Hey friends, family and anyone else who's interested (shoutout to all you stalkers out there), welcome to the outpour of my mind and heart from the past month or so, it's going to be good.
Well well here I am, two more weeks left of the lecture phase and then I'm off to another country for my outreach. (exciting!) Time goes by so fast! I feel like I just wrote my last post a few days ago, but it's already been over a month. Crazy.
Anyway life has been really good here! We've had a week on Lordship, Identity, Holy Spirit, Biblical Worldview and now we're in the middle of Dignity/Destiny with our base director Edwin. A lot to think about! And a lot more information to recieve in a time period like this one. I love it! Someone here once said that you learn more here than you'd learn at church in a year, and I'm really seeing where that statement is coming from right now. We've had really good, wise and inspiring teachers, gifted with creativity and good examples of what it truly is like to live a life totally dependant on the Father. It has been very eye- opening and quite often I've left class with a refreshed dose of excitement and desire twirling around in me.
I'm actually going to get my notebook, so that I can go a little deeper with you, so I'll be right back!
I'm back!
So, Lordship...
"Everyone who comes to Christ is like a diamond in the rough and a diamond doesn't reflect its true value and beauty until its taken out from the soil, polished in the hands of a skilled gemmologist, mounted in gold or silver and displayed for all to see. (There's a goal in the diamond's end result and that goal is us being created for a purpose). Through the process of descipleship, through Christ we have been cleansed, polished and we become a light to the world. We become reflectors of His beauty and splendor." We all have something going on in our lives that needs a little or maybe even more than a little polishing, something going on that isn't really reflecting the beauty of the Lord. We were truly created in His image and I for sure want to walk through life learning more and more about God's original intention for me and the relationship between us.
We also talked about the importance of obedience and submission, which was really good I think! I really want to give my life to Jesus daily and learn how to lay down my rights, to become more humble (not pushing myself down; there's a big difference.), but to allow Jesus to take the wheel and me to just listen, obey and respect everything He has in store for me. We tend to want to be in control of everything going on in our lives and in our minds, but again and again we realize how impossible that often is. It's true love how we've been given free will, but sometimes I wish it were a bit easier. Don't we all though haha..We got a good list of ways we can humble ourselves and here's a few for you: routinely confess your sin to God, acknowledge your sins to others, recieve correction and feedback graciously, choose to serve others ( are you choosing to be seen or what is your motive to serve others? such a good question!), be quick to forgive, treat pride as a condition that always needs embracing the cross...and so on. Really good ones right? They sound good and managable, but in reality how often do we succeed in all of these daily? Exactly; a good daily challenge for sure. With the grace of God.
We also talked about our attitudes. I won't share much about that one since I want to keep going, but one thing that stuck out to me was this: "Attitude. Its' roots are inward and its' fruits are outward, its our best friend or our worst enemy, It's something that either draws people to us or repels them." and:
It is the liberation of our past
It is the speaker of our present
It is the prophet of our future
All this might sound strange to you if you don't understand the nature and characteristics of God, but I can tell you that He is love. He made us, we all need Him, He gave us eternal life, He is our Father, He gives us peace, joy, humor and so much more! He is the creator of all planets, galaxies, stars and yet He wants you. He chose you. He called you. Today's thing for me is thankfulness, so that's my standpoint in all of this today. I'm very thankful for a lot and I can't wait to investigate more reasons to rejoice and be thankful in Him. I could write so much more on this, but I'll save that for later processing my friends! Next one..
Identity...
It's good to know where we come from, who we are and where we're going. The more you learn about God the more you learn about yourself and who you were created to be. Especially when life gets hard it's extremely important to know who we are and where we stand. So often our confidence gets hits and we start trying to mutate into someone else based on what we see as cool and interesting in people around us. Why would you want to be a copy instead of an original? The devil absolutely loves it when we focus on ourselves and everything that's "wrong with us"..He tries to keep us in this annoying turmoil; breaking what's originally meant to be with us and God. Anyway..
Here's another good question: " When all my securities are gone, what is left? -Identity."
A few other good points I wrote down from this week:
- Change needs to be desired from within
- How can we make a difference if we can't see the difference in our own lives?
- We try to make God like us instead of making ourselves more like God.
- We need to be aware of our strengths and weaknesses, we need to be more open and receptive
- What is defining your choices,- circumstances? To get recognition?
- What speaks into your identity through your relationships?
- What do you feel gives you value?
- Does the culture dictate my identity, or does God dictate my identity?
I feel like I'm going to just start copying all my notes down here as I'm getting all excited over it again haha
Kat, calm down.
Okay moving on..
