Sorry that I was unable to write a blog yesterday, I know you all are anxious to hear what happened, so...here it is.
February 1, 2011
During the morning alone time with God, I wasn't feeling a word from God as strongly as the night before, but there was a song playing in the background, called Hosanna, and the line that stuck out to me the most was "I see a generation rising up to take their place with selfless faith, with selfless faith." I flipped through my Bible and kept seeing words like selfless and hope (Lamentations 3:19-27 stuck out the most). We went to devotionals and then talked about humility, which really tied into what I kept hearing from God. Matthew 5:5 says that "Blessed are the humble for they will inherit the whole earth." Luke 14:11 "For those who exalt themselves will be humbled and those who humble themselves will be exalted." Afterwards we talked about Boldness...which seems to be the theme of our trip. One thing that stuck out to me was "God has called us to be heroes for our generation! Our decision to not be bold will rob them of something special-we rob them of God's love." ~Coach Lou. After lunch my team went to the Dream Center warehouse and the girls all put together "compassion bags" which are gallon size bags filled with neccessary toiletries like deodarant and shampoo. The compassion bags are later handed out to people in need. At the warehouse, they have tons of furniture and stuff that is given out for free to the needy. People fill out paperwork (to make sure they are legitimately in need) and they get to come in and have a free-for-all. All of the furniture was disorganized, so we rearranged it, and also got to help someone pick out things for their home. It was a very cool experience to physically hand someone neccessities and have them be genuinely greatful. We went to the hotel and got extra rest time because one of our teammates was very sick and needed rest. So, some of us decided it would be a good time to take advantage of the hottub! haha, it was relaxing! Then we went to dinner and back to the Dream Center. At the Dream Center, we had the youth service, and I was prayed over for boldness. The girl praying for me said she could feel the Holy Spirit in me and that I have what it takes to be a true leader, but I have been hiding that. So, God gave me more confidence in who I am and also he gave me peace.
February 2, 2011
In morning devotions we talked about worship. Worship isn't something you do every once in a while, or just on Sundays, It's a lifestyle. We are supposed to be living like God's kingdom is here right now! The object and intensity of your worship will define your life! One question that we talked about that really hit me was: How is your presense making an impact? After devos, the rest of the day was preparing for what's called "Metro kids" which is where we go to these different sites and get as many local kids together and do a Bible service for them. Even though the whole team went together, we took turns running the service in our two separate groups. My group was the first to go. We each had a job. My job was to welcome everyone, and that was interesting to try to accomplish in the freezing weather. We were in a really bad neighborhood, but a lot of kids actually came! Afterwards we went back to the Dream Center and we talked about what happened. That's when they told us that we actually were just in the third worst neighborhood in the US! I realized that I shouldn't be in one of the worst streets to want to reach out to others, I should want that all the time! We ended up having the second Metro kids be at the Dream Center because it was so cold. They needed help in the nursery at the church, so I volunteered! It was really cool to do, since that is something I do regularly at my home church! After the service, they prayed over all of our team. The pastor there told me that he can see God's presense in me and that I can help others feel his presense just by my presense. He also told me that I have a gift from God of seeing people with God's heart and being able to feel their pain, even though I don't go through it. He said that I can use that to help people get over wounds and for them to have God's joy instead! It was a really emotional night for everyone! Can't wait to see what else is coming!
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