Hey everyone!
I've had a really amazing week :)
Our speaker for the week was Luba Iliyn, the wife of the YWAM North American director. She spent the week talking about relationships between people and what they should look like.
We covered:
Relationships between a husband and wife
Between a girlfriend and boyfriend
and
Between parents and children (from both sides)
The lectures were fascinating :)
Then today, for community outreach we practiced random acts of kindness and shoveled people's driveways for free since the town recieved about six inches of snow yesterday and today.
Anyway, that's what I've been up to :)
Hope you all are well.
Josiah
Praises:
My chapel talk this morning went well :)
We have snow again!
Prayers:
For our internet which is still horrid
We're sending a team out soon to go hunting, because the base is almost out of frozen meat, so you can pray for their success
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Cross Walk
On Thursday, for community outreach time we went for a prayer walk carrying an eight foot cross made out of four-by-fours.
Sounds extreme doesn't it? We thought so! Our team was pretty freaked out when they told us what we'd be doing. I was pretty sure it was going to be the scariest thing I'd ever done, so I volunteered to carry it first.
However, as we were praying in a group before setting out, God reminded me of a word that He had given me through another student a few days before. He had said "You have boldness inside you, but you need to BE bold!" I felt like I could do it.
It turned out to be amazing! We all took turns carrying the cross and the bearer would walk about 25 feet ahead of the rest of the group and listen for directions from the Holy Spirit. The rest of the group followed and prayed for the one bearing the cross and for the buildings we passed by. We covered most of the downtown area in the two hours we had.
It was an amazing mix of feelings to literally "take up my cross and follow Jesus." I was scared, excited, happy, and very very humbled. But that challenge of stepping out in faith really boosted my confidence in God's faithfullness. We obeyed and stepped way out of our comfort zone and He totally came and met us.
I'm proud of the bruise on my shoulder now, and I'd gladly do the crosswalk again!
Have a great weekend everyone, and God bless!
Josiah
Sounds extreme doesn't it? We thought so! Our team was pretty freaked out when they told us what we'd be doing. I was pretty sure it was going to be the scariest thing I'd ever done, so I volunteered to carry it first.
However, as we were praying in a group before setting out, God reminded me of a word that He had given me through another student a few days before. He had said "You have boldness inside you, but you need to BE bold!" I felt like I could do it.
It turned out to be amazing! We all took turns carrying the cross and the bearer would walk about 25 feet ahead of the rest of the group and listen for directions from the Holy Spirit. The rest of the group followed and prayed for the one bearing the cross and for the buildings we passed by. We covered most of the downtown area in the two hours we had.
It was an amazing mix of feelings to literally "take up my cross and follow Jesus." I was scared, excited, happy, and very very humbled. But that challenge of stepping out in faith really boosted my confidence in God's faithfullness. We obeyed and stepped way out of our comfort zone and He totally came and met us.
I'm proud of the bruise on my shoulder now, and I'd gladly do the crosswalk again!
Have a great weekend everyone, and God bless!
Josiah
Monday, January 19, 2009
Day to Day Life
I realized that I haven't given an overview of what we do every day, so here's my schedule from today as a quick example :)
7:00am - Breakfast - Pancakes and bacon
7:30am - Quiet time for the students,
My team was on meal cleanup
today though so I was doing dishes
8:00am - Worship
9:00am - Intercession - This is really cool,
Us students get an hour to pray
over each other and listen for what
God puts on our hearts.
10:00am - Lecture
Our lecture today was on the renewing
of our minds by spending time in the
Word and by worshipping
12:30pm - Lunch - Chicken casserole
1:00pm - Lunch cleanup
1:30pm - Lecture
3:00pm - Work Duties
I'm on the maintainence crew, so we cleaned.
I was assigned the bathrooms.
5:00pm - Short break
5:30pm - Dinner - Pasta Salad and berries and ice cream
6:00pm - Dinner cleanup
6:45pm - Free Time
10:00pm - Curfew
We have work duties three days a week and classes or community outreach the other two days (T/Th).
My team does meal cleanup every Monday and then we're off for the rest of the week :)
The weekends are totally free except for mandatory service at a local church.
anyway, hopefully that gives you all a better idea of what I'm up to :)
Josiah
Praises:
Great time of worship and intercession today
Our team is apparently coming together better than any so far!
Prayers:
One of our team members, Crystal has been pretty ill today, so pray that she recovers quickly
7:00am - Breakfast - Pancakes and bacon
7:30am - Quiet time for the students,
My team was on meal cleanup
today though so I was doing dishes
8:00am - Worship
9:00am - Intercession - This is really cool,
Us students get an hour to pray
over each other and listen for what
God puts on our hearts.
