You'll see the sun shining again, over your city streets...

I'm watching a Monday night pickup game of basketball & figured I'd update while I have the chance...

I'm loving life right now & the opportunities God gives. I've been playing a lot of guitar & leading a lot of worship. Yesterday morning, I got to lead worship with my friend Cam at a homeless/biker church in the city. It was so cool!

Last week, our lecture was on the Holy Spirit. It was a challenging week, but a good one. On Friday morning, after a week of learning about the ministry of the Holy Spirit, we had a morning of worship & we invited God into the parts of our heart that we hold back from. We submitted our will to His. I think God really loves it when we do that, it gives Him room to work in our lives. Boy, He showed up that morning. We all prayed for each other, & I saw God move in a way that I've only seen in my dreams... The coolest thing was to see everyone's individual response to the Holy Spirit. For me, my only response at the time was to sing, to worship God for all He's done.  But some people sat silently. Some bowed down and prayed. Some cried. Some stood. Some danced. There was freedom, & it was beautiful! It was one of the most beautiful moments I've ever experienced.

While we were gone on our mini outreach to Seattle, the winter discipleship training school (WDTS, i'm doing the SDTS: spring DTS) returned from all of their outreach trips. They stayed on our floor for the last 2 weeks... at first, us as the spring school, we were irritated by it, not really sure why, but the second week we got to know them. I'm so glad we did! Man, so many fun nights! It's been so encouraging to hear stories of outreach & to be around people that can answer our questions & encourage us as we keep going in our school... It made me so excited about India. They graduated on Friday & all left, which was super sad & gave me a small taste of what graduation will be like. I'm beginning to grasp that following Jesus isn't always an easy thing, it's bittersweet, because it is SUCH an adventure. He takes people so many different places & gives people so many different dreams, goals & futures. It's sad to know that many people I will never see after this school, BUT we do have an eternity together. That makes me excited. I'm beginning to also value friendship more & more & more. Jesus was about making friends...

The other day, our speaker was praying and asked God to bless all of us for giving Him this time of our lives... & I immediately thought, "No, God... you gave ME this time..." Seriously. It is such a HUGE blessing to be here. It's a perfect example of how DYING to yourself truly brings LIFE. I have found life in death, in a small, but really good way. :) Thank you to anyone that donated or prayed. You have a great part in me being here. I'm so incredibly thankful.

We leave for India in TWO WEEKS. I really can't believe it. I'm so excited. It's so crazy, because God has given me such a heart for that country, a year ago, I never would have guessed I'd be going to India & that'd I'd be so ready & excited about it... wow! God is cool. I have been researching the cities we will be in... We will be going to Varanasi, where they have the Ganges River. People think that the river is a way to be cleansed from sin & a way to attain salvation, so they bathe there, offer sacrifices, throw "illegitimate" babies, and dead animals in there, as well as dead people. I've also learned a bit of the caste system they have over there... my heart breaks for these people. I'm reminded of the gift of my salvation & the peace & hope I have found for this life in Christ. I can't wait to be able to look at an "untouchable" person & tell them that God deeply deeply loves them & created them in His image. I can't wait to hold the kids hands & snuggle them in my arms. I can't wait to talk to the women. I can't wait to walk those streets & look in the eyes of those lovely, beautiful people. I can't wait to see God there.

There's a song by a woman named Kristene Mueller called St. Francis. I heard it from a girl here that had just been to Taiwan. This song was her prayer for Taiwan, & it has now become my prayer for India. I put a video of it below... have a listen. I bet you'll like it.

i'll leave you with a few pics:

little Yuni. :)

"prom night" ... all decked out.

we walked a mile in the rain just to get some delicious food on Saturday.

worth it.

this is good for my soul.

one of our many dance parties. :)

xoxo

photos.

seattle:

 our view at lunch...

 me hanging out the window...

 beautiful Washington.

 new friend Travis. :)

 Union Gospel Mission. God, bless this ministry.

 Mt. Ranier.

 friends.

 new friends.

eh, mon!

