Keep Knocking

     Today started out as a normal day. We got up and had breakfast at 7. Quiet time was from 7:45-8:45. After quiet time, we had intercession. This is something that we do every Tuesday and Thursday. The past 3 intercession times have just been learning about intercession. Today, for the first time, we spit into our intercession groups and began to actually pray and intercede.

     I'm not going to lie, going in, I was both excited and a bit nervous- I'm not very good at distinguishing God's voice from my own thoughts. And intercession is all about waiting for God to speak to you and then praying for that specific thing that He told you. So I was a bit apprehensive. I think we all were, though.

     My intercession group was really good. There were five of us students plus two leaders, including one of my small group leaders. For the next few weeks, we will be praying for the country of Bhutan, and today, we were specifically praying for the king and queen there. We began by praying praise to God, and welcoming Him to this place, and asking Him to remove any outside distractions and to give us a clean conscience for our time, so that we could focus on Him and what He had to say,

     Then we were all silent for awhile while we listen for what God had to say to us.

     Once that time was over, we went in a circle and shared what we had received from God. And they all tied together- it was really cool. I won't go into detail about what we all got from God, but if you want to hear more, feel free to ask me sometime! All I'm going to say is I received a few pictures from God that first time. Then we went back to God for clarification on the images that some of us received, the ones that were unclear (like mine. And Keisha's). After this, we began praying.

     While we were praying, suddenly the word "Nahum" came into my head. I was pretty sure it was a book of the Bible, so I checked. Sure enough, it is a short book at the end of the Old Testament. So I flipped there. I didn't get a specific chapter and verse, so I just looked over the whole book (it is quire short). At first, I thought it was crazy, because the subject of the book had nothing to do with what we were praying about! But then I saw Nahum 1:15 "Look, there on the mountains, the feet of one who brings good news, who proclaims peace!" And this fit exactly in with what we were praying about and hearing from God.

     So the whole intercession experience went really well. I really enjoyed it, and it was so, so cool to see these little pictures or thoughts/feelings coming together, when they seemed so random at first. It was awesome :) We serve a great, amazing God, you know!

     Then we went to class, learned a lot, had lunch, and after lunch, we had small group. Near the end of small group, our leaders suggested that each week, we lift one specific person from our group up to God and ask Him if He has anything to say to them through us. So we did so for one girl, who first told us some things that she has been struggling with spiritually. So we prayed, and then sat silently asking God if He wanted to say anything through us. Again, I received an image in mind, this time with an explanation for it. We all shared and then went on to pray for this girl. However, there is another girl in my small group who has been experiencing severe back pain this week. So we decided to pray for her as well. We all laid our hands on her and prayed for healing. After, we asked Ashley if her back was feeling better.

     "Not completely. I mean, it feels a little bit better but I'm still in pain," she told us.

     One of the things that we have been learning this week is that we need to be persistent with God. In Matthew 7:7, it says "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you shall find; knock and the door will be opened to you." Our speaker this week, Paul, explained that this isn't just a one time thing- it is knock continuously. Don't knock then wait; knock until you get an answer. Maybe I'll talk about that more another time.

     So anyway, we decided to pray for Ashley again. And then again. And still her back hurt, but only in one spot now. So a few of us laid our hands directly on that spot and we prayed yet again. Suddenly, Michele, one of my small group leaders, got up and came excitedly over to place her hands on Ashley's back. After she finished off with her prayer, she explained that she had suddenly felt pain in that exact spot. 

     We turned to Ashley again. "How is your back now?" we asked her. And she moved. She stretched her back. She rolled her shoulders.

     The pain was completely gone.

     It was so cool!

     Tonight we had a "love feast". We basically had the Last Supper. We ate upstairs, in the Upper Room (aka the lounge) on the floor (it was super pretty!). We ate unleavened bread and some other things, people recited poetry and played songs. It was really neat! 

