And we're off!!!

The day has almost come, I'm getting ready to go to sleep, and at 8:30 in the morning, we will be leaving Crystal Springs and heading out on outreach for the next 9 weeks! It's hard to believe that it's only been 12 weeks since we got here. So much has happened in those 12 weeks that it seems like a lifetime ago that we all piled out of the van into our new home, but at the same time, it's still hard to believe that it's already over. It's definitely a bittersweet feeling around here; so exciting to be going out to Fiji for some and India for others, but so difficult to be separated from our brothers and sisters that we have laughed, cried and grown with.

Living in a community like this and going through the lectures and experiences that we've had here has been like nothing I've ever experienced in my life. God did a huge work in my life leading up to me going here, and He continued it and enriched it big time during my time here. He has done an amazing work in my life and in the lives of the other students here, and now it is time for us to go out and put the gifts that He's given us to work and to share with others the life that He has given all of us. I went here having no idea what God has for me in the future, and although I still don't know exactly what the future holds, He's definitely confirmed multiple times that He has plans for me and that they are big plans. There is a reason that He never gave up on me during the years that I was living for myself rather than for Him, and He is definitely preparing me to bear fruit for Him and to reward Him for His faithfulness.

Today I sent my application into the School of Biblical Studies in Taiwan, and I am 100% confident that this is what God wants me to be, and that this will be a huge step to becoming the man He wants me to be and is vital to the equipping process that He is doing in me. It is so exciting to finally know that not only am I doing what God wants, but that He has plans and a purpose for me and my life. Please be praying for me as I go out. I will try to post news and info while I'm in India, but I'm assuming that things will continue to be extremely busy, so I'm not sure how much time I will have to write. Thank you so much for all your prayers and support, they are definitely needed and appreciated.

God bless.

Almost 3/4 done!

Well it's Wednesday night here in New Zealand, so we're just over half way through week 9, which is the 3/4 point of our DTS. I must apologize that I haven't really sent as many updates as I feel I probably should've. As most of you probably know, I'm not the best communicator, and I tend to forget that people back home (hopefully) want to hear about how I'm doing a little more often that I tend to tell them. So I figured I would write a blog post tonight, since it is a free night, and I actually felt that I had something to write.

In a nutshell, things are going absolutely amazing here!! God has been pouring into me like He never has before, and I know it's because I have been pouring into Him like I never have before. I would say that the number 1 thing that I have learned in this DTS is the importance of prayer and fasting, and my prayer life has been stepped into overdrive because of it! My goal has been to spend at least 2 hours each day with God, and so far I meet that goal most days and it has definitely been worth it! We have 6am prayer that I go to most days, gotta admit I sometimes sleep in, and every night during the week I go to the prayer room for an hour before bed. We also have intercession on Tuesday and Thursday morning. I have made it a priority to pray in tongues as much as possible, especially since I have been focusing and meditating on Ephesians 6:10-20 and the call to pray in the Spirit at all times. God has really put it on my heart to ensure that I am putting on His armour and learning how to use it effectively, which is one of the reasons that I feel called to the School of Biblical Studies in Taiwan. I also felt God was calling me to fast regularly, so I have been fasting every Tuesday and Thursday. This got to be a little more difficult because our leaders imposed a school-wide Wednesday morning fast, but it's not too bad and I figure God's worth it. lol. I had never really been one to fast much before I came to this DTS, but as I learned more about the power of fasting, the importance of fasting and how it is a way to honour God, I knew that I had to follow God's leading and make it a regular part of my life. God confirmed to me that He was calling me to fast when I was reading the book of Ezra. I was really struck by chapter 8 verse 21, when Ezra is leading the people the exiles back to Jerusalem, he proclaimed a fast so that they may humble themselves before God. I had never thought of fasting that way, and my pride is something that I believe God has been working on in me, so I knew that He was giving me yet another reason to fast for Him.

During my time here God has really gotten me excited about reading His Word and about learning more about it, which is part of the reason that I want to do the SBS after I'm finished here. I have been reading more and more as the school has gone on, not just the Bible, but also some amazing books too. The two that I enjoyed most were Chasing the Dragon by Jackie Pullinger, and the Heavenly Man by Brother Yun. They are both amazing books and they both confirmed in me the calling that God has put on my life to be His messenger and to go out to the nations. They also have helped confirm that I am to live a simple life and that I may not have a home for a long time. Brother Yun's story has really confirmed that I am willing to preach the Gospel and to speak God's name wherever He calls me to, no matter what that means, even if it means I suffer persecution. His testimony deeply impacted me. He truly is a man of faith that has shown me how important it is to trust God and praise Him no matter what your situation is. He endured more torture, pain and suffering than I thought a man other than Jesus could endure, yet still pressed on and trusted in God and even praised him for the opportunity to minister to his cell mates when he was in prison. I definitely recommend this book to all of you reading this. I believe it was an important book to prepare me for the possibilities of what lies ahead as I am called out to a life of missions in Asia. I hope and pray that I don't have to endure even a fraction of what Brother Yun went through, but I am still willing to go, even if it means I suffer for God. As long as I am following Him, it is worth it. It's like our speaker in Week 6 Cindy Ruakere said about following His call, "it will cost you everything," but you can tell from her story and her testimony, as well as from Brother Yun's testimony, that it's more than worth it. Cindy wrote a song and the main line in it is about living your life so "that the Lamb may receive the reward for His suffering!" It is such a powerful line, and I definitely desire to and am willing to live my life so that He may receive some of His reward. 

Well, I think that's about all I have for you all tonight. I hope you enjoyed a little insight about what is going on in my life, as well as in my heart and spirit. I will leave you with a couple closing thoughts from the last chapter of The Heavenly Man that really spoke to me, and were actually the thing that made me think about writing this post so that I could share them with you all. The first is Brother Yun's response to the fact that people will call him stupid because he would return to China if God told him to go, even though he knows that he could face the death penalty. He said "We're not called to live by human reason. All that matters is obedience to God's Word and His leading in our lives. If God says go, we'll go. If He says stay, we'll stay. When we are in His will, we are in the safest place in the world." Also, his wife Deling gives an example of his humility when she tells that he often tells her that "we are absolutely nothing. We have nothing to be proud about. We have no abilities and nothing to offer God. The fact that He chooses to use us is only due to His grace. It has nothing to do with us." And finally, the final paragraph in his book reads: "Jesus is truly worth knowing. He is worthy to receive our whole lives. If you do give Him your whole life, you'll surely never regret it. Will you follow Him?" These are some amazing words from an amazing man, and show just how truly surrendered he is to God and how much he understands that we are nothing except what God has done in us. I love you and miss you all. God bless.

1 John 4:19 - "We love because He first loved us."