And breathhh...

       Biology book.    Coffee.     Biology book.    Coffee.   Math book.    Coffee.    Math book.     Cram.

BIOLOGY TEST.    MATH TEST.

This has pretty much been my life this past week, throw in some meals and frantic journaling and that about sums it up. I have never had to study this much before, not even during finals! But what I'm studying I find fascinating. For example, water is a universal solvent, meaning that it can pretty much dissolve anything right? EXCEPT it can't dissolve our cells! One tiny detail that allows mankind to live, how great is our God? 

So I have an interesting topic for you guys-on friday nights I attend this young adult fellowship called The Net of which I am so grateful for, I know that God has brought me there for a significant reason. Well, this past friday we watched a video that connected Hitler and the Holocaust to abortion and it made me really take a step back and re-evaluate my actions and what I am doing to show the value of human life. Its called 180 Movie, and its around 30 minutes long. If you have the time please watch it, here is the link http://www.180movie.com/ I hope it encourages and challenges you like it did for me!




For the next few days the "prayer country of the day" is Nigeria and I am blown away by some of the facts regarding this country. 
Did you know that some of the worlds largest prayer meetings have been there?  
I had no idea! I also didn't know that half the population claims to be Christian. How amazing! To the left is a prayer cast for Nigeria, please lift up this country in your prayers. For more information here is a link you can follow: http://www.operationworld.org/country/nigr/owtext.html

Prayer for Mozambique

Please join me in prayer for the country of Mozambique! If you have a moment watch this video as well, powerful words of prayer are being lifted up for this country:

Prayer Cast for Mozambique

How Are You Spending Labor Day?

I love Labor Day. School has only been in session for two weeks and we already get a break, how exciting! Unfortunately my labor day isn't as eventful as usual, it is my first away from home, and I am spending it by catching up on homework, errands and laundry. Later I will meet some friends at the beach, so that will be the highlight.
This morning in my bible reading the verses came from Job 1-5, and I just want to summarize what meant the most to me. First of all, the story of Job fascinates me, really. I mean have you met anyone like him? Anyone who lost literally EVERYTHING and right away, without hesitation begins to worship God?

Job 1:20-21, "Then Job arose, tore his robe, and shaved his head; and he fell to the ground and worshiped. And he said '...The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; Blessed be the name of the Lord.'" 

This is the perfect example of someone who trusts God with their entire life, it is so easy to trust God when everything is going great, but what about when everything goes wrong? I was also just reading along when I came across this verse from

Job 5:8-9, "But as for me, I would seek God, and to God I would commit my cause-Who does great things, and unsearchable, marvelous things without number." 

A few things struck me in these verses:

1. "...without number." The works of God do not have a limit. He can being mercy and healing even if we fall into the same sin over and over. God's work is still possible. It could also seem to be an impossible task, that is still possible with God. I am reminded of how finite my mind is, and how often times I place God in a box and don't give Him free reign to do the miracles and marvelous things that He can do! That is where the first part of this verse comes in:

2. "...I would seek God, and to God I commit my cause..." I think it is so important if we want to see miracles done that we seek and commit to God. Why should we expect great things if we don't offer God the least of us? And how can we know God is working if we don't know God?

So those are my revelations of the day, well up until the time I wrote this post. The country to pray for today is Mongolia. I am following a website called Operation World, they have a calendar to follow for the entire world that covers all the countries. It includes information on the country of the day as well as prayer points. To follow the calendar, here is the link- http://www.operationworld.org/prayer-calendar. The prayer information for Mongolia is listed below:

"Mongolia’s traditional religions, Lamaistic Buddhism and shamanism, have experienced resurgence since independence. Buddhism numerically dominates, but most do not understand it well. Deeper in the Mongolian psyche are beliefs in shamanism, traditional ethnic superstitions and even occult practices. Increasing numbers of Mongolians, especially younger ones, are consulting shamans for help with health, finance and relationship issues. Pray that Mongolians might find complete liberation and have transformed lives through following the Lord Jesus Christ."

I'm Back!

Hello faithful followers! As many of you know, I was gone for a while with YWAM but have been home for quite some time now (I'm going to school for mission nursing at Texas A&M University Corpus Christi). For some reason, I stopped blogging. I have no clue why because truthfully, I love it! Nonetheless I decided to start it back up again, and will be in the process of creating a new design/look with new content soon. Please bear with me through this process. I am starting a new journey in my relationship with Christ-I read the book Radical by David Platt (a great and challenging read, I strongly suggest it!) and at the end we are supposed to take our relationship with God to a whole new level and that is just what I am going to do! It consists of reading through the whole bible in a year and praying for the entire world in a year among other things. Yes, it will be challenging but I am reminded of the verse in Romans 8:31, "What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?" So this blog will most likely be based off that idea. Please join me for this journey! I will post daily bible reads and countries to pray for every day along with other random things and I am just so excited to see how God uses this experience! I love serving a great and mighty King. Please stay tuned for more!

