the past couple days...

We just finished yet another prayer time, and yet again, God met us. The latent phase has finished and we are transistioning into hard work in these last hours before our finances are due. We have been focusing a lot of 2 Chronicles 20 since yesterday, it feels like so much longer than that... Jehoshaphat and his army were up against unlikely odds, but rested in God's words that were spoken through people. Tuesday mornings are usually base intercession time, but today Darcy and Becca felt that we were supposed to prophetically walk through the passage. When Jehoshaphat heard that there was a strong army waiting up against him, he went to the Lord and proclaimed a fast for all of Judah. Then together the people seeked God. Jehoshaphat stands in front of the people and declares God's character "you rule over all the nations and kingdoms", "power and might are in your hands and no one can withstand you"...it continues on. In his closing phrases he shares "O our God, will you not judge them? For we have no power to face this vast army that is attacking us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are upon you." I really took heart in this bit, all day it has been the cry of my heart. God, I have absolutely nowhere to turn but you. Then the underdog, they quote like 5 generations before him to accredit him, says "Hey, this is God's battle, don't be afraid! You aren't going to fight, but you need to prepare and stand firm. The Lord is going to deliver you. Face it. God is with you." With that all of the people of Judah and Jerusalem fell flat on their faces in worship. Finally, moments before they went out, Jehoshaphat tells his people to have faith and worship as they go out. It was in their time of worship that God sent out ambushes, the enemy was annihilated. The reward was great, and the fear of the Lord succumbed surrounding nations. They rejoiced for their God had delivered them.

I am looking forward to Thursday, the celebration, the deliverance, the worship. It will be beautiful. Until then, we continue to labor, the first 4 cm have come, we are joyful, the waters are broken, but the transitional phase is just beginning, the last hours are going to be difficult, but the one who will deliver us rules over nations and kingdoms, power and might is in his hands.

24,560 dollars to go.

for callie

Hi callie-

I love you friend. I need 5,881 more dollars.

Bek

5 days remain.

Today Hollie recieved all her money. Breakthrough!

We are at 32,132 dollars. Zero, here we commmmmmeeeee!

I talked to my mom today.

She asked me if I had received 5,000 dollars already and if I hadn't been updating them. Although it was her misconception and my undescriptive phrases that teamed up for confusion, it was comforting to hear that my mom is teamed up right along side me. In the end, I clarified, "I am counting down, I still need 5,800, it was just a change from the six thousands." and she responded with "Oh, I bet everyone else got that, they probably aren't as dense as me." Hahaha. All of that to say, there is power in team work. I usually say thank you in my blogs or emails, and I mean it! So once again, thank you, for teaming up in finances and prayer. I am not alone in this. It is unifying as we have prayer times together as a school and just as powerful when I get an email from someone at home telling me what is going on in their life and that they are partnering in prayer with me and the school.

Six days until finances are due. Woooooot (that's for you Charlie).

Tonight instead of Thursday night evangelism, we are having base worship. I think we are going to be interceding and worshiping for the city of Perth, possibly praying for people we have met previously and doing some spiritual warfare for them. I can hear them across the laneway getting set up....I'm excited.

The weather is taking a change these past days. Slowly the scarves are being pealed off and the three-quarter length sweater is a usual part of my outfit.

Anyway. Dinner and singing telegrams are calling...

and now...market night...

Tonight was a beautiful night of community. We have the market night to raise money for outreach, which may seem counter productive since six schools are headed on outreach, so where is the money going to come from? The heart of our evening was to bless the other schools with our creativity, and money seemed to just be a biproduct. As Becca put it "we are going to win the market night!". We went into the evening joyfully and with the right heart to bless the other schools.

The BAS set up quite the spread including: base-famous peanut butter fudge, chocolate and peanut butter balls, crocheted headbands and cell phone covers, cards, and an old fashioned "fishing" game where you could win any of our homemade goods. Some of the crowd drawers were "watch-Dave-make-sushi" bar and the absolutely-irresistable-hot-off-the-griddle-Norwegian-waffles. Most unique, profitable and hilarious was the Singing Telegrams. You could decide who you were selling it to, what song you wanted, how many people and what those people are wearing. Just to give everyone a taste, we began a slow clap in the middle of the market bustle, one by one we formed into a line and then it began, "Lean on me, when you're not strong, and I'll be your friend...", then came the silence, the staring and the all time favorite, beat-boxing. What a crowd stopper and knee slapper. We have four more acts sometime this week. I am anticipating the shock when 12 girls dressed in salvation army clothes knock on the door of an unsuspecting recipient. Hehehe!

Anyway, God is so good. We saw nearly three hundred dollars come in tonight, where it came from, who knows? I believe that in the changing of hands, God is multiplying the money. Amen.

So, since Saturday, when we were at nearly 49,000 dollars, we have seen 12,000 dollars come in. Praise God! Personally, I broke into 5,000s today! I saw almost a thousand dollars come in. God is pushing me and I am learning. This is the time for faith to grow. I believe as a school and as a base, trusting God for finances is a pillar in community-building. As we were in a huge lunchtime prayer today, I got the song from High School Musical stuck in my head, "We're all in this together...". Zach and Gabriella, I like them. Anyway, I really feel like our coming together is bringing power, breaking strongholds, keeping the enemy at bay.

Thank you for all your prayers, I believe the flow of generosity from the carwash and the market is due to prayer beforehand and during the fundraising hours.

Please email me any prayer requests that you have or just drop a comment to say "hi", I really like those.

God is good.

thank you for praying...

World's most successful carwash, $830. Who even makes that much money at a carwash? We did. We also had $850 of donations towards the school's account as a whole and were sponsored at 27.50 per car and washed 52 cars. When you add all the numbers together it is approximately 3,000 dollars. Wow, God, thank you! We all saw our numbers come down. Personally, I had about $600 dollars come in this weekend. I am now sitting at 6,137 dollars before I am sitting on a plane to Indonesia. Thank you for all your prayers and emails and contact.

Today Robyn shared about Jesus and Suffering for our Jesus Devo. The world clearly states, keep yourself safe, hide from the bad. I mean, I change the channel when the "feed the children" commercials come on, it is uncomfortable to see others in pain. Robyn shared that Jesus was greatly moved and then embraced the pain. There were times in his suffering when he would draw away in the suffering, we are allowed to feel the pain. I think this is something I haven't embraced. It is not natural to want to feel pain.

On Wednesday we are headed to a private hospital! All week we are learning newborn care. So far we have only gotten up to pulling the placenta out, and now we actually get to think about caring for the baby and watching the mum and bub (the aussies shorten anything they can) connect. We will have the chance to palpate a placenta and learn recessatation. We are on the edge of our seats.

Cool.

Tomorrow Sarah and I present the need of Swaziland to the class. 47% of the country is infected with HIV/AIDS. It is estimated the country will die out by 2050. 70% of the people live on less than a dollar a day. I had no idea until about three weeks ago. God be the solution.

Well fam and friends, I hope to hear from you. It really makes my day.

it will be multiplied!

as of today, we are washing cars for $19 each! (aside from the money we will get from the car owner!)
paula-$2
melisa-$6
rachel-$7
connie-$4

praise the lord!

the last winter cafe is tonight!

I feel silly again writing a blog about how revolutionary the teaching has been, but it is looking that way again.

I think as long as we have a teachable heart, as long as we are open to recieve, as long as we are filtering people's views through the Bible, we will always be learning more and more.

This morning we had our final testimony shared. Over the past four weeks, each of us has shared our life story at small group. It has been in this time that we have seen breakthrough in one on one times (staff and student meetings), lectures and relationship. It also has to do with the progression of time, but there has been more depth and understanding coating the classroom as we learn about people's lives. I have rejoiced in my friends' redemption (and mine) endlessly. God is good. Amen?!

Anyway, I want to ask something of each of you. Would you be willing to sponsor me for our carwash this weekend? I am excited to have my friends involved with raising money for our outreach. Currently, we have seen 70,000 dollars come in, and now we need another 50,000. All of our money is due September 10. So far we are washing each car for 9 dollars! Yay! I want to see this quadrupled...atleast. Whether you can give 10 cents per car or 5 dollars per car, each bit counts. Please feel open in asking any questions!

In our financial prayer, it is often brought up, to be the persistent widow. To give of what we have, to be faithful in the small. I am convinced we will see our needs provided for, someway, somehow. We must be in a place of needing a miracle in order to see one happen.