     So that was today. It was a really good day :)

     Blessings,

          Katie

Devil's Lake

     This past Saturday, we were given the opportunity (which most of us took) to travel to Devil's Lake State park for the day. So piled into our vans -a 15 seater, 12 seater, and 8 seater- and drove the hour or so to the park.
     It was absolutely beautiful! beside the lake, there was a huge bluff. There were trails leading up to the top, but our group chose to climb the hill the difficult way- by clambering over the boulders. So basically, real life rock climbing. From the bottom, the rock section didn't really look that big. But it was a lot steeper and taller than I first thought! Eventually we got to the top, though, and were able to enjoy the spectacular view! A group of us ate lunch up on the bluff, just looking out over the trees and lake below us.
     Just before going home, a few of us crashed a wedding ceremony by the beach, but that's another story!
     So the weekends here are good. We can relax and hang out, and we can explore the nearby places. Sundays we go to church (not necessarily the same one.... People who have a car and are willing to drive will choose whatever church they would like to attend that week, and the rest of us sign up for whatever vehicle has room based on which church we would like to go to. After church, we always stop at a laundromat to clean our clothes. It's good hangout time, because often you will be in a car with people you don't necessarily hang out with regularly during the week.
     Last week, we had a few different speakers. The first was Manuel, and he spoke about worldview. The week ended with learning about clean conscience with Lea.
     One thing that we will be doing regularly during out time in DTS is intercession. Our third speaker last week was Kathy Ryan, the same person who taught us about hearing God's voice during out first week here. She will be helping us learn about and begin to practice intercession. This week we will have our last class about intercession and then begin to do so. Intercession happens on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
     Here are some photos from our day at Devil's Lake.

This is the bottom of the boulder hill we climbed up- it is higher then it looks!

 This is the view from climbing the boulders. We are not at the top yet- we still have quite a ways!

 This is a rock called the Devil's Doorway. It was really cool looking! A bunch of people climbed between the two big rocks. And one guy, Codi, climbed on top of the whole thing!

 Here I am at the top! It was a beautiful view!

 The view

 Here are a few of us. Some of my family :)

 We ate lunch at the top of the bluff

 Here is a view of the rocks from the top. We climbed those rocks there.

 Another view

 Anna and I went down earlier than the others. And we took a train track selfie :)

Here is a view of the bluff from the bottom

     So that is what has been going on around here lately! 

