Four days and counting!

We serve a great God! Tuesday was the final day ALL outreach funds had to be in for my classmates, and God provided it all through the sacrificial giving of many. I'm thankful God is my loving Father and Provider and cares for our needs even more than we do! He even arranges times of encouragement with friends ~ thanks Dusty and Kristen for your hospitality, and to the many others who have let me stay in or offered their homes and support as I've taken this step. I love and appreciate you all.

This week wraps up our Lecture Phase of training. In just four days we'll be making the 2 day long trek (with layovers and such) to Trichy, India. Please keep our team in your prayers for safety, rest, love, and unity as we begin this second phase. We've been starting to apply what we've learned here at home, but we're excited to show God's love through us as we head into another culture with people who have many differences, yet many similarities to us.

Because that last sentence is true, these two weeks of training have been so important. Last week, Patience Gifford spoke about Spiritual Warfare. She began with a focus on character. How important that was! If there's one thing that Satan optimizes to keep us away from relationship with God and others the way He intended, it's this. We started by listing all the things that would make someone a bad soldier, someone we wouldn't want in battle. Maybe 30% of those things would be physical, but the other 70% is about character! (Ex: lazy, unprepared, poor listener, doesn't follow commanding officer, etc) How true this is for us in our daily lives too. Ephesians 6:12 and others point out that we are in a spiritual war, and if so, it is our responsibility to be good soldiers. The rest of the week, we discussed the enemy's battle plan, God's battle plan, and practical application of both. All of this = so important as we enter a country with a very different spiritual climate from our own.

This week, we discussing missions. Yes, true, we've been preparing for that all along! But we've taken a practical look now at what that looks like. I hope to share a little more of what that looks like with you before I leave, but for now, I must head to bed! Must be taking care of my body as well!

On a funny note, I might not experience my birthday year this year. Depending on when we cross the international dateline, we might hop right over September 15! Don't worry, though~we're already planning on celebrating a teammate and my birthdays the weekend we get there. Plus, it'd be a funny story to tell~I could forever be one year younger than I really am! ;)

Love and blessings to you, and thankfulness for your support,

Amy