One quick story before I post. About two weeks ago, my power adapter for my computer starting acting funny, you know, melting the plastic, smelling like you had put Glad-Ware on the bottom rack of the dish washer. It was actually so hot to touch, that I was avoiding plugging it in. I was imagining it exploding and then blasting out my computer screen. Anyway, Saturday morning, my cord spliced a three inch hole in itself. After the initial shock, I didn't know what to do. There is no Apple store, perhaps I could send it to Sydney? I wasn't sure if it was even worth the cost. Anyway, one of my roommates asked a fellow Mac user...and it turns out, a four minute walk away, is a store that honors Mac warranties. I walked over there on Monday, and by this morning had a brand new adapter. Thanks Jesus.

Anyway, guys, God is moving in Perth. How about the rest of the world? I would love to hear from you all! Thank you Sarah Park for your prayer request!

Just another day at the beach.

Yesterday was Sarah's birthday. It has gone around the other schools, that if you want a party, go to the BAS. Most of it has to do with the fact that we are the smallest school, less of us to get to know, lots of love to go around...

I am feeling unispired as I begin to hack away at my computer...

This week we have the Base Leader's husband is speaking. I guess the "base founder" would be a more concise way to decribe him. The topic is "Spiritual aspects of birth". We began the week by talking about death and suffering, most of which I am still pondering.

The problem with our incredibly deep lectures, is that I am still processing by the time another week rears its head too early Monday morning. Dr. Panter last week invested his heart into our classroom each day last week. Each morning he would begin by talking about what God has laid on his heart for the morning. Most of the week we talked about running the race, and finishing well. What struck me about Dr. Panter was his zealous heart for the Burmese people. It seeped into nearly every lecture, from Women in developing countries to S.I.D.s. His passion to bring change to Burma is invigorating. He has thrown off passivity and will not let even the hardest of the hard stop him.

One story that Dr. Panter shared has stuck with me. As he was overlooking the water, close to his home in the England, he humbly thought about the blessings in his life. He had completed his medical training, opened a personal practice, brought a new baby into the world...life was good...many people had told him and he agreed. He was truly helping people, whether during his 9-5 shift or on a Sunday morning while playing the organ at his church. As he gazed upon the waves, God asked him, "What do I think of your life?". This became a cornerstone for Dr. Panter. As he reinterated to us, God sees our motivations, God does not care about societal values, God cares about you living a life for Him.

I feel changed by this. I am still trying to take hold of it all.

On September 10, all of our outreach funds are due. Please continue to pray for strategy and release. And please, contact me with any new prayer requests.

I miss you, church family...you guys are the bestest.

the harvest is here. the kingdom in near.

What would happen if I no longer viewed the world through my own eyes but through God's lense? First off, things would look different, more specifically, I would have a broken heart, I would hate sin, I would that it was destroying relationship, hate that was it was destroying individuals...often times I forget to do that, when that happens, the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) becomes sheer evil that needs to be eradicated, I forget that they too are God's people, they too have the promises from our God, they too are seeking to know "Is there a God? Does He love me? Is He Good? What on earth am I doing here? Why do I have to face this pain?". I forget that God's heart is for these men who rape children of their innocence, I forget that God's heart is in pieces for them because they chose to shot another women who refused to become a sex slave, I forget that God is pursuing them, just as hard as he is pursuing me.

And in my pride, I weep. Weep for our broken, broken world, that has been absolutely destroyed, that has absolutely turned its back on God. I weep because He has not stopped pursuing us, no matter how far we have gone.

We are meant for joy. Yet it is a rare occasion that people are filled with happiness and much more likely chance that we are stressed, overworked, tired and weary. Where is the joy? Where have we hidden it? Why have I traded such pitiful emotions for the smiles He delights in?

In my lamenting I have begun to challenge these thoughts, do I dare look at my life in the way that God looks at it?

and we are at the beginning of a new internet month.

:)
I am way past due for a blog update. I did send out an email update last week, does that count for something? The thing I don't like about missing an update is because I miss details, and that seriously agitates me when I can't share all the details.

This week we had an incredible teacher. Not only was he a guy (it is nice to get some testosterone in the classroom every once in a while, although it is more work because we have to put all our models away and turn over all the posters) but his heart is beating for the lost. He presented evangelism to us as a lifestyle. I have been longing for this, but I have not seen it lived out thoroughly. When I think of it as a lifestyle I start to think, "if it is a lifestyle, how will I ever have time to do anything else?" To Danny, we must be lead by the Holy Spirit. As he put it "Jesus walked through the crowds and didn't talk to everyone".

Danny began to softly share his story with us. His parents radically became Christians when he was seventeen. He had grown up hearing the stories of Jesus because his parents forced their kids into Sunday School each week since they wanted nice kids. This transition shook Danny up and he began to push it all away. All he ever wanted was a wife and babies he said, he ended up doing his nurses training and in his early twenties his girlfriend got pregnant. When she decided to abort the baby and rejected his proposal, he went over the edge. Long story short, Danny was doing intravenous drugs for six years. At the age of thirty he came to know the Lord, and essentially has dedicated his life to making God known.

Of course it is these powerful testimonies that people think are "real testimonies", but Danny rebuked those lies, and shared how each of have a different flavour of God in our lives. What we view God as, is what we will share God as. If we see God as our source of joy, that is what people will see God as, if we haven't spent time with God in two months, that is what people will see God as. On Thursday, Thursday night and Friday afternoon, as we proclaimed to the city of Perth, I saw each of our 31 Flavours (ok there aren't 31 of us) come out.

Anyway, we saw two people come to know jesus on Thursday night. Go God! And probably fifty people prayed for...Amen.

On Monday of this week, we had a woman from Denmark come to the base and share about herself. She challenged basically everyone's thinking. What stood out to me was "the Kingdom of God will violate the world". Evangelism is not normal. Going up and talking to people, is not comfortable. Telling people that "God talks to me, I believe he thinks you are beautiful" is not a light conversation. I need to be shaken from my cozy hide. I believe this began to happen a bit more this week. I want to be a violater.

Okay, thank you for praying for our carwashes. Last week, we made $510 and this weekend $770! Go God! We really saw a release of finances.

In the headlines of this week. Drumroll please...we will be headed to Indonesia for 2 months, Cameroon for 4 months and then Sudan for 2 months. Thank you for all your prayers! We are all VERY excited for our locations and KNOW they are ordained by God.

This has been a week of the Holy Spirit moving. God is so cool.

Some prayer requests:
-I have about a fourth of my outreach fund! Praise God! I need approximately 6,000 more dollars. Pray for a release.
-We need to submit our base fundraiser sometime this week...it will take some time to compile it. Please pray for ideas, motivation and a release!

and so it is...

That Australia has limited bandwidth. Therefore, it takes forever to upload anything. My plans to blog when I have time have been crushed quickly with the slow dial-up speed internet, that seems a bit oxymoronesque, quickly with slow...hahaha. Now when it is moving, I don't have time. Eeek. Anyway, soon and very soon I will have time to write when the internet is moving along. Just to drop you a line though, I am alive.

Just Photos...Thanks dad, I recieved the camera cord.

This is in King's Park! It is comparable to Central Park in New York...it is gargantuan.

We trusted God for $1200 for twelve new mattresses at the base. Between us and two other schools we raised all the money needed! Go God! God spoke to Sarah and asked her to cut her hair and sell it. She received $120. I got the last brush in just minutes before the chopping...

This is me becoming Australian. Robyn is a genuine Aussie, she is here completing the school with 5 of her 6 kids, mother and student. Her husband homeschools during the day and she covers the afternoons.

Sarah (with short hair!) from the U.S. via Peru, Melisa from B.C., Canada, Sarah; one of our staff, from Connecticut, Connie, from Norway.

This is my birthday table. Micah is the wee-one, child of Darcy (she is staring at him) our school leader, then me, then Melisa, then Connie, then Anna from Sweden and Guatemala, then Robyn, then Sarah.

Connie and I consuming Snapper and Chips...I thought halibut was everywhere. I am so ethnocentric.

Apparently Anna doesn't like being seen with us...she is in none of the photos. I promise, we love and include her.

Yahweh...

This week was rather heart-wrenching. As we pursued the topic of "unity", each person seemed to walk away feeling like we have a ways to go in order to attain this Biblical unity. We explored the relationships that we have and are just beginning. I am afraid my life will continually consist of people sharing information with me and following, I will feel as if I have lived a lie for the previous twenty years. Allow me to explain a couple tidbits...