     Blessings,

          Katie

Ephesians 6:12

     Last night, I intended on going to bed early. A bunch of people went into Madison, and I stayed behind to just rest. Just before I was going to get ready for bed, I headed upstairs to our loft lounge to use the internet, since that and the caf are the only places it has been working this past week (we are all a little frustrated with that!). Upstairs, I found some people chatting, so me being me,  I decided to stay and hang out for a bit. And I'm glad I did... only I did not get to bed early. Unless you call 1 in the morning a decent hour for bedtime!
     It all started with us discussing what we are going to do after our DTS is over. A couple of the girls were stressing about what to do, because they have no clue (oh what a familiar feeling!). And that turned into talk about hearing God speak to us. We learned about it on our first week here. We had been sent outside to spend time with God and listen to Him speak. But, it turns out, a lot of us struggle with hearing God's voice. We have been feeling isolated, thinking that we were the only ones who couldn't hear or even sense God speaking to us. I am included in this group of people who are struggling in this area. That first week, with Kathy, it was great! I did hear God speaking to me. I've heard Him before in my life, like when I decided to come here to Wisconsin. I didn't really want to come. I like being at home. I like my family and friends over there! But one day in church, in the middle of the sermon, I had a thought that I knew was God, which simply said "You are going to Wisconsin". Which was what I had been trying to decide. So it isn't like I have never heard God before. But in the past few weeks, it seems like everyone is saying "God told me this" while I am sitting there struggling to hear His voice, and becoming discouraged because I cannot. So last night, when one of the other girls admitted this to us, I completely understood what she was feeling... I am going through the same struggles! And one by one, almost everyone in the room admitted that they were feeling the exact same way and struggling the exact same thing. Only each of us had felt alone in the struggle! It was just like Lea, one of our speakers last week, had said on Friday: it is so so important to talk to others about your struggles and questions and sins, because a) once you say it out loud to someone, it loses its power over you and the enemy loses that approach to attack you, and b) you can learn that you are not alone in your struggle and even those who do not share it can encourage you and pray for you, or hold you accountable. This became so obvious to us when we learned that almost every single person was struggling with the exact same problem.
     It was about then that we realized what is really happening- spiritual warfare. Satan does not like what is happening here in this old elementary school in the middle of nowhere near Columbus, Wisconsin. So he is putting doubts and negative thoughts into our heads. He's not very creative, though... He is putting the same thoughts and doubts into all of our heads. Even when it came to simply coming here for DTS... shortly before arriving or even after coming, a lot of people questioned why they were doing this, and if they should just not do it at all. God has big plans for this group of young people gathered here, and the enemy clearly doesn't like it. On Friday, in class, we made a covenant between ourselves and God that we would strive to have a pure heart and become strong in the Lord, together as a community. And that we would strive for unity. We made it very clear to the spiritual world what we are about and what we plan on doing. And the warfare became more intense for people after that. So please keep us all in your prayers as we deal with that and stand up to the enemy! Some of us (myself included) do not know very much about spiritual warfare (like, as in, I don't know anything about it, really) so it is hard to know what to do. One girl in particular is extremely afraid, which gives Satan a foothold and so she has been attacked particularly hard.
     As a group, once we had finished our discussion, we prayed and then departed for bed. So all of the girls who had been there gathered in the bathroom to brush our teeth and such. And somehow we ended up talking for another 40 minutes (girls, I suppose...) because some girls were struggling with spiritual attacks right then. So we prayed right there in the bathroom before going off to bed.
     It was almost 1:30 by the time I actually crawled into bed, and I was tired. But I could not sleep. I just felt God pushing me to pray for our school and for my one friend in particular, the one who is extremely afraid about spiritual warfare. She sleeps in the bed across from me, and I normally sleep facing the wall. But last night, I felt God pushing me to sleep facing her and just pray over her for a good 5 or 10 minutes, and then over the school as a whole (its pretty ironic that I was struggling with hearing God speak to me, but as soon as we talked about it and our mutual struggles with it, I felt Him pushing me to do things! I still am having struggles with differentiating my own thoughts from God, but its a learning process! Please pray that I will grow in that area and learn to recognize God's voice!). So I lay in my bed and just pleaded with God to protect our school and send His angels to surround us and that we would not let the devil get any foothold and that we would know how to stand up against him. So I prayed for probably somewhere between half an hour and an hour, just repeating the same thing over and over and over until I felt peace. And then I could finally sleep.
     Spiritual warfare is something I don't know very much about. I don't think we've ever talked about it at my church. I never ever have thought about it, up until this past spring. I don't know why, but all of a sudden, this spring, I had an avid interest in spiritual warfare. I talked to people about it at work quite a few times, because I wanted to know more about it. Like my friend, the thought of demons and things happening around me that I can't see kind of freaked me out. But after talking about it, I realized that I shouldn't be afraid, because not only does that give the enemy more power over me, but I also serve an awesome, powerful God who has already defeated the devil. Anyway, looking back now, I believe that God put spiritual warfare on my heart way back in May in order to prepare me for this fall, when I would experience a lot of it. I didn't realize it at the time, but God knows what He is doing. :)
     So that is what has been going on in the spiritual realm around here. I'll try to talk about what else has happened soon. Maybe later today, maybe tomorrow.... and maybe in like a week because writing is hard. I get too distracted by wanting to be social :P
     Again, just please keep me and the DTS in your prayers. Thank you!
     Blessings,
          Katie
Ephesians 10-18

Here are a few of us on our hike at Devil's Lake yesterday.... an amazing view! I will hopefully have a few more pictures later on!

