Home Life

It's crazy to realize that I've been home for a month. 
Life is getting normal. I can't decide if I like that, though.
Some moments I am so thankful to be in America where everything I need or want is basically right at my fingertips. 
Some moments all I want is to get out of here.
It's hard going through something so drastically life-changing for half of a year, then coming back to life as it was 7 months ago.
At times it's as if nothing has changed... as if I never even left.
    In Israel, our leaders talked to us about struggles you experience back at home and how to deal with them when they come up. But you can't really know how to deal with things like that until you experience them. So that's what I'm doing now--experiencing. I feel like my second time around I will be more prepared for all these jumbled up emotions. 
I'm handling it all pretty well, though... I am extremely blessed to live in a place where I'm surrounded by supportive friends and family and a church that understands exactly what I'm going through. I love that.
    I started working at the same job I left. What a blessing to be able to do that... no big deal, just jumping right back in there like I took a couple weeks off. 
And just when I started thinking "this job isn't giving me enough hours...I need something more", my sister asked me to teach her boys preschool. YES!
   God has been opening doors for my future as well! I love how trusting in the Lord and being patient produces good fruit. I'm not sure of the timing quite yet, but it looks like I will be heavily involved with YWAM Paris and a ministry in Romania in the near future! I'm very excited. I'm still in prayer about the details of all this though. God keeps connecting the dots, but I can't see the big picture yet. I know whatever it looks like, it's going to be awesome!
 Sometimes I can't fathom why in the world the Lord blesses me like He does. But He promises blessing when we respond to Him in love and obedience. That fact still blows my mind. 

  I'm reminded of times in my childhood where God showed me He was my provider. I could go on and on about the many times where He has showered me with gifts, simply because they were desires of mine and I asked.
I won't go into the whole story, but I dreamt of having a certain kind of dog, and I prayed I could have it. One day I opened my front door and the exact dog I had asked for, so precise she even had the spots in the exact places I had drawn them in on paper, was sitting on my doormat, waiting to come in. I'm not even kidding you. 
  Then there were multiple times I had needed some new clothes, voiced my need to my mother, then that week someone gave me entire trash bags full of clothes my size. 
I remember Mom saying to me "Wow, Steph.... you'd better be prepared for what God wants you to do for Him in your future... it must be big."
That scared me.
I didn't want to do anything out of my comfort zone.


Fast forward 10 years or so....
I can't wait til the next time God puts me outside of my comfort zone!
Where is the adventure in staying in a safe place? 
Where is the fulfillment in life if it's not in doing the Lord's work?
I can't think of a better way to spend my time.
I can't think of a more epic life than living out Matthew 28:19.
It terrified me at first, but now that I've gotten a taste of it I'm addicted.
I want those big plans He has for me. I want every one.

Israel!!!

YES! I made it! I graduated!!! On the Mount of Olives!!! How epic is that?!
I can't tell you how good it was to see the other teams in Israel. 
And how amazing it was to get to walk where Jesus walked. 
I feel so privileged to have gotten to do this. It was a dream come true for me. And YOU helped me do it! 
THANK YOU!!!!

Being in Israel was different than I expected it to be. We toured many places Jesus walked and it was sad to me how religeous they've made those places. It was hard to imagine Jesus being there when there are big gaudy churches built on top of every thing. But it was still great to learn about the history, read the Bible in those places, and get a feel for what it was like in His days. Most of the time there was spent touring the Holy Land and having our last lectures. We also had a couple of days devoted to team presentations which was so good.

It was awesome having my momma there with me the whole time too. It was such a blessing that she got to come to my graduation and also get to know all my friends!

I know I'll add a lot more to this post later... I'm still trying to process everything and it's hard. I think it'll take me a while to really debrief myself and get my head out of YWAM mode...

Judy and I are in the Athens airport right now, waiting to board our flight to Rome. 
We'll be staying there a week resting and spending time debriefing with God before coming home.
Pray for me, though, because honestly, I don't have very much money left at all.
I haven't been worried about it because the Lord has been speaking to me over and over that He is my Dad and I don't have to worry about what I will eat, drink, or wear. He takes care of the birds, and how much more valuable am I to Him than they are? He's told me to enjoy this week of rest and trust Him to take care of everything for me. 
So I'm hopeful and expectant that He'll take care of my needs! :)
I want to come home with some crazy testimonies of God's provision. 
Prayers are very appreciated.

And for my last announcement.......
*drum roll*
I come home on August 20th at 5pm!!!!!! YAY

See you all soon!