Independence: This is something I have viewed as strength, wisdom and of the utmost importance. Lie number one is revealed. Our society has been feeding me these lies, and let me tell you, I have been chewing on them for years and years. I was awakened to hear that me pulling away, wanting to complete tasks on my own were destroying unity. I have thought it to be efficient to complete jobs on my own, but was reminded there is power in works being completed as a family. So although it may not be quick, it is against the ways of the enemy...revelation...convicting...Another note on this, alone time. Let me direct our attention to Genesis 2:18, "it is not good for man to be alone..." This shook me, not only is it not a good thing for me to be alone because I wasn't created this way, I don't have a right to it. I catch myself saying "I just want to be alone", "I just need God and me time", "If I could just find a few moments...", when really, this is part of taking up my cross, letting go of myself, I do not have any right to have alone time.

Sharing Burdens: I have consistently viewed this as weakness. As Colleen shared with us, again I felt convicted. By me, holding onto whatever it is I am gripping, I am not allowing others in, therefore slowing down any chance of people getting to know me, therefore not letting them feel like they can open up to me...viscious cycle. I found this well illustrated in a quote;

"You will ever understand the other person unless they reveal themself to you. They will never reveal themself to you unless they trust you, They will never trust you until they know you. They will never know you until you reveal yourself to them." -Tom Marshall

I think this is part of being weak so God can be strong.

In all of this, I am compelled to fall on my face. In all my shortcomings, God is wooing me. He has bestowed hope within me. He wants to change the world with me. God's character is beaming through all the darkness. I have messed up with friends, he brings hope. I have broken communication, he gives hope. I have hindered unity, he is offering even more hope.

His glory cannot possibly be contained. The mountains will bow at his feet. The oceans will roar. My friends, I have fallen deeply in love with My Lord.

Breaking into a new decade.

This weekend I turned twenty. Who would have thought I could get this old? I feel much more mature now saying "I am twenty". There is a difference between 19 and 20. Probably it's that I no longer have to say nine-TEEN. The world's perception of teenagers has made me excited to no longer be coupled with "bad drivers" and "irresponsible-credit-card-holders". All in all though, age is more something for a driver's license than anything else. If I have learned anything in my years of living, it is that age is only a measure for statistics, and should not ever hold us from what we want to do or God is telling us to do.

The morning of Saturday, July 26th, began with an exuberant girl waking up and tearing open an envelope from a certain someone who had sent a certain something along with a certain Bekah before she left a certain day. I couldn't wait! I had stared at the envelope pinned up to my bulletin board for 23 days before I was allowed to even consider opening it. Although, I must confess, I did think about opening and resealing...it was only briefly, and then I remembered how my mom snuck into her parents room before Christmas one year and had to fake that suprise when she "saw her gifts for the first time". Anyway, for the record, I couldn't even tell what was in the envelope by the time I had opened it because my eyes were still REMing. After a quick dash to the loo, I came back and stared at the lovely photo from my dear friend. I called him to tell him how thankful and excited I was for his artistic ability, and he didn't answer. I think he is screening my calls. My roommates wouldn't let me leave the room, so I thought, "I will call my family!". Hahah, after no one answered their phones, I called my dad's cell phone. Old faithful. Even if we can only talk for ten minutes, it was better than not talking to them at all. The conversations with Dad and Sarah began with "What are you doing today?" and I explained, "well, it's my birthday." The time change, never gets old. Once I was released into the base, I smelled a tantalizing fragrance, that can only be described as chocolate chip pancakes. A little taste of Saturday mornings at the Dinneen household, only complete with mom saying "Please make a couple without chocolate chips." What lovely friends. They had decorated a table with items from the Salvation Army bin (one man's trash is another's treasure). We had an abundance of breakfast and we were able to share with our Sports DTS friends. Slowly we were a group of 13 surrounding a six person table. It was a morning to remember. Later in the day Melisa and went into the city for bubble tea, then we had my dinner table, dessert at Darcy's house and then a sleepoveer.

The highlight of the day was after lame-non-Seattle Bubble Tea. Melisa and I rushed back to the base to meet all of our school mates and staff. We were headed to Kangaroo Island. It had been described to me as "a fenced in area with kangaroos roaming". I thought it sounded interesting, I probably would've described it as a marsupial zoo though. Anyway, we arrived at the island, which actually was a peninsula, and began filing into a fenced area. I was thinking "Okay, it is a fenced area, doubled fenced so that kangaroos don't get out". While I was discussing my brilliant revelation with someone, someone shouts "hey, there's one!". I look for the other fence...and then I get it. "Wait, are WE fenced in WITH the kangaroos?" Slowly we started closing in on the 100 meters between us and the roos. I was fascinated, taking video of little specks hopping around. We were able to get closer and closer, I was shocked. Soon we were nearly 10 meters away. I was snapping photos, posing like them, simply enamored. This was not like the zoo at all. One by one, people were getting within a meter or two of them. I was started to get a bit leary...Thinking back to Animal Planet, watching the stupid tourists attract Kangaroos with dried banana chips, and before you know the get slapped acrossed the face and are out $30,000 for plastic surgery bills, not to mention they were only able to enjoy Australia for 12 hours. So I was not planning on getting any closer. Robyn had a different plan. She grabbed me by the hand and lead me to the grazing kangaroo. Before I knew it, I was letting it sniff my hand and then stroking it's cuddly fur. Who would have thought? I practically embraced a kangaroo the first time I ever saw one. Woah...I am almost Australian.

Anyway, a memorable day nonetheless...I guess I am stating the obvious at this point.

i was thinking i should not tell you what the stench was...but then again...

I thought about exaggerating my story, but that would be lying. So in lieu of a legendary story, it was mildewed clothes. I do insist, none of us had smelled clothes this bad. They had been placed in a plastic sack, soaking, for 4 days, then taken out, left in a corner until our discovery. It is strange, Anna is rather mother-like (in the most nurturing way possible) and makes sure our room is tidy and swept. So sometime between the morning room checks and tea break, Sarah's younger sister had dumped her revolting pjs in our room. A dead rat would have been just as exciting, I was just as positive as Steve that something such as a rat or marsupial had died.

This week has been nothing short of world-shaking. Monday we did A&P of the Pelvis and then Tuesday A&P of the Placenta. How powerful it is to learn God's detail through the lense of God's eyes, not an overworked Professor's eyes. I have appreciated my year of sciences at EvCC, but to sit in a classroom, where the five other students are just as fascinated by the function of the Chorion being God's provision as I am, is incredible. Often in conclusion of lecture, we will talk about God's Character in pregnant women. The way women change, how their brains know exactly what is going on and being changing the body, I come to a loss for words, it is an awe summoning image of God bringing new life into this shattered world when a baby is developing in the woman.

This week for two days, and our first week of lectures, we have had Jules speak to us. Jules graduated from med school at the age of 22 from the UK. Either she is brilliant or the system is slightly different, probably a combination of both. She came into YWAM at the age of 24, and since then has been involved with the healthcare focus here at YWAM Perth. She believes that doctors can specialize in missions and this October will be pioneering the DRS, Doctors Reaching School. I have been blessed in the way that she humbly imparts her wisdom and love for healthcare to us. At the end of her lectures, she would ask us, "What have learned about God's character?"

Since Wednesday we have teamed up with the July DTS (Discipleship Training School) as they have been learning about the character of God. Chris Adams leads the School of Worship here at Perth, he reminds me of my cousin Keith. Some people giggled when they heard we had just been learning about the Placenta on Tuesday and then God's Character on Wednesday, but we BASers just looked at eachother and smiled, knowing we have been learning about His character since day one, just in a bit more of an anatomical perspective.

I feel awoken. We are in a broken world. All of our sins are affecting the people around us, who then sin because of what we have done to them, who then hurt others, who hurt their kids, who hurt their grandchildren. God is divinely patient. Waiting to bring us to heaven. But giving us a chance to witness to the world. Arise church, there is urgency. Shake yourself from your cozy little hide. There is urgency. This is the now. Love people like you have never loved. Reach out. Sow generously. I must know God and make Him known. These past three days have been tearful, exhausting, yet this is the beginning.

In a couple hours we have Friday Night Meeting. This is another all-base time, where we meet as the base and invite the community, essentially a church service. I look forward to these times, to open the doors, worship together. The wash machines are now available for use, so I am off.

Family and Friends, thanks for your comments, I look forward to reading the tidbits. Please keep me updated on you.

Oh right quick, a couple of prayer requests.
-Our speaker for next week cancelled due to sickness, she has been battling Typhoid recently.
-Outreach fees are due Sept. 10 (a bit sooner than I expected, but God knew all along).
-I am a cold sore mess, please pray against sickness.

Palpation Station.

I can't believe this is it. I am here. I am in Perth. I think it is finally real. Tonight we watched a moving clip with women in India and Kenya. They shared about lives that had been lost because of no skilled attendant to help their mother, aunt, sister. 600,000 deaths occur in pregnancy evary year, 98% in the developing world. These 8 minutes brought me "to", I am here. God, I will see this changed.

Mondays are quite busy for us, worship, lecture, lunch, work duties, assessment, dinner, presentations. Before presentations last night though, we had a special treat for some exhausted students, a pregnant woman! It seems as if our school studies about this species all the time, but we never actually seem them. When Marika walked into the room, we were all but shrilling. Darcy demonstrated palpation techniques on her. We listened to the fetal heart, guessed her gestation (we were two days off!) and learned the dos and don'ts of it all. Ahhh, it was a moment I will not forget. Palpation will be something we regularly do while holding antenatal clinics. Late last week we conducted a "clinic", including testing urine/haemoglobin, millions of questions, vitals, nutrition education, and much more. It was like adding the missing puzzle piece to have a real fetus and mother and see the palpation. I was on cloud nine.

Every Tuesday and Friday we have base intercession. This morning as we seeked out God's heart for us to pray, there was unity in our small group of four to pray out protection, declare victory and repress the enemy. I am just in awe of the power and authority we have in Christ. To see what happens when we set aside time to seek God for his heart. We had a beautiful time of declaring God's Character over the world, Australia, Perth, us. Seek first his face.

I think it should be at the end of next week when we find out where we are going on outreach. For sure, we will be going to Jakarta, Indonesia. The other places are still unclear. We are waiting on communication stuff.

Yesterday, I walked into our room and immediately had to leave. What had died in our room? I was positive Tod Packer had sent us a mystery parcel. Throughout the day, during breaks, we walked into the room with our shirts over our faces. We would search for the stench as long as we could stay in the room. Finally, before dinner, we found it. "It". Perhaps I should wait until the next post...Any guesses?

Paper plate night!

Tonight we had Thursday night evangelism. I have learned about YWAM Perth, that every hour of the day is organized. Organization is not a bad thing, no, not at all, in fact it is necessary when you eat gourmet lunch and dinner with 250 people. I imagined Perth being upwards of a 1000 people, although it is one of their goals, they (we) are approximately 500 people. That is including those on outreach, staff, etc.
One of my favorite things that the base does is functioning as a community, like I mentioned, everyone, families, students, staff, eat lunch and dinner together. We choose a table by subtracting the number of people in a family, example Jones-3, from the number of seats at the table. Every night you can sit with different people, different families. It is spectacular. Along with functioning as a community, at 8:00am every morning, those who do not have biological family that they are living with, meet at their assigned chore, and we clean for thirty minutes. Every morning, I clean the girls at 228's toilets. We serve one another and also keep the base tidy.
After paper plate pasta (delectable), we went to a shopping mall. It was the most diverse mall one has seen. The people I met were from India and Somalia. I feel like this will be a powerful evening, every week. God wants to bring life to so many of these people who have been displaced or are refugees. How beautiful it is to say "God loves you" to a nine month pregnant Somalian woman and see her light up. I wonder, why haven't I done this more at home?
I want to write some more, but it is bedtime and my Peruvian roommate is restless, probably because of the keyboard clicking...Goodnight all...

56K.

This is a post from a couple days ago. As for today though, I will now be a regular blogger, and on Thursday we will even have wireless speed internet. Woooooohoo!

Allow me to catch you up on today's events, we had intercession, learned about hemoglobin and then I answered two phone calls and took the mail to the post office. Besides enjoying the rainy bike ride, it gives me joy feeling like the mailman on Mr.Rogers Neighborhood, plus I can imagine Elsie and Claire yelling "when it comes it makes me yell, MAILLLLLLL!!!"

9. July. 08

Hehehe…We are listening to Regina Spektor in the classroom of Birth Attendants. I started telling the girls about how big Regina’s hair has the potential of becoming. Something in that moment clicked and Connie(a Norwegian roommate of mine) told me that she liked my hair. Molly, we are meant to be in that video. You are right…

I have decided to write my update right now even though I am sure when I will be able to upload it.

I have felt quite disconnected from home all week, it has been interesting. Yesterday, when I tried to pay my school fees I was rudely awoken when the transaction didn’t go through, I remembered that I had used my card without contacting the credit union. Anyway, they freeze it when there are unauthorized international charges. Not too short after I realized internet cost twice as much as I had expected. After I put two and two together I figured that I need the internet to contact the Credit Union to thaw out my account, but I won’t have internet until I have to cash to buy it…Catch-22? The day that I am able to upload this will be an exciting one! I am hoping to use a roommate’s computer tonight or tomorrow, but the internet has been down since they connected everyone yesterday. What an eventful day!

Traveling for 36 hours to Perth was the lengthiest plane travel I have succeeded in so far. I have included excerpts from my journal.

Wednesday, 2. July. 08, 6:15pm
“…The tears didn’t stop stinging my face until I put my stiff Toms back on after security. My stomach was growling for more than food than a butterless waffle. I settled for a Bagel Shop near the D1 gate. How strange it is to be in the Domestic Flight gate.
I am momentarily distracted by Camo man who is disturbed by the blocked gate. Heightened Security. Shocker. Patience is invaluable in airports. I don’t think he wants to hear this right now.
Anyway, Bagel Shop, as I settled to eat my crispy, Spotted Cow-esque, cheesy creation, I couldn’t really think about the recent good-byes. I knew I had cards to read, but I feared that would make it worse. I am avoiding the ugly cry at all costs. After a youthful business woman sat down to share my table, I coaxed my mouth to chew for the benefit of my stomach.
A half-a-bagel later, I was yearning for the notes in “my” bag. I packed up my uneaten lunch and headed to where I am currently sitting. One by one, the tears creeped through. The rush of memories, reminders of people who love me and words that pierce my sadness. I enjoyed the photo of Callie and I. It seems so long ago that we were the students. You are right Cal, Auston is definitely staring at Molly…I will have to let that one go now…
I unbuttoned my jean pocket and pulled out the words of my cherished sister, I felt the immediate encouragement and love that I had just left.
“today surprisingly, I feel joy and adoration. Our need of you staying is purely selfish and that is a sin against God. Today is the beginning of a great journey, a lifelong one.”
It would be selfish of me not to go, Lord, you called me.
“Our hearts will hurt only for a season. My bed will be cold only for a few days. I will be lonely only until I get brave and make friends.”
There is so much comfort in this reality. God, you have asked me to leave and I am ready. I am passionate about it. I often wonder how it will be when I leave. You know God. I am walking in your plan.
“Go and be free little lamb, God is waiting and so is the world of mums and babies…”
Lord, this family of mine. I entrust them into your hands. I am free.
Part of the airline crew sat down next to me, mid-journal. He shared that the security breech was most likely because an 8-year old kicked an emergency door. Hehe…I wouldn’t tell that to Camo man.”

9pm…I think?
"Friendly Stewardesses. Outgoing Neighbors. Claire-stare-bear seat mates. LA artists. Warm Gingersnaps. 2% Non-Smith Brothers. Faux-Athletes. Comfy “boxer briefs”. God’s peace. Heart burn. Cat nap. Stunning sunset. Wandering worries. Am I there yet?"

3. July. 08
“Happy birthday Sister Sarah! I have spent this 16-hour flight pretending to be left-handed. The man sitting next to me has daddy-long leg arm hairs. Even when I thought I had escaped them through ambidextrousness, he would take over the armrest and painfully tickle my shy forearm. The plane was quite stuffy when we boarded which was keeping me from my tendency to fall asleep before take off. Despite the humidity of the carrier, I shielded myself with a wool blanket; it seemed to be the lesser of two evils. The foot long arm hairs were invading any chance of rest, it was completely necessary to take up my guard.
Later I learn he is friendly. He calls me “love” everytime I get out of the aisle seat for him to stretch his leg. I’m guessing he is in his early 70s, traveling with his wife and her mother. I can’t imagine traveling with my residents…
Molly, I am thankful for these boxer-brief-esque underwear…even though they are made in Macau. Oh, and I have a bruise on the dorsal side on my hand from hitting my hand on the door handle. Do you feel bad for laughing? Probably not…
Guess what? We are landing, and “I keep bleeding, I keep keep bleeding love…” is on. Hahaha! We are in Sydney. Surprise! We didn’t have enough fuel to make it to Melbourne. The writing is difficult with turbulence and no tray table…daddy-long legs is crawling.”

Okay guys...I know it is just a snippit, and I haven't yet written anything about the Base or my school...there is so much to tell, and blog post by blog post it will come...

not my computer...therefor very quick!

