Christmas Break

I have never been so excited for a break in my life. It has been an intense 3 months, but it has been a time of growth. I currently am in the city of Dallas on a four hour layover waiting for one more flight before I come home to the lovely Grand Rapids. I will be home for the duration of December 19 through January 7. When January 7 rolls around, I will be headed back out to Honolulu until I return home briefly for my brother’s wedding in mid June. 

From September 22 to December 17, I studied sixteen books. Those books were Jonah, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, Samuel, Psalms, Kings, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs, and Job. That is also the order in which we studied them. I have learned so many different things that I never would have thought of prior to doing SBS. 

Thank you again for all your support. Hopefully i will see all of you while I am home for these few weeks, but if I do not get the chance, Merry Christmas! Your prayers have meant the world to me and I know that I would not be able to get through this intense school without your prayers. 

Christmas break is on the horizon

My apologies on not updating lately! It's been a busy month. We have gone through Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 & 2 Samuel, 1 &2 Kings, and Psalms in the past five weeks. I have gained so much knowledge and truth in what is actually going on throughout the books. As of yesterday we started Proverbs, Song of Solomon, and Ecclesiastes. 

I am so excited to be home in less than two weeks! A break is very much needed for me and I am thrilled to be able to see you all again, if even only for three weeks. Pray for me as these last two weeks are still filled with an ample amount of homework as well as a test. Thank you all again for all your support. I would not be here without you! 

Wherever You Are, Be All There

"Wherever you are, be all there." - Jim Elliot

Stay focused, trust in God, and keep learning to believe in yourself and the value you have.

Recently a friend messaged me this, telling me it had been on her heart the past few days to share with me.  Upon reading the message, I broke down into tears. It may not look like much, but it was exactly what I needed to hear in that moment.

The past month of SBS has been tiring but also extremely beneficial. I have grown so much in knowledge with only the first five books of the Bible. Seeing how everything relates back to the Pentateuch is actually surprising. It is a lot more than I would have prior thought. So with my studies, I have been rather busy and I apologize if I have not responded to your messages or texts in the past little bit. It is not intentional. I have a deadline each weekend where I have to turn in that specific book that we are studying that week, and then usually the next day I have to do my first reading on the book we study the following week. My days off are generally filled with sleeping in my hammock, watching movies, and going to the beach. 

I have learned a lot in the first five weeks of SBS, and most recently I learned that "wherever you are, be all there." That may not make much sense to some people, but for me it means so much. Though I have been here studying, my mind has recently been everywhere else. Every week it seems as if a new distraction makes its way into my mind. Things in my past, things happening here on base, and even friends from back home. So when I received that message, it meant the world to me. God came in clutch. The work in this class is tough and requires a lot of focus and studying. I have been worn out. But I need to stay focused and trust in God especially through this because He brought me to it for a reason. Do not get me wrong, I do actually love this school. I love everything I am learning and seeing how it ties together. I have discovered that I am actually a Bible nerd now. It is fairly enjoyable. 

I ask for your prayers for my distractions to disappear, and also that I will have an ample amount of energy. It is unbelievable how much harder it is to get work done after sleeping all night and still not feeling rested. Thank you for all your prayers and encouragement! It means a lot!


Also I love receiving letters during this time, so if you would like to write letters, do not be afraid to do so! My address is

2707 Hipawai Place
Honolulu, HI 96822

CSBS

In case you have not heard, I made it safely to Hawaii on the 17th. I have been loving every second of being back in this beautiful place. The Lord has been confirming over and over that this is what I am supposed to do, and has been blessing me in little ways. The immeasurable joy that I cannot explain has me with this dorky grin on my face that I just can not wipe clean. Life is way too good.

I started class last Tuesday, September 22. By the end of the week, we had had thirty-four hours of class, and done about eight to ten hours of homework. It was a bit overwhelming to do all that in such a short amount of time, but it was good. From Tuesday to Saturday morning, the only thing I really did was sleep, go to class, do homework, and drink coffee. Such is life I suppose.

I have heard from my mother that many of you have been wondering what our study method is here in the Chronological School of Biblical studies. Well....it is a lot. 

