Thoughts

It is the 7th week of lecture and my mind is getting blown. Our speaker this week is Matt Rawlins, teaching about the Fear of God. He tore apart (in a good way, trust me) Psalm 147:7 to really show just how big our God is. "He determines the number of the stars and calls them each by name." Did you know there are 30 billion trillion stars in the universe? I don't even know how many zeros that is. And that is just a guess. As wild as it is to even think that they are there in existence, God knows their names. HE KNOWS THEIR NAMES. He could stand before me right now and list 'em all of, no prob. What the heck. Our God is so BIG. And He effortlessly hold 30 billion trillion stars in His hands. With that context in mind, let Psalm 139 blow your mind for a minute. "You have searched me and you know me." The very God who created and can name those stars in a split second knows me in and out. It stuns me. I am so overwhelmed by His love! What an amazing God we serve. 

A theme that keeps coming to my mind this season is relationship. It is what we were created for. Adam and Eve walked daily with God in the garden. Moses hung out with Him on a mountain. Jesus, God in the flesh, was here for 33 years making friends all over the place. And its the same today. Every human soul on this earth was created for relationship with the Father. Some have no idea of this because the enemy comes in with lies of legalism, telling us we have to do do do and work work work to reach the Father. I lived that way for 20 years, my friends, and let me tell you, it is better on the other side! The pressure of failing (which I did often and still do since I am human) is gone when we know who our Father is and how much He loves us! The best part of this is that it can begin at any time. Whether you are 5, 105 or somewhere in between, the invite never ends! 

I will be leaving exactly a month from today with 9 of my dearest friends for South Africa! With this fire burning in my heart and revelation of relationship, I am bursting to go forth and share with those in Masi. Please be praying for my team as we prepare to head out! Also, please partner with me in praying for a release of finances! I personally need around $1,600, and my team needs around $4,000 by August 30th. If you feel led to donate, please clink the link to the right and help us change the world!

"Left to Right, top to bottom: Michael, Anna, Jin, Sophie, Kevin, Annika, Kourtney, Kelsey, Co-leader Amy and myself)

Much love,

Kristi 

5 weeks down and only 6 weeks to go! It can be difficult to sum up all that God has done in these 5 weeks without going on for hours and hours, so I will just hit on a few major things that has been going on in the DTS.

Out Reach Locations Revealed! 

The second week of school was buzzing with excitement after the announcement of outreach locations!  We played a short video revealing the 11 outreach nations, released them to pray about it, then they came back with the nation they felt God was leading them to. The following week, us staff were in prayer, watching as God assembled each team so divinely and then announced them the following week. I have the privilege of co-leading a team with my amazing friend, Amy, to Cape Town, South Africa! We have an incredible team of 8 students, ages 18-33, from all over the world joining us on this crazy adventure on the other side of the globe.  We will be partnering with a community plant that has been running there for over a year and has seen God move among this nation. Our team will be the only westerners (and the only white people) living in the township of Masiphumelele (Masi, for short), composed of 30,000 impoverished South Africans. Our home will be an open house so we can minister to everyone and anyone. In the course of our 3 months there, we will be partnering with other ministries such as soccer ministry, children, Community Eats, and Living Way. I have been dreaming of going to Africa since I was a little girl and am so excited to see what God has in store for myself and the team there!

(The other outreach locations are India, Togo, Mozambique, Iceland, Brazil, Nepal, Turkey, and Cambodia *not all are listed due to locations that are being protected*) 

Break Through in the Class!

This past Thursday, the staff were in a time of ministry with out speaker, Christian Gonzzales (check out his podcasts! He'll blow your mind!) while the students were in a time of worship in the classroom. Towards the end of our meeting, we get a text saying that the students in the classroom were totally getting encountered by God. We head down there and sure enough they were going for it!!! Some praising, some praying, and others gathered around each other praying for breakthrough in their identity in Jesus, and they were getting it! This went on for hours! It was awesome to see God do His thing without the staff. They knew what they wanted, went for it, and God did the rest.

Prayer requests
We are half way through the lecture part of DTS which means we have begun preparing for Outreach! Please partner with me in praying for...

• More breakthrough!
• Unity in the class and team South Africa
• Finances! I personally need $2,800 by the end of this month and many more in the class need funds for outreach as well. 
• Wisdom and Amy and I plan for our time in South Africa

Thank you so much for all the support, love, and prayers you have sent my way! It means the world to me to have such amazing family and friends all over the world who are supporting me :)

Much love,

Kristi