To all the sweet people who supported me in any way last summer as I spent 3 months in Mozambique. I was so blessed by your prayers and financial giving! Praise the Lamb! Enjoy this video! :) Sorry it's so late!
Friday, February 18, 2011
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Body of Christ
So sorry that I am just now updating my blog! The Lord told me to update it even after I came home... but i definitely haven't had time. But, here we go. Hopefully I can update more often about me continuing to process things from this summer and what the Lord is doing in my life.
One morning, my last week in Mozambique, my roommates and I walked to the beach and watched the sunrise and just sat and had time with the Lord. Oh how I wish I could do that right about... NOW! I miss my roommates, the beach, and watching the sunrise over the Indian ocean every morning! One this particular morning the Lord showed me something really wonderful.
Look at the first picture. You can't see the entire picture but it's of a man who is all alone(even before the sun came up) reeling in the net that has tons of fish in it. The next picture is when some friends of his came and helped him pull it in because he had so many fish to pull in he couldn't do it on his own.... he needed help.
Let's look at this from a spiritual standpoint.
"Come, follow me," Jesus said, "and I will make you fishers of men."- Matthew 4:19
When we follow the Lord, He will make us fishers of men. We are called to go out and get them. But, we can't do it alone. We need each other. We need other believers to help us "reel" them in. We are all part of one body so we need to be unified and encouraging and helping "the other part of your body" bring in the lost(fish)!
"For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit.
For the body does not consist of one member but of many. If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. If all were a single member, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, yet one body.
The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable we bestow the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together.
Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it."
—1 Corinthians 12:12-27
"And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near."
—Hebrews 10:24-25
Just something to think about....
much loveeeeeeee!
Emm
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Saturday, July 24, 2010
Just wanted to post something because I'm not too sure when I'll be able to blog again!
The past couple of days have been really good!
Thursday after I got online, I got to hang out with our dorm girls(we're all assigned a dorm house of african girls to invest time in). We painted their toenails, danced, and made a dessert. They were so sweet and so appreciative. they gave me a big hug afterward and just told me thank you, thank you. It really blessed my heart!
I honestly can't remember what I did Thursday night... i am exhausted right now. Sorry!
Friday-
I had a coffee date outside at a cafe that looks over the GORGEOUS ocean Friday morning. Oh my gosh... it's GORGEOUS!! It was such a good little coffee date with my house mom. I really adore her! She was so encouraging. She just told me how much of a change she's seen in me this summer and how much you can tell my identity is in the Lord. She just really encouraged me. I know I can come home and tell story after story... but my prayer is that I wouldn't really have to say much. That people can just visibly see what God has done in my life this summer.
I had my practical missions and checked the boys eyes from the base. Special note to my cousin, CARRIE.. I am learning so much about eyes. I really love it! It's really fun! :)
one of the girls in my house had fainting spells all day so I took care of her most of the day. Seriously, i love being a nurse. :)
I hung out with my roommates friday night! I so love my house and my roommates! I have learned to cook so many different things! can't wait to cook them for my family and friends.
The internet in town is still not working so I can't promise that i'll be online this week. I have 2 weeks left and hopefully i can get on once or twice before I leave but who knows... it's africa. the cell phones aren't working. Nothing works! Me and my roommate that is leaving a day after me were discussing today about all the things we look forward to going home to! One of those things is stuff always works at home! Oh how beautiful!
Heidi spoke an amazing message thursday on philippians 2:1-18. Let's just say, we were all on our faces WEEPING. It so slapped us on in the face. But it was so good. I just adore her! I don't think i could ever get tired of listening to her speak!
I had a couple visions thursday during worship. :) One of them was my body on an altar. My flesh was burning, dying. And I have been praying the Lord would seriously kill my flesh because I want to look like Him. Well, that vision really meant a lot to me. 2 Corinthians 5:17 says, "Therefore if anyone is in Christ, He is a NEW creation, the old has gone and the new has come." I want my flesh to die because I am a new creation in Christ. I desire that people not know where I end and Jesus begins because I want to be so like Him.
Tonight, Saturday, a guy is coming to prophecy over ALL the students tonight... and my housemom said he did all of the staff and he like "read their mail". she said it was INSANE how correct he was. Like he hears STRAIGHT from the Lord. She said it's CRAZY. they warned us we better repent for anything before we go... i'm excited.
The next 2 weeks are so crazy! I'll be teaching girls ballet at a kids camp, David Hogan is coming to speak, George Banoff is coming, packing up, graduation, going to class, checking kids eyes, marriage conference, church, saying goodbye to my friends here, oh my gosh... something every day!! But, that's good because it'll make the time pass by quickly!
so, if i don't get to update again I will update when i am HOME!!!!!!!!!! :) Please be praying for me and my family the next 2 weeks. We just long to see each other. I've now been gone over 2 months.
Please also pray for my jaw. I woke up this morning in massive pain. My jaw hurts on the left side. It hurts to chew and open my mouth. I took some ibprophen and that has helped the pain some. I have NO idea what is causing this. I have had 18 teeth pulled and my jaw always hurt when I woke up the next morning and that's what it felt like when I woke up this morning. that much pain. crazy and weird! But i REFUSE to let the enemy win. I am child of the Most High and I don't accept this pain. In JESUS name I am HEALED!!!
thank you to each one of you, again, for continually praying for me and lifting me up! I am so beyond thankful to have this much prayer support!
The past couple of days have been really good!
Thursday after I got online, I got to hang out with our dorm girls(we're all assigned a dorm house of african girls to invest time in). We painted their toenails, danced, and made a dessert. They were so sweet and so appreciative. they gave me a big hug afterward and just told me thank you, thank you. It really blessed my heart!
I honestly can't remember what I did Thursday night... i am exhausted right now. Sorry!
Friday-
I had a coffee date outside at a cafe that looks over the GORGEOUS ocean Friday morning. Oh my gosh... it's GORGEOUS!! It was such a good little coffee date with my house mom. I really adore her! She was so encouraging. She just told me how much of a change she's seen in me this summer and how much you can tell my identity is in the Lord. She just really encouraged me. I know I can come home and tell story after story... but my prayer is that I wouldn't really have to say much. That people can just visibly see what God has done in my life this summer.
I had my practical missions and checked the boys eyes from the base. Special note to my cousin, CARRIE.. I am learning so much about eyes. I really love it! It's really fun! :)
one of the girls in my house had fainting spells all day so I took care of her most of the day. Seriously, i love being a nurse. :)
I hung out with my roommates friday night! I so love my house and my roommates! I have learned to cook so many different things! can't wait to cook them for my family and friends.
The internet in town is still not working so I can't promise that i'll be online this week. I have 2 weeks left and hopefully i can get on once or twice before I leave but who knows... it's africa. the cell phones aren't working. Nothing works! Me and my roommate that is leaving a day after me were discussing today about all the things we look forward to going home to! One of those things is stuff always works at home! Oh how beautiful!
Heidi spoke an amazing message thursday on philippians 2:1-18. Let's just say, we were all on our faces WEEPING. It so slapped us on in the face. But it was so good. I just adore her! I don't think i could ever get tired of listening to her speak!
I had a couple visions thursday during worship. :) One of them was my body on an altar. My flesh was burning, dying. And I have been praying the Lord would seriously kill my flesh because I want to look like Him. Well, that vision really meant a lot to me. 2 Corinthians 5:17 says, "Therefore if anyone is in Christ, He is a NEW creation, the old has gone and the new has come." I want my flesh to die because I am a new creation in Christ. I desire that people not know where I end and Jesus begins because I want to be so like Him.
Tonight, Saturday, a guy is coming to prophecy over ALL the students tonight... and my housemom said he did all of the staff and he like "read their mail". she said it was INSANE how correct he was. Like he hears STRAIGHT from the Lord. She said it's CRAZY. they warned us we better repent for anything before we go... i'm excited.
The next 2 weeks are so crazy! I'll be teaching girls ballet at a kids camp, David Hogan is coming to speak, George Banoff is coming, packing up, graduation, going to class, checking kids eyes, marriage conference, church, saying goodbye to my friends here, oh my gosh... something every day!! But, that's good because it'll make the time pass by quickly!
so, if i don't get to update again I will update when i am HOME!!!!!!!!!! :) Please be praying for me and my family the next 2 weeks. We just long to see each other. I've now been gone over 2 months.
