"Love is letting those we love be perfectly themselves & not twisting them to fit our own image, otherwise we love only the reflection of ourselves we see in them."

This week we had a guy called John Bills take our lectures and he was speaking on 'The Father Heart of God & Repentance'. Again, a great week of teaching and its only now when I'm going back through my notes, that its all sinking in!
I have to admit, this week has been a bit up and down! I got to a point on wednesday where I was pretty tired and got homesick! It seemed everything was going wrong with my day.. you know those days? And eventually it just got a bit much! But I knew it would happen, the homesickness would kick in! But.. I managed to perk up! I woke up on Thursday and didn't feel good at all. I spent the day in bed and wasn't able to go to the lectures. I'm not sure if it was a stomach bug or something I ate, but it wasn't nice! I felt a lot better on Friday but it definitely knocked me for 6 and only now am I feeling like I've got my appetite back! Even though I missed the lectures on thurs, they were able to record them and I've caught up! Here's a few of the points I've taken from this week:

- God wants to communicate with us, like we want to communicate with those we love.
- 275 times in the New Testament it instructs us to call God, Father.
- We need a personal revelation from God, we need our own story, something we can hold onto in difficult times when our World is shaken. 
- Our generation wants to make an impact. But the enemy creates a spirit of apathy and wants us to be comfortable where we are. We should have a holy anger toward the enemy of the soul. We want justice.
- Repentance creates a changed life. An outward flow of a changed heart. 
- Everyone fails at hearing Gods voice at some point in their life. People get it wrong. Its okay to fail, God doesn't focus on the failure!

A Father's Authority
- Authority = Lord. Do we believe this in our hearts?
- Jesus is the perfect authority
- When did Jesus become more than just a name to you?
- We will be as spiritual as we want to be
- We're not controlled by God, its a relationship
A Father's Faithfulness
- Hebrews 13:5. People will break promises. God never breaks his promises
- Psalm 27:10
A Father's Generosity
- God is not mean and he is not poor
- Do we allow him to be a generous God?
- We must not think, if we don't receive something from God its because we don't have enough faith!
A Father's Attentiveness
- 1 Peter 5:7. God is constantly thinking uninterrupted streams of loving thought toward you
- A loving father gives attention to his children
- God is NOT distracted
A Father's Acceptance
- Isaiah 49:15. Can we accept the fact that God loves us unconditionally?
- John 13:1-7. Jesus knew Judas was going to betray him. He still washed his feet- unconditional love!
- Love is not partial
A Father's Affection
- You are attractive to God!

Just a few things to mull over! 
I was able to go to Nyon yesterday with Prisca and Jenna and after having a mooch we found an 'Auberge' (restaurant/cafe) and sat down for a nice hot chocolate! Its so nice to get out of the base from time to time because you do feel like you're in a bit of a bubble! 
As part of our assignments, we've read (or should've read) 'Is that really you, God?' By Loren Cunningham, the founder of YWAM. I finished reading it today and would really recommend it! An incredible story of how God gave a man a vision and how that vision came to pass. 

Me, Prisca & Jenna in Nyon

Auberge Du Chateau

Also, in other news, I'm able to announce that our outreach destination will be.... Burundi! Our first reaction when we heard this was.. where is it? Its a tiny, landlocked country, surrounded by Rwanda, Tanzania & The Democratic Republic of the Congo. The official languages are Kirundi & French- more french practice! According to wikipedia, Burundi is the 5th poorest country in the world! As far as what we'll be doing, we're not yet sure. We'll be based at the YWAM base in the capital of Bujumbura, they may choose to send us out to the bush, or we'll help with things they're involved with. We will also be able to spend some time in another country in Africa & I will update you on that when possible. 
Emma