We start with reading the book of the Bible that we are currently studying, and when we read it we have to either read it out loud or listen to an audio of it while reading along to it. Once read, we have to go back through and make a paragraph title to every single title in said book. The title cannot be longer than four words and the four words must be taken from the text of the paragraph. The title needs to give one a summary of the paragraph just by reading it. After doing those two things, we do horizontal charts. In this step, we have to separate the book into what we think the chapters should be. This is a step that takes a bit because we have to make sure that everything we put together fits well. Shortly after doing that step, we begin charts. Charts are split into three segments. On the left of the chart, we put observations into the list. In the middle of the chart, we insert in all the words we don't understand and what we have questions on. Which in some books happens to be a lot. On the right side, we put timeless truths and questions/answers. The timeless truths are things that could go as a proverb on a calendar. After we are done with that, we have to put a summary on the bottom of the chart explaining what it is we learned from the chart. We have several charts throughout each book, and it all depends on the size. Jonah had four charts. Every book is different.

So this is a little more knowledge on as to what I have been doing the past week of my life.
As you may have been able to see, my life is rather hectic lately with balancing school and friends, so I would greatly appreciate your prayers. Thank you so much for your support in all of this! 

Two Weeks.

One fortnight. Two weeks. Fourteen days. Three hundred and thirty six hours. Am I really this close to returning to the beautiful island of Oahu? These past six months have flown by for me. I have spent my time working at Cherry Valley Greenhouse, Russ', and for my parents on our farm.

In case you have been unaware of what my plan is for the following year, I plan to fly back to Honolulu on September 17 and participate in a school called the Chronological School of Biblical Studies (CSBS). No, it will not be a vacation as some may think. I will have little time to go down to the beach. I will learn about the context, culture, and history of each book of the Bible. It will be a time consuming school and I will be spending the majority if not all my time studying. The school will be nine months long, and there is an optional two month outreach following the completion of the CSBS.

You may wonder what weaseled into my mind to make me want to do something as crazy as this is. Why would I want to go study in-depth for nine months in Hawaii? When I arrived at DTS last September and met the students who were currently in the CSBS, I vowed to never participate in that school since I hated studying and could not imagine why one would willingly decide to set apart nine months of time for that dedication. God seemed to have another plan for me though. When I was in India, I was doing an ample amount of praying about what I should do after my completion of DTS in March. He had just started to give me a desire to do the CSBS, which I was quite nervous about. One evening I was praying and asked God to just give me a dream about what I was supposed to do. That night, I had a dream about heading back to Hawaii for a school and somehow I knew that it was CSBS. I woke up the following morning with a peace and I knew that this September I would be returning to YWAM Honolulu to continue my studies.

To all who have donated money-THANK YOU SO MUCH. I would not have this opportunity to go and learn without all of you. I am so incredibly appreciative of it. If you would still like to support me, I am still in need of at least $3000 for this school. Prayers are another big thing I will be needing for the duration of this school, seeing as it will be extremely challenging for me. Pray for the continued desire to learn more and for motivation to not get discouraged when it becomes hard and I am tired of studying. Also that I would have a great support system to encourage me and to press on as it talks about in Philippians 3:14. "I press on toward the goal to win the prize which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus."

I am immensely excited to be able to return back to the YWAM Honolulu base to continue my studies. To be able to truly know what the Bible is saying and not just what I take from it will be a gift and I cannot wait to increase in knowledge. Once again, thank you!

The Next Step

Since returning back home to Michigan, I have constantly been asked the classic question, "What is next?" Will you be going off to college in the fall, will you get a job and work, or will you be doing something else? I have been answering that question with a tentative answer up until recently. I found out officially on March 25 that I have been accepted to the Chronological School of Biblical Studies (CSBS).  This is a secondary school in YWAM. The CSBS is a nine month intensive course where students read and study every book of the Bible, starting in Genesis and ending in Revelation.

This September I will be returning to the place I call my second home: the lovely island of Oahu. I will be in Honolulu intensively studying the Bible for nine months. After the nine months is up, there is an optional outreach for students that I plan on attending. This is my next step before hopefully being able to staff the coming year. It brings me so much joy to finally be able to confidently announce this to everyone and share what my future plans are.

