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!