Power from on High

Wow, what a week I've had.
Last weeks speaker was Kip Gaines. He covered a few different topics. The first was the "broken heart of God."
He talked about what grieves God's heart: Man. What hurts Him more, wickedness or ignorance? What hurts Him the most is when we leave Him out of our lives. Then he started to talk about the death of Christ. I've heard that story millions of times, but this time was different and i thought about it in a whole light. Christ suffered a lot of physical pain, but that didn't even compare to the emotional pain He felt when He was separated from His Father. Jesus died of a broken heart.
That day left me feeling pretty heavy.
The next day we talked about the Holy Spirit. It was awesome. After going through scripture after scripture, we had a ministry time. And we prayed for people who wanted to be baptized in the Holy Spirit. Kip called it receiving "power from on high." It was awesome.
Since that night some of my friends have been meeting in the prayer chapel for worship and prayer. God has been moving. I have never felt closer to Him. When i'm in His presents it feels like minutes. Better is one day in His courts, than thousands elsewhere. God is awesome.
I love my friends and all that God is doing in me.
Don't forget to check out my pictures on facebook!
Love you guys!

I'm goin' to Kenya!

Yes, its really true. I'm going to Kenya, Africa for outreach. I still can't even believe it. A couple days ago our leader wrote down 4 destinations on the black board: Kenya, South Africa, Peru and for the safety of others i cannot name the 4th. My heart was pounding so fast. How could i make the right decision? Everyone of those places sounded equally amazing. When I began to pray, the only thing that i could not get out of my mind was Kenya. God had spoken and thats where i'm headed. I'm crazy excited!

I've finally processed the lecture from two weeks ago. Our speaker talked a little about John Lenin from the Beatles. Now let me explain why. John grew up in an abusive home and his mom beat him if he didn't want to go to church. He wasn't a popular kid in school and was picked on a lot. And when this hurt child grew up into a hurt man, he started something that changed thousands of people for worse. Sad story?

Imagine what could have happened if someone just showed him love. Real love. What if that love changed his life and in turn he changed other people's lives for the better?

That idea challenged me. Many of you know that i have a heart for kids. When i look at a child i always wonder who they will be when they grow up. A doctor? A pop star? The president? How can i make an impact on these kids now? I need to love them. Thats my calling.

I'm still working on processing last week, but I'll get there :)

Last night a few of my friends got together to worship under the stars. by the end of the night there were almost 10 of us. It was so amazing to be outside, looking at the stars and know that God holds the universe in His hands. I am so small, yet he wants to hear us sing. I love that God is so big that I will never understand Him. He blows my mind!

Well, thats it for now. I'm very sleepy and I have to be up before six tomorrow to go work out. yeah!

I love you guys!

Week two.. God's Love for a Hurting Generation

Last week was awesome. Our guest speaker was Dave Gustaveson. He is actually an old family friend. And he wrote a series called "the reel kids." I read all his books twice when i was younger. So I guess you would say I'm a huge fan.

I can't sum up this weeks topic into one sentence. We covered so many different things.

The first day he talked about becoming child like. We went over the verse in Matthew 11:25 where it says that you must become like a child to enter the Kingdom of heaven.

We also talked about forgiveness, freedom in Christ's love, Spiritual warfare, how to be a godly rebel, and the importance of waiting.

God spoke to all of us this week. I'm still trying to process everything I learned. God is doing so many good things. He is building a solid foundation in my life and I'm very excited about it. Hopefully I'll be able to put things into words once i process things a little bit more.

Its been raining like crazy here. But i love it. I would really love a pair of rain boots so i would stop ruining my shoes. Thats about it for now. I'll write more next week. Thank you for praying for me. I really love it here!

The first week

I'll start by saying that it is wonderful here and I love my school!

I arrived at the small Tyler airport and was greeted by my best friend Julie. I was so thankful she was there to help me through my first night. Everyone was really nice, but i still felt like crying all night. Thankfully the first night quickly went by and the next day was much brighter.

I'm quickly making new friends from all over the world. My team is made up of 42 people. Most of them are from Korea. We also have some married couples and families. Its a really diverse and fun group. I'm finally getting names down!

This whole week has been orientation. We did student introductions, work duty training, and a tour of the base. My work duty is cleaning the whole girls dorm. Its a lot, but the girl i do it with is awesome. She loves to clean!

We have a very structured schedule, which keeps us busy. The weekends are a little slow when you don't have a car. But you find things to do. its too hot to be outside unless you go swimming in the lake. Its gorgeous here. More green then I've ever seen!

4th of July was awesome! We volunteered at this big carnival thing. It was held Father Heart; its a home for unwed, expecting mothers. Its a really wonderful ministry.

This is our first official week. I'm excited to see what God's going to do!
Thanks for all your prayers!

I posted pictures on facebook. http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=184153&id=538970899&l=fc577cfa49

Oh, and if you would like to send me letters here is my address:
YWAM Tyler DTS-KK
PO Box 3000
Garden Valley, TX 75771