Foundations of Church Ministry

Hey Family & Friends,
This past week has been a very interesting one for me. We had David Lee come down from Chiliwack B.C. where he is a pastor of one of the Baptist Churches and he taught us The Foundations of Church Ministry. He is still connected with Briercrest however he is not a full time teacher but rather teaches a few courses a year. It was a very interesting week and it definitely seemed too right to have this class after the 24/7 Week of Prayer. God continued to shape me and challenge me. Throughout the week we talked not only about the nature of the church and what God's intent was when he decided to entrust the church to showing others about himself but we also got to learn more personal things like what our spiritual gifts might be and how we can use them within the church. For me that was one of the more significant things that I had learned from that whole week. In Australia God had taught me so much, basically not a day goes by when I don't think of the transformation that God did in my life. So this past week God really reminded me of the things I learned about myself during that time. A big portion of that was what are my giftings and how can I use them? It was a good reminder of how I have not been using the gifts and abilities he's given me and how much of a insult that must be almost. The lecture when talking about Spiritual Gifts he mentioned 2 misconceptions "My gift is unimportant" and "your gift is unimportant". For me I find it so easy to think that what I do is unimportant and so I don't feel comfortable stepping out in my giftings but rather I suffocate them. One of my friends and I had a really amazing conversation about this and he really challenged my thinking in this area and encouraged me to step out. So needless to say this week has been really confusing but also really encouraging. I was able to talk to some of my good friends here and through them God really challenged me to be bold in the gifts I do have (bold in a good bold way). It was also encouraging as people here and continually starting to open up with each other and this past week I was able to hear more about my fellow students lives. So that was my past week, for fun last week we went to the Ladysmith light show where there was a parade and at the end Santa lit up this huge tree and there were fireworks and everything. It was so amazing. As for this next week we have a girls/guys overnighter so us girls are going to go on a day hike, swimming, then have a time of sharing and worship with just us girls. We also have a Xmas tree hunt (its so surprising how fast Christmas is coming, we don't even have snow so its hard to imagine that Santa will be coming soon). Then this weekend we are having a talent show that Erin and I are hosting so we're going to figure that stuff out right away here which will be exciting. Well now as for prayer requests, I guess you can pray that things will continue on like this. I've been stretched and put in uncomfortable situations that have challenged me to think why I feel so uncomfortable and through them I've been realizing a lot about my personality and some things that I need to work on. So if you could continue to pray that God will continue to make me feel uncomfortable so that I will be able to step out and be more of myself here and now as well as in the future. Thanks!
Daneille