Here is a little more of an explanation as to what the school is all about. The CSBS (based on the inductive study method) teaches students about the context, culture, and history of each book of the Bible. After gaining an understanding of the historical context, students start to make observations and interpretations of the text based on the authors' original intent and the original reader's (and hearers') understanding. Students have around ten hours of lecture a week, which cover the historical and cultural background of the book being studied, as well as tackling difficult passages. These lectures are taught by a wide variety of Bible teachers, including Bible scholars, Old Testament archaeologists, New Testament historians, and leaders within YWAM - all of whom are passionate for seeing God's Word brought to the nations. The majority of this course is self study. Students typically spend forty (or more) hours per week individually studying the Scripture. Students also have the opportunity for field trips, community outreach, intercession, and worship as a way to enhance their nine months of study. The goal of the CSBS is to equip our students to study God's Word for  themselves and then help equip others to do the same. After the students complete nine months of intense study they have the opportunity to share with others the riches of God's Word. An optional eight to twelve week outreach is offered to all CSBS students who want to practice what they have learned. Most of our CSBS outreaches go to Asia or the South Pacific and focus on teaching the Bible and inductive Bible study skills to new believers, churches, pastors, and anyone else wanting to grow in their knowledge of the word. (Taken from ywamhonolulu.com)

There and Back Again

I am so thankful that God brought me to this time in my life. First things first. Austin and I arrived safely in New Delhi on Tuesday, December 23rd. Thankfully, the time adjustment was not a problem for either one of us. It was so nice to be able to finally join our team. The first full day in New Delhi was spent preparing for a Christmas party for that night. Our team helped cut up fruit and nuts for a salad and decorate the place. About half cut up fruits and half decorated the place. I helped cut up the all the different kinds of fruit; pomegranates, cashews, raisins, strawberries, papayas, and melon. The Christmas party was an ample amount of fun later that night. There was lots of singing and dancing and games involved, as well as a short message. Christmas in India is fairly different than Christmas back in the USA. Our leaders surprised us each with a box of presents from our parents. Mine was filled with some various gifts, but also about forty letters from people back home. Just saying, you guys are some of the most kind and caring people out there. Thank you so much. You all make me feel so incredibly loved. One thing that is big here in India is chai Tea. I myself am not a fan of tea, but this chai tea is some of the best out there. After opening presents we each had a cup of chai. We went to a Christmas party at church later that day. While in Delhi, we had a few days where we went and saw the historic sites. History is so interesting. We were also able to see the Taj Mahal! It really is amazing. The tiny detail that went into something so massive is stunning. No wonder it is one of the seven wonders of the world. My New Years Eve was spent on a thirty four hour train ride from New Delhi to Vijayawada. So basically from the Northern part of India to the Southern part. Seeing the country of India via train ride was definitely an interesting way to spend the New Year. I have been in India for a little over a week and I simply love it here. 

January 1-14 was spent in Vijayawada, India. While we were there, we had the opportunity to visit a few slums. It really spoke to me how much we actually had and how little everyone else had. And to see their joy just amazed me. A big thing that we did while we were in that location was that we went and visited a local temple. Along the way, we found a house that had bags and bags of hair on the roof. This was all the hair of the people who had shaved their heads for their "gods". There were people who were crawling up the mountain on their knees out of respect for their god. Keep in mind, it was quite a hike. To see everything that these people did for their gods is crazy in comparison to how little we do for Jesus. I keep thinking about how blessed I am to have been born into a Christian family. Being here also makes me really how lazy Christians really are. And everything they are doing is pointless! Their god doesn't even exist! Think how much Christians could do for Jesus is they had the same mindset-if they worshiped Jesus as much as the people here worship their god. If they gave up everything for Jesus. We could change the world and do so much in the name of Jesus. On one day, we were able to go to two different churches and worship. At both churches we performed a dance, a skit, sang some songs, and shared a testimony and sermon. I had the privilege to share some of my testimony during the second service. I shared about the loss of Luke/my car accident and how it affected me. God has moved so much in my life since then and I am so grateful for it. We were also able to take communion, which was interesting because I was able to see the differences between here and in Moline.

