and live music activity at a church called New Beginnings where a YWAM staff guy is also youth pastor. I walked around with a guy named Caleb who is from Towanda, KS. That was kind of cool to get to know him better since we’re from kind of the same area. We actually have a mutual friend too!! Tonight was our first “Fun Night” at which we watched Hook. It’s been a while since I’ve seen that one, so it was kinda funny!
Well I feel like this is too long, but I do have more to say. But I guess I’ll save it for later!
For groceries here at our house, we have a shopping run once a week where we get a gift card to a store called Publix (kinda like Dillons, if you know what that is) and one of us has to shop for breakfast, weekend meals and Wednesday dinners at home. I was assigned to do the shopping this week. My roommates are kind of health nuts, so it will be interesting for sure! Lindsey was raised Vegetarian, but now eats chicken and turkey bc she needed more iron, Jackie is allergic to gluten and Alicia has been having some stomach problems and is planning to stop eating gluten as well. For anyone that doesn’t know me well… I like food!!!! =] My mom is an amazing cook and I’m used to her kind of hearty cooking!!! I will surely miss it!! That was kind of long, but I think everyone was satisfied with what I got mostly.
We had our first (and hopefully only) Dorm Meeting Friday evening. Aleese just went over house rules with us and where and what we have to clean and stuff. Curfew was covered which is 10 pm Sun-Thurs and 12am Fri-Sat. Also we do not have tvs in the dorms. Grace and Eric have one in their room, but we are not allowed to use it unless specifically invited to watch a movie or something. We are not allowed to gather around a laptop and all watch a movie together either. If I want to watch a movie, I can in my room with headphones. I am really going through some So You Think You Can Dance and The Office withdrawals =[
Alicia, Jackie and I went to bed pretty early last night, but Lindsey went and hung out with some other girls. I was just really wiped out!!! All this adjusting and transitioning is exhausting!!! It’s been kind of interesting. Since I left my house in Wichita I was nauseous until I woke up this morning (Saturday). I also felt like I was on the verge of tears most of the time and I have cried several times since I’ve been here. But I am feeling a lot better now. That doesn’t mean I miss people any less though!! I’m just excited to see what God is going to do in me!!
Today we had some more orientation; we had to do a little skit, which I actually didn’t get nervous to do. That is very unusual for me bc I hate getting up in front of people and I’m not usually the skit kind of girl!! After lunch, we went to hand out flyers for a BBQ, hangout and live music activity at a church called New Beginnings where a YWAM staff guy is also youth pastor. I walked around with a guy named Caleb who is from Towanda, KS. That was kind of cool to get to know him better since we’re from kind of the same area. We actually have a mutual friend too!! Tonight was our first “Fun Night” at which we watched Hook. It’s been a while since I’ve seen that one, so it was kinda funny!
Well I feel like this is too long, but I do have more to say. But I guess I’ll save it for later!
9-24-09
Well, here I am!!! In Florida!!! I got into Orlando around 2 pm yesterday, I was met at the airport by Lisi & Aleese (YWAM staff and Aleese lives in my house). I was dropped off at my house and was the first one and the only one there for the rest of the afternoon. I got unpacked and settled in, then was picked up for dinner. Eric & Grace Hill are my house parents, Aleese is our dorm supervisor I think and then there is Lindsey, Alicia (pronounced Aleesia), Jackie, and me in our room. They are all really nice! It’s kind of small for 4 people, but it will be ok. I get 3 drawers, a 4th of the closet and half of the space under our bunk bed. We had a cookout at K2 (the second of two houses on a street that starts with a K, and where the pool is) so I met a lot of people last night.
Today we got to sleep in because we didn’t have anything ‘til lunch at 12:30, so we just hung out all morning and got to know each other better. There are a lot of names to remember!!! There are two different DTS’s going on right now (Classic and Compassion), so there are about 43 students and a bunch of staff. After lunch today we had registration, and then just some hang out get to know people time. We’ll have supper and then a welcome night. Friday & Saturday will be all orientation, then church on Sunday. The housing is kind of interesting. I live in a cul-de-sac on Jon-Jon St. YWAM owns 6 houses on this street where staff and students live, so we go by house number on this street. So I live in Jon-Jon 3016. There are more houses in another neighborhood and classes and meals are at Evangel Assembly of God Church.
