Lecture Phase: Week 6

Woah - we're halfway through the lecture phase! Our DTS is just flying by!

Let's start with last Sunday...

We as a DTS decided to go into London to go to the Hillsong Church, and do some sightseeing.  The church wasn't really my cup of tea, but the others enjoyed it quite a bit!

On the way to London!

We spent some time on the Underground and the trains getting to where we were going - London is crazy! However, by the end of the day, the system looked manageable!  After Hillsong, we headed to the Thames River, and walked along the Queen's Walk.  We saw the London Eye, but the wait was going to be about 2 hours (probably since it was Valentine's Day and all), so we didn't get the chance to go on it.. But that's ok! We also saw Big Ben, which was one of my highlights! Lots of street performers, and we even got a selfie with Charlie Chaplin (photo in last week's blog).  After the Queen's Walk, we headed over to London Bridge - let me just say that that was a disappointment - growing up, I've heard the nursery rhyme "London Bridge is Falling Down" many times.. it's nothing fancy! However, the bridge I thought was London Bridge (Tower Bridge), was much more exciting, and was just down the river a bit!

The London Eye

Big Ben!

We tried getting a group selfie with Big Ben!

Tower Bridge!

After seeing Tower Bridge, we were freezing cold, so we headed over to the National History Museum - a free museum in London - we only got 20 minutes in there before it closed, but it was still pretty neat! That was when we got stuck in the Valentine's Day traffic.. headed over to King's Cross station to grab some dinner, then headed back for the night.  We were out for almost 12 hours, and were exhausted by the time we got back! However, we weren't done for the day, our staff had hidden clues and treats around our building for us to hunt down, and when we got it all together, we had some crumpets with Nutella and peanut butter - it was a good day.

We each got a rose on Valentine's Day - they've been blooming nicely all week!

Our speaker this week was Johnny Dixon (and his wife Traci), and he was speaking about the Father Heart of God.  There wasn't that much "material" that we covered, the focus was more on realizing just how much God loves us, and wants to have a relationship with us.  On Monday, we focused more on the Trinity, and how they work together, and that they existed together right from the beginning.

Genesis 1:1-2 "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.  Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters."

John 1:1-2 "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He was with God in the beginning." [In the Bible, Jesus is sometimes referred to as the Word]

It's just really cool to see the Scripture so much more clearly! Johnny was mentioning how those of us who grew up in the church 'suffer' from Sunday School Syndrome - we've been exposed to the same stories in the Bible so often that we often don't realize just how profound they are!

During the last lecture session on Thursday, we talked a bit about relationships with our earthly parents, and how that can affect how we view/treat God.  We then had an hour of quiet time to just talk with the Holy Spirit, and allow Him to reveal to us the things that were in our relationships with our parents that were hindering our relationship with God.  We then turned it over to Him, and asked for forgiveness for allowing these things to come between us.  It was a pretty sweet, but intense time for most of us!

On Friday, we went back to Luton for local outreach - my partner and I felt led to buy some hot chocolates, and give them out on the street.  We ended up meeting some people on the street this way, one man just lost his job, and doesn't get along with his mother and sister, and is now on the street, and another very young girl (20) had just moved to England, and had only been here for a week - she didn't speak much English.. It was sad talking to them, and we prayed for some of them in the moment, or we prayed for them afterwards.

Later on Friday evening, I was invited to the ECO (English Cultural Orientation) School's culture night (they have one every week), that night's culture was Brasil! There are a number of Brasilians in the program, and on staff, so it was a very festive atmosphere! Got to try some Brasilian dishes and desserts (the one dessert is called brigadeiros, it's amazing, and the Brasilians couldn't get enough of it!).

'Til next time! Lamtumirë!

(Goodbye in Albanian)

"The LORD your God is with you, the Mighty Warrior who saves. He will take great delight in you; in his love he will no longer rebuke you, but will rejoice over you with singing.”
Zephaniah 3:17

Lecture Phase: Week 5

Back to the land of the living! For those of you that don't know, I felt very strongly that God wanted me to go an "electronics fast" of a sort - no computer or iPod for a week (Sunday night to Friday night).  Monday was rough, but the rest of the week was really refreshing to not have any distractions!  The thing I probably missed the most was my music.. Blasting music in BB Hall at 7 in the morning when no one else is there makes it not feel like it's so early!

Sunrise over the Factory this week

Sunrise over the Chapel and Clock Building this week

The theme for this week was the Holy Spirit - led by Mark Vening of YWAM Wales - it was a very good week!

We started off the week looking at just how human and personable Jesus was:

In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross!      
Philippians 2:5-8

As stated in the passage above, Jesus literally "made himself nothing" by becoming a human.  Jesus had to learn how to talk, walk and eat as a baby.  Jesus gave up his "Godness" when he came to Earth.  He was completely vulnerable to the same things that we are.

We then went on to discuss WHEN Jesus knew he was the Son of God.  When Jesus was 30, he was baptized by John the Baptist - the Spirit of God descended upon him like a dove, and a voice from heaven said, "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased." (end of Matthew 3).  At this point we know the Jesus knows he is the Son of God.  The Holy Spirit is crucial here, because once Jesus was filled with the Spirit, he was able to start his ministry.

