Thursday, February 10, 2011

Week 0, Harvest School... before it started!

 Psalm 42:
  7 Deep calls unto deep at the noise of Your waterfalls;
         All Your waves and billows have gone over me.
 8 The LORD will command His lovingkindness in the daytime,
         And in the night His song shall be with me—
         A prayer to the God of my life.

I realised I wrote about week 1, but didn't write about what happened even before the first full week of school!

I arrived in Pemba, Mozambique on the Wednesday before school started. I still remember my first meal of beans and rice... for some reason beans tasted best on wednesdays - maybe it was the sauce??

So we arrived at the airport and were greeted by some Iris Harvest staff with much joy! It felt like love just oozed out of them. I remember squeezing out of the airport finally after collecting my baggage (we could almost not move in there, packed in like sardines as we were) and just being enveloped in this great big warm hug by Mama Pamela. We then proceeded to load our gear on a truck, and squish into another cameon which was waiting for us.


At the base, we found out which houses we were to stay in for the week and I met my housemates - a couple from England, 2 beautiful ladies from the states and our youngest housemate who was from Canada :) (throughout the next weeks this youngest housemate and I often ended up on the floor together in the doorway of our house, carried in and left there by our loving and beautiful hearted friends... yes, and our situation was taken advantage of by the others who took photos and videos). The next night our house parents arrived from the early bird outreach in Beira, where they had just helped out with and ministered at a conference there.

Thursday night - we had worship under the stars in the dirt outside the house next to us. Everyone got brought their plastic chairs - or not - and as the staff blew the shofar, played guitar and led worship, God crashed in... can I just say, that some of the most powerful and intimate experiences I have had with God in a corporate setting have been under the African stars, in the dirt (literally. my clothes, face, arms, legs were proof of it later), breezes from the Indian ocean caressing us gently... Jesus brought joy, he brought tears, he brought freedom, he brought funny random moments like Nicky the dog deciding to lay down right behind some students abandoned in worship... a few moments later there was a yelp as he got stepped on and ran off... he's a good dog, doesn't bite when he gets hurt :) Another funny random moment was when I recovered enough from rolling around in the dirt to sit up. I turned around, caught another students eye and we were so filled with the love and joy of the Holy Spirit that we just laughed and fell into each others arms... literally fell. Back into the dirt... Later I realised it was actually Miriam, one of my housemates :) - it was dark!


The first day of school was Friday - therefore technically not week 1, yet! I will let you in to one of my journal excerpts.


"Yesterday was orientation. We had practical stuff in the morning, then Heidi and Rolland spoke. Heidi spoke about this school being a school of 10x. 10x miracles, which reminded me of the start of this year when my pastor got the word 10x anointing over our church! This was also when Heidi said "Your vision's too small..."

Then we had baptisms in the Indian Ocean.
I felt like God had been leading me to this moment. The theme and the idea of being ready to lay down and die had been in my heart and my thoughts during the preparation time leading up to Mozambique, so much so that I even mentioned it to the intercessors at my church before leaving. I really really felt that I was going to Mozambique, going to Mission school for LOVE. Going there to lay down and die, and to learn about LOVE and go deeper into HIS heart. 
I was also sick of having a divided heart. I was ready to let Him into every part of me.

This is the start of the rest of my life."

Another journal excerpt, from 8th October - I realise this is the day before the last entry, however it works out well in telling the story.

8th Oct 2010 
Baptised into my new life in Jesus!!!

In the Indian Ocean in Pemba with all the Mozambican Pastors and Harvest School staff and students. Oh how I love You... You just got me with your joy and I had to be pulled, floating, up the line as they were soaking me, up to the shallow water.

Wholly given.
Wholly yielded.
I am Yours.
You are mine.

You are so loving and huge and loving.

Deep, deeper, deeper.

Reach down deep into me and I will go deep into you!

Take me deeper into Your heart, and claim me as Your own. Fully possessed by You. I love you...




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