Me with my school leaders, Julie Anna and Jeremy, after receiving my graduation certificate

Momma :)

Turkey

Gobble Gobble :)
  Oh, Turkey was amazing. What a beautiful country. And so much more different than the other Asian countries we've been in! It's more European--I loved that about it. The biggest difference was the muslim community surrounding us. "To be Turk is to be Muslim", the Turkish people say... and that was one thing we knew wasn't right. All around there are people searching for something more to life than that quote. More than the empty religion they were born into without choice. So that was our prayer for Turkey--freedom.
  During our 20 days in Turkey, my team mostly went on prayer walks, worshipped, and served the community in various ways. There are very few Christians in Turkey, and because of that, very few ministries to work with. The first few days we worked with a ministry called 1881 which focuses on sharing the gospel to all 81 provinces in Turkey within 18 months. We had the opportunity to go to a province that had never heard the word of God. It was such an adventure! We had to be a little sneaky handing out Christian papers/booklets/DVDs/Bibles, and even got caught by the police once... but by the grace of God they let us go :)
   My favorite part of our time in Turkey was when we worked at Maria's Cheesecakes shop. (Check out her website here!) We spent a full day (which was not long enough at all) helping Maria make deserts, clean her shop, and whatever else she needed. Being in a place where everyone is muslim, this shop was a breath of fresh air. As soon as you walk in the door you feel Jesus. I felt like I was in an old movie where the world is a perfect place. The look on people's faces when they walked through that door was priceless. Everyone knows there's something different about that place--about Maria.
 Her vision is to provide muslim women with a good job and a peaceful working environment, and to see muslim people get to know Christ through her business. And it's working.
 Being there inspired me more than anything I've done on outreach, I think. To see someone living a completely normal life, but also living her dream, in an unreached country... she is a great example of what a long-term missionary is. And OH, the food she makes.... incredible. She taught me how to make apple pies from scratch. I wish I could work there. I know I would learn so much.
    The rest of the time we were in Turkey, we walked around many ancient ruins where Christians lived hundreds of years ago and prayed and worshipped in those places. I struggled with feeling like I wasn't doing anything meaningful, but God showed me that doing what we were doing was important for the future of Turkey. We were part of paving a foundation for missionaries to come into that land. I had never thought of the work that has to go into a place before it's possible for missionaries to frequently come and go. So it was a different type of ministry, for sure.
  I saw many beautiful places in Turkey... I feel privileged to have gotten to go.
 The team had a week of debriefing there. I couldn't believe that outreach had ended. I still can't. I'm excited for the next season of life, but also scared of not knowing what's next.
Thank you for every one of your prayers for me during outreach,,, I seriously don't know if I could have made it through without them!

China

I cannot believe my outreach in China is almost over! The time spent in this country has gone by the quickest, for sure. I've really enjoyed it! I cannot go into much detail on here unfortunately, but I will go over some highlights.

Before coming to China, our team was desperate for a shift. We needed to get out of the religious spirit we were in. It felt gross. The performances and going, going, going every day might have been effective for many people, but for us--our hearts were no longer in it. Ministry shouldn't be that way. So coming to China has been very refreshing. We've had a lot of time to spend together having fun, and also resting. Much more Jesus time as well. It's been great. Our main ministry here has been building friendships and encouraging the Christians here. We've gotten to share in small house churches (I preached my first sermon!), we have been to many universities helping students with their English, and we've also played with kids in a few orphanages. The people we have made friends with are so amazing! It's been awesome spending quality time with people rather than performing for thousands and not really getting to build deep, meaningful relationships. 

The other day we went to a place called Eden Ministries and encouraged the women there. These women are rescued from a life of prostitution and sex trafficking and given a chance at a better life with Jesus. It was a beautiful time. We also visited an elderly/mentally ill people's home and a leper colony. It's heartbreaking the way these lovely people are treated... they live in secluded villages and are basically outcasts. But visiting them and sharing the love of Jesus with them has been a huge highlight for me.

So over all China has been great :)

Pray for my stomach though, it hasn't been liking the food lately... so oily!

We leave for Turkey on Monday! Pray for us as we share God's love to the muslim community there.

Thank you, once again, for your support!!!

Steph

Philippines...

It's me again!

For the past three weeks I have been living in the Philippines!

Our home base is in Surigao City, but since arriving we've gone to eight different islands. 

   This experience has been very surreal for me. I never dreamed I would ever do anything like this.

A lot of times I had to stop, look around me, and say to myself "I am really here right now. This is not a dream, it's my life." I kept reminding myself to be present. I found myself many times getting caught up in the schedule and almost missing the little moments that were meant to be blessings. 