Please also pray for my jaw. I woke up this morning in massive pain. My jaw hurts on the left side. It hurts to chew and open my mouth. I took some ibprophen and that has helped the pain some. I have NO idea what is causing this. I have had 18 teeth pulled and my jaw always hurt when I woke up the next morning and that's what it felt like when I woke up this morning. that much pain. crazy and weird! But i REFUSE to let the enemy win. I am child of the Most High and I don't accept this pain. In JESUS name I am HEALED!!!
thank you to each one of you, again, for continually praying for me and lifting me up! I am so beyond thankful to have this much prayer support!
Thursday, July 22, 2010
…”He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.” Psalm 91:1… isn’t that so amazing! I am dwelling in the shelter of the MOST HIGH and I abide in HIS SHADOW!!! Oh what comfort and JOY!
Last week… week of July 11th was just a good, refreshing week.
Monday- As usual was class then town. Then we had Dennis Balacombe speak to us. He has been a missionary in China for over 40 years. He speaks different dialects in Chinese. He is a very intelligent man that is so passionate about being a missionary in China!
Tuesday- I slept 4 hours Monday night so Tuesday I was EXHAUSTED!!! I made it through class and then laid in my bed all afternoon watching movies, praising the Lord, talking to my roommates, and “nursing” one of my sick roommates back to health. She was super sick… oh how I love being a nurse!
Tuesday nights are family nights! I made fried rice… short random insert…. I LOVE to cook now! Being in Africa has inspired me to come up with all kinds of different things and just have fun with it. I love cooking for myself everyday! Anyway, house nights are so fun! The girls in my house are all so different yet we all get along and just love one another. We don’t fight at all. It’s just awesome! So we just chatted and then we made popcorn and watched “No Reservations”. Such a cute movie!
Wednesday- I woke up at 5 am and just spent time with the Lord. That’s definitely something I’m taking home with me. It makes me SO happy to wake up right before the sun rises and make a cup of coffee and just read the Word and spend time with the Lord. I really, REALLY LOVE it! Like I can’t even describe how passionate I am about it here! Class was really, REALLY awesome that morning! We really experienced the presence of the Lord! Worship was just amazing! Then we did a fire tunnel so God would fill us up with JOY and oh my gosh… it was AMAZING! If you don’t know what a fire tunnel is let me explain. A group of people form a “tunnel” and pray for you as you go through. It’s amazing! I love it! After the fire tunnel we turned on praise music and danced for an HOUR!! It was AMAZING! SOOOOO much fun! We just had so much fun together and with the Lord! I’m going to miss these people that are with us in the school with me.
In the afternoon I went back to the police station(hopefully for the last time!). Then, Laura and I made health food ice cream… YUMMY!!! I cleaned the kitchen… with 11 girls it’s constantly having to be cleaned! After alex and I just sat and chatted. And it was CHICKEN night! And we had movie night… again!
Thursday-
Dennis and Heidi spoke to us. Heidi spoke about the Beatitudes and becoming poor in spirit. It was unbelievably amazing! It says in Matthew 5:3, “Those who are poor in spirit will inherit the kingdom of God.” If you ever become friends with a poor African, or just a poor person you will learn so much from them. Poor people are desperate. They’re humble. They have no back up plan. They’re dependent on someone to help them. They have no other choice. The Kingdom breaks forth for the poor in spirit and for children. Children aren’t self-sufficient. They need help. They are innocent. If they haven’t been abused they know their daddy will provide for them. They have faith. And if you think about that… God wants us that way. God wants us COMPLETELY dependent on HIM! He wants to be Daddy! He wants to provide. He wants us to be humble. He wants us to be DESPERATE for Him to move! He wants us to have faith like a child. The poor are hungry. Are you hungry? Jesus wants us to be HUNGRY for Him to move, to fill us up, to provide, to have more of Him.
We must stay poor in spirit!
Matthew 5:4 says, “Blessed are those who mourn for they will be comforted.” How will these girls that are sold in the sex trade be comforted? How will these girls who are 10 years old and have kids be comforted? (I’ve met entirely too many…and it breaks my heart every time.) How will these boys that have been beaten and thrown out by their step mom be comforted? How will girls in the USA know that they are so loved by Jesus? How will the children in the slums that can’t remember when they last ate be comforted? How will the girl that is manifesting demons be comforted? How will…. Etc. I could go on and on…
Well, the answer is US. You. Me. WE are called to comfort them. WE are called to take them in our arms and love on them. WE. The Holy Spirit is the comforter and He moves through us. By being the comforter it keeps you poor in spirit because you are always desperate for the Lord to move through you and fill you up more!
Just something to chew on….
Friday- Oh this day was FULL. I usually have Friday mornings off just to sleep, rest, and spend time with the Lord but that didn’t really happen…
I woke up, spent some time with the Lord, made breakfast, got dressed, visited a friend, and came home and…. Found out we had an ant invasion! EW! Ants were everywhere in our house! We have 3 rooms… one room is for our house mom. One for 5 girls, then my room which has 5 girls in it. Well, the other girls room had a good bit of ants in it and mine only had a few. Except for my suitcase which has been against a crack in the door since I’ve been here… my suitcase had about 50 ants on it. Ew. BUT, our house mom’s room was FULL of ants. She had about 200-300 on her bed… NO lie. And we don’t know why we have them. We clean our house every day and we had NO food on the floor or anywhere in an open area. We had to take EVERYTHING out of our house, sweep, mop, then spray inside and outside. It was disgusting. Ants were everywhere and then there were worms. BUT, we cleaned it ALL out and they WILL NOT be back in Jesus name! We think they came from the banana trees that are behind our house. They were big black ants. Ugh…
After cleaning, I had my practical mission which is checking the kids eyes on base to see if they need glasses. Friday was the day to check the older boy’s eyes…
We had a prayer meeting Friday afternoon for the whole base to pray for God to move in the area of finances for this ministry.
Then Friday night my color group and another one had dinner with our school leaders, Nathan and Sarah. Nathan and Sarah are AMAZING. I really just adore them. They are so precious and just love the Lord and are so filled with Him. They just ooze love and honor for each other and for others. Nathan made us chicken curry! It was really yummy! Then we just all sat around and talked and hung out. It was a perfect night full of SO many laughs!
Saturday- Well, after spending time with the Lord a few of us grabbed our stuff and headed to the beach. But, it was an overcast day so it we didn’t get any sun. We just took a walk down the beach and picked out shells. Then had lunch and shopped a bit. We sat down and watched a movie then headed to the baby house! Ahhh…the baby house. I love going to hold those sweet little ones. These babies have been so abused. They don’t smile. They don’t laugh. It’s heartbreaking. After we played with one for a little over an hour he FINALLY smiled! He smiled for us, for me! Oh it brought so much JOY to my heart! Then Alex and I got to hold the new babies! There was a boy and a girl. The girl was SO tiny. She was in my arms for a very long time and she stole my heart. I just wonder what her story is and how she is here so young. Oh Jesus…
I didn’t get to go minister at the garbage dump for several reasons… For now I’ll just say the Lord gave me a bad feeling about it and I didn’t know why but I obeyed and I’m so thankful that I did. And don’t worry, everyone that went is ok.
Sunday- What a beautiful day here! Like all of my Sundays it started out with a shower, Jesus, and laundry! This morning I said OH I only have to do this 2-3 more times! I will be so thankful for a washing machine and dryer. I will never take those for granted again. But it’ll be weird because it will be so easy and quick to wash my clothes! Amazing!
Then I went to church and as soon as a sat down the most beautiful little girl jumped in my lap and just snuggled up close to me. She just needed to be held, squeezed, and loved on. So precious! Then Heidi asked us to pray for the people in wheelchairs in front of us. So we did… and I believe God did a great miracle and one day they WILL walk.