Just the Beginning

Grief is strong here in Germany, my time here ended a few nights ago and one by one my fellow students are leaving, going back to their home country (I leave next thursday). I am extremely grateful for my experience in the Mobile DTS 2011. Nothing and no one can take this away from me! I have been on an incredible journey, discovering all new aspects of God and my life has been changed from the inside out! My identity is solid in Christ, my hope and joy comes from Him and in time of sufferings, He will never leave me. Looking back to the Grace I was before, and looking at the Grace I am now, I am in awe of the power of Christ, only He can bring deep change. I've discovered that it just takes saying "yes" to God and He will take you places and levels beyond what you can imagine.

Thursday night was our graduation and it was one of the most bittersweet moments I have ever experienced. Feelings of excitement, sadness, satisfaction and joy rushed over me, I didn't quite know what to do with them! The night started with a yummy meal of burritos (not realll burritos, but they were close) and ended with delicious icecream. In between there was a time of worship, leader speeches and passing out of the certificates. I don't think our school has experienced such a powerful worship time. I felt like God was saying Isaiah 41:10 to us- 

"Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand."

There comes a certain level of fear knowing it is the end and we are going home but the cool thing is that DTS may be done, but God isn't done with us. He has so much more planned! Being fearful will stunt the growth we have all encountered. 

On another encouraging note, one of our leaders charged us with a verse from Matthew 5:16-

"Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven."

This is just the beginning, my new life starts when I get home. How will I use the light that is in me??

Two weeks left!

I am back in YWAM Herrnhut, with two weeks to go and 24 weeks behind me. God is faithful. I haven’t updated in a while but that doesn’t mean nothing has happened, these last two weeks have been crazy! Buxtehude was a week spent investing time in the community; we worked with troubled kids in the park, spoke in a few church youth groups and did some practical service work. For the weekend we had a special chance to live at the Royal Ranger outpost and personally, I don’t really know what being a “Royal Ranger” means...I just went along with everyone else. But it was a fun weekend! We chopped down trees all day saturday and spoke at a local church where I met a set of triplets! And just like my brothers and I, they were two boys and a girl, the girl the youngest. I was stoked! It was my first time meeting an older set of triplets. All in all the week was good, we weren’t too busy and we had a lot of time to get to know each other. That was important because the outreach teams were split, so we were paired with people we didn’t know too well. 

On sunday I packed up my stuff and left for Prague! My dad arrived that afternoon and we spent the week together there. It was a very special week. I got to share my experiences with him and he got to update me on my family and what is going on at home. We toured around Prague and also did some prayer/devotion time together. I was also able to see my friend Anetka who I met on a mission trip a few years ago. It’s always a blessing to see her! My dad left friday morning so I spent the day with some friends who did their faith week in Prague, on saturday we started the way back to the castle and hitchhiked along the way. It was so much fun! I have never done that before and I had my suitcase with me, but God provided and we got picked up by a bright orange hippy van and then later picked up by a teeny tiny car that we crammed into. It was quite the experience. I don’t recommend hitchhiking in America, but I’m glad I was able to experience it. 

We arrived at the castle to total chaos. My school is here (40 people) the MOTA school is here (130 people) and the January DTS is here (20 people) plus all the staff members (100 people). The first meal altogether was very overwhelming. But it is nice to see the people again, and it will be fun to attend their graduation on thursday. 

My school has lecture this week and next week is sort of a “prep” week for going home. I am really trying to finish strong and see what God has planned for the rest of the time here. After all, a lot can happen in just two weeks.

Buxtehude, was?

It has been almost three months since I have been in Germany but now I am back! As we were driving from Holland to the border I noticed the exit on the highway said "ausfahrt" and I realized it was german which brought me to a conclusion, I had to be in Germany! My excitement lasted only a minute though. Germany is not one of my favorite places but I am happy to have started my journey with YWAM here. There are four more weeks and I know they are going to be jam packed! For this week I am in a town called Buxtehude, near the Hamburg area. My team and I (nine people) will be here for the week participating in different forms of evangelism such as speaking in churches, working with the Royal Rangers and visiting our friends in Hamburg! The rest of the school is spread throughout Germany each team working with different ministries, so this is a powerful week for Germany! Next monday we will begin our faith walk week- which means pray, hear from God and go. I pray it will be a week that stretches and grows me. After that week we will spend two weeks in Herrnhut and then it's off to home! Wow. I don't want to think about that yet.