From January 15-28 our team was in Dharmapuri, India. A lot of crazy things happened while being there. One of the first days there, we went to a Hindu man's house. This man had a brain tumor that was removed, but he could not talk, walk, or hardly move. After a couple of hours of praying and worshiping, he started speaking and was able to walk around the room with the help of others. When he spoke, he said "Jesus, Jesus". It was incredible to see what God is able to do in just a few short hours! Besides just that, we went to a house to pray over a man. While we were there, a crowd gathered and we started to pray for various people in the crowd. One of which was an elderly lady. This lady came forward asking for prayer, and as soon as we started to pray over her, she started to manifest. The demon inside her was cast out and she collapsed on the ground. After our contact anointed her with the Holy Spirit, it was crazy to see how big of a change there was in her. The elderly lady looked so gentle and sweet. We truly serve an awesome God! Our team also went to a house where a man was in a coma for a month due to witchcraft. We spent at least four hours praying over this man. He did not have a radical change, but he did open his eyes and slightly move his arms. Even in little things, God is moving. Besides all that, we also briefly went to an Indian wedding in which we wore saris. We also did a lot a house visits in our time there. Our team also had the privilege to bless three different leprosy colonies by giving them rice, hard boiled eggs, and chicken. We were able to visit one of those colonies prior to that, and it was heartbreaking to see the condition some of the people were in. Being able to bless them with food was definitely something I will never forget. 

On the 28th, we left Dharmapuri and traveled to Chennai to sleep overnight before our flight the next morning. On the 29th, our team left India and headed to Sri Lanka. From January 30-February 6 we spent our time in Pussellawa. Even though we were only there for a week, we had an eventful time. When we stepped off the plane and walked to pick up our backpacks in the airport, there were some guests from YWAM Honolulu waiting for us. It was so nice to see people we knew that were not from our team. Our first day we had off due to all our traveling the day prior. At night we went to a restaurant and ate hamburgers. I cannot explain to you how good it was to finally have beef again. In India the cow is holy, so hamburgers are not common. When we started ministry we discovered that a lot of the places we would be going to involved a bit of a hike. Our first couple days we did a lot of house visits and a few open airs. One of the days we traveled to a church that was two hours away. One of my team members preached and we performed a skit and sang some songs. Afterwards, we prayed for people and one of my team members prayed for a woman who could not see very well out of one of her eyes. After praying, the woman was able to see! Praise God! We also did a house visit where one of my team members felt pain in her arm and asked if someone in the house had pain in their arm. As it turns out, one of the people did and we prayed for her, and she received healing in her arm. It was so cool! We traveled six hours in a van across the country of Sri Lanka headed to our second location, Trincomalee. While we were in Trincomalee, we did a lot of kids ministry. There were several days where our team would split in half and we would go to different preschools and work with the kids. We were in Trincomalee February 6-12. The morning of the 12th, we packed up and rode in the back of a truck for 2 and a half hours to our third location, Vavuniya. We were there from February 12-20. Our third location has involved manual work. Our team is working on a learning center. We sanded benches and tables and varnished them, painted, and did flooring. It was a nice change. On the days we did not do manual work, we would do ministry. This involved a lot of kids ministry, which was an ample amount of fun. On Sunday, our team split in half and went to two different churches. At the church service I went to, I was able to give my testimony. It is such a blessing to see people react to what we say. 

In my time on outreach, I read through the entire Bible and God has been speaking to me through it. One of the biggest things I have learned is that sometimes suffering is not bad. We should feel honored that the devil finds us worthy enough to attack. Suffering for God is an honor and something I used to complain about. Paul and the disciples would endure whipping and stoning, and would then praise God and thank Him that they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name. It is been such an amazing past two months and I thank you all so much for your prayers! I am once again back in Hawaii, and we have graduation tonight! These past six months have flown by and I have grown so much. I cannot believe that I will be headed back to the mitten in two days, but I am very excited to see all of you.