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

Hanging Out In the Bush.... justa worshippin'

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!

…”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.

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!

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!!!!!!!!

Jesus is the BEST!

“How GREAT the love the Father has lavished on us that we should be called children of God and that is what we are!!” 1 John 3:1
Oh this week has been so so so good. The Lord’s love is so amazing… nothing compares, truly!
One of my favorite things here is my morning time with Jesus. I’m up around 4:45 or 5 and I get to watch the sunrise, pray, spend time in the Word, and just spend time with the One who romances me in the most intimate ways. Oh how I am so in love and content in my Savior. There is nothing like Him. Nothing can satisfy like Him. I truly understand what Heidi means when she says “I just want to sit with Jesus ALL day. I never want to leave His presence.” I fully understand and feel the same way. I could spend the rest of my life in His arms. There is no better place. I have found true contentment… oh praise Him! I just want nothing other than Jesus. I could spend hours and hours with Him. He satisfies me to the inner core… completely and fully. I am so in love with Him.
I just have so much going on in my mind… so much to process.
Monday- what a wonderful day. The Lord is doing SO much in my life. He is changing things… He has full control. If you know me well, you know I LOVE to plan. I’ve had my whole little life planned(pretty much) since I was a little girl. Graduate college(get married somewhere in there-during or after) and then head to the mission field. Well, Jesus is changing up those plans. I no longer want to plan my future. I have no desire to do it. I am just resting with Jesus. I am just following His lead. I have learned that He sees the big picture and He is a MUCH BETTER planner than me. So, I gave up all my rights, all my life…and He can do whatever He wants. I trust Him. After all, He has plans to PROSPER me. So, I am just a laid down lover and we’ll see where He takes me. I am on a journey with Him. He is leader, the one in control. And I have perfect peace. PERFECT peace. I LOVE not having my life planned. I will share these plans when I come home… or later on… maybe. For now, my heart and life is to be poured out to the youth girls that God has given me SUCH a PASSION for. I am SO thankful for that passion. I love those girls. And I have other things to do… but things have changed. Woah, Jesus.
Monday night we had a wonderful worship service and speaker. He spoke to us about wisdom and imparted the Lord’s wisdom to us. AMAZING! God is so incredible
Tuesday-. Each one of our houses is assigned to mentor a group of girls. Well, we were going to hang out with them and one of our girls was in bed. She got up and she was BURNING up with a HIGH fever. She was SO sick. She was BURNING up!!! Like burning our hands when we touched her. Well, we prayed for her and it INSTANTLY went away. We felt her skin go back to normal and her fever BREAK. It was the coolest thing!! WOAH Jesus!! Well, when we told another girl she said Wow, she’s been in bed sick with a fever for 3 days. Well, not anymore!! She was HEALED!!! The sweet little girl said, “oh I feel so much better!!” Like are you kidding me! Jesus is SO amazing. My faith grew even MORE!
The Lord showed me that I need to start prophesying over myself.
Our speaker talked about BREAKTHROUGH today and then after he finished we had to declare BREAKTHROUGH in our life, family, school, city, etc. It was POWERFUL. Woah! I am believing for SO much!
One of my friends had a vision about me… When I dance, keys are coming out of me. The people watching me(around me) are in chains and as I dance the keys to their freedom are coming off and out of me onto them and unlocking their chains. Freedom comes through my dance. PRAISE THE LORD!
Wednesday-
Stacy Campbell is here! She is amazing.
I had homemade, health food ice-cream. YUM. It definitely “hit the spot”! I’ve missed my health food sweets. Everyone here is eating chocolate ALL the time so it’s made me miss my “sweets” so much. Yay, thank you Jesus for honey, bananas, and milk…. I promise it’s REALLY good!
Thursday-
I really wish I could explain all that God is doing in my life. The Lord is just “wowing” me. BOTH speakers spoke to us back-to-back about receiving the keys to the kingdom of heaven and bringing them down and unlocking things and binding up things. Shaba! They didn’t know the other one preached on it… can you say Jesus wanted us to get that this morning! After they finished I was LAID out, WEEPING, on the ground… I could NOT move. I was SO basking in God’s glory. It was SO strong on me… I couldn’t move. I was WEEPING. I was feeling God’s heart for the people that don’t know how much He loves them. I was having vision after vision. I was in a VERY intimate place with the Lord. He was revealing so much. I have some huge responsibilities that He asked me to posses. He says I’m worthy because He paid the price… and He’s right.
Alex and I made guacamole!!! It was so good! A little taste of HOME!! Ha… we like when we can find something like that. We will definitely be making that more often. It’s a great snack/meal. It’s not as good as home but it “hits the spot!”
Friday- I slept until 8 am! I haven’t been able to do that since I got here. It felt AMAZING to get 10 hours of sleep. I haven’t gotten that much since I’ve been here. Oh thank you, Jesus! Alex and I went to buy presents for everyone! I feel like we accomplished a lot and it made me happy!
Its practical missions day so I get to check sweet kiddos eyes and spend time with them.
We had a worship party tonight. It was the end of our 24/7 week of prayer. Such an amazing week and night. God is really moving in all of our hearts!

The Word is coming so alive in my life! I LOVE reading scripture. I LOVE it. I LOVE reading through whole books of the bible in one sitting. I LOVE it. I LOVE what Jesus is doing in me! I just love Him! I read through Song of Solomon this morning(Thursday).
This weekend will be full of rest. It’s been a tiring week and next week will be crazy! We have tons and TONS of speakers coming. All the AMAZING speakers and missionaries around the world that you would dream about meeting and listening to we get to hear next week! We are having 3 sessions with 4-5 speakers every day next week. So, I don’t know when I’ll be back on the internet! It might be a week or a little more!
Thank you all for praying continually. I appreciate it so much. I am so blessed!
One of my life verses now… “Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of LOVE, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” Ephesians 5:1
My desire is to be an imitator of God. I want to live a life of LOVE. I don’t want people to see me… I want them to see Jesus. I want people to know and grasp how much Jesus loves them because of how I represent Him.

a week in the life of ME!

