The wedding of Amy-Joy and Andy Scalas, December 9, 2010.
Amy-Joy is a close friend of mine from DTS.
I had the honor of being a bridesmaid!
The wedding was BEAUTIFUL. Amy-Joy (as you can see) looked absolutely radiant. It was so special for me to be a part of their wedding.
In Class...
In class last week, we had project presentations. In the very beginning of the school, we were split up into pairs and given a world religion to research. Myrriah and I were paired together and assigned Islam as our religion to present. We have been working on this project the entire lecture phase.
What is unique about this assignment is that we actually had to find a person (or people) to interview who are followers of that religion. The point is to get an "insider's" point of view to really understand the culture and religion. Depending on the people we interview, we then narrow down our project to present a specific "people-group" and develop a creative evangelism strategy to reach that people-group. Our presentations were to be 2 hours long and include interactive activities, visuals, etc.
So Myrriah and I interviewed 3 Muslim women for our project over the course of the lecture phase (the past 10 weeks). After gathering all our material, we decided to present on the people group "Muslim Women in Australia". The project went so well- we both really enjoyed learning, then teaching about the culture, religion, and ways to build relationships with Muslims. I found that God really developed a heart and passion in me to reach Muslims in Australia and around the world!
Dressing up the guys in hijabs (headscarves) as part of our presentation. They really did enjoy this! :)
Evangelism Stories...
Update on Genjiro
If you remember reading about my encounter with Genjiro from a few posts back (If you don't, it's worth scrolling down the page to read!), I wanted to let you know what ended up happening with him.
I got the opportunity to meet with him a third time. During the week, I was working on getting a Bible for him in Japanese. I saw a Japanese Bible on the Koorong (an Australian Christian Bible store) website, but it was $34.00, a little too expensive for me to buy (I was still raising outreach fees at this point). I prayed about it, and it was still such a strong burden on my heart to get this Bible for him. So I went to Koorong on Saturday morning, having plans to meet with him that afternoon (I figured God would pay me back somehow). I got to the store, and an employee led me over to the foreign language Bibles. Therein was a Japanese New Testament (not on the website) for only $11.00! It is small and travel-sized, perfect for Genjiro who is backpacking around Australia. I knew in my heart it was God's will for him to have this Bible, that God would reveal himself to him through it and change Genjiro's life forever. I was so excited to give it to him!
I went with a friend to meet with Genjiro that afternoon. He was INCREDIBLY touched to receive this gift- I told him it was a Christmas present :) He looked at the pages in adoration, excited to see it was in his own language. He was most touched by the fact that I cared about him enough to go out of my way to bless him. I had written a personal message to him in the front of the Bible, making it even more special for him. He told me he would read and study. I truly believe he will recognize Jesus as the way, the truth, and the life as he reads about His incredible love displayed on the cross. Please pray with me for Genjiro as he starts his journey to know God!
Divine Appointments
Last Monday, I had a random, but really cool encounter with a woman. I was walking back from Coles (a grocery store) when I saw a group of homeless, Aboriginal people sitting in a park along the way. I was listening to my ipod but felt compelled to try and initiate conversation. So I intentionally walked in the middle of where they were sitting, took out an earphone and said "Hello!" with a big smile on my face. A man who was sitting said hello back and asked if I was ready for Christmas. Delighted that he engaged me in conversation, we began talking.
I noticed there were two women sitting across from him, listening to music (they both had an earphone in their ear, sharing music). One of the women looked up at me and asked what I was listening to. We listened to each other's music and started making small talk. I sat down next to her in the grass, just listening to her, loving on her. She looked at me intently and asked, "Are you a Christian?" I said, "Yes! I am. How did you know?" She said she could tell by my voice, that there was something different about me. THEN, she told me that she just got saved yesterday at church! That she has been going to church these past few weeks and has felt God calling her back, away from the mess she has found herself in.
She asked me to please encourage her. I got to pray over her and God gave me word after word of encouragement and affirmation. It was amazing. She also asked me if I would write in her new Bible that she received from the church, so I got to write an encouraging message for her. We both marveled at the way God is sending people to encourage her in her faith (she told me that I was not the first random encounter that she had that day!).
What an amazing, amazing encounter! From just one decision to take out an earphone and say hello, a divine appointment took place. I love the way God works!
5 days until outreach...
Can you believe it?? I leave for Mexico City on Tuesday, December 28th. We have a lovely, 12 hour lay-over in Dubai, then fly to LA, then to Mexico City. Please pray for smooth, safe travels. We are all incredibly excited!
In the meantime...
Christmastime is here! The stockings are hung all around the base, decorations and lights have been setup for a few weeks now, and everyone is excited for an all-day Christmas celebration. We have a nice breakfast on Christmas morning, then do a base-wide "white-elephant" gift exchange. We all have our own stockings that have been getting filled up this week by fellow YWAMers. There will also be buses taking us to the beach (It's going to be around 98 degrees on Christmas day!). It sounds like a fun day planned.
I have certainly been missing my family this week, but God has been comforting me and giving me deeper understanding of the reason we celebrate Christmas. I've been seeking His face and experiencing His loving presence as He embraces me into His family. He is so good to me. He cares about every detail, every emotion, and takes care of me. What an amazing Father we have!
Merry Christmas!
Wishing all of you a wonderful Christmas holiday. Lots of blessings to all of you!
Love,
Stephanie
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