Hello everyone!
I hope you've been well, and that you've been able to find God's goodness in this season, despite all of the craziness.
My prayer for you in this season is that you'd be able to find peace where you are and that you would be able to grow in deeper trust and intimacy with Jesus Christ, knowing that we are all in His hands.
"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."
~ Philippians 4:6-7
~ What I've been up to ~
JangDaeHyun School Joyful Camp!
The last weekend of July our team held a camp at a Private, Christian high school for North Korean defectors! The camp focused on helping the students heal from their pasts through listening and accepting what God says about us as truth- that we are His children, chosen, adopted, and more beloved than we can imagine.
We believe that when we are able to see ourselves and others through the eyes of God, we can love one another as God has loved us, and then our joy may be full.
It was such a blessing to spend time with the students and get to know them, and pray for them, especially since I have a heart for the North Korean people, and want to see the restoration of Jesus as Lord over a united Korea. They were such a fun and unique group of kids!
Even though we were only there for two days, it was a very full time. The students have been through so much despite being so young. Some of them escaped North Korea while they were children, some just a few years ago, some with family, and some on their own. Some still have family members in North Korea, and there's no way for them to know if they're safe, or even alive.
It was really heavy at times, but we all did our best to love them with the Father's love, pray for them, comfort them, and speak life over them.
I didn't really know what to say in response to the trauma and hardships that these teens have been through, but I just trusted God and prayed what I felt He wanted me to say to them, and it was really amazing to see how the Holy Spirit can move and touch peoples' hearts when we move in obedience to Him.
I'm so thankful that I had this opportunity to serve and make connections with the students at the school. I can really feel Christ guiding my steps, and leading me into my calling and into places where I have to lean onto him more and more.
Gwangju Vineyard Church Joyful Camp!
We also went to Gwangju City on August 14th and stayed for one night to put on a camp for the youth at a church there!
While we were there we lead worship, our leader gave a message, all of us foreigners got interviewed on why we are in Korea, and we spent 4 hours praying for the original design of students from age 11-27. It was a really fun but intense two days!
I was paired with Youngjoo (My DTS leader, and housemate) to pray for and hear God's heart for the students, and it was really amazing to see how God would say the same thing to us about them even though it was our first time meeting them!
Sometimes I'd even question what I was hearing for someone because it didn't match my assumptions about them, but when I laid my own thoughts aside and shared with them only what I heard from God, they said it really encouraged them and fit with their situation.
It was really amazing to see God's heart for people, and for the first time, I feel like I truly understood that every person has a life with infinite intricacies and that God loves each individual in a unique and intimate way.
DTS staff training!
Last month we started staff training for i2iDTS (Intimacy to Impact Discipleship Training School)! The school will start on September 23rd and will have a focus on building Intimacy with God, and peace in every situation through an "Immanuel Lifestyle" where we can recognize how God knows us, understands us, is with us, and loves to be with us always.
I'm so excited, and thankful to staff this school! I've wanted to staff a DTS since I graduated last year, and the particular focus of this school on Intimacy with God interested me.
In my experience, the only thing that consistently and unfailingly helps me love myself and others is learning about God's love for me on a personal level. And through Prayer and Immanuel Journaling (Which we will do in small groups in DTS), I'm able to hold on to God's goodness and see how deeply he knows me and loves me, so I'm excited to do this with the students of this DTS.
I can already tell that this DTS will be quite a growing experience for me! It will be very different from my DTS not only in the fact that I'm staffing, but it will also have a new focus, people from many countries, and a lot more people! (13 students, and 19 staffs)
This year we have 7 different nationalities represented in our staff team (US, Canada, Australia, Fiji, Thailand, South Korea, North Korea) as well as several missionary kids who have lived in various nations while growing up, so we have a very international and missions-minded team!
Our school's lecture phase will run from September 23rd-December 18th and the Outreach will be from December 21st-Feb 13th.
Right now our staff team is praying about the outreach, because it may not be possible to travel internationally because of the Corona Virus, but we will wait on the Lord, and see how it maps out.
The outreach is also optional for most of the staff members, so we are all praying personally about whether or not we should go.
All in all, I'm so thankful for the opportunities that God has given me to learn and serve in this season! ~
Prayer Requests:
That I can continue to extend my Visa every month through December at least for the DTS lecture phase.
That God would guide me in a decision of whether or not to staff the DTS outreach.
That God would draw me closer to Him, and prepare my heart for this next season of serving others through DTS.
That I would learn what it means to "rest in God's peace" in the midst of my busy DTS schedule.
Thank you so much for all your support! I really can't express how grateful I am for this community that I have in Christ Jesus.
God bless you and keep you.
~Hope Starr 성소망
Comments