For example… traveling to each island, we squished in these little canoe-like boats with motors and splashed our way across the sea. I remember one time taking a mental step back thinking "Uh, whoa. How on earth did I get here. I'm in the middle of the ocean and I can see straight through the turquoise water down to the sandy bottom. And if you asked me to point to where I am on a map, I would have no clue." And then all I could do was smile because there was no doubt in my mind that I was only in the middle of the ocean going to a tiny island I never knew existed because God had specifically chosen me to be there.

   At first, when arriving in the Philippines, I was experiencing some crazy culture shock. It was difficult shifting to a poverty-stricken country. I was not prepared for it at all. You learn to cope though, and live life just like anyone else here. If they can do it for a lifetime, I can do it for a few weeks! 

There are so many stories I could tell which include various details of this amazingly simple island life. But I'll save most of those for when I'm home :)

  The main thing I've learned from the time I've spent here is to be thankful for every little thing. Everything I have back home is a luxury. A flushing toilet is a luxury. Toilet paper usually isn't an option. A shower is a luxury. Hot water is a luxury. I could go on and on and on…

  One week we stayed on an island called Nonoc. 14 of us lived in the small guest house. Filipinos are very hospitable and try to give their guests the best they have. So our little house was fancy compared to the rest of the neighborhood… It had doors, windows, solid walls, a tile floor, a sink, a stove, a table, one bed, and two toilets. There was a water faucet next to both toilets, but other than that there was no running water in the house. The power only came on for 3 hours at night, just long enough to cook dinner, clean up, and get ready for bed. We washed the dishes by filling up a bucket of water and sparingly using it to rinse. And we slept on the floor, along with some gecko creature friends! And you know what? We had it gooood. It was an awesome week. I realized just how little you need to live. We had luxuries in that house that no one else on the island had. Everyone else lives in homes made of sticks, banana leaves, and metal boards. And they're happy! That's what I love about this place… everyone is full of joy. And what's better than living on an island where you can go jump in the ocean at any time of the day or pick a coconut off a tree, cut it open and eat it? And the CHILDREN! Ah! So many! Everywhere! 

  For ministry we traveled to different islands, sharing the gospel through house to house ministry, crusades, and partnering with churches. We also stayed in an orphanage for a few days and served them in different ways.

  Everything was very flexible, which was great. It gave us room to build relationships and for me to spend a lot of time ministering to the kids! 

One night I'll never forget… I had 50 kids gathered around me, as many of them touching me as possible, walking down the street. We were singing some Jesus songs I taught them with smiles on our faces. Once we got to the guest house, they all got quiet and eagerly looked at me to see if I would keep playing with them. Thinking fast, I remembered a game Pastor Phil taught me when I was a kid called "Down By the River". It took a little while for them to understand how to play because of the language barrier, but once they got it, it was so fun!! They LOVED it! As we were playing, more kids from the neighborhood showed up to watch. I spent at least two hours playing and singing with them and talking to them. And Jesus was there.

  Gosh, I just have so many stories to tell… I'm trying to work out which ones I want to cram in this blog…

Hmm, another really memorable moment for me was at the orphanage… we just finished worship and a sermon, and we were going into a prayer/ministry time, and the Holy Spirit washed over the room and all the kids burst into tears. We went around the room holding them one by one in our arms, stroking their hair, praying for them, speaking life into them, crying with them. It was beyond words. Such a sweet time… God ministered to each of their hearts personally. I loved being a part of that.

  Looking back, I experienced some pretty unbelievable things in the Philippines. What I'm taking away from this country is the value of relationships. That is something I want to take back home. Here, time doesn't matter…like, at all. People are what matter. Really getting to know each other is far more important than any schedule. I looked at a clock maybe 5 times the entire time I was here. It was awesome! 

  Also, I learned from being here that all God needs from me is to obey Him. I would find myself striving too hard to make Him happy and never feeling accomplished or content. I realized that I was putting good works in front of the two greatest commandments--loving God with everything in me and through that love, the love that He pours back into me-loving others as myself. He showed me during my time here that ALL I ever have to do and all I have to worry about is love. The rest will just happen and fall into place. If I'm loving the Lord with everything I have, and being obedient to whatever He calls me to, He will work through me in amazing ways.

I realized that I had been spending too much time worrying about the tasks set before me and how I could reach out to people during ministry, I neglected my relationship with the Lord. After He showed me that, I was heart broken. I can't do anything well without seeking the Lord first, and making my alone time with Him most important. The whole team realized that along with me, and found that to be the reason we were having difficulty being unified. But ever since God showed us that, and we repented and made a declaration to put Jesus first--no matter how crazy our schedule gets--we've been doing a whole lot better! So God is good. All the time. 

