One More Week Til Outreach!

God has been doing A-mazing things in my life and in my classmates' lives. He is so faithful and so good.
Recently, I had one of the most impacting weeks of my time here. The week topic was The Fear of the Lord·  
 And for most of it we practiced Hearing God's Voice through actual application rather than just learning about how to applicate. The fear of the Lord deals with obeying. You obey what He says because you are fearful of what it does to Him when you don't obey. It's a healthy fear. You want to please and do what He says and wants because He knows and wants what is best for you. And when we don't listen or obey Him it hurts Him because He knows that we aren't choosing the best option for ourself.

Think of it like this: a Father who wants his child to listen to him when he tells his child not to put his hand near the stove. But, when the child doesn't listen and gets burned, it hurts the father because he didn't want his child to get hurt. He wants to protect him. If the child would have listened, it would have saved them both from hurts.

Through the week we learned that in everything we do we should (and need to) include God in everything we do. We can ask Him about anything and He will always answer. Sometimes the answer is something we want to hear, sometimes it's something we don't want to hear, and sometimes He tells us just to wait. But He is relational and wants to be included in our lives.

Our speaker challenged us to ask God questions. So there were a couple days where she told us what question she wanted us to ask and then she told us to write down what we received. (part of this reason she said is because writing busy's the mind, so you have no time to argue what you believe you're hearing)

The questions she had us ask God were: 

~What makes you happy? What makes you sad?

~What do we have in common?

~If you could play a game with me what game would it be and why?

~What is your plan and purpose for me?

My favorite part was after I was finished - I would go back over and read what I had written. It was crazy to read...and really felt like it was God saying those things to me. They were in line with the Bible, they were things that brought me closer in my relationship with Him, and this check in my Spirit was telling me it was from God. HOW EXCITING IS THAT??!!! My God SPEAKS to ME!

TRY it for yourself! Exercise that childlike faith ;)

*This was a post that I never put up, but I figured I can still share it. There was more I wanted to write in it, but I'll leave it as is

The Power of Words Over Water

I had to share a pretty revelational and true point today that I got during lecture today. Let me first start with the background of this revelation.

Dr. Masaru Emoto has studied water from all over the world from all different types of variations. From the water source he takes one drop, just ONE drop, and then speaks words over the drop. Positive words. And Negative words. Then he freezes the water right after speaking over it and examines the drop under a microscope. (What's next is the crazy part). These are some of the words said over the water drop.

As you can see, the water is effected by the words spoken over it.
And what are we mostly made of......WATER!! The good ol two hydrogen one oxygen molecule. And people wonder why it is that the words and things said to them affect them SO much! It's in our very making.
Now I've known that there is power in the words that we speak, but this to me just baffled me. I could see the true effects of words. A physical showing.

The Bible has many scriptures that talk about the power of our words. That they hold life and death. They have the ability to bless and to curse. They build up or destroy...

Proverbs 16:24 
Pleasant words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.

Proverbs 18: 21
Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love its use will eat its fruit.
Matthew 15:18 - But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man.
Ephesians 4:29 - Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.


Dr. Emoto has continued his study to see effects of music, labels of water containers, and even the effects of thoughts.

Go ahead and google it some more!

Recapping a bit

OHHHH WHERE TO START?!! 

I'm already almost finished with week 5! They call this one our slump week (and almost everyone is feeling it...I like to think I'm not though...since I'm a Buechler and we just don't ever get tired :P)

I'm just going to dive right into it!
Week 3: we learned about the Nature and Character of God as well as Missions. For the 3 days we had lecture for the Nature and Character of God...my brain was steaming! There was such depth and complexity in what our speaker was saying, but I knew it was all very true. One of the main points was "What we believe about God determines what you believe about everything else." Our speaker, Paul Hawkins, also asked us, "Does what we believe about God bring us closer to Him or draw us further from Him?", because a lot of the time subconsciously we question the goodness of God. If we doubt the goodness of God, we enter into a relationship with Him where we are always striking deals or "begging" for things. Instead we need to realize we are created and called into a relationship with God and have a rich inheritance. (some of these points may seem a bit scattered, but I hope you find the truth in them).

