Maputo, Mozambique.... There's always room for one more!

Well, Muputo came and went. I still haven't been able to post the blog from Swaziland, but it looks like Monday is a promising day for that. Now I have learned my lesson about having "internet access" from Swaziland. You pay money for time and it takes half of your time up to load the first page. Total rip off but you can't expect much from a developing country. I don't mean to sound spoiled or anything I just mean that I am not getting my hopes up or promising myself that the internet will be working on Monday. Its just what I have learned to do.

Any who, our time in Maputo, Mozambique was interesting. I can't say it is my favorite place in the whole world but God spoke to me a lot while I was there. As we made the drive from Swaziland to Mozambique God told me "this is not your country." I have fallen in love with every place I have been so far so I was expecting that for Maputo as well. When God told me this I thought it would be along the lines of me not wanting to leave. I later learned it takes a very special heart to reach the people of Maputo. Maputo is a city. It has buildings and public transportation. So picture a city with city people and add everything from a third world country to the mix. It was very hard to reach people here for me because, just like most cities, people are busy and very caught up in life. I am not good at this. Some personal highlights though would have to be the school ministry. We teamed up with a fellow YWAM-er from Russia to clean up a "school house." You could hardly call this a school. It was walls with spaces for windows and doors, but no doors or windows were there. The rooms were empty except for small chalk boards that had been painted on the wall. Picture an empty school house in your mind... Now take away even more of what you imagine and you might be getting closer. There is no bathroom, no crayons, no paper (except the trash that is thrown around the property), no water, not even a trash can. Nothing. Just empty rooms, one or two teachers, and hundreds of children. Heart breaking. We did our best at starting to clean up the school house and we were pretty satisfied with our work. We found out the next day that all of the trash was back. People came and in a days time had made another huge mess. We know that we can not change the people of Maputo so we decided to get them involved. We gathered a bunch of children and put them to work along side us picking up the trash. It was incredible to see the children want to help. I even talked to some older boys who spoke very little English. I'm pretty sure they only stoped to talk because I am white and they said they didn't have time to pick up trash. They were pretty funny. I made it clear that if they weren't going to pick up any trash then they were NEVER to throw it on that property ever again! They agreed.

We got to see the coast towards the end of our stay and it was fantastic. We were invited to attend a Wednesday night service of a church by the beach and it was totally Holy Spirit filled. We did our dramas and a few of my team members spoke but I think the highlight was actually at the end of the service. We got to shake hands and greet every person in the church. There was something about these people they was just so refreshing. The church blessed us greatly. After they took the offering they gave it to our team. Man, God provides.

There are things about Maputo that will never leave my memory. Like catching the chappas (taxi buses) and having people PILE on top of us. On one of our trip with the evil chappas, we were so crammed in that could hardly feel my feet touch the ground... and I wasn't sitting down. I thought to myself "wow, I think I can take my feet off the ground.." Sure enough I gave it a try and I was floating. I was so squished in that I could be held in the air off of my feet. CRAZY!!

We also got to visit a children's home for prostitutes children. These kid's had so much energy and we were able to just hang out and love on them. We brought face paint and bubbles. It was a really blessed and cherished time. Heart braking as well. We met a tiny girl by the name of Tanya. Tanya was very small and most of us assumed she was about two or maybe a small three. It turns out she is actually six years old. Because of being malnourished she is very under developed. Our hearts really went out to her.

Well I write this to you from Iris Ministry in Zimpeto, Mozambique but that will have to be a whole different blog!!

Old Blog from Swaziland!

Wow, outreach is flying by faster than I even thought possible. It has been very hard to keep up with my blog not only because of the lack of internet access, but also because we have been very busy. I write to you from YWAM Maputo in Mozambique on April 26th, but I have no idea when I will actually be able to post this! The biggest challenge about not having internet access is not being able to communicate with my family and friends. It makes me VERY homesick, but it has also given me a chance to really take time and listen to what God is saying to me. And believe me... He has been speaking loud. So I am going to have to back up a bit because I realise I haven't blogged at all about the two weeks I spent in Swaziland and here I am sitting in Mozambique!

So lets see... I already blogged in the DTS Blogspot about Swaziland so I hope people were able to see it even though it wasn't posted to Facebook (oh the joy of slow internet!). So basically it's just important to post in my blog about what has been happening to me personally, not just my team. I LOVED the Swaziland YWAM base. It's beautiful. Swaziland is very wet and rainy, which made it a challenge to do our washing (which I don't think that I have ever blogged that I have had to wash my clothes BY HAND and hang dry them since I have been in Africa). The Swazi base is very much like home. It's a cozy house on a farm and there is even a horse that just hangs out in the yard. A couple families run the base and we were able to help them out by doing a lot of practicle work around the base. Myself and the other girls took on a project of renevating a ran down building that will eventually be turned in to dorm rooms for boys of future teams. God spoke to me through working in this house. I was in the back room (our key focus and goal of finishing before our time was up) praying one morning during a prayer walk. God showed me that this building is like my life. We were cleaning it out and painting it room by room, step by step. The cool thing is that Two people would work on that room and get a lot finished while the rest of us would chip away paint in the hall and the other rooms. So it was like God was showing me everything is under construction but eventually rooms will be finished and made new. It was a beautiful thing. I just prayed that this project would help to restore other people like it did me. I knew God was going to speak to us a lot while we were in Swaziland and we trusted him for that.