What an incredible week I have had!! The Lord is just so so so faithful. It’s just been so amazing. Praise the Lord! Sorry it’s been awhile since I’ve been able to update… things are crazy busy around here! But, here’s my journey…
MONDAY was a hard day. I was completely exhausted and I just really missed my family. I just really wanted hugs from everyone. That’s one of the things I miss the MOST!!! I cried a lot Monday but in that Jesus just became my strength. In every area He is becoming my all in all. I was discouraged, homesick, lonely, and tired. I just told the Lord I needed more and MORE of Him and I needed HIM to fill those areas!!! I asked Him what He wanted to say to me and He said, “I delight in you. I’m holding you. Remember, I am your Sustainer. I am with you mighty warrior. Lay things at my feet. I love you. I will give you your daily bread. Rest in my peace.” Isn’t He just so sweet??
We had an incredible speaker come in! She seriously BLESSED my week! She is very prophetic and just taught us to practice the prophetic. On Monday we couldn’t leave class until we told at least one person something the Lord said about them. Alex said Esther over me… so I studied Esther on Tuesday. It was really neat because I can totally see how that applied and I will totally take her! Esther was a beautiful girl with a lot of favor on her life. She was bold, obedient, protective, submissive to her husband(the king), caring, and she trusted the Lord. (wow, what a compliment… I’ll take her!) She had to go through a year of “treatments” as she prepared to meet her husband. She was set alone to prepare in every way for really her destiny. She had a big destiny and calling on her life that took preparation for. And for now that’s what I feel like I’m doing. I am all alone with the Lord without any distractions and He is just pouring into my life. I am having wells of revelation and wisdom that will play out for the rest of my life. I feel like this time was set aside just for Jesus and I to grow closer and this time is preparation for the things Jesus has planned for me. After all, Jesus did tell my mom, “Thank you for letting me have your daughter this summer.” Wow!
A highlight of my day was a little village girl that I had held during church Sunday saw me and RAN and JUMPED into my arms! It was the sweetest thing. Thank you Jesus!!
Monday night we had another session with the same lady and she talked about angels. It was so neat because during worship before she spoke I was just feeling angels and kept getting the word angel and I didn’t know why! Ha then when she spoke on it I knew why! Pretty neat. After she spoke she put us in circles and we had to prophecy over 5 people. We couldn’t see who we were about to prophecy over. All we were able to do was turn around, ask Jesus for a word for the person, turn around and give it. A TOTALLY stretching and trusting the Lord exercise! It was so awesome though. And I got prophesied over by 5 people! The Lord gave me back my JOY that night. Oh praise HIM!!
On TUESDAY I can’t remember what happened… hahaha. I obviously didn’t journal that day. Oops. Sorry!
On WEDNESDAY I had a VERY intimate time with the Lord. I WEPT and WEPT on the floor during worship for about an hour. I was SO overwhelmed by Jesus’ LOVE for me… I was completely undone. I’ve never felt Him so intimately. It was AMAZING. He did some major forgiveness and healing in my heart. Now my heart feels completely whole. After I forgave people and asked Him to heal my heart I saw Him sewing my heart back up and putting His hand on it to make it new… intimate, beautiful stuff. And He kept telling me He LOVED me. He just said it over and OVER again. I have confidence because He LOVES me. I never have to compare myself to anyone because He loves ME. I am HIS daughter. I am HIS creation. I am HIS! My identity is in HIM! I felt His loving arms around me. I pictured myself sitting in His lap and letting Him hold me tight! I was at perfect peace there. He just kept saying, “you are mine. I love you. Nothing you can do can take away my love. I love you.”
Wednesday night the speaker we had for the week spoke again. She talked a lot about our future marriages and we just prayed for our future spouses. She declared amazing things over our future marriages. It was so encouraging and just awesome!
On THURSDAY morning we set out for our village. We were supposed to leave at 7 am... but didn’t until 9 am. Oh Africa! I was really nervous and apprehensive. The Lord again had to become everything to me. I just had to lean on Him for strength! It took 6 hours to get there and was just quite interesting. All of the other groups that have gone on outreach were only 5 minutes off “paved” road. Well, we were 2 hours from paved road, 3 hours from phone signal, and just completely out in the middle of NOWHERE. I have NO idea how people find these villages. So we arrived covered in dirt with back and butts sore from the ride! We got there and set up our tents then prayed as a team. Then we showed the Jesus film to the village. During the movie we did intercessory prayer for the people for 2 hours. After the movie we got up, introduced ourselves, and spoke to the people whatever we wanted. Then the pastors got up and preached. Ok, there were over 1000 people there we were told. I got up on the truck and there were people in every direction as far as I could see. They were never ending. It was CRAZY! MANY people got saved that night and wanted prayer. So we were called to go into the crowds and pray for people. So like 40 people are touching you because everyone wants prayer for something and you just have to place your hand on their head and say be healed in Jesus name. I have never had 40 people touching me all wanting prayer. I mean, I was lost in a crowd of over 1000 people! Crazy, but awesome!
After the Jesus film we went back to our “camp”(the pastor’s yard) and had supper. I didn’t eat because I was so extremely exhausted I couldn’t think about food. But, for supper we were having spaghetti and tuna. Yummy! Hahaha. I slept in a tent for the first time all by myself… and I LOVED it. It was my first “private” time in a month. I LOVE sleeping in a tent! I want to go camping when I get home. During the night a pig came into our camp, right by my tent and made noise most of the night. Oh the joys of Africa!
The next morning we got up, had our breakfast roll, and then went to pray door-to-door for people in the village. Here we go…
1. A man found us while we were walking and asked us to come to his house to pray for someone because they were sick but his house was VERY far away so the pastors said we couldn’t go. We told him we’d pray for him and then he can go lay hands on his friend and by faith his friend would be healed. So, he stood in the gap. After we prayed he said he wanted Jesus. It was so awesome to watch his countenance changed COMPLETELY after we prayed for him. Wow, God is so good!
2. Then , his wife came to us and said she had pain in her head(not sure if it was a headache or what). We prayed, she said it went away some. We prayed again and it was completely gone. She was amazed and said she wanted Jesus. Now before this, even after she got healed, she hadn’t smile but when she got saved she couldn’t quit smiling and hugging me. It was precious!
3. Of course as we were praying for people we attracted a crowd. I honestly felt like Jesus… we had a crowd following us wherever we went and we were laying our hands on people and they were getting healed because God was moving through us. So cool. Anyway, this man was watching us while we prayed and I felt like we needed to pray for him. One of his eye lids was shut completely and the other eye he said he couldn’t see unless you held something RIGHT up to his eye. So, we prayed for him and now he sees perfectly out of one eye and in the closed lid eye it started to open! Woo hoo! After that, he wanted Jesus too!
