it's all about relationship.

As most of you know, this week we decided to go without any outside communication including phones, internet, email, snail mail, etc., so that we could use that time to spend with God and limit the distractions in our lives.

Our topics this week included 'Intercession' and 'Hearing the Voice of God.' We had a speaker named Brian come in to talk with us about intercession for two days. We learned that intercession is about standing in the gap, not as one individual, but as a community and body of believers to affect change. Not that God cannot work through individuals as well, but God chooses to work through community because He understands that we were built for relationship, with Him and with each other. The basic principles of intercession include: Praise God, ask God to bring up sin, Invite Holy Spirit, Address the Enemy, Silence: ask God what He wants us to pray for, pray for the things He lays on your heart, then praise God and walk out in faith that He listens:) One of the things that stood out to me during his teaching was when he asks us each our name and had us tell him if we gave him permission to speak into our lives. This was a big eye-opener for me, because I feel there are many people I will listen to, but don't give them permission to speak truth into my life. Will you give others permission into your soul?

'Hearing the Voice of God' was taught by Jason, the leader of the film school here at the base. Jason emphasized over and over again that hearing God's voice is not the goal or the main point, but relationship with God. I was convicted that so often I come to the Lord with selfish goals of what He is able to do for me, how He loves me and wants to bless me. Now, those desires are not bad, they are God-given, but when we strive to want the things of God above God Himself, that is when we are wrong and hurt God. Ephesians 4:30 tells us that we have the ability to grieve the Holy Spirit. What submission God shows us! That the God of the universe would put Himself in a low enough position that we have the ability to hurt Him, I cannot even imagine.

When I was in college, the Lord began to whisper to me and teach me the sound of His voice. As in the story of Elijah, the Lord does not come in with big thunder or howling winds, but He chooses to speak to us through a position of intimacy, through a Lover's whisper. God is talking to us all the time, the problem is that we are too distracted and too busy to take the time to listen. The God of the Universe wants to talk with us, and yet we tell Him that we don't have time, how selfish. God is speaking, are we willing to listen?

This week one of my biggest prayers was that the Lord would show me where He was at work, that I may join Him. About a year ago, I had people begin to tell me that I had the gift of discernment. I have been trying to figure out what that looks like and how to use it for awhile now and the Lord began to fit all of the pieces together this week. The Lord has given me eyes to see things of the Spiritual realm that not everyone sees; this is not for my sake, but for the sake of the community. For instance, this week the Lord told me about a guy on my team and what He was inwardly struggling with, so I was able to bring that insight to one of my leaders and they could pray through those walls more specifically. The next day, one of the leaders was led to go pray for the same guy and received a vision regarding the insight I had. I love how God works through community! The gift of discernment also includes insights into Spiritual Warfare. The Lord gave me countless opportunities to minister and pray for other students on my team. It's feels so good to be involved in Kingdom work, when you know that you are storing up treasures in Heaven that moth and rust cannot destroy, treasures that will last forever!

Thank you so much for your prayers this week. God is moving in incredible ways here:) Love and miss you all.

Character and Nature of God.

This week we began lectures and studied the character and nature of God. It's amazing to me how the Lord continues to teach you things, this week was no different.

It's easy to say "God is good," but it's something completely different to believe it. We need to allow the Lord to define what is good. When we look at a situation with our eyes, if it brings us comfort and happiness, then it must be 'good,' but if something brings grief or pain, then we categorize it as 'bad.' When we have determined that a situation is bad, our immediate reaction is to bring it under our control and turn it from bad to good. If we are able to trust that God is good and everything He does is good, we no longer have a reason to control the situation. Therefore not defining in ourselves what is 'good' or 'bad,' gives us freedom from control and freedom from ourselves.

On Wednesday afternoons, we have 'Go Days," where we go into the city and form relationships with people. Our team helped out in various places in the community including doing yard work for an elderly woman, helping a single mother and befriending mentally handicapped men at a facility. It's great to be able to make an impact here, not only during outreach. We also have Sports in the Park on Thursday afternoons where we go to the nearby park at the same time every week in hopes that kids will come and join us.

This weekend we have a break and we went to Cedar Creek nearby which had a bunch of bolders and a COLD creek running through it. We had a fun afternoon relaxing and getting to know each other better. We also did a bit of swimming:)

Here are a few more pics. The first is of our school on a bus ride, the second is Nele and I at Cedar Creek. I hope to get more up soon. Love you all and I'm so grateful for each of you.

Redcliffe

2 days after arriving in Australia, our team headed to Redcliff, which was a 45 min. drive north. We started off with a scavenger hunt downtown Brisbane. We ran around the city on a team taking crazy photos and talking to strangers. There is a really cool beach in the middle of downtown because there are Bull Sharks in the river and people are not allowed to swim in it, so there is a man-made sand beach in a park area instead.

After the hunt, we headed to a church in Redcliffe. On the way there, we saw small kangaroos or wallabies; we couldn't stop or get close enough to look, but I've been told that some kangaroos are around 7 foot tall. We were staying about 1 mile from the beach, so as soon as we got there, we gathered up our things and headed down. I was the only girl who went swimming, because it was a little chilly:) In the evenings we had 'family time' and took turns sharing our testimonies with each other. It was great to hear everyone's story and how the Lord brought us here. We attended church on Sunday and had a chance to go to a city-wide worship service. The worship service was wonderful and so freeing, people were worshipping in all different ways like painting, singing, praying and writing. It was really encouraging to see how the Lord is rising up people and starting a revival in Australia.

After staying at the church for the weekend and finishing up testimonies, we headed back to the base on Monday. We are starting class tonight and we will have the same theme throughout the week which is "Character and Nature of God."

There is a girl from Belgium, her name is Nele and she is great! She is 25 years old and from day one we hit it off. It's so good to have a friend here and to have her, I'll try to post a picture soon. Ironically, we were both hoping to travel after DTS and go to New Zealand, it came up the other day in coversation and we decided to start making travel plans together:)