purity and outreach.

okay. today=best day ever.

haha.

anyways. as you know, we are learning about relationships. today andy and frank put together a beautiful message about purity in relationships, not only boy/girl, but all relationships. it was incredible. they had so much wisdom and knowledge about everything that was encompassed in this topic. they used scientific knowledge, biblical background and personal experiences to share what they knew was important.

after talking for two hours, we took a break and then split up into boy and girls. when we were with the girls, we got time to pray with leaders for issues related to purity. when the boys came back into the lecture hall (they left because there are 20 boys and 50 girls) they got down on one knee, prayed for us, and then handed us all a rose. ahhh it was so precious. they then read a declaration about how they respected us, were sorry for all the boys that had ever disrepected us, and they saw us as beautiful jewels and tools for christ. i wanted to cry. it was my first time ever recieving a flower from a boy, and i can't think of a more special way i would have liked to recieve it then this way.

then we all read in unison a declaration written for the boys. we apollogized for any girls who may have hurt them in the past. we told them how we appreciated their differences and we loved the uniqueness about each sex. we told them that we liked their manhood and we respected the way they were. andy felt that god told her, the best way to let them know our feelings was to applaud them, for 5 minutes...now doesn't really seem like a long time...but when you are screaming encouragement and clapping as loud as you can, it means aching hands and light-headedness. it was well worth it though. the boys were so surprised and overwhelmed with our stamina and genuine words that all they did was smile.

it was a very memorable way to learn about purity and its importance. yay.

then later on, we learned of our final outreach locations. two weeks ago the staff said that they had been praying for months for locations but they also wanted us to pray so that we could get confirmation of locations. after praying for 2 days, i personally felt lead to zaire/congo. it was really incredible. god laid this country on my heart even though i had never thought of going there. last week we learned of possible outreach locations. they asked us last week to pray about possibilities for us personally and for direction in the plans. in the countries presented to us, congo was not an option. i was disappointed because god had spoken so clearly. i was thinking maybe ethiopia, but wasn't at peace. friday of last week, i had 2 more visions about the congo. i let the staff know, but i wasnt sure what good it would do. they warned us that "even if you thought god spoke to you, and you dont see the country, that doesnt mean god didnt speak to you, it may be for the future. dont go through this yourself, let us know so we can pray for you." i wasnt really distraught about it, i figured they were right, and it was for the future. i talked with one of my friends, and she told me that god would give me peace about it and it was right that i had let the staff know how i felt about the congo. i found out the day that i turned in my visions, that another boy also was feeling lead to the congo. i knew after this, that it was going to happen. i could NOT wait until today at 4:30. charlotte and i walked down to the lecture hall 10 minutes early, and waited and waited and waited...soon enough, they reavealed the final countries.

ethiopia
israel
china
morocco
afghanistan
india
nepal
pakistan
congo

it was amazing. yes it really was the last country, i didnt just do that for affect, but it does help...hannah is leading the outreach, and she really felt lead there. the base has never sent a team here but knows this is where we are supposed to go. i am so ecstatic. god is sovereign. i cant wait...

love you all, i cant wait to update more!