This is War!

Well it has been almost three weeks now of the SBS and God is on the move. This past week we were studying the book of Mark. It was really challenging and the workload was heavier than the first two weeks, but that is to be expected. During our orientation they told us that this was spiritual warfare, but it wasn't until last night that I really started to understand what they meant. The assignments that we have to do each week are really challenging and require a lot of time and work. Well I have been struggling to move a quick enough pace and even with very late nights of studying I was beginning to feel very overwhelmed. Last night I started to feel really sad and anxious about getting everything done by the deadline (tonight 12pm). Then I started to feel extremely homesick and my mind was just running away from me. At the base we don't have power often because well it is Africa and last night was without power. By the end of dinner it was completely dark and I was feeling like I was lost in the dark spiritually as well. I shared my burden with my brother/friend/fellow student in the SBS from Kenya and he was there to pray for me. I was being attacked and was carrying a burden that I couldn't carry anymore. So I had to just cry out to Jesus and run back into His arms. After His peace was flowing through me again and the anxiety fled, I realized that I was spendind so much time trying to get the homework done that my relationship with God was suffering because of it. That is exactly what the enemy wants!!! I am coming to know the truth and it is setting me free. I am a threat to the powers of darkness and am continuously attacked. Satin will make every effort he can to get in the way and I am sick of it! He has no power over me and I have realized his tactics at work around me. So last night I made the decision to lay aside my right to get distracted by the academics of the SBS and put my relationship with the Lord before it all. Because honestly the grade that I get, whether I finish making my charts, read each book of the Bible 5xs, or other distractions...I cannot miss God in this. I don't want to get to the end of my SBS and realize that I got wonderful grades, BUT that I missed God. I also realized that for a while now I have stopped dreaming with God for future ministries for myself and entending His kingdom. I need a vision for the future and am going to make that a priority, that is seeking God to instill vision into my heart again. So I would like to ask that you would continue to keep me in your prayers. More specifically for protection against the enemy, discernment to see what he is doing, stength to stand strong in my faith & fight it, my relationship with God to just flourish and grow as I go into His Word, my digestive system (having a really hard time digesting with the new diet), for vision from God, and an impact for the Kingdom of God everywhere that I am. Thank-you so much for your prayers and support. God bless you!
P.S. Fun facts: saw monkeys on the base, weather is very rainy...making it very muddy, rode a motorcycle back from a near-by villiage yesterday-exciting (they call them boda-bodas)
Here's what my schedule looks like everyday (roughly):
5:30-6:30 wake up get ready
6/6:30 prayer or quiet time with God
7:30 breakfast (bread and tea)
9 worship with SBS (I have led worship several times now-blessing me so much!)
9:30-11:30 class
11:30-12 tea break
12:30-1 class again
1 lunch
3-5 work duties
6:30 dinner
the times not mentioned are spent studying praying, reading, exercising, fellowship, washing clothes by hand, etc.

In Context

Greetings to everyone again from YWAM Hopeland in Uganda. Already, I am into the second week of the SBS and things are going well. Last week we had the assignment to write a letter to someone we dearly loved. Easy enough, right?! Well we all handed our letters in and the next day the teacher brought them out. She would read a random sentence from each letter and that was it. We had spent so much time writing to our loved ones and there she was reading sentences. Our words made no sense to anyone and the meaning of our letters was lost! It was a great challenge for us all. This is the way most of us have or do read God's letters to us...the Bible. We jump around or use a scripture from here or there, without taking the time to understand His heart about the entire issue. The reason for which the book was written, to whom it was meant for, the historical context, what it meant as an entire message, but most importantly we rob God the priveledge of communicating to us His entire message. This School of Biblical Studies is all about this. It is all about praying, reading (countless times), looking again and again for insight, inviting the Spirit of God to speak, taking the context into consideration, and receiving the intimate communication that comes from the Living Word of God! As I have said before this course is going to require so much of me, but to have the oppurtunity to allow God's Word to pass through me verses me passing through it; I'm going to fight for it. I want the Word on my heart and it is already happening. So far we've only completed Philemon, but its in me now and it comes out, it plays itself out in my conversation, thoughts, and actions everyday. This week we have begun to study Galatians. And wow, more to hide in my heart and bring forth into the world as I live. Its truly powerful and such a blessing. Thank-you for your prayers and continued support in the spiritual realms for I am continuously uplifted. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen!