Shouts of Joy

Hey Everyone,
  Just wanted to give you all a quick update about life, nursing school, and the CCP!
I spent this past weekend at CO's annual Summer Leader's Retreat in Matthews, NC! It is probably one of my favorite retreats each year (this is only my 2nd one) Ha! BUT still... It was awesome getting to be with the SBP, CSP, GSP, and CCP in one place, together for the Gospel.
I sat in on 3 extremely challenging talks by Andrew Holbrook, Zach Fulginiti, and Bill Moore. I am still chewing on the Word that was brought from those talks...maybe I will blog about those once I have had a chance to process through them. All I know is that there is a Gospel gap and I want/need to embrace the power of the gospel for change RIGHT NOW rather than thinking of the past or the future<-- so, I will be meditating on that for... well...probably the rest of my life.

  This weekend the CCP team was reunited again, at last! This team feels so much like family it is crazy! Unfortunately Phil & Wil had to leave Friday night and Casey wasn't able to be there most of Saturday so that left Doug chillin' with the ladies all day Saturday :) Friday night we found out some more details about our trip.

Here are some Updates:
1)  Since our last meeting, Noa  (Doug & Kait's 1 yo daughter) has learned to walk!
2) We are on campus at University of Johannesburg-Bunting
3) There is going to be awesome training packages this summer- led by the COJ staff and Doug.
4) We are staying in a super RAD guest house called... THE BUTTERFLY! (Our little Architect Becca has great talent, she drew us a blueprint of our little home) For our safety, there is a wall and gate in front of the house and a fake ADT security signs outside of the hosue..rest assured.
5) Wil Sessions is in charge of driving our Manual 12 passenger vehicle (Ummm....not sure how I feel about that one yet!)
6) We aren't sure where we are flying out of  yet- either ATL, NY, or DC. The plan is to leave on May 16th and arrive in Johannesburg on the 17th.
7) We have learned to Click :)
8) The girls will have to purchase hairdryers and straighteners in Africa
9)  God is so So SO FAITHFUL and GOOD-  For some reason God has poured out His favor upon our team and has supplied us with over $30,000 of support (with $30,000+ to go)!
10) Our team is BODLY praying that our goal would be complete by April 29th, 2011! Less than 4 weeks away! Come join our team prayerfully & financially!

  This whole process of support raising has been challenging with the demands of nursing school, ministry, and life in general but that's what has made this process so amazing! At the end of the day, I can't say that I did anything..because I didn't! God DID, He is so good.

 The sanctification process doesn't start when I step off that plane, but it actually began way back in January when I was wrestling over the reasons why God would call me to go to Africa for 2 months. In March I cried my heart out, because Doug and I both weren't satisfied with the progress that I was making with support. And when I thought about it afterwards I realized that I had been trying to do all of the work by myself without FAITH that the Lord would be true to His character as PROVIDER. My heart wasn't believing in the POWER and PROVISION of GOD to supply all my needs according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus. (Phil 4:19)

Psalm 126:5 says "Those who sow in tears shall reap with shouts of joy!"  I truly believe even now as I am standing here in "crunch time" of support raising that I am reaping already with shouts of joy, because I am seeing just how Faithful the Lord is to His children and how He loves to carry out His plans just the way HE wants it to be done.


Prayer Requests:
-I truly believe the Lord is calling me to serve His kingdom as a nurse so be praying as I try to rely on His power to finish this difficult semester out strong!
- Please be praying for Hannah and Brittany, two girls that are in a Bible study with me on Thursday nights. Hannah is serving on a mission trip with her church this summer and Brittany is going to the Summer Beach Project.  So, be praying for there summers and the support that they will have to raise as well.
-Next weekend my Dad is throwing a Benefit Dinner for me to raise support for South Africa, so be praying for the heart of more supporters and for my family as they rally around what God is going to do in Africa this summer.
-Most of all, please be praying for my personal time with the Lord.

THANK YOU!

-L