10:00am - Lecture
Our lecture today was on the renewing
of our minds by spending time in the
Word and by worshipping
12:30pm - Lunch - Chicken casserole
1:00pm - Lunch cleanup
1:30pm - Lecture
3:00pm - Work Duties
I'm on the maintainence crew, so we cleaned.
I was assigned the bathrooms.
5:00pm - Short break
5:30pm - Dinner - Pasta Salad and berries and ice cream
6:00pm - Dinner cleanup
6:45pm - Free Time
10:00pm - Curfew
We have work duties three days a week and classes or community outreach the other two days (T/Th).
My team does meal cleanup every Monday and then we're off for the rest of the week :)
The weekends are totally free except for mandatory service at a local church.
anyway, hopefully that gives you all a better idea of what I'm up to :)
Josiah
Praises:
Great time of worship and intercession today
Our team is apparently coming together better than any so far!
Prayers:
One of our team members, Crystal has been pretty ill today, so pray that she recovers quickly
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Short tidbits
Hey, I'm about to go to bed, but I've got time to share a few quick tidbits.
Classes are still going great! We're wrestling with some pretty trippy stuff, like Authority and Dominion, and also some really deep stuff, like the fruits, pains, and causes of pain of the heart.
Life is good, we're all getting alone and really growing together as a close-knit team. The food is excellent and I have clean clothes! We went to the laundromat as a group and hung out there for a couple hours while we did our laundry. We had time to play a quick round of Settlers of Catan, in which I pulled off an unexpected win :)
God's really been pulling us and growing us and drawing us to step out in faith.
I've got everyone's thank you letter stamped and addressed, but I haven't had the chance to run down to the post office yet. So you'll hopefully be getting those shortly. I'll probably have time to take a trip down there this weekend :) For now though, our schedules are packed from breakfast through bedtime :) Which is amazing though. We're enjoying worship. spending significant time in intercession and prayer, communing and fellowshipping together and growing in God!
alright everyone, I've got to get some sleep!
God bless!
Josiah
Praises:
I really enjoyed the teaching on forgiveness today, I really feel like I'm learning a lot here!
Clean Clothes!
The weather's warmed up!
This was in response to prayers from our base leaders for the interior of Alaska which was stuck at -60ish
Prayers:
Safety for us, since the rain makes the roads treacherous
Continued good fellowship in our group
Classes are still going great! We're wrestling with some pretty trippy stuff, like Authority and Dominion, and also some really deep stuff, like the fruits, pains, and causes of pain of the heart.
Life is good, we're all getting alone and really growing together as a close-knit team. The food is excellent and I have clean clothes! We went to the laundromat as a group and hung out there for a couple hours while we did our laundry. We had time to play a quick round of Settlers of Catan, in which I pulled off an unexpected win :)
God's really been pulling us and growing us and drawing us to step out in faith.
I've got everyone's thank you letter stamped and addressed, but I haven't had the chance to run down to the post office yet. So you'll hopefully be getting those shortly. I'll probably have time to take a trip down there this weekend :) For now though, our schedules are packed from breakfast through bedtime :) Which is amazing though. We're enjoying worship. spending significant time in intercession and prayer, communing and fellowshipping together and growing in God!
alright everyone, I've got to get some sleep!
God bless!
Josiah
Praises:
I really enjoyed the teaching on forgiveness today, I really feel like I'm learning a lot here!
Clean Clothes!
The weather's warmed up!
This was in response to prayers from our base leaders for the interior of Alaska which was stuck at -60ish
Prayers:
Safety for us, since the rain makes the roads treacherous
Continued good fellowship in our group
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
... With a bang!
Today started the school in earnest. I drew work duties for Mondays, so I helped out with the meal cleanups all day which wasn't too bad. It was only a few more dishes than I'd have to wash at home :)
After breakfast and quiet time we had an hour of worship, then an hour of free time before classes commenced. We began with a study of the Tower of Babel (did you know that God was NOT angry at Babel? read the passage!) and saw how that applied to God's vision for humanity (that they would fill the earth) and how that applied to missions.
After lunch and cleanup, we had an interactive teaching on adoration and revelation, then we did an in-depth bible study on the book of Philemon, and how it represents the gospel of Jesus Christ.
I finished the day off with a delicious dinner and a thoroughly satisfying victory at Settlers of Catan.
I'm really excited about the days to come and what God's going to bring us next!
I'm off to bed!
