Well I just realized that it's been almost 2 weeks since I last wrote an update, so I figured I should probably let you guys know how things are going.
The last couple weeks have been pretty good, but really busy as well (of course). The rest of the break was a great time, and God really reenergized me and really spoke to me and showed me how He has been speaking to me and continued to motivate me to spend more time with Him in prayer. After the break we started up hitting the ground running with the gospel of John, which was difficult because we only had 1 week to do it, and unlike most books where we work on the Saturday to get started on the book, we didn't start any of the work until Monday morning, which made me feel like I was behind from the beginning. I also had some struggles with getting my mind back in to charting mode after the break and had some kinda unproductive days, which led to me getting really behind and having to have a HUGELY productive day from Friday to Saturday. This was a little draining and killed me a little, but in the end, I think it was a bit of a blessing because it showed me how I can pound out a ton of charts in a day, which has given me confidence for the Old Testament. This is really good because I was a little worried and intimidated about the Old Testament because how big the books are and because of how quickly we move through books (I'll post our schedule at the end of my post, it's INSANE, but it's gonna be AWESOME!!!).
We just finished 1 John on Tuesday morning and since 2 and 3 John are both so small we did something a little different for them and rather than charting the books we had to prepare a small 20 minute sermon from a passage in one of the books. It was a lot of fun and was a great change from charting. We were able to choose a hypothetical audience and had to write a sermon to meet a need that they would have. For my sermon I decided to speak from 3 John vs5-8, chose my audience to be DTS students, and spoke on the subject of supporting missionaries and asking for support. This is obviously something that is close to my heart since I've been praying about support, which made it pretty easy to speak for 20 minutes about it. I basically gave the biblical basis of supporting missionaries, then spoke about being obedient and diligent in raising support and finished it off with a bit of application, like writing a letter to share with people what God is calling you to do and asking them to partner with you in it. It was a fun experience and I was able to get some good pointers and constructive criticism out of it. It really showed me how much I want to spend some time staffing some DTSs and discipling younger people in living their lives for God, even if I wasn't actually speaking to an actual DTS.
We're now just starting on Revelation, which is going to be a huge and heavy book, but I'm pretty excited for it. I've just read it the first time through today and am about to do my colour code and read it again and I'm already realizing that I have no idea what it all means, but am super excited to dig into this and try to get a better understanding of the revelation that John had. So please be praying that God will speak to me through this book and will give me a revelation (haha) of what it all means and what it means to me in my life.
Other than that, there's nothing too exciting going on, which is probably a good thing since it means things are getting better. My Grandpa just had open heart surgery yesterday, so please be praying for him for a quick recovery. The surgery was a complete success with no complications, so hopefully that stays the same with the recovery process and he's able to get around better after he recovers. Also, we had 3 people leave SBS at the end of the break, my buddy Breno that I mentioned last post, and a couple named Calvin and Camille, who were also good friends. They've all gone over to the Kona YWAM base, so please be praying for them that their transition will go smoothly and that God will be using them mightily there. This has also been difficult for our staff because it's always difficult to have students leave the school, so please be praying for them as well that God will be affirming them and that He will be speaking to them and filling them so that they can pour into us, especially in this difficult term that we have ahead of us.
Finally, I also want to mention that my friends Jari and Tanya Koivu who work with YWAM Alternatives Network in Toronto are preparing for a Supernatural Ministry DTS, which starts in September, so please be praying for them that God will be sending them the staff and students that they need and that God will bless the school and will use the school to touch many lives. If you want any more information or if you or someone you know may be interested in the school, either as staff or students because I know they have room for both, check out their website at http://www.ywamalt.net/dts/dts-overview.
I hope you are all doing great. I love and miss you all. Also, I don't think I've mentioned this before, but it looks like I'll be home at least for a few weeks, or maybe even longer, at Christmas, so hopefully I can connect with some of you then. Thank you so much for reading my blog, your prayers mean so much to me, and if you ever have any questions or just want to say hello, feel free to email me at stelps1@gmail.com. It may take me a little while to get back to you, but it's always great to hear from people back home and I definitely will get back to you.
God bless
Prayer Requests
The last couple weeks have been pretty good, but really busy as well (of course). The rest of the break was a great time, and God really reenergized me and really spoke to me and showed me how He has been speaking to me and continued to motivate me to spend more time with Him in prayer. After the break we started up hitting the ground running with the gospel of John, which was difficult because we only had 1 week to do it, and unlike most books where we work on the Saturday to get started on the book, we didn't start any of the work until Monday morning, which made me feel like I was behind from the beginning. I also had some struggles with getting my mind back in to charting mode after the break and had some kinda unproductive days, which led to me getting really behind and having to have a HUGELY productive day from Friday to Saturday. This was a little draining and killed me a little, but in the end, I think it was a bit of a blessing because it showed me how I can pound out a ton of charts in a day, which has given me confidence for the Old Testament. This is really good because I was a little worried and intimidated about the Old Testament because how big the books are and because of how quickly we move through books (I'll post our schedule at the end of my post, it's INSANE, but it's gonna be AWESOME!!!).