I am alive! I have been blogging on my computer and will upload them as soon as my computer has YWAM Internet. I appreciate everyone's emails and comments...Soon you will know what is going on here!

i suppose you could start the hourly countdown...but please don't.

I'm leaving on a jet plane.

Last night I was able to say farewell, Bon Voyage, Bis Später to several of my friends...What an out of body experience it is to imagine not seeing people for a year. To not be in my house for a year would alone be life-changing, let alone living in another world. For now, I expect to have my heart broken for the preventable death of babies. I expect to meet people that will reflect Jesus in a way I have not see yet in my life. I expect to see babies raised from the dead through God's power and women come to the Lord. I expect to pray knowing every second of every life is in God's hands.

It was joyful to be connected with all the people I care about at once and watching them connect with one another gave me the urge to be a fly on the wall and listen to their conversations.

Thank you Lord for surrounding me with people who love you and love me.

long car rides and too much Ben and Jerry's...

Keep your eyes on the reward my friends. the reward is relationship with God, not the land.

I was able to spend copious amounts of time with my family this weekend. We sailed to Friday Harbor of the San Juan Islands on the Washington State Ferry and resided in a one bedroom loft that was nestled above Farenheit 48 (I thought 451 would have been a better number choice). The highlight of the weekend was wandering aimlessly amidst a breathtaking island on a tandem bicycle, entrusting my life into my fearless 15-year-old brother.

Last night, while bowling the worst game of my life, I broke down in tears. My dad was poking around some casual questions about my preparations for leaving. After he got up to bowl, my mom intuitively asked me what was wrong. In the instant I heard "Wh--", my lacrimal puncta were overflowing and I was bawling.

It makes my dad distraught to think of me leaving, yet I know he would not want me to deny the plans of God. We must obey. Even when it hurts. There is no doubt that I will get on that plane in nine days, but I need to work on understanding how it would feel if someone who was part of my daily life, up and left, like Pat or my Mom, or Dad, for one year.

I am excited. I shared my year of itinerary with my neighbor's tonight. God is good, he is moving. He is moving in Pioneer Trails.

I love you family. Tomorrow marks the start of VBS and a slightly exhausting week at the Dinneen house. w00t!

P.S. Claire and Elsie are here. Upon bringing them to the house, Mom called (to see how close we were to being at the house). Elsie and Claire wanted to take turns talking. They were passing the phone back and forth (sharing nicely) leaving mom confused at the rapid conversation changes. At one point mom said "Claire...." and recieved the response, "This is not claire, this is Elsie.......(long pause)...i love you forever......here you go sister" (hands claire the phone) Oh I adore them.

shimbliesssss...

If you would like to recieve my updates/blog updates, send me your email! I leave for Australia (and other various countries) for about a year, beginning on July 2nd.

simon and sheldon

I just returned home from a trip to Sea-Tac. Tonight I was able to spend time with Sheldon and Simon. It is so special to be re-united with friends and meet new ones, especially when you already have so much in common. Simon was leaving tonight for a trip to Minnesota to spend time with friends before heading to Colorado to meet his outreach team. He described the team as his new family, although he has never met them. These are the people that he will be living and working with in Afghanistan for the next two years. 8 Adults and 4 kids, the oldest being 5. Go God! I am so proud of Simon.

Anyway, this was a fun evening full of laughter, reminising, Genglish and too many chocolate chip cookies.

Thank you for my friends Jesus.

My First Support Letter

My Dear Friends…
I hope this letter finds your family in a time of realizing God’s powerful love. This year has come and gone packed full of excitement, growth and adventure. I must tell you; it feels like I just got home from Herrnhut, Germany last week.
I returned home from my Discipleship Training School (DTS) through Youth With A Mission (YWAM) late April of 2007 and since then have been in school full-time to complete Nursing School pre-requisites. I have also been involved in youth and prayer ministry at my home church and working at an assisted living facility. Most importantly, I have enjoyed each day with my family. Molly and Auston were married just a couple weeks ago, which was a special day for all.
Allow me to catch you up from life this past year…It was while I was in Germany and then in the Democratic Republic of Congo that God began to show me more clearly where I could go with my passion for health care, Africa and unjustified treatment of women, just to name a few. I began the process of learning that as long as I had dreams and was willing to surrender them, they would be fulfilled. God has given me these passions because they are also His passions. He is using all of us to carry His passions through the earth. Somewhere in the many perspective-changing lectures, I was introduced to a YWAM school where the students went throughout the world and assisted in the birth of babies. Then, as I was in D.R.C., I actually had the chance to work with pregnant women and connect with them in this delicate point in their life. Not only was I learning about birthing and the challenges of newborns, but also the mistreatment of women and the rate of rape in Sub-Saharan Africa. These facts and experiences fanned the flame and peaked my interest in this “midwifery school” someone had mentioned to me.
I returned home a bit over a year ago, and this school, which I now know is the Birth Attendant School (BAS), has never left my thoughts. It is offered only at the Perth YWAM base in Australia. It consists of a 12-week lecture phase; another 12-week lecture phase and then two 12-week field assignments. After I learned more about the actual topics of the school and that is exists to establish mother and child health clinics while reaching women through prayer and their pregnancy, I was ready to apply. The past year has been spent praying over this school and in March I received my acceptance.
My estimated budget for the next year is $10,000. Between flights, living expenses and school expenses, the dollars add up. To ask for your financial support, as humbling as it is, is one of the most adventurous things I have done yet. At this point, my next year is completely in the hands of God. God has laid out the steps for me to go to Australia. He provided a job for me this past year, He provided a flight, and has provided a church that is behind me and committed to supporting me with prayer and financially.
I have been reading a book recently, talking about why missionaries need to ask for money and what would happen if we just instantly got a check from Microsoft for the exact amount that we needed. The author talks about the relationship that is built between two people when one person is entrusted with the other’s earnings. No longer are they just friends, but they have built a new bond, you begin to pray for them differently, you want to update them, you know that you are supported by them and they want to see you deliver the word of God to the lost. Through this connection, prayer becomes habitual and the body of Christ is built up. All in all, God is glorified. Since Australia is where God has the next chapter of my life planned out, I believe, someway, somehow, the financial support will be provided. I believe going away is not just about midwifery training, but learning and growing in faith, depending on God for my daily bread, and this money thing is the first part.
Although money will play a role in my time away, prayer is what it is all about. More than any amount of money, I covet your prayers. It is through prayer that the world begins to change. Prayer is where it all starts. As Charles Bent stated, “The real end of prayer is not so much to get this or that single desire granted, as to put human life into full and joyful conformity with the will of God.” We must become weak so He can become our strength.
I will be leaving for Australia on the second of July. It is approaching rapidly! If you want to commit to be a partner in prayer, please email me with your commitment. If you want to commit to be a financial supporter, you can email me with your commitment or you can send your one time donation to my home address. There are more specifics in the margin.
Thank you for the time spent in reading this letter. I am so thankful for the people that God has placed in my life, and excited that you are all here with me as I begin this next adventure! Please keep in contact!

Your friend,
Bekah Dinneen

i love my church.

friends. love. community. all of the above. to be part of northlake is something special.

my sister is married.

so i am awake. it is late. not ungodly late, but you could say it is getting there. what is the point of a blog? well i am home, so it is not to keep in contact with people. and with this reasoning, i can make my blog be whatever i want. afterall, a "blank piece of paper" is a blank canvas.

this late night deep thinking is strange. it is peaceful and necessary. it reminds me of working my 13 hour shifts. when i was awake nearly 24 hours, and those last four hours i lost control. my thoughts were off the wall. my feet were begging me for sleep, my homework was screaming to be done, residents were ringing for bum-changes and my head, mein kopf, my thoughts, they were in my pituitary gland.

when i begin to think deeply, or when i am awake too many hours in a row, i begin to clench my jaws. after my shifts i could almost count on driving home, rubbing my mandible, wondering "why do i do this?".

and so world, this is my blood. it's red, just like yours.

