Week 1

Hello all!
Where do I start? I have no idea. However, I’m glad you’re interested in what’s going on here in Naches, WA. ACTS session 9. I really hope to share it with you in a small way, so you can be blessed by my time here as well.

For those who don’t really know what ACTS is, it’s a sabbatical time. 3 months of living in community with other believers who desire to fall more in love with Jesus and want to develop a passion to serve and spread His love to anyone He puts in our path.

Our days are pretty full; worship or devotions at 8:00, followed by breakfast together, the rest of the morning is an hour of solitude alone with Bible and journal, then either break into gender specific small groups for a while or else a group of about 6-7 for an hour of intercessory prayer. From there we have an hour and a half of teaching break for lunch and another hour and a half after lunch. These sessions will be lead by different teachers every week or so. From afternoon teacher we go into ministry from 3:00 to 5:30 or so. There are 4 ministry teams, 2 on outreach, 1 on maintenance (here on campus) and one on meal ministry. Fairly self explanatory I’d say. The outreach teams do various things, two consistent things are going on local campus and building relationships with people, sharing the gospel with them as we pray for God to prepare divine appointments and ready their hearts. There is also a youth mission close by for younger kids to go after school that really need to be shown Love. There will be a team at both places nearly every day. The middle of November, Lord willing, we’ll leave for Mexico for a month. A team of 8 or so are moving there in February to plant a church, they’ll be there different amounts of time, from a year to three.

I’ve been here for only a week and a half, so much has happened, it seems like I’ve been here for a long time already. We’re so thankful for the way our team is binding together, getting along and connecting. It’s great, most assuredly an act of the Lord and an answer to not only our prayers as students, but to the prayers of the staff. They’ve been praying for us all summer before we met, and will not stop! Of this I am positive, absolute praise to God.
The first week was spent mostly in just getting to know each other, hiking, team building activities to build trust, camping, repelling (awesome!) and sharing… just learning about the grand people we are going to be living enormously close to in the next 4 months. This week is starting on the normal schedule… Val started us on the book of Eph. Yesterday and today. Today Michael will be with us and stay through next week teaching on walking in the Spirit.

My team is great, it’s the biggest one so far, I room with four girls, five girls in the attaching room, and five guys on the other side of the dorm. We also have resident advisors, a couple here with their 4 month son Dan, Miranda and Mack, along with Adina, they’re going through the session and offering mentorship as well. I cannot even touch really on what the experience is, but so you guys know sort of what’s going on and we’re learning about, I hope to update this now and then!
My request for prayer is most of all for clearness of mind and to be free from distraction! I desire so much to really focus and use the time I’ve been given to the fullest. Satan is really attacking in that area of my life. You know how sometimes you just feel muddled? Ug, I hate it, but I know our God will bless us all when we are purely searching for His face. It’s promised so many times. Jer. 29:12-14

Thanks all so much for praying, email me anytime at natlee05@juno.com, I check it now and then. I’m having trouble getting photos transferred from my camera, so I’ll let you know if it gets done. Peace in Jesus! Walk His highest path.