Other awesome things about Swaziland?? Well, besides the cool fact that water is a problem so we had to use pit toilets in the forest and bath from a bucket (only if water was available for that, which at one point we did run out) I would have to say its the taxi rides..... Wow. I don't really know if this was an adventure or a real death trap. I guess it's only funny to look at now because we all survived and there were no injuries. That doesn't mean that we didn't have a near death experience because we prayed for our lives every time we got in... There are a couple taxi trips I would like to highlight (they are that crazy!!) Upon arrival into Swaziland, we were met by Jim, The Swazi base leader (really cool guy) who has his own taxi-like vehicle. We couldn't fit everyone with our backpacks in at a time so we took trips. The first team would have to walk part of the way so I said I would go first. We loaded up and threw our backpacks in the back and took off. As we pulled out into the round-a-bout the back door swung open and all of our luggage and bags fell out. It was just like a movie! Funniest thing I have ever seen. No bags were lost or damamged and we still joke about it now. GREAT first impression, we really felt like missionaries then! The next night we hung out with a youth group in the center of town. Most of the churches I have seen here offer transportation for people so ofcourse they said we could get a ride up the hill back to the base. We cramed our whole team plus a million Swazi teens into this taxi from the church. I tried to count exactly how many people were in it, but I lost count at 20.... So dangerous.... and totally illegal. But you know Africa! There's always room for one more! But of course we got pulled over (there were MANY cops because there was an uprising against the king during our time there... also crazy) but the officer asked us where we were coming from. We said church and he LET US GO because he was also a Christian! It was crazy. So we thought that would be the end of the crazy taxi ride home, but we were wrong! As we reached the top of the hill the fog grew extreamly thick. Our driver didn't know where to go in the first place so this made it even more scary. When we got to the dirt (and by dirt I mean mud) road we started to slip around. By this time I was closing my eyes and praying to God for my life. I knew my parents would kill me if I died in Africa (that's a joke....)! As we were trucking through the fog we slamed (and by slammed I mean slid) on the brakes because in the middle of the road was a huge COW! I thought the deer back home were annoying.... Not after having to brake for cows! Finally we reached the base... Thinking it was a miracle that we had made it we thought we were safe... Then the driver wanted to take us closer to the house and turn around before we got out (I have no clue why). We got SOOOOO close to an edge in the street and I could feel that we were tipping. I thought for sure we were going to roll and I just shut my eyes with my hands like a scared little child! I don't know why I was worried because if we were to roll I would have had a hundred Swazi kids to cushion me.... No but seriously it was so close. I thank God to this day for keeping us safe and now we can look back and joke about it. (Mom, I'm sure you find this all hallarious!)

Swaziland also had beautiful sunrises and we got to share the base with an outreach team from Durban. Its a team of all girls and we because very close with them. It turns out that we will be seeing them again because we will both be at Iris Ministries together, what are the chances??! We got to check out an awesome cultural village and spend time at a wonderful orphanage. We did go to a government hospital and thats where I quickly realised that hospital visits are not my thing...... Yes, I did get yelled at in a forieng language by a crazy lady and had to leave the women's ward in complete terror. Ugh so horrible. But I did manage to spend sometime with the sick children which was both a blessing and heartbreaking all at the same time. Its like what you see in those commercials to send money but a hundred times worse. Very emotional.

 

To sum it up, Swaziland is wonderful. I deffinatly can see myself back here some day. Maybe to do a SBS or lead a DTS which is pretty cool considering the fact that Jim sat down with me and asked me to come back and staff!!!! God is creating so many opptions for me. Its been wonderful, but I really need to keep praying for direction. Thank you everyone for the prayers! Keep em coming because I still have a whole month of outreach left!!

Love and miss you all!! 

True Blessings in Stanger..

This place is really blowing my mind! I can't believe the hospitality that we have been shown and the open hearts of the people here... especially the youth. My heart has really been touched by them... and I want to bring them all back with me!

The youth meeting went even more incredible than we could have even hoped for! It's funny because the whole time God was telling me not to worry about speaking... but I still felt like I had to write down my message... I DIDN'T EVEN USE THEM! It was incredible. God really moved. I prayed and really felt like we should worship God to the song "Our God" by Christ Tomlin. By God's good grace (and after I spent 2 and a half hours making my own video for it...) we got the worship video with lyrics to play on the screen! We played it after my message and it was SOOO powerful. I think I have only cried twice during worship since I have been at YWAM (which usually I get pretty emotional at GVCC) and this was one of them. Watching the youth of this town sing that song together was one of the most beautiful moments I have ever seen. I know now why God put it on this teams heart! Wow. That's all I can say.

We also took part in a prayer march with Stanger Baptist Church. It was a march full of pretty mixed emotions. I enjoyed it, but some of the members overly zealous and it made the march a little uncomfortable, but our team was there to praise God. So that's what we did. I have never been on a prayer march before so it was interesting drawing so much attention to ourselves and the little girls we adorable with their posters and red shirts!

Today we went to a different church for the service. It was a bit hectic because we were told we needed to run the whole service just a half hour before it started.... But hey thats outreach for ya! It went good and the church actually blessed us with a love offering. We are so grateful for the people we have met. Wow. Tomorrow is our other day off and we are actually leaving this week! Crazy! We will be flying out Thursday morning bright and early to Swaziland! I am excited to see another YWAM base but I am going to miss Stanger! Two weeks wasn't long enough!

We sat as a team and read the blogs of people on other outreaches. It made me miss them soooo much! It breaks my heart that we will only be together for FIVE DAYS when we get back. BUT THAT'S ENOUGH!

God bless!

Zulu and Multi Millionaires

Wow outreach is still going better than I even thought it could!

So it turns out that the youth event on Friday isn't going to have just 250 kids... its looking more like 500! The team is super excited and I feel very blessed. I have been praying that God will just use me to speak to them. That none of my thoughts or feelings will be there, that it will just be God. I am excited and nervous all at the same time. From talking to some of the youth kids throughout the week I can confirm that they feel this heaviness too. Just in this past week we have heard of two girls getting raped to the point of hospitalization and a young boy getting jumped.  So heartbreaking. I can feel that Friday is going to be very important... I just pray we don't screw it up!

We were able to see a little bit of Durban on our day off and that was really nice. We went to the Indian Ocean- that makes three oceans that I have been in! I thought that was pretty cool. The water was warm, but no.... I still didn't seen any sharks... But there's always Mozambique! We got to go to uShaka Marine World and hang out for the day. I'm not a huge fan of water slides but I conquered my fear with the help of some peer pressure and actually had a good time.

We were able to do prison ministry the other day and that was a huge eye-opener for me. I thought we would go there and bless them, but God had other plans. Even though we spent the night before learning Zulu Songs to sing to them, they put together skits and a couple of Zulu dances that brought me to tears. The dances really hit me hard and for the first time I felt like I was in Africa! I have been here three months now and it only just hit me then! Haha. Over 35 men stood up and wanted to give their lives to Christ after the message. I feel so honored that God used our team to make an open door for ministry there. Usually it is really hard to get in to the prison, but the directer found favor in us and I don't think we let them down! Praise the LORD (PTL)!!

Yesterday we were supposed to  go to a home for elderly people with Cancer and AIDS.  There was a mix up and we weren't allowed in due to another group already there. Many of the team members were upset, but I just felt like "ok God, then what do you have for us?" We got a phone call yesterday morning asking us to come to a school and help out there so we phoned them back and we were able to go and hang out with over 100 kids during their sports day. I hung out with a bunch of kids waiting to participate in the race. We danced and sang the Zulu songs I learned, but one of the girls I was especially fond of. She was a tiny Hindu girl in a bunch of Christians. I knew she wasn't a Christian by the red band around her wrist that signifies she worships another God. She told me her family wasn't Christian and she didn't know Jesus. Other boys wanted to pray and I told her she could pray with us if she wanted to. We stood there in a circle and she loved it. She held my hand the rest of the day. She pulled me to the side and whispered in my ear, "Um.... are you a multi millionaire?" I giggled and told her that not everyone in America is rich. She had her eyes fixed in mine and I knew she could tell there was something more to me and my team than she could grasp. I'm convinced it was the love from Jesus. She told me that I must come and see her the next time I was in town. It broke my heart as I explained to her that this was the only time we would be there. I whispered in her ear "Always remember Jesus" and she took my hand and promised me she would. I pray for more interactions like this. This was incredible.

