Outreach locations and relationship week

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Hey guys!

So this week the topic has been relationships, not just romantic ones but with God, members of our church/other christians and other types of groups of people in our life.
The focus for the first 3 days of the 5 days of lectures was our relationship with God and the impact this has on other relationships with the main focus on how we are to get our love and significance from God; He is to be our main source rather than trying to find it in other people/activities/things.
A few main points which really stuck out to me about our relationship with God is how God's love is multiplied across His children, not divided. I'm sure a lot of you reading this don't have children but the example the speaker gave was how when he had children he was initially worried that he wouldn't have enough love to go around and it wouldn't be possible for him to love the next as much as the first or second but each time another came along he said that he loved that one just as much as the other and the love for the first or second did not decrease. He also said that he never had a favourite child, the one which was his favourite was the one which was on his mind when the question was asked but this would always change, his love for them did not increase or decrease if one developed a certain skill that the other had but remained the same because of and in spite of their differences.
Another thing that stuck out for me is that in the church (on a worldwide level and local level) we are all of equal worth and all bring different things to contribute, each one necessary and as important as the next. This is something which has been pointed out to me over and over again but it's definitely something which you need to hear over and over again as it is so easy to believe that someone who is obviously talented or gifted in a particular way is of more value than you and has more to contribute but this is not God's heart and is not reflected in the bible.
As part of our teaching on unity we touched on the area of humility. I don't know about you but before I thought that to be humble was not to boast about anything you may be good at, to not let compliments go to your head and to serve others but the other day i learnt that the definition of humility in relationships is more about being willing to be yourself, not putting on a front and choosing to display what you consider to be desireable or your better qualities and hiding the rest. I guess it's like resisting the temptation to present yourself and your life like a facebook page and just be yourself, warts and all. There are boundaries to this, it's not going to be appropriate or necessary to tell everyone you ever meet what your main struggles in life are or to tell people about the worst thing you've ever done; it's more about not hiding parts of yourself or restricting yourself because of what you think others may think of you if you bring them to light.
In terms of romantic relationships there were a few interesting things which popped up. One of the most memorable things I've taken from the week is the saying 'it is better to be single and wishing you were married than being married and wishing you were single'. Pretty hard hitting saying which really opens your eyes to the commitment which is required in marriage and the importance of really knowing that marriage is right rather than just jumping in head first.
Another thing about romantic relationships which stuck out to me was that he talked about holding the relationship in an open hand, being willing to let the other person take it away (i.e. dump you/leave you) and being willing to let God take it away if it went against His will e.g. uneven yoke, ungodly behaviour, pulling you away from His calling over your life etc. I don't think this was meant to relate to marriage as marriage is a life-long commitment but when you are dating it's about getting to know the person and to see if you're compatible and if you can see a future i.e. marriage. I think this would be a very difficult thing to practice in real life as when you are investing so much time to get to know another person and feelings start to develop and you start to see a future, the last thing you want is to give it up but if you don't keep a relationship in a open hand then you start to get possessive and controlling and emotions just take over. Although it would be difficult to lose someone you have become close to, it's not your last shot of happiness and it will shape you as a person. I'm not sure if I have explained that point very well but hopefully you will have got something out of it!
I was going to write out the 10 points he gave us for what we should be wary of when looking at someone we're going to marry but it's looking like this blog could be a long one so i'll write it as a 'p.s.' at the bottom of the blog!

Ok so i've got 2 things that I want to discuss before I talk about outreach otherwise i'll forget so just bear with me!

Last week I forgot to tell you about the change to what I do for evangelism which happens every thursday night. So I'm in the ARMS team (Australian Relief and Mercy Services) which basically go to the houses of those who are in some form of distress like divorce/family break-up, injury and poverty and we clean for them to meet a very basic need which could make all the difference. Initially I was put in a team which went to an indiginous man's house but he didn't want us there as he had relatives over. Well now i've been placed in another team which go to this ladies house called Adrianne (prayer for her would be much appreciated if you have a moment). She lives alone, well she lives with 4 dogs and 3 cats which are like her children and her actual kids live in Queensland and she doesn't really see them much. She has gone through a lot in her life and she injured herself recently trying to move a lot of bark from the front of her house to the back of her house. She is such a nice lady and has so many interesting things to say. The compassion she has towards animals is unlike anything I have ever seen and the sensitivity she has towards injustice is so intense that it has affected her health and makes living a 'normal' life pretty much impossible. The team is made up on myself, a staff member called Anja and 2 lads off my DTS. She really opened up to us yesterday and it was just so amazing and heartbreaking at the same time. She really is an incredible women and has such a big heart. So yer i love my evangelism even if I have no idea how to clean so feel a little bit of a fraud on that level!

