Lectures, Love, and Leeches

Update from last week (3/01-3/07):

Another eventful, fruitful week here on the Gold Coast!

This week, our lectures were on the "Father heart of God." We had an amazing speaker, Rob Hencer, who came and spoke to us throughout the week. He had a very unique way of conveying the heart of God- through the use of stories. Most of his stories were modern-day Bible stories, told with incredible detail, like he was reading a book to us. He kept us captivated throughout each lecture. The lectures were on God's great love and relentless pursuit of us. Some heart revelations of this week:

• Never confuse the perception of yourself with the truth that you are desired and wanted by God.
• We cannot disqualify ourselves from his pursuit- he won't stop or give up. He is committed to finding us.
• God does not withdraw from us when we sin, he immediately engages us and pursues us. Evidence of this in the Bible: When Adam and Eve hid in the garden, the very next line is that God searched for them. He searched for them in the midst of their hiding and shame, not after they repented.
• Parables that illustrate the heart of God and his relentless pursuit of us:

The Lost Sheep: leaves the 99 to search for the 1 lost sheep.

Prodigal Son: The father's mind was focused on finding his son.

*These stories are about the search. You don't search for something that's not valuable.

• God's heart is incredibly generous. He gives us far more than we deserve.
• The only thing God cares about is obtaining the hearts of his people. We are always on his mind.
• The phrase Jesus speaks the most: Do not be afraid. There is no need to ever be afraid to come to the Father.

I realized this week the depths of how much God is pursuing me. I often feel as though it is up to me to search for God... like I need to stay focused or I'll lose him, as funny as that sounds. God really spoke to my heart the fact that he is in constant pursuit of me- and there is nothing I can do that will change that. It is not that we loved God, but He loved us. He is the initiator. He is love! What a beautiful revelation.

Over the weekend, I helped lead a kid's camp in the countryside of the Gold Coast (about an hour away). There were 6 of us YWAMers and 3 YWAM staff members who worked as leaders for a group of 46 kids, ages 10-13. We had our hands full! It was only one night, but it felt like a week. We stayed at a camp in the midst of a rainforest, complete with all kinds of bugs, plants, and even leeches that we literally had to pick off of children (lovely!). Aside from the leeches, we did a lot of fun games and activities and got to share Jesus in a variety of ways. On Saturday night, we did a "talk show" where we told our testimonies, we also had a time for the kids to ask any questions about God, a prayer time, worship time, and a church service on Sunday morning. It ended up being a very fruitful time. We were able to pray with many of the kids. I prayed with one girl, Jemaika, who asked me if God was real, could he please show her. I encouraged her, told her the gospel and how much God loves her, then prayed with her that God would reveal himself to her before she went to bed that night. The next morning, I asked her about her night, and she told me that she could feel God for the first time and that she was ready to let Jesus in her heart. So we prayed together for her salvation! It was a very exciting moment to be apart of. I later found out that Leah, a fellow YWAMer in my DTS, led a girl to the Lord as well. Praise God!!

Please take a moment to pray for these kids- that God will nurture the seeds that were planted, and for Jemaika and Ulani, the girls that accepted Christ this weekend- for their lives with Jesus ahead of them.

This week is on the Character and Nature of God. I know I was late getting this past week out to you- we are so busy, it is difficult to find time to update. I will try and post the details of this week tomorrow! I have so many exciting things to tell you about! :)

The van ride to camp

Jemaika and Hannah

Makaylah and I

Jemaika and I