Im in South Africa

hello everyone!!! I will not be writing blogs anymore...but you can follow my teams blog! The website is www.itstime4africaa.wordpress.com

Last Lecture Week

I have so many mix emotions. I'm thrilled that I leave in 7 days for South Africa. I cannot wait to apply everything I have been learning throughout the 10 weeks of lecture. Most of all, I feel honored to be apart of what Jesus is going to do in South Africa. He is up to big things! Besides all this excitement, I'm sad that DTS is half way over. I'm going to miss all my friends that developed over the past couple weeks, but luckily everyone will meet up again in Hawaii for the last week of DTS to share what Jesus did in the different Nations.

SO I don't know great detail about what exactly we are doing in South Africa. Here are some of the things I'm aware of:

-we will be working with a ministry that focus on children (the main thing we will do)

-serving a ministry by building and painting shields (the list goes on)

-teaching at public schools (subjects are geared towards health and Jesus)

We leave Hawaii December 17 at 10:30pm... and land in Johnesburg (city in South Africa) December 19 at 8:45pm

I'm not sure if I told everyone, but the first three weeks we are two hours away from Johnesburg (bush area) and the remaining weeks we will be in Capetown.

Things to pray for for this Nation:

-End all the violence and Rapes
-break off the spirit of laziness and apathy

-Holy Spirit to move throughout the Nation

-unity for the Nation (people are very races here)

Thank you!

-Kimberly

Hello folks! This blog is going to be very long because I have not written one for almost a month now. This month has been incredible! I don't even know where to begin, so bare with me.

Week Six- Faith Dutton spoke on Relationships. Faith talked about how there are only two standards in life, and we make a choice everyday of what standard we are going to live by. We have a choice of going by God's standards (love and humility) or Satan's standards (selfishness and pride). I don't know about everyone else, but I tend to make excuses of my selfishness or pride behavior by saying, "I'm only human or I can't help it." God doesn't set us up for failure, and if he made a standard for his children then we are able to do it. Another thing Faith talked about is how we should not follow our heart, but lead it. If we allow our emotions determined our decisions, we would usually make the wrong choice. Jesus tells our to love our enemies, but we can't do it if we allow our emotions to rule us. We have a choice to respond in a humility or prideful way, but before making that choice, we need to set aside emotions.

Week Seven- This week was "Destiny by Design" and understand the unique calling that God has placed on each and everyone of our lives. This week had been very difficult for me because I never really understood or known what my calling is for my life. I always felt like God was calling me to missions, and that is a big reason why I came to YWAM (Youth With A Mission). I always felt silly when I told people I felt called to be a missionary because I never been on a Mission trip. During this entire week, I wrestled with the concept that God actually might be calling me to be a missionary, but towards the end, I talked to the speaker, Gwen Bergquist, and I to the conclusion that I'm being called to be a missionary and work with children. My personality, interests, dreams, and experiences are design for this call on my life. God made me this way for a reason :)

Week Eight: Thanksgiving week! I hope everyone had an excellent Thanksgiving with family and friends! I'm bummed I couldn't be there with ya'll, but I was still able to enjoy a traditional Thanksgiving with my entire class complete with turkey, stuffing, potatoes, and pumpkin pie! We had a 3 day lecture on "Spiritual Warfare" and the speakers name is Kristen Williams. I learned a lot about the Holy Spirit and how we should make room for the Holy Spirit with no restrictions. There are Christians who want the Holy Spirit to invade them, but we need to invite the Holy Spirit, and once we do, the Holy Spirit will come in a powerful way. Kristen made an excellent point that many people focus on how corrupt and evil the world is. We shouldn't look at the devil... we should look at Jesus and nothing else. If we focus all our attention on what the enemy is doing, we will miss what Jesus is up to in our personal lives and the World. So its our job to receive the light (Jesus) and be the light for the World. (John 8:12 & Matt 5:14 & Philippians 2:15). Another thing I learned during this week is prayer shouldn't be an event, but a lifestyle because prayer is the foundation of everything. When you pray, you are exchanging back and fourth with the Living God. Prayer is not all about request. I used to hate prayer because I always prayed the same things over and over, and it just seemed all meaningless. I didn't truly express how I felt within my heart. After this week, I realized I didn't engage with the Holy Spirit and once I did prayer is now one of my favorite things to do.

PRAISE GOD

I'm sure all of you are wondering if I had received all my finances and I'm extremely stoked to tell you that I did! A day before my outreach fees were due a teammate on mine came up to me and said, "I will cover your outreach fees!" Let me tell you, I owned $908.90. Praise God! He is so faithful! Thank you for all your support and prayers

-Kimberly

Aloha

ALOHA my friends and family,

I have a lot to say to you all so bare with me... Its life changing!!!!!

So this week Matt Rawlins spoke about The Fear of God and I'm absolutely blown away by his message. I can go in great detail, but I decided not too because my blog would be 15 pages long. So the main idea I got out of this message is God is big enough and good enough in any given situation. And the works of the devil is to distort that view of God. He wants us to believe that "God is not big enough or good." We get all these pressures our flesh to think that God is not good... we are in Warfare all the time and we don't even recognize it! The crazy thing is Jesus came to destroy the work of the devil. ( 1 John 3:8)! If the cross doesn't answer your question "Is God good," I don't think it will every be answered. My favorite question Matt asked us is "Does your feelings have authority or does Gods Word have authority of your life?" This question expose many lies in my heart and I hope it does the same for you.