We found out that through us, God has connected the dots all over the Philippines, healing broken relationships, and ministering to other people around the world who we've never met. I love how God works in huge ways when we do simple things that seem small to us. 

  He's been showing me a lot of other things about intimacy with Him and finding new ways to hear His voice. It's been a bumpy ride, but things are getting a lot smoother. I'm excited to see what He has in store for China and Turkey in July. 

  Please pray for us as we travel to China tomorrow! I can't share many details about the next four weeks because we'll be in closed countries. Pray for the hearts of the people we meet to be softened to the Holy Spirit, and that strongholds will be broken. Also pray for the spiritual battle we'll be flighting. God has been showing me things about the spiritual atmospheres in these next countries and it's going to be pretty heavy and hard to deal with at times. 

I just want to bring the Lord's perfect peace, love, and joy along with us as we press on through the last half of outreach! 

Hopefully I'll get to update before arriving in Israel, which will be the end of July. OH AND GUESS WHAT my mommy is coming to my graduation!! AH! :) Okay I'm a little excited. 

Well that's all I have time for. Thanks for reading! I love you, friends!

Shalom! 

last days in Taiwan...

hi there, it's me again :)

tomorrow is our last day here, then we're off to the philippines!

this past couple of weeks in taiwan has been really great. also one of the most stretching, challenging, and growing times for me. never in my life did i think i would preform for 4,000+ people in two weeks! 

our schedule has been crazy. our busiest day we preformed at a school, then each of us taught 3 different english classes, and after that we had 3 more performances back to back. that's not including all the extra stuff we did, such as eating huge meals with new friends and visiting the principal's house! 

we've grown a lot as a team, figuring out how to communicate and work together to show the love of God through our performances. we've ministered to many grade schools, a military school, a prison, a nursing school, a coffee shop, churches, and more. we were even on tv! 

personally, this has been a time of stepping out of myself and learning to trust the Lord to be my strength. before now, i had never even given my testimony to a group larger than 30 people. now i'm speaking in front of hundreds. starting out i was scared out of my mind, but this has grown me even closer to Jesus because he is my comforter and he gives me the words to say. eating up the bible and praying is all that keeps me sane. now when i get up in front of a crowd, i'm excited to share because the joy of the Lord is my strength! i've found that sharing with kids is my favorite ministry. especially middle schoolers/early high schoolers. i remember exactly how it felt to be that age and my heart goes out to them. i want them to find their confidence and identity in Christ. 

the other day we ministered at a youth group which had a lot of girls who are from broken homes. they're being kept at a shelter right now because living conditions at home are too bad. after the service, we had a time for prayer. i got to pray for a lot of them. it was amazing to see how, even though there's such a big language barrier, that means nothing to God. many of them were moved to tears through our prayers for them. it touched my heart to see some of the girls opening up and asking questions about God. i loved getting to share the heart of God with them and see their faces change when i told them about who he is and how much he cares about each of them.

it's been awesome seeing the Spirit move through us. we bring so much joy to crowds of people and i love watching it happen! my favorite time was the nursing school we went to. 600 energetic young women, ecstatic about us being there, all hanging on every word we spoke. they made me laugh so much. before going i was feeling a bit burnt out and tired, but they totally changed that for me. i get such a high off of feeling the energy of a crowd watching you preform. it's gooood! :)

yesterday was pretty hard for me. my best friend ever got married and it killed me not to be there. even though i was able to skype it (THANK GOD for skype....), it was an emotional day. i wanted more than anything to be home. it reminded me of the story in the bible when John the baptist was beheaded and Jesus wanted to be alone to morn, but instead he ministered to the people. that's what i had to do... thankfully Kaitie wasn't beheaded hahaha but it was one of the most important days of her life and i wanted to be there more than anything. God is good though, and his grace is powerful! he is the best comforter.

this experience here has been one i will remember forever, for sure. 

tomorrow we enter a very different atmosphere and very different ministry. i'm excited. God has shown me some visions for the philippines and i'm looking forward to what he has planned for us there. looks like we'll be constantly surrounded by little children! :)

not sure if i'll have internet connection there...most likely not... but i'll update my blog again asap.

prayers are very appreciated for the next 3 weeks as we do the work the Lord has prepared for us in a new country. 

thanks for reading, and thanks for supporting!

love and blessings!!!

stephanie

In the fastest elevator ever in the 2nd tallest building ever!

Angel and me at the military school

Military School

on a train!

on a train. I got to give a printed copy of this photo to him :) he loved it!

Francesca and me doing a skit at the nursing school :)

Ni Hao Ma!