4. We kept walking and found a family who had a very sick daughter. She had a fever and usually that indicates malaria. So we prayed for her and her fever went down dramatically. Then, that whole family got saved! C’mon Jesus!!!
5. We went to another family’s house and their house was full of JOY! We prayed for them and just loved on them. They were great! The grandmother made us some kind of “root” so we had to eat it. It was actually pretty good! It tasted like a potato just starchier.
6. Next, the head pastor and our translator told me I needed to be led by the Spirit about where to stop next. There were some people outside one house and I just knew we were supposed to stop there so we kept going. We came to another house and the pastor and I both felt this was the house. After he talked to the family we found out there was a sick person inside and they wanted us to pray for her. We went inside and I sat on the bed with this woman. She had been laying in bed for a year and couldn’t move. She hadn’t eaten in a very long time because when she did she’d have diarrhea or vomit. And she hadn’t drank anything in days because the same thing happened. Also her skin was ice cold like someone’s is right before they die or when they are dead. She wasn’t moving when we talked to her, she wasn’t moving at all, she wasn’t opening her eyes. Nothing. I tried to feel her heartbeat but I couldn’t. I wasn’t going to pronounce her dead because I knew she was going to be healed. We prayed and prayed. She opened her eyes. Prayed more. She starting moving slightly. We prayed more. She started mumbling to us. We prayed more. She SAT UP!! The relative was in there and was AMAZED. But, the woman got weak and went back down. I had a vision of Jesus pouring his love and healing in her and her walking outside by herself. I was like ok Jesus DO THIS because it doesn’t look like it’s going to happen but I have faith! Someone got a word of knowledge that we needed to pray for her blood. We did, she mumbled more. We broke word curses and witchcraft. She mumbled that she wanted Jesus. After she prayed to receive Jesus we prayed for her again. THEN, THEN, THEN she GOT UP!!!!! We helped her out of bed and outside but she didn’t want our help. She started walking ON HER OWN!!! The neighbors and relatives were amazed!!! She hadn’t been outside in a year. She was UP and HEALED!! She starting drinking water and was completely FINE! It was AMAZING!!! So, to me… that was raising the dead because if she wasn’t already dead when we got there she was going to die any minute but JESUS HEALED HER!!! C’mon!! My faith has risen SO much. I am just SO amazed by Jesus!
7. The other group(our group split up into 2 groups) prayed for a woman with leprosy and her skin was healing right before their eyes! WOAH!!!
8. The other group said HELLO to a woman and passed her and she started manifesting demons. Guess that’s how you know you are carrying the Holy Spirit! She didn’t want to be free though… long story that I can’t share online.
It was such an AWESOME time. That afternoon we packed up and went to another village even deeper into the middle of nowhere(an hour further) and showed the Jesus film then prayed over people. I was asked to pray for this one baby whose mom died. This baby was SO skinny because no one was feeding it. It BROKE my heart. Most of these women, because they are malnourished, don’t even produce enough milk for their own babies so no one will volunteer to breastfeed someone else’s baby. So, what hope does this child have? Does the baby just die if it’s mom dies? That’s not fair or right. I didn’t know how to pray for this child. It was so tiny. It was so hungry. All I could pray was Lord PLEASE provide someone to feed this baby. And I believe He will because no baby deserves to have a death sentence because his mom died.
On Saturday we woke up and had church in the village and then packed our stuff up and headed back “home”. Everyone here said we were the dirtiest group that came back. We just had layers of dirt on us. Even though I used wet wipes twice and day it didn’t get the dirt off. I scrubbed and scrubbed in the shower when I got home. It felt WONDERFUL to be CLEAN(well, as clean as I can for Africa!).
Some sidenotes to this weekend were…
1. I had deep fried bread in the village. It was SO good. That will definitely be my treat here now! And they aren’t even 1 cent!
2. The driver would stop for a “potty” break on the way to the village and back… and imagine my face when I see that we are just in an open field, middle of NOWHERE. There is just tall grass. The boys go on one side of the street and we are on the other. Yeah, so you just trample through the grass, find your “hidden” spot, and go. The first time I went I was eaten up by ants. Joy. And the ants here aren’t like the ones at home. When one bites you it STINGS and BURNS. It feels like a scorpion bite. Love it…
3. Our latrine for the weekend was smelly, had flies everywhere but it could’ve been worse.
It was a great weekend. The Lord REALLY stretched me but so incredible. It was so neat to think that if we didn’t go to that village and share the gospel those people might’ve never heard of Jesus and how MUCH He loves them!!! I am so thankful I could’ve been a part of that.
I spoke to 2 of my brothers and my mom Saturday night. Oh how I LOVE hearing their voices and talking to them. They said the conference is awesome!! The Lord is really starting to answer a lot of prayers that I’ve been praying for my family. One of my favorite things to do now is intercede for my family. I love it! Praise the Lord for just how GOOD He is! My family is busy, busy but good! I miss them so much. 6 more weeks(in Jesus name…please still be praying about our flights!!!) and I will be home in their arms!! I have been gone over a month now which is the longest I’ve ever been away from them. After the end of this week I will have made it halfway through. Praise the Lord! Jesus IS my sustainer! My mom said the conference is going great at church!! I can’t wait to hear the sermons when I get home!
SUNDAY- I slept until 630… that’s late for me now.. So insane! I did my laundry then watched it dry. We can’t leave our laundry anymore because a lot of people have gotten their laundry stolen. So, I sat and journaled while I watched my clothes. Then I just spent a lot of time with the Lord. So good!
This week our school started 24/7 prayer so someone is ALWAYS praying or worshipping here this week. SO neat! Tonight we had a corporate worship and the Lord showed me SO much. The Lord is showing me so many amazing, intimate, personal things. ALSO, I GOT TO DANCE(ballet style!!!). I found a little spot… and it was so wonderful. I danced outside under the stars before my King. It was PERFECT.
Also, the night sky here is PERFECT. The stars are PERFECT… there are SO many of them and it is always so clear. And it always feels amazing here at night. Ahh… one of my favorite things.
I wish I could share more but for the time of being on the internet I can’t…
I can’t wait to get home and teach the youth girls again. I feel like the Lord has given me so much teaching material!
I am so thankful that my God never leaves or forsakes me. I am so thankful that I am never really alone because in 2 Timothy 4:17 it says, “But the Lord stood at my side and gave me strength, so that through me the message might be proclaimed.” I’m thankful that through HIM I can have inexpressible and glorious JOY(1 peter 1:8). I’m so thankful for the LOVE that He lavishes on me daily(1 John 3:1).
Let me encourage you in this… 1 Corinthians 15:58 says, “Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.”

