My Wedding

This week was all about the Lordship of Christ in our lives, transitioning from a believer to a disciple, surrendering everything in our life to King Jesus. The week ended in one amazing day where we symbolically made our way into the tabernacle and presented ourselves as living sacrifices. Although we went through this as a community, every person's story of meeting with God that day is very different. Mine is the only one that has to do with a wedding to the Bridegroom, so that is the story that I will tell you. I must preface this by saying that what we do in the physical/natural affects the spiritual/supernatural which is what made the day eternally significant for me.

I woke up on Friday and had a sense that God told me to dress up for my wedding, so I put on the only dress I brought. At one point in the day we were giving gifts to the priests (each other) and the Lord told me to give my purity ring to a sister who needed to know that she is pure in the eyes of God because she is washed clean in the blood of Jesus. (I'm sure you can imagine how meaningful this was for both of us). Everyone in the room had tears as gifts were given out of an attitude of surrendering our most meaningful possessions to bless someone else out of obedience to Christ. Another sister gave me a bracelet from her grandmother which symbolized her right to be married again. To me it felt like the Lord was adorning me as his bride. Later in the day we gave a "grain offering" where we left items at the foot of the cross to be consecrated for God's purposes only. It was here that I laid down my wallet, special journal, and cut off my hair. You see, 8 years ago I told God that I was not going to significantly cut my hair until I got married because the Bible says that long hair is a woman's crowning glory and I also know that guys tend to prefer long hair. I confess that when I think about the future, I often desire a husband more than surrendering completely to God's will, whatever it may be. So, cutting my hair that day was symbolic of making Jesus the Lord in this area of my life and completely trusting in His love for me. Now my new short hair is a constant reminder that I am focusing on Christ and not on impressing any man. 

Another awesome part of the day (although not having to do with my wedding) was when we presented our "sin offering" by publicly confessing our sins and repenting from them. After I had confessed on my turn, the instructor, Mark, asked me to prophetically pray over 5 other students (no one else was asked to do this, but most people were asked to do some act in the physical to represent their spiritual freedom). Later that night some of those I had prayed for told me that it was direct confirmation about things God was already revealing to them about His plan for their lives. So cool! This was definatly one of the most amazing days of my life and there are too many details for me to be able to explain it all. The next day, Saturday, I felt like a new person with an even deeper sense of joy and freedom like I have not experienced before. Then I went to Narnia. Pictures below.

The grain offering

Castle Hill- This is where they filmed the last battle in the Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe

Me at Casstle Hill, just for perspective.

Dont miss the snow capped mountains in the background

That is me on the rock!

L to R- Johnny, Gabe, Logan, David, Ryan, Jaron. Looked like a band photo.

My new short hair!

Encourage one another

"Therefore, having put way falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another." Ephesians 4:25
One thing I love about my YWAM community here at Oxford is that we make it a regular practice to speak truth to each other. The world has been telling us all lies about who God is and who we are, so to counteract those lies it is important to verbalize the truth and this is how we build one another up in the Lord. My brothers here have been really good at encouraging me with the truth, they don't hold back even though I am a girl. One night during worship I was asking God to reveal anything in my heart that was not true. A moment later, my German brother Manuel turned to me and said "Amy, I feel like God wants me to tell you that He made you beautiful and you have bright eyes and a joyful smile and that He is proud of you." Bam! That cut me to the core and I started crying. At some point in my life I was told that I wasn't pretty and I have been working to make God proud of me. I repented in that moment and thanked God for speaking to me through my brother. I asked the Lord to speak to me and felt like I should pray for one of my sisters. So, I knelt down and prayed with Sarah and she started crying. After saying "amen" she told me that she was just telling God what her fears were and when I prayed it was exactly about that issue (which I had no idea of while I prayed). That same night another brother spoke more truths to me about who I am in Christ. Over the weekend we took a trip to Kaikoura and more brothers seemed to be on some secret mission to encourage me and were pointing out my strengths and abilities throughout the trip "Amy, you're really good at influencing people/leadership, encouraging others, serving, being positive, making dinner for the team...etc." Wow, I was so built up by their words, this is how the body of Christ works! I asked the Lord to give me more quality conversations with my sisters here and for one specific prayer partner. This week He has been answering those prayers and every meal I end up talking with one of the other ladies for a good long while about what God has done in our lives. One of those times, after talking with my Swiss friend Tabea, she asked me if she could pray for me and we prayed and then she shared something she wanted prayer for, so we prayed again. I said "Tabi, do you want to be prayer partners?" She enthusiastically said "YES! I have been wanting someone special to pray with." I love it that we both individually asked our Father for something and He led us together. Also last weekend during a worship night I heard one of my sisters weeping, so I knelt by her and prayed for her in the Spirit, not sure what to say. My thoughts turned to a battle scenario so, in faith, I told her that she doesn't have to fight anymore and Jesus has won the victory for her and His banner over her is love. Then I began to rub her back and head. While I was giving her a head message, I had the impression that I was the hands of her heavenly Father in that moment comforting His child. The next day she shared with me that she was crying because she was telling God that she was tired of fighting and was pulling at her hair. When the Lord responded to her through me, it was exactly what she needed. We were both overjoyed at how the Spirit heard her and spoke to/through me.
I have so many more stories I could tell of how God uses us to comfort and build each other up, but I think you get my point. This foundation of love and unity in the family of Jesus is so important because the world will know we are His disciples by our love. I have this sense that my fellow students and I are being prepared to be sent out into the world to share this amazing love that our Father has for all people!

