Last week our theme was worldviews. We covering different topics such as Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, Mormonism, and a few others. Chris Toney, our base leader, was our speaker. This week we've had Brenda Lewis, from YWAM Axiom in New Haven, Connecticut, with us. She has been sharing about destiny. A lot of focus has been spent on God's desire for relationship, relationship with Him and with others. It's always overwhelming to really sit and attempt to absorb how God actually desires relationship with us, not simply for us to follow a list of rules or to perform certain duties for him. No, he actually wants a reciprocating relationship.
We've looked at our different personality types, giftings, and dreams to discover more about God's calling on our lives. It has been interesting to see different themes woven throughout each of our lives that relate to the passions and desires we have for our futures. I've definitely been learning more about my dreams and I've also been impacted through hearing the other students and staff staff speak about what they see in me. It's one of the benefits of living in community. As a team we've been able to appreciate the differences in each other, to support each other and challenge each other.
Captions for the pictures:
1. Belize sunset
2. Pirate/Princess Birthday Party
3. Chris with kids during our mini outreach at Spanish Lookout
4. Diving & Nurse shark
5. Noah and me during a dive
6. Some of the students heading down during a dive
7. Dolphins
6. Sea turtle
7. Mini Outreach Team: Chris, Noah, Floyd(our host), me, & Esther
8. San Ignacio
9. Playing with kids during mini outreach
10. Our host home in San Ignacio
11. Beginning of our mini outreach
Friday, October 30, 2009
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Cold front moving in...
Yep, we've had a "cold front." Within the past couple weeks we've had a few days of being decked out in jeans, sweatshirts, and yes some have even been sporting socks and shoes. I actually opened my sleeping bag last night for the first time since I've been here. We checked the temperature, a whopping 77 degrees! Yes, we've definitely acclimated to the weather. I don't even want to think about how cold I'll be when I get back to the Midwest.
Our assignments have been winding down and we only have one more speaker after this week is over. We've had our geography quiz. We had to locate 100 countries on a map and list 50 capitals. We only have one book report and a gospel presentation left before lecture phase is over.
A couple weeks ago we broke into two groups and had mini outreaches. My group headed to San Ignacio on the mainland of Belize. We spent time helping clean up yards and hanging out with kids. Each of us was challenged and our faith was increased over the few days we were gone. It was great coming back together as one group to hear how God had worked in different ways through the two groups.
It's crazy to think that our lecture phase is winding down. Soon we'll be heading to Thailand. Right now we're thinking we may be flying out there on Thanksgiving day. We're all getting excited to start outreach, but we know God has more in store for us before we head over there. Because we are going to Thailand for our outreach, we each have to pay an additional $2000 to cover expenses. If you feel lead to support me financially during my outreach phase please zip me an email (t.verdegan@gmail.com) or checks can be sent to my home address(listed on the right side of my blog).
Personally God has been challenging me in the way I receive His blessings. I tend to think I need to earn them, or that I must go through a difficult circumstance before being blessed. During our outreach He started challenging me and I've been recognizing this wrong pattern of thinking more and more in my life. Through various ways, God has been speaking to me about the desires of my heart and the more specific things I am passionate about. It is overwhelming to acknowledge the dreams that God has put within my heart. Yet, it's even more overwhelming seeing them come into fruition. With God, life sure is an adventurous journey and I'm loving it!
Our assignments have been winding down and we only have one more speaker after this week is over. We've had our geography quiz. We had to locate 100 countries on a map and list 50 capitals. We only have one book report and a gospel presentation left before lecture phase is over.
A couple weeks ago we broke into two groups and had mini outreaches. My group headed to San Ignacio on the mainland of Belize. We spent time helping clean up yards and hanging out with kids. Each of us was challenged and our faith was increased over the few days we were gone. It was great coming back together as one group to hear how God had worked in different ways through the two groups.
It's crazy to think that our lecture phase is winding down. Soon we'll be heading to Thailand. Right now we're thinking we may be flying out there on Thanksgiving day. We're all getting excited to start outreach, but we know God has more in store for us before we head over there. Because we are going to Thailand for our outreach, we each have to pay an additional $2000 to cover expenses. If you feel lead to support me financially during my outreach phase please zip me an email (t.verdegan@gmail.com) or checks can be sent to my home address(listed on the right side of my blog).