HELLO from Taiwan!!!
It's beautiful here. So full of life and color. I love it!
Our ministry is going great so far... we're off to a good start.
We're mostly working in schools, sharing the love of Jesus through dramas, testimonies, and music. We have a band! It's so easy to play music with this group of people and our worship just flows out of our hearts in the form of lovely sounds :) I'm really enjoying stepping more into the performing arts. It's always been something I've enjoyed... even though it scares me to death sometimes I love overcoming fear and using my gifts. So now I get to do it for Jesus! It's awesome!
This country is very free as far as religion goes. The Taiwanese are open to talk about religion and accept your opinion. There is still a lot of idolatry though. There is a spiritual battle going on for sure.
These people have such sweet hearts. They really value relationship. I wish I had more time to get to know them, but we're only spending two weeks here before moving on to the Philippines. I hope to come back one day.
I want to see breakthrough here! Pray that more and more people's hearts are opened to accept the perfect love and salvation of our Lord.
Sorry I can't go into much more detail. I'll update again soon :)
Enjoy some of my photos!
Peace!

Right outside my doorstep :)

countdown!

So, I'm leaving my beautiful New Zealand home in three days....
I have such mixed emotions about this! I have been very nervous about leaving and not being prepared for outreach but in the past couple of days God has been giving us all a sense of excitement and readiness that can really only come from Him. I'm learning to understand the fact that He equips the unqualified. It's scary to think about preforming dramas and music, and sharing testimonies and sermons in front of thousands of Asians over the next 3 months. But I know for a fact that His Spirit in me is what qualifies me to do that. When trying to prepare for this I stress myself out way too much. It shouldn't be something I try to pull just from my own knowledge...because if that were the case the whole outreach would be a failure! The Lord has been teaching me to trust Him to guide me and give me the words in the moment. And in the mean time, soaking up as much of the Word as possible is key. It's a learning process, but I'm feeling more confident everyday. 
Everyone is packing up, and I don't know what to think about it. I can't believe three months has gone by. I have loved living here and getting to know these people. It's weird thinking about the possibility of never coming back here. I hope I do one day, but I'm preparing not to. In three short months I have gotten so much out of this place that I will carry with me the rest of my life. I have also sown into this community and all over this country. It is part of my inheritance! So I'm having a little bit of a mournful experience preparing to leave. 
Excitement is overshadowing that feeling more and more though... I'm about to take a huge step out and shift gears completely, and I cannot wait to see what God has in store for the next 4 months of my life before returning home.


So, while I'm gone, I will try to update my blog with some photos and maybe a story here and there, but unfortunately I won't be able to talk about what I'm doing in detail or where exactly I am. Once I'm home and I can personally share with you my outreach experience, but until then I have to keep everything on the DL. 
If I ever coveted your prayers, I do now more than ever! Your prayers are VITAL to this outreach. Please keep my team in prayer as we go out to be the hands and feet of Jesus and trust Him to guide us. My team is so talented, and I know God is about to use us in huge ways. The unity we have, the love, the joy, and the peace we emanate is powerful. It will affect many lives. So pray for us! We want to give people a taste of Jesus's perfect love. We're about to take all that was poured into us during this lecture phase and pour it out in Asia! If you'd like to pray for the individual people on my team their names are: Adrian (leader), Becky (leader), Francesca, Aaron, Allie, and Ruben. 


Also, if you feel led to donate to me or to our team, that is a BIG help. It's a way to sow into the Kingdom! Your donations help us keep going :)
Oh, on that same note... 
Our school received over $60,000 NZD in just over one week, which covered everyone's outreach fees. God is so faithful! He provides!!!


I'm saving up some money for after travel, which will be in Israel, Greece, and Italy. Judy and I will be traveling together, doing a little ministry in these places for a month before coming home. If you're interested in helping us out with the funds for that, you're awesome! Pray about it :)


Okay, that's all I have until I'm half way around the world. AHHH!! PRAY FOR ME!!! 
Thank you everyone, so, so much. I LOVE you!


Stephanie

so close!!!

Hey, it's me again... just under two weeks before I leave for outreach! I'm very excited but also freaking out a bit... time has gone by way too quickly. It's getting even more busy around here in preparation for leaving on top of intense lectures and homework. It's been difficult trying to keep my head above water lately. I'm learning more and more, in new ways, about trusting the Lord through every circumstance. Every day I have to say "God, I trust you. I choose not to worry and to have faith today. I believe that you are trustworthy and faithful." I continually have to pay attention to Him and declare truths about Him or else I break down and start going crazy. That's for real. The past few weeks have been hard. Emotionally, physically, mentally, and spiritually draining for sure. He's all that can give me real strength and comfort. 

