March 11, 2011

What are the fruit of ours days.

I have to be honest, I'm finding it harder and harder to blog. Time is so precious right? I'm still trying to balance between keeping home updated, but also trying to be present here on the base with the school. That word time management pops into my head. Our schedule does not leave much room for getting online, but the more I think about it the more I enjoy that aspect to the DTS. We get out of our day what we put into it and quite frankly I do not want to spend my days in front of the computer here. During one of my one on one's with the students I heard a voice say, "What about one on one time with me Sarah?" I wasn't really getting away with the Lord. I have responsibilities here, but the father yearns to commune with us and I'm growing hungry for more of Him. Time management isn't easy, but I'm learning. I want my days to produce fruit. I don't want them to just pass away. I want to be intentional with getting back to intimacy with my Lord.

This past week was focused on the sin, repentance, and the cross. Continuing to die to ourselves every day and taking up the cross. I was finding that the Lord was telling us to just sit back and watch. That He was going to be doing the ministering and we were to allow His spirit to pour over the classroom. I'm really enjoying seeing the students becoming stripped before Him. They are becoming empty before Him so that He may fill them up. It's a process and I think they are realizing that this isn't going to be an easy road, but the Lord loves the process. I look forward to seeing what more He is going to do in their lives. 

Today was needed! I needed to get out into the open fields. We went to Castle Hill to go bouldering and cave streaming. Driving through this country takes my breath away. I really enjoyed being outside of the classroom in the fresh air. So thankful for the beauty around me.

 I guess that's about it for today. It's really hard to write on here all that is being processed at this point. All I can really say is thank you for patience. Please continue to pray for the nations as we are getting closer to the time of finding out the outreach teams! Will keep you posted. 


March 4, 2011

Serving New Brighton in unity.

Hey guys! Trying to be good at updating this blog, I hope you understand.

Where do I start? The first week of lecture phase is over and I must say I could not be more thankful for the students here. When we went in for airport pick-ups last weekend, the first thing most of the students asked was, "Are we going to be able to serve Christchurch?" They were ready to get in and serve. This week was spent in lectures focusing on hearing God's voice, worship, and intercession. For the past two days we sent teams into Christchurch and New Brighton to help with the earthquake relief. Thursday's ministry was focused on sending out neighborhood care teams that distributed food and water to the homes. It was hard to see some of the affects this earthquake had in this area. Many neighborhoods are still without water or power. Petro is low as well as food so this makes it very hard to obtain daily needs. On a street that has about thirty homes I found only 5 families that still remained. Most people left that area to stay with family. I was so blessed by the people I met during that time though and found most of them just wanted to talk. They were broken and in need of care and it was encouraging to see the community coming together to provide that care for them. The Lord is doing a mighty work here.

Friday we took a team into New Brighton once again. I wasn't sure what to expect, but the Lord had plans for us. The students stepped it up in a big way! Most of the staff around us had to tell them to take a break because they were so focused on the tasks they were doing that they didn't pay attention to the time. It was great to step back and look around at the students loving on the people in this area. I'm so proud of them. I focused on the food distribution area. All of the food at the center was donated and it was a lot! It was so cool to be able to give these people as much as they wanted because of the quantity the Lord has provided. He is so good and know's just wanted His people need.

Thank you for the prayers. Please continue to lift up these areas, there is still a lot that needs to be done. Christchurch is not the place I remember it, but I see this as an opportunity to serve this nation and am so thankful we are here to do that. We've been praying that the Lord would redeem this situation and that this is a chance for Christchurch to be built on God's foundation. That He would reclaim this land for Him.