Hello, Dear Friends and Family!
Well, these past 2 months have been packed full and super, super busy, so I thought I would put the 2 months together, since I haven’t had time to write a newsletter until now. God has been MOVING like crazy in my heart, in the hearts of people I’ve been speaking to, and in the church in general. I have very high hopes for this new year, 2013. I think it is going to be a year of breakthrough. That seems very cliche’ but this year has been a year of both trials and new beginnings, and the only thing I can think of that can come out of that is breakthrough. It’s the draw back before the shot, like a sling-shot. I am soooo excited for what this year is going to bring! God is being very faithful to providing something for me to talk about every month for you all (whether it’s an enjoyable lesson or not for me. haha! :P) These past 2 months, the Lord has really been highlighting loving people unconditionally to me. I have had a really hard time with fear of rejection since 4th grade, due to bullying. Since then, I have not been able to truly love those around me, except for the ones whom had been tested and tried for multiple years, and I knew I could trust. These past 2 months (really since October) the Lord has really broken me free of the fear of rejection. I’m learning that it is okay to be rejected, Jesus was rejected HUGELY, but he still loved us anyways. He kept loving us. He didn’t just say, “Well, then, forget you. I’m not going to be friends with you because you hurt my feelings.” He not only “hung out with us”, he DIED for us. That is crazy. Just thought I’d give that little nugget for thought. :)
Everything is going really great for me, right now. The Lord is doing so much, my job is still great, and my family is doing relatively well, despite the crazy business (which is finally starting to slow down after this week). Thanksgiving was great, and our outreach was so amazing (more on that in a bit)! Christmas was delightful.
Everything is going really great for me, right now. The Lord is doing so much, my job is still great, and my family is doing relatively well, despite the crazy business (which is finally starting to slow down after this week). Thanksgiving was great, and our outreach was so amazing (more on that in a bit)! Christmas was delightful.
Ministry: As you all know, in November we were preparing for our Thanksgiving Outreach. OH boy. Seriously, it was so amazing. I felt the Lord so intensely through the people who helped us, went with us, and in Round Valley. That Reservation was so impacted by the Lord on November 2oth. We had multiple volunteers who helped us pack all 130 (yes, 130) boxes of food on our back patio, make fun gift baggies for kids, make bookmarks, put packages together, load the trailers with pies, salad, food boxes, and turkeys, etc the weekend before we left for Round Valley Indian Reservation. We had 27 people who went with us and eventually split us into 5 teams, going to 25 homes each. We touched so many lives in that short amount of time, getting to pray for each of them, and give them the gift of love, friendship, food, and JESUS. We have heard multiple testimonies coming out of that time that have brought us to tears in the wonder of what God is doing in this hidden valley in Mendocino County, CA. He sees the things that we don’t see, and He cares for even the seemingly insignificant. We were blown away by the provision of the Lord and the response we got. Thank you, to all those who were involved! You’re wonderful! In December, before Christmas, we also took some presents that Sanctuary Church in Concord donated to our main contacts in the valley, Julian and Lupe Medel to give to families that are in need. This was a fun time, and something that we will most likely do on a larger scale next year.
Upcoming: We will be going to Round Valley in February for a few days to just really spend some time with our friends that we’ve made there. We’ve been feeling the Lord pressing it on our hearts to do this for a while now, and we want to be able to pour some quality time into the new friends that we’ve made there, especially in the past year or so. We also are tentatively looking at having another BURN in Round Valley in August (more information to come soon). And, of course, as I’ve mentioned in all my newsletters, my DTS (Discipleship Training School)!! There have been some new developments on my DTS, and I am now going to be going in July! I’m going to be taking part in the Fire & Fragrance DTS which is like BURN 24/7 and YWAM put together in one DTS. We will be traveling all around Ireland during the Lecture phase (first 3 months) and doing local outreach in Ireland, along with the lectures. I will then be going abroad to 1 or 2 other countries (locations have yet to be determined) during the Outreach phase (last 3 months). I am going to start officially fund-raising at the end of January/beginning of February. While I am doing my DTS, which will be July 14th- January 17th, I would like to have support coming in monthly. Please pray and ask the Lord if he would like you to be one of those that will support me monthly financially while I am in Ireland, or even leading up to my DTS, as well. I need about $6000 by the first week of July. I am so excited, and I know that this is what the Lord wants me to do! Support letters will be sent out soon! I’d also like to say, that the newsletters will probably be slowing down while I’m support raising, but I’ll try to get them out as much as possible. I will be posting short updates on my blog “Velvetclimbingivy.blogspot.com”. If you have any questions, you can e-mail me at illuminatetheworld@hotmail.com!
Upcoming: We will be going to Round Valley in February for a few days to just really spend some time with our friends that we’ve made there. We’ve been feeling the Lord pressing it on our hearts to do this for a while now, and we want to be able to pour some quality time into the new friends that we’ve made there, especially in the past year or so. We also are tentatively looking at having another BURN in Round Valley in August (more information to come soon). And, of course, as I’ve mentioned in all my newsletters, my DTS (Discipleship Training School)!! There have been some new developments on my DTS, and I am now going to be going in July! I’m going to be taking part in the Fire & Fragrance DTS which is like BURN 24/7 and YWAM put together in one DTS. We will be traveling all around Ireland during the Lecture phase (first 3 months) and doing local outreach in Ireland, along with the lectures. I will then be going abroad to 1 or 2 other countries (locations have yet to be determined) during the Outreach phase (last 3 months). I am going to start officially fund-raising at the end of January/beginning of February. While I am doing my DTS, which will be July 14th- January 17th, I would like to have support coming in monthly. Please pray and ask the Lord if he would like you to be one of those that will support me monthly financially while I am in Ireland, or even leading up to my DTS, as well. I need about $6000 by the first week of July. I am so excited, and I know that this is what the Lord wants me to do! Support letters will be sent out soon! I’d also like to say, that the newsletters will probably be slowing down while I’m support raising, but I’ll try to get them out as much as possible. I will be posting short updates on my blog “Velvetclimbingivy.blogspot.com”. If you have any questions, you can e-mail me at illuminatetheworld@hotmail.com!
Love you guys
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