Jan
20
Well I'm back in St. Louis and it's been a busy, but amazing last week. Anna and I arrived last Saturday and picked up our newest member of our Year Team, Kate, from the airport where she flew in from England. We've had so much fun getting to know her and she fits in perfectly with our already formed team. Poor Elijah now has 3 girls he gets to work with every day. Hopefully we don't drive him too crazy!Soon after arriving in St. Louis, we started a week of training with all the year teamers from the states. We had 15 of us in all from Oregon, Georgia, and Missouri who would meet every day to worship, pray, listen to speakers, and bond with one another. The United States year team this year consists of 11 girls and 4 guys so we got to have all 11 of us girls staying at Anna and I's house. I thought with that many girls in one place it would be crazy and hectic, but it worked really well! We didn't have any drama and everyone got a hot shower when they wanted one so I'd say that's pretty successful!
God taught me a lot through this past week of training and then into the weekend with our Mobilise conference. I have been stressing a lot about what I want to do with my next year of my life and God answered a lot of my questions. I know now that I will be staying in St. Louis for this next year and have a desire to work with the college group here to see them grow in their lives with God. God also this past week instilled a zeal for Him that I've never experienced before. I just have so much excitment for reading the Bible and drawing closer to God than I've ever had. This is a huge blessing, because I've struggled with the desire to read my Bible most of my life. God is so faithful to change our hearts when we're willing.
One last thing that I really took from this weekend was a heart for people who don't know God. God started to put specific people on my heart to pray for. Two things really stuck out to me in this conversation I had with God.
- Just share what God has done in your own life. Sharing your faith can be scary, but it doesn't have to be hard. Just be faithful to be honest with the people around you and God will shine out of you and your story.
- Plead for their lives in prayer. I was reminded of Abraham pleading for God to spare Sodom because his nephew Lot lived there (Genesis 18:16-19:29). After Abraham spoke with God, God "brought Lot out of the catastrophe that overthrew the cities where Lot had lived" (Gen. 19:29). Prayer is so important. Plead for your friends in prayer.
