This week was a very tough week for me spiritually and emotionally! Fiona Gifford from England spoke on Sin, Repentance, & Forgiveness.
HIGHLIGHTS from LESSON:
*the Flesh is constantly at battle with the Spirit (Romans 6, Romans 8:1-17, Colossians 3:1-17).
*Sin- man's failure to trust in God, state of unbelief, doubt.
*Sin entered the world in the form of pride and mistrust when Adam/Eve chose to be independent rather than dependent on God and obey the boundaries God set before them.
*Sin starts in the inside, in the heart, and exits the body by YOUR WILL allowing it to. So take control of your body!
*Pattern for sin is most likely because you haven't dealt with the root of it.
*What are your defenses, what you hide behind? What keeps you from being vulnerable (open to being wounded)? Could be silence, business/work, food, a smile, humor, self pity, perfectionism... These defenses need to come down so that humility (being known for who you really are) can come forth.
*Your reaction/response to situations in this world is the most powerful testimony you'll ever have!
*It's how you love one another that people see you are disiciples of God.
This was a breakthrough week for me personally and also as a group. Fiona facilitated a time where we could physically go through the steps of sin, repentance, & forgiveness through a series of exercises. She had us do several group activities where we were given the chance to look at each other through the eyes of God, and because of that we are on our way to becoming more unified. One of Fiona's individual activities gave us the chance to physically wash away our sins with the blood of Jesus Christ (red soap).
Local Outreach- TREASURE HUNT! >> coolest thing EVER!
*Strategy: ask God to give clues- article of clothing, color of shirt, place, name, unusual thing, that will help find the treasure- person needing help/prayer/word of encouragement in that exact moment!
*Plan: write clues down, pick a location to walk to first, start walking, & LOOK for the treasure!
I was skeptical of this at first... how is it possible that God can really speak to us about this kind of stuff? How do we know that these pictures/words we get are actually from God and not just our own mind making things up?...
But, through this experience, God taught me to just trust Him because He CAN and WILL speak to me!
So, this is what happened with my group:
-I got: dread locks, red shirt, Reebok, corner. Other 2 guys in my group got: snake, pink shorts.
-We started walking, and the design of a HUGE snake was built into the framework of the fence surrounding this house. So, we timidly knocked on the door! We talked to a young man who is not a believer, but instead believes in the power of the human mind and the good in man having the power to overcome evil. But he is very interested in other religions, including Christianity. He is always encouraged by Christians! And, he knows someone connected with YWAM.. so you never know what our little talk with him will lead to!
-We continued walking, and a man with long dreads wearing a red shirt was walking right towards us! So, we pulled the guy aside, we were very scared and nervous just like the first time, and told him he was part of our treasure hunt because he matched the clues we got from God! He happened to be a homeless man that lives on the mountain, and he has very weak eyes. So we prayed for safety & protection, and strong eyes with good vision! Who knows if God healed him, but the smile on the guys face after we were done praying was priceless!
*Some of the other groups stories are crazy cool! Another group got a picture of cans, so they went to the grocery store and went to the can isle... no one was there. But then, a lady came walking down the isle with a whole cart full of cans!!! So, trusting that she was their "treasure", they went to her! She happened to be a believer, and was on her way to distribute cans to the hungry, and earlier that day she prayed for encouragment since she was really nervous about distribution.. so this group was the answer to her prayers! How crazy! So anyway, they prayed for her & even gave her some money :)
Blessings to everyone! Hope you all are enjoying the snow :)
-Aslyn
Saturday, January 29, 2011
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Week 2
Verse that stuck out to me this week:
Hebrews 12: 1-2, "...Let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith..."
HIGHLIGHTS FROM LESSON:
Speaker: James Lunn, leader of SBS here at Muiz base. We covered SO much this week and in great depth, so it's kinda hard to write only the main points... hopefully it all makes sense. He taught from Romans 1-8, so I encourage you to study these chapters on your own!
