Long Time Coming

Well hello!  I would like to apologize for my absense.  Internet and time has been a bit hard to come by.  But here I am.  I just wanted to give a little glimpse into some of the stuff I've been up to.  Bear in mind, this is the very short and condensed version...

HOPE FARM: Lots of work - shoveling, picking, wheelbarrowing, dirt moving, path-making, weed picking, duck, goose, and chicken chasing, lots and lots of animals and children...That sums it up pretty well I'd say.  Our time here was definitely more practical work and it was cool to be able to see the change that we made on the farm to make it better for them.  Also a part of it was a place called Thembisa.  It is a place for grannies who take care of orphans can go and so we helped pass out food and had opportunities to pray for them.  They are incredible people with such a passion for God. 

KIBBUTZ EL SHAMMAH - A little bit of practical work, working with kids in the primary school and preschool and a bit at the high school, prayer walks, little children hanging on to me and shouting my name wherever I went, more praying and fasting, a bit of worship leading and testimony giving.  It is most definitely a heavy place but it was the most amazing community feel.

NEWCASTLE - This is my current location.  Bascially, I love it here.  We are working with a newish church called Tyneside Vineyard so we have been helping them out in a few different areas. 

DAYS OFF - Climbing Table Mountain in Cape Town - fantastic.  Getting rained out at the Indian Ocean beach, cramming in buses, exploring Newcastle and surrounding areas.

This absolutely does not do it all justice but I just wanted to give a quick overview of things.  More will come later, don't you worry.

Layovers and New Socks

Wednesday morning:

5:30AM - meeting in the lounge

6:00AM - Begin driving to the airport

10:00AM - Flight leaves to Dubai

6 hours later - Arrive in Dubai - the biggest airport I have ever been in my entire life.

13 hours later - leave Dubai for Cape Town.  At this point we don't smell so good and Teresa wanted new socks.  We get on the plane and what should the flight attendants give us?  Some new socks.

9 hours later - Arrive in Cape Town and run through customs because our flight was going to leave in 45 minutes only to find out it was delayed - the first time I have been happy for a delayed flight.

2 hours later - Leave for Durban

Another 2 hours later - Arrive in Durban in what felt like the shortest plane ride ever.

So finally - Thursday night, we all arrived at Hope Farm.

More to come later.  But pretty much, it is beautiful here and I like it a lot and I'm excited for all that we are going to get to do here.

    

Leaving

Well hey there.  Just a quick little update - I am leaving tomorrow.  That is weird.

5 people from our group are already on their way to Africa and the rest of us leave tomorrow morning.  We will be leaving the oval at 6AM.  Again - that is weird.  We start with a 6ish hour flight to Dubai and then we will be sleeping in the airport for 12 hours (oh so exciting) and then another long flight to Cape Town and then a not as long flight to Durban.  We should be there sometime by Thursday.  That's a lot of traveling... So yeah, just wanted to let those that actually read this know that after today, I will be phoneless with limited internet access.  I'll try to keep this as updated as I can.

Please pray for me and the rest of my team and that God would get all of us there safely and would continue to just bless us as we begin this crazy new adventure.  I'm excited and scared and anxious and nervous and every other emotion you can be.

Here we go...

  

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!

   

5.6 Miles

The Lord your God is with you

He is mighty to save

He will take great delight in you

He will quiet you with His love

He will rejoice over you with singing.

~Zephaniah 3:17

I like running.  I like England.  I like running in England.

Last Saturday a good friend, Catherine, and I decided to go for a bit of a run together.  So this is where we went.  As you can see from the above picture - It was quite the run.  It was quite the beautiful run as well.  The sun was shining beautifully and we just were running through the open fields and through the woods and it was just really great.  5.6 miles.  Let me just say that again - 5.6 MILES.  Yep, that happened.  That's a lot for me.  I may have been hurting a bit the next day but it was totally worth it.

There was one point during our run that I felt that I needed to stop and walk for a second.  But Catherine looked over and said - Really?  Are you sure? - Then I thought, you know what?  No, I don't need to stop, let's keep running.  So we did and I was fine.  Just one of the many reasons why it is so much better to run with someone else.  It's so much better to have someone there that will push you and encourage you to know that you can do it no matter how difficult it may be and no matter how much it may hurt.  I ran without stopping so much more that day then I ever thought I could.

