My Eyes are Open

Hello!

How are you?

Lately God has been teaching me about the importance of living with my eyes open. It's hard walking through a room in the dark when you aren't quite certain where things are (especially if you tend to trip over things like air as I'm often prone to doing).It's often harder to walk through a room with your eyes closed and having someone else lead you. However, to me one of the hardest things is to walk through a room seeing with my eyes and yet being somehow blind to how God is working.

I am one of those people who find it incredibly frustrating when I don't understand what is taking place around me. So when God began showing me how much I've been missing out on by walking through life with my eyes partly closed, I wasn't a happy camper. If someone tells me I'm in a box, I like to find that box and smash it. Thus, I refuse to live in a box that dims my vision of the world around me.

I am far from perfect, but I'm not concerned about being perfect. My goal is to walk through life with my eyes on Jesus Christ. With both eyes on Him, I believe that despite whatever ups and downs that come my way I will be the better for it. Walking through life with no understanding of God or how He is moving in the world and in the lives of people, holds no appeal for me. I want my eyes to be open in order to walk in all God has in store for me and to share Him with others. God is my Father, Savior, and King and I will follow Him all the days of my life!

Thank you for reading and for all your prayers!

Blessings,
Amy

Praise report:

I would like to thank you all so much for your prayers this last week. God has been providing in amazing ways! At the beginning of the week between my eleven fellow students and I, as well as our base leaders, we needed to see over $20,000 come in for us all to go on outreach to Central Asia. Praise God, we now only need a little over $5,000! In the span of just twenty-four hours one of my friends received all $3400 that she was needing. Isn't our God good?

Prayer Requests:

- For the last of the money to come in. God can provide!

- For peace and unity through all the last minute preparations and packing - Health - To continue to seek God's will in everything as we see Him glorified in our lives and in the nations! 

I am a Soldier!

Please take a few minutes to listen to this speech by Dwight L. Moody. One of my fellow students shared it as part of a devotional earlier this week and it really impacted me. I know it's a little long but please take the time to listen to it before reading the rest of this post. I promise it's worth it.

The sunrise

I am a soldier. I am part of an army of believers who are willing to travel the world for God, because I want people to know the how much we are all loved by our Creator. Being a soldier comes at a cost. I have given up time with friends, family, and possibly the opportunity to have an amazing career that makes good money. I have to choose this life every day. Some days I love the chance to travel and meet new people as I share what God has done in my life with others. Other days I want to be anywhere but right where I am because I miss my friends and family, and I often detest the challenges that come my way. Every morning when I wake up, I make the choice to be a soldier. I hope it is a choice that I will keep on making when I laugh like a lunatic overcome with joy and when I cry because my heart longs for those I care for but cannot be with.

I am also a work in progress. I know this because every day and every week, God is teaching me something new about himself or myself. I do not think this project will ever be completed and I can't say that I mind. I love growing closer to God and learning more about his heart for me and his heart for those young and old all over the world.

Airlie Beach

My fellow students and I may be nearing the end of our five month School of Evangelism, but that doesn't mean our learning will stop here. God has been equipping us with the tools and strategies we need to reach the nations. I've learned about Paul and the early Church in the book of Acts with the way they valued fellowship, worship, and prayer. I've learned about the battles you face when you pioneer in a city that is waiting to encounter God's love through the Holy Spirit. I've learned about the importance of knowing the history of the area you are living in or preparing to travel too, because what you learn may impact your time there.  As well as, the importance of opening up and letting others be a part of our walk with Jesus so that they can speak into our lives, but also learn from our mistakes. All of these things along with the importance of prayer, worship, and knowing our strengths has helped me grow so much.

We have a little more than fifteen days before we leave for Central Asia on outreach. There we will be sharing with others what God has been doing in our lives and how much He loves each one of us. I am so excited for upcoming journey and I know God is going to be moving in powerful ways. Right now I am trusting God for $7,250 to be able to pay for the teaching that I have been receiving and to go on this trip to Central Asia. I am trusting God to provide and ask you to partner with me in prayer. I have seen God' s provision for myself and for others. On the last school I did we saw roughly $10,000 come in over the course of a week for various individuals to be able to go on outreach! I know God can do exceedingly more than I could ever ask or imagine, and am trusting him to provide.

Will you stand with me in prayer to see God provide in miraculous ways?

Thank you for reading and for supporting me in this journey!

Blessings,
Amy

Please pray for:
- An open heart and mind as I continue to grow in God
- Finances: I am currently needing roughly $7000 for my school and outreach fees to be paid off. To give you a better idea of what that looks like it comes to about 50 people giving $140 each.
- Health
- Open doors as we prepare to go to Central Asia for outreach in three weeks
- That I would get everything packed before I leave as I'm going to be switching living quarters several times before actually getting on the plane

If you would like to contact me regarding finances please email me at amyt.dr@gmail.com and I can send you the details.