We took a weekend trip to Kaikoura and it rained on our night of beach camping, so I cooked dinner in the trunk of the van. In the photo L to R is Samuel (Swiss), Ben (Canadian), Matt (Canadian), Logan (American), Lukas (Swiss), and Katie (American).

It was so cold and rainy, but some of our men managed to start a fire.

This is the view looking back from standing on the beach. We prayed for sunshine on Saturday and God gave it to us! Can you imagine snowboarding down that mountain with a view of the beach and ocean in front of you?

At the base of this waterfall are baby seal pups playing in the water. The river flows into the ocean where their moms are lying on the beach.

This is gorgeous New Zealand! Welcome to Kaikoura, where the beach and mountains are in one panarama view.

Ya, I could have pet him, but I didnt.

This is my wonderful roommate Donna. She is 30 and in the Justice DTS (not backpacker). They made us roommates because we are the oldest girls. All the other ladies are in 2 rooms full of bunkbeds. 

My brothers Ben and Manuel (German) on twin day (my trin is not in the photo).

Playing Snake Oil on our free night. L to R is Liz, Tabea, Rachel, Kimmie, Donna, Jason, Cloe, Sarah, and Gabe.

Lessons

There are so many stories to tell and I am not sure where to start.
Last week's lectures were about hearing the voice of God. Yes, He speaks to us! How else do you communicate with someone you are in a relationship with? Many times I ask God to speak when I need His direction or guidance but I have learned that He wants to tell me so much more than that if I will just be silent and listen. John 15:12-15 explains that Jesus no longer calls us servants, but friends. A servant listens for instructions, but a friend listens to the heart. We are able to know the heart of God because His Spirit lives within us. So, we had a night of asking for an outpouring of the Holy Spirit, and man did He show up! The joy and powerful presence of God filled the room. Some people laughed, some cried, some were on the ground, some danced around, some spoke in tongues. I know that not everyone who reads this believes in these things, but I am just giving you an honest account of what occured. Needless to say, it was very exciting! The Father is so loving! He does not withold good things from His children and when we know His love, it makes us want to love Him in return.

We finally went on our first little backpacking trip last weekend. A group of 16 of us hiked Lewis Pass and then hiked to Douglas Lake where we camped in a hut/cabbin or tents. The trees were so green and the distant surrounding mountains were capped with snow, it was so gorgeous! For a few people in the group, this was their first time summitting a mountain! We sang hymns on the way back down and I will never forget the experience. When we hiked to the hut, we met a small group of fishermen who were staying in the hut as well. While I prepared dinner for the team, some of my friends used the opportunity to have good conversations with the fishermen. In the morning 3 of us sat on the dock of the misty lake and read scriptures out loud to eachother- another moment I will treasure forever.

This week's lectures are on evangelism. Our teacher is Len Du Preez who has been a backpacking missionary with his son for 10 years. He has been all over the world sharing the gospel and has the most amazing stories! He has taught us to rely on the Holy Spirit to lead us in the best way to share Jesus with each person we meet. He gave us various methods, questions, tracks, and practical ways to share our faith/testimony, but the Lord will be the one to guide each opportunity. I can't wait for outreach phase where our entire purpose everyday is to share the Gospel with whomever we meet!

God is so good!!! I just want to love Him with all my heart, mind, soul, and strength!
Here are some pictures for your viewing pleasure  :)

We are so excited to be going backpacking!

The distant snow covered mountains visable from the base of Lewis Pass

I made it to the top with the guys...the Lord is my strength! 45 minutes later the rest of the ladies joined us. From that day on they call me by my trail name "Gazelle" when we hike.

We were in a cloud when we first got to the top, but then the cloud slowly rolled away and the view was glorious! Praising God from the top of the mountain!

This picture give a bit of the perspective from the top. So many green hills!

Photo bombed while sitting in a tree.

Trees!

This was the "hut" on Douglas Lake. There is no electricity, only a wood burning stove, bunk beds, running water, and counter space...I call this luxury camping!  For cost-efficiency I slept in the tent outside to the right of the hut in the picture.

The lake in the morning when the fog had lifted

Backpacking for Jesus!

Two baby goats with mama. See how tiny they are!!

I couldn't resist.

Typical New Zealand... this view never gets old.

Never seen a sign like that one... not sure why he's driving a tractor...

Our guys made a German meal for everyone. It was delicious!

New Zealand sunrise

My small group: Rachel, Chloe, and Katie. We enjoyed some real hot chocolate.

Spring time snow! And I thought I would be missing winter this year ... I've had more winter in two days here than all season in San Diego.