Catch up...

Hello friend! I'm back....in the US, in YWAM, on my blog. A lot has happened over the past few weeks, so I'm going to try to fill you in. I arrived in Los Angeles on Sept 21 for my School of Ministry Development, and life has been moving fast ever since.

Week 1: I heard lots of great lectures on Passions, and discovered my top 5 are Truth, Integrity, Reconciliation, Generosity, and Compassion. I developed action plans to feed my passions and got some accountability partners to help me out. I'm definitely being challenged to grow in these areas, and it's SO good!

Week 2: Outreach, outreach, outreach. I was presented with 3 outreach options: Mexico, Morocco, and India. After lots of prayer, good conversations with my great leaders, and re-focusing on why I'm here and where I feel God is leading me.....I decided not to go. It was a hard decision because my heart wants to 'go', but I know it was the right one. We are working in our outreach teams in preparation until we go in December. But what about me, and the others, who are not going? We got the amazing opportunity to develop our own project! I love it, and might even stay a little longer in LA to see it become a reality. What is it? It's called Love Rescue Me (from a song by U2), and it's a campaign to help link people in local churches with organizations in the city that are doing one on one ministry (like the different missions on skid row and rehabilitation houses for women getting out of prostitution). The team I'm on has come up with some awesome ideas, and we all getting pretty excited with thoughts of seeing peoples lives transformed by love of Christ!

Week 3: Love Rescue Me! We spent a lot of time in our project/outreach teams, and set an awesome "overall objective": to see 5,000 individuals from churches develop relationships with 50,000 people on the streets over 3 years! If that doesn't get you excited, maybe have someone check your pulse. Dreaming is so fun!

Week 4: The Merek Fire. You might have seen it on the news, but maybe not. There was a wildfire that started in the hills behind our base, during a Santa Ana windstorm. The fire spread very quickly and we were evacuated last Sunday at 4am. We had a great worship and prayer time in the Denny's parking lot, and we literally saw the fire curve around the base, missing my classroom by about 800 ft. We were able to come back to the base later that afternoon, but were on warning and ready with bags packed for the next two days. It was pretty stressful, but we had a great time serving in different evacuation centers. I was a little nervous to go, thinking that I didn't really have anything to offer people who had just lost their homes. I was sure someone was going to ask me why God let his or her house burn down, and I would have no idea what to say! God is WAY to faithful for that. As I stepped out in willingness to serve and be used by God, he ministered to me and I always had an encouraging word, a listening ear, and the heart to truly care for the hundreds staying in the centers. One woman even encouraged me by reminding me that I can talk to God whenever I want, wherever I am, about whatever is on my mind. What a good God!

Well, those highlights sum up some of what I've been up to over the past few weeks. I'll be back soon, sharing more of my experience with you. There's always my staff, roommates, the amazing bible studies we do, and my sister, brother in law, and 8-week-old nephew that are visiting right now! I hope you are well, and I would love updates on your life as well! Blessings!