FYI

I have been waiting weeks and weeks to hear about the Birthing Attendant School with YWAM Perth. TODAY, I got an email noting my acceptance! YAY! (I just did a cartwheel)

if you want some more info check out http://www.ywamperth.org.au

peacers!

last post: april 27

tehehe...

it is technically already midnight since tonight we spring forward to standard time. and lucky me, i work at a job that keeps me on my toes and coming home and going to sleep immediately is not always an option...oh sarcasm, but really, i love my job...

i like this blogging thing, and i always forget how much i like it until i start another post...

update on me since april 27th: best part first: my sister is getting married in seven weeks to an incredible guy. and as long as we are on this topic, i will take credit for the first date they went on. anyway, this is slightly crazy because not only will her last name change, but her residence is no longer going to be across the hall...and never will be again...i don't know what to think about this. ch-ch-ch-changes...it makes me want to sing a song.

australia is in the radar recently. i have applied for the birthing attendant school at ywam perth. exhilarating. i am in limbo waiting for a response...

oh dear, this is a positively lame post, but i like the feeling of posting my thoughts for who knows who to read...

it would be a good idea if i atleast tried to sleep. so much for the update...wa wa waaaa...(thank you debbie downer)

guten nacht all!

what? everyone speaks english here?

After 16 flights, 8 countries and a bit over seven months...I am home.

Today was a wonderful day, filled with adorable 16 month olds named Claire and Elsie, much awaited conversations and unlimited free food.

I am thankful to be home and look forward to the excitement of reconnecting with those of you I have yet to see.

Soon I will post pictures and final outreach commentary...Thank you to the readers, I know it must have gotten boring sometimes! You guys are the best.

london is warm.

Once again, I am realizing how good I am at not keeping people updated. However, this is my first chance to really update my blog while traveling the many countries of Europe, so please have patience with me.

Right now I am sitting in the suburbs of London, writing to all of you at home about the warm weather that has surprised me. I was prepared to be all sorts of bundled up here, and now I have been wearing flip flops the past two days...hmmm...

Anyways, I don't have much time left. But I wanted to let you all know that I am alive, Molly and Charlie are alive, and in less than two weeks, one week and 2 days in fact, I will be setting foot on United States territory. The idea of that is perpetually dancing in my head, but I am excited to see what it is like.

I feel like there is so much that I have missed and I have so much to say, that the first week at home is going to be nothing short of overwhelming. But with all the unsureness in holds, I am still excited to face it. Love you all and I WILL SEE YOU SOON!

Bek

update....

If you haven't heard already (because somehow news travels extremelly fast), Bek and some of her team memebers were hospitalized and treated with malaria last week. Bek is now doing okay, just recovering and resting. Please pray for their continued safety and now healing as their trip is just about done.

Email from Bekah wekah

Bek wanted me to get all of you up to date on where she is at, what she is doing, how the team is. This is a bit of what she sent in an email. She seems to be doing great, loving where she is at, yet always willing to learn and allowing God to change her. Please continue to pray for her and the team...

Beks email:
This week my team spent three days working in the hospital. I spent a couple days working in the maternity "ward". THe babies are so small. 3 kilos is a big one. Hannah and I did it together, washing babies, weighing them, holding them...wow. It really got me thinking about longterm plans. I know how I want to be a nurse, labor and delivery, and I feel a called to Africa. My heart really is here. I see all the things that could be changed and the things I could learn from them but most of all the need for proper care. They are so shorthanded. One of the days I was in the Lab working with blood tests and such. One lady, all by herself. She asked me if I would draw the blood for her...feeling a little untrained I turned down the opportunity, but that is just an example of how big the need is for workers and willing hearts. All I can do is trust God that He will open the right doors and I will follow where He leads.

The other couple days we went to schools and did assemblies (skits, songs...). The people, oh the people. They take such good care of us, so hospitable.

I am really feeling challenged. I see where I am weak and what I need to change. each day is full of new suprises and experiences.

Message from Bek's team...

Uganda/DR Congo YWAM Herrnhut Outreach Update
January 22, 2007
Bunia - Ituri Region, DRC

We have recently flown into Bunia, DRC, the main city in the northeast of Congo where the fighting originally began in 1998. We flew the 30 minute Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF) flight from Aru, a small, but thriving border town just 20KM away from its sister city in Uganda, Arua. We have spent the last two weeks working with YWAM Uganda, specifically the Arua branch in the northwest corner of Uganda. We were ministering in a primarily Sudanese refugee camp named, "Rhino Camp", numbering around 30,000 refugees. Many of the people under 20 were born in Uganda and do not know anything besides Rhino Camp, but are still certain that their homes are waiting for them in southern Sudan as soon as the UN sends them back. Despite the poor conditions, including no vegetables, no fruit, occasional meat, 100+ degree heat, and dusty "smoke water" for ten days, we were able to have ministry that united denominations, criticized religious, half-truths, brought drunks to Jesus, believers to repentance and recruited, challenged and encouraged believers to a more full trust of our Lord and Savior, Jesus.

We have now begun to fulfill the primary purpose of our trip, time in the war-torn regions of the Democratic Republic of Congo. We have found a beautiful base camp in Bunia, with CECA 20, the French speaking church begun by the African Inland Mission around 1918. We live across the street from the Congolese equivalent of the CIA, who has already attempted to make us pay "taxes", but thanks to our watchful pastors and the guidance of a German missionary who has lived and worked in Congo more than 26 years, their plans did not succeed.

However, not all of our neighbors are against us. We also find ourselves perfectly placed near an ex-child soldier rehabilitation center, where the kids get a chance to learn a new trade, a trade to replace their past profession. All we had to do was ask and we found another organization that will be perfect for ministry. There is a center for young women who have innocently and foolishly suffered in the wake of unleashed violence in this region and now find themselves young, untrained mothers, hopelessly alone in the world. No one is safe, except those with authority. Both police and rebel soldiers are to blame. Only last night, Adam, our youngest team member at 17, threw a football with a 15 year-old boy who not only showed Adam the scar on his head from a bullet, but let him also feel it with his fingertips. We know our Father has plans for this boy.

Every person we meet everyday, in every place, every face, every waving hand, every sparkling set of dark eyes and every smiling mouth has seen, tasted or been touched by this terrible violence in the last decade. The pain is still seen as we drive through the city and see the remaining bullet holes in the one-story, tin roofed, concrete buildings. The roads show the wear and tear of war-torn countries we occasionally glance over in the evening news. Little known to us, the holocaust of the Nazis and the Gulag's of the Soviets are still occuring all over the world. In this region alone, the Ituri region, more than an estimated 3 million were killed between '98 and '03.

Today as we sat with the local church leaders in Bunia, we discussed our involvement in open-air evangelistic events, youth camps, prison visits, radio ministry, internal refugee aid, counseling, healthcare, teaching, training and equipping of the church with YWAM's discipleship methods. The opportunity is so plentiful, if only there were more willing people! Even the weakest in faith and the most stupid of believers would be strong, intelligent and wise here!

We are excited and fulfilled to see why our Lord has directed our steps here and what He has prepared for us. We have already seen Him teach us new things we never could have imagined without making this trip. We have seen our borders and limits pressed beyond what we knew was possible. He alone is wise, faithful and trustworthy!

Please pray for God's mighty Spirit to work in us and be in our relationships. Please pray that we will be able to completely surrender to His plans for us. Please pray for love, trust, faith, obedience, sincerity and of course, more and more love to rest in our hearts and words.

We need Bibles and discipleship materials for the thousands of Arabic speaking Sudanese believers in Rhino camp and supporters willing to help begin a farming project. The project will specifically aid the church in their difficult situation (The food ration from the UN is 8KG/month, which is enough for one adult. Many families are attempting to stay nourished on this ration.) as well as employ those who specifically wish to run forwards with Jesus and attend a Discipleship Training School (DTS, costing ~$300).

Quick update from Bek...

hallo alles-
here I am in Arua, uganda. My team has been here for almost 3 weeks, and it seems hard to believe that this is only the beginning.

These past 10 days we were in Rhino Camp, a Sudanese Refugee Camp about 2 hours out of Arua. I experienced many firsts there and will never forget the time.

We spent the first five days going to different parts of the camp meeting the people, sharing about our lives with them and more importantly hearing about their lives. Most of the people are from Southern Sudan, which is "Christian", but they are in dire need of discipleship. They have lived a life, I don't think anyone in the west could imagine. The last 5 days we put together a seminar for the people to accomodate their need for discipleship. They are so hungry for the word of God. The whole time was a very unique opportunity and we as a team were really challenged.

I don't know what to share with you, I haven't quite processed it all myself...

The heat was like nothing I have ever experienced in the month of January! It was normally 100 degrees in the room we were sleeping, and 85 degrees at night. In the sun from 12-5, it was probably 105 degrees. Heat definitely makes things more difficult. I have never done ministry in conditions like that or for 9 days straight.

These next couple days we are staying in Arua and then on Monday flying to Congo for 7 weeks!

Thank you for your prayer and support. I love you all!! I will update next when I can!


I LOVE YOU MOLLY! THANK YOU!

Bek

Message from Bek...