Holy Spirit week came next and it was really interesting! I experienced the Holy Spirit in more diverse ways than ever before. Its not the easiest subject to teach on since there are so many different views and opinnions this world of ours has on it. Our teacher though did an amazing job with it and we all felt very comfortable and inspired! He truly lives out what he teaches and that was really great to see! It was a lot of fun and he was very creative as well. I enjoyed it so much! Sometimes we get so focused on Jesus that we forget the Father and especially the Holy Spirit. They truly are one though, so we should be equally aware of the whole Trinity. I want to be open to everything and trust in His guidence. I sound like such a super christian now with all this flow of deepness and wise words, but in reality all of this is a daily challenge for me. For us all actually; I believe. I really don't want to be painting a perfect picture of myself; I want to be as real as possible with all of you.
The next week was all about the Biblical Worldview. We looked through Theism, Animism and Secularism.
Theism= The ultimate reality is personal
Animism= The ultimate reality is spiritual
Secularism= The ultimate reality is physical
It was a really interesting week but I had actually heard a lot about the subject before since I have a friend who had done her DTS and SBS in Hawaii and shared a lot about this subject back at home. Lots of reminders though.
We also learned more about the uniqueness of the Bible which I had also heard before, BUT I think its important that we remind ourselves with these fun facts, just because sometimes we begin taking the Bible for granted and it becomes just another book among books. Here's a few of these facts:
- It was written over a 1500 year span
- Originally written in 3 different languages: Hebrew, Greek and Aramic. Now translated into 2527 different languages!!! More than any other book in the world.
- It's also unique in its survival through prosecution. If this truly wasn't a book of God, man would've already succeeded in making it perish. (so true!)
-The Bible doesn't fail.
-...etc.
And tadaaa today we had our first class on Dignity/ Destiny. I'll probably share more about that later, since we only just started. Edwin is a lot of fun though, lots of dancing and whistling in class today haha I love it!
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Outside of lectures it's also been really good. Not always easy inside since I like to challenge myself with things I've learned during lectures and sometimes it can be quite painful, when I realise another thing in my life that needs some polishing or another right that I know needs to be laid down. Good steps into more growth.
I have a lot of fun here! I've been blessed with amazing people to surround myself with. We laugh a lot, but tears have been experienced as well...
Yesterday I was in the prayer room for quite a while reading Colossians and crying because of constipated feelings but also just because God was speaking to me and everything He was saying was and is so true! Also one of the staff members from the other DTS going on had to go home so that was a sad goodbye, but a hopeful see you later.
Also Nceba, a guy I've really connected with at the base and have so much fun with; has left now after serving at the base for quite a while making amazing food and bringing daily joy. But it wasn't a goodbye so meow to that I'd say!
I've watched some ridiculously funny movies while I've been here. And they have a long term affect on the humor moving around, which has been quite entertaining yet confusing to many.
Life really feels good right now. I know I'm in the right Place with the right people and I feel and know I am blessed. I have a loving family back at home that supports me. Good friends as well! My best friend Milla is soon leaving Hawaii for her outreach in Bangladesh and I am so excited for her! It won't be easy, but it will be a great experience for sure. Waiting to hear a lot of testimonies on what God is doing there through her and her team. I love her so much. I pray that everyone could have a heart- to- heart friend like her in their life. Miss you Milla! Rakastan sua.
Also my sisters. Wow what beauties they are! How funny they are and how happy I am seeing what life looks like for them right now. Just facetimed my older sister today and texted with the younger one as well. Brightens up the day. Even when the day is already bright haha.
I just feel really thankful. Outreach coming up in two weeks and its super exciting! Can't wait to see what God has in store for us. I love my team! We are going to laugh a lot I tell ya!
Oh almost forgot! I was made the student co- leader in my outreach team which is really exciting and interesting. Curious to see what God will teach me through that experience. God is good! Always.
Something to pray about:
- Outreach finances, for me (I only need 500€ anymore! You can find my bank account details in the previous posts) and others.
- The outreach teams overall
- Our health
- Goodbyes, since that will be hard (I'm so bad at goodbyes)
I wish you could see the smile on my face right now and the joy in my heart! I feel so at home. I feel loved and known. I feel like I've grown so much already. When I eventually go back home for a while (I know I'm coming back to South Africa) I know it will be a challenge to put everything I've learned here into practise, but I definitely do not want to take steps back in that sense. I know I won't go home as the same person I was when I left. (Actually that's another good thing to pray about).
Thankyou for everyone who's been praying for me! It's so powerful and it means so much to me to have that support. I love you and appreciate you.
Enkosi! (= Thankyou)
Until next time! Enjoy the pictures:
Be blessed and have joy!
-Kat
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