A couple weeks ago He showed me many areas in my life that I didn't know I was struggling with, and I was able to bring those things before the cross and lay them down. But laying them down is something I have to do every day. I don't want to carry around burdens and stress. It isn't worth it! He's teaching me to give everything to Him--the good and the bad--every single day. Once I do it He gives me peace and joy, and that IS worth it. 

Last week was Holy Spirit week which was awesome and refreshing! Kim and Sonja came from Nashville to teach us and it totally felt like part of home came to me. I was loving it! I learned a lot about prophetic giftings and dreams, and also about the different characteristics of the Holy Spirit. It was great getting to let go and be myself with the HS again. It was much needed (:

So today is the deadline for outreach fees. A lot of people still don't have money... one of my team leaders doesn't have any of his outreach funds. We know he's supposed to be on outreach with us--God has confirmed it many times. But for some reason the money just hasn't come in for him. My other leader still needs a little money as well.

This has been such a learning process for me. I've never worried about money until this year... It's hard when you're down to the wire, have been praying and praying, and still people don't have their money. It's been a constant struggle for me! God talks to me about it all the time, though. He's teaching me to trust him with other people and stop stressing because I can't control it. Also, I don't have to understand everything. But it burdens my heart when people have a need that I can't fulfill. So, I've been learning more about replacing worry with intercession. It's good. 

That leads me to this question... Would you like to help? God is about to use this school in BIG ways. We're nation changers! We're about to go out into 17+ nations and spread the gospel and the Father's love. And guess what, you can be a part of it! Every person here needs the prayers and donations of others to be able to go out and be the hands and feet of Jesus. If you're interested in helping, hit the donate button at the top of this page! I like sharing (:

Thanks so much for all of you who have been supporting us. I really, really appreciate it!

I'll update again before leaving for Asia. 

LOVE!

PEACE!

Stephanie 

Church Serving Week

Hello again!
A lot has happened since I last updated... but I'm just going to write about this past week. God has done so much through us in a small amount of time! Last Thursday, our school broke up into our outreach teams and went out to serve. My team (Becky, Adrian, Francesca, Ruben, Allie, Aaron, and me) drove to Gore which is about 7 hours away and helped out at an Easter Camp there. Easter Camp is a huge deal here in New Zealand--it's what all the cool kids do! The one we were at was smaller...probably 200 teenagers. The Easter Camp the 3 other YWAM teams were at was HUGE. Around 4,000 teens went to that one! 
Anyway, on the way to Gore my team got to intercede for the camp and spend time just asking the Lord to use us as his hands and feet in any way needed. We had no idea what we were going to be doing there, but we were ready to serve and bring Jesus's love, joy, and peace! We ended up helping with dishes, games, small groups, counseling, cleaning, and more. One day we even got to teach a class about mission work! The theme was Micah 6:8 which is doing justly, loving mercy, and walking humbly with our God. We talked to the kids in depth about the verse, then preformed a skit we made up (hopefully I'll get that on video and on YouTube soon, it's great!). Then we got to talk to them one on one about things they enjoy doing and how they can use those things to glorify God and impact others' lives. It was awesome! 
It was really cool getting to know these kids and being part of their culture and learning more about New Zealand through them.


  One day during a break, our team decided it would be fun to go on a little adventure... so, we hiked down a hill, crossed the road, went down to a river bed, and gazed a while at a huge, mountain filled, sheep farm. One of the most beautiful places I've seen (especially because the sun was starting to set). Unfortunately I didn't have my camera, but I took a few pretend photos for sure! 
We decided looking at it from afar wasn't enough... so, we walked across the river on a fallen tree branch and out into the field. Then, when that still wasn't enough, Adrian and I decided to hike up this huge hill so we could get a better view. I thought it would be impossible to get to the top because of how steep it was... but no, we climbed up a dead pine tree, through the bushes and thistles and such until we successfully reached the top! I felt invincible! 
The view was totally worth it. I cannot fathom how a person can live here and not know God. It blows my mind! He's so beautiful. And the stuff He makes is pretty cool, too. :) 
On the way back down Adrian thought it would be a good idea to chuck this huge log down so he could make a better bridge across the river. So while I was focusing on climbing down this dead pine tree, avoiding getting bombarded by thorny plants and falling to my death, Adrian was, oh you know, just carrying a huge tree branch. It was hilarious. I couldn't stop laughing! 


  The rest of camp was super fun; full of games and getting to know people! It was sweet getting to be more personal with people because it was a smaller camp. I loved getting to see some kids' lives changed in just a few days! A lot of them accepted Jesus as their Savior by the end of camp! I was blessed to get to be part of that... I was also extremely blessed by the appreciation our team (they called us "The Beautiful YWAMers") got from the staff. They thanked us countless times in different ways. It felt so rewarding to serve! I love that feeling!