Mhmmm...perhaps I will just write down some sticking statements or points:
~Your feelings are real, but they're not always the truth.
~The greater the test of faith, the greater the possibility for lasting fruit.
~Why does it matter that God has an imagination? because He can make a way when there seems to be no way. ( I thought that was pretty neat to think about..I mean look at snowflakes. There aren't any two alike...that's some major imagination right there!).
~Christians only have financial opportunities to receive financial blessing from God. He provides all of our needs - some of that blessing can be taken away when irresponsibility occurs.
~In the missions world their are different kinds of missionaries like a marathon runner and a sprinter ( I just thought that was a cool way of putting it into perspective).
~ I can't change what I don't know. I can't change what I don't love and I can't change anything if I don't get involved.

Week 4: REPENTANCE AND FORGIVENESS!!! By far the best week I've had So far!
Where there once was so much shame and guilt with sins in my life - is now filled with Freedom & Redemption. After 4 days of lectured on Sin, Repentance, Forgiveness, and Restitution, we had THE Friday (which now I refer to as Freedom Day). On this day, we sat in a chair in the front of the room with our leader and speaker on both sides. From there, we began to read our lists (we were to have 2 lists. One was for repentance and the other was for things we were forgiving others or ourselves for.) varying from the smallest of things to the biggest of things that the Holy Spirit had brought to our attention or that we just knew we had to ask forgiveness for.
 I went 2nd...I was so ready to get it all over with and ready for the end and the freedom that was guaranteed to me once I had confessed. OH BOY did the waterworks go!...and GO! I cried and wept and balled my eyes out. After I had finished our speaker Daniel Appa prayed over me and broke ties and bondages, he proclaimed things over my life, and spoke truth into me. Then my leader prayed over me and just claimed Jesus blood over me that washes me and makes me clean again. Powerful prayers. They rang so true to my heart. And then my friends (classmates) surrounded me and spoke over me and prayed for me...even in that circle at moments my anguish was so much that my stomach would do a crunch almost, concaving I guess in a sense is what was happening.
Before I went to the cross that was in the classroom to nail my lists, Daniel asked if he could hug me. I said yes the second I heard "hug". I needed to be held. I turned and wrapped my arms around him. And I began to weep again. He began to speak and as he did he said to said this to me, "I have never been ashamed of you. I have never been ashamed of you. I have never abandoned you and I'm not angry with you. But don't ever bre-ak my hear like that again." As he said the word "break" his voice broke and he was crying with me. Oh how my heart shattered and how His words rang in my ears and struck my very core. My hands grasped him tightly and I cried more because in that moment to me he was not Daniel; He was my Heavenly Father who's heart I had broken. As my head was buried in his chest, as my arms clung around him, and as he continued to hold me, I said "I won't. I won't ever". After that all the girls in my class began to hug me one by one and whisper things in my ear, endearing things and words of comfort and love.
Then to the cross I went. And nailed those sins. At the foot of that cross I thanked my God for giving me the freedom and redemption I don't deserve. I told him I will obey Him and go where He tells me to go, to stay when He tells me to stay, to speak what He wants me to say, and to submit my will completely to His. There was going to be no more resisting, no more misguiding, and no more ignoring. 

As a class we all went through some type of this in our own way. But as a class we all came together. We stood together and prayed together. The raw honesty we all displayed left no room for disunity amongst us. It truly has been a wonderful, freeing time.



The next day we went to Zermatt where the Matterhorn is located. Some hiked, others ventured around the little town and went to the shops. (If you're familiar with Toblerone chocolate that's where it's from and why it's in a triangular shape)

 

The beauty there was astonishing and truly AWESOME!!

The peak in the back is the Matterhorn!

I was on the Daniel fast right before the trip, so  I got to celebrate the break of the fast with an apple strudel and a coffee

We found where the Hobbits stay in Switzerland

Becky, me, Sebastian, and Eun Song

It was so beautiful! If only the photo could give credit to how amazing the scenery was.

I thank you all for continuing to keep me in your prayers and am so very thankful to be here. I know, here is right where I'm suppose to be.

And now for week 6: Identity.

OHHHH WHERE TO START?!! 