I think it might take a few days to adjust, but God is good and He has me here for a reason!!
Please continue to pray for me while I’m here that I would be open to what God has for me and that I’ll adjust quickly and that my back/neck would feel better.
Love you and God Bless!!!
Today we got to sleep in because we didn’t have anything ‘til lunch at 12:30, so we just hung out all morning and got to know each other better. There are a lot of names to remember!!! There are two different DTS’s going on right now (Classic and Compassion), so there are about 43 students and a bunch of staff. After lunch today we had registration, and then just some hang out get to know people time. We’ll have supper and then a welcome night. Friday & Saturday will be all orientation, then church on Sunday. The housing is kind of interesting. I live in a cul-de-sac on Jon-Jon St. YWAM owns 6 houses on this street where staff and students live, so we go by house number on this street. So I live in Jon-Jon 3016. There are more houses in another neighborhood and classes and meals are at Evangel Assembly of God Church.
I think it might take a few days to adjust, but God is good and He has me here for a reason!!
Please continue to pray for me while I’m here that I would be open to what God has for me and that I’ll adjust quickly and that my back/neck would feel better.
Love you and God Bless!!!
back to the past...
ok, this post is from July 29th, but I will post a couple more recent ones.
In Christ alone, I place my trust, and find my glory in the power of the Cross. In every victory let it be said of me, my source of strength, my source of hope is Christ alone.
The last few months have been a bit of a struggle for me. After going to Haiti in January, I have felt my love & passion for the lost grow in leaps and bounds!! I have felt a pull towards being a missionary since I went to Haiti in 2008. So after I got back from this year’s trip, I decided I was going to do something about preparing myself. I talked to Jan Thompson who lives in Gonaives, Haiti with her three children. They went to a DTS in Wisconsin. She suggested that I look into it and if I did I should go to the one in Wisconsin, Tyler, TX or Orlando, FL.
I looked into a couple of different things; probably not as many as I maybe should have though. I found a couple of other programs that sound really cool and life-changing as well after I decided to do the Discipleship Training School (DTS) through Youth With A Mission (YWAM) in Orlando, FL this fall. It’s a 5 month program from September 24 – March 12. I get a Christmas break from December 18-31. Then I will be going on a 2 month outreach overseas to India, Dominican Republic, or somewhere equally as amazing, I’m sure!! I really hope we go to INDIA!!!! After I found out that’s where the outreach might be, a lot of India themed things came up in my life. Like watching Slum Dog Millionaire (love it!!!), reading Amy Carmichael’s biography, reading Revolution in World Missions by K.P. Yohannan, a couple other things happened but I can’t remember them right now. I’ll look on FB and find out what they were. After finding out at Easter that Chris & Christin are having a baby in November, I kind of had some doubts about the DTS. It’s the first nephew (just found that out a couple of weeks ago. Adam Lucas is his name) and it’s going to be SUPER hard to be gone for all of the getting ready for that. Sometimes it’s hard just being 2 hours away in Topeka!! I can’t imagine what it will be like being about 22 hrs away in Orlando!!! I won’t be able to be here for the birth, but I’ll get to see him at Christmas.
