Hello again from YWAM Nashville!
Yesterday was four weeks exactly that I first met my fellow
students in this Discipleship Training School and made this base my new
temporary home. This means I have eight weeks left here before spending a week
home for Christmas. I love it here so much I don’t really want these eight
weeks to go fast at all.
Saturday I went to
Nashville for the first time with my grandparents who visited me from Illinois.
We went to Opryland, shopped, ate, and visited the Grand Ole Opry (I’m
definitely going back there sometime). I sent out newsletters last week, and
I’m excited to hear that lots of people have received them.
A typical week looks
like this: We have a new speaker every week. Last week Joseph Watson spoke on
Identity and destiny, this week Andrew Lamb will be speaking on the Holy
Spirit. Every day I wake up around 6:45, breakfast is served from 7 to 7:20 so
we have to eat fast. Quiet time is from 7:30 to 8:20. Quiet time is just alone
time to pray, read the Bible, and just spend time with God. Usually I go out
back to the cliffs overlooking the Red River, but now that it’s colder some of
us go to the Glory Barn, a building right beside the Big House used just for
worship and prayer. Anytime we want we can go worship. There is an IPod
continually playing worship music. We have worship or intercession for an hour
in the morning at the school building down the hill. We should get in shape
walking up and down that hill many times a day! We have class til 12:30 every day
but Wednesday, when class is in the afternoon. Afternoons and evenings vary per
day. Every Monday we have study hall at night, group Bible reading in the
afternoon, Thursdays we do small group in the afternoon, etc.
Thursday nights we
have community night, where all the staff brings their families and we worship
and have a speaker. This week I am stoked that Polen, a band from my area at
home, is coming to play their music for us!! On Fridays we do evangelism class
from 4-6 then evangelism til 9 or 9:30. We usually go to Clarksville, a town
about 30 minutes from us. It’s really the nearest large town.
The first couple
weeks I went with a group to the Riverwalk. We prayed for people and the second
week five accepted Christ into their lives! The first week I was terrified, but
prayed for a lady who was about to be evicted, had no job, just been divorced,
and was afraid she’d lose her daughter. She was so encouraged to be prayed for
that it encouraged me! Yesterday I went to the Clarksville mall with a group.
We are split into teams of two to go ask people if they want prayer. I prayed
for a lady who just asked for us to pray for her 16 year old son. So I did. I
didn’t know what to say, but God gave me the words, and they just happened to
be exactly what he was going through! It encouraged her so much, she hugged my
friend and I – twice – and said she was going to keep shopping and cry, she was
so touched! It is a step out of my comfort zone, but once I start talking to
people I love it.
We did find out this
week where each student will be going for outreach. I am going to beautiful
Uganda!!! There are 14 of us going to Uganda and 8 to Nepal, plus staff. The
Uganda team will be split up into two group going to slightly different places.
We don’t know yet who will be with whom or what we’ll be doing, but we learn
more every Tuesday in outreach prep classes!
This time next week,
our group will be on our way to Jacksonville, FL for the “Finish the Task”
conference with all the other Southeast YWAM bases. This is going to be a road
trip to be remembered J
Please pray for me! Pray for unity in the teams, direction
as the YWAM staff members decide specifics of the trip, and continual growth as
we learn more every day. I miss all of you Ohio people!
We learned again this week how God blesses us and our dreams
when we dare to dream big. Keep dreaming! I sure am!