This past week in Holland I stayed in Heerde, an adorable town with bikes and flowers everywhere! I stayed with an awesome host family who had two dogs and a cat. Just in case you were wondering. We did all kinds of ministry while there, hanging out with the youth (one night we had a dance party!), church ministry, small group programs, working in homeless and mental shelters, children programs and chilling in towers interceding for the town. Tuesday night we got together with another group from our school for a "dutch night!" We played traditional dutch games, ate yummy dutch food and enjoyed each other's wonderful company! I really enjoyed being in a different part of Holland, Amsterdam is it's own place and you can't truly get the "dutch experience" there. For example, because I was in different houses I noticed that all the mirrors are mounted so high because of how tall the dutch people are. Short little Grace had trouble seeing in them! I also noticed the dutch consume more coffee than other europeans (except italians) and I love it! It is a way of living, to just relax and enjoy deeper relationships. Maybe I can bring that back to America with me, anybody down? Anyways, I hope you enjoyed my update, though I have noticed they are becoming more like "updates" than what I am experiencing/feeling. Sorry about that! Time is flying by and we are becoming so busy! But thank you for your prayers, I appreciate them so much! I will be be back soon!

Reunion!

Amsterdam. The city of weed, tulips, bikes and prostitutes. A harsh reality. Ironically, it is one of my new favorite cities! Beautiful canals run through the city adding a unique vibrant flair to the elegant dutch buildings that line the cobblestone streets. More recent buildings give off a slight modern look and remind me that I am still living in the 21st century. It is quite humorous to walk and notice there are more bike paths than walking paths, not to mention how chic the people dress on the bikes! Life in Amsterdam is very fast paced and business-like, if you are a local. Tourists come for other reasons. Located 15 minutes from the main square is the YWAM base we are staying in and have all been brought together after a two-month outreach. Just to give you a glimpse of how the first meeting went: The Africa team arrived first, with their hiking backpacks securely tied to their backs, their tan skin and wild hair making them unrecognizable. A rush of screams and hellos came out as we embraced for the first time in two months. The guys of the Italy team arrived shortly after, sporting their new turkish hats and fashionable suits. Why suits? I have no idea and apparently, neither do they. Amidst the chaos of us reuniting, the Romania team slipped quietly in the background but couldn’t stay down forever, they joined in with hugs and greetings as well! The foyer became full of backpacks, jackets, sleeping bags and people until finally Julie announced rooms and everyone shuffled off to their room. That night we had a school meeting and afterwards the France team arrived covered in rain, we were finally complete! The Africa team had one goal: a shower. Amen, because they got one! It is so nice to be altogether again, and while it will be hard to readjust to being with everyone I know God has some awesome things planned for the next six weeks. Next week we will be split into three teams and travel to different areas in Holland for a “mini outreach/Dutch Trumpet Tour,” where we will work in churches, in the streets and doing various ministries. The week after that will be spent in different areas in Germany for the German Trumpet Tour. Luckily I will be in a town near Hamburg, woohoo!! I really enjoyed Hamburg. And this week we are debriefing, so I am preparing to really process through my outreach and see truly how God worked. I think it will be very tough and tedious but it is good to take the time to look back and see what God has been doing. Often times we skip over what is really important and exalt things that don’t matter too much. I want to dig deeper, go beyond the obvious and uncover what great things actually too place. Ask God to reveal the things that we couldn’t see right away. Who knows what was happening behind the scenes! God does, and I am excited to find out! Please be in prayer for my team this week as we dive into this together, that it will bring us together in unity and we can just reflect on the amazing outreach God gave us!

Goodbye Outreach

Flying from Istanbul to Amsterdam is something I never thought I would do, but nonetheless, it is happening! I am currently somewhere over Budapest! My time in Turkey has sadly come to an end and it is time to move on, not just from Turkey but from outreach! It officially ended on the 14th when Sebastian solemnly handed out the debriefing papers to glum faces. I have so many mixed feelings, but I am grateful to have this experience behind me. It is now a part of my life and it always will be! Whenever anyone talks about “outreach” this will be what I contribute to the conversation; this was my experience and I loved it! 

