Last time I wrote we just had a week of orientation and a jam packed weekend filled with exploring Paris and particularly the Louvre (photos below) and also Hillsong Paris!
We spent a total of 6 hours wondering around the many sections of the Lourve. It was great but we made an extremely bad choice not to take lunch with us so when it came to 2pm and we were checking out the food options within the art gallery we were far from impressed. I found a small cup of grated carrots for 4 euros which gave me no hope at all. I literally was standing in front of one of the food stalls for around 10 minutes having a mental battle of whether I should buy something.
In the end, Faith (one of the DTS staff) and I went and found delicious sandwiches for a cheaper price while the boys bought disappointment for 15 euros. Never again.
The second week started with our first guest speaker joining us from the UK to speak to us about "Hearing the voice of God". We start at 9am each day and start with a time of creative worship, worship or intersession. We then go into lectures on the subject for the week.
I absolutely loved this week and the topic as I felt like it built some really important foundations for the weeks ahead. God has also worked powerfully in bringing our group closer together and growing us as a team in so many ways! It's crazy to think that He has so much more in store for us!
Some points that stood out to me from "Hearing the voice of God":
- He speaks to us in so many different ways
- Sometimes there are hinderances that block us from hearing His voice such as sin and pride. We have to remain humble by repenting and asking God for a clean heart and mind.
- The power of confessing our sins to one another
- The beautiful intimacy in how God wants to speak to each one of us.
So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.
Romans 12:1-2 (MSG)
Just today I was reminded of how important this is.
Mariah (my awesome fellow redheaded roommate) and I decided to catch the Metro to the nearest Starbucks with the hope of using fast wi-fi and finishing our homework for this week (Journals). Sadly the wi-fi was as sad as our wi-fi at home but as we sat down to drink our coffees, a man and a woman across from us (who I noticed were speaking spanish) started talking to us. They were a father and daughter who were Mexicans and they now resided in Paris and in England. We got chatting and they became really interested in what were doing and everything about YWAM. They even took a photo of the cover of one our books which was the story of how the founder of Youth With A Mission came to start the organisation and the story of how God spoke to him. They were keen to read the book for themselves and said that maybe they wanted to get involved with what we were doing!
After around 40 minutes of talking with them we said goodbye and carried on with our work but what struck me was the importance of being open to God and his voice at all times because He will present opportunities for you to share what He is saying. I'm trying to understand the fact that if I'm not seeking God, I'm actually denying so many people the possibility of them hearing Him all because of my pride and disobedience. I know he can still work without me. He actually doesn't have to use me at all but He wants to which is crazy! I have to keep reminding myself that I am nothing, I deserve nothing, but has chosen to give me everything and make me someone in the light of his grace.
With one word, God can turn someones whole life around. That's how powerful He is.
I want to be a part of that.
The voice of the Lord is powerful;
the voice of the Lord is majestic.
the Lord shakes the Desert of Kadesh.
and strips the forests bare.
And in his temple all cry, “Glory!”
The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars;
the Lord breaks in pieces the cedars of Lebanon.
He makes Lebanon leap like a calf, Sirion like a young wild ox.
The voice of the Lord strikes
with flashes of lightning.
The voice of the Lord shakes the desert;
The voice of the Lord twists the oaks
The Lord sits enthroned over the flood;
the Lord is enthroned as King forever.
The Lord gives strength to his people;
the Lord blesses his people with peace.
Psalm 27:4-11
the voice of the Lord is majestic.
the Lord shakes the Desert of Kadesh.
and strips the forests bare.
And in his temple all cry, “Glory!”
The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars;
the Lord breaks in pieces the cedars of Lebanon.
He makes Lebanon leap like a calf, Sirion like a young wild ox.
The voice of the Lord strikes
with flashes of lightning.
The voice of the Lord shakes the desert;
The voice of the Lord twists the oaks
The Lord sits enthroned over the flood;
the Lord is enthroned as King forever.
The Lord gives strength to his people;
the Lord blesses his people with peace.
Psalm 27:4-11
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| My Lourve buddies, Sean and Luke (although we lost Luke after a while!), pondering the mysteries of this artwork. |
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| People going cray cray for Mona. It was like a sauna in there. |
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| Scary looking creatures guard the steps to the Lourve. |
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| Could't really see Mona so I thought I would take a picture of this cute kid. |
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| Coloured train station with some crazy kids. (Also, how great is Faith's cat bag!) |
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