Another week

This week has been crazy...  Where do I start?  Last Saturday, my team took the Gurtenbahn (a mountain-climbing trolley type thing) to a point that overlooks all of Bern.  Bern is the capital of Switzerland, and it is BEAUTIFUL!  It is surrounded by a river on three sides and mountains on one...  We spent the morning praying for the city, for all of Switzerland (Parliament is located in Bern), and for the Church there.  Like much of Europe, Switzerland's church membership is falling and many people are walking away from the faith.  Pastors are worn out and feeling dried up because of the apathy and the struggles they are facing.

This week, we had a speaker from South Africa who really challenged me...  She has lived through apartheid, gone into the Congo in the midst of war, lived in slums, and experienced countless other difficult circumstances.  What truly caught my attention about this woman is that she has willingly walked into areas that were dark and dangerous because she was so confident about her calling as a believer to bring hope to the hopeless.  She said that we MUST convince ourselves of who God is and what He would desire of us.  I think that I have so often run back to my own safety nets - leaning on savings accounts, benefits, salary, insurance, extra vehicles, more clothes...  Not that any of these are bad in of themselves, but I have been taught to lean on them, and I am quite a fantastic learner!  I trust in what seems secure and wise by the standards of this world without ever asking God whether or not He wants me to have those nets.  I want to be so convinced of God's goodness and faithfulness that I don't concern myself with worrying about the things that would keep me from being the woman that He has created me to be.  Only in surrender of EVERYTHING do we become who we were designed to be...  I want to live this life of freedom and boldness...

It's getting late now, so I will probably end with these thoughts. Please pray for me as I have been sick the last several days.  I have had to miss some activities and class because of this as well. 

I hope all of you are doing well!

Living Sacrifices

As I start this blog, I am trying to figure out what to share with all of you...  My funny moments, my prayers, the people I meet...  And while I could probably discuss several little "life" lessons that I have learned through my own accidents already (such as having to be picked up by several bystanders because I put too much in my hiking backpack, finding out that there IS a difference between voltage converters and adapters, and flooding the bathroom in my first attempt to take a shower).  But I will save these and expound on them later. ;) 

Right now, I want to tell you about my Amtli (work duty).  Every day during the week, each student has a two hour job or service to perform, and mine is to help with the dinner preparation.  I work with a few other students and an incredible older Swiss woman from the area.  The duties are not difficult (with the exception of the fact that we have to be creative and find out new ways to package leftovers every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday), but what I never expected is that I would already have been touched by my time here.  What struck me is that the woman who runs the kitchen gathers all of us together prior to starting our job and prays with us.  This woman, though we have a language barrier, is an INCREDIBLE representation of what it means to honor the Lord in the day-to-day moments, something that I have admittedly struggled with.  She genuinely sees her work as service to God and considers the students and staff that will be eating this.  She is patient in spite of having to re-teach students every few months, and she is joyful in her work.  It is so obvious to me that she lives daily as a sacrifice to God... I desire to be like her and to learn to bring God glory in the little moments of my life...  I am learning that this is what life is anyways.  Regardless of differing locations, differing contexts and cultures, life is day-to-day.  I want to be a living sacrifice as well, offering my body, my mind, and my will to the Lord.  He is worthy of all of these things!

I am here!!!  After so much planning and praying and preparing, I have made it...  The little town that I am in is adorable... We actually get fresh milk from the cows down the road!! All of the Justice DTS students are still arriving, but I have already met some incredible people.  One of my new friends is from Cambodia.  Her father is a Buddhist clergyman, and she just began to follow Jesus a year ago!  Her testimony is inspiring as is her passion for the Lord, and I am so excited to hear more of her story during my time here.  I have TONS of pictures to post already, but my laptop will not connect to the internet for the time being.  I will get these up as soon as I can!  I literally just laughed in complete awe that the Lord would bring me to such a place!!  I am having trouble taking it all in... =) I am so looking forward to the work that God is going do in my life while I am here, and not only in mine but all of the students and staff at the base.  I was reading the first portion of Ezekiel this morning where the heavens are ripped open and Ezekiel sees a vision of God... THIS is what I want.  I want to see Him glorified!

I would love to write more, but right now are on our way to dinner.  I just wanted to let you know that I have arrived!!  Thank you so much for your prayers!!