We also discussed the Personhood of the Holy Spirit - in the Western World, the Holy Spirit tends to be seen as this "thing" that does some work for God the Father, and the Son Jesus Christ, but in fact, they are a Trinity - they work together as one! John 15:26 says "When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father - the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father - HE will testify about me" - there are SO MANY examples of the Holy Spirit being referred to as a "He" - makes me wonder how I haven't seen it before!  Also, in Ephesians 4:30, "... and do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God..." - the Holy Spirit can grieve - He is personable and relatable!  It's been a good week of examining what I believe in, and recognizing that there is so much more out there!

We also went on to discuss the gifts of the Spirit - it's quite amazing how accessible they are.  We've been hindered by the Western World's point of view regarding some areas regarding many of the gifts.  I can't really put into words what we learned that will make sense, so feel free to ask any questions!

On Monday, during our outreach prep time, we had to prepare a short 2-3 min testimony ahead of time, and give it to the class.  We were then given feedback on how we did, so we can better our testimonies for other people.

Monday evening was neat - during our Freedom Class slot, the mature Christians on the base were broken off into smaller groups of three, and one DTS student went to each group.  They then prayed over us for God to reveal to them what He wanted to say about each student regarding their Original Design - how God originally designed us!  Reactions from the students were quite varied, but all-in-all, it was a really good experience!

Tuesday was Pancake Tuesday! One of our DTS students made up a bunch of "pancakes" (technically they're crepes, but British people get testy about their pancakes - crepes are very different according to them!) to eat when we were done for the day!

My "pancake" - it was excellent - I've never put toppings on one and rolled it up before!

On Wednesday, we had our first outreach team session - just the people who will be going to Albania! We went over some of our expectations, the things we're excited for, and the things we're 'worried' about - it was a good time!

On Thursday, we had to creatively present the chapters we were assigned to in groups - it was great fun! My group wrote a song - hilarious - if I can figure out how to upload the video without it taking hours, I'll do that!

On Friday, we took the train into Luton (let me just say - trains are pretty neat!) - we were paired off to prayerwalk around the mall area again - this time, the person we were paired with will be the person we stay with for the rest of the Lecture phase.  Due to complications with the school we were originally going to be going to to help with the afterschool program, we unfortunately won't be helping out there anymore - but we get to pray for the people in the mall, so everything will work out well!  My partner (also a Canadian) and I had a very unique first experience - can't wait to see what next week brings!

In the evening on Friday, I went to my second ECO (English Cultural Orientation) culture night - the country of the night was Ecuador - great food, dancing and fun!  After that, I headed over to the chapel for a night of "Unveiled Worship".  It's an event that's run the 2nd Friday of every month (my first one), where there's a time of very informal worship, people come and leave any time between 8 and 12, and they can sing along and worship, pray, paint, dance, or however they feel like worshipping God!

The Church I have been attending in Harpenden - United Reformed Church

Preview for next week's post - our trip to London! In the meantime - meet Charlie Chaplin!

Lecture Phase: Week 4

Man, another week has flown by!

Our lecture topic for the week was Jesus, Sin & the Cross, and the speaker was Ben Foster from YWAM Coventry.  It was such an intense week, that I don't even know if I can put it into words!

One of the topics that we touched on during the week were the 9 exchanges that occurred at the cross:

1) Jesus was punished so that we might be forgiven
2) On the cross, Jesus was wounded so that we might be healed
3) Jesus became sin with my sinfulness so that I might become right with His righteousness
4) Jesus died my death so that I might share His life
5) Jesus became a curse so that I might receive His blessing
6) Jesus died on a cross in poverty so that I might receive His abundance
7) Jesus endured shame on the cross so that I might share in His glory
8) Jesus was rejected so that I might be accepted
9) We become a new man in place of the old

If anyone has questions about this, feel free to ask me - I have very extensive notes, and I'm just trying to simplify what we learned!

On Monday, for our outreach prep time, we had a session on public speaking from Jessica (a woman on the base), we have to prepare a short testimony (3 min) for this coming week to share with the class to practice our public speaking skills!

On Thursday, in lectures, we had a time of public confession and repentance to Jesus - that was super intense, and I won't say too much about it, since it was a very personal time for all of us.

On Friday afternoon, we headed into a nearby city - Luton - to do our weekly outreach.  The trainees have been split into 2 groups of 5, and each week, one group will be helping out with an afterschool program with local underprivileged kids, playing sports with them.  The other group will be prayerwalking around certain areas of Luton.  We will be rotating the groups each week, and it may be a bit different in the future, but for now, this is what's happening.  Due to complications with our police checks, we weren't able to start with the afterschool program this week, so all of us went to the mall and shopping district to pray over the area, and pray for people if we felt led to do so.

I apologize for the shortness of this post, a lot has really happened this week, but it's just been so intense, that it's hard to put into words!

"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest."    Matthew 11:28

The sunrise earlier this week - I got a picture right before the sun disappeared and it rained on us!