a week in the life of ME!

What an incredible week I have had!! The Lord is just so so so faithful. It’s just been so amazing. Praise the Lord! Sorry it’s been awhile since I’ve been able to update… things are crazy busy around here! But, here’s my journey…
MONDAY was a hard day. I was completely exhausted and I just really missed my family. I just really wanted hugs from everyone. That’s one of the things I miss the MOST!!! I cried a lot Monday but in that Jesus just became my strength. In every area He is becoming my all in all. I was discouraged, homesick, lonely, and tired. I just told the Lord I needed more and MORE of Him and I needed HIM to fill those areas!!! I asked Him what He wanted to say to me and He said, “I delight in you. I’m holding you. Remember, I am your Sustainer. I am with you mighty warrior. Lay things at my feet. I love you. I will give you your daily bread. Rest in my peace.” Isn’t He just so sweet??
We had an incredible speaker come in! She seriously BLESSED my week! She is very prophetic and just taught us to practice the prophetic. On Monday we couldn’t leave class until we told at least one person something the Lord said about them. Alex said Esther over me… so I studied Esther on Tuesday. It was really neat because I can totally see how that applied and I will totally take her! Esther was a beautiful girl with a lot of favor on her life. She was bold, obedient, protective, submissive to her husband(the king), caring, and she trusted the Lord. (wow, what a compliment… I’ll take her!) She had to go through a year of “treatments” as she prepared to meet her husband. She was set alone to prepare in every way for really her destiny. She had a big destiny and calling on her life that took preparation for. And for now that’s what I feel like I’m doing. I am all alone with the Lord without any distractions and He is just pouring into my life. I am having wells of revelation and wisdom that will play out for the rest of my life. I feel like this time was set aside just for Jesus and I to grow closer and this time is preparation for the things Jesus has planned for me. After all, Jesus did tell my mom, “Thank you for letting me have your daughter this summer.” Wow!
A highlight of my day was a little village girl that I had held during church Sunday saw me and RAN and JUMPED into my arms! It was the sweetest thing. Thank you Jesus!!
Monday night we had another session with the same lady and she talked about angels. It was so neat because during worship before she spoke I was just feeling angels and kept getting the word angel and I didn’t know why! Ha then when she spoke on it I knew why! Pretty neat. After she spoke she put us in circles and we had to prophecy over 5 people. We couldn’t see who we were about to prophecy over. All we were able to do was turn around, ask Jesus for a word for the person, turn around and give it. A TOTALLY stretching and trusting the Lord exercise! It was so awesome though. And I got prophesied over by 5 people! The Lord gave me back my JOY that night. Oh praise HIM!!
On TUESDAY I can’t remember what happened… hahaha. I obviously didn’t journal that day. Oops. Sorry!
On WEDNESDAY I had a VERY intimate time with the Lord. I WEPT and WEPT on the floor during worship for about an hour. I was SO overwhelmed by Jesus’ LOVE for me… I was completely undone. I’ve never felt Him so intimately. It was AMAZING. He did some major forgiveness and healing in my heart. Now my heart feels completely whole. After I forgave people and asked Him to heal my heart I saw Him sewing my heart back up and putting His hand on it to make it new… intimate, beautiful stuff. And He kept telling me He LOVED me. He just said it over and OVER again. I have confidence because He LOVES me. I never have to compare myself to anyone because He loves ME. I am HIS daughter. I am HIS creation. I am HIS! My identity is in HIM! I felt His loving arms around me. I pictured myself sitting in His lap and letting Him hold me tight! I was at perfect peace there. He just kept saying, “you are mine. I love you. Nothing you can do can take away my love. I love you.”
Wednesday night the speaker we had for the week spoke again. She talked a lot about our future marriages and we just prayed for our future spouses. She declared amazing things over our future marriages. It was so encouraging and just awesome!
On THURSDAY morning we set out for our village. We were supposed to leave at 7 am... but didn’t until 9 am. Oh Africa! I was really nervous and apprehensive. The Lord again had to become everything to me. I just had to lean on Him for strength! It took 6 hours to get there and was just quite interesting. All of the other groups that have gone on outreach were only 5 minutes off “paved” road. Well, we were 2 hours from paved road, 3 hours from phone signal, and just completely out in the middle of NOWHERE. I have NO idea how people find these villages. So we arrived covered in dirt with back and butts sore from the ride! We got there and set up our tents then prayed as a team. Then we showed the Jesus film to the village. During the movie we did intercessory prayer for the people for 2 hours. After the movie we got up, introduced ourselves, and spoke to the people whatever we wanted. Then the pastors got up and preached. Ok, there were over 1000 people there we were told. I got up on the truck and there were people in every direction as far as I could see. They were never ending. It was CRAZY! MANY people got saved that night and wanted prayer. So we were called to go into the crowds and pray for people. So like 40 people are touching you because everyone wants prayer for something and you just have to place your hand on their head and say be healed in Jesus name. I have never had 40 people touching me all wanting prayer. I mean, I was lost in a crowd of over 1000 people! Crazy, but awesome!
After the Jesus film we went back to our “camp”(the pastor’s yard) and had supper. I didn’t eat because I was so extremely exhausted I couldn’t think about food. But, for supper we were having spaghetti and tuna. Yummy! Hahaha. I slept in a tent for the first time all by myself… and I LOVED it. It was my first “private” time in a month. I LOVE sleeping in a tent! I want to go camping when I get home. During the night a pig came into our camp, right by my tent and made noise most of the night. Oh the joys of Africa!
The next morning we got up, had our breakfast roll, and then went to pray door-to-door for people in the village. Here we go…
1. A man found us while we were walking and asked us to come to his house to pray for someone because they were sick but his house was VERY far away so the pastors said we couldn’t go. We told him we’d pray for him and then he can go lay hands on his friend and by faith his friend would be healed. So, he stood in the gap. After we prayed he said he wanted Jesus. It was so awesome to watch his countenance changed COMPLETELY after we prayed for him. Wow, God is so good!
2. Then , his wife came to us and said she had pain in her head(not sure if it was a headache or what). We prayed, she said it went away some. We prayed again and it was completely gone. She was amazed and said she wanted Jesus. Now before this, even after she got healed, she hadn’t smile but when she got saved she couldn’t quit smiling and hugging me. It was precious!
3. Of course as we were praying for people we attracted a crowd. I honestly felt like Jesus… we had a crowd following us wherever we went and we were laying our hands on people and they were getting healed because God was moving through us. So cool. Anyway, this man was watching us while we prayed and I felt like we needed to pray for him. One of his eye lids was shut completely and the other eye he said he couldn’t see unless you held something RIGHT up to his eye. So, we prayed for him and now he sees perfectly out of one eye and in the closed lid eye it started to open! Woo hoo! After that, he wanted Jesus too!