Personally God has been challenging me in the way I receive His blessings. I tend to think I need to earn them, or that I must go through a difficult circumstance before being blessed. During our outreach He started challenging me and I've been recognizing this wrong pattern of thinking more and more in my life. Through various ways, God has been speaking to me about the desires of my heart and the more specific things I am passionate about. It is overwhelming to acknowledge the dreams that God has put within my heart. Yet, it's even more overwhelming seeing them come into fruition. With God, life sure is an adventurous journey and I'm loving it!
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Going Deeper...
Going Deeper…
We passed our half way point for our lecture phase last week. It gave us an excuse to look back on what God has been doing within each of us individually and within our group as a whole. It’s evident that we have grown deeper as a team. Each person is different, yet we come together to create a dynamic group. It will be exciting to see how God will use us and stretch us during our outreach phase.
John Murphy came from the snowboarders DTS in Denver to share with us about relationships. I enjoyed listening to him speak about being a son/daughter of God versus being a servant of God. Interesting note: John also told us that when you combine all the time we put into our lecture phase of our DTS it is equivalent to going to church every Sunday morning and Wednesday evening for 4.5 years.
Lecture phase creates the perfect setting for us to go deeper into head and heart matters. Each week we are challenged by the speaker’s different topics as well as with mediation passages, group devotionals, memory verses, intercession, and through our personal devotionals. We’re usually all ready for some time in the water after lectures are over. We went down to 110 feet this past weekend while we were completing our next level of certification in scuba diving. We also had the opportunity to go on a night dive a few days ago. Some of the fish looked like they were big enough to eat one of us, then I remind myself that under water things appear larger than they really are.
Jon Peterson is teaching on Bible study this week. We’ve been focusing on the book of John. He’s challenged us to read through the entire book of John once each day. We’ve read through it a couple times on our own, in different translations, from back to front, and once we read it as a group out loud. We have one more day left with Jon, and then he will spend next week teaching to the sailing DTS.
The other night my friend called me out to the end of the dock to look at a bunch of jellyfish that were glowing in the ocean. It’s those little things that God uses to remind me how blessed I am to be having this experience. I pray that in the next few days God gives you one of these little reminders of how He loves you and deeply desires to bless you!
We passed our half way point for our lecture phase last week. It gave us an excuse to look back on what God has been doing within each of us individually and within our group as a whole. It’s evident that we have grown deeper as a team. Each person is different, yet we come together to create a dynamic group. It will be exciting to see how God will use us and stretch us during our outreach phase.
John Murphy came from the snowboarders DTS in Denver to share with us about relationships. I enjoyed listening to him speak about being a son/daughter of God versus being a servant of God. Interesting note: John also told us that when you combine all the time we put into our lecture phase of our DTS it is equivalent to going to church every Sunday morning and Wednesday evening for 4.5 years.
Lecture phase creates the perfect setting for us to go deeper into head and heart matters. Each week we are challenged by the speaker’s different topics as well as with mediation passages, group devotionals, memory verses, intercession, and through our personal devotionals. We’re usually all ready for some time in the water after lectures are over. We went down to 110 feet this past weekend while we were completing our next level of certification in scuba diving. We also had the opportunity to go on a night dive a few days ago. Some of the fish looked like they were big enough to eat one of us, then I remind myself that under water things appear larger than they really are.
Jon Peterson is teaching on Bible study this week. We’ve been focusing on the book of John. He’s challenged us to read through the entire book of John once each day. We’ve read through it a couple times on our own, in different translations, from back to front, and once we read it as a group out loud. We have one more day left with Jon, and then he will spend next week teaching to the sailing DTS.
The other night my friend called me out to the end of the dock to look at a bunch of jellyfish that were glowing in the ocean. It’s those little things that God uses to remind me how blessed I am to be having this experience. I pray that in the next few days God gives you one of these little reminders of how He loves you and deeply desires to bless you!
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