OUTREACH. What.

I think I've only ever heard of the country Bangladesh once or twice in my whole life. I didn't even have any idea where it was until last Monday morning. But in 6 short weeks that's where I'll be heading for a whole month: Bangladesh, one of the most densely populated countries, surrounded by all things Indian.

Deciding to go to Bangladesh was all God. When it came to thinking about outreach everything in me was hoping that a team would go to Africa and when I saw that we wouldn't be going I was devastated. Ever since I can remember I've wanted to go to two places more than anything else: Africa and London. Being able to go to London for 7 weeks is going to be such an amazing experience and I was so hoping I'd be able to kill two birds with one stone (in a sense) and go to Africa on the same trip, but God had other plans. To be completely honest I didn't really want to go to any of the countries given as outreach locations (Cambodia, Nepal, the Philippines, and Bangladesh). It wasn't that I didn't think going there wouldn't be a good experience, but I just didn't feel like I have ever had a heart for those countries.

But not more than 12 hours later I couldn't get Bangladesh out of my mind. I knew straight off that I wasn't called to Nepal or Cambodia, and so it was between Bangladesh and the Philippines, and for some reason Bangladesh kept being engrained into my mind. I hadn't slept through the night for about a week (I'd wake up about 15 times a night), but every time I woke up I saw the word Bangladesh. I just couldn't shake the country from my mind. We had to hand in our paper that said which country we felt called to on Thursday morning and by Wednesday night I still wasn't 100% sure I was supposed to go to Bangladesh. However, every time I thought of Bangladesh I thought of two words: "high places." That Thursday morning as I was reading my devotional during my quiet time I came across a verse that said "come up to the high places" and later on something that said "you have been called to the high places." God was obviously making it clear that I was supposed to go to Bangladesh. And what I love is that it was completely him that decided where I should go. I prayed and asked that he would clearly speak to me and he did! God is faithful.

I'm stoked to go to Bangladesh. My team has 17 students and 4 staff on it, including our awesome leader Quenton and my good friend Ashlee. Because our team is larger we'll actually be splitting up into two groups during the day in Bangladesh to cover more and different work, but we'll all convene again at night to be together I believe. Im not sure what type of work we'll be doing exactly but I know it is going to be awesome.

Please join me in praying for my team as we start to prepare for ministry in Bangladesh. It is sure to be a fruitful and amazing time. SO EXCITED!

((also, I'll be sending out an email about fundraising for this trip today or tomorrow))

Week Seven.

Yup. It's almost been 7 weeks since I moved half way around the world. Somedays I just can't believe it. Life just gets so incredibly busy that half the time I feel like I'm still in Maryland, it's just 75 degrees warmer and the oceans are ACTUALLY blue. But I really do love it here and part of me would really love to stay here in this environment forever.

YWAM is changing my life. Wait. Rephrase. GOD is changing my life through the context of YWAM and it's super cool to see. Sitting under hardcore, bible based teaching every single day now has literally rocked my world. Things I didn't even know I struggled with have been and are being revealed and walls that I had placed around myself to cover up my sin have been completely broken. I'm a new person, with a softer heart and a more open mind. God is so good and SO faithful.

It hasn't been a walk in the park, though. There have been sleepless nights and tearful afternoons. This past week we learned about LORDSHIP. Oh my goodness. Ha. I'm such a prideful person, I realized! As our speaker was talking, slowly I could see the areas where God was not King in my life. One quote from the week that really stood out to me was this, "God does not want to share the throne of your heart with anyone. He wants it completely and all the time." That really hit home for me. There are so many areas of my life where I'm sitting on a little corner of my throne. It's super cool to see how God is changing me. I wish every person could come do a DTS cause I'm convinced no one ever is the same after these six months. It's truly life changing.

Now onto some everyday life catching up. It's just getting busier here. We just finished the brand new, three story base that has been in the works for the past 12 months. It's absolutely huge and holds the kitchen, cafe, eating area, staff housing, offices, conference rooms, auditorium and more. The faithfulness of God in completing this building is quite astounding! Our other building is almost finished and so we'll be moving into that very soon. We're kind of excited seeing as how fitting 60 people in one smmaalll classroom is not only uncomfortable but very hot. Your lucky if you can catch an air conditioning seat. You're literally RIGHT in front of the air con. It's like the arctic.

But it's been so good. The people here on my team are seriously some of my favorite people in the world, and are definitely becoming my best friends. I absolutely love doing everything with them. I'm so excited to have 4 more months with them and I can't even IMAGINE what it's gonna be like when this six months is over. But we're not gonna talk about that!

Next post, finances!

Much love!!