*God is JUST not FAIR! If He gives us what we deserve, then we would still be under His wrath and would not experience His grace. BUT, for anyone who believes in Jesus, they are now RIGHTEOUS in God's eyes, He does not see them anymore as sinners! He sees Christ's righteousness when He looks down upon us.
*Your actions do not effect your position with God. If your actions would draw you closer to God, then Christ died for nothing. He died to give God's righteousness as a GIFT to us!
*Our job: Receive the gift. Respond to the gift. NO WHERE in between is there any earning of the gift.
*So, how to respond to God's gift? Our life = Thank You letter to God. We can't repay the gift, but out of gratitude for what he has done, we live in gratefulness to Him. We read the Bible and spend time with Him not because we have to, but because we want to!
*If you sin, you are letting yourself be a slave to sin. & you are a slave no matter what- either a slave to sin or a slave to righteousness. So, be a slave to righteousness!
*DON'T ABUSE GOD'S GRACE! You are given freedom from sin, but not freedom to do whatever you want!
*Life in the spirit vs. life in the flesh= constantly at battle! The one you feed the most will always win! So, feed the spirit- read the Bible, spend time with God, etc. Then temptation to sin becomes weaker.
*"Doing good things" are a natural outpouring of your salvation. Notice, Galatians 5:22 talks about the fruits of THE SPIRIT, not fruits of YOU! Peace, love, faithfulness, and so on are results of walking in the spirit!
Group Activity Highlights:
*LAST WEEKEND: girls night- had tea, painted nails, played games. Shopping with a few girls. Church and tea at Shelly's house with some girls.
*THIS WEEK:
-S'more party!
-Game night with the SBS (School of Biblical Studies) students & leaders.
*THIS WEEKEND
-Went to see the penguins at Boulder Beach in Simon's Town on Saturday.
-Church, then lunch at Kalky's (fish place by the water), then flea market close to the base on Sunday.
& FOUND OUT THAT I'M GOING TO VIETNAM AND THE PHILIPPINES FOR OUTREACH! ah I'm so excited!
This week God revealed so much to me! I'll never fully understand the immensity of His love (and i never will), but the fact that he can love me despite everything I've done, is SO amazing! Why would he love someone like me?? That just shows how great and amazing His love is!
Also, this week, I've realized that my life is not my own, it is God's. I am here because of Him. So i need to surrender every area of my life to Him and trust wholeheartedly that He will fulfill His promises. And He's God, so obviously He can do so much more than I could ever do on my own! So why not put all my faith and trust in Him!
I continue to thank you for all the prayers and support! :) Love you guys!
Blessings,
Aslyn
Hebrews 12: 1-2, "...Let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith..."
HIGHLIGHTS FROM LESSON:
Speaker: James Lunn, leader of SBS here at Muiz base. We covered SO much this week and in great depth, so it's kinda hard to write only the main points... hopefully it all makes sense. He taught from Romans 1-8, so I encourage you to study these chapters on your own!
*God is JUST not FAIR! If He gives us what we deserve, then we would still be under His wrath and would not experience His grace. BUT, for anyone who believes in Jesus, they are now RIGHTEOUS in God's eyes, He does not see them anymore as sinners! He sees Christ's righteousness when He looks down upon us.
*Your actions do not effect your position with God. If your actions would draw you closer to God, then Christ died for nothing. He died to give God's righteousness as a GIFT to us!
*Our job: Receive the gift. Respond to the gift. NO WHERE in between is there any earning of the gift.
*So, how to respond to God's gift? Our life = Thank You letter to God. We can't repay the gift, but out of gratitude for what he has done, we live in gratefulness to Him. We read the Bible and spend time with Him not because we have to, but because we want to!
*If you sin, you are letting yourself be a slave to sin. & you are a slave no matter what- either a slave to sin or a slave to righteousness. So, be a slave to righteousness!
*DON'T ABUSE GOD'S GRACE! You are given freedom from sin, but not freedom to do whatever you want!
