Amazing week! YAY GOD! ;-}

What an amazing week so far! It’s Wednesday, which means that it’s base fasting day. One of my fellow students gave an amazing presentation on North Korea today—really powerful. I’ll try to post the link for the video she showed about how their freedom is restricted and the harsh treatment they have to endure. It made me really thankful for the blessings we have in the West—I am thankful for the slow, restricted internet access that we have here at the base, because in North Korea, they don’t have internet (or ANY access to the outside world—TV, Movies, Books) at all!!!

Our speaker this week is named Bev, and she’s talking on Spiritual Warfare. She’s taking a unique approach to it that I really appreciate. We spent the first day of lecture talking about who God is. We have had two speakers share the story of Handel’s Messiah and the Hallelujah Chorus with us, which I just eat up because unlike when it was shoved down my throat in college, I actually enjoy classical music now! The ‘jist of it is that Handel wrote the Messiah, a massive 17-scene oratorio for voices and instruments, in 24 days. The final movement, dubbed the Hallelujah Chorus, declares the glorification of Christ as depicted in the Book of Revelation. After completing the final movement, Handel burst out of his room, and screamed in a loud voice, "I saw Heaven opened and the host of it worshiping the Glory of God." WOW! To have that kind of revelation of heaven and the glory of God!!! I’ve had a small glimpse of it in the last few weeks, and it’s pretty powerful.

After we finished talking about the Glory of God, we spent the second day on reviewing who we are in Christ. We split up into groups and put together some dramas and presentations based on the first two chapters of Ephesians, and 1 Peter 2:9-10. I encourage you to read those passages and really let the truth of who you are in Christ sink deep into your heart.

We only just today starting talking about the devil and how he operates. It was really good to start with taking a stand on who God is and who we are in him as a primary means of spiritual warfare. I’m excited for lectures the rest of the week, because I feel like God’s truth is really starting to take root in my life in a way that will change how I think and who I am forever! YAY GOD! ;-}

In other news, things are going well around the base. It’s Island Breeze’s second anniversary today, which is pretty exciting. It’s neat to be a part of the pioneering history of this place. It’s been a bit rainy here lately, which makes me miss home. We’re heading into fall, so it will be getting colder (60’s and 70’s—I know that doesn’t sound very cold to those who had snow again recently—CRAZY!). I have mid-summer Northern Africa to look forward to for outreach, so I’ll probably be relishing the cold as long as I can! Be praying for us about outreach—we’re trying to decide if God still wants us to go to one of the countries we had on our list, and we need a decision ASAP so we can buy plane tickets. Pray that God will give us wisdom and discernment to know his will for us. This week, we met with one of the contacts from another country that we’re for sure going to, and she’s really excited for us to come!

I’m hoping to fly up north this weekend to visit a friend who’s living in Brisbane (Steph Vernon for the PLU crowd). She lives in the same city as the koala sanctuary where they let you hold the koalas, so be expecting lots of fun pictures from that when it happens…. ;-}

I know there’s heaps more happening, but I can’t think of anything else right now. I’m trying really hard to stay on top of blogging and keeping in touch, but we have restricted internet access (only two hours per week, not including Skype), so it might be a bit challenging. BUT! I’m thankful for what we have, because there are many parts of the world where they don’t have any internet! Thank you Lord! ;-} Love you and miss you all!

~Maggie