Gaining A New Perspective

Hi!

Preparing for Outreach with a Cultural Breakfast

On Tuesday afternoon, we went out to go talk to people. Going out in a buddy systems, one of my friends and I walked around the lagoon (an outdoor pool) here in Airlie Beach. Letting God lead us we joined a lady who was sitting at a picnic table. After talking for some time, there was a bit of a lull in the conversation as often happens when talking with complete strangers or even your best friend. If you've met me or talked to me at any point, it's quite possible you know full well that I'm a very curious person and like to ask lots of questions (troublesome things those questions). So, given the lull in conversation I asked a question to see where the conversation would lead.

The turn in conversation was not what I had expected whatsoever. The lady shut me down telling me I was asking too many questions and she didn't appreciate being "interviewed." My friend and I apologized, and then the conversation moved on to a different topic. Later that evening, my friend and I sat discussing the conversation. We had both walked away feeling odd and hadn't been able to shake the feeling.

Personally, I was struggling with the reality of what the lady said. I know of previous instances in my life where I have asked too many questions, and the results were not good ones. I don't want my curiosity to be something that hurts people. I also don't want to be afraid to ask questions. I seem to have found myself in the very long process of learning the boundary between a good amount of questions and going overboard. My friend and I prayed for one another after this long conversation and said goodnight.

Cute Little Birds

The next morning I read near the end of Mark 10 about the blind beggar, Bartimaeus. I've heard this story before, yet this time the man's boldness struck me. Bartimaeus heard that Jesus was walking past, and knowing of the miracles that Jesus had done he began to shout. This man wanted to see and he believed that Jesus could heal him. The people around the blind man told him to be quiet, yet their scolding created more of a public spectacle because he refused to shut up.

One lady's statement had completely shut me down and left me cross-examining myself for hours! I will respect the input of others, but I don't want their comments to dissuade me from calling out to Jesus. I want to be able to stand up when everyone is telling me to sit down. I want to choose to follow God and continue to believe in who He is and what He can do, despite any obstacles I face down the road.

Thank you for reading!

Fun fact: I now have a baby niece! So excited for this new addition to the family!

Please pray for:
- Continual growth in God
- Finances (if you would like to support me, please email me at amyt.dr@gmail.com)

- Health
- That the people of Airlie Beach will encounter God
- For all the details to come together smoothly as my school prepares to go to Central Asia for outreach (it's coming up fast!)

Down Under

Hello,

I've officially been back in Australia for a week. I arrived at the beginning of the fourth week of the school, due to my visa complications. It's been a bit of a challenge to jump right back into the full swing of things with the lectures in the morning, prayer, worship, book reports, other homework, and lots of evangelism. Yet, despite how far behind I am in course content it's wonderful to be here!

Snow capped peak in Canada

In the first few days back I was really struggling. It was another one of those times in life when there is way too much going on in your mind, so you can't really focus on anything to sort it out. Basically, I was driving myself crazy! One morning I woke up to turn off my alarm clock in the dark of a room that I share with two other girls, and it promptly fell of the bed silenced. I reached down to find it in the dark and picked up plastic and wires. "That's it!" I thought. A broken alarm clock on top of everything else and I was done.

Needless to say, I was a bit of a grouch as I sat down on a couch awhile later and opened my Bible. I half-heartedly asked God for a change of attitude. I looked down at my Bible reading for the day and started reading. It was Isaiah 61 and after reading the first three verses my first thought was a resounding, "no." Why? Because, those three verses are exactly what I believe God has called me to do and in that moment it was the last thing I wanted to do. Yet, as one of my friends later explained, "it's okay not to always want to do what God has called you too. As long as you choose to do it anyway with the right heart attitude."

Sunrise in New Zealand

I believe Australia is where I am supposed to for this time period, doing a School of Evangelism. I don't really know what is going to take place when this school ends, but for right now that's okay. And despite the bad beginning, that day turned out be great by the end. I even managed to fix my alarm clock, haha!

Thank you! Without your encouragement, prayer, and support I would not be here.

Please continue to pray for:
- More revelations of God's character and the anointing He has placed on my life
- Finances
- Health
- That the people in this small town of Airlie Beach will experience the freedom and love that comes from our Heavenly Father

Looking Backwards or Forwards?

Hello!

I hope you are enjoying a lovely spring, or whatever season life finds you in wherever you may be in the world. :)

I am currently sitting in Canada on a beautiful Monday morning with a mix of sun and clouds and a promise of more throughout the week. Trust a Canadian to discuss the weather, eh? Haha, on to the important stuff.

These last few weeks have been spent with family, meeting friends that I didn't get a lot of time with before, and lots of desperate prayer. When I didn't board my Australian bound flight on May ninth, I had a funny feeling these extra weeks in Canada weren't just about a visa. After all, I had been telling God I thought I hadn't had enough time to truly reconnect with the people I wanted to see. Brilliant idea to tell him that, huh? Well, I have gotten that extra time and it has been really good. Though the next weeks were far from easy with the stress of getting all the paperwork put together for a visa leaving me in tears on many different days, and finding me asking God if Australia was where I was really supposed to go.

