Curry, Hospitality, and Rain

So much has happened since we've gotten to India. We first piled into 5 vehicles from the airport to our hotel for a 1 1/2 hour drive. We showed up at our hotel early Wednesday morning to find our resort to be a little less than a 5 star American resort...there was sarcasm in that statment. LakeView Resort soon became our place of rest and we found we were completely blessed to stay there. For India it is a beautiful, relaxing, luxurious hotel. I have to admit that our view was GORGEOUS! It's not quite what you would usually think of but it just made the stay all the more peaceful. The first couple days of our stay we slept and tried to adapt to the Indian time zone. Jet lag can really mess with you. Sometime around the 3rd day I got pretty sick. I think it was a combination of my stomach not handling the change of diet and the mold growing everywhere from monsoon season. There was a point where I was truly sick as well. Our school has gone through a lot of bugs and illness since we've been here but I think it's an attack that we can pray over and let God's victory take place.

The Monday after we got here the Celebrate Asia workshop started, as did our time with the little kids. Throughout the workshop our school took turns teaching the kids and keeping them occupied for their parents. It was such a blessing for us to bless these influencial missionaries by letting them take part of the conference. We also got to sit in on some of the sessions and God was definitely moving in obvious ways. We had the chance to pray for those being persecuted for their faith. I feel so blessed to have the chance to meet those who have risked everything their whole lives to just live for their God. I wish I could describe every detail from this past week on here but it is just too much to write for now. We were so blessed by the little children as well and it was hard to say bye to most of them.

Saturday was the last day of the conference and then Sunday we moved from the hotel to the YWAM base here in Lonavala. We've spent the last days here together before the teams part our ways. It's been so encouraging to see all of us grow so much through God unifying us and moving so much. Tonight we had worship as a whole school for the last time. It was so good. We are all expecting God to move so much in the next few weeks. I know I am going to miss my friends that are going north but I am so excited to meet with them again in Denver to share stories. A new adventure is definitely on it's way. We leave tomorrow around 2 P.M. here and have a train ride that lasts somewhere between 9 and 18 hours. Pray for us!haha

So here I go. I asked God to send me, and that's what He's doing. Southern India is my first stop in nations He has placed on my heart.

Prayer Requests:

safety.
focus.
rest.
no more homesickness.
unity.
radical changes in our group.
calmness.
open doors for ministry.

love you guys!

relationships, prayer, and dip

This week is relationship week. Our school director, John Murphy, taught us this week on relationships. I've learned so much and it is so applicable in my life. I truly want to be better in the relationship area in my life. From friends and family to my future husband, I want to be the best that I can be in my relationships. My relationship with God seems to grow better and better each week and it's such a good feeling.

We have the 24/5 prayer room this week! It's so awesome. Some one is in the prayer room praying every hour throughout the day. In the prayer room there are 5 other rooms sectioned off with different topics. The first has communion, the second worship (through art, dance, singing, just however you physically worship God the most), the third is prayer for the world, the fourth is a prayer closet to just sit and pray the word, and the fifth is the "intimate cafe" where there is tea and coffee and a place to relax with God. The whole hour is so impactful and powerful!

Tonight we're going to a friends house for a dip party! He's just going to have a whole bunch of dips and chips and it will be a good time :-)

I will post some more pictures and updates later this weekend hopefully!

God bless

p.s. please keep my school and I in your prayers financially and mentally because we are all tired. it's a good tired though because we are all learning so much. thanks!

just a short update:-)

I just wanted to update you guys on what's going on this week.
Jeff Pratt (not the jeff pratt we know by any means!) is teaching us about the Father Heart of God. Needless to say, this is an intense week. This is supposedly the most intense week we'll have and it's proving to be true. We've had to answer a lot of questions about ourselves and how we view God...I have a lot to learn about the heart of God and how He sees us. It's kind of exciting to see how much there is to know about God...and know there's even so much more to learn!

Everything else is going good too. Some friends and I tye dyed shirts on saturday so we had tye dye tuesday today:-) I didn't have my camera with me today so I don't have any pictures but I'll post some of us making our shirts on saturday later.

Please pray that I don't get stressed this week. I have a lot of work to get done before next week and lots of work duties this weekend. I know I'll get my work done and everything, it's just hard not to stress about it.

Thanks for the prayers! Love ya'll.

girls night

Meg and I
Candice and I
Sarah C and I
Sarah C and Krista
Casey and I

Saturday night the girls in School of Biblical Foundations gave us a wonderful girls' night. They served us the whole time. First they introduced themselves as our "big sisters" which was really sweet. My big sister is Carmen:-) Then they washed our feet! I believe it was one of the sweetest acts anyone has done for me. And then we all had ice cream :-) It was just a wonderful night. I am so blessed to be here.

DTS Girls

Carmen washing Jillian's feet
Jillian, Carmen, and I
Sarah V. and I

Classes and everything that goes with it

All of our lectures have been great. I've learned so much. Last week we learned about growing in Christ. With that we learned that we have to choose how our character turns out. We have to take care of our attitude and behavior before our character can benefit. Our first week of lectures was very interactive and a great time.

Today started our 2nd week of lectures! Blake Mattocks is teaching us about God's character. I can't believe how much I've learned in just this first day. I believe God has a lot in store for me this week. I will update you more on what we're learning in the next few days!

I am currently sitting on my bed with a ball and chain around my ankle. It sounds funny and can get annoying but it is part of our lesson for this week. Blake is going to explain it to us on Wednesday so I'll update you on that later too. :-)

Keep praying for me in my lectures; that I can soak in everything God wants me to, stay focused, and not procrastinate on my homework!

YWAM Denver

before we left our camping trip in the mountains
small group: Paola, Brittany, and I
Pao and I
Britt, LeAnna, and Megan
snow fight in June?!

It's my second week in YWAM. I've definitely been stretched out of my comfort zone and spiritually growing so much. Our first weekend here we went camping in the Rockies! It was so much fun (pictures above). We also went white water rafting, which was wonderful in itself. Colorado is a truly beautiful place. God's creation is breath-taking and I'm so thankful I get to experience it while I'm here learning.
Thank you so much for all your prayers.

God bless.