May

No worries to all of you! I am still here! 

It's been quite some time since I have posted an update and I apologize about that. Life has been hectic lately.  I have six weeks left of this school, which blows my mind. It's hard to believe I've already done eight months so far. I have twelve books left to study after this week. 

Last week we studied the book of Romans. By the way, in case you were not aware, the book of Romans is filled with a lot of theology that does not make sense.  I entered with some questions about things like predestination, but instead of answers I have only discovered more questions. There's so many new things I want to research about, but currently I lack the time. 

This week we are studying the books of Ephesians, Colossians, and 1 Timothy. It is pretty packed, but I am fairly excited for all that these books hold. 

One thing I have discovered is that Paul is one of the most hardcore men I have ever read about. He was beaten, put into prison countless times, and was practically stoned to death. Yet that did not stop him from getting right back up and out there and preaching the good news of Jesus Christ. I have found him to be inspiring. If we would be like Paul and live out the faith that God calls us to, can you even imagine what kind of impact we would be making on this world? So why don't we stop with our needless worries of what people will think of us and let go of whatever is holding us back, and simply just say yes. Let God use you for a bigger purpose, cause He's not going to let you down.

I have also learned lately that God is just. He is not always fair. And that  was a hard thing for me to wrap my mind around. How could God not be fair? Then I had to think about all those times something happened that I was not a fan and I said "That's not fair" and then someone would say "Well, life is not fair". God is pretty cool. I love Him and I wouldn't trust anyone else with my future. That does not mean that He is fair though. Jesus dying on the cross wasn't fair because we should have died. Our father is a good good father. And He is a just one as well. He's not going to let people get away with things so that it's fair. It's something to wrestle with, that is for sure.

So in these next six weeks we are studying these books in this order: Philemon, Titus, 1 Peter, 2 Timothy, Hebrews, John, 2 Peter, Jude, 1, 2, 3 John, and then ending with Revelation. There's still a lot of work that I have, but the end is near. And I cannot even explain how excited I am to come home to the beautiful city of Grand Rapids six weeks from today! 

Prayer Requests:

• Lately,  I have been hitting my wall. I have been in this school for eight months already, and the level of motivation and energy to keep pursuing that I have had is starting to dissipate. 

• Secondly, I come home for my brother's wedding on the 15th of June and am home until the 19th. Safe travels for that would be amazing. Also ya'll should shoot up a prayer for my brother and his fiancée cause they are precious and I am sure they are stressed out. Nate has a super important test that decides where he is placed for residency, and if you know my brother, he's studying his life away right now. He takes this test June 14, which is four short days before he gets married. So you can bet that he's probably stressed out about it. Also, my brother Zach flies in on the 14th and he's pretty cool too. Shoot up prayers for him and his ministry in Guatemala as well as for safe travels for him to return home for the wedding. 

• Third, I recently have discovered that my heart has been breaking for all these people around me. I cannot do anything to make their situations better, and as a result my heart breaks and I am filled up with all this emotion that I do not know how to handle. To top that off, I found out today that a person that I went to high school with for a year, passed away in a car accident. I did not know him very well, but I am hurting so much right now from everyone's hurt and prayers would be greatly appreciated.

Spring Break - January quarter

Today is my second day of spring break. Let me tell you, it feels pretty good to have completed 6 months of this school, and to only have 3 months left. This past quarter has been one for the books. I had a little more free time this quarter compared to the first quarter, and because of that I was able to get to know the DTS students. They are a whole bunch of crazy people whom I love dearly. They leave tomorrow and Monday to head out to the Philippines and Cambodia/Japan on outreach. I am so excited to see how they grow and learn from stepping out in faith with the Lord. Here are some photos from this past quarter and the adventures I have been a part of.

This is from a hike on the island called Crouching Lion.

A group of us went out and celebrated Valentines Day.

This is a few of us after the Easter dinner celebration our base had.

One morning I decided to get up at 4am and go hike Koko head which happened to be 1,000 steps up a side of a mountain.

This are my close friends Alex (left) and Ashley (middle) when we hiked Lanikai Pillboxes Trail.

Our base went and volunteered at a prayer rally for Franklin Graham a month ago and it was such a cool experience.

Every quarter our base has an Ohana night which is filled with competition of some sort. This quarter they did four different teams competing with games such as balancing a pop can on it's edge, putting Oreos on our foreheads and trying to get them into our mouths without the use of our hands, and taking an empty pop can across the room and back while balancing it on a spaghetti noodle that was held by two people's mouths. It was so much fun. This here is a photo of the winning team which also happens to be my team.

Here is my classmate Ashley and I sitting in hammocks. Sometimes we get sick of studying in the classroom all the time so every so often we take our studies outside and hang out in hammocks.

Hillsong United came to Oahu so a group of us decided to go and see them. It was incredible.

Often when I study this is what my desk looks like.

Squad coming at you hard. 

This was during the week of studying Daniel. 

When we want to study outside but not in hammocks, this is often another location of ours.

Every Wednesday night we have a worship night. This was my outreach leader Tanner's last night leading worship. 

