His Kingdom at Hand- because it is In Me

The past 2 weeks have been an incredible time of growing and experiencing God's power within myself. Last week we had Amy Sollars lecture on Holy Spirit and the Prophetic. She is an incredibly anointed woman of God and the teachings were both refreshing and exciting! For many years I have walked in the Spirit, but never truly had much teaching or guidance in this particular topic. God really spent the week pouring wisdom and grace over me. Some of the major points I took away from the week were that 1) how I have lived is not freaky, it may be a bit crazy, but i'm not alone in it. 2) The way to share words and vision with people in a way that is affirming and encouraging- being careful to use my gift for life; 3) It's ok to be wrong. As Amy said, "Mistakes are not optional." For as long as I have walked in these gifts, I have feel that I allowed my mistakes to grow into a sense of failure and inadequacy. So having Amy come and not only teach, but encourage practicing together, was such a freeing experience. I truly felt His hands reworking me to better live out the gifts in bold obedience while continuing to pursue an intimate relationship with Him!

This week we joined all the other DTS students for lecture as Trent and Tre Shepherd brought it! These brothers tag-teamed the entire week and while at first it was difficult to engage - one would speak for 2 hours and then the other would speak for 2 hours and the entire time it was being translated into Korean! After becoming accustomed to the pace and styles of this lecture "team" it was much easier to learn from them. The major points of this week are:

• The Bible is a true, living narrative
• The Kingdom of God is on the offense, never should it be on the defense
• Viewing the world through God's original design- "the way we view the Kingdom is a result of who we are and what we do"
• Jesus pioneered a new way of being human through Holy Spirit. "He didn't come to make you less human, He came to make you more human to restore something lost in Eden."
• We were saved for something, not just from something
• It is who you are not who you are going to be, that's why the Kingdom is here and is coming still!

The presentation and entire week of lecture was wonderful and as the quote goes, "it's like drinking from a fire hydrant."

Some other events I wanted to share about were just more of an idea of the community and lifestyle lived here on campus. Monday nights are "ministry nights" where anyone is welcome to gather in the prayer room and worship together. Every week we have encountered a different part of God, and it is one of my favorite parts of the week for sure! This monday we had just closed out and I felt led to pray over a guy on staff- it was so funny the way the Joy of the Lord fell upon him and the 2 young men beside him. After a time we were chatting as a group of about 10 and long story short- eventually ended up praying for my roommate and friend Catherine. -she has very poor sight and has severe scoliosis. So, again, long story short we move from her eyes, to her back and then my friend Mick points out that her left leg is an inch longer than her right. So we begin praying for her back/legs to be correctly aligned and as we are praying- i kid you not- Mick, myself and a few other watched and felt her right leg grow an inch!!!! perfectly matching the length of her left leg -another roommate/friend and myself had a hand on Catherine's back and while this growth was going on we felt as her lower back popped in the change. another girl said she felt Cath's back being "massaged" beneath the skin even though no one was moving their fingers or hands to produce such a sensation. God's hand was Truly at work on Catherine as we called for Him to bring her body back to health! WOW!!

On thursday afternoon I got to watch as about fifteen 5-7 year olds did a "treasure hunt" on campus. They had each prayed for a word to share with someone and had received a "clue" from the Lord, as to who it was for. I watched as an adorable blonde headed little girl explained to the attending teacher the description of the person she was supposed to give her rolled up paper of encouragement to- about 5 mins later that person walked up and the little girl ran to deliver God's message to her. -Amazing! I love that the children here are walking in His anointing at such a young age!!! so cool!!

Some other amazing stories I've heard in the last week include an 8yr old spat in the dirt and put it on a blind man's eyes while praying because "that's what Jesus did" and the man now has perfect vision. There's a woman who was in a terrorist bombing, part of her brain was blown off and she was taken to the hospital where she was pronounced dead. She sas in the morgue when her younger sister went in and prayed for her resurrection- she's perfectly healthy and living on campus today!!! haha! Yes lord!!! haha God is rocking my world beyond even my imagination- and it all still just blows me away! It is crazy amazing!!! :)

