Bible Core Course 2019!

          Every year here in Poipet we run two training schools: Discipleship Training School (DTS) in January and Bible Core Course (BCC) in July! The DTS is the first school you can take in YWAM. Over the course of 6-months (3-months in lecture and 3-months on a misson outreach aborad), DTS students learn all about what it means to truly be a Christian and to walk in the call God has for them. The BCC is a second-level school (can be taken after DTS) in which students spend 3-months diving deep into the history of the Bible and studying it from the perspective of the original audience.
          The BCC is an inductive study of the Bible, which means students are required to lay down all bias and previous knowledge and allow the Bible and the historical context to speak to them about what was truly being said. While every book of the Bible is read during this time, we only have lecture on approximately 15-16 books, ranging from the very beginning of Genesis to the very end of Revelation! The heart for this school is for students to build a strong foundation in the Word of God so that they may be successful in their missionfield and their study of the Bible, wherever they are in the world! 
          I have the the honor to staff and teach in this school! The pictures above are the BCC class of 2019! God is moving in big ways in this school and I am so excited to see what all God reveals to them during this time! So far (in the past 5 weeks) we have studied: Philemon, Titus, Genesis, Deuteronomy, I & II Kings, Amos and last week Jeremiah! 
          In addition to being a mentor to the students during this time, I also got asked to teach a book of the Bible. The Lord put the book of Jeremiah strongly on my heart, so for the past three months I have been rigorously dissecting every verse, every word, and all of the historical background to be able to walk these incredible students through this very confusing book.
          The book of Jeremiah revolves around two major themes: a true and pure relationship with God and being obedient to God's call on our lives. At the time it was written, Jeremiah was pleading with the people of Judah to return to God and to destroy their false idols and turn away from their lives of sin or face 70-years of Babylonian captivity. Jeremiah's heart was for the Israelites in Judah to be reunited with the heart of God. However, Jeremiah's words were rarely received and often times caused him to be beaten and arrested. Jeremiah remained strong and obedient to the call God had on his life and continued to plead with his people for over forty years. I wish to have endurance like Jeremiah had!
          I had such an incredible time navigating the book of Jeremiah with the incredible 11 students we have been blessed with this year! 

What is God revealing to me? 

          During this time, I have been very busy. From staffing a Bible school, to managing all of our base departments, to being part of our core leadership team, my weekly hours have been steadily around 90 hours the past few months! While constantly sleep deprived and lacking a social life outside of my ministries, I am so thankful to be here and see God move in big ways! 
          Over these past two weeks, God has really been speaking to me about consistency. Even though I am a missionary, it is still very easy for me to forget to really be resting in the Lord. It is so easy to get caught up in the business of the work around me that I slip into ritualistic quiet times thinking, "Okay, I've read my Bible for 30-minutes, so now I have spent time with the Lord." God has been reminding me of the importance of having a consistent and devoted time with Him everyday. Not out of ritualism, but out of a pure-heart to have an intimate relationship with Him, just like I would spend time with a friend. He has so much to speak to us, but often times we don't want to listen - it is so important to be going to God out of a desire to hangout, instead of a desire to receive from Him.  Out of this place of resting with the Lord comes peace, comfort, revelation and strength to fight for Him in our lives. Without this time, we cannot continue to run strong!