We just finished 1 John on Tuesday morning and since 2 and 3 John are both so small we did something a little different for them and rather than charting the books we had to prepare a small 20 minute sermon from a passage in one of the books. It was a lot of fun and was a great change from charting. We were able to choose a hypothetical audience and had to write a sermon to meet a need that they would have. For my sermon I decided to speak from 3 John vs5-8, chose my audience to be DTS students, and spoke on the subject of supporting missionaries and asking for support. This is obviously something that is close to my heart since I've been praying about support, which made it pretty easy to speak for 20 minutes about it. I basically gave the biblical basis of supporting missionaries, then spoke about being obedient and diligent in raising support and finished it off with a bit of application, like writing a letter to share with people what God is calling you to do and asking them to partner with you in it. It was a fun experience and I was able to get some good pointers and constructive criticism out of it. It really showed me how much I want to spend some time staffing some DTSs and discipling younger people in living their lives for God, even if I wasn't actually speaking to an actual DTS.
We're now just starting on Revelation, which is going to be a huge and heavy book, but I'm pretty excited for it. I've just read it the first time through today and am about to do my colour code and read it again and I'm already realizing that I have no idea what it all means, but am super excited to dig into this and try to get a better understanding of the revelation that John had. So please be praying that God will speak to me through this book and will give me a revelation (haha) of what it all means and what it means to me in my life.
Other than that, there's nothing too exciting going on, which is probably a good thing since it means things are getting better. My Grandpa just had open heart surgery yesterday, so please be praying for him for a quick recovery. The surgery was a complete success with no complications, so hopefully that stays the same with the recovery process and he's able to get around better after he recovers. Also, we had 3 people leave SBS at the end of the break, my buddy Breno that I mentioned last post, and a couple named Calvin and Camille, who were also good friends. They've all gone over to the Kona YWAM base, so please be praying for them that their transition will go smoothly and that God will be using them mightily there. This has also been difficult for our staff because it's always difficult to have students leave the school, so please be praying for them as well that God will be affirming them and that He will be speaking to them and filling them so that they can pour into us, especially in this difficult term that we have ahead of us.
Finally, I also want to mention that my friends Jari and Tanya Koivu who work with YWAM Alternatives Network in Toronto are preparing for a Supernatural Ministry DTS, which starts in September, so please be praying for them that God will be sending them the staff and students that they need and that God will bless the school and will use the school to touch many lives. If you want any more information or if you or someone you know may be interested in the school, either as staff or students because I know they have room for both, check out their website at http://www.ywamalt.net/dts/dts-overview.
I hope you are all doing great. I love and miss you all. Also, I don't think I've mentioned this before, but it looks like I'll be home at least for a few weeks, or maybe even longer, at Christmas, so hopefully I can connect with some of you then. Thank you so much for reading my blog, your prayers mean so much to me, and if you ever have any questions or just want to say hello, feel free to email me at stelps1@gmail.com. It may take me a little while to get back to you, but it's always great to hear from people back home and I definitely will get back to you.
God bless
Prayer Requests
- That my Grandpa will recover well from his heart surgery
- That Breno, Calvin and Camille will have a smooth transition to the Kona base
- That God will continue to speak to me through my work and will continue to change me into the man that He created me to be
- For Jari and Tanya and the school that they are preparing for
- That God will continue to send people to support me (and praise Him for sending some support since my last post!!!!)
- For our staff that God will continue to bless them and fill them up and equip them to be a blessing to us
- That God will help all of us to be able to understand Revelation and that God will be speaking to us through it
Schedule
Here's the schedule for the second quarter, in case you're interested. It would definitely be appreciated if you could all be praying for us as we finish the different books and for the speakers that will be teaching them to us.
- July 7-13 - Revelation
- July 15-23 - Genesis
- July 23-29 - Exodus
- July 29-Aug 4 - Leviticus
- Aug 4-9 - Numbers
- Aug 9-16 - Deuteronomy
- Aug 16-20 - Joshua
- Aug 20-25 - Judges
- Aug 25-27 - Ruth
- Aug 27-Sept 5 - 1&2 Samuel
- Sept 5-12 - 1&2 Kings
- Sept 12-16 - 1&2 Chronicles
- Sept 19-23 - BREAK!!!!!!!!!
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