I was feeling pretty confident and peaceful about my decision to go to Florida. My parents went to Colorado for their anniversary. While there, they visited Aunt Kathy. They went to her church called Church For All Nations. They had a presentation about an internship they have there called Discover Internship. It’s a 10 month program with a 2 week missions trip to Guatemala. I was definitely more excited about India or Dominican Republic than Guatemala. Mom told me a little bit about it. Kathy told me a little about it. My mom wanted me to check it out when we talked on Thursday the 23rd. So we went to the World Cup and I looked online and liked what I saw so I requested more information. Literally like 2 minutes after I requested more info about it, Stephanie called me. She talked to me for about 15 minutes, she told me a ton of information, which I couldn’t remember a lot of, but I remember liking what I heard. I really wanted to know more about it, so Stephanie said she’d send me a dvd about it. I was really hoping to get it before going to Holton on Saturday for the weekend. It didn’t come before we left. I was stressing about it kind of a lot. They both sound like amazing opportunities!!!! There are different things about each of them that I really like. If I went to Discover, I’d be able to live with Kathy rent free, I’d be able to have a job, I’d be able to come home when Adam is born and for Christmas, costs $4,000; the DTS costs somewhere around $6,000. I’ve REALLY been stressing out about it. I’ve prayed about it a lot. I get really excited whenever I talk about either of them I’d tell someone about one and get really excited about it, then I’d talk about the other one and get all excited about that one!
I was talking to Nikki and some other people yesterday. I think that with the DTS I’d be more isolated and be forced to rely on God more for everything I need. Nikki was saying that I could make myself more isolated by deciding not to use my phone or the internet or whatever, but I know myself and I know I wouldn’t keep that self-imposed isolation. There are some really cool things about Discover, but I don’t have my paper with me at the moment. All this to say, Florida, here I come!!!!!!!!!!!
In Christ alone, I place my trust, and find my glory in the power of the Cross. In every victory let it be said of me, my source of strength, my source of hope is Christ alone.
The last few months have been a bit of a struggle for me. After going to Haiti in January, I have felt my love & passion for the lost grow in leaps and bounds!! I have felt a pull towards being a missionary since I went to Haiti in 2008. So after I got back from this year’s trip, I decided I was going to do something about preparing myself. I talked to Jan Thompson who lives in Gonaives, Haiti with her three children. They went to a DTS in Wisconsin. She suggested that I look into it and if I did I should go to the one in Wisconsin, Tyler, TX or Orlando, FL.
I looked into a couple of different things; probably not as many as I maybe should have though. I found a couple of other programs that sound really cool and life-changing as well after I decided to do the Discipleship Training School (DTS) through Youth With A Mission (YWAM) in Orlando, FL this fall. It’s a 5 month program from September 24 – March 12. I get a Christmas break from December 18-31. Then I will be going on a 2 month outreach overseas to India, Dominican Republic, or somewhere equally as amazing, I’m sure!! I really hope we go to INDIA!!!! After I found out that’s where the outreach might be, a lot of India themed things came up in my life. Like watching Slum Dog Millionaire (love it!!!), reading Amy Carmichael’s biography, reading Revolution in World Missions by K.P. Yohannan, a couple other things happened but I can’t remember them right now. I’ll look on FB and find out what they were. After finding out at Easter that Chris & Christin are having a baby in November, I kind of had some doubts about the DTS. It’s the first nephew (just found that out a couple of weeks ago. Adam Lucas is his name) and it’s going to be SUPER hard to be gone for all of the getting ready for that. Sometimes it’s hard just being 2 hours away in Topeka!! I can’t imagine what it will be like being about 22 hrs away in Orlando!!! I won’t be able to be here for the birth, but I’ll get to see him at Christmas.
I was feeling pretty confident and peaceful about my decision to go to Florida. My parents went to Colorado for their anniversary. While there, they visited Aunt Kathy. They went to her church called Church For All Nations. They had a presentation about an internship they have there called Discover Internship. It’s a 10 month program with a 2 week missions trip to Guatemala. I was definitely more excited about India or Dominican Republic than Guatemala. Mom told me a little bit about it. Kathy told me a little about it. My mom wanted me to check it out when we talked on Thursday the 23rd. So we went to the World Cup and I looked online and liked what I saw so I requested more information. Literally like 2 minutes after I requested more info about it, Stephanie called me. She talked to me for about 15 minutes, she told me a ton of information, which I couldn’t remember a lot of, but I remember liking what I heard. I really wanted to know more about it, so Stephanie said she’d send me a dvd about it. I was really hoping to get it before going to Holton on Saturday for the weekend. It didn’t come before we left. I was stressing about it kind of a lot. They both sound like amazing opportunities!!!! There are different things about each of them that I really like. If I went to Discover, I’d be able to live with Kathy rent free, I’d be able to have a job, I’d be able to come home when Adam is born and for Christmas, costs $4,000; the DTS costs somewhere around $6,000. I’ve REALLY been stressing out about it. I’ve prayed about it a lot. I get really excited whenever I talk about either of them I’d tell someone about one and get really excited about it, then I’d talk about the other one and get all excited about that one!
