New journey starts.....now!

   Hello all of you lovely people! I hope all of you are doing well. Many of you have asked if I would blog again...so, it's that time again.....new blog update!!!
    It has been awhile since I was last on here to update you on my life. The last I told all you was that I was planning on leaving in January to join the University of the Nations. I was planning to work towards my bachelors degree in music. Well, the plan has not changed, but the timing has somewhat. As many of you may know, I did not leave in January. The schooling I was needing to do, during the January semester, was not offered where I was planning on going (I was planning on going to Dallas, Texas). I was really disappointed at first. I didn't understand why it wasn't working out the way I wanted it to. Through lots of prayer, I realized God wasn't done using me in my season in Lafayette, La. I once again had to learn what the word "patience" meant. After learning to be content in the season of life God had me in, He was able to use me to minister to young teenage girls. Being home wasn't like a burden once I embraced where God had me; it became a joy.
    When I started looking into other school courses I would need to take towards my degree, one stuck out to me so clearly. It was called the School of Worship (SOW). It was located in Denver, Colorado. I made sure to pray about it before really making any final decisions. When I talked to my advisor, she thought that this school would be a great school for me to do. It teaches on how to have a closer relationship and better understanding of God through worship. I would also be able to write and record my own songs. I decided to apply for it. Well, I was accepted into the school! The school would start April 2nd and end June 22nd.
     That leads me to now. I drove up on March 29th to Denver, Colorado in the "skeet-mobile". I arrived in Denver on the 30th. Colorado is absolutely beautiful! It's amazing how God designed each and every mountain so perfectly for us, His people, to enjoy. Right now, Colorado does not have a lot of snow. Only in the high part of the mountains is there snow. The first day of arriving in Colorado, I changed my clothes three times. I went from wearing a summer dress, to shorts and a t-shirt, to jeans and sweater. This cajun girl is not used to this weather! Tomorrow, I will arrive for the start of my 3 month journey. I don't exactly know what it will look like and I don't want to assume what it will look like. I want God to direct each and every footstep I take. My future is completely open. I may stay here and still do schooling in Denver after, or I may take a short break, or I may go home, or I may work with the new Crossroads Connection branch (that happens to be starting in Denver). My future is Gods. I want Him to shape and form my future just like He has shaped and formed the beautiful mountains that I can call my new home.  If He made the mountains look that gorgeous, I definitely want to Him to take control of my future and make that beautiful. He won't let me down!
   I plan on keeping you updated on what is happening in the "mile high" city while I am here! Peace, love, and happiness my friends!

The end of one chapter...on to the next!

"Zsia" (Hi or Greetings) in Hungarian!!! I am so sorry that it has taken me this long to write another blog post. I feel like my life is flying by me and I am holding on for dear life trying not to miss a moment of it! As many of you know, I am back in America. These past 6 months have been amazing. So much has happened since my last blog post. I guess I should start from where I left off and end with what is next in my life! Stay tuned people.....

Africa:

  While in Africa, we knew we would have to be very flexible. That definitely was put to the test in our last couple of weeks there. We had to be ready at any second to either get up and go somewhere, share a message or a testimony at any given time, or have to wait an hour and half for someone to pick us up. We made up a saying that stuck with us the rest of the trip. "This is Africa" or "TIA". Every time one of those moments came up, we would say "no problem" and then say "This is Africa". It would make us laugh to put us in a better mood. 

   We stayed in Mohales-hoek for 10 days. We then went to Maseru (the capital of Lesotho) for the rest of our trip in Lesotho. Here is what happened in Maseru.

  Hospital visits:

  One of the days while being in a "TIA" moment was when we went to the hospital to visit the newborn babies and their mothers. We distributed clothing to them. In each room, there was more than 8 women. I remember walking down the hall and seeing one of the surgical rooms. It was so unsanitary! They had the tools to use to take out a baby and to circumcise a baby in the hallway right outside the room! Anyone could have touched it. It was so crazy to think that these people know nothing about being clean. This is their "clean".

  Church visits:

   Every Sunday, we would walk through the slums of Africa to a church service. I will never forget the sights that we saw. We met several friends in the churches there. They were just so joyful! One day, they asked us to preach. We ended up preaching to them for 7 hours. All 9 of us took turns preaching. I taught on a topic called Lordship. Who is Lord over your life?! I chose that topic because I myself struggle with it. They received everything we talked to them about so well.   

   Prison visits:

  We went to the prisons in Maseru a couple of times by invitation. It was nothing like the prisons in the USA. They could have a prisoner so easily escape, but most of the prisoners didn't want to escape. Why you ask? Well, because life in prison was plusher than life outside of prison. Why go back to your shack made of clay and stick when you could be living in a building that had "windows". It was really sad to see their reasoning on it. One day, we were invited to the prison. It happened to be an all girl prison. We decided that it would be nice to put on a short program for them. We sang songs in their language, did dramas, and last but not least, we would give a preaching. I was chosen to give the preaching. I prayed about what to tell them. I had no idea! God answered me and told me to talk to them about "value and worth". I gave them all a piece of paper at the end of my message with a flower on it. It represented them with God. God looks at us as His own and special creation. He doesn't compare us. At the end, a girl stood up crying and basically said that both of parents died last year. She was left with her uncle and aunt. They didn't want her. Nobody wanted her. She was alone. She did bad things in order to go to prison to get attention, but it didn't work. Now, she was here, in that room, learning about how much God cares for her. It was amazing just to see God move through every place we went in Africa. 

   I learned so much in Africa. I learned about a different people group, different culture, and a different language, but I learned about the same God. I just saw Him in a different way. I saw how grateful I am to live in America and how I have everything at my fingertips. I saw how I have pushed God away and not let Him be my center focus. I saw how He loves every single person in this world and treats them with tender, loving care. I saw how His heart is broken and my heart should be just like His. Basically, I learned and saw my whole time I was in Africa. I will never walk away from this experience and be able to live an ordinary life. I SAW what is really happening in this world. I touched the malnourished child who is expecting to die within a couple of hours. I heard the cry of a mother who received news that her child has TB and is expected to stay out of the community and die. I looked into the eyes of HIV/AIDS sufferers and couldn't see any hope. I learned not to hate God for what is happening because He never intended for any of this to happen. It gave me a different view point on life. I can't walk away from this experience and pretend like it never happened because it did. My heart is forever with the people in Africa. My heart didn't move on to my next destination. It never went back to Australia, and it won't see America again. It's forever in Africa.

Hungary:

 We went from praying with people in huts and dirty hospitals to a 180 degree turn. European style it is now! Budapest,Hungary was a total shock! I guess I never prepared myself for what Hungary was really like. Europe is very similar to America. They are very materialistic. We went from ministering to people that they could only find hope in God to people who basically say they don't need a God. They have everything. Before coming to Hungary, we prayed for God to give us some words for our time here. One word that the team got was persecuted. Okay, are we gonna be persecuted like Paul in the Bible or what?! 

Open-air:

   Hah, well, we experienced what our persecution would be like. We did many "open-air" evangelizing times in Budapest. That is when you go out into the city and put on productions by doing dramas and preaching. Every time we would, somebody in the crowd would holler at us and boo us. They would purposely walk in the middle of our space just to disrupt what we would do. We would get cussed at countless times. It definitely taught us not to fear anything that any person would say. We would keep going like nothing happened. 

Worship and prayer:

  While in Budapest, we could sense a feeling of oppression amongst the people. We would go into the parks and do worship times as well as prayer times just to try to bring a spirit of joy. Several times, we would bake goodies, buy flowers, or even hand out scriptures in Hungarian just to put a smile on any persons face. It was definitely a challenge witnessing here. They didn't want to hear what you had to say. We learned to be creative!

YWAM Budapest, Hungary:

  We worked the majority of the time with the YWAM base located downtown. They are amazing! One of their main focuses is worship. It was an incredible base. The have a room where there are live performances done with an incredible stage, they have an underground coffee house that is opened every Friday night. They have a recording studio that is being built right now! Their base is just incredible! Every Friday night, we would go to the coffeehouse underground and work at it. People in Budapest would go there just to hang out. It was free coffee! They would schedule people to play "laid-back" music while it was open. We got asked. Two of my teammates and I were able to play for them! It was so awesome just knowing you were in Europe, doing one of your favorite things, in an underground coffee house! What?! That was a total dream! 

   As hard as Hungary was, I learned something there as well. The possibilities in missions are endless. It is possible to minister in a materialistic world, but it starts with YOU. You have to get over the fear of man. You can't have that and want to minister at the same time. Why is it so important to know what other people think about you when in the end, they won't even matter! I had to learn these things! It took me going two weeks into my trip in Hungary to realize it.  I also learned how much of a passion I have for music. I thought I was done with music when I started this journey! God totally gave it back to me while in Hungary, but He gave it back to me through the eyes of worshipping Him. I don't ever want to lose it! It's my passion. He gave me so many times to play the piano while in Hungary! It was amazing!

Australia.....the Kimberley:

  Oh boy, I did not know what I was getting myself into. I thought going from Africa, where they have nothing, to Hungary, where they have everything was all I needed to learn. I was wrong. I was very scared about going into the Kimberleys. The aboriginals I experienced while living in Perth for 3 months was all I needed. They are abrupt and sometimes rude people! I didn't know how I was going to make it!. We started our journey from Perth. We drove for 5 days. Those days consisted of at least 10 hours of driving a day. We finally were at our first location. 

Halls Creek:

  In Halls Creek, we worked with two different churches. We slept in a tent outside. Now, let me explain this a little bit better. Australia's seasons are opposite than ours. It is their winter. It gets cold. I was in the desert, it's hot during the day and freezing cold at night. I was sleeping in a TENT! I would wear over 4 layers of clothing. That is including 2 hoodies!  I would sleep in my sleeping bag and then stick three blankets inside of it. I would also put two blankets on top of it. That is the only way I could stay warm my last month in YWAM. I would never expect for it to be so cold. Anyways, we did many different things in Halls Creek. We played with the aboriginal kids, we did productions in both churches, prayer meetings, and we had church gatherings.  I fell in love with these people! I couldn't believe. I still can't believe it. They are beautiful! There were two little children that I wanted to take home with me. One is named Patricia and the other is named Jacob. It hurt so much to leave them on our last day. 

  One of the last days of being in Halls Creek, we had a gathering. The menu consisted of kangaroo. Oh goodness, I was so nervous to try it! I didn't want to offend anyone either! When I tried it, it was like pure goodness in my mouth! It tasted like roast beef and I don't even like roast beef. That stuff was so good! They cook it on something called a "bush oven". They get the name "bush" well, because we're in the "bush" or "outback". It is made in the ground. They cut up the kangaroo and through it in the hole. They leave the fur on it and cook it for over an hour. The kangaroo still had blood on it when it came out the pot! It was so awesome! I was in love with the process! My hunting spirit was alive the whole time I was in the Kimberleys! I seriously love to hunt!

  Our last day there, we were able to do a production for the people out in the public. The whole community came out! It was amazing! We had a salvation call at the end and it was just amazing how people responded. I will never forget it. So many healings happened that night. The power of God was alive! It was incredible!

Wangkatjunka:

  Our next location in the Kimberleys was super exciting. We were the first people to be invited to this community! How exciting that we would be able to share the love of God with them! This community only consisted of 150 people. There was nothing to do there. There was no internet or cell phone reception at all for anyone. You are in the "outback". The local store is only open 2-3 hours each day. It's closed on weekends. The doctor is only there on Wednesdays. 

Prayer time:

   We did lots of praying here. They still worship idols in this community. One day while we were praying, we happened to come upon one of the old abandoned cabinets they used to keep the idols in. Our Christian host, who is from that community there, told us that we should pray for it, but nothing would be in it. We decided after praying that we should open it and pray for the inside. As we opened the cabinet, there sat the umbilical cord of all the idols in the community. Our host started freaking out and hollering, "There it is, there it is!".  We began to pray really hard for the community and over what this idol has caused these people to believe. Once we were done, I asked what it was made out of. It was made out of clumps of hair that has been rubbed in fats and oils. They shape them to look like dreadlocks and intertwine them together. It was disgusting. 

Salvation and Healing:

  Oh my goodness, it was like God was already working on the peoples hearts before we got there. There wasn't a day that went by that we at least had a couple of salvations as well as healings! One day, we went to this boys house. His name is Clayton. He had not come out of his house for over 10 years due to a traumatic incident that happened in his life while he was younger. He is 21. We prayed for him that if there was any fear in him, that it would be gone in the name of Jesus. After we prayed, he asked us if he could go on a walk across the street! What?! After that, he said he would go down to the middle of the community that night and pray with us at our prayer meeting. Jesus, you're awesome! That is only one of the many healings that happened while in the Kimberleys. It was crazy how God chose to use us!

Ending my trip:

  It's crazy to think that 6 months of 2011 has flown by and that I was able to dedicate those 6 months to God. What an honor! I am so blessed to have had this opportunity. It would've never happened without YOUR prayers. Prayer is the only thing that truly works. I want to thank you so much for that. I am so thankful to have your support during this time. What I have experienced has forever been planted in my heart and will not ever go void. It's there, forever! I hope I was able to fill you in on my journey as best as possible with the little time we have had our whole journey! I have many more stories. If you would like to hear them, I would not mind you asking me one bit! I would be honored to tell you. I have wanted you guys to experience this journey with me! 

 One question that people keep asking me is how it has been since being back in America. Well, to be honest, it's hard. I have seen things that are very hard to process and to come back to America where everything is so plush is just difficult. I have changed these past 6 months. I have lived on my own and realized what it is like to have to fully trust in God. It's just hard coming back knowing that I'm never going to be the same because of what I have experienced with God and through different cultures and people.

Future Plans:

   Another question that people have asked me since being home is, " So, what's next?". Well, I can tell you as much as I know as of right now. Hah. I am waiting on God to tell me exactly how everything lays out.

  God told me while in my lecture phase part of this trip, that when He told me I was called to help heal people, that it didn't mean physically, but it meant spiritually, through salvation. That is when he told me I will be a missionary. Many of you know that I have a passion for music. It has been my whole life, but I was never willing to pursue it because it was just a "hobby". Why not turn that hobby into a lifestyle with Jesus! I've realized through going on this journey that the universal language is music. That could be used by playing with sticks and beating it on a trash can or by playing in a full band. People know what music is. It's not foreign. Why not use that in missions. What a cool way to "break the ice" with different cultures. Also, what a cool way to get to know people and about their culture. 

    My next step is this, I am staying home for 6 months. In January, I will join with University of the Nations (it is the university of Youth With a Mission or YWAM) and start working towards getting a bachelors degree in music. Because it is with a missions organization, I will be doing schooling for 3 months, then going out into the world as a missionary for 3 months with my instruments and learning how to incorporate music and missions together. It's definitely going to be a hard process. I will do 6 month increments as of now. I will be gone from home a lot, but this is what God has told me to do. Finances is something that keeps coming up in my mind as I look into this, but God has told me this scripture every time I think about it. Matthew 6:24-25 states, "No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money. Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes?". That scripture shoots me in the foot every time! I'm not going to worry about things like that because I know my God is my provider and He WILL provide what I need. I'm learning to trust Him. It's a hard lesson, but it is so worth it! 

  Thanks for following me! I will keep you guys posted as to any new news on anything happening in my life! Keep following me! You guys rock! If you have any questions pertaining to anything about my life, do not worry about asking me! I love questions! I hope you all have a wonderful rest of the summer! My pictures of the Kimberleys will be up on facebook soon! I love all of you! God bless!

  

  

Living life on the edge.....

   Oh me, oh my! I can't believe I have already been in Australia for three months! This has been the best experience of my life. I have learned so much and have grown so much in my maturity in general as well as a maturity with God. He has revealed things to me that are unexplainable. He has ruined me for the ordinary. I  had to die to myself. I  had to learn all about how to have compassion when it comes to people. I made some of the best friends of my life. Lecture phase is done. It was so hard to tell others goodbye in order for us to go on outreach, but it is going to be so amazing for our team as well as all the other teams going out into all the nations!

   Base life:

     Since lecture phase is over, we had a night called commissioning night. We all got dressed up and had a nice meal together. The leaders on the base wanted to commend all the students and honor them for their dedication to learning more about God but also their dedication to share the love of Christ with people groups all over the world.  That night was definitely something that I will never forget. It was so great!

  We had so many different lectures since I last wrote a blog. We had lectures on Fear of the Lord, Spiritual Warfare, Missions, and last but not least, Submission and Authority/Unity. 

  In Fear of the Lord, we learned that we shouldn't have a fear of man or a fear of the unknown, but we should have a fear of the Lord. Having a fear of the Lord simply means  to be fully committed to Him and know that He is in control of our life.

   In spiritual warfare week, we learned that we have a gate to our hearts and minds. These gates need to be closed at all times in order to resist the Devil. We keep these gates closed by studying in God's Word, praying, and having accountability. We need to flee the Devil at all times and not compromise in our lives because that is how the Devil gets in. Our thoughts have a huge part in this. We need to resist the Devil every time we have bad thoughts. 

   In Missions week, our speaker showed us how missions isn't just evangelizing by going up to people and telling them about Jesus.  Missions is thinking out the box. He showed us a couple of ministries that evangelize through out the box things. Some were photographers, skate boarding,  surfing, and a flying car! It was just an eye opener about how missions is not boring at all! We focused that week on injustice issues around the world. It broke my heart how girls are imprisoned into the sex trafficking industry. God also revealed to me that we can talk about it all we want, but nothing will happen unless we get up and do something about this issue of injustice. God showed me that I will one day be freeing women and men from this issue. I am excited and ready for what He has for me with this issue. 

  The last week, we talked about Submission and Authority/Unity. I seriously thought that this week would be fine and I wouldn't get anything out of it. Well, I was completely wrong. It definitely impacted me. Our speaker showed us how in Unity, if one man goes down then everyone will. We are like a body and each person has their own part of their character that makes us the team. He also showed us that Submission and Obedience are two different things. Submission comes from the heart and mind whereas obedience comes from actions. He gave the example of a child who was told to do something for their parents and did it, but had the worst attitude about it.  He said that the child was not submitting. He said submitting goes back to independence. Independence and pride go hand and hand. You think you can do it all by yourself and nobody can tell you what to do, which goes with authority issues. Wow, I was convicted so bad about people that I have obeyed, but I was not submitted and truly obeying authority because of the attitude I would have towards it. It was a huge slap in the face. I am so thankful God showed me that issue that I never saw in my life. 

   Each week, once again, I learned so much. They were so good. I understand God more and more each week about who He is in my life and how gracious and good He is to me.

Outreach (Africa):

  We prepared for outreach by learning more about the places we are going and also learning dramas and skits that we can perform at different churches, orphanages, or even just out in the streets. Every time we met for our outreach meetings, we all were so excited. We left for Lesotho, Africa on Sunday, April 3rd. We had an eleven and a half hour flight to Johannesburg, Africa. We then had a man named Sechaba with the YWAM base in Lesotho pick us up. He told us we would have a 5 hour drive in a taxi bus to Lesotho. I was dreading it because I was just finished throwing my guts up on the plane, now I have to sit in a car and get car sick?!  It was so crazy to think that my dream was coming true (For those of you who do not know, God gave me a heart for Africa when I was really young. I have been dreaming of the day I would set foot on African soil. I am still so shocked that that time is now in my life. The week before leaving for Africa, I would cry everyday because it would hit me that my dream was coming true! It is so crazy!), but I was becoming a little hesitant in the beginning due to the fact I was sick. Sechaba brought us to the van taxi thing we would be riding in. Ok guys, I literally started laughing as soon as I saw the van. It was pimped out, it is called "the masterpiece", it had a picture of a woman in a very revealing bikini top on the back window (aka. naked lady), and the trailer looked like a pigs pen with a hitch connected to the front of it. As we were trying to load our stuff, the people would come up and want to take your stuff from you. Sechaba told us not to let them take our stuff or they would want money from you for carrying your stuff. We then got into our "masterpiece" of a van and started to get comfortable. We were so tired and just wanted to sleep the next 5 hours away. It wasn't even 5 minutes of being in the van when all of a sudden the man driving blared this R&B slow sexual music in the car. He then turned on lights in the car that would flash green and pink dots all over the car. I felt like I was at the club. It was so funny. We all broke out into laughter and could not stop laughing. We got a kick out of how the driver only knew how to speak Sesotho (Lesotho's language), but he knew every word to those American songs. It was funny until we realized he was going to blare that music and have those fancy lights on for the next 5 hours! We would start to fall asleep and he would purposefully blare the music louder or turn it down and yell at us in Sesotho to wake up. I don't think i have ever laughed so hard in my entire life! The driver was the craziest driver I have ever rode with in my life! He was going over 105mph the majority of the time. I was so scared we were going to hit a lion or some kind of wild animal! I seriously thought I was going to die! About 3 hours into the trip, we made it to the Lesotho border. By this time it was around 11 o'clock at night. We all had to get out and get our passports scanned. I thought someone was gonna come out with a gun and shoot us. It was super scary! The people would just holler in your face a foreign language. Sechaba would holler back and then look at us with this face of disgust over the border system. We finally were free to go through to Lesotho! Thank you Jesus! We made it to where we were staying sometime after that. Our room we stayed in was so tiny! We put eight people in a 10ft.x10ft. room! It was so crazy! Our toilet was right outside our room. There was no clean water. We stayed two days in that place in Maseru. After the two days, we went to a district called Mohales-hoek. We would be staying there for 10 days in a half-way house they were just developing. When we got there, the people threw their arms around us and told us we were God sent. We felt so welcomed! They had a huge room prepared for us to stay in. The only thing was the toilet. We had to use an outhouse. At night, you could hear the rats squirming around outside as you used the bathrooms. We loved it there though! We got to do different ministries while there. We would go and pray for people in hospitals, visit support groups, and visit the village people.

  Hospital visits: 

 We went twice to the hospital. Their hospital is nothing like an American hospital. They stick 10 people to a room. There are roaches all over the floor. The doctors do not know how to properly diagnose people. When someone is near death, they stick them in the corner and cover that area with a sheet. They don't treat the people; they let them die. They separate the men, women, children, tuberculosis patients,  and HIV/AIDS patients in different buildings. In every building, you see malnourished people. It is disgusting to look at sometimes. It is so sad. The HIV/AIDS building isn't even a building. It looks like jail cells. It was just crazy to see the difference between America and a third world country. It was a total eye opener. 

  Support Groups:

   Support groups are made up of children that do not have food to eat during the week. In the villages, there is normally one nice lady that is willing to fix rice and beans and feed the hungry children. We went almost every night during the 10 days we were in Mohales-hoek to a group.  We would do a children's program that included playing games, doing dramas/skits, and just loving on the children. It was very hard to leave each support group because we would get so attached to the kids.

  Village People:

  When we would visit village people, it was more of a door to door ministry except the houses were made of clay and sticks. We would go in the house to talk and pray with them. It was very hard with the language barrier. Sometimes they would ask us to sing for them. There were so many healings that took place during this time! It was so crazy! I would normally cry every time I would enter one of the huts. It's such an eye opener to see how these people truly live. One hut we went into was kept up by a 19 year old girl. Both of her parents died from HIV/AIDS. Her parents left her and her three siblings behind. She didn't have money to provide food for them. She would sell her body in order to get food. It was so sad. While visiting that one village where she lived, I found out that the average age for a girl to get pregnant here in Lesotho is 14-18 years old. Wow, wow, wow! Everywhere you look you see young pregnant girls.  It's just so crazy! 

  One day we had about 60 kids come to where we were staying so we could do a program for them. Those kids touched my heart so much! The 13-16 year old boys loved me so much! I invited them to come over again before we left. When I had to say bye to them for the last time, it was one of the hardest things I have ever done! I have never attached to kids so much. They were the best! The would give you a hug and not want to let go. They would ask you when you would be coming back to see them again. 

   

  One of the days we were off in Mohales-hoek, we decided we were going to climb to the top of one of the mountains. On the top of this specific one there was a white cross that you could see from the village in the valley. I seriously thought I was going to die climbing up there. I slipped so many times and wanted to give up. In the end, I pressed on and finally made it to the top. It literally took my breath away that the view would be so pretty....and that I was so tired! Two of the people that we ministered to on the day they came to where we were staying came with us to the top. I remember sitting on the edge of the drop off with the boy that was my age that could barely speak English. I remember saying, "How could someone say there is no God". It looked right over the village. It was just gorgeous! You could see for miles out into the wild.

I have now traveled from Mohales-hoek back to Maseru. I will be here for another two weeks and then I am off to Budapest, Hungary! It's crazy how I have already been here for more than a week and a half. I know that this will not be the last time I will be here! My heart is here and I don't know if it will come back with me. The people in Lesotho have given me a name while I am here. It is Limpho (pronounced like Dimpo). It means many gifts or a gift. They said it is an honor to have a name mean something so special. It doesn't matter where I go, the kids are attached to me. I don't even look at them and they run up in groups and surround me. Yesterday, we went to evangelize at the mall (it's not really a mall, but for Maseru it is) while the people at the YWAM base in Lesotho played music there. At one point I was standing by myself and some kids came and started talking to me. Within 5 minutes I had over 15 kids between the ages of 13-18 all around me. I turned around to find my team and they were all looking at me laughing because everywhere I go, I just attract them! I love it though! I never would have thought that that age group would be the ones that I would feel called to, but I really feel like God is laying that age group on my heart! It's so awesome! Who would have thought that kids would get to me nowadays! 

   Today, we went to church at a true African church. It lasted over 3 hours. They had an English translator for us. It was so much fun. In Africa, their dancing is so much different than us. They booty pop, but it doesn't mean booty popping here. It's their cultural dancing. They started doing it in church. It was crazy! I loved it though. You could tell the Holy Spirit was definitely there!

     God is just so good! It hit me the day before I left for Africa that I am a missionary. It is so ridiculous and crazy that God would chose me at such a young age to go out and spread His Word around to all the world. Yet, He reminded that this is our only duty here on earth. We are here to spread His Word to all the world no matter what age you are. I was talking to one of my friends back at the base in Perth, Australia and we realized that the vision Loren Cunningham (founder of YWAM) had of waves of young people sharing the love of Christ was actually coming true amongst all of our friends at base. It seemed like every two hours there was another ten people leaving to go all over this world to minister from Perth. It was such a bittersweet moment having to tell them bye, but we knew we were going to see each other again before the six months was over. 

Sesotho language:

"Hello" means "Dumela"

You say hello to a group by saying "Dumelan"

You say hello to a kid by saying "Ho joang"

"How are you" means "opala joang"

"Good" means "kepela hankle"

 I can't think of any other words right now, but when I do, I will make sure to tell all you guys! I miss all you guys and love you guys! I will update you guys as soon I get more time! God is doing great things! I can't wait to see what else God has for Africa, my team, and I.

   Well, that is all I have for you guys as of now. I want to thank you for your prayers

    

Faith the size of a mustard seed.....

     Hi-dee ho neighbors! I feel like I haven't updated my blog in forever...actually it has been forever! I need to fill all of you in on what is happening here in Aussieville. These past couple of weeks have been crazy with all different kind of activities involving lectures, fun with friends, and "slummin it". I have learned so much. Every week literally gets better and better. I cannot believe I have already been here for 8 weeks! It is so surreal. I am in no rush to come home! I do miss all of you though! 

YWAM Perth:

     I guess I should go ahead and start from where I left off. That would make the start of this blog all about my birthday here in Aussieville! I guess the best word for this birthday would be "unforgettable". It was a first for several things, the first time my birthday has ever been ridiculously hot, the first time I was away from my family, and the first time I had fish and chips. It was really great getting to celebrate it with new friends. I wouldn't have changed it at all. In YWAM, if it is your birthday, they celebrate by giving you a birthday table that you can invite 7 friends to sit with you at, they sing you this amazing birthday song, they say "Aussie, Aussie, Aussie...Oi, Oi, Oi" after the song, they give you an amazing birthday cake that is decorated all fancy, and last but not least, you have to give a speech in front of everyone. I talked all about Louisiana in my speech! Represent (fist pump)!! It was just a great but hot day! I wouldn't change it at all!

   Our lecture for the week after was about relationships between family, friends, opposite sex, employees, and last but not least, God. It was a really great week. It showed me areas where I need to grow to have more of a closer relationship with God. It showed me that I need to listen to people more when they talk. It also showed that marriage needs to be given to God. He needs to have full authority over me in every area. 

    That weekend, we did something called "slum survivor". It showed us what it is like to live in the slums. We were only allowed to bring the clothes on our backs, sleeping bag, toothpaste and toothbrush, and our Bible and notepad. It was pretty intense. We went out to the bush where there was not anyone but us around for miles. It was absolutely gorgeous. We had to make houses out of cardboard and tarp. We definitely sucked at making a cardboard house for ten people to fit in. We had to learn how to make a rock stove and a water filter. Some of the places we will be going will need to have instruction on how to make those things. I also had to use the bathroom in a drop hole. It was so weird. I call it the drop off though. It sounds cooler. We were only allowed one meal a day while we were out there, rice and lentils. Our portions were small. We had very few water at all times as well. It was very challenging at times, but I wouldn't change a thing about it. We grew as a team and just really bonded. 

      This past week, we were taught in lectures about "The Father Heart of God". I thought it was going to be for people that came from broken homes and didn't have a fatherlike figure in there house. Oh boy, was I wrong. It was all about how much God truly loves us. All of us got something different out of it. God really showed how much he loved me and how much he wanted a romantic relationship with me. I am His bride. He really proved that to me this week. Towards the end of the week, we started talking about how the enemy has told us lies in our life about different things. On Friday, we had application day ( the day we really intercede and deal with our issues on the topic) and I don't think there was a dry eye in the place. It was so good to hear everyone get relieved of the lies they were living under, including myself. God just really moved through my group this week. It was so awesome!

    On the Wednesday, during that week, we went for a second time as a base to the beach. It was so funny going this time to the beach because we now all know each other. The first time, everyone felt kind of awkward. This time, everyone was associating with everyone. We were all just comfortable with each this time. 

    On the Saturday, several of the girls in my group and I decided it would be awesome to go back to the beach. We were going to go all day. Well, that got changed because we found out that we had a meeting at 10:00 in the morning on the Saturday in our classroom. We were kind of upset at first that we weren't going to get a lot of tanning time in. When we walked into the classroom, there was a huge table set up very nicely and tons of good breakfast food on the table. The guys in our group (only 4 of them) decided that they wanted to bless us girls (18) with a delicious breakfast to thank us. They wrote a poem and personal notes to all of us. We had pancakes with fruit topping and whipped cream, scrambled eggs, over easy eggs, sausage, bacon, coffee, and all different kinds of juices. It was so yummy! Best meal ever! We then went to the beach after. I got really really sunburned! I look like a lobster!

    Every Thursday, we go out into an area in the city where bars, night clubs, and sex stores are really popular. We go and evangelize. I have been loving it so much! Every week I have been so encouraged because the peoples hearts are so open! You can tell God is moving in Perth. For the past two weeks, I have felt God was calling me to certain people. I would see someone and know that is who God wanted me to talk to. Each time I only talked to one person. Both people had one thing in common. They are atheist. They wanted nothing to do with religion and were not open to me sharing the love of Christ. I started off both conversations saying who I was and who I was with. That is all they wanted to hear. I felt that God was saying to me that I just needed to listen to them talk and just really pay attention to what they are saying. Smile and act joyous! 

  This week, we are learning about evangelism. It is going really good and it is definitely a week of encouragement towards evangelizing out on the streets.

  Next Tuesday, we are doing a walk-a-thon to raise the extra funds we will need for outreach. I am still $1,000 short of what I am needing. I am still praying and interceding with God that He will provide what I need to go. My school in general needs $42,000. We have all been getting up super early to really just pray that God will somehow provide. We know He will provide in some way that will really bless us. I have a form that talks about the walk-a-thon and how you can help me out. If you are interested you can email me, facebook me, or comment on this blog entry telling me you want to help out.  Give me your name and email address and I can send you the form. I am so thankful for everyone of you who follow my blog. It really blesses me that you would take time out of your day to hear a little bit about my life right now! You guys are the best!

Aussie lingo:

"Whacka" means "idiot"

"Yabber" means "talk"

"Yakka" means "work"

"Sprung" means "caught doing something wrong"

"Rubbish" means "trash" or "to criticize"

"Prezzy" means "present"

"Oldies" means "parents"

"Nipper" means "lifeguard"

FYI, Drop bears are not true!!!

Who's on your throne?

Oh my goodness. It's so amazing here. Every week, I don't think that it could get any better, but it does! It's so crazy how God is working here and through the YWAM organization. I just love it so much here! God is just awesome!

YWAM Perth:
  This week, we had a guy named Garth Gustafson from the Cambodia YWAM base come teach us in lectures. The topic was about Lordship. It basically meant that we need to really examine what is sitting on our thrones in our life. There is only room for one thing to sit on your throne. God wants to be the only one sitting in that seat. What is the main thing we always worry about or look forward to in life. For instance, our future, our reputation, marriage, comfort in things, control issues, etc. In order for us to get closer to God, we need to surrender, DTS (die to self), and then we will find the joy God wants us to have. We really looked at how big God really is. It just amazed me that I would question God. He is so big compared to me and he could kick me off this earth in a heartbeat if He wanted to, but He doesn't. Even after all of my mistakes in life, He still loves me, a sinner. Many of you know I have always felt called to be a missionary doctor. God really showed me this week that I didn't wait on His timing and really seek Him out when He told me that a few years ago. He showed me that I thought too soon. He showed me that He wants me to be a missionary doctor, but not an ordinary physician for health. He wants me to be a doctor that gives salvation to people. He wants me to be that person who saves our world from the sin in it. I had to give up my future and my desires in life. It was so hard, but I know that that is the only way I will be able to fully trust in God. The future is unknown...
  Garth told several facts about Cambodia. It really opened my view of Cambodia! There is so much going on there. They have so many people that live in poverty, go to bed hungry, and they have lots of sex trafficking. God has really opened my heart as well as others in my group to really try to the help the people somehow. That is our mission on earth, to help. This week we have a research project due. My groups focus is on sex trafficking. We have to present a powerpoint and also somehow show them different things about the lives of these people. It should be really good!
  Every Monday night, we have night lectures. We have to learn practical health care skills. This week we learned how to make something called ORS. It stands for Oral Rehydration System. It helps you to not have a serious case of diarrhea. We had to make up songs about it. It was so great!
  Tonight, we are doing a bush dance. It is a tradition in Australia. I'm not too sure what to expect tonight. They told me it's something like line dances, but I have a feeling it is nothing like that! I will make sure to tell you guys what it really is!

Aussie Lingo:

Bounce: a bully
Esky: an ice chest
Hottie: a hot water bottle
Icy pole: popsicle
Sunnies: sunglasses
Tall poppies: successful people
Tucker: food
Vejjo: Vegetarian
Togs: swim suit

Well there you go people! It has been great having all of you read my blog! Keep it up! It definitely encourages me! I am still praying about my outreach money to come in. Please stand in agreement with me that it will all come in! I love all of you guys so much!

Relief....

Oh my goodness! I really don't know what to say, but God is just so awesome! He is constantly amazing me about everything! It's so crazy! I am doing so good over here! I really do not want to come home, to be honest. I am enjoying living here so much! I am enjoying the people, the accents, the lingo....just everything!

YWAM Perth:
   Well, last week our lectures were about "Repentance and Forgiveness". I was dreading it so bad! I knew that that week would be the hardest week for me. Everyone else in my group thought it would be so hard too! I knew I had things I needed to lay down and give to God for good. I knew the only way I could be set free was to forgive and move on. I didn't realize how hard it was going to be! On the Friday, we had to stand up and repent and forgive in front of the whole class. The guy (Caleb Brownhill, the son of the people that run YWAM Perth) that taught the lectures that week told us that God doesn't only want us to confess our sins but He wants us to act in faith. I realized that was my problem. I wasn't really sorry by just confessing my sins in my head. I was going to do them again and again until I truly gave it up. I needed to confess and then repent in front of people. It was very hard for me to do that. I wanted to portray myself as a perfect little girl here. I was afraid I would lose my reputation here and not have any friends. I was so wrong. Not only did I lose my reputation, but I gained a reputation that was pleasing to the Lord and it was honest. These people really know who I am. They don't care about the past mistakes I have had in my life. We all gained a reputation that was pleasing to the Lord. We spent more than 11 hours confessing in a classroom. It has made us stronger as a group and we now have nothing to hide from each other. It feels so good. We cried, we laughed, we danced, we rapped...we are just one big happy family now! My relationship with God is so deep now. It is really unreal. I feel as though that wall is down and nothing can get in the way of me and my God. After the repentance and forgiveness was over, Caleb asked if any of us would like to share our experience now that our confession and forgiveness phase was out. I shared that I felt as if I was like Christian in "Pilgrim's Progress" and I kept carrying that burden on my back. I was so used to the burden that I got to the point to where I was okay with carrying it as long as I wasn't convicted. All I needed to do was lay it at the cross and just give it over to God. As soon as I was done confessing my sins, I felt that the burden was off of my back. I felt light and I felt the wall crumble down. I felt free. It was an amazing experience. I felt as if I just started my journey with Jesus. It's just so crazy!