The Adventure Called Christianity

     So the theme for our second week at DTS was Identity, and our speaker for the week was Troy Sherman. He is an amazing speaker. He grew up in YWAM, strayed from the Lord for awhile, and now him and his wife started an anti-trafficking initiative and he speaks in different places.
     How to summarize what we all learned?! I could go on about it for days!
     He started by talking about how valuable we are. When Jesus looks at you, He sees you as equal in value to himself, because He paid that price for you. If there were a price tag around your neck, it would say "The blood of God", and that means that that is your worth. No matter what you have done. We are the crown jewel of God. When He created the world, He spoke everything into being. Except man. Man, he created with His hands. And He breathed life into us. He created us to have relationship with us. He didn't die for what we do for Him, He died for you. Even if you live your entire life not doing anything for God, He still loves you and is proud of you and thinks that you are worth it. He loves you because He loves you because He loves you. God can be disappointed in what happened. But He will never be disappointed in you. Ever. Basically, as Troy said, if you dressed up as a clown and went out and killed people, then gave your life to God, He would forgive you and love you. If you are a serial killer clown, God will love you anyway, simply because He loves you for you and not for your actions. But, Troy told us, don't become a serial killer clown.
     Good piece of advice :)
     Another thing that Troy really emphasized was that if we want to see change in this world, we must act. We are the change. Normally, when you hear that, it seems overwhelming and impossible. I mean, come on. I'm just one person. I don't have amazing resources. How on earth am I supposed to change the world?! But Troy made it sound so possible. It starts, he said, with right now. Each everyday deed is the beginning. It says in the Bible that Christ is the head, and we are the body.
     Often, we will point at the poverty in Africa or other places in the world and say "Why does God allow that? Why doesn't He do something?!" Yet we are God's body. God isn't allowing it, we are! Christ is the head, but a head cannot move without the rest of the body! Rather than praying "God, you", we need to pray "God, what do you want me to do?". We are it. We are God's plan. If we give ourselves and our lives over to God, He will use you. Whatever you give, He will use. If you allow Him to, He will give you the opportunity to make a difference and make a change. Like Troy pointed out, many of the people that God used in the Bible were not really that amazing of people. And they had little- Moses had a stick. The boy had some bread and fish. Yet God used them.God uses what you have. So while you may think that you have nothing that could be used, God can use it and make something of it. All you need is to be ready and willing. God looks at the present, not the future. In the same way, He wants us to dwell in the now. If you look at changing the world as something big that will happen in the future, it will never happen. But if you look at what you can do today, it is so much easier!
     God uses the ordinary to do extraordinary things. If you give God your whole heart, then an infinite God has infinite possibilities. He will speak to you about what you can do with your life within the limits of what you are offering Him. If you say "God, I want to serve you. But I want to stay here and work in this industry," then He will use you where you are. But if you say "God, I want to serve you wherever and however you want to use me," then He can use you in ways that you might never even have imagined!
     We are not lacking the resources needed to change the world. We are not lacking the knowledge. We have everything we need. It is ignorance that keeps use from doing it. Ignorance, because we believe that we can't do anything. That what little we can do won't make a difference. This is what Satan wants, because it keeps us from taking that first step of action! We have a powerful, mighty God. He is infinite. All He needs is for us to step up and say "Here I am, God. I don't have anything except a willingness to do whatever You tell me. So do what you wish." God can do anything. By saying this, we are, as I said before, giving an infinite God infinite possibilities. At one point, Troy asked us if he took a picture of the night sky, would we be able to count all the visible stars? We said no. "That's wrong," Troy told us, "It is possible. It has been done. We can count the visible stars; it takes awhile, but it can be done. So how are we going to try things that are only possible through God if we don't even believe that possible things are possible?" We need to do the possible- God will do the impossible. Jesus doesn't say "Go there", He says "Follow me there".
     The moment you decide that you are going to fight is the moment that you are free. Satan no longer has any hold on you. And he does not want you to know that.
     Our purpose in life is relationship. That's why God created us- for relationship with Him! Adam and Eve walked and talked with God in the Garden of Eden. That was their purpose. The Fall did not change God's plan for us; it did not change our destiny. We all know the children't song "Jesus loves me, this I know". You can't move on from this. This is reality. If you know anything, know this! Don't graduate from this reality! God wants a relationship with you. This is your identity and your destiny!
     We are here to love and be loved. Love will compel you where duty will not. The acts that we do for God shouldn't be done out of a feeling of duty, but out of love for Him and for His people. We need to practice love! We need to also accept God's love for us. Sometimes, we want to say "God, I'm not worthy of Your love." To that, God will reply "Yes, you are." Because He loves us no matter what. If we then say "No, really, I'm not worthy," we are basically saying that we know better than God. But we don't. Don't ever doubt God's love for you, because it is real and it is unconditional and it is forever.
     Love can change the world. We really think it should be more complicated, but it isn't. If we just begin to love the way Christ loved, we will see a difference! If we did this, the world would start to come to us. They will see that something is different, and they will want to know why. As Bono said, "'Love your neighbour' wasn't a piece of advice, it was a command."
     Don't do something and then ask God to bless it. I mean, maybe He will. But if you truly want to follow God, find what He is blessing and go do that.
     Being a Christian is an adventure!
     That is a VERY short summary of what we all learned and talked about last week. There is so much more that I could say! I honestly wish that you could all just hear what Troy has to say! But this will have to do for now... when I get home, if you would like to read my notes, which contains so much more than this, just ask me! I will let you read them!
     Blessings,
          Katie :)

I Survived!

