Soooo....I'm going to THAILAND!!!!

Yep it's true, I'm going to Thailand & another country in Asia! I am so stoked it's not even funny! Thank you Damian & Mindy for introducing me to Thai food, because I LOVE it. & if I find anything having to do with Pongpanick you guys will definitely be the first to know. :) There are 6 students going, 3 boys & 3 girls, with 3 leaders, Brandon & Angela (& their 2 year old son Noah) & Megan. We are pretty much the dream team. :)
As excited as I am, I am also somewhat nervous. It's crazy to think that in a little over 2 months I will be in a different country. INSANE! :) I'm definitely praying for the countries I will be visiting daily so that God may prepare the way & the people's hearts so that when we arrive God's harvest will be ready. This morning during intercession God really spoke this verse to me. It's Isaiah 6:8 & it says, "Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, 'Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?' And I said, 'Here am I. Send me!' " That's what I've been saying over & over & guess what...I'M ON MY WAY!
Our speaker this week is great so far. He teaches through telling stories & it's really amazing. You really teach yourself because you take his stories & apply it to your life. He's been stressing the father heart God has for us. His challenge has been for us to fall head over heels in love with God.
Sorry this is short, but I just wanted to let you all know where I was going. Pray for me as I continue to pray for you. LOVE YA! :)

Against All Odds

Winter DTS

(Students & Staff)

Sorry I haven't written in almost another week. It just gets so busy here it's hard to catch a break. I've totally settled down & am loving every minute of it. I'm not going to lie though, I've gotten kind of homesick. I miss my family & all of my friends. Alright....let me think of anything exciting that has happened this week:

Monday through Wednesday our speaker was Jim Steir. He is the founder of YWAM Brazil. Talk about a man with experience...WOW! His stories were very encouraging and just made me more excited for our outreach. His topic was "Against All Odds" & he talked about Hope, Faith, & Love. Some of his great points:

• Your job in life is not to be like anybody else...but to be yourself, totally unique.
• God doesn't guarantee that we'll win all the battles, but He does guarantee we will win the war!
• Whether you persevere or not determines your success.
• The biggest problem in missions is that missionaries quit.
• Faith & Love spring out of Hope. (Colossians 1:4 &5)
• As you move forward with hope, your struggles will begin to fall off.
• Even when you don't know about it, when you open your mouth & share the Gospel, you release the glory of God.
• Many Christians treat God like a salad bar, taking the things they want & leaving what they don't.
• Don't let religion get in between you a & God.
• Religion does things for God, faith does things with God.
• Faith, Hope, & Love feed each other.
• Unless you're in a love relationship with Jesus, you can't really love anyone else with real love.
• Love is essentially a commitment of heart to the other person's well being.
• Love is ALL that God wants from us.
• 1 Corinthians 13...AMAZING! :)
• All real love must have God as its source.

I had an absolute blast with the kids during AOS (Acts of Service) this week. We played with playdo a lot. Noah, Brandon & Angela's son, actually ate some that turned his poop neon green. It was lovely. Noah declared World War III with Mekeisha's daughters, Jasmine & Maya. I just love the terrible twos. Wednesday Noah fell asleep in my arms. That's when I decided I loved him again. HAHAHA...just teasing, I always love him. Here are some fun pics of the kiddies:

Me, Noah, & Jasmine

Lucy

Maya

Sir Noah

Ingin

Me & Ueng Joung

Me & Noah

Me & my partner Hali

Our speaker for Thursday & Friday was Mekeisha Smith again. Her topic was "The Nature & Character of God." Some of her powerful points:

• You know you're getting the truth about God if He gets bigger & closer to you.
• Stop reading the Bible like it's a book of fairy tales, Start reading it like you're catching a glimpse of the min & heart of God.
• Truth has hardly nay power to affect your life, it's your perception of the truth that affects you more.
• God's call to us is not one of success, but one of obedience.
• It is unbefitting to the King for the world no to know who He is.
• Whenever God calls you to something, there's always enough grace for it.
• God is not like us, we can't judge Him by what we see in people.
• Only questions find the answers they seek.
• If the Son of God can be a servant, we're no different.
• Love will carry you where duty will not.
• You need to love God as much as the person you love least.

Thursday night we found out the locations of our outreach. There are 2 different places. 6 students can go on the one and the rest go on the other. Drum roll please................