4. We kept walking and found a family who had a very sick daughter. She had a fever and usually that indicates malaria. So we prayed for her and her fever went down dramatically. Then, that whole family got saved! C’mon Jesus!!!
5. We went to another family’s house and their house was full of JOY! We prayed for them and just loved on them. They were great! The grandmother made us some kind of “root” so we had to eat it. It was actually pretty good! It tasted like a potato just starchier.
6. Next, the head pastor and our translator told me I needed to be led by the Spirit about where to stop next. There were some people outside one house and I just knew we were supposed to stop there so we kept going. We came to another house and the pastor and I both felt this was the house. After he talked to the family we found out there was a sick person inside and they wanted us to pray for her. We went inside and I sat on the bed with this woman. She had been laying in bed for a year and couldn’t move. She hadn’t eaten in a very long time because when she did she’d have diarrhea or vomit. And she hadn’t drank anything in days because the same thing happened. Also her skin was ice cold like someone’s is right before they die or when they are dead. She wasn’t moving when we talked to her, she wasn’t moving at all, she wasn’t opening her eyes. Nothing. I tried to feel her heartbeat but I couldn’t. I wasn’t going to pronounce her dead because I knew she was going to be healed. We prayed and prayed. She opened her eyes. Prayed more. She starting moving slightly. We prayed more. She started mumbling to us. We prayed more. She SAT UP!! The relative was in there and was AMAZED. But, the woman got weak and went back down. I had a vision of Jesus pouring his love and healing in her and her walking outside by herself. I was like ok Jesus DO THIS because it doesn’t look like it’s going to happen but I have faith! Someone got a word of knowledge that we needed to pray for her blood. We did, she mumbled more. We broke word curses and witchcraft. She mumbled that she wanted Jesus. After she prayed to receive Jesus we prayed for her again. THEN, THEN, THEN she GOT UP!!!!! We helped her out of bed and outside but she didn’t want our help. She started walking ON HER OWN!!! The neighbors and relatives were amazed!!! She hadn’t been outside in a year. She was UP and HEALED!! She starting drinking water and was completely FINE! It was AMAZING!!! So, to me… that was raising the dead because if she wasn’t already dead when we got there she was going to die any minute but JESUS HEALED HER!!! C’mon!! My faith has risen SO much. I am just SO amazed by Jesus!
7. The other group(our group split up into 2 groups) prayed for a woman with leprosy and her skin was healing right before their eyes! WOAH!!!
8. The other group said HELLO to a woman and passed her and she started manifesting demons. Guess that’s how you know you are carrying the Holy Spirit! She didn’t want to be free though… long story that I can’t share online.
It was such an AWESOME time. That afternoon we packed up and went to another village even deeper into the middle of nowhere(an hour further) and showed the Jesus film then prayed over people. I was asked to pray for this one baby whose mom died. This baby was SO skinny because no one was feeding it. It BROKE my heart. Most of these women, because they are malnourished, don’t even produce enough milk for their own babies so no one will volunteer to breastfeed someone else’s baby. So, what hope does this child have? Does the baby just die if it’s mom dies? That’s not fair or right. I didn’t know how to pray for this child. It was so tiny. It was so hungry. All I could pray was Lord PLEASE provide someone to feed this baby. And I believe He will because no baby deserves to have a death sentence because his mom died.
On Saturday we woke up and had church in the village and then packed our stuff up and headed back “home”. Everyone here said we were the dirtiest group that came back. We just had layers of dirt on us. Even though I used wet wipes twice and day it didn’t get the dirt off. I scrubbed and scrubbed in the shower when I got home. It felt WONDERFUL to be CLEAN(well, as clean as I can for Africa!).
Some sidenotes to this weekend were…
1. I had deep fried bread in the village. It was SO good. That will definitely be my treat here now! And they aren’t even 1 cent!
2. The driver would stop for a “potty” break on the way to the village and back… and imagine my face when I see that we are just in an open field, middle of NOWHERE. There is just tall grass. The boys go on one side of the street and we are on the other. Yeah, so you just trample through the grass, find your “hidden” spot, and go. The first time I went I was eaten up by ants. Joy. And the ants here aren’t like the ones at home. When one bites you it STINGS and BURNS. It feels like a scorpion bite. Love it…
3. Our latrine for the weekend was smelly, had flies everywhere but it could’ve been worse.
It was a great weekend. The Lord REALLY stretched me but so incredible. It was so neat to think that if we didn’t go to that village and share the gospel those people might’ve never heard of Jesus and how MUCH He loves them!!! I am so thankful I could’ve been a part of that.
I spoke to 2 of my brothers and my mom Saturday night. Oh how I LOVE hearing their voices and talking to them. They said the conference is awesome!! The Lord is really starting to answer a lot of prayers that I’ve been praying for my family. One of my favorite things to do now is intercede for my family. I love it! Praise the Lord for just how GOOD He is! My family is busy, busy but good! I miss them so much. 6 more weeks(in Jesus name…please still be praying about our flights!!!) and I will be home in their arms!! I have been gone over a month now which is the longest I’ve ever been away from them. After the end of this week I will have made it halfway through. Praise the Lord! Jesus IS my sustainer! My mom said the conference is going great at church!! I can’t wait to hear the sermons when I get home!
SUNDAY- I slept until 630… that’s late for me now.. So insane! I did my laundry then watched it dry. We can’t leave our laundry anymore because a lot of people have gotten their laundry stolen. So, I sat and journaled while I watched my clothes. Then I just spent a lot of time with the Lord. So good!
This week our school started 24/7 prayer so someone is ALWAYS praying or worshipping here this week. SO neat! Tonight we had a corporate worship and the Lord showed me SO much. The Lord is showing me so many amazing, intimate, personal things. ALSO, I GOT TO DANCE(ballet style!!!). I found a little spot… and it was so wonderful. I danced outside under the stars before my King. It was PERFECT.
Also, the night sky here is PERFECT. The stars are PERFECT… there are SO many of them and it is always so clear. And it always feels amazing here at night. Ahh… one of my favorite things.
I wish I could share more but for the time of being on the internet I can’t…
I can’t wait to get home and teach the youth girls again. I feel like the Lord has given me so much teaching material!
I am so thankful that my God never leaves or forsakes me. I am so thankful that I am never really alone because in 2 Timothy 4:17 it says, “But the Lord stood at my side and gave me strength, so that through me the message might be proclaimed.” I’m thankful that through HIM I can have inexpressible and glorious JOY(1 peter 1:8). I’m so thankful for the LOVE that He lavishes on me daily(1 John 3:1).
Let me encourage you in this… 1 Corinthians 15:58 says, “Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.”