  This week, we are talking about Intercession and Worship. It is so good. It's a bunch of information to take in, but I am learning so much. Our speaker is named Peter Warren. He runs the YWAM in Denver, Colorado. He has lived everywhere. His parents were missionaries. He is really good at teaching the information to us and giving us every detail and making sure that we walk away everyday with a clearer understanding of God.

Outings:
  Last Wednesday was Australia Day! It is like a Fourth of July back home. It was so fun. Several of the guys and gals at YWAM dressed up. I did too! We went down to the river and watched the fireworks. The fireworks were done to music. It was the best fireworks show I have ever seen! It was so neat to just sit and watch the fireworks by the river with a bunch of cool people. They had a rap concert or something going on while we were there.  I showed Aussie's how it's done on the dance floor. It was so funny! I got a shout out from the stage! It was so fun. I took lots of pictures! I would come back every year just for Aussie Day!

 Several of us went to the beach this past Saturday as well. We are trying to go every Saturday at some point during the day. I tried one of the best drinks I have ever had there!. It's from a place called Boost Juice. They have the best berry crush drink ever! I am obsessed! If you ever come to Australia, you need to try it!

Aussie lingo:
Ambo: an Ambulance
Cobber: what you call your friend
Brown-eyed mullet: a turd that's in the sea
Cactus: dead
Chewie: gum
They call themselves "fair dinkum Aussie's" which means "true Aussies"
Dunny: a port-a-potty

Well, That is all the news I have for now! If I have anything else to tell y'all I will let ya'll know! I miss you guys! Again, thanks for following my blog! You guys are so great!

Grateful to be here....

I really don't even know where to start on my blog this time. God has been doing some incredible things in my life this week and other people's lives in YWAM. He has showed me areas in my life where I need to grow and prosper and give it all to Him. He has showed me that I have a wall that is up that needs to be torn down in my life, but the wall will only come down if I agree to tear it down. God is so awesome! He is just so great!

YWAM Perth:

 Well, we had another week of lectures this week. We had a guest speaker named Maureen Menard come and speak. She is by far one of the best speakers I have ever heard in my life. If there is ever a convention going on in Louisiana or anywheres in the states, I would go to the convention to hear her speak again! She taught on the character and nature of God. She concentrated a lot on the Holy Spirit and how He lives in us. We don't need to ask for the Holy Spirit to fill the room we are in or what not, we just need to have an open heart for Him to do work in us. She taught on several things that I already knew about,

 This week started my Compassion DTS group outreaches in the city. It's called "Hands on Compassion". My group is called "Arms". We go into the city and supply help to the families in need in the city. We do this every Tuesday. This past Tuesday, we were called to go to this ladies house. She is a single mother of a 2 and 4 year old. When we walked in the house, I almost cried. God really slapped me in the face as I walked in. He showed me how blessed I am back in America and how spoiled I am. This ladies house smelled like cockroach poop as soon as you walked in. They put me working in her kitchen. When I opened her cabinets, there were tons of cockroaches and poisonous spiders in there. Many of you know this already, but I DON'T do bugs at all! I had to work through it. They were jumping at me and just being nasty. I wasn't even there for 10 minutes and I was already ready to go! We stayed for 3 and 1/2 hours. I felt so good after I left. My heart hurt for the little girls that whole night. I would never want a child to live in that environment. 

  Every Thursday, we have evangelism night. My group will be going every week to the area known as North Ridge. They have a bunch of  bars, nightclubs, and sex stores. We witnessed and had a time of worship in the city. It was so great and you could really feel the presence of God protecting us in that area. 

  Friday night, we had our regular FNM (Friday Night Meeting). It's like a church service. It was really good. That night, myself and several of the guys and girls I room with, went downtown to go see what the city was like at night. We had a lot of fun. We stayed out until 1:30 in the morning. 

  Saturday, a group of us wanted to go to the beach. So we went! It was so nice! I love their beach. The water is so pretty! Some of the group went back to the base because they had work duty, but a girl and I stayed and just took in the beautiful atmosphere we were surrounded by. It was so nice. 

  Today, I went to the church I am really enjoying. He taught on the favor of God. It was really good. If any of you are interested in listening to an Aussie preacher, the website where you can get podcasts is: www.metrochurch.org.au

  

Aussie Lingo:

"Arvo" means "afternoon"

"Good on ya" means "good job"

They say "God bless ya, mate" at the church I attend a lot. 

"fair dinkum" means "fat guy"

"Thongs" mean "flip flops"

"Milo" is "hot chocolate"

Fact: Vegemite is disgusting!

Ok guys, here is a little bit of information about this coming week! Tomorrow (Monday for us), we will be finding out where our outreach is. I am so excited to hear about it! They have been telling us to start gathering our money for outreach. I am at $4.668. 37. I need to get to $5,000 to have my outreach paid for completely. I know God is going to provide a way even when I don't see it. I ask that you pray for the money to come in so I can go do the work of the Lord. My God is faithful and will provide!

 Thanks so much for reading my blog! You guys rock! I wouldn't be able to do any of this without you prayers and support! I have so many stories that I will come home with! I can't wait to share them with you guys!