     Right now, I am supposed to be in northern Wisconsin, roughing it in the woods. Actually, I should be building a bridge right now with my tribe. Not a small bridge, but one that could cross a large creek! 

     But I'm not doing that (obviously). I'm back home at the base.

     Here is my Survivor post.

     On Wednesday afternoon, all 32 of us students, and 4 of the Madison staff who were on tribes with us, as well as some staff and students from another Wisconsin DTS that joined us for the week, climbed aboard our school bus and headed out on our adventure. Before we left, though, we gathered in our "tribes" (we had 4 tribes) and received our passports, which contained our identity for the week. I was from India, and my name was Marshmallow Roast (very creative! It was definitely the funniest name, along with a guy named Brad Gardner, whose name was Broccoli Gardner). I was born on May 17, 2014. Yes, I was 4 and a half months old :P

     We drove for about four hours. It was dark by the time we neared our destination. And then the bus stopped. In the middle of the road, surrounded by dark woods. Someone came onto the bus.

     She was wearing full camo and had a camo handkerchief around her face. She ordered us all to show our passports. And she yelled at certain people to get off the bus. And we left them there, alone at the side of the road (the "government official" stayed on the bus with us). We stopped another 5 minutes down the road and another two tribes had to exit the bus. I was lucky and got to ride the bus for the longest... my tribe got kicked off on the third and last stop. There we stood, in the dark, on the side of the road. Surrounded by forest. And all we had was each other (thankfully a few people had their flashlights on them) and an envelop with a map showing where our luggage was.

     We walked, jogged, walked, jogged, and finally got to the pile of luggage. There, in the dark still, we had to find our backpacks (we were given a very specific and limited packing list and each person had to fit it into a backpack) and sleeping bags. Eventually, we ended up at "customs". 

     A government official made us standing in a line and one by one, she looked at our passports and asked us our information. A couple of the guys got their birthday wrong, and so they were taken aside to be interrogated. After awhile, we all entered a large room where the customs lines were. I entered the shortest line, and when I arrived at the front, the "officer" told me that I was in the wrong line. She didn't tell me which line was the right one for me, but I chose the next shortest line. Which luckily turned out to be the right one!

     While I was standing in line, I was able to observe the corrupt government at work with the other students and the staff who were on the tribes. The corrupt government did not smile or treat anyone well. They interrogated many people, just took their stuff for no reason, and made them do ridiculous things. For example, the staff member on my tribe, Maya, had the last name of "Muchacha" on her passport, so they made her "dance the muchacha". And laughed at her. They made one tribe go down on their hands and knees and meow like cats to a melody, wagging their "tails". They made one line dance the chicken dance, and my line had to do jumping jacks. While the stuff that they made people do were fun and ridiculous, the fact is that in real life, many people are not treated as equal humans. 

     Eventually I got to the front of the line. The official working there dumped all my stuff out, confiscated my brush and toothpaste (the only toiletries that we had been permitted to pack) and then threw my stuff on the floor and told me to hurry up and put it back in my bag.

    While she was going through my stuff, one of the staff who I hang out with a lot, Kenzie, came over. I knew she planned on giving me a hard time, because... well, I'm me.... Anyway. So she picked up my passport and immediately lost it. She had to leave the room because she was laughing so hard. She even cried :P  And everyone kept commenting on my age.... four and a half months. Apparently I'm some sort of prodigy, considering I can talk and walk!

     So eventually my whole tribe got through customs and we were lead through the dark and mud into the depths of the woods. Our "campsite" was quite literally a small patch in between trees. Covered in brush that we had to cut down. We were provided with two tarps, a pack of matches, a pot, bowls, and forks, a knife, duct tape, and bug spray. Oh, and some rice and beans for our supper/breakfast/lunch. And about four squares of toilet paper.

     That first night was interesting. We were actually quite warm, because we were all squished up next to each other. Twelve people on a tarp, None of us got much sleep. Especially after a large frog jumped on someone's face and then crawled into their sleeping bag with them... lol

     In the morning, we cooked up our rice and beans and at some breakfast. Then, at the sound of the airhorn, we had to gather at the "government circle", where they made us do jumping jacks, push-ups (you should be impressed... I actually managed to do 10 push-ups!), and a dance off. After, the government piled into their jeep and made us line up single file behind it. "Keep up with us!" they said, and then drove off. We had to run to keep up. And meanwhile, they kept yelling at us to tell them how wonderful they are, and how much we love the government.