the week...

Well, it’s time to write another blog. Sorry I haven’t written this last week. The internet was down… such a bummer. I will never take wifi for granted in the US again. I miss being able to get on whenever I wanted and not having to wait a week before I write again.
So many things are happening and sadly I can’t share a lot of them online. Please be praying for me. I am frustrated with a few things and it’s definitely not just me. I really have to rely on the Lord for HIS strength, His love, mercy, and grace. I am perfectly safe… don’t worry. Just be praying the Lord would shower down on me and that He would give me His heart for the people here.
Also, please pray that we would get our plane tickets. We were told we had them and now for some reason we don’t. Alex and I really need and want to leave here on August 7th so please be praying the Lord would open up 2 tickets on each plane and we get them. We believe for them! We are claiming it all the time. One more area God is teaching us to trust Him…
This week has been incredible with our speaker Jackie Pullinger. I can’t wait to come home and share her teachings with everyone. She rocked our world. She just teaches straight out of the Word. She is BOLD and VERY authoritative. She taught us about spiritual gifts and how to break curses off our life. Curses that were placed on our life that I had no idea everyone has. That was neat. She taught us about how our identity is in the LORD and not in a man/or woman. She taught us about how our protection is in the LORD not in man. She taught us about surrender.
We have some amazing speakers this summer! We are so extremely BLESSED! So far, Heidi, Rolland, Will Hart, Jackie Pullinger, a missionary from Ukraine and England, and Stacy Campbell! So many more amazing ones are to come!
One of the students got to go to the jail Friday and he prayed for 2 men who were deaf in one ear and now they are HEALED!!! They can hear out of BOTH of their ears!!! Praise the LORD!!! Yippee!!! I love hearing and seeing miraculous healing miracles.
I am going on outreach this weekend to a village 5-7 hours away. I am hoping this village has never heard the gospel so that we can be the first ones to share it! I am believing and declaring that we will see God do MIRACULOUS miracles. I declare we WILL see blind eyes SEE, deaf ears OPEN, and dead men/babies/women to be RAISED. I believe for it. I claim it. It was prophesied over me that I’d pray for the dead and they would be raised. And it turns out that 2 more people in my group have had that prophesied over them too. So, let’s go!!! C’mon JESUS!!! Please stand with us! Satan has thrown enough crap my way this week that I am just believing that God is about to do something AMAZING! I am praying and believing for so much breakthrough!
The Lord is doing so much in my life. He is just calling me to lay down so much. And He promised there would be JOY in the laying down and there truly is. He is my portion. His plans are prosperous for me. He is more than enough. So, why not just be a laid down lover of Him? Why not let Him lead me? Why not let Him be the leader every moment of my life? Why not? It’s so simple.. Jesus asked me the other day if I would dance with Him wherever He wanted to lead me. Then Heidi spoke on that. Haha how amazing!
“For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works which God prepared in advance for us to do.” Ephesians 2:10
Through a friend Jesus wrote me this love letter…
“Daughter, Just let me lead. Let me show you all the steps to this dance. Just watch my feet and go where I go, step where I step. There are new moves that I want to show you that you have never done before. Trust me. Take my hand. Step out and trust me. I’m a good dancer. You are my partner. My child, do not be afraid! Keep your eyes on me and you will never take the wrong step. My love will carry you. Let my love sweep you away, let my love sweep you off your feet. One rhythm, one movement. We are one. Let this reality of our oneness penetrate deep inside your heart. Let this reality be always on your mind. I in you and you in me. My love. My desire. You have truly ravished my heart. Let y light shine through you. Nations will be drawn to this light. Be my light. My light, my goodness draws all men. Shine brightly so that all can see. I don’t want to any left out. Radiate me so that the lost and broken know that they are loved. Show them who I am. Be love. Be yourself covered by all that I am. Wear my presence like a cloak. Freedom looks good on you my beloved.”
Heidi prayed over me… “He will empower you as a lover. He is going to empower you for the dance. Shaka. The shoes that you need to dance the dance. He is going to give you the anointing you need, the passion you need.”
That’s all I could hear… the rest didn’t get recorded. But it was all about dancing for Him. It was pretty amazing. I was blown away. She has never seen me dance nor does she know I am one!
Tuesday 10 other people and I got to sit down with Rolland and just talk. He wanted to get to know us and we could ask him whatever we wanted. Then he asked us something that really made me think. He is full of wisdom. He said, “What would you die for?” You can only die once so what would it be for. He also said, “before you go on the mission field you need to get to the point where you can say, ‘this is what I’m giving my life for…’”. “You have to be willing to give your life for it. When you leave, there should be no turning back.” –Rolland said.
Jesus is truly the lover of my soul. “I am my beloveds and He is MINE!!” Song of Solomon 2:16. I am so overwhelmed by His love for me. I am so completely in love with Him. I can’t even express how amazing He is. He is truly romancing me!
Saturday I just laid out on the beach… ahhhmazing! Heidi told us to take the day off Saturday and just do nothing. After spending 3 hours with the Lord in the morning I went to hang out at the beach for awhile! I have quite a few funny tan lines… oh I don’t know what I’m going to do when I get home! Then we just hung out the rest of the day. 6 of us piled onto Alex’s bed(and our beds are TINY hahaha) Saturday night and watched Ice Age 3. It was so much fun!
Sunday and Thursday are my shower days! I thoroughly look forward to those! Love being clean! Some of these sweet students here have just been telling me that I am a beautiful missionary… even though I am so nasty. How sweet!
Alex, Catherine, and I met these new visitors(we get new ones every 2-3 weeks). They are all big tough guys. I say that because they couldn’t believe that we were here for 3 months. They couldn’t believe that we were girls who sleep in tents in a remote village without being scared, take showers twice a week, etc. etc. They were amazed at how “tough” we were. It cracked us up! Living in Africa does make you tough. I just never thought 3 tough big guys would be so proud of us. It was encouraging.
This morning at church was so special. Heidi’s daughter is here so she translated the service into English. Heidi spoke on John 4- the woman at the well. If you aren’t familiar with the story, the woman has had five husbands and was then living with someone who wasn’t her husband. Heidi went into detail about some of the reasons that the husbands might have kept leaving this woman in the bible. Then Heidi asked the African women to raise their hand if any of their husbands had left them. Probably 95 % raised their hand. My heart broke. In this culture it is very common for the husbands to leave their wives. They will leave them if the women can’t have kids, didn’t have a boy, or they’ll find a younger, better-looking wife, etc. etc. My heart was crushed. The pain these women endure on a regular basis. There is NO one to take care of them. They have tons of children and yet no one to love on them, help them, or care for them. Heidi asked us women to go pray for them. (THIS IS MY FAVORITE PART!!!) We get to love on and pray for these women every Sunday and Monday and it’s one of the joys of my week. I crammed in beside these two women with one baby in my lap and I just prayed for these women. I LOVE praying for them. Then, they prayed for me…. Really? Oh my Jesus. Well, after I prayed for one woman she went up and told Heidi she wanted to be SAVED!!!!! She gave her life over to JESUS today!! PRAISE THE LORD!!!
We also got a new little baby last week so he is getting extra care and love from me! He is so precious!
We washed our clothes again today.
Talked to my little brother and parents today(Sunday). Oh how I miss them! I cried the whole time I was on the phone with them. I have almost been gone a month…. I just miss them so much. I miss seeing them every day. I miss their hugs. I miss being able to sit down with my mom and talk to her for HOURS about every little thing. I so miss her. Today(Sunday) is Father’s Day and it hurts my heart that I can’t be with my dad to celebrate it. Oh how I wish I could just give him a big hug! It was so good to hear my little brother’s voice and him make me laugh. I miss that boy SO much!!!
God is so good. He fills me up when I am weak and broken. He holds my heart. He loves on me! I am so thankful that I serve a sweet, sweet Savior! May all of you have a blessed week! Will update you next Monday, hopefully!
“I thank my God every time I think of you.” Philippians 1:3