There was another man today that hasn’t walked in years or maybe ever. He walks on all fours because He can’t stand up straight. He had a dream last night that a ton of people were running a race but he was sitting on the sidelines because he couldn’t walk. Then Jesus came up to him and said “Why aren’t you running?” And he said, “I can’t.” Then Jesus grabbed his hands and told him to get up and walk/run. Then he woke up. So this morning he got up on stage, told us this dream, and asked if we would pray for him so he could walk. Well, after prayer he WALKED. WALKED in circles all around the stage(and it’s a big stage). He WALKED. JESUS!!!! He walked for awhile and then he sat down because he was tired. His legs had never done that before. So, pray for strength… he just needs strength and to exercise his legs because he CAN walk now!! Praise the LORD!! :)
We had a fellowship and dessert party with all the students from our school and the staff! It was so much fun to dance, sing, and fellowship with one another. A night full of laughs for sure! And Nathan, the leader of the school, taught me how to crack a whip! Oh my so so funny and a blast! Oh the random things you do/learn in Africa!
Just a heads up and random things…
The last weekend i’m here (next weekend) we are having a marriage conference. It’s for singles, people who don’t want to get married, people who are married, people who want to get married…. Everyone! It’s supposed to be AMAZING. It’s just a seminar on relationships. The leaders said it was INCREDIBLE and we really needed to go. I can’t wait! We get to go to the nicest hotel in this country for a couple of hours for 2 days. It’s $500 a night to stay at this place… it’s supposed to be the BEST!
I am helping lead a Children’s camp next Tuesday and Wednesday… most likely. I’ve learned not to really plan anything in Africa because things could change! The kids on base are out of school for a couple of weeks so they are going to kids camp in a beautiful spot! So after class I will be headed out to do that. I’m supposed to be leading music and dance which I’m excited about its Africa so things could change!
Ohhhh… it’s official!! I WILL be HOME AUGUST 8th!! It’s a done deal! Thank you so much for praying! I’ll be HOME this time in 2 1/2 weeks… that’s SO crazy to me! I am so excited about what God has in store for me these next 2 1/2 weeks. I know the Lord has me praying a lot. I am reading through the bible. My goal is to read 30 entire books of the bible before I get home. That’s been my goal all summer. The Lord is answering so many of my prayers. I feel like I’ve been under an open heaven all summer and the Lord has just been like ASK and I will do. Just ASK me Emily. So, it’s been amazing to watch Him answer my prayers. And it’ll be great to come home and see what God will continue to do.
I honestly feel like I might go through culture shock when I get home… learning how to drive again, being by myself, eating WHATEVER I WANT, taking a HOT shower WHENEVER I want, showing my knees, wearing my clothes again… just a lot. It’ll be interesting…
I just can’t believe I’ll be home in 2 1/2 weeks. I have learned so much already this summer and 2 1/2 more weeks is more time to learn so much more.
Please be traveling for traveling mercies August 7th and 8th! I will be traveling over 40 hours (if I did the math right). Whatever it is… it’s A LOT. But, it’ll be SO worth it! I’m not complaining! I can’t wait to be hugged by so many people that I love and miss so much!
This week so far…. July 18th week…
Monday-
I had a little bit of a meltdown Monday morning. I just wanted to hear my mom’s voice and skype her. I haven’t been able to see her(skype) for a month or 5 weeks now. :( It’s really sad. I miss her so much! But, I got to talk to her for over an hour Mon. afternoon. Ahhh… I love my mom!
Class and town. Class was awesome! Rolland spoke a great message. It’s probably my favorite of his. Then our speaker for the week is Paul Black, a pastor in Maryland. He is incredible! He is speaking on being an imitator of Christ. It’s so awesome because I’ve been praying that someone would come to speak on that and he did!
Town was successful… food wise! But then the internet didn’t work…. Oh Africa! The internet was down Monday and Tuesday here.
We had a GREAT session Monday night with Paul Black. He is really awesome! I am learning so much from him!
Tuesday-
Heidi’s class was amazing. She is teaching us on the Beatitudes and just blowing my mind! I just love her. I LOVE hearing her speak. I’m really going to miss hearing her speak twice a week.
Tuesday afternoon was interesting… I had to REALLY seek the Lord’s face about a situation and what to do. But it was so neat because He answered, and I don’t understand why His answer is what it is, but I am choosing to be obedient. AND then He confirmed it through my mom randomly! God is so good!
I learned how to cut fish and gut them. I gutted 5 fish and LOVED every second of it! It was so awesome! I was naming the body parts of the fish… it was like dissecting. Then I cleaned them so some boys could grill them. I finally accomplished that goal in Africa.
We were without power all afternoon. After the sun set we had to eat supper by candlelight. We turned on Michael Buble in my house and just made the most of it! I never realized how much I love electricity. It was really hard for me… but praise the Lord is it back when I am writing this (Wednesday afternoon). It was house night though so one of the girls made pancakes for us(we do our stove/oven by gas) and then we watched a movie. So fun! I really love my house!
Wednesday-
Jesus is STILL working on making my flesh die. I thought it had died a lot… but oh wow by circumstances this morning I realized I have a LONG way to go. Praise the Lord for His peace, love, and grace. He is my sustainer. I am learning to lay little things at Jesus’ feet and just let Him rule and reign and do whatever He wants.
Last week… week of July 11th was just a good, refreshing week.
Monday- As usual was class then town. Then we had Dennis Balacombe speak to us. He has been a missionary in China for over 40 years. He speaks different dialects in Chinese. He is a very intelligent man that is so passionate about being a missionary in China!
Tuesday- I slept 4 hours Monday night so Tuesday I was EXHAUSTED!!! I made it through class and then laid in my bed all afternoon watching movies, praising the Lord, talking to my roommates, and “nursing” one of my sick roommates back to health. She was super sick… oh how I love being a nurse!
Tuesday nights are family nights! I made fried rice… short random insert…. I LOVE to cook now! Being in Africa has inspired me to come up with all kinds of different things and just have fun with it. I love cooking for myself everyday! Anyway, house nights are so fun! The girls in my house are all so different yet we all get along and just love one another. We don’t fight at all. It’s just awesome! So we just chatted and then we made popcorn and watched “No Reservations”. Such a cute movie!
Wednesday- I woke up at 5 am and just spent time with the Lord. That’s definitely something I’m taking home with me. It makes me SO happy to wake up right before the sun rises and make a cup of coffee and just read the Word and spend time with the Lord. I really, REALLY LOVE it! Like I can’t even describe how passionate I am about it here! Class was really, REALLY awesome that morning! We really experienced the presence of the Lord! Worship was just amazing! Then we did a fire tunnel so God would fill us up with JOY and oh my gosh… it was AMAZING! If you don’t know what a fire tunnel is let me explain. A group of people form a “tunnel” and pray for you as you go through. It’s amazing! I love it! After the fire tunnel we turned on praise music and danced for an HOUR!! It was AMAZING! SOOOOO much fun! We just had so much fun together and with the Lord! I’m going to miss these people that are with us in the school with me.
In the afternoon I went back to the police station(hopefully for the last time!). Then, Laura and I made health food ice cream… YUMMY!!! I cleaned the kitchen… with 11 girls it’s constantly having to be cleaned! After alex and I just sat and chatted. And it was CHICKEN night! And we had movie night… again!
Thursday-
Dennis and Heidi spoke to us. Heidi spoke about the Beatitudes and becoming poor in spirit. It was unbelievably amazing! It says in Matthew 5:3, “Those who are poor in spirit will inherit the kingdom of God.” If you ever become friends with a poor African, or just a poor person you will learn so much from them. Poor people are desperate. They’re humble. They have no back up plan. They’re dependent on someone to help them. They have no other choice. The Kingdom breaks forth for the poor in spirit and for children. Children aren’t self-sufficient. They need help. They are innocent. If they haven’t been abused they know their daddy will provide for them. They have faith. And if you think about that… God wants us that way. God wants us COMPLETELY dependent on HIM! He wants to be Daddy! He wants to provide. He wants us to be humble. He wants us to be DESPERATE for Him to move! He wants us to have faith like a child. The poor are hungry. Are you hungry? Jesus wants us to be HUNGRY for Him to move, to fill us up, to provide, to have more of Him.
We must stay poor in spirit!