We were able to run the prayer meeting at Stanger Baptist Church last night. I gave a brief message on intercessory prayer and Tanya and Katlyn led the prayer. It was a great night and praying through the prayer call of the mosque was very intense. Its hard to explain. I have also been struggling with the mixed messages of my tattoos. I knew coming into other cultures with arm tattoos wouldn't be easy all the time, but some of the things I am dealing with in that area are harder than I thought. When they ask me about them I freeze up. I know what to say, but for some reason when I am confronted with it I can't manage to blurb out what God has spoken to me about my tattoos. Haha I have had mixed feelings about it. They are GREAT for kid's ministry though!

Over all outreach has been incredible. Today we are celebrating my good friend Katlyn's 21st birthday! And its nice to celebrate as a team... as an outreach family.

More to come... This is only the first week!

OUTREACH IS HERE!!

Wow, I cant believe lecture phase came and went so fast! So here we are, night two of outreach and I can feel God moving so much already! We are in a town near Durban called Stanger and we get to work with one of the churches here. The community is almost all Indian people so we have been eating very well! The hospitality of the people we came to serve is absolutely incredible. They have very open hearts and are so hungry for more of the gospel. We partnered up with the church and led the youth meeting tonight. It went very well and we had so much fun! God led me to volunteer to speak at the youth gathering next Friday. I was told there would be about 60-80 young people... Now they are telling us there will be 250 YOUNG PEOPLE!!!!! 250... that's a lot. I am so excited! I realised yesterday that my excitement for sharing Jesus with people has outweighed the fear of public speaking. So please keep me in your prayers!

The crazy part about Stanger is the Muslim mosque. I have never been so exposed to that religion and I have never heard the prayer call of a mosque. It was an eye-opening experience and it left me feeling very heavy. You could hear the prayer call from the youth meeting and I could sense an embarrassment upon the youth. It was strange and truly heartbreaking. I don't think most people back home will understand what I'm really saying and I don't think they will be able to really know with out this experience. I just pray against this heaviness and bondage. I have truly been exposed to the freedom of following Jesus so this was really a hard thing for me. Please, I beg that you don't think I am being judgmental.. I have just experienced a lot in the last three months and this was very emotional for me.

I am so proud of this outreach team! I feel such a unity with us and I pray God will use us as imprints on others. Today went by so fast and I know the rest of outreach will go by just as fast. It scares me! The other teams from my base haven't even left yet! I can't wait till they are out in the world! I know God will be using them as well!

I appreciate all the prayers and I love you all so much!
Blessings!

More than Conquerors.

Wow it’s been too long since I have posted. Since the last time I posted, God has done even more in my life. He is pushing me further in a direction that I never thought possible. He is giving me dreams and ambitions that up until now I thought were impossible. But these last two weeks have really shown me that NO! These are God’s dreams and I can live them out. I need to stop doubting myself and start dreaming bigger.

We spent last week in a town by the coast called Muizenberg. It’s a surfer town and we had lecture at the YWAM base there. The DTS on that base was super nice and I even met a guy who lives in Grass Valley, California! It was really cool. Our speaker was a 27 year old surfer dude from southern California (I can’t believe how many people I have met from California on DTS) named Dave. He was super inspirational and motivating. God really used him and his killer testimony to bring the mission life style alive for us. He challenged us to really search our hearts with God’s help to figure out what our calling is. Dave exposed us to the fact that out of the whole world’s population, 30% is still unreached, meaning they have no access to the gospel  and have never heard of Jesus or His love for people. He also gave us the sobering fact that only 2% of missionaries go to unreached places… That means that 98% of missions, missionaries, and missionary money goes to places that have already been evangelized. It really made me search my own heart and find a calling for my generation. God put Romans chapter 8 on my heart,the section about being MORE THAN CONQUERERS. It’s a beautiful passage that really sparked a fire in Vickey, Hope and my life. We saw the need to take mission teams to these places of the 10/40 window and we would like to call it More than Conquerors… we also really respect the YWAM value “do first, then teach.” We all feel different callings after DTS but we hope that God will make it work together to someday form this awesome dream! We have all these ideas and sparks that I pray I can hold on to when I go home. I know it’s going to be a challenge but I pray every day that God will prepare my heart as well as others to be open to the integration of me being back. Haha… It sounds like I’m crazy but really just my idea of reality has changed and God has really opened my eyes to thing I have never experienced.

This week has been a challenge. We are leaving for outreach in two days so I have just been busy trying to get everything ready to be living out of a borrowed backpack (thanks Mikal) for two months and moving every two weeks. I am really excited for this next step, but I can’t believe the lecture phase is over. I know God has more for me in outreach and after. He’s not done with me yet. I am expecting to see God move on this outreach and I am excited that we are going to get to share our passion for Jesus with others. Our first stop is in Durban, South Africa where upon arrival we will be leading a youth night at one of the churches. I don’t know why but I felt God calling me to bring the message this night. I am scared because I honestly don’t feel a calling for preaching, especially in front of a group of 80 of my peers. Our Lord please have favour (SA Comp spell check…) with me!  Please keep me and the outreach group in your prayers. We want to make a huge positive imprint on people’s lives. We are excited and ready! Here we come!

I also need to just remind myself to really concentrate on my outreach and what God has for me during the rest of my time in Africa. I have been so focused on what He has planned for me after DTS that I really had to step back and remember my work here isn’t done. I have very high expectations for outreach and I can’t wait to update you all. I will try to keep in touch and keep blogging but many of the places we will be going won’t have internet or even electricity. So it might be very minimal. I will be using this time to grow closer to God as I get the honour or sharing His love with others. WOOO! So excited!

Dead to sin... Alive to God

Once again, God sent someone to completely destroy my regular way of thinking about Him and my Christian life. My eyes have been opened even wider to the thought of how life should be and what it is all about..

GOD NEVER INTENDED FOR US TO HAVE THE LAW... HE ALWAYS INTENDED FOR US TO HAVE LIFE.