These past three months have been incredible. We have studied so many books (22 to be exact). We've just recently gotten into the New Testament and have studied Mark and Matthew. The third quarter will be entirely New Testament, so I am fairly excited about that. Spring Break will last until April 10 which is wonderful because I have been in need of a break. I am continually thankful for all your letters, donations, prayers, etc. It is so encouraging to hear that you are praying for me because it reminds me that there are people back home supporting me. I cannot thank you enough for that. 

Currently my prayer requests would be that my sickness would go away. It is just a cough so it isn't much, but it is still a bit annoying to have. Also, finances are always a good thing to pray for and I would greatly appreciate that. I still have to pay for most of the third quarter and I am trusting God that it will come in. Blessings to all of you! Thank you once again.

February

This past month has been a crazy eventful time. For those of you who do not know, my school is now at two students rather than four. My classmate Dave found out in the second week of February that his mother was having some health issues. Things started to take a turn for the worst and he flew home to Canada on February 11. His mother passed away the following day on February 12. Another one of our classmates, who also happens to be his girlfriend, flew home Sunday February 14 to be with him in this difficult time. Dave made the decision to stay home and not complete the SBS due to all that has happened. Cambree also decided to stay home. Thus leaves Ashley and myself to finish the school.

That being said, with all that has happened recently I have decided not to go on outreach but rather come home to Michigan for the months of July and August. I am so excited to be home for a good amount of time this summer. 

Despite these crazy events, we have continued studying and now only have this week and next week left of the Old Testament. Words cannot describe how happy I am to move onto the New Testament. The OT has been a great time for me. I have learned about God's character and been able to relate so well with the people. I used to hate the OT but lately I have grown a love for it - one I never knew was possible.

Prayer Requests:
Lately I have been missing my family more so than usual and have been having to work through that. I would appreciate prayer for that. I also am a bit short on my funds for the completion of this school. If you feel led to give I would very much appreciate it, otherwise I also appreciate prayers for perseverance  Nine months is a long time to continue to have motivation to study and it has become a bit wearing. 

Nonetheless, thank you all for your continued prayers, letters, and phone calls/text messages of encouragement. It is so appreciative.

If you feel inclined to help me out with my funds, send a check written out to YWAM to me.

My address is 
Abby Ellens
2707 Hipawai Place
Honolulu HI 96822

The Prophets

It is the start of the third week in this quarter, and my time the past twenty-four days have been absolutely incredible. This current DTS is incredible and I am learning more about the character of God and my purpose in where I am in this moment. I am continually remembering exactly why God called me into the SBS and it has been a very comforting time.

This quarter we are studying the prophets. Thus far we have studied Amos, Isaiah, Hosea, and Micah. This coming week we are studying Nahum, Zephaniah, Habakkuk, and Obadiah.  In the books that we have studied this quarter, Hosea was my absolute favorite. For those of you who do not know the background of that book, the Lord commands Hosea to find a wife from whoredom. His wife cheats on him and at one point completely  It is a parallel to the Israelites and how they are repeatedly cheating on the Lord with other gods. While I was studying the book of Hosea I kept thinking about this.

"I would have told Hosea to leave her. No one should have to hold on, I’d say, to a heart that doesn’t want them back. No one deserves a straying soul, a fleeting kiss, someone who devotes themselves more to the dirt than ever to him. There are better woman with less stains on their clothes, I’d convince him, they will love you like you deserve. You shouldn’t have to crucify your sainthood for the sake of her. I would have told Hosea to leave her. But I’m glad he wouldn’t have listened. Because, how many times have I deserved to be forsaken? How long have I fought off my destiny of being loved unconditionally?  Since my first breath, born with clenched fists, I’ve lived half in the shadows, half in my idols, half in the worth I find by giving myself away to temporary places. How many times have I been an imperfect bride? I’m a goner, I’m Gomer, and I would have left me a long time ago. But instead of moving on, God never did, for His grace covers me more than my mistakes ever could."

Our God is a forgiving God who never stops chasing after us. No matter what we do He will always run after us and chase us down. He is relentless. It overwhelms me and gives me an unexplainable joy.

I am excited to see what else I will be learning in the coming months and how I can apply it to my life. The SBS is certainly not something I thought I would ever see myself doing but now that I am in it, I am incredibly thankful. Thank you once again for all your prayers! As of right now, I do not have any specific prayer requests. I would suggest maybe just to pray for good health and endurance to keep pressing on. 

January Quarter

Today was the first day of class in the New Year! As some of you may know, I was originally scheduled to start class on Monday, January 11, but due to some issues we started on the 16th. I have a classmate from Canada and he happened to have some troubles with crossing over the border, but thankfully he was able to cross yesterday and flew in last night. 

Since we started later, I was able to have a few days to myself. I was quite thankful for it especially because a few of my friends from my DTS flew over and surprised everyone on base. I was able to hang out with them for a couple days whereas I would not have had time to had school started up again right away.

We started studying Amos today, and I must admit it is a little difficult to get back into the swing of class and the homework load. After having almost an entire month of not having to do any mental work, almost everything sounds better than having only one day off per week. I am sure though that I will have a better attitude about it as time goes along. This coming Tuesday we will be starting the book of Isaiah, and I must say I'm rather excited for that.

I would appreciate your prayers for me that I may be able to get back into the swing of things quickly and that I will get used to my schedule and my amount of free time. Thank you once again for all your support in this. 

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!