So the final thing before outreach...we played a game called 'Bigger or Better' on wednesday to raise money for the new building they're building which will become the new base once finished. The game involves you going to peoples' houses with something basic and ask if they can trade it for something bigger or better. The things you end up with can be pretty amazing both in terms of price or randomness. My group went to a really posh area and started with a granola bar, a kids book, some cheap earrings and a pretty sweet guitar (a guy off my DTS felt like God told him to give it away as part of this game). We came back with the guitar (which is still going to be sold for money towards the base), a $50 voucher for a clothes shop, a few rings and quite a few parenting books. I'm not going to lie it was kind of hard to maintain a positive attitude when you got a lot of 'no's and a lot of people not answering their doors. It was also incredibly hot which made it that little bit more interesting! The best thing which the base got was a BMW car...yes...a BMW...it's not working but apparently it's not significantly broken so wow!

Right, now onto outreach before I run out of time and you run out of will to live!
So the options were:
*South Africa, Capetown + Milan, Italy + Some part of Western Australia
*China + Iceland + some part of western australia
*Nepal + Biaritz, France + some part of western australia
*Nepal + Berlin, Germany + some part of western australia
*Mosambique + Biaritz, France + some part of western australia
Now we weren't allowed to discuss this among ourselves and we had to pray about it for a few days and then report back what God told us and then if the groups worked out fine we would get it announced on Friday and if not we would all have to pray about it and would hear by monday. Well all the groups worked out well first time round so i can offically announce I am going to: Cape Town and Milan.
For those who talked to me before coming here you will know that I wanted to go to Asia, specifically China, so you can guess that I wasn't exactly over the moon when I felt like God was telling me to go to Africa but God's ways are higher than my ways and God's thoughts are higher that my thoughts so i'm just going to have to trust Him and just throw myself into it!

Oh one thing i didn't mention before...i have offically been injured. Morning exercise is evil. We were playing a game which required us to link arms with another person if we were tagged and then run after some other people and the guy i was linked to just wouldn't slow down no matter how much i told him to so i fell and was dragged along the ground. My shoulder is looking pretty gross right now and i have a rather nice bruise on my leg. Fun times!

Anyhoo i've got to go now as i have work duty but i hope you've all had a fantastic week and have a great weekend!

Love and blessings to you all!

p.s. The 10 things to look for in a marriage partner:
*Commitment to Jesus (e.g. do they love God more than me?, Do they spend time with God and are obedient to Him?, Are they following God's calling over their life?)
*Self-confidence/humility (e.g. do they have a strong self-image based on their identity in God?)
*Clear conscience (e.g. Are they able to repent and confess sin in their life? Do they openly seek to be convicted about sin and work through this sin with God? Do they seek to be accountable to others? Do they respect God?)
*Right attitude to authority (e.g. how do they interact with their boss, church leaders, parents?)
*Spirit of forgiveness (e.g. how do they react when they confronted with difficult people/difficult situations? Do they hold grudges? Are they generally moody? How do they deal with feelings such as anger?)
*Self-control/good judgement
*Teachable
*Friends (e.g. are they inclusive or exclusive? how do they relate to others? do they have a variety of friends?, Do they seek the best interests of others? - this point is not about being introvert or extrovert but is more about being aware that people have other needs which cannot be met by a spouse so a number of different friends are necessary)
*Finance (e.g. do they tithe - give 10% to church? have they dedicated all their finances and possessions to God so that if He choses to use them they will honour that?)
*Communication (are they a good communicator? are they willing to discuss God/their heart/their plans with you? are they actively being open to you about their successes and problems?)
*Calling (missions? local church? - if you do not figure out where you are called to and how this would affect you before you get married then you will have to sacrifice your marriage to make your marriage work if the callings are not compatible)

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