Summaries.

Well. It's that time. (Actually is much much too far past that time. But better late than never I suppose) 

If you happen to be interested in what happened on my outreach to South Africa and Mozambique in January, then you could read this. I mean, if you want to. And also if you happen to be interested in my Discipleship Training School Experience as a whole, you could read this. I mean, if you want to. 

I suppose now the only thing to do is for me to try to sum up the super crazy, life-changing-best-5-months-of-my-life-thus-far in a somewhat-concise way. Here goes nothing. 

I don't think I have ever been so happy that I made a decision in my life.

 DTS was literally the best decision I have ever made. It changed my life - it changed my entire perspective - it changed everything I knew about being a Christian and having a relationship with God. Seriously. 

Lecture phase for me was a lot of just figuring out who God is. I learned that everything flows out of intimacy with God. Because you know God, you love him. When you love him, you serve him. 

I had so much heart revelation of head knowledge, and it was amazing how everything became so real. Everything I knew about God, about the Bible, about relationship. I learned to know and hear his voice. 

I think missions is a great thing to get involved in, but the discipleship that I had during my DTS was really what impacted me and prepared me for doing God's work.

Our team of 18 said peace out to the US of A on January 7. After a 2 hour flight, an 8 hour layover, a 7 hour flight, a 12 hour layover, an 11 hour flight, and a 3 hour bus ride, we arrived at the Ten Thousand Homes base in White River, South Africa.

There for outreach we would go to one of the three nearby communities that hold feeding programs for the kids in the area - Clau-Clau, Mbonisweni, and Dwaleni. There we would play with the kids, sing a few songs, give a bible story or lesson on sanitation and help with the meal.

The first time we went to the feeding at Mbonisweni, I met a little girl named Nobuhle. She grabbed my hand and pulled me over as the kids were starting to sing songs. I danced with her and she sat on my lap for the story. I asked her about her family and school and what she liked to do. She played with my hair and told me I was beautiful. I was surprised, mostly because I felt like it was my job to say that. Later, she invited me to sleep over at her house. My heart melted a little bit.

 I was struck by the love that she had for someone she met not 45 minutes ago. It is amazing what a 9 year old girl can teach you about genuine love and friendship.

While we were in South Africa, the director of Ten Thousand Homes, Jeremy, had a vivid dream about holding a day camp for the kids who live in the communities.

So, we asked God what this day was supposed to look like. And so we had our theme - royalty.We wanted the kids to feel like little princes and princesses and feel valued.  So we spent the week preparing for the big day.

About 400 kids came to the camp that day. We had a number of different stations like face-painting, soccer, movie, coloring, but I got to help with the photo booth. After they were registered, each child got their photo taken. I had 200 kids to photograph, and they were all very reluctant to smile. They were all beautiful, nonetheless. But we printed out the photos and got to hand them back to the kids. It was amazing to see all the kids with a photo in their hand and a smile on their face.

 Also while we were there, our team was able to complete a rain catchment tank at Ten Thousand Homes and teach some of the locals how to build them. They have already been replicated in the community! It was so awesome to team up with Ten Thousand Homes and be a part of the awesome work they are doing there! So much amazing work has happened there since we left in February and I encourage you to check it out and see what God is up to through Jeremy and the staff! Go to www.tenthousandhomes.org or like Ten Thousand Homes on Facebook.

It was about a 4 hour drive from where we were in White River to the Iris Ministries Center in Zimpeto, Mozambique.

There are about 200 kids that live at the center. We had opportunities for ministry almost 24/7, and all we had to do was step out the door. We ate breakfast, lunch and dinner with the kids. We played with the kids on the playground. I got to sit with a group of 9 year old boys at all the meals for the time we were there. Our team also helped the staff take care of infants and toddlers as well as the special needs children that live at the center. It was so much fun getting to be friends with them. 

We also had opportunities for ministry outside the center. In the city Maputo, we did hospital ministry, jail ministry, and a worship service ministry at a park. On Fridays we went to the Bocaria, which is a huge trash dump. I'm not sure there's a way to describe the smell. There is a community right beside it. People live there, but work in the dump, looking for things they can collect to re-sell.

Our team split up into two groups- one half went into the community and the other half went on the dump. I went to the community, and we walked around to a number of houses and prayed for people who were sick or hurt. We met a woman sitting outside, she was older and in a lot of pain. We prayed for her and then left to go to the next house, but my friend Katelyn and I really felt like we should go back and pray again. While we were praying, we felt like there was a root of bitterness in her life that was holding her back from healing. So we prayed over her and then she felt a little better. But we wanted God's wholeness and full healing for her, so we prayed again, and she said "I feel better. I have the joy of the Lord." She attends the church in the community and was able to come to church that afternoon. 

That's just one story of healing from the Bocaria. God is moving in Mozambique. I'm so glad our team was able to join up with and see how God is working. On this outreach I learned so much about the power of the Holy Spirit and prayer. It was so awesome to see how God was speaking and using our team to minister to the people that we encountered.

Outreach was the testing ground. It was where I really started to see change in myself, and started practicing things that I had learned in lecture phase, sometimes without realizing it.

We as a team asked God to break our hearts for the kids, realizing the full weight of what we were really asking for. And he did. So every day, we loved on those kids with everything that we had, being vessels for God's immeasurable, unconditional love.

I am so glad that I got to see even a little part of God's heart for the kids. It was amazing how he was revealing things to me and really spoke to my heart. I just saw so much joy and potential in them. As we got to know them, I got to see so many great qualities and learn about who they are. My heart broke and everything in me desired for them to know how valuable, gifted, important, and loved they are.

And being in the photography track, it was awesome for me to be able to capture those "moments," that really showed their joy and beauty. As a photographer, it was my heart to go without an agenda - not to look for the photo that has the most shock value, or the one that matches the poor and weak image of them that we’ve been fed but to capture the truth and show the God-given joy and beauty in the original design.

So, now let's talk about you. Whether you supported me financially, in prayer, or both

I want to thank you so much for supporting me and making these stories possible. They literally would not have happened without you. I have been so blessed by your support. This has been such an incredible growing experience and I am so. so. thankful. I am forever changed.

May you be blessed.
I am SUPER excited to be going back to Orlando for a School of Ministry Development in about 3 weeks! Thank you all again for supporting me and sending me! I so appreciate the role that you have played in my life! Thank you for your prayers as I go; I can't wait to see what God has up his sleeve!  

For His glory,

Lara