Matthew 5:4 says, “Blessed are those who mourn for they will be comforted.” How will these girls that are sold in the sex trade be comforted? How will these girls who are 10 years old and have kids be comforted? (I’ve met entirely too many…and it breaks my heart every time.) How will these boys that have been beaten and thrown out by their step mom be comforted? How will girls in the USA know that they are so loved by Jesus? How will the children in the slums that can’t remember when they last ate be comforted? How will the girl that is manifesting demons be comforted? How will…. Etc. I could go on and on…
Well, the answer is US. You. Me. WE are called to comfort them. WE are called to take them in our arms and love on them. WE. The Holy Spirit is the comforter and He moves through us. By being the comforter it keeps you poor in spirit because you are always desperate for the Lord to move through you and fill you up more!
Just something to chew on….
Friday- Oh this day was FULL. I usually have Friday mornings off just to sleep, rest, and spend time with the Lord but that didn’t really happen…
I woke up, spent some time with the Lord, made breakfast, got dressed, visited a friend, and came home and…. Found out we had an ant invasion! EW! Ants were everywhere in our house! We have 3 rooms… one room is for our house mom. One for 5 girls, then my room which has 5 girls in it. Well, the other girls room had a good bit of ants in it and mine only had a few. Except for my suitcase which has been against a crack in the door since I’ve been here… my suitcase had about 50 ants on it. Ew. BUT, our house mom’s room was FULL of ants. She had about 200-300 on her bed… NO lie. And we don’t know why we have them. We clean our house every day and we had NO food on the floor or anywhere in an open area. We had to take EVERYTHING out of our house, sweep, mop, then spray inside and outside. It was disgusting. Ants were everywhere and then there were worms. BUT, we cleaned it ALL out and they WILL NOT be back in Jesus name! We think they came from the banana trees that are behind our house. They were big black ants. Ugh…
After cleaning, I had my practical mission which is checking the kids eyes on base to see if they need glasses. Friday was the day to check the older boy’s eyes…
We had a prayer meeting Friday afternoon for the whole base to pray for God to move in the area of finances for this ministry.
Then Friday night my color group and another one had dinner with our school leaders, Nathan and Sarah. Nathan and Sarah are AMAZING. I really just adore them. They are so precious and just love the Lord and are so filled with Him. They just ooze love and honor for each other and for others. Nathan made us chicken curry! It was really yummy! Then we just all sat around and talked and hung out. It was a perfect night full of SO many laughs!
Saturday- Well, after spending time with the Lord a few of us grabbed our stuff and headed to the beach. But, it was an overcast day so it we didn’t get any sun. We just took a walk down the beach and picked out shells. Then had lunch and shopped a bit. We sat down and watched a movie then headed to the baby house! Ahhh…the baby house. I love going to hold those sweet little ones. These babies have been so abused. They don’t smile. They don’t laugh. It’s heartbreaking. After we played with one for a little over an hour he FINALLY smiled! He smiled for us, for me! Oh it brought so much JOY to my heart! Then Alex and I got to hold the new babies! There was a boy and a girl. The girl was SO tiny. She was in my arms for a very long time and she stole my heart. I just wonder what her story is and how she is here so young. Oh Jesus…
I didn’t get to go minister at the garbage dump for several reasons… For now I’ll just say the Lord gave me a bad feeling about it and I didn’t know why but I obeyed and I’m so thankful that I did. And don’t worry, everyone that went is ok.
Sunday- What a beautiful day here! Like all of my Sundays it started out with a shower, Jesus, and laundry! This morning I said OH I only have to do this 2-3 more times! I will be so thankful for a washing machine and dryer. I will never take those for granted again. But it’ll be weird because it will be so easy and quick to wash my clothes! Amazing!
Then I went to church and as soon as a sat down the most beautiful little girl jumped in my lap and just snuggled up close to me. She just needed to be held, squeezed, and loved on. So precious! Then Heidi asked us to pray for the people in wheelchairs in front of us. So we did… and I believe God did a great miracle and one day they WILL walk.
There was another man today that hasn’t walked in years or maybe ever. He walks on all fours because He can’t stand up straight. He had a dream last night that a ton of people were running a race but he was sitting on the sidelines because he couldn’t walk. Then Jesus came up to him and said “Why aren’t you running?” And he said, “I can’t.” Then Jesus grabbed his hands and told him to get up and walk/run. Then he woke up. So this morning he got up on stage, told us this dream, and asked if we would pray for him so he could walk. Well, after prayer he WALKED. WALKED in circles all around the stage(and it’s a big stage). He WALKED. JESUS!!!! He walked for awhile and then he sat down because he was tired. His legs had never done that before. So, pray for strength… he just needs strength and to exercise his legs because he CAN walk now!! Praise the LORD!! :)
We had a fellowship and dessert party with all the students from our school and the staff! It was so much fun to dance, sing, and fellowship with one another. A night full of laughs for sure! And Nathan, the leader of the school, taught me how to crack a whip! Oh my so so funny and a blast! Oh the random things you do/learn in Africa!
Just a heads up and random things…
The last weekend i’m here (next weekend) we are having a marriage conference. It’s for singles, people who don’t want to get married, people who are married, people who want to get married…. Everyone! It’s supposed to be AMAZING. It’s just a seminar on relationships. The leaders said it was INCREDIBLE and we really needed to go. I can’t wait! We get to go to the nicest hotel in this country for a couple of hours for 2 days. It’s $500 a night to stay at this place… it’s supposed to be the BEST!
I am helping lead a Children’s camp next Tuesday and Wednesday… most likely. I’ve learned not to really plan anything in Africa because things could change! The kids on base are out of school for a couple of weeks so they are going to kids camp in a beautiful spot! So after class I will be headed out to do that. I’m supposed to be leading music and dance which I’m excited about its Africa so things could change!
Ohhhh… it’s official!! I WILL be HOME AUGUST 8th!! It’s a done deal! Thank you so much for praying! I’ll be HOME this time in 2 1/2 weeks… that’s SO crazy to me! I am so excited about what God has in store for me these next 2 1/2 weeks. I know the Lord has me praying a lot. I am reading through the bible. My goal is to read 30 entire books of the bible before I get home. That’s been my goal all summer. The Lord is answering so many of my prayers. I feel like I’ve been under an open heaven all summer and the Lord has just been like ASK and I will do. Just ASK me Emily. So, it’s been amazing to watch Him answer my prayers. And it’ll be great to come home and see what God will continue to do.
I honestly feel like I might go through culture shock when I get home… learning how to drive again, being by myself, eating WHATEVER I WANT, taking a HOT shower WHENEVER I want, showing my knees, wearing my clothes again… just a lot. It’ll be interesting…
I just can’t believe I’ll be home in 2 1/2 weeks. I have learned so much already this summer and 2 1/2 more weeks is more time to learn so much more.
Please be traveling for traveling mercies August 7th and 8th! I will be traveling over 40 hours (if I did the math right). Whatever it is… it’s A LOT. But, it’ll be SO worth it! I’m not complaining! I can’t wait to be hugged by so many people that I love and miss so much!
This week so far…. July 18th week…
Monday-
I had a little bit of a meltdown Monday morning. I just wanted to hear my mom’s voice and skype her. I haven’t been able to see her(skype) for a month or 5 weeks now. :( It’s really sad. I miss her so much! But, I got to talk to her for over an hour Mon. afternoon. Ahhh… I love my mom!
Class and town. Class was awesome! Rolland spoke a great message. It’s probably my favorite of his. Then our speaker for the week is Paul Black, a pastor in Maryland. He is incredible! He is speaking on being an imitator of Christ. It’s so awesome because I’ve been praying that someone would come to speak on that and he did!
Town was successful… food wise! But then the internet didn’t work…. Oh Africa! The internet was down Monday and Tuesday here.
We had a GREAT session Monday night with Paul Black. He is really awesome! I am learning so much from him!
Tuesday-
Heidi’s class was amazing. She is teaching us on the Beatitudes and just blowing my mind! I just love her. I LOVE hearing her speak. I’m really going to miss hearing her speak twice a week.