  After driving back 7 hours, we got to sleep at the base. It was nice to get to shower and sleep in my room! Tuesday morning we packed up the van once again and headed over to 0800 Hungry for the second part of church serving week! 0800 Hungry is an amazing organization that provides food for people in Christchurch who can't afford groceries and are in need. They keep all of the names of people they give food to and pray for them. It's seriously awesome. They are running very low on staff and they're in a large warehouse with loads of supplies coming in all the time. We spent the week unloading boxes, organizing shelves, cleaning, filling hundreds of boxes with food and supplies for families and getting them all ready to send out, and delivering. This was definitely the highlight of my week. I love being used in practical ways to impact the kingdom of heaven! 
Yesterday Allie and I got to deliver boxes around Christchurch. We saw a lot of the red zone (where the earthquake has damaged the city the most). We delivered to people who were obviously in bad situations, and it was hard seeing that. I wish I could have done more for them. Giving them food was meeting physical needs, but all of them were obviously hurting spiritually and emotionally too. We interceded for them in between runs and prayed for their personal situation. One lady let us pray with her, that was cool!
So anyway, it's been a great week... I've worked really hard and I'm exhausted, but man, I'm so thankful I got to do this!


Of course, when you're being used in great ways by God, Satan tries to come in and bring you down. He's attacked me in many ways this week, but because we've been so in tune with the Holy Spirit and unified as a team in prayer and worship, I've been able to catch it right away and pray against it. I've felt discouraged many times by lies and thoughts the enemy puts in my head but thank Jesus I came right back at him every time with scripture and prayer! It's been awesome having this new love for the Bible! It's my sword! BAM! Take that!
Another thing is sickness, though. I've realized this week how blessed I've been in NZ with my health! I came here and my allergies haven't bothered me at all. But working in that extremely dusty, dirty warehouse, I can hardly breathe anymore. Haha it's bad! It was hard at times pushing through it and working as hard as possible, but I kept a good attitude and got through it. And it felt goooood. Also, I didn't bring good shoes... and after working every day from 8:30am to 5:00pm on a hard concrete floor with no foot support, my leg started cramping up so bad! 
AH. I am extremely grateful to be back "home" with nothing to do tomorrow but rest. :)


  All in all, this week has been incredible. I saw God answer prayers left and right. We really made impact everywhere we went and in everything we did. Oh yeah! Before we left last week we had no idea where we would be sleeping or how we would even have food to eat... so our team prayed that God would provide and we declared that we trusted Him as our Father to give us more than we needed. Well, guess what? We ate four huge meals a day and I slept in one of the coziest beds ever. Yep, that's my Daddy. We asked, and He literally dumped blessing on us. I ate so much this week I don't remember what it feels like to be hungry... I think I gained 5 more pounds... Ha!!! so...many...Tim Tams....... 
hahaha okay that's all I've got.


BLESSINGS!

Chaos.

It's April? Man. Okay. Where do I start...


The past month has been insane, for lack of a better word. 
I've been learning a lot about myself that I haven't ever thought about before. Rest is very important in my life! I cannot function properly without it, as well as quiet time with God. Finding time to be alone has been one of the biggest struggles for me. I didn't realize how much these things fuel me.
I had no idea how much energy it would take everyday sitting through lectures, interceding, worshipping, having deep, meaningful conversations, thinking about outreach and how you and your team are going to minister, journaling, reading books, writing reports, writing sermons/testimonies/skits, and being around awesome people 24/7. On top of all this, I do many, many other things, and try to fit in time to spend with God by myself or talk to my family/friends at home. It's exhausting.There aren't enough hours in the day! I have no trouble laying my head down and going straight to sleep every night, that's for sure. 
And yet, through the chaos that is Youth With A Mission Around the World Discipleship Training School, God has been speaking to me and giving me treasures that I will carry with me all my life.


I am learning more and more about my identity in Him. I've never struggled with that, but there's always room to learn more, right? He's my Daddy and I'm His daughter and He LOVES blessing me with gifts and love and joy and more. I just have to hold His hand and go where He leads. I'm really passionate about the Father's heart now. I could go on and on about this subject :)


I am also learning how to grab hold of the roots of sin in my life and get rid of them before they turn into ugly weeds. Recognizing sin as sin and getting rid of it immediately. It's rewarding and refreshing.


