No Place Like Home for the Holidays

Yep, that's right. I'm on Hoosier soil... but only for now. I am heading back to Harrisburg on Monday (New Year's Eve). It's been great to just chill for awhile before getting back to work. I had a great Christmas, it was very relaxed, just a small dinner at my uncle's house and hanging out with my sister and cousin. Also got a guitar that used to belong to another one of my uncles, so that I can work more on my songwriting. I'll hopefully be posting my songs soon. Hope you all had a most merry Christmas, and will have a most joyous New Year. God Bless! <3

Ask, and you will recieve

"Most people have not because they ask not." Wiser words have never been spoken for this particular moment. Let me tell you what's been going on.

As a DTS, we (not me personally, I'm base staff, not DTS) needed $60,000 within about a week for everybody to go on outreach. Jeremy (the base leader) gathered us as a community and said he'd never seen a DTS with so much need and so little time. He and the other leadership felt from the Lord that we were all to pray and fast over this weekend, starting on Friday and ending with a big breakfast to celebrate on Monday. Total, it came to 60 hours of fasting, contending and praying in shifts to see a breakthrough over our finances. Within about 4 days, we saw around $40,000 come in. Come on! However, that's not the end of the story. Just today, we found out that somebody anonymously gave our base $10,000! Within a span of about 5 days, we have seen almost all of the money come in. And I believe that the rest is coming. GOD IS SO GOOD! We need to break off the poverty mindset that says we shouldn't ask, because we probably won't recieve, even if God wanted to. He longs to open the floodgates of heaven and pour out blessings upon blessings for his children! I am even stirred myself for my own financial breakthrough I'm going to be recieving. I am going to need about $2,700 to go to Congo in April, not to mention my monthly staff fees I'll still have to pay while I'm gone. But I'm not worried. Why should I be, especially after today? Haha :) God is good. All the time. Believe it. God Bless! <3

The Power and the Glory (Congo Bound)

As I sit here on this Saturday morning, I have to wonder how it all came to this. How I went from being a smart kid with the sky as the limit, to the girl who threw it all away by laziness and apathy, to the young woman who got a factory job to try and piece it all together, to the fiery revivalist and passionate lover of God I am today. All the steps of this journey have culminated in this moment...

I am going to Congo.

That's right, my first steps outside of American soil will be on some of the most wartorn in the world. I've already been asked to reconsider by some in my family.

"Don't you realize how bad things are over there? Are you really going to make your dad have to bury another kid?"

 My answer was quite firmly, "He won't have to." They couldn't understand how I can be so sure of my safety, but I've learned that the safest place to be is in the center of God's will. So what if I'm shot or hurt? God will heal me. So what if I'm killed? God can bring me back. Not that it will be necessary. This is only the beginning of my journey, and as much as I love God, it's nothing compared to how much he loves me. I am his beloved daughter, and if any decent dad takes care of his kids, how much more so the greatest dad there ever has been or will be. He didn't die just so I could go to heaven, He died so that I could have life, and life TO THE FULL. I serve the God of Abraham, Issac, and Jacob, the same God who wrought the plagues on Egypt and brought Lazerus back from the dead. I serve the King of Kings, ruler over all, who has the keys to Death and Hell firmly in his grasp. I have placed my trust in him and his leadership, and I feel that he is leading me to Congo. These people need me and Jesus! All they know is darkness, fear, and uncertainty. Why would I want to go anywhere else? Most people don't realize that I'm called to war zones. I am called to the hardest and darkest places, because it's there where God's light shines brightest. So that's why I'm going in April. And nobody is going to convince me otherwise because of my safety. "Do not fear those that can kill the body but not touch the soul. Rather, fear the one that can cast both body and soul into Hell." Pretty much. "Death, where is your victory, oh grave, where is your sting?"

In other news, we are not running a spring DTS like we thought. God asked us to shelve it until later so we can start really diving in to the vision of being a Circut Rider community, seeing teams come and go with this as their home that they are sent out from. (Antioch, anyone?) Excited to see this vision come to pass, and am beyond blessed to be a part of it.

More updates as things come up, as always. :) God Bless! <3