Tuesday afternoon was interesting… I had to REALLY seek the Lord’s face about a situation and what to do. But it was so neat because He answered, and I don’t understand why His answer is what it is, but I am choosing to be obedient. AND then He confirmed it through my mom randomly! God is so good!
I learned how to cut fish and gut them. I gutted 5 fish and LOVED every second of it! It was so awesome! I was naming the body parts of the fish… it was like dissecting. Then I cleaned them so some boys could grill them. I finally accomplished that goal in Africa.
We were without power all afternoon. After the sun set we had to eat supper by candlelight. We turned on Michael Buble in my house and just made the most of it! I never realized how much I love electricity. It was really hard for me… but praise the Lord is it back when I am writing this (Wednesday afternoon). It was house night though so one of the girls made pancakes for us(we do our stove/oven by gas) and then we watched a movie. So fun! I really love my house!
Wednesday-
Jesus is STILL working on making my flesh die. I thought it had died a lot… but oh wow by circumstances this morning I realized I have a LONG way to go. Praise the Lord for His peace, love, and grace. He is my sustainer. I am learning to lay little things at Jesus’ feet and just let Him rule and reign and do whatever He wants.
Monday, July 12, 2010
Blog:
Well, this last week was one interesting week… so many ups and downs but God is so good and so sovereign… oh how I LOVE Him!!!
Monday-
We had Bill Johnson and Stacy Campbell come to speak to us in the morning! WOW!!! I had 6 pages of notes from Bill and I’m sure I could add 6 more if I listened to the message again. The wisdom that comes out of that man AMAZES me. I am praying that I have that kind of revelation from the Lord when I read the bible. And I want that kind of wisdom. It’s incredible!
Monday night was Mel Tari and it was HILARIOUS!!! He is such a funny man! He spoke to us for about 3 hours… This man amazes me. I can’t wait to share with you more about his life when I come home. He is one of the most humble men I’ve ever met. He just loves Jesus and honors people. He has been so sweet to the students. Monday night he came to our hut an hour early just to pray for us and greet us when we came… he said that was just because we were special and he wanted to honor us.
After the service I came home to find that someone had broken into my house and stolen my computer with a 7 foot long bamboo stick. I will tell y’all the exact story with all the details when I get home… I don’t want to broadcast it on the internet. They stole one of my friends iphone and my computer. Our stuff wasn’t very easy to get to… but they did it very successfully. I’ve never been robbed or had my house broken into. I was shocked, scared, fearful, angry, and upset. My computer, webcam, some of my money, CUTE laptop bag, and a few other things were stolen. I cried that night… it was so crazy. Everyone came over when they heard. Everyone was hugging me and telling me it was going to be ok. I didn’t sleep that night… I prayed because I was scared. If you’ve ever had your car or house broken into, you’ll understand. Anyway, this week has had its ups and downs. I have cried a lot… just out of feeling violated and now someone can see basically everything about my life from my computer. Not that I have anything bad… but pictures from YEARS of my life and music and etc… just don’t like random people being able to see that. But, God is protecting me and I will be ok. And it was my connection home. I’ve been using that to skype, etc. So, now everything is just crazy. The people on base have been so sweet though. The missionaries felt HORRIBLE. And they have loved and prayed for me so much! It’s definitely not a material thing… it’s just me having to work through being violated, stolen from, and loosing contact in an easy way to home, etc.
BUT, please just be praying for protection for my house. I am having to trust Jesus on a WHOLE new level. But, it’s good. He is speaking to me in a more real way. Just growing more and MORE intimate with Him.
I am believing it will be returned in JESUS name and even if it doesn’t… a great testimony will come out of it. I am expecting an AWESOME testimony.
Tuesday-
I honestly can’t remember much… I cried most of the day. I was loved on and prayed for all day. It was a sweet day with the Lord and with some of the missionaries. One of Mel Tari friends spoke to us and his message was EXACTLY what I needed to hear that day. I cried through the entire thing. After it was over, IN THE MICROPHONE in front of EVERYONE he singled me out. He asked me how old I was. He said, “The Father is so proud of you. He is SO proud of you. Thank you for giving up your life to Him at your age. Thank you for surrendering. The Father loves you so much. Sometimes you may feel lonely or isolated but it’s because He has set you apart. You have such a great calling on your life. Thank you for choosing to walk so close with the Lord at your age. Don’t give up. Don’t give up. Keep pressing on..” SO EXACTLY what I needed to hear that day.
Then the precious missionary that is in charge of the whole school prayed over me for the longest time after Bill Johnson spoke. She just hugged me and held me as I wept. She broke off a lot and after she finished I was filled with peace… supernatural JESUS peace.
OH, and I went to the police station. I NEVER imagined I’d be doing that this summer… actually, I’ve been SEVERAL times this week. The police men know me by name and we’re all friends. They even offered me a job. They said I’m there so much I should just work there. Hahaha… that’s pathetic. But one of them has asked me to pray for him so see testimonies are coming out of this!
Jesus is still on His throne. He knows what He is doing… I’m actually laughing about some of the crazy things that have happened since all of this. Oh the stories I have….
That night we had Heidi’s old assistant come speak to us. She was Heidi’s assistant for 5 years and she was in Finger of God. She is AMAZING!!! She is one of the most prophetic people I have ever met. She’d literally prophecy over people for about 15-20 minutes and the stuff the Lord would tell her was AMAZING. She was in DIRECT contact with Him. I was floored… I am praying for my prophetic gift to be like that.
Wednesday-
Bill Johnson came and spoke to us again… 4 days in a row!! That’s a lot!!! His messages just “WOW” me.
That night we had CHICKEN and family night(hang out with your house night)… we made popcorn, cake, and watched a movie. What a TREAT!!!
Thursday-
For 5 ½ hours we had missionaries from bases all around the world come to speak to us. SO amazing. It was pretty exhausting though. We had a new one every 20 minutes. But it’s so neat to hear what ALL God is doing around the world!
Thursday night we had another missionary come to speak to us. He was from South Africa and just amazing. I LOVED his message. It was about how Christ is IN us and we are in him and we are seated in Heavenly places at all times. We are the connection between heaven and earth. We are supposed to bring heaven to earth. It was incredible! Then he told us stories of people being raised from the dead and that 30,000 crippled people, yes 30,000, have ALL been healed in his church! WOAH!!!
God amazes me! Then he prayed and anointed us with oil.
Then my mommy called me!!! I love when she calls me!
I had an amazing time with the Lord Thursday night. I stayed up late just praying and praying for people and worshiping the Lord.
Friday-
I got to sleep late! Then I hung out with Alex and one of our other friends! We walked down to a restaurant and then shopped for presents for people at home. It’s so funny because when we got to the restaurant Mel Tari was there and then on the way we passed Rolland. It’s so funny… we are always like WHERE ARE WE?? We run into all these amazing people all the time! I think it’s amazing.
Saturday-
Today was ultimate rest day! It’s been a wild, crazy, and emotional week so it was so good to be able to relax. A few of us went to the beach and just laid out in the sun for a few hours then got a good lunch! Then we went to get on the internet. It was just a good, relaxing day… ahh!
Sunday-
So many of us were just drained and exhausted physically and spiritually on Sunday. I dreamed on Saturday night about people from home and it made me homesick when I woke up. But I also felt like I had to do some intense praying for people at home so I did that when I woke up. Sundays are my shower and laundry day so I took a shower then did laundry. By the time I was finished with that it was too late for me to go to church. Alex and I watched movies all day long. Just sat in bed and watched movies… so many people had the same idea as us Sunday. It was so wonderful to take an extreme break and just rest. I enjoyed it so much!
My mom and little brother called me Sunday night… and oh how it made my day. I love hearing their voices. I just love them so much!
My prayer requests this week are:
-Pray that the Lord would strengthen me. I am exhausted. It doesn’t matter how tired I am I can’t seem to get more than 7 hours of sleep… and then I’m tired very soon after I wake up.