The weekend that just passed, my mother and brother came to visit me. It was so wonderful to spend time with them because every once in awhile I get homesick. I was very blessed to stay with them (off campus) and just rest. Of course we did a lot of activities, but my favorite part was to spend time with them! Just what I needed :) God is good!

One of my team mates on outreach is from Egypt and shared a word of God to our entire school, and God really spoke to me through him. In Egypt 90% of the population is Muslim, and if you preach the Gospel, you will get persecuted and will be put to death. So my dear brother, Mena, has to face persecution while I only have to face rejection from others. Hmm I feel silly to even worry about that...there is no comparison! So I'm thrilled to go back home and share the good news without the fear of persecution. Even if there were persecution, I will share the good news!!!

Crazy story- in the early 1900s there were missionaries that heard about an island that was full of slaves, but the slave traders would not allow anyone enter the island. So the two missionaries sold their freedom to become slaves so they can preach the Gospel on this Island. This story really made me meditate and I asked myself would I do this for Jesus? Its a difficult question to answer and I'm still trying to answer it.

I have 19 days to raise $1500 for my outreach and I'm asking you to pray, spread the word, and consider to donate. Thank you all for your love, support, and prayers. Please email me at KimberlyAltree9@yahoo.com if you feel like God is calling you to donate and I can give you the information on how to donate. Much Love

Kimberly

_Kimberly

Hello everyone! Last Saturday, I went to a beach called Magic Sand, and it was so beautiful! I can't even describe how wonderful the ocean is.. the water is so clear and blue... you can see everything! And out of NOWHERE I looked down and there was a enormous sea turtle underneath me and it was AWESOME! The turtle was so close to me that I could of touch it. Besides that....as you can see I boogie board on a wave for the first time in history! It was intense. :)
Weekends are our only free time and my beloved friend Sara, who is on my outreach team, birthday fell on Saturday. So a bunch of us got dressed up and went out for dessert to celebrate her 19 birthday.

I'm sure all of you are wondering what I have been up to these last two weeks and I just want to inform everyone that I'm having a lot of breakthroughs! So many lies that I believed in are being exposed into the light and I'm about to repent and move on. Today I rediscovered (in my heart) that the Gospel is simple, but we make it so complicated. Our job as Christians is to wake up every morning being convince of God's love for us and to respond to it throughout the day. AHHH How amazing is that?!?!? We can't do anything earn or prevent God's love for us. Its a gift! I'm so sick of Religion... We need to live by God's love in order to bring the Kingdom of God, but instead we live for God's love and it causes us to strive.

Exciting News: My total outreach cost is 5,500 and the remaining balance I owe is 1,400. I have until November 27 to raise that money and this is the first time ever that I'm not even worried about how I'm going to get it. God is so real and if I truly believe in the Gospel...it would be a slap to God's face thinking he can't provide that little amount!!!!! He is sooo faithful and I'm thrilled to see where or how that money is going to get to me. Please keep me in your prayers, and if you feel like you want to partner up with me, just let me know! Thank you all for your support and prayers! Praying really does change reality...He hears us!

-Kimberly

EXCITING NEWS

Hello EVERYONE! SO this picture to your left is my outreach team. The two people, who don't have paper on them, are the outreach leaders and they are a young married couple! I don't know them too well, but they're fantastic leaders.

oh yess...how can I forget?!?!? I'M GOING TO SOUTH AFRICA!!!!!

It wasn't my first pick, but as the week progressed my heart changed, and I had a strong desire to only go to South Africa. I knew I made a huge mistake when I put Mozambique/South Africa as my first pick. I'm so thankful that I'm on the team who is only going to South Africa!I have so much peace about this team! I love it so much!

Random Statements from the guest speakers:

"You do the possible and leave the impossible to God." -Sean Murphy

"We didn't bring Religion, but brought the kingdom of God." unbelievable story behind this....a city in the Philippines was transform by the Gospel...the whole city dedicated itself to God.

"You will always think you cannot do whatever God calls you to do unless you take a risk. You just need to take that first step and grace will fall in place." -Sean Murphy

"We base what we do to describe who we are, but we should look at ourselves in Jesus Christ to see who we are." -John Bills

Outreach locations

So today we find out all the possible locations for our outreach.
1. Myanmar
2. Japan
3. Cambodia
4. India/sri Lanka
5. Columbia/chile
6. Us virgin Island
7. Mozambique/south Africa
8. Rwanda
9. Cambodia/vietnam
10. South Africa

I felt like God told me to pick these three countries
1. Mozambique/South Africa (Mozambique is the poorest country in the world)! hahah this would be my first choice!
2. South Africa
3. Columbia/Chile

I find out where my outreach is on Monday....
I know I told everyone I wanted to go to Rwanda and I still do, but God directed me in a different way.

This week is Corporate Week and this means all the dts have lecture and worship together. The reason for this is because Loren Cunningham and his wife are here teaching the lecture. Its amazing! My favorite thing Loren said in the lecture was, "Your cross is when you give up your rights for the sake of Gods love." The areas I felt called to give up my rights were reputation, money, and marriage!
Also for this week the United Pursuit Band is here to lead worship and this band is fantastic. When they sang the song, "Break every chain," I literally felt like all my chains broke off. I felt so much Joy, Peace, and freedom as I worship the Living God. I was dancing and jumping and shouting, and the best part about it, I didn't care what anybody thought of me! It was awesome!
Fun Fact: Loren Cunningham, founder of YWAM, has been to every country in the World! AMAZING!