Back from Africa. With an experience like Uganda, it is very hard to describe what it was like. But I can say this, it was massively impacting and has changed me. It wasn't all the things you would expect. The poverty was very eye opening, but I think more than that, was the way these people serve and love God. 

I come back to the western world and wonder what success really means. But we will wonder this forever as we go through life. For me, what I have learned is that I will never be successful on my own.  God is everything. I am weak, and I used to desire to be strong on my own; but now, I want to be weak, and become weaker. Because when I am weak, God is my strength.

Independence is drilled on us from day one. It’s where we put our security most of the time. This idea that we don’t need anything or anyone to help us is pretty much a moral in the western culture. But see God requires a dependent person on him.  I recognize that dependence on God is what we need in this life; and this doesn’t mean just saying it, it means living it out.

 God is holy and his ways are more than we can understand. We may change, our passions may change, but God is always the same.  God is the father that loves and cares about us, even when we really don’t deserve it.

Thank you for praying and supporting me on this journey. I wouldn’t be here without your prayer and support.

Life is like a book. This chapter is ending, but we are starting a new book. The introduction might be slow, but adventure will fill the pages with twists and turns we never expected.   

God is adventurous. Amen for that!

We just returned from our second week in the slums of Kampala. God did the most insane things. There was a woman who shared how God worked in her life. She was in witchcraft and had been trying everything for answers.  She became a follower of Jesus Christ and he healed her of HIV AIDS.  God is so powerful and is more than words can describe.  There is no way you can deny God's existence or his power. I am thankful that I can follow him and serve him.

Sorry for such a short update but time is limited. I pray that this story encourages you. Our God is so good and he is the only answer

Back from the slums

 We just got back from our week in the slums.

We were in the Kampala slums and it was pretty full on. The city, like ours, is broken and full of people alike in brokenness. Although in the U.S, we are not in survival mode. We have trouble practicing being in the present, but here, future mindset is rare. How can you focus on a future if you are not sure you have one? My heart aches for the corruption that goes on in the city.

  There is a spiritual war in Africa. Think of how many of trillions of dollars have gone into Africa. How much has it changed? There is still genocide. There is still poverty. But there is something hiding in secret causing this. People see the pictures and assume money will end world hunger. The reality is war, poverty, and diseases are fruits of something much deeper; something we cannot see physically. The reality of what we cannot see is the spiritual war zone

  Witch Doctors (witchcraft) are huge here. The sad thing is in Africa they will do ANYTHING they can for answers, even if it means ruining themselves, family, and what they do have of money. There is a belief in certain parts of Africa that if you have money issues or bad health it’s the youngest child’s fault. So they take the child to the Witch Doctor who then pours ink and oil through the child’s eyes and through their nose along with other awful things. Africa needs God.

 Our team did crusades all week and we saw some cool stuff. We saw people get saved and we also got to spend the mornings getting to know the locals.  Sadly we had a team member come down with malaria. I guess there is only so much mosquito nets, bug spray, and malaria pills can do.  Please pray for health and safety. We have this week in Mityana then were back again in the slums.

 Three weeks left in Africa then back to Australia. From there, the journey continues. And only God knows where I will be next.

 -Natasha

Thus far...

Uganda is amazing so far!  Yesterday we had a crusade ( a crusade is where we set up in a village, preach the gospel, and spend time with the people from that village).  It was amazing. People are so open here and so loving.

We got to hear about some of the peoples struggles and were able to pray for them. Being able to build relationships with the people here is such a blessing.  It is hot here but thankfully we got to have a cool day today with rain! (although that means more mosquitoes..... ).   Today we got to work in the schools and teach.  The kids are so enthusiastic about learning and really value one another.

We opened our morning in worship and I cannot explain to you how in love with the Lord these kids are. They led worship and brought in drums and I am convinced the angels were in the room singing with all of us.  The kids had their arms open and eyes closed praising the God that gave them life. See the most beautiful thing is God is everywhere all the time. The Lord is with me, my team, children of Uganda, and all over the world. He has a huge love for every one of us. His love is the same and he is  constant in all he does.

I want a child like faith, the ones those kids had today. No distractions besides spending time with God. Beautiful.  I would way rather have nothing and have an amazing faith than to have lots with little faith.

Here are some photos :)

Who knew?

    Tomorrow we are leaving for Africa.  The way God has made this happen is mind blowing. Trying to explain all that God has done over these past couple months is almost impossible, but  to be frank, God does the impossible. My team and I get to spend Christmas in a third world country and I believe it will be the best Christmas we will experience. We won´t have presents but being able to serve others and really see the true meaning of christmas without the Western distraction will be amazing.

    I thought leaving Santa Cruz for Australia was going to be really foreign, but now Australia will be home and so comfortable compared to Africa.
God is good and is so much more than any words can describe.  Paul makes it so clear here " For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain" Philippians 1:21

On a final note please pray for us. Pray for health, money to come in, unity and patience.

Thank you so much for being so supportive friends and family, I couldnt have done it without you guys.

This is life. Love. The call. Justice. God's Heart

Help us get to Uganda !

True love

Last night I took some time to talk to God about some of the things that I know my heart desires. He told me "when you stop looking is when you will find it". I asked God to show me what he wanted me to be prepared for.   

A leader at YWAM (whom I have only met once) came up to me this morning at worship. She said that God had given her a picture and it was for me.  

She goes on to describe this picture of my life, and everything she said was exactly the conversation I had with God the previous night.

