Over the past weeks we have been attending a church in Plymouth, MN. We are really enjoying our time there meeting new people and fellowshipping while studying God's word. A group of us from the YWAM base head out there every week. This past Sunday the church held its annual service in the park. We had worship and the preaching outside at the park on our lawn chairs and blankets. After the service we all walked down to the lake for a baptism. Then we returned back to the pavillion to grill our hotdogs and burgers. It was quite fun. They had some games for the little "children." Our YWAM group of course joined in the fun of the water balloon toss. Some of us got quite wet. In the last game we played, Nate decided that he was done tossing and instead threw his balloon straight at our friend, Jarryd. It was a good time.
This week in class we talked about "Community in Development." We learned that God has created us all to be together and become one as the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are one. We talked about how we can truly be the church, the body of Christ, by removing the focus off of ourselves and back onto God. Our speaker reminded us that sometimes we can get so "caught up" in whether or not we liked the songs we sing at church or the message or the colour of the carpet that we totally forget that coming together with other believers at "church" is supposed to be about worshipping God. We need to stop focusing on our "experience" and simply worship our holy and loving God.
We also were reminded to stop tearing apart our brothers and sisters in Christ, that we each are a part of the body. Some of us may be hands while others are noses and still others are toenails. We each have a ridiculously important job to play, and we cannot spend our time tearing each other apart. It was good for us to remember that we all together form the body of Christ, the church.
We had another Mission Adventures team come this weekend. Nate and I had a chance again to lead worship with the teens. And this time we got to sing together. It was a lot of fun! This team is heading out to the Native American reservation in Pine Ridge, SD. We are excited for them as we will also be heading out there next weekend.
Nate and Julianne leading worship
SUPER AMAZING STORY:
We had a MA team over at the base two weeks ago while they were doing Vacation Bible Schools in Minneapolis. Some of the students and staff at the base got to know the kids really well. A couple students in our class felt like God was telling them to pray for a certain girl on the team. They believed that God wanted to show her His love through them. While praying, they wrote down different things they believed God was telling them to tell her. When they talked to her, she confessed to them that she had given up on God and had been seriously contemplating suicide. She said the last week at MA really changed and probably saved her life. GOD IS SO GOOD!
The MA team loading up supplies
This weekend Julianne's family came up from Michigan for a vacation. They will be camping throughout MN and through the UP. They stopped by the base Saturday night to eat dinner with us. Julianne's sisters, Hannah, Bethany, Moriah, and Sarah, spent the night with us. They came with us to church and then we all drove up to Pease, MN to eat lunch with Julianne's family. We had an amazing time visiting with them.
Thank you so much for following along with us on our adventures out here in Minnesota! We are having such an incredible time our here learning more about who God is and who He has created us to be. We are getting very excited for the upcoming fall DTS. Please keep this school in your prayers. We are still needing more students. Continue to pray and listen to God as He tells you names of people you know who could have a life changing experience through a DTS.
To learn more about DTS, click on the link below:
We would also love your prayers as we will be preparing to leave for the Pine Ridge reservation in South Dakota. Pray that our hearts and eyes would be open to see these people the way God sees them. And also that their hearts would be open to receive the love that we want to show them. Thanks so much!
We are so thankful for all of you!
Love in Christ,
Julianne and Nate Gibbons
P.S. Julianne went a bit crazy this week...and decided to dye her hair BLONDE! Pictures will be coming soon! :D
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