the weekend...

My sweet family and friends,
Oh how I miss each and every one of you! I keep hearing that everyone is reading my blog… people I don’t even know! Oh what a blessing. Thank you so much for your prayers and support and taking time to read this blog. It means so much to me!
What’s all going on in Africa?? Let’s see….
1. I found a cockroach in my shower Friday. So, I killed it! It’s Africa… there are bugs everywhere. It doesn’t faze me anymore.
2. There has been a frog in our toilet.
3. I REALLY hope I remember how to drive when I come home. We were driving in a taxi earlier and the taxi driver switched to the other side of the road(which is the side we drive on in the US) to pass someone else and it felt WEIRD to be the RIGHT side of the road. Haha…
4. It’s currently Saturday afternoon and I haven’t showered since Tuesday… yeah. I mean I’ve washed my feet and face every day but haven’t washed my hair or really showered. Learning to die to self everyday… But there really is like no point because as soon as you get out you sweat and get dirt on you so you’re dirty again! BUT, GOOD NEWS!!! I get to take a shower TOMORROW!!! So, I’ll be clean for church!! I can’t wait!!!  Even though it’s COLD, it’ll feel so good. I’m used to cold showers now. They don’t bother me at all!
5. Thursday we had a question and answer session with Heidi. She just sat with us and laughed and cried. She told us we could ask her any question we wanted to know. So, we asked tons. She is so “down to earth”. She has been absolutely precious and just such an awesome woman. She was so real to us. Sarcastic. Funny! And just loving and caring. She really blessed me.
6. Currently she is teaching us twice a week and speaking to us about the spirit of Adoption from Ephesians 2. No one can minister out of an orphan spirit. We are ALL the Lord’s children. HE is our Daddy. We are HIS! Once that seals on us we have a whole new perspective. It’s pretty amazing.
7. A missionary from the Ukraine spoke to us about the 7 separations that Abraham had to go through. One of them being with Issac. Abraham was asked to lay HIS SON on the altar and kill him. He didn’t know God would provide another sacrifice. And after God asked him, he went early the next morning. He didn’t wait and “fast and pray” to make sure he heard God correctly. No, he did it as soon as possible. That’s obedience. Obedience that is better than sacrifice. So, the Lord has been showing me things I need to lay on the altar. Things I need to give Him that maybe he’ll bring them back, maybe He won’t. But in order to become like Him, I must become like Him and He let His one and ONLY Son die in MY place. How worthy is He of my life? This summer will be a process of putting things on the altar. It’s hard. The things He’s asking for aren’t just “tv” and EASY things. They’re HARD. Should I dare ask you this question… What is your Issac? Ask Jesus…. He’ll tell you! Will you be obedient and give it up?
8. Saturday I played with the little kids on base. We’re not allowed to call them orphans… because they’re not. Heidi Baker is their mom (they call her mama aida) and God is their father! Anyway, I went to play with them today. Oh the joy of my heart! They all wanted love and attention. I took lots of pictures… hopefully I can update them to facebook soon! This way each of you will get to see what I look like with no makeup and no shower for oh 5 days. Aren’t you special?? Haha! I had so much fun with them today!
9. One of my friends here had a guy fall on her when he got slain in the spirit and her neck popped, she slipped a disc, and she was in MASSIVE pain… well, me and another girl prayed for her and she got healed!!! I haven’t seen any people raised from the dead, blind eyes or deaf ears opened… YET! It’s coming! I believe! But other healings have happened. A man who couldn’t walk can now walk!
10. I cook for myself every day. I can’t handle the rice and beans or rice and whatever else anymore. The rice and beans are good but just not good for you twice a day. I watched someone scale the fish and slice it up yesterday but I haven’t learned yet!
11. On Friday afternoons I am helping the eye doctor go around to each kid on the base and check their eye sight to see if they need glasses. It’s been a joy! On Friday mornings I can spend 3 hours with the Lord(which I did yesterday and it was AMAZING!!), help in the clinic, or go out to villages and distribute food sometimes. So, we’ll see!