God answered my prayer on what he was preparing for. He let me know in which areas he wanted to grow my roots deeper.  He used someone I didn't know so that I would know he was speaking clearly to me. That is the definition of a true lover.

Remember when a friend or someone you love wrote you a note and left you to find it? It shows that they really thought about it and wanted you to know how much they care.  Well my heavenly father wanted me to know the reality of how much he loves me.

 Allie (YWAM leader) knows nothing about my life, but God does. He spoke through Allie to prepare me for his plan.

Sometimes we think that God only displays this love to some people. The truth is, he wants to do this for all of us but we don't always believe that he will. Ask him and he will show you. 

We miss God when we compare him to people

We as human beings cannot fully understand God, but if we ask him, he is so willing to show us. See I noticed that I have often compared God to things in my life.  I used to think that God would leave me like other people have in my life. I used to think that God would walk away from me when I have walked away from him. And the truth that I have found is that, God does not leave me when I need him. God doesn't walk away when I walk away from him in guilt. In fact, God chased me and was by my side the whole time telling me "I love and adore you. I want you to come home."

God is not like us 

So when you think of God, don't define him by the way people have defined you or eachother. 

People judge, lie, deceive, and rob you of things, but God doesn't.

God changed my view from people to him

Now I am just Beginning to see his love because I started to see his character not peoples.

God is real and he speaks

Today we prayed for people in our class. We asked God to reveal to us who he wants us to speak to and what he wants us to say.  I went up to one girl who God told me speak to and I told her what I had heard  God say. This young woman's eyes filled with tears as I told her about her strength and how she is called to be strong and courageous.  I knew nothing about her life, yet, God gave me words to speak to her and it was exactly what she needed to hear.

For those of you who have heard me talk about my time here, you know that I am spending two months in another country.  YWAM didn't tell us where we were going when we applied. They did this because it is where God wants us to go, not the organization. 

I prayed this morning and God gave me a vision. 

I was standing in a village, and there were two buildings in an L formation (similar to a motel).  I was standing with a village of African people and they were all wearing white and blue clothing. Me and some other people were up on a platform talking to them about the divine love that God has for them. As I sat there God revealed to me that he wanted me to go to Uganda. I will be there for two months. 

Updates from sunny coast!

God is doing insane things and it is only week one.

I want to be updated on how to be praying for you at home.

I found this church here called Good Life and it is so amazing!

I will post pictures soon :)

Much love,

-Natasha

Last day in Santa Cruz

Hebrews 12:1-6  

Sometimes I wish I was in control of everything in my life. 

Then again, if I was, my life would be out of control.

I'm thankful that I am not in control

Something really beautiful my brother-in-law wrote to me

"MAY GOD GRANT YOU THE SERENITY TO ACCEPT

THE THINGS YOU CANNOT CHANGE, THE

COURAGE TO CHANGE THE THINGS YOU 

CAN, AND THE KNOWLEDGE TO KNOW

THE DIFFERENCE"

-Nick Klein

 There is a whole lot to be said before leaving for a long time. Although, I think that is when it will be forever.  In six months we will see if it will be a long time gone or a short time away.



I leave in 2 days. Things are alwayss perfect before you leave.

The story begins next week.  I want everyone to know that I am still in the process of raising 2,000 dollars.

It is really weird when you realize you actually have to start packing and getting ready to leave. Even when you feel really adventurous, I think it is still hard to leave everything you know for the unknown.

Although, God works the most in the unknown. With that, unknown is ok.

2 weeks from Today

I will be heading out in two weeks!  I will be keeping all the latest and greatest stories of what is going down in Australia. Since we have a pretty big time difference this blog, Email, and skype will be the best way to keep in touch. Thank you everyone for being so supportive.   I am excited to see what God does on this trip!  I will be continuing my fundraising while I am in Australia.  Here is a song that reminds me of this upcoming adventure :)

 May, 2011

    We were never created with the intention of being average, and we were never created to settle. The power of intention flows through our veins every moment of every day.  With this, our lives need to be intentional.  It was one of those epiphanies you only come across so often in life. As I sat on the floor of my room, I really started thinking about what my life looked like, and if I wanted it to look that way.  The greater purpose of living a God driven life was the topic of contemplation.  Am I going to look back on my life and see what I did for myself? Or, am I going to see what God did for someone else? It is too easy to spend our whole lives trying to make a life for ourselves. You can be considered “successful”, but even then, you can still feel that you have succeeded in nothing. At the end of the day, it’s not about us. Life is about making a path for another life, showing a new light, and leaving knowing you were a part of something so much bigger. It was that night when I was sitting on my floor, that I decided to do YWAM. 

     My journey is to begin on September 19^th. I will be going to the Sunshine Coast in Australia. There, we will be surfing and learning more about God’s character and who he calls us to be. After three months at that base, we will be doing overseas outreach for two months. They don’t tell us where until we are there, but they have a heart for Indo, South Africa and Asia.  I know that those of you who are receiving this letter have known me for quite some time.  Many of you have known and supported me my entire life, and I’m so blessed to know each and every one of you.

     For this trip I have to raise 7500 all-inclusive. I wanted to ask for prayer about this organization and the people I will be working with. I also wanted to ask for prayer in this tough economy to raise these funds. If you have any desire to send support, please do. The smallest amount counts! Whether that donation is one dollar, or the equivalent of a starbucks coffee, everything counts and helps significantly. If things are too rough though, prayer is more than enough.  Thank you guys so much for always being there and supporting this cause.

    Thank you so much,

-Natasha