Cliff was incredible. Up to this point, most of the weeks have been about healing past brokenness for me, but this week was different. It was about revelation. Now, I have had revelation before this week, but not like this. This makes me excited for life! This sets me on fire for Christ. This feeling that I have is now an imprint on my life. THAT is what revelation is about. Amen.

This week also was the end of our farm ministry time. It was heartbreaking having to say goodbye to these kids. Being on your knees and having little girls pray for you, crying and kissing you, wiping away your tears is life changing... I'm not coming back the same. I will never be the same. I didn't want to let them go. One of the boys told me that everything was going to be fine and that I must have a safe journey home. I struggle with the idea of coming home. I know that scares my family as well as myself! I also know that God is calling me back to where I came from. I will have an impact there and believe me... I am coming back with plans! Those kids will always be in my heart. I will never forget them and I pray that I have been apart of God working in them. To look at a 6 year old and see that their level of faith is greater than my own is completely inspiring. I grow more and more hungry to know God each and every day here and I know God has used these kids to fuel the flame He has set in my heart.

I have seen and felt a lot this week and as the days count down smaller and smaller till outreach I grow more and more in Christ. I am expecting to see miricles. I know I will encounter things greater than I can imagine and I have this burning desire to express what I have been shown. I have been praying that God will prepare my heart to the fullest and I feel completely at peace with doing His will. I know I will be put in the right place at the right time and I WILL have an impact on others. I am taking the authority God has given me. I pray that God will give me the words to show my revelation because it has been more powerful than I ever thought possible.

I am excited for life. I am excited to live. I am excited to walk in the forgiveness and love that God has given. And I am excited to share with others. Be blessed. It's as simple as that... So just recieve it.

The Tree of Life!!! Really Adam???

Wow, what a week. Already, after only two days of Cliff's lectures I can see God working in my heart even more. The work of the cross is being brought to life and I can see and feel God moving here in Africa. This is such a refreshing week! I have noticed its really quite a challenge to explain the simplicity of God's love for us. How can something so simple be so complicated to explain?? New revelations this week for sure. I have more processing to do and then maybe I can explain. Just know... God has always forgiven us, Adam and Eve were sent from the garden to protect human kind being lost in eternal life with sin, and it was ALWAYS God's plan for Jesus to be IN us and us IN Him. Amen.

Jesus loves me this I know... For the bible tells me so...
Seriously.. Its THAT simple.

I am still holding on to my faith that God will provide. I was mistaken and thought I got more money from my CHIPIN account then I actually did but today I already received over $100 thanks to some amazing people that God has blessed me with! I only need 90 more people to donate $10 and then I will have my outreach money! So possible. God is good.

I had a revelation today so my first thought, of course, was I need a change. Easiest change? I gave myself a super snazzy hair cut! Love it.

Today is a good day. I am always looking forward to tomorrow now. Thank you God !!!

God and Sexuality? Amen!

I know it has been over a week since I last posted and I am very sorry for that. God has been moving like crazy and keeping me busy with lots of things here in Africa....

This past week we spoke on sexuality. Our speaker was Frans, a super classy South African man with a kick. We looked at a whole lot of different aspects of sexuality from a biblical view including fornication, adultery, homo and heterosexuality, masturbation, how far is too far, and molest. Usually sex isn't something the church talks about so it was very nice to be open in a safe environment to discuss a matter that is in every part of life. Our speaker gave a great testimony and was very funny, making such a sensitive topic for most, into a comfortable and safe subject. It was very refreshing being able to face, trace, erase, and replace sexual brokenness in our lives and together we bonded as a DTS.

The realisation of the lecture phase coming to an end is coming on very strong now. We already lost Carla last week. She had some trouble and wasn't able to finish the lecture phase. We miss her so much in class and in the dorm, but I know God has a different plan for her life. A group of girls, including myself sent her off with goodbye tears and hugs, knowing that the chances of ever seeing her after DTS is very slim. Yes, we bond close but the truth is we all live so far away from each other that only by God's good grace will he bring us together again! Also, today my good friend Godfrey left. He got a job doing ministry on a farm about two hours away from where I am. It's a paying job which is usually hard to get in ministry for obvious reasons. So I had to let him go with ease. Good Luck to them!!!!

This weeks lecture is about the work of the cross. Our speaker is from South Carolina and has a beautiful western accent. Makes me miss home (not that I know many people who talk like that.... if any...). He's a very nice man named Cliff and I enjoy the way he thinks because its a lot like me. He has a lot of passion and explains the simplicity of Christ's love and the Christian life with ease. Love it!

Outreach is coming up fast!! I still need to raise over $1000 dollars but I know God will provide! Today I got over $400 through my chip in account and donations given to my mom! It was a huge blessing. I was starting to panic but I knew God would take care of it! I just pray people will continue to pass the word around to help support and pray for me. My team and I have been preparing our hearts and minds for the things we are going to encounter and it is hard when you are focused on finances. UGH! But with God there is peace... I just have to remember that!

This last weekend was a true blessing. I was able to escape from the base and head to Cape Town to visit the family of a set of beautiful twin girls that are in my DTS, Abby and Gabby. Their parents welcomed Hope and I with open arms and showed us around the town. They blessed us with opportunities to visit parks where they take in animals. I saw lions and cheetahs. I even got to hold an OWL (which is actually viewed as a witchcraft by most South Africans....) haha. I will get the pictures up soon!

Well to sum it up! Everything is still going well! I still love Jesus and I am so grateful for the love He is showing me! Blessings and I still miss everyone!!

Saldanha Weekend Outreach!

This past weekend I had the pleasure of serving a church and community in Saldanha Bay. We arrived there Friday evening and I was still pretty sick. I'm feeling much better now, but getting through the weekend was a challenge. Friday night we had a huge dinner at the pastor's house and his family was so nice and welcoming. We were all divided into groups of about three and distributed into homes of church members for the night. A huge blessing: Saldanha is the town next to Vredenburg where Vickey's grandparents live. So Hope, Vickey and I were able to spend the two nights there. It felt like being home again! Saturday we had some time at the beach and then went to the center of a community. On a dirt lot we set up tables and caution tape to form lines for giving out food. We spent a good long time playing with the children of the community and of course I fell in love with plenty of little babies there! Holding and squeezing the children made my weekend. When I am put in situations like this, I know God has brought me there. I feel completely in the right place at the right time and totally content with life. It's a beautiful thing!