Dear friends...family...supporters...all other people that Bekah knows...whoever you are...Bekah seems to know a lot of people, this is Molly, Bek's sister, I now have control of her blog...hehe. She wanted me to just let you all know that she has arrived safely in Uganda. I will paste her message below, so that you can get the full "Bekah" affect, "Office" quotes and all...

i am sitting at an internet cafe in kampala, uganda. i have made it safely here and most of our team can say the same. we got separated from ryan and jonathon (leader) at our layover in cairo. they missed the flight and will be coming into entebbe tomorrow. it has been interesting and odd without them but soon we will all be reunuited! as michael scott would say `this is the worst` (clench lip...season 3). haha. anyways, we are staying in a school in a village near our contact. michael and his family have been incredibly hospitable and caring for all our needs. on sunday we will take the bus to arua and stay there for two weeks.

That's all for now, keep checking back for more messages and updates! Thanks so much for your prayers and thoughts...
Molly

12 hours til take off

I want to thank all of you for your fervent prayer. It is crazy to look back to October when God first spoke to us about going to Congo and now we are leaving...hard to believe in 12 hours, my team will be on our way to Uganda.

Go God. Man He has lead the planning of this trip and know that He will continue...Before Christmas break we were 7000 euros short, now we need $2000 US. That is definitely closing the gap!!! I can't process the fact that I am going to Africa. Haha.

So anyways, we will be in Kampala for 6 days, and then the YWAM base in Arua which is more Northern Uganda. There we will work on the projects that have already been started there. From Uganda we will continue to DR Congo. It's pretty exciting because we get the chance to have a Mission Aviation private pilot take us. Once we get there, then we will meet our contact in the Northeast of Congo. We are going to work within a church, but still have yet to have any direction to exactly what will be happening...

I will update you as much as I can. I don't know how much time or resources will be available, but as Jan says "It is not always possible to rely on the Holy Spirit for prayer requests, so please, keep in contact". With that in mind I will try to let you know how God is rocking Africa.

I sent prayer cards to my family. There are 50 of them and it would be great to have all of you at home consistently praying for the team! Just ask and I'm sure the family will have a spare one!

Until next time...

Love you all!

Christmas in Germany. Weird.

There are 9 days until Christmas and it still doesn't feel like November was just here. This week was our last full week of lecture. Next week we have 3 days of lecture and then after work duty on Wednesday, we are free to leave. I am going home with my friend Ruth. She lives in Bovaria, Southern Germany. Her dad is German and her mom is Swiss and they have 7 children. I am very much looking forward to spend time with her and also with a family. How depressing would it be to stay in Herrnhut on Christmas break, very depressing. I was very excited when she invited me to stay with her, the sentence that followed the invitation was, "Now, we just need to find 4 more people to come with too. 3 of my siblings are going to be gone this year, and I just can't stand an empty house at Christmas time". My following comment was, "This is going to sound really weird, but ummm, I have this friend, in Switzerland, and we wanted to hang out during Christmas time, do you think it would be possible for him to come to?". She was so excited. I explained how one of my bestest friends (yes, I know "bestest" isn't a word) is doing his DTS in Switizerland and he also had no where to go for Christmas. She was like, "yeah, sure I live 10 minutes from the Swiss border, that'll work out well". Totally a God thing. I am very excited to see Charlie, but it freaks me out that lecture phase has flown by, and 5 days after break, I am on my way to Africa. WOW!

I appreciate all who have been praying for our Congo team. Here are some updated prayer requests: Currently we are working on our visas. They should be here sometime this week if there are no complications. Also, we are still short about 10000 Euros as a team, nothing God can't take care of, but as the deadline approaches we need to consistently pray for this. Thank you all! I love you guys! Please update me on things at home!!!! I always enjoy hearing from you all.

Democratic Republic of Congo

Well...I have to thank all of you for continually praying for my outreach team. If the subject of this blog didn't give it away, my team is heading to the Democratic Republic of Congo on January 2nd. It has been an incredible experience growing with the team in unity.

A few days before our deadline of Thanksgiving, we met for prayer as a team. It was Monday night at 9pm and we were all exhausted. It was the first time we had really prayed together seeking Congo as a team. Man, let me tell you, it was powerful. We all relaized that it was about letting go of Congo and realizing what the purpose of our team was. Was it to go to Congo, or to serve God? Once we all acquired the purpose of our team, the Holy Spirit flooded the room. Our prayer time lasted 2 hours or so, and within that time, we began to get visions and pictures of the team and where we were supposed to go. We met for prayer 3 more times before our Wednesday night meeting. God continued to speak to the whole team. He spoke to each one of us about going to Congo. Whether it was pictures showing the outline of the country Congo, images of African children, letting us feel at peace even if we were unsure, it was clear that God was direcing us towards Congo. The morning that we had to decide where were going, Ryan shared how his mom had been in a car accident, she was T-Boned and pushed into oncoming traffic where she was hit again. She was rescued by an off duty paramedic who was standing on the street corner when it happened. He rushed to the scene and held her neck until the ambulance got there. When she got to the hospital for observation, she was talking to one of the paramedics who had brought her there. Due to the large amount of medication she was on, she was going random events in her life, she eventually shared about how her son is heading to Congo. The paramedic stopped what he was doing, and asked why, she explained, he said "I will pray for them. I am from Congo." Wow. I couldn't believe it. Also our leader had gotten into contact with a pastor in Congo, he was in search of a YWAM DTS team, he didn't know Jon's purpose, but once he found that out, they both continued to pray about the chances of us going there.

After we all laid Congo down, we began to see what a precious gift it was to be able to go there. We really saw what an opportunity and amazing experience it would be to go there, and we would wait for God to give it back to us if He that was what he truly wanted. In the mean time we just wanted to work on building our team and listening to His voice. By the chain of events that happened in those couple days, we began to see God really speaking, yet we were still conscious of His voice. The Wednesday that we had to make a decision by, we met for prayer in the morning. During this prayer time, we recieved several impressions, especially that God was giving us Congo back. We left from the prayer time, continually thinking about this challenge that was facing us head on, but knowing that we had to have an answer by that day. That night, we were meeting with the Base Leader who told us we had to have supernatural confirmation. It was during worship time that God spoke to me, telling me that He wanted to give Congo back. I waited a bit, heard it again, and then thought about when I should tell my leaders. I waited until singing was over, then I couldn't find my leaders. Then lecture started and I couldn't leave, and then finally on break, I found my leaders praying in the staff kitchen. I told them, via note, and left. At lunch time, we met as a team, and they shared the results of their prayer time. They said once again, God spoke and felt like Congo was where God was planning for our team to go...It turns out, when I brought the note in, they were praying for impressions of confirmation for going to Congo. So cool how God's timing works out...

That night we shared with Jan. We talked about how we saw God calling us first into unity. Before we could think about the country we had to unite with one another and re-adjust our focus to Him and not Congo. We shared every single event we could think of that pointed to Congo. There were no dramatic events, but we shared our hearts and our confidence that God wanted us to go to Congo. We finished and he seemed unsure and then said, "During my prayer times, I have been feeling Congo is where you are supposed to go. One requirement, satellite phone. Otherwise, I am very excited."

So here we are planning a trip to the Democratic Republic of Congo. It's unreal. It has been my dream to go to Africa for a while...and here it is...happening. We still don't have a lot of details about what we will be doing, but have somewhat of a rough sketch. For the time being, we are praying, figuring out our budget, praying, planning dramas, praying, meeting together to learn about each other, praying, working on learning french, praying, fundraising, praying...you know how outreach goes.

I ask that you continue to pray for our team when you think of it. I will work to send you details as we find them out ourselves! I really appreciate your support. It makes my day when I get comments or emails from you guys at home! Love you all!


Here is the Jesus-Congo Team!

thanksgiving...

Since I am living in Germany right now, Thanksgiving isn't really something that gets celebrated. In fact, on Thanksgiving Day, we has mashed potatoes for lunch, and I thought that was going to be the closest thing we got to a typical Thanksgiving meal. But there are too many Americans here for that to happen..

Adam got us all together, we delegated the work, and at 3:00 last Saturday, we all got together for an amazing meal. It went much better then anyone could've planned, I think we were all surprised by how well the food tasted and that there was enough to go around. Before the festivities on Saturday we had some hang out time...

It was a pancake party for my Finnish friend Riikka. It was so fun to have everyone at the apartment and spend one on one time with everyone. However much we enjoyed each other, the pancakes were the highlight. Pancakes, tasted like home. Thanks to my wonderful mother, I also was able to have peanut butter on them. Excellent food.

