We've been here three weeks so far, going into our fourth week.  So far the topics we have covered have been Orientation, the Character and Nature of God, and Hearing God's Voice and Intercession.  Our staff as a whole spoke to us on Orientation, we had a speaker from the YWAM base in Scotland (originally from Sierra Leon in Africa) named Olu for the Character and Nature of God, and our very own leader, Cody, from Calgary, Alberta spoke to us on Hearing God's Voice and Intercession.  Our leaders for the Social Justice and the Arts DTS are Stephanie from California, Paulina from Sweden, and Cody from Canada. 

From what was relatively a life of isolation, I have burst into a world of living, learning, leaning on, and working with over 30 other people.  Being in community is sooooo wonderful, and is truly where God is taking my life, but there are also...adjustments...that I need to make.  There are about 12 people living in each house, plus the staff.  It's a lot of people.  In my other life as a flight attendant, I have time to draw away, to think, to listen each time I am given something to chew on.  I'm really missing that pace.  We spend 2-4 hours in lecture every day, surrounded by worship, intercession, and outreach.  I begin every day with some time alone with God.  I think I need to make a practice of stealing away more often.  Will you pray that God will help me find a rhythm and a pace, and also that I will sense Him calling me away from time to time throughout the day?  I'd really like that.

One of the most exciting things about this week has been learning more about speaking in tongues and what is called a personal prayer language.  I know that many traditions have different beliefs.  It has always made sense to me that when God speaks to me in my heart it is not exactly English, because sometimes I cannot come up with an English word to describe what He has said.  The idea of me myself speaking in another language never really sat right with me, until these last couple weeks.  When I would pray silently, I could feel my tongue and mouth making different shapes.  I felt that something within me was stirring, and talked to Stephanie about it.  When she prayed for me it felt like someone stuck a nine-volt battery to my tongue.  I could taste the electricity and feel it in my whole tongue and like there was a ball of electricity above my sternum.  I even ate ice cream and could still taste the electricity!  I went down to the beach and spoke to Jesus in a language I did not know.  I heard proper names come out of my mouth...like twice I heard myself say Elijah, and when I was praying for Philip I heard a variation of his name.  It's so cool.  When I hear Cody speak, every once in a while I hear him say a word I know from Latin.  It's just wild, I tell you.  Wild.  I feel like God is telling me that He is teaching me to use this gift more accurately, that there is more.

What if?  What if there's more?  Natalie Grant's song has been haunting me the past couple weeks.  "What if there's hope you never dreamed of hoping for?"  It makes me think of our memory verse this month from the third chapter of Ephesians.  "Now to God who is able to do immeasurably more than you can ask or imagine, through is power which is at work within us, be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus for all generations..."  More than I can imagine...that's a lot... :-)

Oh!  Dance class was wonderful.  We went to a contemporary class on Tuesday and lyrical on Thursday.  I'm looking forward to technique on Wednesday.  Yay!  I am researching exit ministries for human trafficking this week, gathering art supplies, and taking pictures for our photography class.  Our lectures will be on World View and Biblical World View.  

Thank you all!

Bethy

*happy sigh*

This week has been so full.  I am finally getting some rest, and waking up at the same time in the same place every day is doing me a world of good.  Being a flight attendant, switching my mornings and evenings depending on my schedule, hopping from city to city has been far more tiring to my spirit than even I realized.  I feel more whole now.

I think the highlight for most people this week was our silence and solitude time on Tuesday.  I curled up in the cleft of the rock (literally) as waves crashed against my little hiding place, eagles and butterflies soared overhead.  For me it was a day of stillness and peace.  I have had so much stirring around inside of me, and yet God did not seem interested in speaking to me about any of it...in fact, I felt He stopped me from bringing it up myself...it was a day to just be.  One of the coolest things about this day was seeing the change in some of the guys...they seemed transformed the next day.  Something in their spirits was calmed, centered, more focussed throughout Wednesday.

Another thing from Tuesday was that I chose to take a stand against the self-contempt which I mentioned in my last post.  I felt that God told me I would see the fruit of those prayers in two to three days.  Sure enough, a couple days passed and the self-contempt which I have been wrestling fell away like chaff.  I think that my prayers on Tuesday were a major part of that, as well as the prayers of my friends, and simply talking about what I was struggling with.  Being honest with the people around me, bringing the struggle into the light siphoned off the death grip it had had on me.