*Life in the spirit vs. life in the flesh= constantly at battle! The one you feed the most will always win! So, feed the spirit- read the Bible, spend time with God, etc. Then temptation to sin becomes weaker.
*"Doing good things" are a natural outpouring of your salvation. Notice, Galatians 5:22 talks about the fruits of THE SPIRIT, not fruits of YOU! Peace, love, faithfulness, and so on are results of walking in the spirit!
Group Activity Highlights:
*LAST WEEKEND: girls night- had tea, painted nails, played games. Shopping with a few girls. Church and tea at Shelly's house with some girls.
*THIS WEEK:
-S'more party!
-Game night with the SBS (School of Biblical Studies) students & leaders.
*THIS WEEKEND
-Went to see the penguins at Boulder Beach in Simon's Town on Saturday.
-Church, then lunch at Kalky's (fish place by the water), then flea market close to the base on Sunday.
& FOUND OUT THAT I'M GOING TO VIETNAM AND THE PHILIPPINES FOR OUTREACH! ah I'm so excited!
This week God revealed so much to me! I'll never fully understand the immensity of His love (and i never will), but the fact that he can love me despite everything I've done, is SO amazing! Why would he love someone like me?? That just shows how great and amazing His love is!
Also, this week, I've realized that my life is not my own, it is God's. I am here because of Him. So i need to surrender every area of my life to Him and trust wholeheartedly that He will fulfill His promises. And He's God, so obviously He can do so much more than I could ever do on my own! So why not put all my faith and trust in Him!
I continue to thank you for all the prayers and support! :) Love you guys!
Blessings,
Aslyn
 |
| Penguins! They are really small, only about knee high. But so cute! |
 |
| S'more party! They don't have graham crackers in SA, they use thin cookies instead! |
 |
| Sea Lion! We saw 3 & they loved showing off for us haa. |
 |
| @ Kalky's. They gather the fish right here... and this is also where we saw the sea lions. |
Thursday, January 13, 2011
Week 1
Yesterday marks the completion of one full week here at Muizenberg! :)
*30 people in my DTS (all from a number of different countries- Zimbabwe, Netherlands, Germany, South Korea, Canada, South Africa, Thailand, Sweden, Switzerland, New Zealand)
Group Activity Highlights so far:
*Hiking on Saturday- absolutely GORGEOUS!
*Church on Sunday- a wonderful message on what our purpose for life is.
*Cape Town Sunday afternoon- more of the "wealthy" part of South Africa. BEAUTIFUL!
*Tuesday Night (which was our free night)- some of us rented and watched a movie!
Lesson this week- Hearing God's Voice, given by Dan Shannon from the States.
HIGHLIGHTS FROM LESSON:
*Point of our life is to love God and make Him known. The rest are just details.
*Are you going to be a part of God's story, or is He going to be a part of yours?
*There is no difference between Bible times and now! God is still the same, and we are living out Acts 29.
*Must silence 3 of our 4 voices- our own voice, the enemy's voice, and the voice of others & then we will hear God's voice.
*There are many ways God speaks to us- through the Bible, the inner voice of the Holy Spirit, our conscience, our circumstances, our visions, our dreams, His creation, and many more.
*He has a STILL, SMALL VOICE that is super-NATURAL! Thunder and fireworks don't have to sound in order for God to speak!
*Most important thing= after we hear God's voice, we must listen and obey, and then we will see God move!
*Story- Dad tells his son in the other room to bring him a cup of tea. But, the son hears, "Can you please bring me a slice of cheese?" So, the son listens, and brings his dad a slice of cheese. The dad isn't disappointed that the son brought him the wrong thing, he's just happy his son OBEYED! And the dad makes use of the cheese his son brought him. This is how we must act with our Father. Listen, and confidentally obey! If we mess up that's okay! God will work out the details.
Prayer Need: to not just know God loves me, but to FEEL it in my heart. Along with that, to have a better understanding of what God's love is, and to understand that despite all of my sins and failures, I am WORTHY of His love.