It is our certainty of knowing His unrelenting love for us, even in the midst of our weakness and failure that leads to the fullness of His life. ~He Loves Me

This is something that I have been learning a lot this past week.  Learning how be secure in His presence knowing and trusting that He loves me so much.  That is all that He asks of us.  His deepest desire is not all of the stuff that we can do, but it is just for us to be, for us to be in a deeper relationship with Him, for us to be loved by Him and love Him in return.  It is in our becoming that we will do all the stuff and we will do it with the confidence that is found in Him.

There are so many times that I feel like I can't do something because it’s hard or I’m tired but I know that I will have God running right next to me saying - Really?  Are you sure you want to stop?  I can look over at Him and realize that it is because of His love and the confidence that I can find in His love that I will be able to push through no matter what it is.  I'd say that's pretty great. 

Such confidence we have through Christ before God.  Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God.

~2 Corinthians 3:4-5

   

Peanut Butter Popcorn

I've been cooking/baking a lot since I've been here.  From delicious flapjacks to Pick-a-berry Boo cookies and more.  This weekend brought on a new snack -

Peanut Butter Popcorn

SOOOOO GOOD.

PMA

PMA PMA!

OOOO I FEEL GOOD, EH!

HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY!

EH THAT'S OK THAT'S OK THAT'S OK!

PMA - Positive Mental Attitude

Here's how the song works - one person is the leader and shouts out one line incredibly loud while doing a little dance with it and the rest of the group echos.  One day, I had the privilege of being the one to lead this fantastic thing in the middle of Harpenden.  Which was quite a shock to the residents of the town because someone complained to the police that we were being loud - or rather that we were being happy very loudly.  Pretty funny.

I've been here on the oval for over 7 weeks now.  Crazy.  It has gone by so fast.  But I am absolutely loving it here.  I am learning so much about so many things and I am just so excited for what God is doing in my heart right now and what He is going to continue to do with the rest of my time here.  Which is only one month! I am leaving for South Africa in just one month!!!  How did this happen?

Speaking of South Africa - here is a little update for you on what's going on with that.  My team has booked our flights already so it's set!  We will be leaving for South Africa on April 6.  That is so soon I can't even believe it.  We will be going to 3 different cities there - First we will be in Durban for almost 3 weeks helping out at a place called Hope Farm.  This is a place for kids who have no where else to go can go and find shelter and a loving environment.  Then we will be going to Worchester.  Then we will spend a bit of time in Cape Town then come back to the UK for the UK outreach portion which will be about 4 weeks.  We are still trying to figure out where we are going for the UK part of it.  So that's pretty exciting.

GOD LOVES YOU AS YOU ARE BUT TOO MUCH TO KEEP YOU THAT WAY.

It's hard for me to summarize all of the things that have been going with me over here.  I feel that every day brings something new and exciting and challenging.  

God knows what is good and perfect for me.  He will provide whatever it is that I need in the perfect way that He has planned out just for me.  And He is so excited for those plans and so am I, whatever they may be.

   

FRISBEE!!

7:00AM

Staff Vs. Students

We may have lost 6-10 BUT....

We sure looked looked good.

OUTREACH!!!

I KNOW WHERE I'M GOING FOR OUTREACH!!!

On Thursday morning we were given 2 choices on which to pray about...

ZIPPERS

OR

BUTTONS

We had no idea what the places were or anything, we were just to pray and ask God which one to choose. Almost immediately, even before we all went out to pray, I instantly thought  - ZIPPERS - So I still went out to pray and I just felt like I knew it was going to be zippers and that was it.  I wrote it on a piece of paper with my name on it and handed it in.

So where is it that I'm going?!?!

SOUTH AFRICA!!!

Yep that's right - I'm going to South Africa with a fantastic group of people.  It was such an exciting time to find out where we were going and who it was going to be with.  It's so crazy how much things have changed in this group in the last month since I've been here.  I love it.  We have all been split into 2 groups and the other group is going to Tanzania.  So all of us are going to Africa!