OH!  Excellent news!  Tomorrow Zarha the Stara and I will go to a dance school to talk to them about classes!!!!!!!!  Yay yay yay yay yay.  They are very reasonably priced, and our leaders are searching the budget for funds to help us out in this endeavor.  It feels like such a miracle to me as I have been desiring to be in dance class for years but unable to carve out the time and find the money.  If you are interested in helping to support this dream, please contact the YWAM school or me and let us know.  Yay.  Did I mention yay?

I have more to tell, but I think that is enough for now.  Love you all!  Thanks for coming with me on this journey,

Beth

Hurrah! Dance is a gift returned to me with abundance. How can I be so near to the ocean and keep from dancing? Yay. My friend Damaris took this picture. She is very famous. Maybe you have heard of her. She is a wonderful photographer, but she is best known throughout the world for how she loves Jesus and people. *waves at Damaris*

We prayed together and asked Jesus where we should go on our outreach. It was such an incredible time. I have experienced life like this with friends like Lisa, but I guess on some level I thought it was rare...so rare...I mean...it is...but here I am with these beautiful people who are teaching us how to hear and follow Jesus as a team. It is so incredible to see. We spend time in worship, then we pray through aligning our wills to God's, asking Him to take away all the distractions, then we ask God what we are seeking Him for (in this case, where we should go on outreach) and we go into quiet time and just listen. When we come back together, we compare notes on what we heard. We are looking not only for God's will in our mission together, but also we want to hear whatever He is saying. For me, He confirmed the place He had told me a year ago (and kept pursuing me with for the last several months). I'm not sure if I'm supposed to post where we are going, but if you know the place that has been on my mind, then now you have half of the picture. :-)

I think the very best moment was when my friend Jon heard from God. We had gone on a prayer walk the day before. This kind of prayer and hearing God speak is new to Him, so He did not know where to begin. As he and I were talking, I was moved to pray that Jon would be able to hear God speaking in his heart. The next day when we asked about where to go, he heard a place that he was not wanting to go, a place that wasn't even on his radar. It turns out that that place was confirmed over and over again in the things that we all were hearing...it is where we are going!

(Don't you wish I would just out and say it? *smirk*)

Here is another picture that the famous Damaris took. We had a bonfire on the beach last night, and people were blowing bubbles. Lo is the beautiful woman in the green scarf. I think Jesus has plans for her...I think He's going to blow her mind on this trip. She knows Him and follows hard after Him. The princess holding the bubble wand is Zahra. She's a star. I think that Jesus can't wait to see her shine. But that's just my opinion. Can you tell I love these people? I would have to say that is the biggest thing for me so far, is seeing God in all of the people around me and asking Him for His heart toward them. I love it. Love love love it.

My biggest prayer request is that we would all encourage one another and call out the beauty we see in one another. That is my desire for this week. That we come together around one another and that no one gets left behind...I know that Jesus has something for each of us. For me, I need rest. I've been running on adrenaline and prayer for the last thirty days, and I need to take care of my health. I've also been struggling with self contempt. So if you could pray about that, I would really appreciate it.

God bless you!

Beth

The drive here was quite exciting. Janet and I got in a lot of miles and a lot of laughs, but not a lot of sleep. I hope that she is recovering nicely, but that she never fully recovers. We are never the same after stuff like this, you know. At least now she knows how to drive a stick-shift. ;-)

There are two discipleship training schools here at the Pismo YWAM. I am in the Social Justice and the Arts school with 9 other women and one man. The surf DTS has 7 men and one girl. The one guy from our school and I are living in a house with the surf people, which is quite fun.

I think the most significant thing to me is the way these people follow after God and love each other. I've never been among people so passionate...except my friends. Gosh...I was sitting in the living room today, watching everyone just love each other, wondering if I could just move in to stay. I don't know that that is a serious thought...but gosh this love is beautiful. Love will change the world, you know. Have you heard?

YWAM Pismo is a decentralized base. That means we have people living in houses in the community in several different towns along the central coast. I'm so tired. We spent the day traveling to all the places within our base, praying for the area. Maybe I'm weird, but I think that kind of prayer is exhausting...good...but tiring...like climbing a mountain or something. I feel like I've climbed a mountain or three today. I think I need to take a holy nap.