So Much to Process, So Little Time!

It is hard to believe that there is only one week before we enter the Outreach Portion of our training and go to live in Poland for 2 months! It feels like there is always so much to process each week. Let me try and unpack what has been going on.

:: KATEEN
First, we would like to extend a HUGE thank you to all of the prayer support that has been extended on behalf of our friend and leader Kateen. She is finally back in America and has been going through reconstructive surgery. God provided the full funds and then some to get her home, but before she left, we were able to have one last worship service with Kateen at the hospital chapel. It was special. She allowed us to ask questions and I feel it brought a bit of closure to the whole situation. However, we know that she still has a long road of recovery ahead of her. To learn more about Kateen’s story and hear her latest prayer needs, you can visit a website dedicated to her story. www.kateensolberg.com.

:: OUTREACH SIMULATION AND TEAM BUILDING
To help prepare our teams for outreach, we participated in an “Outreach Simulation.” The point of the simulation was to prepare us for “the unknown.” We simulated going through getting visas, having to change flights, going through customs, and we practiced a LOT of waiting. Our leadership tried to make us as uncomfortable as possible to see how we would react to pressure. It was a good exercise that lasted the whole day. I feel our team had a mixture of flexibility and frustration. The next day, we did a bunch of team building exercises including creating our own obstacle course. Unfortunately, I was sick for this day but Sean said our team did very well at problem solving. Through these two days, we learned that our team works very well when we have a specific task that needs to get done, but that we could use a bit more work on flexibility. I’m sure God will give us plenty of opportunities for that!

:: THE HOLY SPIRIT, INDUCTIVE BIBLE STUDY, AND SPIRITUAL WARFARE
The past few weeks have been incredible. We had a YWAMer named Fiona Gifford come and speak and to be honest…I can’t remember her specific topic. She was very Holy Spirit led. The best way that I can describe her teaching was that she had a journey she wanted to take us all on, but not everyone was ready for the journey. So she would go on these “spiritual tangents” to help challenge and encourage each of us where we were at. In the end, we did end up talking through steps of reconciliation. I think the biggest challenge Fiona left us with was the fact that God is always speaking to us…we just need to choose to listen to what He is saying. If we all have the Holy Spirit, then we also have the power to be led by the Spirit.

This past week was an overview of the Bible and a teaching on the importance of inductive Bible study with another YWAMer from Germany named Regine. The overview was so helpful, because it was given like a history lesson with historical background on who different leaders were and what the culture was like. And as the history lesson unfolded, you could also see that events in history and through the Bible were not random events…they are all a part of God’s greater plan to teach his people how to be in relationship with Him and with each other. During our inductive Bible study, we studied the book of Philemon. We were shown how to study the Bible with our pre-conceived notions aside so that we wouldn’t take anything out of context. We were taught that it’s important to look at the type of literature being written (is it a letter, is it poetry, etc.) and to also consider the audience being addressed. After reading through the book of Philemon with our new study habits, we were able to observe the idea of forgiveness and reconciliation at the depth Paul was trying to convey. After this week, it was encouraging to see that you can develop a hunger for God’s word and that you don’t have to operate out of guilt.

Next week Regine’s husband Sean will be speaking on spiritual warfare. Should be good!

:: LOCAL OUTREACH UPDATE
Many of you know that Sean and I have been playing weekly at a pub in Brighton for “Open Mic Night.” It’s been a great time to befriend some of the locals that come every week. Most of our conversations have been light until this past week. Just about every week we have sat and chatted with a local named Chloe. Mostly we talk about music, but this past week God opened a door. Chloe had performed a song that talked about death and what happens when you die and one of our teammates Jeff saw that as a God-given green light to share our faith. He shared his testimony a bit and his struggle with depression and how God has been faithful. We weren’t sure how she’d respond but she was very open to talking about God. She said that she thinks about the idea of God a lot but that she does not believe in him because of all the terrible things that happen in this world. We tried sharing that the bad things of this world are not of God but because of our free will. She agreed to an extent but still has her doubts. We left her with the idea that we believe God has called us to do two things: love him and love others. She felt that non-Christians still have the capacity to love like Christians do, but she seemed encouraged by our sentiment. We told her that we would be gone for 2 months so we exchanged e-mails and she looks forward to meeting with us again when we are back from Poland. God is so good! We are praying that God will continue to make himself clear to Chloe and that she will see his love for her by the way we love her. Please keep her lifted up!

Well, I hope this catches you up to speed. God has been so faithful to us. We have gone through some stressful and uncomfortable times both with our class and even in our marriage, but God has proven faithful and to be such a good God through each circumstance. I pray that during this Easter weekend that God will reveal himself to you all in a new and very real way.

“This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.” 1 John 3:16

Remember his commands. Love God. Leach each other.

Cheers!
Sarah and Sean