-I’m getting weary with the way we have to live life here. I know that sounds horrible… but I am just being real. One of the things that just made me want to give up yesterday was just bugs everywhere. I felt like I saw more yesterday for some reason. We do clean our bathroom but it’s Africa so… I was taking a shower and there was a cockroach and spider. I get out of the shower and some sort of nasty bug started crawling when I moved my bag then there was another spider. THEN there was a cricket on my bed. And the kitchen was dirty after I had just cleaned it. I was just like JESUS HELP ME!! I’ve dealt with everything so well(I think) but yesterday after being so tired I had just lost my patience for real for the first time. Please pray for God to give me strength and grace as I persevere through this last month. I know the Lord has so much He still wants to teach me.
-Pray against distractions. I feel like(and after talking to my mom.. she feels the same) the enemy wants to get me distracted this month with my computer being stolen, being tired and weary, just ready to leave, etc. And the enemy won’t win! I know the Lord has me here for 4 more weeks for a reason. I will choose to press in and let Jesus win over all. Just pray for God’s grace… I need it.
-Pray God would give me patience. Living with 11 girls in one house and then 130 other people are CONSTANTLY around means you never have complete alone time and after 7 weeks of it…it gets exhausting. So pray God would give me patience.
-Pray for plane tickets!!! We are (hopefully) finalizing those this week… so pray God opens doors for me to come home earlier! Pray for favor!!
I praise the Lord for all that He’s taught me and all that He has done in my life. I praise the Lord for the things that He still wants to teach me and what He will do in my life in the next 4 weeks.
I can’t wait to share with you what God has taught me, how He’s changed up my life, what He’s called me to do for the next few years(at least…)… I just love what He has in store for me!
Can’t wait to hug you my sweet family and friends!
Love you!
Well, this last week was one interesting week… so many ups and downs but God is so good and so sovereign… oh how I LOVE Him!!!
Monday-
We had Bill Johnson and Stacy Campbell come to speak to us in the morning! WOW!!! I had 6 pages of notes from Bill and I’m sure I could add 6 more if I listened to the message again. The wisdom that comes out of that man AMAZES me. I am praying that I have that kind of revelation from the Lord when I read the bible. And I want that kind of wisdom. It’s incredible!
Monday night was Mel Tari and it was HILARIOUS!!! He is such a funny man! He spoke to us for about 3 hours… This man amazes me. I can’t wait to share with you more about his life when I come home. He is one of the most humble men I’ve ever met. He just loves Jesus and honors people. He has been so sweet to the students. Monday night he came to our hut an hour early just to pray for us and greet us when we came… he said that was just because we were special and he wanted to honor us.
After the service I came home to find that someone had broken into my house and stolen my computer with a 7 foot long bamboo stick. I will tell y’all the exact story with all the details when I get home… I don’t want to broadcast it on the internet. They stole one of my friends iphone and my computer. Our stuff wasn’t very easy to get to… but they did it very successfully. I’ve never been robbed or had my house broken into. I was shocked, scared, fearful, angry, and upset. My computer, webcam, some of my money, CUTE laptop bag, and a few other things were stolen. I cried that night… it was so crazy. Everyone came over when they heard. Everyone was hugging me and telling me it was going to be ok. I didn’t sleep that night… I prayed because I was scared. If you’ve ever had your car or house broken into, you’ll understand. Anyway, this week has had its ups and downs. I have cried a lot… just out of feeling violated and now someone can see basically everything about my life from my computer. Not that I have anything bad… but pictures from YEARS of my life and music and etc… just don’t like random people being able to see that. But, God is protecting me and I will be ok. And it was my connection home. I’ve been using that to skype, etc. So, now everything is just crazy. The people on base have been so sweet though. The missionaries felt HORRIBLE. And they have loved and prayed for me so much! It’s definitely not a material thing… it’s just me having to work through being violated, stolen from, and loosing contact in an easy way to home, etc.
BUT, please just be praying for protection for my house. I am having to trust Jesus on a WHOLE new level. But, it’s good. He is speaking to me in a more real way. Just growing more and MORE intimate with Him.
I am believing it will be returned in JESUS name and even if it doesn’t… a great testimony will come out of it. I am expecting an AWESOME testimony.
Tuesday-
I honestly can’t remember much… I cried most of the day. I was loved on and prayed for all day. It was a sweet day with the Lord and with some of the missionaries. One of Mel Tari friends spoke to us and his message was EXACTLY what I needed to hear that day. I cried through the entire thing. After it was over, IN THE MICROPHONE in front of EVERYONE he singled me out. He asked me how old I was. He said, “The Father is so proud of you. He is SO proud of you. Thank you for giving up your life to Him at your age. Thank you for surrendering. The Father loves you so much. Sometimes you may feel lonely or isolated but it’s because He has set you apart. You have such a great calling on your life. Thank you for choosing to walk so close with the Lord at your age. Don’t give up. Don’t give up. Keep pressing on..” SO EXACTLY what I needed to hear that day.
Then the precious missionary that is in charge of the whole school prayed over me for the longest time after Bill Johnson spoke. She just hugged me and held me as I wept. She broke off a lot and after she finished I was filled with peace… supernatural JESUS peace.
OH, and I went to the police station. I NEVER imagined I’d be doing that this summer… actually, I’ve been SEVERAL times this week. The police men know me by name and we’re all friends. They even offered me a job. They said I’m there so much I should just work there. Hahaha… that’s pathetic. But one of them has asked me to pray for him so see testimonies are coming out of this!
Jesus is still on His throne. He knows what He is doing… I’m actually laughing about some of the crazy things that have happened since all of this. Oh the stories I have….
That night we had Heidi’s old assistant come speak to us. She was Heidi’s assistant for 5 years and she was in Finger of God. She is AMAZING!!! She is one of the most prophetic people I have ever met. She’d literally prophecy over people for about 15-20 minutes and the stuff the Lord would tell her was AMAZING. She was in DIRECT contact with Him. I was floored… I am praying for my prophetic gift to be like that.
Wednesday-
Bill Johnson came and spoke to us again… 4 days in a row!! That’s a lot!!! His messages just “WOW” me.
That night we had CHICKEN and family night(hang out with your house night)… we made popcorn, cake, and watched a movie. What a TREAT!!!
Thursday-
For 5 ½ hours we had missionaries from bases all around the world come to speak to us. SO amazing. It was pretty exhausting though. We had a new one every 20 minutes. But it’s so neat to hear what ALL God is doing around the world!
Thursday night we had another missionary come to speak to us. He was from South Africa and just amazing. I LOVED his message. It was about how Christ is IN us and we are in him and we are seated in Heavenly places at all times. We are the connection between heaven and earth. We are supposed to bring heaven to earth. It was incredible! Then he told us stories of people being raised from the dead and that 30,000 crippled people, yes 30,000, have ALL been healed in his church! WOAH!!!
God amazes me! Then he prayed and anointed us with oil.
Then my mommy called me!!! I love when she calls me!
I had an amazing time with the Lord Thursday night. I stayed up late just praying and praying for people and worshiping the Lord.
Friday-
I got to sleep late! Then I hung out with Alex and one of our other friends! We walked down to a restaurant and then shopped for presents for people at home. It’s so funny because when we got to the restaurant Mel Tari was there and then on the way we passed Rolland. It’s so funny… we are always like WHERE ARE WE?? We run into all these amazing people all the time! I think it’s amazing.
Saturday-
Today was ultimate rest day! It’s been a wild, crazy, and emotional week so it was so good to be able to relax. A few of us went to the beach and just laid out in the sun for a few hours then got a good lunch! Then we went to get on the internet. It was just a good, relaxing day… ahh!
Sunday-
So many of us were just drained and exhausted physically and spiritually on Sunday. I dreamed on Saturday night about people from home and it made me homesick when I woke up. But I also felt like I had to do some intense praying for people at home so I did that when I woke up. Sundays are my shower and laundry day so I took a shower then did laundry. By the time I was finished with that it was too late for me to go to church. Alex and I watched movies all day long. Just sat in bed and watched movies… so many people had the same idea as us Sunday. It was so wonderful to take an extreme break and just rest. I enjoyed it so much!
My mom and little brother called me Sunday night… and oh how it made my day. I love hearing their voices. I just love them so much!
My prayer requests this week are:
-Pray that the Lord would strengthen me. I am exhausted. It doesn’t matter how tired I am I can’t seem to get more than 7 hours of sleep… and then I’m tired very soon after I wake up.