Sunday we went to the church of the pastor who fed us. The transportation broke down so we used the YWAM cars to pick up all the people of the church. So church was very late, but once it got started it was great. A group of us, including me, did a dramatic dance to display the love and relationship of Jesus Christ without words. Its a beautiful dance and I was very excited to be apart of it. After the dance a few of us were asked to share our testimony, including me. It was very nice to speak in front of the congregation and it helps me get better at preaching to crowds of people I don't know. I know I will have to do a lot of this on outreach. It's very nice and I pray that people are touched by the things I say.

After church I spoke to my DTS leader, Doug, and he asked me to come back and staff the next DTS in January. This is VERY exciting to me but also very scary! I would love to come back to Worcester, but I know it will cost money. Ugh I hate money, but if this is a God thing I know he will provide.  I am praying about it a lot. I still want to do a bible core course this fall but that too will cost more money. I am waiting on God for a financial miracle... AMEN! Haha.

This weeks lesson is on sexuality. It has been quite the experience so far and God is really challenging my views on things I haven't thought of. I am excited to watch God work through us and I expect more major breakthroughs from myself and others this week. Our speaker is Frans and he and his wife have been a great team in this teaching. He has used a lot of humor to make this subject more comfortable. Amen! It's  very interesting and I am surprised how much the bible talks about the topic of sex. I had no idea (that's why I need the bible core course!!!). I am enjoying this week though and I am happy to be feeling better. 

Nations to Nations, Stomach to Stomach

I was so excited for this week. Last week most of the class had trouble really getting focused on what Holger had to teach. We were so emotionally and physically exhausted from Rich's Father Heart of God that we couldn't really get into the week. Also, there is a lot of stuff going on with the leadership of the base that I don't think Holger (who is part of the national leadership team) could really connect either... Just a really off week. So back to this week. New speaker and a great subject! We are celebrating Nations to Nations week where our base hosts other teams from all over to come and join in. Pieter McKarthy came at just the right moment to speak on the subject of worship and spiritual warfare. He rocked the house with his worship first thing Monday morning with our over packed and loving base. I knew this was going to be a great week and then things started to take a turn for the... well for the uncomfortable.

What started out as a cough simply got worse. Spreading to my head and stomach. It turns out I caught a horrible stomach flu along with six other girls from my DTS, one boy from my DTS, two girls from the Children in Need DTS, and 6 people from the English Language Learning center. Some of us had to go to the doctor yesterday because we needed to stop this from spreading. One of the girls had to be hospitalized from dehydration after collapsing yesterday and another with the same thing last night. I have been staying very hydrated, drinking lots of juice and powerade (mom taught me well). My fever and headache are gone but my stomach is still very unstable. I can't eat the base food, but the kitchen was nice enough to make us chicken noodle soup for lunch. I've spent most of the last four days in bed, stuck inside the dorm. Its been really frustrating and it really makes me miss Papa Don bringing me medicine and stuff when I'm sick. I went to worship last night and it was incredible despite the flu. I was excited to see everyone dressed as the nation that they come from. The only thing I could pull together was a red, white, and blue outfit... Unfortunately I didn't realize people here were so accepting of the USA so I left all my God Bless America gear at home.

So now that the lecture is over for the week I am a little bummed out I didn't get to hear more of Pieter speak or make new friends from the visiting teams, but I did get a lot from the teaching Monday so I am thankful and can arrow up for that! We have tomorrow off and I better be feeling 100% better because we have a small outreach to Saldanah this weekend where I get to go see Vickey's Gran and Opa again. I am praying I wont miss out on it.

Outreach prep for Mozambique has kind of been put on hold since everyone has been so sick. We did, however, purchase our flight to Durban today and we got a very good deal so praise for that. So I guess I get to go to Durban at least! Please continue to pray that the funding will come in for the trip. Unfortunately I STILL don't know how much it will cost, but I know I don't have enough yet. I'm trusting God, I know He wouldn't bring me this far to leave me in SA.

Miss you all!! Love you so much!

Preaching at the farm

Yesterday was a very important day to me. I was volunteered by my good friend Brandon to PREACH at the local farm that we have been doing outreach for! I know that its only children between the ages of 6 and 16, but still I was nervous! I was standing in the farm house feeling really scared that I wouldn't be able to give a good message, really stressing out. I looked down and there on the floor was a tiny girl at my feet. She was picking grass and sticks out of my sandals. This tiny girl was cleaning my shoes to serve me. I was amazed and it brought tears to my eyes. I was instantly comfortable and knew that God would use my message to serve them. I held that little girl in my arms till I had to preach the message and then for a good long time after.

 I knew I needed to keep the message short and simple so I spoke on how to talk to God. I showed the kids a cell phone and asked them how to use it. They knew how and they also knew that it costs lots of money to use. I asked them if we could talk to God on a cell phone and they laughed and said no. I asked them how to talk to God if you can't call Him on the phone and they didn't know. I told them that God has given us a great gift, Prayer! I told them that we have a direct phone line that doesn't cut out, doesn't cost money and goes straight to God. I held up my hand in a phone-like "hang-loose" sign and told the kids that THIS is their phone to God, if they ever want to talk to Him when they are happy, sad, alone, scared, or at any time they can just talk to God on their "phones." We prayed for the kids in groups at the end and the greatest thing happened, something I will never forget in my lifetime... A group of little girls told Vickey they wanted to talk to God during the prayer time but they don't know how. So she told them just remember their phones! They all picked up their "phones" and started to thank God for everything in their lives. So touching. I am so happy to be apart of bringing little girls to God and giving them something practical to use when talking to God.

The Father Heart of God

This week was the most emotional so far. I feel more close to my brothers and sisters of the DTS then I ever have.. even more than at Niko! Rich is a great guy and I am excited that God has given him this gift. I can't believe that one guy, with six kids of his own, can care so much about other people. I don't want him to go. I wish he could be our teacher for the rest of the DTS. I know that's not really fair for the others we have booked though! It scares me a little that this week was that emotional.  We all received new names this week from God. It was an emotional exercise and class lasted for almost 12 hours. The name I received was Michelle- The Forgiven Forgiver. It was a very hard name to accept and even now I don't feel its easy to live up to. God has been working on my heart to let go of bitterness and move forward knowing that I am forgiven and that I need to forgive others and let go. It feels like every week has become more and more deep, I can't imagine that it could get any deeper. But God's funny like that I guess. Its nice that after every week I feel more and more brand new. More fresh and ready to continue on forward in what God has planned for me. AMEN!

