Journey Through Lecture Phase-Let the adventure begin

Hey family and friends! So I've been so excited to let you all know what I've been up to for the past month. Definitely a lot has happened so I'll try to keep it short but also give you lots of awesome information on my journey so far with God in YWAM Orlando. :) 

This is a picture of most of our DTS team after church on Sunday.

First, I want to thank you all so much for partnering with me financially and through prayer and let you know how my prayers have been answers this far.

-sleep/ I have had amazing rest since my last post and almost no nightmares! Praise God!! 

-spiritual warfare/ Definitely keep praying against warfare especially for our team as a unit. Pray for unity and that we would all be more and more aware of His presence. 

-support raising/ Praise God I have been able to pay for all of my Lecture and Outreach Fees! This includes my immunizations and airfare. Thank you so much to all of you who have partnered with me financial. I could not do this without your support. 

-passport/ Please pray I get my passport in! I've been waiting for months now in the renewal process and I think my passport may be lost in the process. Please pray I get in touch with the right contacts and the process will be completed soon!

This is a picture of the lake on base that I often go to have quiet time.

This is my favorite place to paint, dance, sing, or talk to Jesus; the prayer room.

I also want to update you all on my Outreach now that I know a little more of the specifics. I can't share a lot of details publically but my team of 13 students + 3 staff will be spending 2 months total in both North Africa and the Middle East. I am beyond excited to take part in ministering to these countries, I seriously can't wait! We have been preparing for our trip through Geography tests, learning the specific culture and beliefs of the areas we will be in, as well as hearing from other missionaries who have gone to some of the same places we will get to visit! If any of you have further questions about my trip I would love to talk with you. :)

In this picture part of our team was going out on our weekly shopping run. (The amazing women on the right is my one-on-one :)

Most of my time hear is spent on hearing the voice of God through our quiet times in the morning, daily worship times, listening to awesome teachers on the Word of God, and working out what I'm learning practically in service through my afternoon Community Responsibilties (cleaning, childcare, kitchen prep and clean, etc.). I've learned a lot the past few weeks but I wanted to share a few things that have really stood out to me.

-hearing God's voice/ It's been so amazing to hear God speak to me personally through His word and through prayer and other ways like drawing (I love to draw pictures God gives me). He has especially been pressing on my heart to just enjoy my time with Him, and He constantly reveals more of His deep love for me and His heart for all nations. He is a close and personal God who loves to communicate with us and I've been loving every minute. 

-seeing the Father's heart/ One of the incredible things God has been showing me is His love for me even in my not so pretty past and His unchanging and steadfast love, as well as His passion for forgiveness and reconciliation. We had a day where we as students were given the opportunity to address difficult things in our past and seek forgiveness, not just to forgive others but ourselves as well. I could feel the weight of unforgiveness and bitterness being lifted off and I can honestly say I've never felt so free!

-lordship/ We learned during this week how to practically give Jesus the lordship He deserves over our lives and our everyday. God is so faithful to bring gentle conviction and drew me in even closer during this week. 

-Bible Overview/ This week just started but I'm so excited about it! Our teacher is taking us in an overview through the entire bible to see the heart of God throughout all scripture. 

This is a picture of us in our classroom listening to John Bills speaking on Hearing the Voice of God.

This is one of the little boys I get to watch on Thursday mornings during staff meetings. 

I'm also apart of an extra Track on Monday and Wednesday afternoons called Resound that focuses specifically on hearing God's voice in worship and worship leading. This class has been so good so far. We've had teaching on our Calling and Identity in Christ and how that affects our heart posture for worship and have been able to really seek the Holy Spirit's guidance in worship teams. We also have opportunity to lead with the Worship Team on base which I am so excited for! 

This is one of my friends Zoé, who is also in Resound Track with me.

I feel so blessed to be here and there is so much more I could say (I haven't even mentioned my amazing roommates and my blessing of a one on one mentor). I'm learning and growing so much and I'm so glad I get to share all of this with you. You have no idea how much it means to me to have so much love and support from home. 

I would absolutely love to hear from you either through text, email, or you can mail me here which I would love!!

text: 209.402.8426

email: sacree01@gmail.com

mail: Youth With A Mission

         Sherah Acree

         C/o Training Department

         15411 CR 455

         Montverde, FL 34756

Again thank you guys so much and I can't wait to hear from you all! Much love from Florida! :)

This is my picture for YWAM's Facebook post on our Summer DTS team. 

"Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything."

Hey guys! So I wanted to keep you updated on my trip and how you guys can be praying for me specifically because PRAYER WORKS and I really need ya'll.

"Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus."

Philippians 4:6-7

Going into this trip I'm realizing how much God wants me to "pray about everything" and really ask God for things knowing that He will provide and thanking Him for what He has already done! There are a few specific things that I would ask you guys to keep in mind as you pray for me:

•sleep-lately I haven't been sleeping well, I've having nightmares and just not getting enough hours and that's been really affecting me

•enemy attacks-God's word makes it so clear that spiritual warfare is real and we are in the midst of it, please pray for clarity to recongnize when the enemy is trying to break relationships or fill my head with unproductive and negative thoughts 

•support raising-as of right now it looks like I will be able to earn over 2/3rds of the little over $9,000 it will take to be apart of my Discipleship Training School and Outreach to East Asia with YWAM. (Praise God!) Please be praying for more job opportunities (babysitting, house-sitting) and fund raising opportunies so I can raise the remaining $3000-4000! 

•open ears and wide eyes-be praying that as I prepare to leave that I wouldn't miss any lesson or teachable or reflective moment God has for me

Thank you guys so much for your emotional and spiritual support. I'm so grateful to call you all family. 

Here's a little more info on the cost of my trip for those of you that would like to help!

The cost of this journey will be around $9,000 total. It's about $3,800 for the 3 month lecture phase (to cover the cost of food and housing), and $4,000 for the Outreach Phase to East Asia! ($2,000 being for airfare). I'm budgeting about $1,000 for my airfare to Orlando and other expenses (passport, packing supplies, laundry etc.)

Right now I am work two jobs (full-time nanny for the best 10-month old ever, and part-time as a server at Ice Cream Company). I'm hoping to work as much as possible to raise the full cost! So please keep your eye out for babysitting or house sitting opportunities. :) I will also be working on some home made projects I'll be selling to help raise the money (updates to come). 

If you feel called to support me financially in anyway (every little bit helps) you can visit: http://www.ywamorlando.com/payment and click "Payment for a student", fill out my name and school (DTS) and the amount. I'll be sending out Thank-You notes, pictures, and updates to those of you who are supporting me in that way. I am SO grateful for you. 

Thank you all for taking the time to read this and to pray for me, I'm so exciting about everything God is doing in my life and the lives of those around me and I can't wait to see what He has ahead!

When God says "Follow"

I call myself a follower of Christ. "Where you go I will follow..." I've sung those words about a thousand times but recently realized that not I'm sure if in my heart of hearts I really understand what it means to "follow". 

fol•low 

/fälō/ :go or come after (a person or thing proceeding ahead); move or travel behind

To follow Christ is to go after Christ, to move behind Him.

Recently God's been really pressing on my heart to ask for more, to go after more. He is doing incredible things and He has specific things in store for me and I want to be at His heels, soaking it all in.

Last summer my brother James and my best friend Lael went to a Discipleship Training School in Orlando, Florida, and I got to visit them, meet the staff, and see the campus. Long story short, I've been thinking about going to a DTS ever since and recently God made it clear through amazing timing and circumstances that I should attend this summer's DTS in Orlando also. 

I'm so excited to go out and learn how to come after God in a way I never have before. If you want to know more about YWAM Orlando click here. Going into this trip I'm praying for perspective -I've never really been out of Modesto for an extended period of time- and boldness. I want to share my faith without self-made boundaries of insecurities and doubt in God's ability to work through me, a messed-up mumbler. 

I know God is doing great work, and like a child with his father, He wants to take me to work with Him. He wants to take me out of my ordinary and show me what is really means to move or travel behind Him and to pursue a relationship and time with Him in a very intentional way. I'm also overjoyed to be apart of a specialized "Resound" track during my DTS that focuses on Worship Leading. I can not tell you how excited I am about this. I love helping people meet God in His throne room with music. Ah. So powerful, I could go on and on (but for the sake of this already long post, I won't).

Anyway, I wanted to share with you all what's going on with me, what I'm up to and give you all a chance to be apart! I'll be posting updates on my travels, prayer requests, how I'm doing on support raising (post to follow), and lessons God teaches me along the way. I'm so excited to start this journey in learning to follow.