Our time in Turkey was very successful, we arrived at the border with a few problems but God is faithful and He safely delivered us through. And typically, as ywamer’s, something unexpected happened and we had no place to stay until morning (it was already 4 a.m.) so we slept in the van! That sounds a bit desperate, I know. But it was quite the experience. At one point, after everyone pulled out their sleeping bag and somehow found a “comfortable position” there was a moment of silence, and reality hit us and laughter erupted through the van! Were we really going to sleep in a freezing van, right outside of a hotel? Yes we were. And when we woke up, there were snowflakes falling lightly all around, it was beautiful. We met some on-fire people for God in the prayer house, and we were able to join with them in prayer and worship everyday, at one point attending an all night long prayer meeting! They believe we are a prophetic act since our base is in Herrnhut (where the Moravians began the 100 year prayer and revivals broke out) so I am looking forward to how God blesses/uses the house. God was also really moving in our personal lives, this was when we were challenged to really go deeper in our personal quite times and like any relationship, when time is spent together, growth appears! I am soo grateful for what God showed me during this time. He also really brought our team together, we achieved unity that I didn’t think was possible. That was a shame on my part, nothing is too small for God to take control of! There was no internet so that really contributed to the unification. We also had a kitchen so we each took turns cooking a variety of meals (american, german, indian and chinese food!) and ate like a family, all around a big table. Those are some of my favorite outreach memories! I hope and pray this is just the beginning of many deep, lasting relationships.

For the next two weeks we will be in Amsterdam debriefing from outreach and after that we will spread out across Germany on a “trumpet tour” ministering to and encouraging different churches. Thank you so much for your faithful prayers, they have such an impact on what is happening :)

Yassas Greece!

Well the time has come to repack our bags and depart from another great country in search of more of God's kingdom! Athens has been amazing, we have worked with so many different ministries and I have really been able to see God provide over and over again. Working with refugee's has opened my eyes and seeing the love the volunteers have has blown my mind. I didn't know so much love was possible! And that is just a glimpse of the love Christ has for us.
The next country we are going to is T  U  R  K  E  Y and I am excited/nervous. It is still a muslim country, yet I know the safest place to be is in the center of God's will. We will be working with a prayer house and doing various ministries of which I do not exactly know. Our time there will conclude the outreach phase and I have mixed feelings about it! I won't go into details now but I do have a few prayer points:

• please pray for the safety of our team as we will spend time traveling in the van
• unity and a greater spiritual awareness in our team
• Christ's strength and renewal as we near the end of outreach
• God uses us as a light during this time
• God would continue to provide funding for our team

I will be locking up my computer while I am there so in Amsterdam I will give an update of what is happening! 

Nothing is impossible with God. Have a blessed two weeks!

Does your heart ache yet?

Imagine yourself walking through the city streets of Athens. To your right a man is covered in sores and he has a foul smell. You notice him doing something- he is shooting up in desperation, turning to drugs so he can run from his heartbreaking reality. On your left a refugee woman is openly feeding her baby on the side of the road, doing anything she can for money. Straight ahead a group of policemen are maliciously beating a man asking for papers and passports, but the man can’t show them what he doesn’t have. Across the street a young girl is crying out, pleading to not be taken into prostitution, but that is the only way she can make money. Refugee children are being carried from center to center with their parents, yet they seem so happy and sweet. You wonder why they are smiling, do they children know they will grow up as refugee’s? Do they know how narrow their future is?

Those surroundings have been my world only for the last two weeks, but my life has been impacted more here than any other place. This is Athens’s reality! It is a place full of darkness, desperation and despair. The only hope for this city and it’s people is God. Nothing else will give them the peace and the light that He offers. We need missionaries to rise up and help reach the city of Athens! There are already numerous organizations here following God’s heart for the people but with the population of refugees steadily increasing more missionaries are needed. 

We have had the wonderful opportunity to pair with three different organizations in the city center, working with refugee’s, drug addicts, the homeless and some of the youth. I have devoted myself to these ministries, doing up to three a day, and I have never been happier! I get to see how much God loves the farsi speaking people, how He has given most of them ear to ear smiles despite their situations. I get to see the kids express themselves through art in the upstairs room and how the little kids have imaginations with the legos in the basement. I get to see the shining love the staff members have for the people as they sing and prepare meals for them in the kitchen and hang up the clothes in the main room. Above all, I get to see how God is glorified in those places. A day doesn’t go by when His truth isn’t preached, at one point I was even able to give my testimony to a group of 100 muslims, Amen! Through these organizations God’s truth is slowly coming into Athens. Hope can once again be sought after! 

Please keep Athens in your prayers, we will be leaving here on Wednesday and traveling to  T  U  R  K  E  Y for two weeks. These last two weeks have really opened my eyes to different cultures and a different aspect of God’s love and power. I am very sad to leave, I have come to the love the people and the staff members but I hope and pray that one day God will allow me to return. Thank you so much!