For those that don't know, I'll explain a bit about what outreach is.  It is pretty much the whole purpose of the DTS.  It is an incredible opportunity to go to another place and take everything that we have learned here on the Oval during the lecture phase and put it into practice.  Let me tell you, at least for me, I have already learned so much since being here.  I have learned so much about myself and about God and just so many things and I know there is still so much more to learn.  I've already been able to see ways in which I can put into practice what we have talked about in lectures throughout my day.  It's pretty great.  

So for outreach, there will be 6 (I think) weeks of being in South Africa and another 4 weeks somewhere in the UK.  We haven't figured out where that will be for each of our teams...I have no idea what exactly we will be doing or where exactly in South Africa we will be but still - I'm going to freaking South Africa and that's pretty amazing.  

God speaks to me through my gut instinct.  I've been noticing this more and more with being here.  I think that almost from the beginning of being here, I just had a feeling that I was going to be going to some place in Africa.  We spend some time in prayer one day a couple weeks ago about where we should all go for outreach, waiting to hear from God where He wanted us to go and I saw 2 pictures in my mind of something that I felt was Africa.  I just kept thinking - I'm totally going to Africa and my heart started racing and got really excited.  And guess what?! I am.  God is speaking to me whether I realize it at the time or not but I know that He is and it's so exciting.  

  

Original Design

REST CONTENTED IN GOD'S LOVE

So one day last week, it was sunny.  Just the one day...So I decided to go for a walk in the woods.  There was a lot going through my mind about a lot of what we were talking about in classes this week and so I just went to get away and be alone and just think.  So I just kept walking not knowing where I was going but just sticking to the path and I happened to stumble upon this beautiful tree.  I was hooked. All I wanted to do was just look at it.  I don't know what it is, but I love trees.  I especially love the ones that are just in the middle of nowhere. There is just some kind of joy and contentment that comes from them. 

This past week was freedom week.  The basic premise of freedom week is simple - FREEDOM.  It is really looking into who God made you to be.  A big part of that is breaking down the strongholds that are created in our hearts by the enemy and allowing God to tell us who we are and who we will be instead of believing the lies the enemy tells us.  It really brought to light all the lies that I tend to believe about myself and it is so encouraging to know that those aren't true, that's not what God thinks of me.  So that is what we were prayed for.  We were able to all be prayed for in a small group in the chapel and just hear from God who He created us to be and what those strongholds in our lives are.  It's called "Original Design" and we've talked about that a lot here.  

Original Design - who God says that I am.  These are the things that God thinks of me, these are elements of the person that God has created me to be:

I AM RELIABLE, DETERMINED, POSITIVELY AGGRESSIVE

I AM COMPASSIONATE, EMPATHETIC, CONCERNED

I FEEL OTHERS PAIN

I WORSHIP GOD IN PRACTICAL WAYS

I SEE THE BEAUTY OF THINGS FROM A DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE

I AM A BEAUTIFUL SUNSET - RELIABLE, DEPENDABLE

ALWAYS SETS IN THE WEST BUT ALWAYS A DIFFERENT COLOR

I BRING JOY

I CAN SEE GOD MOVING IN EVERY SITUATION

I AM A PEACEMAKER

I AM A SPEAKER OF TRUTH IN LOVE

I AM KNOWN AND LOVED BY GOD

GOD WILL PROVIDE WHAT IS PERFECT FOR ME

That is who God created me to be.  Now the important part is truly believing that all of those things are absolutely 100% true because they come from God.  It's so easy to lose sight of that.  It's so easy to sink back into the lies that the enemy tells because his plan is that we would not reach our original design.  But God's design is perfect and good and right.  Everyone has an Original Design.  It is different for each person but that is the beauty of it.  God created each one us differently and He knows what is perfect for each of us and He will give us opportunities to be that person.  I don't know if I became completely free from the strongholds in my life because as with everything else in my life...freedom is a process.  It will come.  I just need to wait.  REST CONTENTED IN GOD'S LOVE.  It is when I am in that place that I can be all of those things that He created me to be, because those things come from God.

I am here for a reason...I came to learn more about who I am and who God is and this is just the beginning of this journey and I can't wait to see where it takes me.