The Lecture Phase is coming to an end...

Hey everyone! I apologize that I haven't been as good at keeping you updated with what's going on. For some reason after The Go Conference at the end of October, things have been so crazy! Our schedule has been pretty jam packed.

I left off on November 10th, so let me pick up at the beginning of the next week, on November 13th. Our speaker that week was a man named Fred Allen who is local, from Salem. He has actually never been a part of YWAM, but has spoken at a ton of DTSes. His lecture is always incredibly Biblical, but he's also really charasmatic. He spoke on "The Word Rightly Divided", which was basically just understanding the power of the Bible and how to better apply the Word to our lives.

The next week was Thanksgiving Week, so we only had a 3 day lecture. Our speaker was Dean Sherman, who is one of YWAM's most famous speakers and authors. It was amazing to have him again! He spoke on "Spiritual Warfare", and I think it was one of the most powerful weeks we've had thus far. I learned so much, and Dean's teaching always oozes Scripture... which I love. That week, we also had a DTS from a base in Washington here, as well as a school with another organization called Mandate. Our classroom which normally has about 25 people was filled with at least 75 I think! It was crazy, and I definitely liked the smaller classes better. :) But it was really good to meet new people, and to hear about the other DTS and what has been happening with them. Also during this time, we were reading the book Humility by Andrew Murray. It's a very simple book, but really powerful and convicting at the same time. You should check it out!

So, we had a short week that week as Thanksgiving Break started on Wednesday at noon. A lot of my classmates went home for Thanksgiving, but Younsoo and I stayed behind. We had a great time bonding and getting to know each other better, and Mike was also here for most of the break. Being away from a lot of people, though, really made me miss them! It's so awesome how quickly I have bonded to the people here, and how easily it is to miss them even if it's just a couple of days. It was also fun to have Thanksgiving dinner here on base... it was very international! There was a ton of Asian food, Mexican food, Italian food... everything! :)

The next week, November 27th, was a teaching on Biblical Worldview. Our speaker was Colleen Millstein, who is the director of a YWAM base in Switzerland, but she's originally from South Africa. Colleen was our first woman speaker! Yeah! This whole week I was thinking about my mom and my sister, Leslie, because they would have loved it. Colleen really challenged us with questions such as: "What is a human? What is reality to you?" etc etc. These are questions that I notoriously dislike, because it can evoke a lot of arguments (yes, the abortion can was definitely opened), but it was awesome to be challenged to really think and discuss things. God taught me a lot about how to "love Him with my mind"... that phrase is often tossed around here, and it really feels like almost a new concept to me. But, it was really, really good. Colleen made us see that often times we don't live out what we say we believe. It was definitely a convicting time. Also this week I read the book Searching For God Knows What by Donald Miller. It was a pretty good book, if you ever feel like checking it out, you should definitely read Chapter 5!

So, that brings us to this week. Fred Allen is speaking again, and the topic is "Holy Spirit". Class has been a little different this week, because we've been doing a more discussion format and really digging into what the Bible says about the Holy Spirit. I feel so clueless and like I've completely neglected the Holy Spirit! Sadly, I have never really taken the time to see what the Bible says about Him, so I'm loving this week for sure.

Our team has also been doing a lot of preparation for our outreach to Thailand. This week, we learned one drama that we're going to be doing to the song "Arise, My Love". Also, the Galileans are going to be teaching us a couple of dramas to do in Thailand. All of us have been assigned different ministry roles while we are there, too. Mike, Darcey, and Ian will be doing ministry development which is basically coordinating our ministry over there... Rachel will be in charge of food... Younsoo will be in charge of our worship & prayer times... and I will be doing Misc/Admin jobs and also will be in charge of a team journal... everyone also has secondary jobs to cover in case someone is sick. It's becoming even more real that we are really going to Thailand. It is so exciting! Please be praying for Rachel, as she needs to raise all of her outreach money. She is probably going to have to go on a different plane, so just be in prayer for her during this time.

Our team has had a lot going on in the past few weeks. Ally was recently in a car accident, which worsened her previous back injuries from a car accident she had a few months ago. Her doctors just advised for her to not go on outreach, so sadly, she won't be going. She also hasn't been living on base for a few weeks. Just be praying for her health and what exactly God wants her to be doing right now. Please be praying for team unity and our outreach coordination, too.

I have class in just a few minutes, so I really need to go. Thank you again so much for all of your love and support. I am so thankful for you!