     I did WAY too much running over the past couple days....

     We had class in the morning, with our amazing speaker Troy Sherman. He taught us so much! I'll talk about that at another time. After class, we went back to our sites for lunch (my tribe didn't eat anything) and then we played some games. After the games, the government went back to being corrupt and gave us our food rations. And some more toilet paper, which was lovely!

     I got my rice and beans, and as I was walking past Kenzie's station at the rice (I had gotten mine before she joined her partner), she laughed and talked to me.

     "You're supposed to be corrupt!" I reminded her. My mistake.

     She decided to be corrupt. She took my food and gave it all to someone else, and then gave me about a mouthful of rice for my rations for the next 24 hours.

     Good thing I had a tribe of 11 others who got plenty! And besides, I don't blame her. I would have had SO much fun being the corrupt government!

     We went back to our sites for dinner, and this was when things went OFF schedule. The government came to our site to harass us. We were talking to them when our leader, Maya, had an asthma attack. She couldn't breathe. It was such a God-thing that Gabe and Kayli were there (they were the government) because we wouldn't have known what to do. Gabe stayed with Maya while Kayli ran for the jeep. Maya didn't want to leave us, insisting she was ok once she used her inhaler. But we all knew she wasn't okay. And she ended up in the hospital, so.... Don't worry, she's alright now. She rested and is still pretty weak, but she is in good spirits!

     About this time, it started to rain. And so our guys put up our second tarp over our heads into a nice shelter. JUST as they finished, the government came back. And told us that the forecast was for rain and strong winds, so it wasn't safe to stay outside all night. And we had pack up EVERYTHING and go back to the classroom base. Which we did. We and all our stuff were soaked and cold by the time we got there. Most everyone else had already arrived... accept for half of one tribe.

     Those five were lost in the woods for an hour and a half. In the dark and rain. They were pretty traumatized!

     The corrupt government nicely gave us chilli and found us indoor places to sleep. My tribe ended up in a garage, cold with a cement floor, but hey, we had a roof over our heads! I was actually colder that second night than the first, because a) we were not all snuggled together, and b) my sleeping bag was a bit damp.

     On Friday morning, Kevin, our DTS director, told us that we would finish up the day (class and an Amazing Race game) and then head for home once our bus driver arrived... he had to come from Madison and couldn't leave there until about 5.

     After all our activities were over and we were just hanging out waiting to go home, one of the guys picked up a guitar. And we ended up with a spontaneous worship session that lasted for about an hour and a half. It was so nice! We normally worship every morning, and I've missed it!

     The bus driver finally arrived at about 10, and we headed for home. We got back to the base at 2 in the morning. And about half the girls immediately showered. I did NOT... I like sleep. So I got up at 8:45 (I was the first one up) and showered.

     So that was my Survivor experience! It was fun and I learned a lot, and it was pretty intense at times (like customs and spending the night out in open. With half a million mosquitoes. Seriously, I've never seen that many in my life). I do wish I had been able to experience real Survivor though. On Thursday night, we were supposed to play a game of Capture the Flag, during which one girl from each tribe would be kidnapped and trafficked.  On Friday night, our sites were going to be raided at 2 or 3 in the morning, complete with fireworks, and we would have been forced to walk through a "mine field" and enter a "refugee camp". And then build a bridge in the morning. It would really have been an amazing learning experience!

     Was Survivor a complete fail because we didn't actually get to do most of the Survivor things? No. We still learned what it is like to be treated like dirt. We learned what it is like to sleep outside in the cold and dirt, with animals and bugs. We learned what it is like to have limited food. And we learned to work together as a team. 

This was my Survivor passport. Must be carried at all times.

 This is Kenzie and Rachel. We like to cuddle :)

 Some of my DTS family! We like to hang out in the hallway.

Today it was cold and rainy out, so we had a movie party. We all were watching on an ipad :P 

These are hanging up in our classroom. Before all of us students arrived, the staff were praying about us and our DTS. And these were the things that God spoke to them about our DTS: of pure heart, be still and know that I am God, Love one another, warrior heart, deep relationship, freedom, and break out. (in case you can't read them).

