One Week.

Welp,

The time is fast approaching for us to go on outreach.  It is so crazy to think that we are in week 11 of lecture phase and just next week we will all be leaving this oval which has become home.  I feel like every day I ask myself, how in the world did I get here?  How did I get to this place?  How crazy is it that God has brought all of us here to this exact place at this exact time with each other?  God definitely knows what He is doing.

So as lecture phase is coming to an end, I'm finding myself wondering - what have I learned?  I think a better question is what haven't I learned?  Each week has brought on a new topic and a new set of challenges and new things to think about, new things to learn.  Each week has been so different for so many reasons.  If I were to write down everything that I have learned, this would be the longest blog post ever.  So I will leave you with some bullet points that will not do it justice but that's alright...

• I have learned so much about who I am and who God is.  So simple but so true.  
• God knows exactly what I need and He knows exactly how to provide it for me in a way that is absolutely perfect for me.  
• God is a gentlemen.
• God loves me more than I could ever know.  He wants me just to BE.  It is out of my becoming that I will do all the stuff.
• I like running.
• When I ask questions, God answers.
• God just wants me to know how much He loves me. 
• Everything I have has been given to me by God.  It is about taking everything that I am blessed with and turning it around and turn it into a blessing for someone else.
• I can rest contented in His love
• I can trust the process and find beauty in it.

There is so much more but it is hard to condense it all into this.  So that's just a little taste...

Here is just a bit of information about what is coming up in the next week.  We are in our last week of lectures which is about Stewardship - taking care of something that belongs to someone else.  Next week we will begin having more of a focus on outreach prep.  My group has been accidently split into 2 different groups - the first group of just 5 people will be leaving on Tuesday April 5 and the rest of us will be leaving on Wednesday April 6.  We will be flying down to Cape Town then get on another plane to Durban which we will be at for the first 3 weeks or so.  (Hopefully by the time I get there I will be able to fill you in more on what we will be doing and all that).  It is coming up so soon, it's hard to get my head around it.

Things to pray for:

• A safe trip for both of the groups - to get there safely with all of our stuff.
• That we would be such a strong team and such a strong support for each other.  Without that support between all of us, we won't be able to do what God wants for us to do.
• Finances - that each person would be able to come up with the right amount of money to pay off all of the fees and flights.
• That we would be able to put all trust and faith in God during this time.  This is such a big thing and we most definitely need God in it all.  Please pray that we would completely rely on God because none of us are perfect and we can do nothing on our own strength.  It is in our weakness that He sends us out.
• Please also keep in mind the other half of my DTS who will be going to Tanzania and Kenya.
• The people on my team:
• Leaders -
• Gareth
• Cindy
• Louise
• Kaylan 
• Laura
• Teresa
• Helena
• Karina 
• Sarah
• Maria Augusta 
• Kellie
• Caleb
• Colby 
• Duane

Thank you so much for your love and support during this time.  I am definitely excited to see what God is going to do with all of us in the coming weeks.  Please continue to pray for us as we head out from the safety of the Oval.  Pray that we would be such a strong team and would really be able to put into practice everything that we have learned during our time here so far.

Thanks so much!