A special country in Asia & Thailand

or

Columbia

Only 6 students and 3 staff can go to the 1st one because it's a closed country & it's very hard to get in. I chose to go to Thailand & that one. But they haven't told us the final team for this location because more than 6 people wanted to go so the staff is praying about it & will let us know Monday. So I'll let you know. Exciting huh?

So today...when I was out running errands & trying to get Noah's birthday present since he turns 2 on Monday...I got in a car accident. Yep, my very first car accident...I rear ended a lady in a Taurus. It was terrible. She was extremely nice though & told me not to worry. We were in stop & go traffic & I was only going about 10 mph. Her car was fine, it just cracked my bumper a bit. Praise God that was all. :)

Well I just want to say miss & love you all again. & don't miss me too much. :) I'll try to get more pics & let you know where I'm going for sure on Monday. Thanks for all your prayers & support.

Week Uno

I am doing a Discipleship Training School through Youth With A Mission in Salem, Oregon. It's broken up into 2 parts. 3 months of training where you get to know God & 2 months of outreach where you make God known.

What a week! WOW! I just finished up my first week here in Salem, Oregon and it has been fantastic. I arrived at the YWAM base last Saturday after a 13 hour drive. My mom made the trip with me so I wouldn't end up in Canada or anything since I'm so bad with directions. It was hard to say goodbye to my her when I took her to the airport...her little baby's all grown up. On the ride back to the base reality when I realized I was completely alone. Just me & God. But it's not really like that, the staff here are incredibly nice & my fellow students are so much fun. This really is going to be an experience I'll never forget.

My usual weekly schedule consists of:
7:15-8:30 AM: Wake up, get some breakfast, do devotions.
8:30-10:45: Class (This week Mekeisha Smith Spoke on "Hearing God's Voice & Worship)
10:45-11:00:Break time (Coffee and donated Starbucks baked goods)
11:00-12:30: Class
12:30-1:30: Lunch
1:30-3:00: Class (or Bible Meditation, varies by week)
3:00-5:00: Acts of Service (Childcare, I get to watch Staff's kids, lots of fun)
5:15-7:00: dinner, break time
7:00-whenever: Outreach, The Rising, or Worship

The Monday and Tuesday we spent mostly on introductions. But Tuesday night after a community church service called "The Rising" we went to down town Salem and I had my 1st experience with street evangelizing. I was with Angela & Angie (2 of the staff) & we met these two young women outside of Starbucks. It was really great to get to know them and build a relationship before we shared who we were & what we were about. After speaking with them for about 2 hours, they allowed us to pray with them & we went our separate ways. I think we planted a very nice seed in their hearts.

Wednesday through Saturday we had this really amazing speaker named Mekeisha Smith. She totally rocked my world. Some of the things she talked about:

• Maybe God's not calling us to the spotlight atop the platform, maybe He's calling us to the places no one wants to go.
• God is EXCITED to be with us and talk with us. (The Prodigal Son)
• A poem about understanding the Bible: Read on Read on Read on Read on Read on Read on Read on Read on Read on Read on Read on Read on! :) Nice poem huh?
• Sin & disobedience serves it's greatest purpose in reminding you not to do it again.
• He didn't save me to use me, He saved me because He loves me. Period. That's it.
• Be willing to be the answer to your own prayer.
• It is not God who needs to be convinced to do something, it's me.
• "I believe that God has called enough men & women to reach all the yet unreached tribes of the earth. It is not God who does not call; it's men who will not respond." -Isobel Kuhn
• Knowing God is like trying to hold fir to your chest, you're gonna get burned...but He never said it would be easy, just that it would be worth it.
• Don't ask God to come, He's already there.
• What is God worth to you?
• Love, worship, obey.
• Worship involves sacrifice.
• "A gift without a heart behind it is a bribe. Goad asks for our heart, no our gifts." -Samuel Chadwic
• She also taught about the tabernacle the Lord has Moses build and how it looks today which was AMAZING!

I have a couple prayer requests if you don't mind:

1. Please pray for my sister and her car. It won't start yet again & she doesn't exactly have money to drop on a new engine or anything.
2. Also pray for me financially. I have $1,200 so far for this whole experience. But the school is $2,900 and the outreach is $3,000. So if you do the math I still have $4,800 to go. I know God will provide, but prayers would be nice. :)

Sorry this is so long, but I had a lot to tell. I'll keep you posted on how things are going and the great works God is doing. I love you & miss you all! God bless!