we are beginning week four of the DTS and we now have our outreach teams made. i will be co-leading a team with endre, a guy that just joined staff here, as well, from norway. there are six teams going out from this school and endre and i will be leading the biggest one. we'll be taking seven students to cambodia for four weeks, and then going to southern thailand for four weeks. (therefore giving us the name of team Camboland! i was more excited about that one than others, i think.) we leave for outreach at the end of march and there is SO MUCH TO DO!!!
endre has a huge heart for kids and sports. that's his thing. he is an incredible soccer player, which is perfect because soccer is such an easy game to set up and play wherever we are on outreach. our ministries in cambodia are still up in the air, but endre and i meet a lot to talk about our options and opportunities and where our hearts are for this trip. we're looking into working at an orphanage in cambodia that takes in children with AIDS. there is also a church/community center that we could help out at which ministers to AIDS patients and has a prison ministry, which are two areas that i am really excited about helping out in. they also could use us to teach Bible classes, help in orphanages, and i'm looking into getting involved with some prostitution ministries in the area. we still have a lot of planning to do for that trip, as the ministries are still very up in the air for us. there are over forty ministry opportunities that endre and i are sorting through and praying about.
in thailand, we'll be working with a pastor named simon. the school year will start around the time we get there, so we'll be doing a lot of outreach in schools and communities. simon would like us to give hands on training in evangelism, do skits, play sports and prayer walk. he also wants us to work a lot with the youth, passing on vision, passion, enthusiasm, and sharing with them about trusting and serving God and how they can lead a life of holiness in the midst of temptation in this world. it sounds like a great opportunity. our base generally sends teams to northern thailand, so this is the first time we'll have a team in southern thailand. i'm really excited about what God has in store for those two months. it's going to be busy getting everything together for the trip - flights and visas and transportation and lodging...the list goes on and on, and it's all up to endre and i to get it figured out. i'm so thankful to have him as a co-leader, though. we compliment each other so well and i know that we're going to have a lot of fun putting this whole thing together. that's the hope, at least.
we have five other teams going out at the end of march:
-a surfing ministry in nias, indonesia
-a skateboarding ministry in australia, the philippines and china
-teaching english and prostitution ministries in burma and thailand
-construction work and jungle trekking in cambodia and laos
-slum ministries in india and bangladesh
this past week, our lectures were on hearing the voice of God - which was a really incredible week for so many of the students. they're so hungry to be closer to God and hear and know His voice, so it was really cool to watch them learn and grow this week - and to learn and grow myself, along with them. we revealed the outreach locations to them during this week, since they are learning about hearing God's voice. after hearing the six different locations, they had ten minutes to pray about it and then had to turn in their top two choices. many of them did hear God in this prayer time and were able to confidently choose their top two outreaches.
the week became exhausting as we tried to put the teams together, because a couple of teams were too big, while others were too small. i had the excruciating job of meeting with one of my girls that i have as a "one-on-one" because as the staff were putting the teams together, we all prayed about it and all strongly felt like she should be on a team that wasn't in her top two choices. as i sat down and talked to her about it, i could begin to see that her heart just isn't in the right place here. i could see that right now, this experience is more of a socially stimulating vacation time than it is a time to grow in Christ and learn more about Him. i could see that her choices for outreach were clouded by which country would be cooler to visit, and she was resistant to the idea of going anywhere else. i kept thinking 'you GET to go to this place!! you GET to share the love and Word of God in this country!! it's such an amazing opportunity!!' but it wasn't her first choice of places to go, and she didn't see it as a privilege or opportunity to serve God. and my heart completely broke. i spent the night in tears of frustration and sadness - not at her, but for her. courtney, my roommate and the leader of the school, sat with me as i cried for this girl and she was so encouraging. "how amazing is it," she'd say, "that you've known this girl for two weeks, and you are sitting here crying about where she's at in her relationship with God. you're crying over HER walk with the Lord. i'm so happy that you care this much!" i didn't know i cared that much. i didn't know i ever would care this much. but i do. i was so frustrated with where she's at with God...i just wanted to push her into this deeper relationship with Him. no...i wanted her to WANT to fall into a deeper relationship with God. and i didn't know what to do. i still don't know what to do. i don't know how to guide her or counsel her or talk to her. she's not very responsive in lectures...she actually sleeps through most of them. she doesn't have any quiet times, she's always hanging out with people from the school and doesn't seem too dissatisfied with that. and it's hard to watch. and i have no idea how to handle it, as her mentor. or her friend. i know that if we were to leave on outreach this week, she wouldn't be allowed to go. outreach is considered a privilege. we're not going to send out students that aren't ready. so we have two months. and i'm going to pour all i have into this girl. and never stop praying for her. because i know that although she may have come here for selfish reasons - God went ahead and brought her here for reasons of His own, and those will win. i believe that.
the other girls that i'm mentoring are doing great! one of the girls had a hard time with choosing an outreach location, so i spent an evening with her in prayer, and was able to bring confirmation to her of where she thought she should go. she's thrilled about outreach and i know that God is going to use her in mighty ways. she has an incredibly painful past and still carries a lot of that pain with her. but with the outreach team she's on, i can see that God is going to use those painful things she was involved in for His glory. she's going to be able to relate to people and use her testimony in powerful ways. how incredible is that? all of the pain she's endured will be turned around and used for God's glory. i think that's amazing.
i feel so blessed here. i don't have much free time, but i feel blessed to be in the sun...to see palm trees...to have sand between my toes and my bathing suit as a staple in my daily wardrobe. to live in this beach culture where shoes are always optional...EVERYONE is always friendly...and you know the surf is good when absolutely nobody is at work. and - on top of all that - i get to grow in my relationship with God, and...on top of THAT...i get to help and watch others do the same! i can already see a change in some of these students. it's amazing. they are literally changing right before my eyes. i can see them starting to trust God more. i can see them loving Him more. i can see them moving away from the jaded, cold, dark lives they came from, and moving into the joy and freedom and love of God. i can't even tell you how cool that is. when one of my girls spends the first week saying that she doesn't think she'll ever get to be close with God and never have a real relationship with Him...and then ONE WEEK later, she's telling me how she hears His voice and is praying WITH me now and i can just see the faith she has in Him written all over her - and i'm not sure it was even there before. but it's here now. and it's growing every day. and seeing that just makes me smile.
i'm leading a group of students to the wakeboarding cable park every friday night for local evangelism, which seems to be going well. wakeboarders tend to be a "rough" group, but have such great hearts and are so open to talking and discussing nearly anything, which helps! there are some huge competitions coming up at the wakepark that we'll be able to help out in which will bring wakeboarders from all over the world. and many of the employees at the park are young guys that aren't christians, so it's a good opportunity for us to just share some love with them each week.
i'm also continuing to lead the morning intercession time every friday. we spend two hours in prayer, interceding for various people and nations. it's been going really well....so far. we're just starting week four here, so i haven't had much time to screw things up yet! i'll keep you posted on that...
this week our lectures are on spiritual warfare and jewish roots.
i've already been here for one month. can we believe it?
no.
happy february. (more commonly referred to around our household as the "month of mallory." i'm not trying to persuade you in any way, but wouldn't it be special if we all adopted that train of thought? just a suggestion.....)
no. God has been teaching me here that it's not all about me. nothing is all about me. i suppose referring to february as "my month" would be a good habit to break in light of these recent lessons. dang it.
thank you for your thoughts and prayers...as always. to say they are appreciated is a massive understatement, but it's the best i can do. for now.
love, love, love!
No comments:
Post a Comment