I was talking to Nikki and some other people yesterday. I think that with the DTS I’d be more isolated and be forced to rely on God more for everything I need. Nikki was saying that I could make myself more isolated by deciding not to use my phone or the internet or whatever, but I know myself and I know I wouldn’t keep that self-imposed isolation. There are some really cool things about Discover, but I don’t have my paper with me at the moment. All this to say, Florida, here I come!!!!!!!!!!!
Friday, September 11, 2009
Going so soon?
Oh my goodness my time here is going fast!!! I have so much I need to get done... packing for instance... and it seems like so little time to do it in. My parents are coming to get me in 5 days... 5 days... How do I sum up a year of living with some of my best friends? I have definitely grown closer to them and to the Lord in this last year. Not to say that it was always easy, but then life being easy is never guaranteed. Right when you think you've got it all figured out according to your plan, God comes in with His Plan and it's way better than yours. I will be leaving Kansas and everything I've ever known in 12 days. I'm excited for what the next few months hold for me!!! Barbara, one of the staff in Orlando, called me yesterday to see how things are going. She asked me about how I'm doing with the transition. It's hard to explain what it's like to feel opposite emotions so strongly at the same time. I feel really excited and ready to go, but at the same time I feel like I need a little more time with the ones I love here. I realize it's only 5 months and I'll be back for Christmas, but it's just a big transition. I will be missing the birth of my nephew, Adam Lucas, which makes me really sad. I will miss the Haiti Lifeline Reunion and fundraiser, possibly the adopted kids finally getting to come to their families. I will miss out on fun things that my room mates and family do while I'm gone. But, Adam will be here when I get back, there will be another reunion, the adopted kids will be here and there will be other fun things I do with people I love when I get back. I won't miss my brother's wedding that's in April either.
For next 5 months, I will learn and grow and experience things that will be unforgettable, and I'm sure, at times unbelievable. I'm sure I will struggle, be broken, let go of baggage that I know I've been holding onto. I want to touch people's lives, show them the Savior that no one should live without. I'll build lasting relationships with my teammates. I will have to trust God probably more than I've ever had to before, letting go of control of things and what I think is best for my life so that God can show me His best for my life... and I can't wait!!!!!!!!
For next 5 months, I will learn and grow and experience things that will be unforgettable, and I'm sure, at times unbelievable. I'm sure I will struggle, be broken, let go of baggage that I know I've been holding onto. I want to touch people's lives, show them the Savior that no one should live without. I'll build lasting relationships with my teammates. I will have to trust God probably more than I've ever had to before, letting go of control of things and what I think is best for my life so that God can show me His best for my life... and I can't wait!!!!!!!!
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
4 weeks!!!!
I am leaving 4 weeks from today to go Orlando, FL to start my Discipleship Training School (DTS). I am SOOO excited!!! It makes me sad to leave friends and family, but I am super excited for what God has for me there! I have sent out support letters for prayer and funding. I have been so blessed by the people that have felt led to give! I am still a little ways from my goal though. However, I have no doubt that God will provide since He opened the doors for me to go.
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
The First
Since I am about to go on a great adventure to Florida and beyond, I figured it would be a good time to start a blog. I have enjoyed reading other blogs so much, but I haven't really felt like I have much worth reading. This will probably serve to update friends and family and be a sort of journal for me to keep track of how I grow and change.
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