 When we went to Madison last Saturday, hanging out with our small groups, we saw this carriage thing. Amanda and I are two of the four Canadians, so we decided that we needed a 'Merica photo.

One of our pastimes here at the base. Indian leg wrestling. And no, I have not tried it. I prefer our OTHER pastime, a game called Mennonite Madness.

And finally.... cheese!! I have finally tried some true Wisconsin cheese! I bought my cheese curds at Walmart, but whatever. Its cheese. Its yummy. :)

     Blessings,

          Katie

Now My Eyes Have Seen

        Growing up in a Christian home, I am not unaccustomed to spending time with God. Back at home, I would have a quiet time every night before bed, when I would read the Bible and talk to God. I hate to admit it, but all too often this time was rushed and I didn't truly spend quality time with God.
     Here, though, I have quiet time in the morning. We have it written into our schedule, a whole hour dedicated to our personal time with the Lord. I have really been enjoying this time! I am genuinely spending quality time with God and I feel so much closer to Him every day!
     One of the things that has really helped my walk with God -already!- has been classes. We have only had 3 classes since we only got here one week ago today (Oh my goodness, my friend was just saying to me that it feels like we've known each other for years! And it is true!), but we have all learned so much from them! This past week's focus was on hearing God's voice. On the second day of class, our teacher, Kathy, was talking about how she has a friend who has such a childlike faith. She talks to God about everything. Kathy told us a story about this friend, who one day was making a peanut butter sandwich for breakfast. And as she did so, she talked to God. "If there peanut butter in Heaven?" she asked. And that lead to different questions and she had this conversation with God about Heaven and what it would be like. And then another lady walked in, and she just saw the first standing there with her peanut butter toast, grinning and talking to God. The second lady freaked out "I've been fasting for days! I've been trying to get God to talk to me about something important, and you're talking to Him about peanut butter!?" And she stormed out. The first lady felt a bit sad, and then she heard God tell her "You know, if she talked to me about peanut butter, then she could hear me for the bigger things, too."
     And so then Kathy asked us if we have the type of relationship with God where we talk to Him about everything, or do we kind of put him aside until we need him. Do we talk to God about the peanut butter moments? And then she sent us outside for half an hour to have peanut butter moments with God, or just spend the time we needed with Him.
     The thing is, I always used to have "peanut butter" moments with God all the time. Back in high school (oh so long ago!), I had quite a bit of time on the bus. So every morning while I sat on the bus in the quiet, I would talk to God about anything and everything. It brought me a lot closer to God. Sadly, once I graduated, I didn't have that time anymore, unless I purposely set it aside. Which I didn't. So my "peanut butter" moments with God slowly became less and less. And while I still will have those times with God occasionally, it is certainly not as frequent as they once were. And my relationship with God did change because of that.
     So when Kathy sent us outside on Thursday, I grabbed my Bible, my ipod, and my journal and headed out into the sunshine. As I was walking towards some trees, I asked God "So, what should we do?" And I sensed God asking me "What do you like to do? What haven't you done in awhile?" And I immediately thought of reading. I love reading, as you probably know, and I haven't had the time to read for pleasure since getting here. "Okay, what Bible story should I read?" I thought to myself. "No," God told me, "I want to spend time with you while you do something you enjoy." (Not that I don't enjoy reading the Bible!)
     So I sat down under the tree, took my ipod out and opened a book ap on it. And of course, since I have Miss Match on it, I opened that book! Hee hee :) And I read it out loud to God. It was wonderful! After reading a bit, I just lay in the grass, listened to some music, and just talked to God. It was amazing. I haven't felt that close to Him in a long time!
     Our half hour was over far too quickly. We returned inside and finished up class, and then we all returned outdoors for some a spontaneous worship time. While I was sitting on the grass, a spider crawled onto my leg. And if you've ever worked with me, you know that I like to name insects and such. "Alright, God, what should we name this one?" I asked. Just like at work I sometimes asked Trish or someone else what I should name my insect "pets". Instantly, I had a name. It was a cool and uniquely Katie-ish moment with God. :)
     After we came inside from our half hour of "peanut butter" time with God, someone mentioned a Bible verse that I think really sums up this whole week in Madison. It is from the book of Job.
     "My ears had heard of you, but now my eyes have seen you." -Job 42:5
     I have always known God. I have known Him well. Yet now, I know Him even more. I truly have seen God.
     Blessings,
          Katie

