Wow, what an amazing week we had!! John Thurlow (from IHOP KC) was worship leading for our DTS this week. He has an amazing gift of music! Tom and Donna Cole led us through a week of Pure Heart (from the book they have written) and we experienced the love and healing that comes through our Heavenly Abba. The ministry times and teaching were specifically geared toward healing inner wounds and restoring the heart to a right place in God.
One of the highlights of this week for me was on Wednesday. Donna was teaching on the Feminine Heart and we had the priviledge of seeing a glimpse of the Beauty that God has placed into the very heart of every woman. We are the reflection of God's beautiful and glorious image, we are tender and we are life givers. The image of God in every woman is so beautiful but unfortunately it has been attacked and wounded in so many of us throughout our lives, causing deep hurts and invisible walls of self-protection to rise up. As we turn to Jesus, He takes those wounds and gives us instead His very own love, making us clean and all brand new!

The women stood at the front during ministry time and as we were being prayed for by the women team leaders many were weeping from the pain of the wounds done to us by men. The guys were all at the back of the room praying with each other and asking God to forgive the ways that they have hurt the women in their lives. Then they all stood and faced the women and interceded on our behalf and cried out for forgiveness. At the end the women and men all faced each other and the men shouted blessings at us. We did the same thing again all standing at the front, men on one side and women on the other side, and took turns speaking blessings over each other. I can't describe how much this brought healing to my own heart. I wasn't sure if the men were really sincere but when I looked into their eyes I could see that they were honest (or at least aiming at it which is the right start)
There have been ripple effects of what happened on Wednesday. People are constantly blessing each other around the campus. Men and women are building friendships and are intentional about speaking well about each other. My favourite one yet has been hearing someone say to me Bettina! You're awesome! ....and I've been so encouraged I've started saying the same things to people as well!

My team went on outreach here in Kona on Wednesday. We teamed up two by two. I went with my leader Rachel. As we prayed about where we should walk we had the sense we should go to one of the beaches nearby. When we got there we asked God again who to pray with and saw a couple sitting nearby. We prayed again and waited for God to show us how to pray for them. I received a Word of Knowledge that this couple has lost a child and that God's heart is grieving with them. I told Rachel and we decided to go up to these people and get to know them but not to say anything yet about the word we had. So we chatted with them and found out they were Believers and had just moved to Hawaii. They were interested in visiting our YWAM base here and asked if they could get a tour. After praying with them we walked up to their car when Rachel suddenly asked them where their children are. They told us about one of their children and then said that their other son just died last year. Rachel and I just looked at each other and she said:" Bettina, why don't you tell them what you heard from God when we prayed." So we told them about the word and then we all stood in a circle, right there on the side of the road, and prayed. The comfort and love of God just washed over them and they were crying. It was such an amazing time!

My weekends are usually a bit quieter. Because our weekly schedule is so jam packed with classes, ministry times, outreach, meetings, homework, work duty, it's hard to find time for fun. I get myself to the beach, we have a few nice ones close by, or get some real local Kona coffee or ice cream! My favourite flavour so far is the Coconut ice cream, a taste of Heaven for sure :)

Good News!!! I received my $2500 for Friday this past week! Thank you everyone for your support! I know I never have to worry about the money any more because God will always provide!
Next fee deadline: March 1st

Thank you for reading this far!

Blessings on you all and much love
Bettina