hi fam & friends.
i am still alive, i promise.
i just returned home last night from a full week of mini-outreach in Oregon with this winter DTS. It was my first time in Oregon & i loved every minute of it. the northwest is a really great place! you texans are missing out if you've never made time to come up here.
our week was great, we spent each morning in lectures (this week's topic was relationships & we had some solid teaching from our base director) & after that we went out for ministry each day. the first day my group & i worked at a school, gardening, painting & building a shed. it was sweet just being outside in the non-snowy weather. :) on tuesday my Thailand team went out on the streets to meet people & talk about jesus. we met a homeless man named roger who was about to take a nap on a bench in the park. one of our students brought a ukulele so we sang him a song or 2 before he went to sleep. we sang all over the streets & prayed over Salem. it was sweet!
the next day we volunteered at a food share, which was sweet. & thursday we were back on the streets meeting people & praying. thursday night the whole school spent the evening in Portland to join up with Nite Strike, a ministry for homeless people of Portland. it's HUGE. they feed a ton of people & tell them about Jesus each week. since there were so many of us ywamers, we went out on the streets & prayed & also handed out food/clothing to people who weren't going under the bridge to be fed. it was a really eye-opening night and asking god what to pray for the city was overwhelming but still so beautiful to, in a small way, see how He sees. i want to see more things through His eyes.
friday we were out & about in Portland for a day off. i was with michele all day, we went all over downtown. shopped. got some donuts (mine was maple & bacon... delish) & a fruit smoothie. rode the train. saw 2 guys get in a fight. it was a great day! i love the diversity of the city.
while in Salem, we stayed at an awesome church. it's the home church of one of my fellow dts staffers, his dad is the pastor, so we were hooked up with a nice place to sleep & hangout. one of my favorite parts of the week was seeing all that this church is doing to reach their own community. they have started so many ministries, one being a clinic that provides free medical care for the homeless & people who can't afford it. people are coming to know jesus through this clinic & many have been healed. also, they've started a community center that is partnered with local businesses, so it's not just a christian center but it's a part of the secular business in Salem. there's a coffee shop & a fro yo shop within the center & the top floor is a giant prayer room. the atmosphere there is awesome. even while i was there, i saw the workers talking with people about jesus & encouraging them in their places in life. they are really reaching people through what they do. i left feeling so inspired by what god is doing through these ministries & how they are taking normal everyday jobs, & places people go & turning it into a passion driven ministry. i'm praying god makes me so visionary...
that sums up our week in Oregon...
staffing dts has been great so far. even though i came in pretty clueless & didn't really have any idea what i was doing, i've been so blessed being here & i feel like i'm in a constant state of learning (which i don't mind). i'm learning to watch people & learn from what they do. the people i staff with are so gracious & awesome. they teach me so much by how they lead & how they love jesus. i am blessed to live life with them. on top of that, the first school i'm staffing is full of rockin' students. it's been so cool seeing god work in their hearts & hearing how much they are learning -- it's such a sweet thing to be a part of.
have a great week, lovelies. thanks for keeping up with me. i miss you guys.