My team for Mozambique had a fundraiser here where we sold smoothies with fruit that was donated to us! We were able to keep the cost down and make just over 400 rand! That may sound like a lot but remember that one rand is like eight dollars... So we didn't make THAT much but a little is better than nothing and we felt very blessed. We are baking and selling muffins at a local church tonight to hopefully make a little more for the funds. We still have not decided between Lesotho or Swaziland but I believe God will make it a clear choice for us. We need to choose by the end of this week. One of my team members did some research on Swaziland and it has the highest HIV population in the world, most of the people don't live past their twenties. Its heart wrenching. So please pray about where our outreach team should go and the things we will be doing. I know I keep saying I will have more info for you but I still don't know it yet!

The DTS is still doing local outreach while we are here. As you know we have been praying and interacting with the people of Zwelethemba but two weeks ago I was able to go with a small team to a local farm and do ministry for the children that work and live there. We sang and danced with the kids and then prayed over their lives. It was a huge blessing and Brandon was able to do an on the spot message for them. I was so proud of our team! Last Thursday we were able to back and do it again! We brought a new dance to teach them and this week we are going to be working on a short skit to perform for them. It really warms my heart and I wish we could drive out there more often. The other local team went to a hospital where I heard they were able to pray for the newborn babies! I know God used that team as a blessing to the new mothers and the others that were sick. Go us! I'm so proud!

This weeks lecture is on the Nature and Character of God. I have a lot of loose ends I need to tie up from this week and really get my emotions together and process so I can be ready for the week!! Man, do I wish I had Bean Barn right now. Haha. I miss home, miss my family and miss my friends. Only two more months till outreach! God Bless!

NIKO=Overcome... rightttt?

So I know everyone has been waiting for the update on my Niko trip! Well here’s the good news… I SURVIVED!!! Not only did I survive, but I overcame so much that God had placed in front of me. The bad news? I can’t talk about the activities we did…. Haha I know it sounds lame, but that’s the rule. This trip was about learning to overcome things in your life physically and mentally. And believe me… I was faced with things that I never even imagined. It showed me really who God has made me. With His help I was able to push my limits to a whole new level. Believe me… Just be proud. Do a Niko… Then we can talk! Being back on the base has been great though. I appreciate the simple things here like running water, toothpaste, and food. Which we didn’t have at Niko. People told me it sounded like I was heading of to Survivor and yes, it was just like Survivor without the competition. We grew so much stronger as a team and learned to use God to power through together. It is a challenge that I will never forget.

So now its back to base life and this week has been a huge blessing, yes I am so so tired but the speaker this week is Rich. He is speaking on The Father Heart of God and let me just tell you that my life will never be the same. He pin pointed areas in my life that were so true it was scary. We still have two lecture days left with him and I wish it was longer. He reminds me of my dad so much. The way he talks, and his eyes, they even wear the same shorts. Haha. I miss my daddy so much. Rich has really challenged us to open our hearts to God’s love. Its actually a huge challenge to brake the lies we have heard or told about ourselves and just receive love. But how can we expect others to receive love from us if we can’t even receive it ourselves? He has really been showing us how to brake down our walls and stop doing the dance to get the hug. There’s more to life. God wants us to live… Not just walk through life trying to meet expectations. Sometimes success is a curse. You finally make it, you finally do it right and then they move the bar higher. This is the reality of the world we live in. Nothing is ever good enough. But let me just tell you it is. We have all got to the point we are because God is weaving a plan. He is very practical and straightforward. It’s been really incredible. God is really working on deep layers for me. I thought I had dealt with problems in the past but I can see them start to come back to the surface. I realize now that I never mourned, never let go of dark things I should have, I only pushed them deeper to forget they ever happened. God has been facing them with me now. He is peeling back the layers like an onion. Rich said something that really stuck with me this week… I need to expose the pipe, fix all the leaks, then cover it back up.. using God’s grace. Things from our past that we burry get buried ALIVE. They will eventually come back up. I feel like this all sounds depressing but its not. This week has been emotional and hard yes, but also very healing, again. Things are great. God is good and He is moving. Amen.

INTO THE WILD!

We are packing for Niko!! I thought that we were going to be very minimal about what we are allowed to take but I am surprised at how full my backpack is. It makes me worried for outreach!! I am excited for this 4 day camp. I know God is really going to challenge me. I usually don’t feel out of my comfort zone in other countries but when I am faced with nature and no sign of civilization it makes me a little uncomfortable. I am so excited though. It will be nice to get away from the base and be forced to bond even more with my fellow DTS YWAMers. So I am thankful for this opportunity. I hope we come back even more bonded. Some of us watched Into the Wild last night to get psyched for the wilderness. Super good movie, but now I’m scared to eat anything while I’m there! Ahhh!!!

My outreach team is still deciding the course of our actual journey. We can only be in Mozambique for one month so we will spend two weeks in Durban before that. We are also praying for the other location that we will go to for the remaining two weeks between Durban and Mozambique. It will either be Lesotho or Swaziland. Both are beautiful and both have a need for outreach. So please keep that in your prayers. My team has started fundraising! We sold pancakes the last two mornings and it was a lot of fun. We didn’t make too much but it’s a start and anything is better than nothing! I started making bracelets to sell with the yarn I brought. I knew it would come in handy!! And mom and Melissa laughed at me… haha. Miss my family so much.  

This week defiantly did a number on me though. I thought Holy Spirit week was intense… I didn’t think anything could even come close to it. But this week proved me wrong! Fiona was great. She really showed us how to use communication and how NOT to use communication. The word “disciple” comes from the Latin word meaning “learner.” I really see that I have so much more to learn about this world and about God. We really took some time to look at our lives and were able to evaluate where we were keeping things away from God, parts of our lives that we didn’t want to let him in. It brought up a lot of dark things from my past that I thought I had dealt with. I guess in a way I just pressed them deeper in and this week I was able to confront them and give them to God. I thought last week was emotional and hard but this week was just as challenging. I can see that God is working in me in pieces and parts, breaking things down for me in a way that I can fully heal before moving to the next part. And once again I feel even more free! Even lighter and even more forgiven. I know God forgives, I get that. I struggle with forgiving myself. We did an exercise where we took some time and left all of our burdens and heaviness at the base of the cross. I analyzed parts of my life, prayed and talked with God about them and then was able to let them go. Praise God.

A verse I just want to share to sum up the week (and because I’m in love with it):

2 Corinthians 4:8-10

“We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body.”

I got to experience the Holy Spirit in a completely different way then last week and I am so grateful for it. Thanks Fiona. 

There is a reason this place was an old hospital...

Well it’s the start of another week! We had base worship this morning and I am so excited that everyone volunteered Hope from Canada to sing against her will. She rocked it even though her mic stopped working after the first song. Haha and thanks to Vickey I was able to have delicious chocolate milk all week long. Yum. Our speaker this week is Fiona Gifford from England. She started teaching on Discipleship and let me just say she is a total spitfire. She was cracking us up the whole time and had us do crazy things to brake down walls. The teaching is going to be great and start to prepare us for outreach as a true team. The subject of discipleship is where I think my true passion as a missionary is going to come out. It will either make it or break it for me.