Happy Day! All the paperwork is nearly done and now I am just waiting on the mail to send one of the last puzzle pieces and once that is in, I'm just waiting on the green flag telling me that I can board my plane. Yes, I rescheduled my ticket for this Saturday so hopefully I'll be seeing Australia again soon as well as all of my friends who are currently there. The fight hasn't been easy, but I am believing that victory is in sight!

Thank you for reading and supporting me through this time!

Prayer Requests:
- That the last two pieces of paperwork would come in soon
- That I get the "yes!" that I've been waiting for and be able to board my plane on Saturday
- That I would be able to pack everything I will need
- For the last few days (hopefully) to be full of laughter, good times with friends and family, and so much more!

Fun Fact:
When I got home from my Discipleship Training School I was looking through some things that I had put into storage and trying to downsize. I can across a list of countries that I wanted to visit which I had written when I was roughly thirteen. I was out to prove that I had not ever really thought of going to Australia. Wouldn't you know that not only was Australia on my list, but the planned outreach location for this School of Evangelism was on there too! But, more about that later, so "sssshhh...."

A Slight Delay

Thank you for all your prayers concerning my trip to Australia to do a School of Evangelism! I am happy to say that so far everything is working out, even if it is not according to plan. I went from a green light go, to a proceed with caution yellow light, to a full stop at a red light. All that to say that the trip is being postponed and I am no longer leaving today as planned, instead my flight has been rescheduled to the end of the month.

Learning to wait for the sun to shine

Why the need to postpone my departure and miss the first few weeks of this next school which I am still hoping to join? This is where it gets complicated. To make a rather long story a tiny bit shorter, I have two visa options to enter Australia. One is a tourist visa, but the three months of study time allocated to this specific visa were used during my Discipleship Training School and you are not to apply for one right after another. This brings us to option two: pay more money, do health tests (first opening being in the last week of May), and hope and pray that I can still join the SOE at the beginning of June.

In the meantime, I'm going to try and partake in the teachings that I miss by having them recorded and then listening to them here in Canada. I will also continue to spend time with family and friends, while hopefully getting my job back.

Thank you so much for standing with me in this time with your prayers, words of encouragement, and so much more. You have been such a blessing!

I am excited to say that I have gone from $650 to $1040 towards the roughly $8000 school. I am trusting that God will continue to provide, even with all the extra fees coming into play at this moment.

Thank you for reading!

Please continue to pray for:

- Peace for everything to come together smoothly
- An opening at the doctor's office for the health tests to get done quickly
- For all the details with the visa to work out
- Finances
- And to clearly hear God for what I'm supposed to do in this time, as I'm at somewhat of a loss

The Final Countdown (Five Days!!!)

Hello!

The time is once again quickly approaching (Friday) to do laundry, pack, do last minute shopping, say farewell to family and friends, and board a plane in search for new friendships and more adventures! In the meantime I'll be double checking everything in my luggage and hoping I didn't forget anything too important. :)

My emotions are honestly all over the place when I think about being back in Australia in a week (is it really only a week away?). I'm excited to for the School of Evangelism, and to see many of my friends from DTS and meet even more amazing people. I'm also wishing I had just a little more time to roam this town that I have called home from the past few years and spend time with friends, or talk and laugh with my family. Alas, deadlines wait for no one and onward I go. I have a funny feeling getting on a plane Australia bound once again, will not feel like reality until I get off. Haha, but what can I do except make the best of it and make memories along the way?

These last five weeks at home in Canada have passed in a bit of blur. I must confess that upon entering the country I already had a decently long "to-do" list. That list has since been revised at least three times and believe it or not I've been able to check off a thing or two! The list wasn't ever nearly as important as meeting up with friends and spending time with the few members of my family that live here (we like to spread out around the world). Though I wish I had more time to meet up with so many others friends,

the time that I have had here and the conversations, or companionable silences, have all been cherished.

This beauty joined me in the greenhouse for a little while.

Work has been great, it came with a few challenges but I believe God has grown me through it. A small testimony from work would be seeing my boss smile and laugh. He's a really good businessman, yet after two weeks I realized I'd only seen him smile once or twice. For some reason this really bugged me and I began to pray that God would give him joy. This last week as I was asking him how long he wanted me working till since I fly out on Friday, he told me five minutes before the plane left and laughed. I was so shocked and ecstatic all at the same time. God answered my prayer!

Another small praise report is that I officially have $650 towards my roughly $8000 school! Whoohoo!

Thank you for reading!

Prayer requests:

- Knowing what to pack :)
- Health
- Safe travels
- A great last week with friends and family
- Finances for the SOE