New photos

Today, I thought it would be nice to post a few pictures that cover our last few months.....enjoy!  Some of them are a little old....I somehow missed posting a lot of our SBS photos.  If you want to keep current with photos, check out facebook!  We have many more pictures there.  :)

Here is our SBS class photo!

Here we are with our SBS graduation certificates!  We did it!!

This was at our fancy SBS graduation dinner.  

We went to South Carolina/Virginia this August for Jason's brother Sanders' wedding.
This is the whole family!  We had such a lovely time.

Here are Jason's aunts, cousin, and mom at Sanders and Jessica's wedding.  

Last week in Salem, Oregon, our outreach teams did a ropes course together for team building.  Jason and I jumped together off a 75 foot platform swing.....it was crazy!  A free fall, and then swinging in the forest.  

We made it!

Mini-outreach for the DTS

The Fall DTS just returned from a wonderful week of community outreach and worship/prayer in Salem, Oregon!  We joined with the DTS class in Salem for a week of seeking direction from God, and then going out to tell others about his love.  Our mornings had a similar format to class in Montana: worship, then prayer/intercession, with a speaker giving a message/challenge afterwards.  The students (and us) the hit the streets in downtown Salem, giving out hot chocolate, talking to people, and posting prayers for the city on the bulletin boards of various coffee shops and restaurants around town.  In addition, we took turns walking around downtown silently carrying a wooden cross.  This was so that we could see what it means to take a stand for Christ in a peaceful manner, and to identify with his sacrifice in a small way.  Finally, we drove to nearby Portland one night and worked with a homeless ministry there.  This involved serving a hot meal, giving away clothes, cleaning the area, and even haircuts and foot washing for the homeless guests there.   Most of these experiences were very new for the students, and a great way for them to begin to get out of their comfort zones and share their faith before we go on our two-month overseas outreaches.  The students are being so filled with God's love and being healed from past burdens, and are really starting to believe that God can use even them to reach a hurting and dying world.

As part of the week, many of the students chose to go "unplugged," meaning that they left their laptops, phones, and ipods at home for the week.  Many of them were really impacted by this and felt that they had a special time of hearing from God without all of the distractions in the way.  It is so exciting for us to see them having such huge breakthroughs in their lives!!  This is what we've been praying for months now.  Many of the students are truly starting to find purpose and direction for their lives, which is something that most came here feeling that they were lacking.

This week, we are focusing on relationships: family, friends, romantic, work, church, and other human relationships.  This will be such a key week of healing and freedom for many, I think.  Please be praying with us that hearts are open to receive what God wants to do this week!  Thanks for your love and support for us!!

Fall DTS!

So we are a few weeks into the Fall DTS already!  It has been a busy and wonderful time already.  The weekly topics so far have been the Father Heart of God, the Foundations of Christianity and the Bible, as well as various other topics like prayer, worship, and dealing with pride.  We have such a fantastic group of students!  They are so eager for change in their lives and hungry to know God in a deeper way.  Many of them have past emotional and spiritual wounds, and we are excited to see God moving in their hearts already.  We know he is big enough for all the problems we face, and that he wants to see this precious group of people find freedom and healing.  This will enable them to live effectively for him!

Our typical week is beginning each morning with a student-led devotion, worship, and prayer/intercession.  We then have class every morning with a lecture about the topic of the week.  In the afternoons, time is spent in small group and one-on-one mentorship meetings, outreach team meetings, and tracks.  Tracks consist of different options: Dance, Outdoor Adventures, Music, Art/Communication, and Community Development.  The idea behind these is for the students to learn how to use their gifts and interests in missions and for them to grasp the way that God can work through each of these areas in everyday life.  I am helping with the Dance track, and I am really enjoying dancing again and getting to know the lovely ladies in that class better.

Jason and I are also very busy planning for outreach!  We get to lead an outreach team to southern Thailand and we are so excited about it!  We will be leading a group of 14 students for two months and working with various ministries in Thailand.  Some of them are: building relationships with university students, working at an orphanage, ministering in prisons and schools, and reaching out to the men and women affected by the widespread sex trade in Thailand.  We can't wait to share God's love with those who are hurting and in need of the hope that Jesus brings.  Thanks for being a part of our lives as we journey where God takes us.

This is a small group of girls in whom I get to invest this school, minus one....we meet twice a week and I meet
with each of them one on one every week.  We took everyone in the DTS to Glacier National Park and had a blast!