Josiah
Praises:
Excellent first day of classes.
We really connected with God and each other during worship
Prayers:
That our fellowship would continue to be good
That the internet would improve :)
After breakfast and quiet time we had an hour of worship, then an hour of free time before classes commenced. We began with a study of the Tower of Babel (did you know that God was NOT angry at Babel? read the passage!) and saw how that applied to God's vision for humanity (that they would fill the earth) and how that applied to missions.
After lunch and cleanup, we had an interactive teaching on adoration and revelation, then we did an in-depth bible study on the book of Philemon, and how it represents the gospel of Jesus Christ.
I finished the day off with a delicious dinner and a thoroughly satisfying victory at Settlers of Catan.
I'm really excited about the days to come and what God's going to bring us next!
I'm off to bed!
Josiah
Praises:
Excellent first day of classes.
We really connected with God and each other during worship
Prayers:
That our fellowship would continue to be good
That the internet would improve :)
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Gettin Started
Hey everyone!
The past couple days our team spent fasting from electronic devices in order to build relationships amongst ourselves. We spent the time at a local church, helping to paint part of the inside of the church as well as enjoying get-to-know-each-other games and some awesome snow football. We also enjoyed some amazing worship and a time of sharing of testimonies. We've really begun to draw together as a team and as a group, overcoming our inhibitions and boundaries and we've started to trust each other. We've got Sunday off and we start in on classes Monday morning!
I'm excited for what's gonna come next and I'm feeling a lot of peace that this is exactly where I'm supposed to be for this season.
Josiah
Praises:
Amazing week so far
Got to have a long chat with Jerry
Prayers:
That our internet would start working better so I can communicate with you all
The past couple days our team spent fasting from electronic devices in order to build relationships amongst ourselves. We spent the time at a local church, helping to paint part of the inside of the church as well as enjoying get-to-know-each-other games and some awesome snow football. We also enjoyed some amazing worship and a time of sharing of testimonies. We've really begun to draw together as a team and as a group, overcoming our inhibitions and boundaries and we've started to trust each other. We've got Sunday off and we start in on classes Monday morning!
I'm excited for what's gonna come next and I'm feeling a lot of peace that this is exactly where I'm supposed to be for this season.
Josiah
Praises:
Amazing week so far
Got to have a long chat with Jerry
Prayers:
That our internet would start working better so I can communicate with you all
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
I'm here!
I'm finally here! Three flights, four airports (the last one smaller than my house) and one van ride across a frozen lake and I'm finally here.
I'm all unpacked and about to fall asleep for the first time in what will be my house for the next three months. I'm really looking forward to what God has for me during this time!
There's four other students going through the school with me: Chad, a wiry Canadian of nineteen, Lissy, a 21 year-old german girl who's training to become a nurse, Maxia, a lady from Bolivia, and Crystal, a college student from the U.S.
Our orientation over, we're starting bright and early tomorrow with a "surprise" trip, probably aimed at team building :)
Anyway, God bless and I'll write again soon!
Praises:
Safe travel
Dedicated staff
Devoted fellow students
Prayers:
For the lecture phase to go smoothly
For the temperature to increase a little
(it's a balmy -1F out right now)
I'm all unpacked and about to fall asleep for the first time in what will be my house for the next three months. I'm really looking forward to what God has for me during this time!
There's four other students going through the school with me: Chad, a wiry Canadian of nineteen, Lissy, a 21 year-old german girl who's training to become a nurse, Maxia, a lady from Bolivia, and Crystal, a college student from the U.S.
Our orientation over, we're starting bright and early tomorrow with a "surprise" trip, probably aimed at team building :)
Anyway, God bless and I'll write again soon!
Praises:
Safe travel
Dedicated staff
Devoted fellow students
Prayers:
For the lecture phase to go smoothly
For the temperature to increase a little
(it's a balmy -1F out right now)
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
About to leave
Hey Everyone!
I'm about to leave and things are getting pretty hectic as we desperately try to cram everything into my suitcase (Thank goodness for my mom's packing skills) and print out my itinerary and just generally get stuff moving! I leave in less than an hour for the airport and my flight leaves in just four hours.
I'm praying for safe travel! I'll post again after I land.
God bless and thank you everyone!
Josiah
I'm about to leave and things are getting pretty hectic as we desperately try to cram everything into my suitcase (Thank goodness for my mom's packing skills) and print out my itinerary and just generally get stuff moving! I leave in less than an hour for the airport and my flight leaves in just four hours.
I'm praying for safe travel! I'll post again after I land.
God bless and thank you everyone!
Josiah
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