Also, I found out this week that I will be going to Thailand for my outreach! We have a team of 9 young women and will spent nearly 3 months in the country specifically focusing on sex slavery and trafficking. We are hoping to spend some time in northern Thailand- focusing on the smaller communities and cities there where most of the girls are from, then moving down into the heart of the country and working with a few organizations/homes that have girls just out of the trade, and then also taking time to spend in the red light district with the women/girls currently trapped in this injustice. We will know more as the departure date gets closer, but that is the overview of what we hope to do over there. I have paid my first installment for this trip this week- covering the cost of the airfare and a little extra. The next payment is due by november 24th- and I have NONE of that money yet. I am asking that you pray about supporting me financially during this trip! I feel much like a broken record, but I still need to raise/make $2,600 to cover this outreach trip. If you feel led to aid financially it is very simple! You can click on the "donate" button to the right to send funds via PayPal; or you can pay YWAM directly on my behalf by going to this link and entering the following information.

https://apply.uofn.edu/OnlineAppDocs/OnlinePayment.cfm

Watson

Marisa

lovingreflections.marisa@gmail.com

February 15, 1991

DTS-Justice

September 2010

I hope you have enjoyed this update and pray that God touches you through it- inspiring you to be bold in the Kingdom as it IS at hand! :) Blessings!

Love Always

It's only been 10 days???

That phrase has been used over and over as our team is reminded just how short the time has been here. We can hardly believe it's been just over a week when it feels as though we've been here for at least a month!

I'm happily living in Hawaii and the travels have been- entertaining, but amazing! Last weekend I spent on the beach, this weekend I worked security for the IronMan World Championships! We have 60 students in my DTS, representing 14 different countries, and everyone of them are Incredible!!! (this is a picture we took last saturday at the beach!)

Everyone has given their testimony and with each story the group dynamics become closer as we allow ourselves to show both vulnerability and boldness with each other. We have spent the last week going from strangers to "Ohana" (family) and I'm not even exaggerating. Lecture also began this week as Ben Nonoa came and taught on "The Heart of the Father." The way that God moved through this past week has been so amazing to everyone. Personally I have felt His favor upon my life in such a deep and astounding way that I can do nothing more but Praise Him.

Something specific that He has done in me the last few days (it's only been 10 days!?) includes grasping my self-worth and truly being able to see myself as He does. Often, in the past few years I have loved and admired people so much that I have in a since, lost myself. I always felt inferior to others because of how incredible each person was and also because I allowed the fact that I'm "young" to keep me from being confident around others. This inferiority, was broken this week- freedom and confidence taking root where once a stronghold was planted.

Everyday we have "work-duty" for 2 hours. Most of the work is campus upkeep, kitchen work, we have a farm so a few get the opportunity to learn "natural farming." I was placed in the Preschool Clean-up crew for a day of orientation, and then God's hand took me somewhere else. As you may know, I have been working as a Research Analyst for the Sex+Money documentary (due to release next spring) for just over a year now. Well it turns out that my building manager is on staff with them and went through loops to both make a place and get me to work with the team here. Honestly, I have no idea how she did this, but I am so honored and blessed to have this opportunity!

Just as in that instance, the favor I am finding with students and staff here floors me. Honestly, it is a bit hard to see where this favor is coming from- I've been here for 10 days and only had any sort of deep conversation with a handful of people here. Ana, the Preschool director, told me that even during registration I made an impression that had some staff talking. -now I say this to in no way boast or be prideful, but simply to show an example of the favor God has placed upon me that even I am trying to understand.

So many stories more to tell, and it's only been 10 days. Everyone feels that we've been here a month with all that has happened. We are bonded at such a deep level and the love of God is coming down so magnificently! I am so excited to spent the next 6 months (at least) with all of them!

Something that I do need to bring up again is the need for financial support. On October 29th (19 days away) I will need to pay $2,500 for the first outreach payment-this is completely covered! Thank you all who have given already! However, there is a second payment due that I will get an exact amount for later. This is based on which country I will be going to and it will be somewhere between $2,500-$3,500. None of this I have yet and it is all due on November 24th. So I am asking again for you to pray about giving to my outreach opportunity. There is a Paypal "Donate" button to the right, and in my post "The Countdown" there are instructions on giving straight to YWAM towards my outreach account. I want to say thank you in advance for taking the time to hear from God and for being obedient in your giving!

Until next time,

Love Always