Those Faith Yams

     Have I really only been in Madison for under a week? We were all saying that it feels like we've known each other forever. Really, its funny how a week ago, we all had never met, and now here we are, talking about everything and hugging all the time. Last night, I spent 2 hours with two of my friends on my lap while we talked!
     So, where to start? Every day begins at 7 with breakfast. After breakfast, we have Quiet Time until 8:45. This is our personal time with God, and we can spend it any way we like. Some people will go running, because that is how they connect with God. Most of us either sit on our beds or on a couch or chair and have our quiet time there.
     After quiet time, we have group worship for about an hour. The first few days, we always worshipped through song. Yesterday we were given paper and writing utensils and we wrote notes to people, writing what we saw in them or a message that we felt God wanted them to hear. It was really awesome! Today during worship, we prayed in small groups for each other, and after, individuals told the big group specific things that they wanted prayer for. And as a large group, we all prayed for them.
     After worship we have class. The first couple days were different, because it was orientation and introductions, but on Wednesday, Thursday, and today, we had a wonderful woman named Kathy Ryan come and speak to us about hearing God's voice. The lessons were amazing... we all learned so much! And partway through her lesson, on Wednesday, Kathy sent us outside to listen for God in creation. It was a beautiful day and we all heard and saw God in different ways, which some of us shared once we gathered back in the classroom. Yesterday in class, Kathy again felt called to release us into nature, so we spent another half hour outside. It was wonderful! Today, we wrapped up the Hearing God's Voice unit.
     The afternoons are pretty relaxed. We each have our chore that we have to do every day. We are in groups. The chores include food prep, maintenance, cleaning, and food clean-up. I am on the J-crew, as we call ourselves. We are the janitors. I figured after helping clean the church for 6 years, I'm pretty good at cleaning toilets! :) Its actually the best CR (Community responsibility), because it takes the least amount of time- with 6 of us, we are done in just under an hour. The other CRs generally take closer to two hours. When you are not doing your CR, you have free time. I have spent my free time just hanging out, as well as reading my homework out in the beautiful sun... we have have absolutely gorgeous weather this week!
     After dinner, we occasionally have things going on. Once our regular schedule starts, we will have our focus night on Mondays (we have two focuses in our DTS... Children at Risk, which is mine, and Rescue Ops. We do everything, including outreach, together, but our focus nights we are separated), worship on Thursdays with another DTS located in downtown Madison, and on Friday nights, we have a movie night.
     Tonight, we have our reveal night for our small groups and one-on-ones. It should be good to find out what our small groups will be.
     So yeah, that's a VERY quick summary about what has happened so far. VERY quick.
     Last night, when Kenzie and Rachel were hanging out on my lap, Kenzie told us about how, while walking that day, she had met one of our neighbours. They said hi, and he then asked her "So are you a part of the group on the corner there? What are you guys, the Faith Yams or something?"
     The faith yams, that's what we are around here!
     So I thought I'd post a few pictures, let's see how this works!

     This is our base, my home for now! We are literally surrounded by cornfields. Seriously, so. much. corn.

     So like I MAY have mentioned, we have a LOT of corn here! And our base is surrounded by fields of corn. On Wednesday afternoon, a few of us went into the field and had some fun :)

                                                          I told you we have chickens!

     This was my view when I was outside yesterday, just spending time with God. Those are corn fields, by the way. ;)

     This is the wall of our classroom. It is so neat! The countries whose names are in red are the countries that we do intersession for. The wall art around here is so nice!

     And one of the girls received a package of cookies in the mail today from her grandma. They were absolutely delicious, and so if any of you feel the need to send me cookies (or anything else!) my address here is:
Katie Roest
YWAM Training Center
N1707 County Road N
Columbus, WI, USA
53925
     Please keep me in your prayers as I continue on this so far amazing journey! While living in a room with 12 other girls isn't as hard as I thought it would be (apparently I sleep like a rock. Cause the French Canadian girl sleep talks -in English and French, which is why it is apparently hilarious- and I have yet to hear it!) but I miss my own room. And all of you!
     Thanks, and blessings,
          Katie