The Beginning Chapter

One of the biggest things I've learned recently is that God has a plan - and it is so much better than the plan I have for my life. The first week of being here I was so blessed to see so many things; and the funny thing is, I haven't stopped seeing new and amazing things.

I saw the northern lights again and even brighter than before. We've also gone on lots of hikes and seen waterfalls and sheep. Every morning when I wake up I see this beautiful view of the snowy mountains and the fog over the lake and I can hear the geese in the distance. It's astonishing and breathtaking.

School has started and each day is full of teachings and activities. We start each day with breakfast and some chores around the guesthouse. Then there is designated time for devotionals, talking with Jesus or just journaling. After that we either meet together for worship or intercession. Intercession is where one person from our team picks some topics or people for the group to pray over and intercede for. Each week we get to hear from a new teacher. The first week was overview of the bible with Erika, who works at a YWAM base in Montana abut is originally from Canada. She had a great and unique way of quickly going through the bible in one week while hitting all the main points. The second week we had a lovely man, Oli, who is a native born Icelander, who speaks pretty decent English. He dove into the topic of how to listen and speak to God. Then depending on the day, we either have one-on-one meetings with our leaders, small groups, outreach prep or gym. One of the coolest things I've done so far is play basketball outside in the snow and ice and the local gym in Eglisstadir. When we had finished a small basketball game we went into the outdoor heated pool to relax.

As a team I think we have really started to connect and work together well. One day, after an emotional and heavy morning, we all went on a walk down to the river which is just in the backyard of the guesthouse (about a 30 minute loop). It was a great time of enjoying God's creation and each of us doing our own things together but separately. One person was flying their drone, another was throwing rocks to break the ice in the river, others were skipping rocks and some were throwing snowballs. Which reminds me, the weather here is crazy. Not only intensely cold but also unpredictable. I swear it changes every ten minutes. It has snowed and melted and snowed again the past two weeks. Some days it will be clear but windy and others will look like a thick blizzard outside. Although the weather is wild and the amount of time the sun is out is limited, my goal is to get out side at least once everyday. So far I have but I know it will get harder and harder to do that deeper into the winter.

Some of you have requested an address to send things to me so here it is:

Eyjolfsstadir, 701 Egilsstadir, Iceland

Tune in next time to find out where we are going for outreach!

God Bless!