The showers in the girl’s dorm have been broken now for three days… and everyone laughed that I brought baby wipes incase there were no showers!! Haha. It was pretty interesting that we washed our hair in the sink and brought buckets of cold water from the sink back and fourth to the shower. It was quite the crazy scene but together as a team of 14 girls we got the job done.

Everything else has been pretty awesome. We have started preparing to go to Niko. We leave Saturday and come back Tuesday. Niko means to “over come.” It’s a four-day survival camp in the wilderness. We are only allowed to bring a couple items that DON’T include body wash, toothpaste, or deodorant. The leaders always joke that this is when we will really find out if we will get married to someone in our DTS because we will be encountering REAL pheromones!! Gross but I am excited for the adventure. I had to buy a pocketknife and I am glad my mom sent me with some super duper bug repellent bands cause I am sick of these spider bites!! I know God will move through us and test our limits and our team effort. I am excited because I have always felt like I had to be the leader. No matter how bad it stressed me out in life, I always take charge. That’s not going to work at Niko. I will be forced to ‘overcome’ my leadership role and only use it if necessary. I know God has a purpose for Niko and I feel blessed that my DTS leaders felt this is something worth experiencing. I know we will have to fall to God and each other. Can’t wait to blog about it when we get back. I’m sure I’ll have interesting stories and hopefully some awesome inside jokes.

I praise God everyday I’m here. I know he has brought me here for a reason. It is no coincidence that this base is in the buildings of an old hospital. I see people still being healed here, including myself. More than one person has had and given me the words ‘open heart surgery’ regarding the healing of my heart and it makes sense that it would be conducted in God’s hospital YWAM Worcester. That thought makes me smile.

Fiona has challenged me to now take my healing heart and start the process of healing my mind and reanalyzing the way I think about the world and the people of it. I love the concept that she calls Arrows Up. Meaning when you start to get angry or you curse or you get frustrated, you stop and realize no… this is not a demon.. This is living in the flesh.. challenges we face all the time. So to take that realization and point the arrow up. Really ask yourself ‘What Would Jesus Do?’ and because you want to…. Not just because you feel you have to. I really want to change my thinking and start LIVING MY LIFE!!!!!!! Stop all the negative crap and just move on with joy and love that God offers. We did an exercise where we looked into the eyes of different people to really view them as God does. It was very uncomfortable at first to stare in the eyes of people I just met a month ago, but even without talking I felt more close to them and could see the true person they were made to be. Sometimes I laughed and with others I cried. It was very moving.

Well, to sum it up. God is still moving in my life and the lives of others here. Its great to know there is a plan and we are part of it.

Stay naturally supernatural!

Oh Holy Spirit

Holy Spirit Week was more than I could ever ask for. I was able to seriously give all my problems of regret, hurt, anger, disappointment, abandonment and all the other crappy things I have been feeling up to God. To truly give these things to God allowed me to have a new spark. I spent two hours in the prayer room talking to God about forgiveness. It was something I have been struggling with for the last year. I knew the last step in this journey of renewing my life was to forgive the person who hurt me most. After those two hours of screaming, writing, crying, and laughing I felt lighter and more joy than I have ever felt. I left the prayer room and the next two people I talked to both said there was something different about me without even knowing what I had been up to. Since that release people tell me I look beautiful and you know something… I feel beautiful. I publicly announced that I had forgiven him. With the help of Brandon I was able to stand in front of the whole base and give my forgiveness. I feel free and brand new. THANK GOD! I am excited for the future and to see where the crazy Holy Spirit will lead me in my life.  I know when I go home people are going to see a positive change in me. I have faith in that.

We had a Holy Spirit party last night and we were able to pray for the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Since I can remember people have talked about my hands and how much comfort they bring so of course I prayed for the Gift of Healing! I pray God can use my hands to heal people of other nations and that I can be used to glorify Him. It was awesome.

We started the process of planning our outreach. I am on the team to Mozambique! I pray we will get to spend some time on the YWAM base in Jo-burg before we head into Mozambique doing local outreach there. I hear its really dangerous but then again… Isn’t flying around the world to spread the word of God dangerous in itself? I have no fear of this. Dur. It seems that the people of need are usually in dangerous places right? Haha. Nonetheless I am excited to start the process and get more information. Right now all I know is that I need to get my Yellow Fever shot and pills for Malaria. I also found out that like 99.9% of people who go where were going get worms. So we have to have dewormer pills upon return. Super fun…. Gross. Anyways! We also get to spend time with LOTS of children. There is a possibility that we will go to this one village where the oldest person is about sixteen years old. Everyone else has dies from AIDS. I pray God will let our team be a comfort to those children in this stage of devastation.  Pray for that. I will find out more information. Also, if anyone has an idea of fundraising or knows anyone who would like to donate let me know. I need to raise about $1,200.

We are heading back to Zwelethemba in an hour and I am so excited to see the little girls I met last time. The families there are beautiful and I am thankful we have this opportunity. 

This week has been a little rough though. Out of the whole dorm room I managed to drop my already broken iPhone into a small bucket of water.... I realized I have to buy skirts because that's all women are allowed to wear in Mozambique. And I have been really wanting chocolate milk. haha. But in all seriousness I am emotionally drained and I am so excited I get to sleep in tomorrow! 

Thank you all for the continued prayer and please keep in touch. I miss everyone!!

Thank you Erin!! Blessings to Zwelethemba!!

Wow this week was awesome! So jammed packed with lots of stuff.  Today was the last day of teaching from Erin. Oh and I found out not only is she from California, but she’s from the Sacramento area! She lives in Cape Town now. So inspirational! She really challenged us to really open our hearts to God’s work. We studied verses from the old testament and really dug deep into them through the week. It spiked some deep debates among friends and we all had to really look at how we defined God’s love. Most of us, including myself, had our eyes re-opened. I never knew that I had put God in such a small box. I have always heard that thrown around… That people “keep God in a box.” I never knew I did that till this week. I realized there is SO MUCH MORE than I had ever even imagined. The hunger I have to know and read and study and live by God’s word grew and grew. I had contemplated taking a Bible Core Course (a three month long intense bible study provided by YWAM all over the world) but I know now it wont be enough. Thank God there is a nine-month program (don’t worry mom and dad, no decisions have been finalized…) I am so thankful that she was our first speaker because she has me thinking constantly! All day!! Its great and it really drives my hunger into a level I didn’t know was possible!