-I’m getting weary with the way we have to live life here. I know that sounds horrible… but I am just being real. One of the things that just made me want to give up yesterday was just bugs everywhere. I felt like I saw more yesterday for some reason. We do clean our bathroom but it’s Africa so… I was taking a shower and there was a cockroach and spider. I get out of the shower and some sort of nasty bug started crawling when I moved my bag then there was another spider. THEN there was a cricket on my bed. And the kitchen was dirty after I had just cleaned it. I was just like JESUS HELP ME!! I’ve dealt with everything so well(I think) but yesterday after being so tired I had just lost my patience for real for the first time. Please pray for God to give me strength and grace as I persevere through this last month. I know the Lord has so much He still wants to teach me.
-Pray against distractions. I feel like(and after talking to my mom.. she feels the same) the enemy wants to get me distracted this month with my computer being stolen, being tired and weary, just ready to leave, etc. And the enemy won’t win! I know the Lord has me here for 4 more weeks for a reason. I will choose to press in and let Jesus win over all. Just pray for God’s grace… I need it.
-Pray God would give me patience. Living with 11 girls in one house and then 130 other people are CONSTANTLY around means you never have complete alone time and after 7 weeks of it…it gets exhausting. So pray God would give me patience.
-Pray for plane tickets!!! We are (hopefully) finalizing those this week… so pray God opens doors for me to come home earlier! Pray for favor!!
I praise the Lord for all that He’s taught me and all that He has done in my life. I praise the Lord for the things that He still wants to teach me and what He will do in my life in the next 4 weeks.
I can’t wait to share with you what God has taught me, how He’s changed up my life, what He’s called me to do for the next few years(at least…)… I just love what He has in store for me!
Can’t wait to hug you my sweet family and friends!
Love you!
Monday, July 5, 2010
oh the joy!
Nothing other than… you gotta love Africa!
This weekend has been so exciting and amazing! I just want to share a few things about Africa. Some are funny, some are just so you know how I’m living! And then I want to tell you all about Sunday!!!
Here are the crazy different things about Africa…
1. We have to make sure are clothes are COMPLETELY dry so that we don’t get worms or flies won’t lay eggs on our clothes.
2. Blue-tailed lizards are everywhere! Sometimes even in the kitchen….
3. Bats fly around at night. I can’t get used to them… eeeeek!
4. Don’t leave the trash outside at ANY time because rats WILL come and go through it. It’s happened to my house twice.
5. Our feet aren’t tan… it’s just dirt…
6. Make sure all the cockroaches are out of the shower before you get in but wear shoes just in case!
7. We have to be careful when you eat the rice and beans because there might be some little rocks in it…
8. Tuna and spaghetti don’t go together…
9. Normally in the states I’d freak out if there were bugs in or on my food… now, it’s just “bug get off my food! Or I just pick them out…. Or sometimes it’s too late!
10. I think sand ALWAYS ends up in our food. We probably eat 10 % sand!
11. Random things are good here… things I would never eat at home are good here! For example… butter and crackers are amazing. I would never eat that at home for a snack!
12. Everything is on African time. If you tell an African a certain time… they are at least one hour later. They are EVENT minded, not on time.
13. Ha… this one is lovely. So, Africans believe that when you go to a restaurant with people you want to sit and talk and socialize with your friends for a WHILE before you get your food. That’s what they do so that’s what they think we want to do. So, they basically wait like 30 minutes after you order to start preparing your food. So, you usually get your food about an hour and a half after you order it! OR, you can order chicken and they go buy it, thaw it out, THEN cook it and somehow it takes 3 hours… gotta love it. Nothing surprises us anymore!
14. Wednesday nights are one of the highlights of my week because I get chicken and the good rice!
15. Hot sauce makes everything better here!
16. Going to the beach is not a resting time… it’s a time where you go and village kids attack you and want to touch you. Please remind me to tell beach stories when I come home….
17. Spending time with Jesus in the early, cool morning is the best thing on the planet.
18. Watch your laundry dry or it might get stolen….
That’s all I can think of right now at 5 am… but I will keep thinking! I will have the best stories when I get home.
Oh! Oh! Oh!!! So, some groups went on outreach this weekend and one group prayed for 8 deaf and 2 blind and they are COMPLETELY healed!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! One of my friends prayed for one of the blind boys who was born blind and then now he can SEE!!!! JESUS!!!!!!! I have the BEST pictures to show you the transformation!!!
SUNDAY-
Well, it was Laura’s birthday(one of my friends here) so we celebrated!! When it’s your birthday here you are supposed to wear a sign that says, “Prophecy over me, it’s my birthday!” so she got some amazing prophecies yesterday!
So, we went to church and Heidi came and told us good morning… she is the sweetest, most patient, most loving woman. I am so thankful I get to learn under her!
Missionaries and amazing speakers from all around the world are here! We are LOVING it and in complete awe of what the Lord is letting us stand in and be a part of! I mean I just turned around and Bill Johnson and Supresa are just chatting. Like what??!!! If I haven’t told you anything about Surpresa… he is AMAZING. he’s raised NUMEROUS people from the dead. He SO believes the Word and just knows God will fulfill what He says. He is the most joyful man I know. He did speak 4 languages then got downloaded 10 more to him so now he speaks 14 languages fluently! And if he shows up in a village and he doesn’t know their language Jesus gives it to him and he starts preaching… c’mon!!
So, after ALL the missionaries introduced themselves we had worship! Usually the songs are in Portuguese or the tribal language but this morning one of Heidi’s daughters was singing in English. She sang Rick Pino and another song. Well, I wanted to dance(ballet) so badly so I found a spot and did it!! You have no idea how much I miss dancing… it’s in my blood now and so a part of me and when I don’t get to do it all the time it’s hard! Anyway, I got to!! And when I did about 10 little girls(around age 8-10) all came and sat in front of me and watched. They were precious. So, I asked them in the best Portuguese I know, “do you want me to teach you to dance like me? Will you dance with me?” and they said YES. They were shy but they put smiles on their face(a lot of the little girls don’t smile…). So, we started dancing together. I taught them how to twirl and point their feet and all kinds of things. They were the sweetest little things. I LOVED every second of it! The village girls here have it VERY hard… they don’t get a break but for 10 minutes yesterday they got to dance and smile and not have a care in the world. They felt free….and it was beautiful!
After that, Bill got up and spoke. Short little 10 minute message that changed my life. The wisdom that comes out of that man is astounding! He spoke on how the presence of God should be on us ALL the time. That even our shadows should heal people. Such a great message! Then he wanted us to pray after and put our hands up to receive that anointing. So, I did of course. He came and put his hand on my head while I was praying. The Holy Spirit was definitely doing something in me. Then Rolland comes by and prays for me. Like who gets Bill and Rolland to pray for you on just a typical Sunday??? Hahaha! Thanks Jesus!
After church I went to talk to Bill and told him I was one of the “MS stalkers”! He just laughed, hugged me and said “y’all are everywhere!!!” (I told him I wanted him to come to our church… don’t worry!)
So then it was BAPTISMS in the Indian Ocean!! Stacy Campbell, Mel Tari, and Heidi all did baptisms! HUNDREDS of people got baptized. It was one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen in my life! I was taking pictures and praying over people. Heidi asked the students to pray over the people after they were baptized because many of them get severely persecuted afterwards. After taking pictures and videos for students that were getting baptized I went over by Heidi and stood by her. After she baptized, I would pray over the kids. She changed many of their names yesterday. (remind me to tell you about that when I get home…) I cry just thinking about it. It was a beautiful thing to see these kids get baptized and have their names changed and then it was an HONOR for me to pray for them after! Watching those baptisms changed my life forever… I just can’t put into words how AMAZING it was. I have great pictures so maybe you’ll understand after you see them!
