Deuteronomy

Deuteronomy 1:30-33 "The LORD your God who goes before you will himself fight for you, just as he did for you in Egypt before your eyes, and in the wilderness, where you have seen how the LORD your God carried you, as a man carries his son, all the way that you went until you came to this place. Yet in spite of the word you did not believe the LORD your God, who went before you in the way to seek you out a place to pitch your tents, in fire by night and in the cloud by day, to show you by what way you should go"

I have been reading the book of Deuteronomy lately. Throughout the past couple of years in my education at UCLA, I have read a lot of the Old Testament (mostly due to my Hebrew/Jewish Studies minor). I have loved so many of these classes. Don't get me wrong, there are a lot of things taught that I don't agree with. However, learning these things and learning the history behind a lot of the texts has been so incredible! I love the beginning of Deuteronomy! It is just Moses speakin a bunch of truth to the Israelites. He reminds them of where they have come from. God was so prevalent through everything that led them out of Egypt. They were so quick to forget what God had done for them. By remembering these things and trusting in God to lead the way, the Israelites would be able to take the promised land. My favorite part of this section is that God carries us as a "man carries his son". Too many times I do things of my own strength. It is a good reminder that God carries me all the way home to heaven! This lesson is one I pray to keep with me all summer!

Prayer

Prayer is of vital importance to God and our relation with Him. We have the Creator of the Universe on a 24 hour line, yet so many times our relation to Him is as a stranger. I am so thankful for the prayer that everyone reading this blog is providing, and am overjoyed at the relationships each one of you have built with the Lord. Hopefully, the gospel of Christ is permeating every part of your lives and I will pray this as much as I can for everyone I know. I wanted to give everyone reading this blog a number of prayer requests. This missions trip to Australia needs God, and God will be invoked by prayer. So here are some things you could be praying for me, our team, and the trip:

• That God would move in the hearts of Australian college students, leading them to Christ. That they would grow in fervor for Him and lead others to Him. Ultimately, that the nation of Australia would become a Christ-centered one!
• That our team would have the courage, wisdom, boldness, and strength to persevere. Every member on the team will undoubtedly run into trials and times of feebleness. Pray that God gives us Himself, so our ministry would be fruitful in His eyes.
• For our team to look towards the will of God. This trip may not be as fruitful in our eyes as we want, or it could be way more than we could ever believe! Either way, let us trust God that His will is being done through us!
• For safety, ease, and peace in all of our travels. That the flight and transition to hostel life would go great. That everything administratively would continue to not be a hassle.
• For each of our walks with the Lord, including my own. Ultimately, our own walks with Jesus are the most important things in our lives. Pray that these relationships do not suffer do to our ministry. Pray that our walks would be our foundation to reach others.

Thank you so much for all your help and all you are doing!

Roarin

"The citadel of God is taken only by those, who storm it in dreadful earnestness, who besiege it, with fiery, unabated zeal" E. M. Bounds

I am currently reading a book by E. M. Bounds titled The Necessity of Prayer. Prayer is a vital par to the ministry that God has called me to in Australia. I love this quote from his book. It captures my desire. I am by no means perfect at getting there, but I yearn to have a fiery zeal that demands God's kingdom. However, it is most important to recognize that this will never be accomplished out of my own strength. It most be achieved by leaning on God, as an ever flowing stream of peace, power, and action. I want desperately to be a part of the kingdom of God, but this comes first by recognizing my need as a sinner to draw from the strength of the Lord. His promises will endure, and I ultimately belong in heaven with Him.

Along these lines, I wanted to take a minute to explain the title of my blog page. I love the song Rorain like a Lion. One of the lines says "My God's not dead, He's surely alive, and He's living on the inside, Roarin like a Lion". I want God's Roar in my heart to be heard throughout the nation of Australia. That will only come with me allowing myself to be used as God's vessel, and be His mouthpiece (just like Moses). In this, God will use me. I want to Roar like a Lion to the Aussies. But again, I must draw close to God in prayer to do this. I read the Chronicles of Narnia series over the past three months, and Aslan reminded me so much of the character of God. C.S. Lewis did many a great favor by personifying God in a different way. The most important thing I recognized is that God is a powerful being, but still the most intimately comforting one as well. This balance is one of the things that makes God so AWESOME! I can't wait to show Aussies this!

Hello!

Hello to everyone reading this!  This blog will be a place where I will try to keep my supporters updated on what God is doing in Australia, on our team there, and on His place in my heart.  I cannot thank each of you enough for praying for me, and for many of you financially supporting me as well!  I will do my best to post as much as possible, but I can't make any promises! Thank you so much!