12. Yesterday we checked a kid’s eyes who has just now come to IRIS. He looked 4 years old, had a bloated belly, and had some skin disease. Ben, I thought he was 4! He looked NO older than 4. Well, he’s 10. 10!!! My heart broke. Broke. Broke. These kids… these kids. But, I have hope because he is here now getting the care he needs and he will grow soon! So many kids are SMALL for their age because they haven’t received the care they need.
13. I haven’t met her yet but a new girl came to live at our base Thursday. Heidi said if she didn’t take her in she would’ve been a prostitute the next day. Their stories break my heart. One of the sweet teenage girls walked up to me the other day and said, “Just so you know… Jesus loves you so much!”
14. The Lord is definitely letting me cry a lot more. He is breaking my heart for what breaks His and bring joy to my heart for what brings JOY to His!
15. The cry of my heart is Jeremiah 26:14, “As for me, I am in your hand; do whatever You think is good and proper to you.”
16. Revival has broken out at my church!! I am so excited!!! Alex and I are praying and declaring that it will STILL be in revival when we come home in less than 2 months!! Woo hoo! And yes… I meant what I said. We’re coming home AUGUST 8th now. We moved our flights. We are now graduating on the 6th so the staff said if we weren’t doing an outreach after they’d rather us leave because we have nothing else to do. So, we’re coming home! So thankful and excited.  I do love it here but I can’t wait to come home and see everyone! I miss everybody so so much!
17. Last night a big group of us went to a restaurant to eat and watch the World Cup! England and USA were playing. It was so much fun! I’ve never watched a World Cup game but it was actually fun. But the group I was with was really fun! I have really enjoyed getting to know everyone here! There are some awesome people here!
18. Alex and I washed our clothes again. Such an adventure and we took pictures for everyone to see!
19. This Sunday morning was AMAZING! Heidi’s hero, Jackie Pullinger, a missionary from Hong Kong, is here with us this week! She is an AMAZING missionary. At 22 years old she left England and bought a round trip ticket. The Lord told her that He would tell her when to get off. She got off in Hong Kong and moved to the slums. The slums were more like a sewer. No running water, rats as big as cats, and no electricity. She started going around and telling people “Jesus Loves You!”. But then they didn’t know who Jesus was or what love was. So, she had to BECOME Jesus to them! When they were hungry, she gave them her food. When they needed somewhere to sleep, she gave them her bed. When they needed to get out of jail, they called her. Etc. Etc. She knew she needed something more so she went to meet a couple who were filled with the Holy Spirit. She got filled with the Holy Spirit and everything changed for her. She prayed in the Spirit every day. The head gang member started sending guards to Jackie’s house. Jackie told them she didn’t need them but they stayed anywhere. They ended up getting saved were completely free of their addictions(usually heroine) within about an hour. They said when you are trying to get off heroine every bone in your body aches! All they did was pray and their pain went away immediately! Anyway, she has been doing that for years. She is amazing!

After she preached today in church, she called all the women up who have been abused by men, are barren, haven’t had a boy, or their husbands have left them for another woman. Well, TONS and TONS of women came up. Probably like 50-60 women. It was A LOT! Then they called us, the mission school girls, to come pray for these women. We held them as they just sobbed in our laps or on our shoulder. Then Jackie asked one of the pastors to come up and apologize on behalf of any man that has ever abused them. Everyone started crying. Then Jackie asked the men to go repent for ever leaving, abusing, or any sexual sin to any woman. TONS of men went down. It was the most beautiful thing. Then on behalf of all the women, a woman got up and told all the men they forgave them. Healing hit their hearts and it was BEAUTIFUL! My heart just wanted to explode. God is so amazing and I love to see Him move. Words really can’t express how great it was!

20. After church this PRECIOUS little girl came up to me, put her arms out, and gave me this huge smile. I picked her up and she stole my heart! She played with my hair and just couldn’t stop smiling! She blessed my heart so much! Gosh, I love these precious children!

21. The people who went on outreach came back home today! They said they had an AMAZING time! They are just really dirty. Oh Africa!