We also got to spend time in the town Zwelethemba yesterday. That is where we will do our weekly local outreach and I am so excited. Its poverty like you haven’t seen it. You know those pictures in magazines you see of people in houses made of rubbish and held together by a couple rusty nails? That’s this place.. Hoses back to back as far as the eye can see. This town is located just on the other side of a bridge where the nice houses are. It was crazy to go from riches to rags in a short second. The people there are mostly struggling with alcohol addiction and lack of work. We were able to walk around and pray for people who wanted prayer. They are very open to prayer and Jesus so it was easy to talk to them. Most of the kids are orphans and I got to pray for little kids who wanted to “do better in school”. It was really humbling and I can’t wait to do more of that.  I feel like that’s why I am here.

I miss my family and friends so much. I did get a few letters and I am so grateful for that. Man, the drawings from Sydney were so cute and I can’t wait to squeeze her little cheeks!

God continues to move through me and His joy has yet to leave.. I don’t think it will! My hunger for Him grows daily and I can’t wait to see what he has in store for me next! Tonight is an all worship night where we will pray, worship, sing, dance and do what ever else the Holy Spirit wants to do till the early morning lead by the ever so wise Wisman (that’s his name). I am so excited!! Such great fellowship and lovely laughing attacks are much enjoyed.

We got to watch a performance done by a dance team from Brazil. They did stomp and worship. So awesome.  Guys doing back flips and using glowing drum sticks.

Well I’m off to the worship meeting. I know this is a lot to read so I will try to blog more often. I found out today I can pay R240 and get unlimited internet, that’s if it is working… Sometimes it has issues…. Same with the water…. Haha But all is well!

Bless and be blessed <3 <3

Excited for Erin Pennington!

I am so excited to say that we are moving in to the second week of school! This week we will be learning The Word of God and our speaker is Erin Pennington. She is from the US!!! This will be the first week of real lecture! No more orientation! Last week was incredible and I am so excited that we ended it in the beautiful Tweede Tol. Even though we had car problems on the way back, we were able to have a dance party in the street while listening to Girl’s Just Want to Have Fun. It was nice to relax Saturday and grow closer with some of the people on base. I sat and talked with Wise and Emanuel for a very long time. Emanuel was able to really brake down walls in my heart and Wise gave me encouragement about my next step after DTS.

Church was incredible yesterday, even though we had a mix up in location and ended up walking around town a half hour in the wrong direction. We made it there in time for the message and it reminded me a lot of GVCC. The music wasn’t nearly as amazing as Cameron and the team at GVCC but it will do! There was an ad talking about the teen ministry and immediately God put it on my heart that this was something I needed to be doing. I miss my high school kids from home so much! Then during the service they made an announcement that they needed leaders so if any one from YWAM was feeling called then they should get more info. Praise God! So I will be attending their meeting on Friday in hopes of finding my place with the youth of that church. So excited!

All is well though. I feel incredible. Almost like I have been put into rehab for my heart and I tell you… It is so working. I can feel the hurt and bitterness be replaced by fellowship, joy and true worship. I don’t have much time to blog because I have to go to class but there is so much on my heart that I can’t wait to share!

Be blessed. 

Soaking in the Spirit and Fellowship

Last night I witnessed something that I have never seen before. I found out later that "Soaking in the Spirit" is something you don't usually do till you have completed most of your DTS. I will learn about it more in Holy Spirit week in a couple of weeks but for now I got a taste and I can't wait. It's complicated to explain what happens but all I know is that I feel like a whole new person. I was broken down... sobbing over the events that haunt my heart. Dark things from my past that I had suppressed and tried to ignore. I know that feelings can just be pushed inside and locked up for no one to see. Even though most of my family would call me an "emo-memo" or just an "emotional wreck" no one has seen the darkness of it. My heart had been shattered into tiny glass pieces that I felt would never truly be molded back to the original. I had given up, lost hope, and was living with regret, fear and anger. But last night I encountered God for what he really is and my sobbing was transformed into an uncontrollable laughter that still I can't understand. I looked at Vickey laughing till my stomach ached and shouted at her "Vickey!! I think I can be happy now!!"

As I woke up today slightly confused and questioning what really went on, I felt complete again for the first time in years. I had to talk about my past and for the first time in what seems like forever, it was actually the past.. I was no longer dwelling on it. I can think of memories and not be sickened or heartbroken. True relief.

If on my first day of DTS this can happen... Then words can not express how grateful I am for the next five months to come. God has broken walls and I am complete with a heart that is in rapid recovery and ready for what He has to share.

As I go into this week refreshed I pray that God will speak through my lectures. DTS is Discipleship Training School. I really hope and pray that God will use me as a disciple. My continued prayer is that he will use my hands and feet to touch the people of nations. Tomorrow we start the process of choosing where our outreach will be. I have been praying my heart out and requesting prayer so that God will make it perfectly clear where he needs me to be. I feel called to Africa so Mozambique feels like the right choice but since I've been here Brazil has been thrown in my face everywhere? How can this be?? Please pray for the finances and a direct confrimation from God for me.

Over all. This has been incredible. All is well :)

Blessings.

My first week is already over!!

It is an absolutely beautiful morning. The heat isn't bad at all and there is a nice overcast, perfect time for pictures. I'm sitting in the courtyard on the YWAM base and it still hasn't set in that I'm half way around the world from where I lived. I'm not sure why I feel so comfortable already but it must be because I'm finally, for once, in the right place at the right time. I can't explain to you the peace and comfort I have found. I think that's what scares me the most.... The fact that I am already in love with this place, this culture, and being submerged in God's work.

Its extremely amazing to sit in a room and talk about what God has done for us for hours. I live in a room with 12 other girls and across the hall are 10 boys, all here for the same reason. It's so awesome to be surrounded by individuals who are on fire for God and want to grow in their relationship. It's refreshing to be able to stand perfectly comfortable and pray with my fellow sisters. We pray for unity because it's no mystery what can happen when 13 girls live so closely together.

Today will be the first church service that I will get to attend and by the sound of it I think it may be similar to my home church Green Valley. But I will be missing the fellowship that I have been so graciously shown the last eight months at GVCC. I am excited to experience a new church and a new way of life. I love that I can travel half way around the world and be able to worship God the same.

I thank God for this time and this opportunity. It has been a huge blessing and I am so excited to see what God has next.

Oh YWAM....

I have been in South Africa for a week now. I am so thrilled to be here till June. I was told I should blog so hopefully I can be a witness to others. Thank you to everyone who has supported me. This is the start of an incredible journey and I would love you all to be a part of it.