I'm learning to find my rest in Him, no matter what the circumstance, no matter where I am.
Tuning into the Spirit when I feel myself sinking is key. 
While I was in Auckland to get my passport (which is a huge story in itself...), there was a lot of spiritual warfare going on around me and it was weighing heavily on me. The only way I got out of the fog was prayer and tuning my radio to His station and listening to His voice. God has a lot to say when you tune in... 
He's been calling me out as an intercessor lately. The idea of me being an intercessor used to scare me. I couldn't see how that would work at all--I didn't even like praying! But what I've learned is, it isn't about me. All I have to do is be willing and open for God to use me as His instrument. Once I accepted that concept, He started giving me bits of His heart. It's hard to describe, but seeing the world through the Lord's eyes is intense to say the least...
He's been filling me in on little secrets of His lately and a lot of the time it causes me great heartache. His love is so deep and wide for His children. The only way I can get the weight off my heart and keep from crying is to give it back in prayer. Then He replaces it with joy again. This is something I never dreamed I would be doing! I love how He works. I love getting to know Him. I love that it's all about relationship.


Another cool thing that has happened in the last couple of weeks is THIS:
Before coming here, I hated reading the Bible (I hate reading anything.) I longed for a hunger for His Word, though. I prayed He'd give me a desire to read it and to know it. After getting my small group leader to pray with me about that, it just happened one day. I open up my Bible and I just want to soak it all in. It's like I've never read it before. Even the stories I grew up learning have a completely different meaning now. I see the depth of it. I LOVE IT! Yesssssssssssss. So good!


Okay, so now I'll jot a few fun facts down before I finish.

• Friday night photography/journaling outreach in Christchurch has been such a blessing. We've been able to talk to some awesome people and love on them and encourage them. Going on "treasure hunts" with God is one of the funnest things you can do! The people He's lead me to and the places He's told me to go have been truly amazing.
• My Asia outreach team is the bomb. I'm seriously stoked to see what God will do through us. I can't put any details online, but man oh man am I excited! God has me in the perfect group and I know without a doubt I am where I'm supposed to be right now.
• Sandflies can go rot in hell. I'm serious. I'm ticked off at the little poopoos. They're everywhere and they won't stop attacking me.
• The weekend trips have been SO GOOD! I've found a lot of rest during Saturdays at the beach or a coffee shop, or a hostle. It's funny--I've already traveled aaaallll around the south island and some of the north island in New Zealand. 
• I have a problem with eating. I eat all the time here. It's bad. I've gained 5 pounds. And I can't stop buying chocolate. I think they put marijuana in it... just kidding. but not really. ok i am. but there's something about it...
• My after travel plans have been changed a billion times and I still don't know what's going on. It's quite frustrating, but at the same time God has taught me a lot about trusting Him through it. I know I'm eventually going to Romania to work in an orphanage. And I'm very excited about that. But who knows when that will be exactly... I'm just going with the flow like He told me (:

So, that's all I have for today. Sorry I haven't been updating as much as I said I would. Hopefully after reading this you have a little bit of an understanding as to why. Time for bed!

Goodnight, world. (or good morning, back home!)

I thought I'd have time to blog more often, but I seriously do not. It's hard to even find time to study!

This week has felt like an entire month. So, to make it short, I'll just write down the highlights of each day!

• Monday - Alison Lam started teaching! We had community work duties, and I got to work in a lady's beautiful yard. There is such good spiritual food wrapped up in that work!
• Tuesday - I sang in a microphone for an hour. And had fun. SAY WHAT!? Also, repentance at the cross. Crazy powerful, awesome stuff. So many people were set free of sin!
• Wednesday - It is prophetic word mania in this place. I love it! Small groups met--we went to a coffee shop and talked about grilled cheese ;)
• Thursday - Outreach prep! We found out the routes! I'm hoping to get to go to either Far East Asia or Africa. Can't wait to find out where God wants me!
• Friday - Alison's last day. She brought some powerful words this week! It's been overwhelmingly incredible. We had communion around the cross and then danced to really loud worship music :) Then, Friday night outreach! I WENT TO THE BEACH! yesss. it was so gorgeous. We talked about the photography outreach we're starting next week. I'm super excited. It's totally my kind of ministry, man!
• Saturday - Cave Stream and Castle Hill. Basically, this day was the most adventurous I've ever experienced. I LOVED IT!
• Sunday - I miss my church. Enough said.
• Monday - We watched a movie about miracles God does. And it had videos of people getting gold dust sprinkled on them and people getting instantly healed. Freakin cool! We did small groups today instead of work duties because of the rain. We had a tea party. And a dance party. Dalton started teaching tonight. He is such a gifted teacher! I'm stoked to hear what he has for us. 

That's all I have for now. I really need to study the map of Asia. I've got 47 countries to memorize by Wednesday! AHH! More later, goodbye!