Thank you all so much for your prayer and support!
Love you guys!
-Aslyn
*30 people in my DTS (all from a number of different countries- Zimbabwe, Netherlands, Germany, South Korea, Canada, South Africa, Thailand, Sweden, Switzerland, New Zealand)
Group Activity Highlights so far:
*Hiking on Saturday- absolutely GORGEOUS!
*Church on Sunday- a wonderful message on what our purpose for life is.
*Cape Town Sunday afternoon- more of the "wealthy" part of South Africa. BEAUTIFUL!
*Tuesday Night (which was our free night)- some of us rented and watched a movie!
Lesson this week- Hearing God's Voice, given by Dan Shannon from the States.
HIGHLIGHTS FROM LESSON:
*Point of our life is to love God and make Him known. The rest are just details.
*Are you going to be a part of God's story, or is He going to be a part of yours?
*There is no difference between Bible times and now! God is still the same, and we are living out Acts 29.
*Must silence 3 of our 4 voices- our own voice, the enemy's voice, and the voice of others & then we will hear God's voice.
*There are many ways God speaks to us- through the Bible, the inner voice of the Holy Spirit, our conscience, our circumstances, our visions, our dreams, His creation, and many more.
*He has a STILL, SMALL VOICE that is super-NATURAL! Thunder and fireworks don't have to sound in order for God to speak!
*Most important thing= after we hear God's voice, we must listen and obey, and then we will see God move!
*Story- Dad tells his son in the other room to bring him a cup of tea. But, the son hears, "Can you please bring me a slice of cheese?" So, the son listens, and brings his dad a slice of cheese. The dad isn't disappointed that the son brought him the wrong thing, he's just happy his son OBEYED! And the dad makes use of the cheese his son brought him. This is how we must act with our Father. Listen, and confidentally obey! If we mess up that's okay! God will work out the details.
Prayer Need: to not just know God loves me, but to FEEL it in my heart. Along with that, to have a better understanding of what God's love is, and to understand that despite all of my sins and failures, I am WORTHY of His love.
Thank you all so much for your prayer and support!
Love you guys!
-Aslyn
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
first dayyyy! : )
Hey guys! I'm so happy to say I made it safetly to South Africa!! Me and Larenda, a girl from Washington state, flew in together from Amsterdam to Cape Town around 11 last night. Funny story, we didn't realize that we were only suppose to bring only 50 lbs of luggage, so we both brought around 100 lbs! And the cars here are really tiny, so 3 guys picked us up at the airport in this really small car. Well, so had a slight problem because only our smallest suitcase fit in the trunk, and we still had 4 big suitcases to fit in the car! So, we put one suitcase on the floor of the car, forcing me to sit with my legs straight up, almost touching the roof! And then we had 2 more suitcases to hold, and the one guy in the passenger seat held our 4th suitcase. It was soooo funnyyyy! We couldn't see anything because our luggage took up every single square inch of the car. I wish i could of gotten a picture, but there was no way i was getting to my camera... But anyway, we all laughed so hard the entire way home. It was a great way to start this trip! : )
But this morning me and Larenda walked with some other guys to the grocery store and got some snacks. Then, on the way back we walked on the beach, and let me tell you.. it is beautiful! I'm already falling in love with this place : ) but anyway we all have to meet for snacks and coffee now so i gotta go! But yeah, i made it safetly and everyone here is soo nice and friendly, so basically i'm already having so much fun! I love it!
Blessings,
Aslyn
But this morning me and Larenda walked with some other guys to the grocery store and got some snacks. Then, on the way back we walked on the beach, and let me tell you.. it is beautiful! I'm already falling in love with this place : ) but anyway we all have to meet for snacks and coffee now so i gotta go! But yeah, i made it safetly and everyone here is soo nice and friendly, so basically i'm already having so much fun! I love it!
Blessings,
Aslyn
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