-   -   -   -   -   l i f e   b a c k   i n   m o n t a n a   -   -   -   -   - 

we had girls night this past Friday. 

i like being a girl.

i fell asleep writing music down by this creek on Friday afternoon. 

waking up was wonderful! aghh.. i'm so lucky.

huge. truck.

mary & me.

in 3 weeks, i will be headed to this country:

so ready.

xoxo

update!

hey folks! just enjoying a lovely sunny day in Montana.

last week was mini outreach week.
we went to Seattle! it was my favorite week of this school so far.  i went to a compline service at a cathedral, there were monks singing & it was beautiful. we went to Pike Place & Capitol Hill. we served food at a homeless shelter called Union Gospel Mission- what a cool ministry!  we sorted food at a food bank, pulled weeds at an apartment complex, farmed, hung out with youth, went to church, street evangelized. :)

my favorite part of ministry during the week was the night my team & i went to Capitol Hill & did "street evangelism" aka: talking to people. ;) my friend Katelyn and i got to pray over a barista at Starbucks, that was cool... but as we were walking the street, we hadn't talked to anyone in a while, i was getting discouraged, but i started praying that God would give us someone to talk to... i looked over & saw a homeless man with a cup in his hand. i told my friend that we were talking to him so i went up & asked him if he was hungry... of course he said yes. :) so i gave him the 5 granola bars i had in my bag. then we just stood there, i'm awkward like that... haha, but he was really nice & asked if he could help us with something, (his name is Terry, btw) i said i wanted to hear his story if he didn't mind sharing. he was so eager to talk to us, he began telling us the story of his life. he said he'd been in prison twice & got out in 2004. he told us that he had made all the choices that had gotten him to the place he was. his choices had made him homeless. he said that he'd done so much wrong & that when he died he was going to get what he deserved, that he was going to hell. my heart immediately broke for this man & the guilt he carried. i began to tell him that God loves him. i told him that nothing in the world, nothing he's done, not his position in life or the fact that he's been in prison- nothing would separate him from God's love. i told him that God wanted to know him & that He would pursue a relationship with him until the day he died. i asked him what he thought made the difference between a person going to heaven or hell. he said a lot, but basically said it was about your works. i just laid out the gospel for him & told him all about jesus & how with Him it's all about grace & love & forgiveness.  he was quiet for a while... and just looked me straight in the eyes & said,
"i wish i could believe that..." 
& i told him that i was telling him all of this because of what it has done in my heart. we talked about a lot... just life & god. it was a long conversation & in the end, he didn't end up following jesus, but we got to speak into his life & tell him that he is God's beloved & that God isn't going anywhere. i'm praying that he remembers our conversation & that the truth continues to steep in his heart. after our convo, my friend felt that God told her to give him some money. it ended up being enough for over a week at the shelter. his face was absolutely shocked! i will never forget his face... & his eyes... wow.
he said, "i know i'm smelly..." & before he could even finished, we pulled him in for a big bear hug.  he gave us each a kiss on the head, thanking us for our hearts & the time we took to talk to him...

it was such a good talk, & through it, God gave me a small piece of His heart for that city. such beautiful, creative, smart people with cool ideas & personalities & talents... God must really love those people. & i know He desires to be praised there. He desires them to know Him. He desires to be worshiped by them. i also realized then that just gestures aren't enough to show people who jesus is. & yet, words aren't enough either. it's the whole faith without deeds/deeds without faith thing... both are dead until they are combined. knowing God does that... wow.

anyway... just wanted to share a little bit of what i got out of the trip... i'm still really burdened to pray for Terry & his salvation & for the city of Seattle. if you think about it, please pray. God is definitely working there.

here are a few things to pray for:
   -  India. we leave June 13! apparently it's a hard hard trip & spiritually dark. pray for relationships. 
   -  i am in need of some money for spending, India, traveling, etc. nothing huge.
   - this week is on spiritual warfare & surprise surprise, we are all facing spiritual warfare. 
   - pray God will direct me & give me vision for AFTER DTS. it's been on my heart a lot lately & other people have been mentioning different opportunities. pray that God will direct me to do HIS will.
   - Terry, the man i met on the street. :)

love you all & i thank you for your prayers, encouragement, support, etc. you will never know the ways you bless me.

feel free to email or comment anytime.  justdandyy@gmail.com

xo xo xo xo
rae

spring.

hey yall!

so tomorrow we leave for Seattle! we will be gone for a week- mini outreach! this also marks the halfway point in the lecture phase of this dts. which means India is getting closer and closer! in seattle, we will be hanging out with homeless people, working at soup kitchens & stuff like that, and i know we'll be hanging out at an international mall trying to get to know some people from all different places that hang out there. i'm also really excited to see the city! i hear Seattle is beautiful, sounds like my kind of place. :)