We couldn't find a turkey, or cranberries, or sweet potatoes, or, or, or...so there was a lot of stuff we didn't have but that made things much more exciting.

The stuffing of course, was the best part of the meal. My mom makes the best stuffing, and I am willing to fight with anyone who disagrees. So before Saturday, I thought, why not try to make it, they have everything in Germany that I need for that. Besides stuffing is the best part, you cannot have Thanksgiving without stuffing. The best part of stuffing is the sausage. You need ground sausage for stuffing, but we are Germany, they love sausage, so they have that here...NOT! We spent most of last Saturday trying to find a solution for this, in the end, we squeezed the meat out of a bratwurst. Yucky. What a special experience that was to share with my dear friends, please take note of the pictures. Some other stuffing issues we had, no celery or sage here. However, Adam did buy two different plants that resembled celery, but in the end, were a leak and some other random vegetable. Yeah, not to worry, it was a hit, despite the lack of ingredients.

After our meal, we went and played games with all the American staff and Americans in Herrnhut. It was a very memorable day, and I am thrilled that we got to spend the time together...












Also you will notice the random costumes. I hope you recognized Charlotte and I were pilgrims. The Friday before our special Thanksgiving we had a nations party. Since we didn't get the chance to dress up for Halloween, we went all out. Everyone wore the traditional clothing of their country or another one. What did we think of when we wanted to dress up as traditional americans? How about the first Americans? So we did our best...thought you might want to see pictures of the world's cutest pilgrim couple...

How was everyone at home's Thanksgivings? I would love to hear about them and see pictures!!!!

pictures for mom (and others too...)!

Alright...The pictures on the bottom are from Mission-Live, us working hard and eating at McDonalds for the first time here.

The pictures towards the middle are from Trumpet Tour, you will see in there, my first Starbucks in Nurnberg (and later on my third trip to Starbucks with Julie in Berlin), the FIRST SNOW of many in Germany! There are several sight seeing pictures, I wish I could specifically tell you which is which, but the computer doesn't allow for that.

The first pictures you saw, the top couple, are the tail end of tour. The girls and guys saying bye to Wayne, the speaker's son. Who can forget, fun times on the bus? You will also notice somewhere in there, Bethany hitting me over the head with a red hammer. Where did we get that? How about from over our heads on the bus...Yeah, here is the states we have kick-out windows on busses, not in Germany, they're hardcore, they have mini sledge hammers so everyone can pound their way out of the bus. How exciting.

Sorry, all these pictures are kind of vague and random and without explanation but I figured better this than nothing!

LASTLY, my outreach team is in need of prayer. We are unsure if we are going to be able to go to D.R. Congo. This is mostly because it is currently in unsafe condition and there is a lack of stability within the country. However, we are seeking God for supernatural confirmation before we think about a different country. Whatever He speaks, we will listen to. Our cutoff date is next Thursday, so until then, many of us are fasting and really seeking God for His plan. He spoke clearly in the beginning about us going to Congo, and now as a whole team we are looking to Him for clear direction. It is all quite exciting, and we are all learning about fully seeking and trusting God, we have no other choice and this is trluy the best position to be in. So please pray for us a team!

God Bless you all!

answered prayer.

And a word from the mother...yes, this is my second post today...

"First let me thank you for your faithful prayers on Molly's behalf. I had an email from her this morning and she is doing much better! That is a huge praise!! She said that the medicine worked amazingly and she is feeling about 95%! She is still struggling a bit from the headache/stomach stuff but overall is feeling well. She said she has been able to use this down time to study II Corinthians and prepare for the next phase of teaching. She did not say for certain, but most likely she should be able to travel back and rejoin her group in Modiocolo. That will include a very bumpy, 9 hour journey! But I know she is anxious to return.

You have all been wonderful to pray and ask for updates. Truly our family has experienced God's peace and assurance as a result of your faithful petitions. Thank you!"

Thank you. You guys rock. Prayer is POWERFUL.

18 days.

This is the first post in 18 days. Overall these past 3 weeks have been life changing and so much fun.

Mission Live Conference rocked. As a base, we organized the conference. It was crazy exciting. Everyone worked together to make it all come together. People decorated. Others were part of the security team. Some made food. People directed parking...It was a group effort for sure. We had speakers who are affiliated with YWAM all around the world. The Directors from YWAM South Africa, Haiti, Amsterdam and Herrnhut, of course, all came to the conference and spoke on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The goal of the conference was to show people God's calling for their lives. It is the hope of all these bases that the 10/40 Window will dissapate because of missionaries, especially ones from Europe. They are working together to call missionaries out of the world, and the conference was a tool to call missionaries out. It was exciting to not attend the conference for my own good, but to serve others. We got the chance to pray over people, lead small groups, help out with workshops, etc. The times when we sang, always were wonderful, and really pumped the people up. We also got prayed over as Herrnhut before our short term outreaches. Then as a huge group of disciples, we commisioned Eva and Irena to Calcutta. They were base staff at Herrnhut and now are going to Calcutta, India to serve as full time missionaries. It was beautiful. The conference was exhausting because we were serving the whole day. From 6 am when breakfast needed to be prepared, until midnight when the speakers finished speaking. From the conference all the teams dispersed into their outreaches. One team went to Serbia, another to Amsterdam, another to Czech Republic and of course ours went on Trumpet Tour!

Trumpet tour was so cool. We left from Reichenbauch and traveled five hours the first day to a church in Northern Germany. On an average day though, we would spend 5-10 hours on the bus. We made zig-zags all over Germany. every night the program started with a time of singing, lead by our team sometimes and sometimes members from the church. We would introduce what we were doing and why we were at their church. Then we would always do this song "Ask for the Natons" accompanied by a flag dance, yes a flag dance. Sounds cheesy, but it ended up being really rad. I carried the flag of Khazikstan and at one part of our dance we would go into the audience and say "God bless you" in different languages. Phonetically it is "Blagoslavit tebya gespoat". The whole point of Trumpet Tour was similar to Mission Live, to show people the need in the nations and how God wants to use us to build up his kingdom, also to call people out of the churches to go into these nations. At the same time build unity among the churches in Germany so they can support each other and really reach the unreached. All of that to say, the flag dance was our contribution to show people that God wants to give them neighborhoods, cities, states, nations. This was a concept I had never heard of, and it really got me excited. In Psalm 2:8 the Lord says "Ask of me, and I will give YOU the nations for your inheritance, and the ends of the earth for your possesion". When we went into these churches it was consistently our prayer for revival, and that the radical teaching and ideas would rise up an excitement for reaching the lost. After this, Evanne would speak about Terry Snow, and introduce him, then he would go up and speak. Terry is from Texas but now lives in Haiti where he is the YWAM director in St. Mark. Every night he would share the same message, and every night it got better. He would really seek God about how He wanted him to format the message to the church. So each night it had a different twist to it, but for the most part he would share the same message. By the end of the 9 churches visited, any one of us could've told the story.

The biggest thing that happened for me personally during this time was seeing the power of prayer. Every church we went to, we prayed for them from 20 minutes-an hour and a half. At every church we saw God wanted to do something big there. Every church different people from our team had incredible visions for the church as a body. Every church we left, we saw something change. There is power in prayer. I feel like prayer is really where I was lacking in my relationship with the Lord before I came to Germany. I feel so blessed to have gained such a precious tool. This is such an exciting discovery. I feel like I will never be the same because I have been blessed to find this.

After 6 days of Trumpet Tour all the teams met up in Berlin. Terry was our speaker, and spoke about evangelism. In the afternoons we did street evangelism. Oh man, it was awesome. I can't even begin to describe how God rattled Berlin. Those were an amazing 4 days. I also got the chance to see a lot of Berlin, which was such an experience.

Then we left Berlin and continued on Tour. We traveled 30 hours in 3 days. It was exhausting. When we are in our weaknesses, that is the most exciting time to see God move. At each church the Holy Spirit was present like never before. Oh man, I can't even express it...

We got back to Herrnhut on Sunday night at 10 pm. It was great to share memories with all the teams and re-unify everyone together. We didn't have a lot of time in Berlin to share with everyone so Monday on our day off, we all talked each others ears off.

This week we are learning about our Identity in Christ. In order to catch up on lost time we had late night lecture yesterday and early morning today. I am excited to see how this week unfolds...We were warned that it is the most intense week yet...

Thanks for reading guys! I wish I could've shared more, but it is impossible to share every detail. Hopefully it will continue to seep into other posts because I want to share everything that God did!

Please pray for Molly. As many of you know, she is in Uganda right now. She has gotten sick within the past week and they aren't sure what's going on...