Ciao Itay

My time in Italy is quickly coming to an end, my last day is tomorrow! Travel back six months ago and I had no comprehension of where the next few months would take me, and now I have been to seven different countries and have gone deeper in all levels of my faith; there is no doubt I am right where I am supposed to be. However, I ABSOLUTELY LOVE ITALY and will find it very hard to get on a ferry to go to Greece without thinking of how much I am going to miss it. The last two weeks have really opened my eyes to what being a missionary in Italy means. Strongholds such as religion, magic and witchcraft are extremely common and learning to work against those have been quite the adventure!

Last week my team was in Cosenza hosting a youth camp at a local church, and I must say it was nothing like I expected. In the mornings we had the strategic part of the camp, with two sermons, worship, intercessory prayer, and a drama/dance. In the afternoons we spent some time getting to know the local youth, one thing they could not hide was the light of Christ shining through them, these were not your average youth! In the evenings we found ourself doing some street ministry and helping out in the church services. During one of the street times we met a group of students who ended up inviting us to the Jazz Cafe, a local cafe where youth could intermix. But little did we know that the church has been praying for that cafe for years! It used to be a place where christian youth could hang out but has been turned into a place where satan worshipers and witch-crafters reside. Many people say it is the center of the cities evil strongholds, the fact that we got invited in was a miracle in itself!

A few things I learned because of the camp:

• Being in charge of the daily program, I learned the importance of being flexible (it was changed more than eight times in four days). My mother helped prepare me for this one :)
• Living with an Italian family that spoke hardly any english, I learned the importance of talking slow (critical for me) and using massive hand motions
• Working with youth who have not had the opportunity to evangelize, I got firsthand experience in encouraging my brothers and sisters in Christ
• I learned to live off no sleep and lots of espresso
• I learned that God has to be my strength, especially when I have to give a sermon and I can’t talk due to an illness (that’s a miraculous story!)
• As a team with little true “team” experience before, we had to pull together and actually function as one. Our role as the body of Christ came into play!

All in all, my time in Cosenza was a very successful week that will remain always on my heart. The people became so dear to me and the fun I had will forever be engraved in my mind. I am so grateful for the opportunity to experience Cosenza!

We are currently living in Lamezia, Italy working in the Lamezia House of Prayer and doing street ministry. If you ever have a chance, please pray for the House of Prayer here. Walter is a wonderful man of God with an astounding vision and passion for prayer and his wife Eva, owns a christian beauty spa. Together they have a unique, but powerful approach to God’s kingdom. A few cool things we have done since being here, Cassie, Michi and Riccardo were baptized in a volcano hot spring, we worshipped on the top of a mountain with flags and shofars (something totally new to me) and have taken part in intercessory prayer in the prayer house where the IHOP prayer room is streamed 24/7. So while I am in Italy working with a prayer house, I am also worshipping with a prayer house in America! It’s an amazing way to end my time in Italy, the next time I write on here I will mostly likely be in Greece. Please be in prayer as we travel monday and tuesday to Athens, we will be on a ferry for 16 hours. God bless!

2012!

Streamed across the back wall at my 5th grade graduation were the numbers 2011. I remember looking at those numbers and saying to my friend, what is that? Little did I know it was the year I would:

 -graduate alongside my brothers

-find my true identity in Christ

-have the best summer of my life serving God in Ocean City

-meet some of the most amazing people I know

-discover a deeper love for my family

-learn to leave my fears behind and trust God with all I have (leave home for 6 months in Europe)

-move Garrett into his first apartment

-watch my sister shine in her art

-get my first “official” job

-go skiing with my second family the holzmans!

-learn the importance of relationships, whether leaving some behind or pursuing others

-discover the importance of Skype haha

-fall more in love with my Heavenly Father

It blows my mind how much I have learned this year, it is almost too much to process. 2011 was jam packed and sometimes overwhelming but I wouldn’t want it any other way, every detail counts! Before the earth was created God knew what I would do this year, He knew the impact it would have on me, and everything thus far has worked out in His timing. Amen! 

Yet, 2011 may not have been your favorite year. Maybe it was full of heartache and pain. Maybe you lost someone dear, or perhaps it simply wasn’t what you had planned for your life. And I really feel God wants me to share this: The future is now and it is an opportunity to start over! It is the chance to fall back on God’s love daily and leave behind the sorrow and pain He bore on the cross and has already taken away from you. He has dreams and treasures beyond your wildest dreams stored up and wants to share them with you, let Him! Allow Him to take control and be the pilot. 

I hope this has been encouraging, I am really excited to see what 2012 brings each and every one of you!