this week was about the Father Heart of God. um, wow! MIND: BLOWN. aghh! i learned so much. GOD is doing so much in me. the main thing i came away with is that just like a dad has these things about his kids that he loves, like a dad will say, "oh, i just love it when you get that certain look on your face," or " i love it when you sing to me- you have a beautiful voice." or "i think you are super funny!" or "you are beautiful just the way you are." stuff like that... God has those thoughts for me. it's incredible. He doesn't just love me because i'm a human & He created me, therefore HAS to love me. He likes me. He thinks i'm cool & worth knowing. :) the other day i was feeling ugly & i just decided to pray about it. i told God that i wanted to know what He thought & opened up my bible right up to Song of Solomon 2 (which has been like my theme verse in coming to ywam & the vision of what i thought God had for me during this time), and it says, "Arise! My darling, my beautiful one! Come away with me...." God is lovely, isn't He? He's pursuing my heart & I'm totally falling for Him. :) He's definitely calling me to something deeper. He's calling me further still into a deep love. deeper than i think i can handle right now... i'm learning that i'm far too practical & logical about love. He is showing me that it's okay to get swept up in love if it's with Him.  He is a safe place for me. not a manipulator. dependable. satisfying. He genuinely cares for me. & love causes people to do crazy, off the wall things. i want to be that crazy in love with Him, that it would compel me to cross the seas, that i would want to sit in His presence for hours, that i wouldn't be able to get enough of Him, always left craving more & wanting to know more about Him, that i'd dance before Him or just won't shut up about Him... may His love be like a fire shut up in my bones... i want to know more of this LOVE.

this morning, our speaker and his buddy prayed over all of us. throughout the week, God had given them a word for each of us 23 students. super cool. anyway, they shared them this morning! i was the first one they asked to stand, and they said that they felt that i was inspiring, that by my life, i was going to inspire people & that i was a leader- that god had given me this ability to connect with any man or woman just off the street & it's not something i have to realize, it's just a part of who i am. & that i am very evangelistic. those were just a couple of things they said, and i was just extremely encouraged! i've had a lot of different people asking what's next after DTS, & i still have no idea. i was just telling my friend last night that yes, i play music, i like music & it's something i do & want to use for the Lord, but that i really just have a heart for evangelism. & God continues to confirm this calling in my life! He's so good & so clear sometimes! it's crazy. i don't know how that will work out in the future, but i'm excited. I know He will work it out.

prayer needs:
- pray for seattle: divine opportunities, relationships formed with the people we meet, that the gospel will be preached, that people will see jesus clearly through our service & attitudes, that our expectations will be blown out of the water, spirit led, safe travel.
- i'm not sure how i am going to meet my financial needs here, so you could pray for that. :) just paid a significant amount of money for visas for india & i can think of a couple more expenses coming up.
- india & dominican republic. that god will begin to prepare the way for our teams to come, prepare relationships for us there, holy spirit would begin working in their hearts & our hearts to be used, boldness for us as students (& leaders).
- that i would continue to learn from the lord as i am here & that he would give me direction/passion/vision.

thank you all so much. i appreciate you & miss you all like crazy! i'd love to hear from you. let me know if you'd like my address. my email address is justdandyy@gmail.com if you ever need me or have questions, or just feel like saying hey. :)

love yall.
hope you are doing well!


xo xo xo

friends:

 DODGEBALL. me. yoonie. florentine.

 been playing lots of bball... knock out came down to us Texans! (i lost.)

 my DTS:

hello world!

it's been way too long. sorry!

ywam is still great! i'm loving this sweet time & learning too much to type out.
last week was about prayer & hearing God's voice. WHEW! it was definitely the best week so far.
God really exposed a lot of things I falsely believed about him.
i think just based on past experiences and just LIFE, for some reason i'd come to think that yes, God wants to use me, and I am so happy/willing to do that. I want to be used by God, my whole life is His, and I've gotten to this point. But for some reason deep down i believed that yes, he wanted to use me, but that it's really hard to know Him & that He was keeping Himself as a mystery & didn't really want me to know Him. this week i've come to know that that ISN'T TRUE. i'm really happy about that, because i REALLY want to know Him more. He is an approachable God that is totally crazy, kooky, out of controllably in love with me & desires to reveal Himself to me. that's mind-boggling & so incredibly amazing! i'm so grateful for a God like that, that just can't stand to not love me.
whew!!! He is so good, yall.

yesterday i volunteered to work on a ranch for a YWAMer who can't afford to pay for his baby's delivery with a missionary budget, so the doctor said he could work it off on his ranch. so a few of us DTSers went there yesterday morning and worked for this guy. it was a lot of fun!!

last night we watched Princess Bride at this nice family's house. all 23 of us crammed in their house- it was so much fun! the movie was interactive, too... they threw appropriate candy & had little games for us all throughout the movie.

many other events have happened since my last post, like dodgeball, easter at freshlife church, book release party for our speaker's brand new book (click here), royal wedding, music track, etc. :)

we leave on may 6 for Seattle (mini outreach). i don't know what we will be doing, but i am very excited & can't wait for a roadtrip. ready to see Seattle & find out what we will be doing there. be praying!

love you all!