Also, I got a picture with Bill and Mel Tari! If you don’t know about Mel Tari well you need to! The man changed my life. You NEED to read his book, “like a mighty wind!” The man has experienced pretty much every miracle in the bible. He has walked on water, drank poison from village people and just knew God wasn’t going to let him die because he had to preach, turned water into wine, and the list goes on and on. I will sit and tell you all about him when I get home. He is AMAZING!!! I have so much honor for this man. He is precious and speaks with such authority! Well as I was just standing on the beach we happened to be beside each other so I introduced myself and got a picture with him. He is so sweet. I can’t wait for him to speak to us!!
After eating supper out and hanging out with friends we had a prophesying party over Laura!
It was an amazing day! I wouldn’t have changed one thing! I think it’s been my favorite day in Africa so far. Kids are starting to come up to me all the time just to get a hug and for me to hold them. I get handed random kids all the time. But I just love on them. Sometimes I feel like I have a huge sign on me that says “I will love on you if you need a hug”… but I love it. If kids need love, I have it to give. We’ve met some girls that are 12 years old that already have 1-3 kids…. They need love. Oh Jesus…
It’s going to be an INCREDIBLE week FULL of speakers and FULL of God’s glory FALLING on us. Can’t wait!!!!!!!!
This weekend has been so exciting and amazing! I just want to share a few things about Africa. Some are funny, some are just so you know how I’m living! And then I want to tell you all about Sunday!!!
Here are the crazy different things about Africa…
1. We have to make sure are clothes are COMPLETELY dry so that we don’t get worms or flies won’t lay eggs on our clothes.
2. Blue-tailed lizards are everywhere! Sometimes even in the kitchen….
3. Bats fly around at night. I can’t get used to them… eeeeek!
4. Don’t leave the trash outside at ANY time because rats WILL come and go through it. It’s happened to my house twice.
5. Our feet aren’t tan… it’s just dirt…
6. Make sure all the cockroaches are out of the shower before you get in but wear shoes just in case!
7. We have to be careful when you eat the rice and beans because there might be some little rocks in it…
8. Tuna and spaghetti don’t go together…
9. Normally in the states I’d freak out if there were bugs in or on my food… now, it’s just “bug get off my food! Or I just pick them out…. Or sometimes it’s too late!
10. I think sand ALWAYS ends up in our food. We probably eat 10 % sand!
11. Random things are good here… things I would never eat at home are good here! For example… butter and crackers are amazing. I would never eat that at home for a snack!
12. Everything is on African time. If you tell an African a certain time… they are at least one hour later. They are EVENT minded, not on time.
13. Ha… this one is lovely. So, Africans believe that when you go to a restaurant with people you want to sit and talk and socialize with your friends for a WHILE before you get your food. That’s what they do so that’s what they think we want to do. So, they basically wait like 30 minutes after you order to start preparing your food. So, you usually get your food about an hour and a half after you order it! OR, you can order chicken and they go buy it, thaw it out, THEN cook it and somehow it takes 3 hours… gotta love it. Nothing surprises us anymore!
14. Wednesday nights are one of the highlights of my week because I get chicken and the good rice!
15. Hot sauce makes everything better here!
16. Going to the beach is not a resting time… it’s a time where you go and village kids attack you and want to touch you. Please remind me to tell beach stories when I come home….
17. Spending time with Jesus in the early, cool morning is the best thing on the planet.
18. Watch your laundry dry or it might get stolen….
That’s all I can think of right now at 5 am… but I will keep thinking! I will have the best stories when I get home.
Oh! Oh! Oh!!! So, some groups went on outreach this weekend and one group prayed for 8 deaf and 2 blind and they are COMPLETELY healed!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! One of my friends prayed for one of the blind boys who was born blind and then now he can SEE!!!! JESUS!!!!!!! I have the BEST pictures to show you the transformation!!!
SUNDAY-
Well, it was Laura’s birthday(one of my friends here) so we celebrated!! When it’s your birthday here you are supposed to wear a sign that says, “Prophecy over me, it’s my birthday!” so she got some amazing prophecies yesterday!
So, we went to church and Heidi came and told us good morning… she is the sweetest, most patient, most loving woman. I am so thankful I get to learn under her!
Missionaries and amazing speakers from all around the world are here! We are LOVING it and in complete awe of what the Lord is letting us stand in and be a part of! I mean I just turned around and Bill Johnson and Supresa are just chatting. Like what??!!! If I haven’t told you anything about Surpresa… he is AMAZING. he’s raised NUMEROUS people from the dead. He SO believes the Word and just knows God will fulfill what He says. He is the most joyful man I know. He did speak 4 languages then got downloaded 10 more to him so now he speaks 14 languages fluently! And if he shows up in a village and he doesn’t know their language Jesus gives it to him and he starts preaching… c’mon!!
So, after ALL the missionaries introduced themselves we had worship! Usually the songs are in Portuguese or the tribal language but this morning one of Heidi’s daughters was singing in English. She sang Rick Pino and another song. Well, I wanted to dance(ballet) so badly so I found a spot and did it!! You have no idea how much I miss dancing… it’s in my blood now and so a part of me and when I don’t get to do it all the time it’s hard! Anyway, I got to!! And when I did about 10 little girls(around age 8-10) all came and sat in front of me and watched. They were precious. So, I asked them in the best Portuguese I know, “do you want me to teach you to dance like me? Will you dance with me?” and they said YES. They were shy but they put smiles on their face(a lot of the little girls don’t smile…). So, we started dancing together. I taught them how to twirl and point their feet and all kinds of things. They were the sweetest little things. I LOVED every second of it! The village girls here have it VERY hard… they don’t get a break but for 10 minutes yesterday they got to dance and smile and not have a care in the world. They felt free….and it was beautiful!
After that, Bill got up and spoke. Short little 10 minute message that changed my life. The wisdom that comes out of that man is astounding! He spoke on how the presence of God should be on us ALL the time. That even our shadows should heal people. Such a great message! Then he wanted us to pray after and put our hands up to receive that anointing. So, I did of course. He came and put his hand on my head while I was praying. The Holy Spirit was definitely doing something in me. Then Rolland comes by and prays for me. Like who gets Bill and Rolland to pray for you on just a typical Sunday??? Hahaha! Thanks Jesus!
After church I went to talk to Bill and told him I was one of the “MS stalkers”! He just laughed, hugged me and said “y’all are everywhere!!!” (I told him I wanted him to come to our church… don’t worry!)
So then it was BAPTISMS in the Indian Ocean!! Stacy Campbell, Mel Tari, and Heidi all did baptisms! HUNDREDS of people got baptized. It was one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen in my life! I was taking pictures and praying over people. Heidi asked the students to pray over the people after they were baptized because many of them get severely persecuted afterwards. After taking pictures and videos for students that were getting baptized I went over by Heidi and stood by her. After she baptized, I would pray over the kids. She changed many of their names yesterday. (remind me to tell you about that when I get home…) I cry just thinking about it. It was a beautiful thing to see these kids get baptized and have their names changed and then it was an HONOR for me to pray for them after! Watching those baptisms changed my life forever… I just can’t put into words how AMAZING it was. I have great pictures so maybe you’ll understand after you see them!
Also, I got a picture with Bill and Mel Tari! If you don’t know about Mel Tari well you need to! The man changed my life. You NEED to read his book, “like a mighty wind!” The man has experienced pretty much every miracle in the bible. He has walked on water, drank poison from village people and just knew God wasn’t going to let him die because he had to preach, turned water into wine, and the list goes on and on. I will sit and tell you all about him when I get home. He is AMAZING!!! I have so much honor for this man. He is precious and speaks with such authority! Well as I was just standing on the beach we happened to be beside each other so I introduced myself and got a picture with him. He is so sweet. I can’t wait for him to speak to us!!
After eating supper out and hanging out with friends we had a prophesying party over Laura!
It was an amazing day! I wouldn’t have changed one thing! I think it’s been my favorite day in Africa so far. Kids are starting to come up to me all the time just to get a hug and for me to hold them. I get handed random kids all the time. But I just love on them. Sometimes I feel like I have a huge sign on me that says “I will love on you if you need a hug”… but I love it. If kids need love, I have it to give. We’ve met some girls that are 12 years old that already have 1-3 kids…. They need love. Oh Jesus…
It’s going to be an INCREDIBLE week FULL of speakers and FULL of God’s glory FALLING on us. Can’t wait!!!!!!!!
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