I'm already almost finished with week 5! They call this one our slump week (and almost everyone is feeling it...I like to think I'm not though...since I'm a Buechler and we just don't ever get tired :P)

I'm just going to dive right into it!
Week 3: we learned about the Nature and Character of God as well as Missions. For the 3 days we had lecture for the Nature and Character of God...my brain was steaming! There was such depth and complexity in what our speaker was saying, but I knew it was all very true. One of the main points was "What we believe about God determines what we believe about everything else." Our speaker, Paul Hawkins, also asked us, "Does what we believe about God bring us closer to Him or draw us further from Him?", because a lot of the time subconsciously we question the goodness of God. If we doubt the goodness of God, we enter into a relationship with Him where we are always striking deals or "begging" for things. Instead we need to realize we are created and called into a relationship with God and have a rich inheritance. (some of these points may seem a bit scattered, but I hope you find the truth in them).

Mhmmm...perhaps I will just write down some sticking statements or points:
~Your feelings are real, but they're not always the truth.
~The greater the test of faith, the greater the possibility for lasting fruit.
~Why does it matter that God has an imagination? because He can make a way when there seems to be no way. ( I thought that was pretty neat to think about..I mean look at snowflakes. There aren't any two alike...that's some major imagination right there!).
~Christians only have financial opportunities to receive financial blessing from God. He provides all of our needs - some of that blessing can be taken away when irresponsibility occurs.
~In the missions world their are different kinds of missionaries like a marathon runner and a sprinter ( I just thought that was a cool way of putting it into perspective).
~ I can't change what I don't know. I can't change what I don't love and I can't change anything if I don't get involved.

Week 4: REPENTANCE AND FORGIVENESS!!! By far the best week I've had So far!
Where there once was so much shame and guilt with sins in my life - is now filled with Freedom & Redemption. After 4 days of lecture on Sin, Repentance, Forgiveness, and Restitution, we had THE Friday (which now I refer to as Freedom Day). On this day, we sat in a chair in the front of the room with our leader and speaker on both sides. From there, we began to read our lists (we were to have 2 lists. One was for repentance and the other was for things we were forgiving others or ourselves for.) varying from the smallest of things to the biggest of things that the Holy Spirit had brought to our attention or that we just knew we had to ask forgiveness for.
 I went 2nd...I was so ready to get it all over with and ready for the end and the freedom that was guaranteed to me once I had confessed. OH BOY did the waterworks go!...and GO! I cried and wept and balled my eyes out. After I had finished our speaker Daniel Appa prayed over me and broke ties and bondages, he proclaimed things over my life, and spoke truth into me. Then my leader prayed over me and just claimed Jesus blood over me that washes me and makes me clean again. Powerful prayers. They rang so true to my heart. And then my friends (classmates) surrounded me and spoke over me and prayed for me...even in that circle at moments my anguish was so much that my stomach would do a crunch almost, concaving I guess in a sense is what was happening.
Before I went to the cross that was in the classroom to nail my lists, Daniel asked if he could hug me. I said yes the second I heard "hug". I needed to be held. I turned and wrapped my arms around him. And I began to weep again. He began to speak and as he did he said to said this to me, "I have never been ashamed of you. I have never been ashamed of you. I have never abandoned you and I'm not angry with you. But don't ever bre-ak my heart like that again." As he said the word "break" his voice broke and he was crying with me. Oh how my heart shattered and how His words rang in my ears and struck my very core. My hands grasped him tightly and I cried more because in that moment to me he was not Daniel; He was my Heavenly Father who's heart I had broken. As my head was buried in his chest, as my arms clung around him, and as he continued to hold me, I said "I won't. I won't ever". After that all the girls in my class began to hug me one by one and whisper things in my ear, endearing things and words of comfort and love.
Then to the cross I went. And nailed those sins. At the foot of that cross I thanked my God for giving me the freedom and redemption I don't deserve. I told him I will obey Him and go where He tells me to go, to stay when He tells me to stay, to speak what He wants me to say, and to submit my will completely to His. There was going to be no more resisting, no more misguiding, and no more ignoring. 

As a class we all went through some type of this in our own way. But as a class we all came together. We stood together and prayed together. The raw honesty we all displayed left no room for disunity amongst us. It truly has been a wonderful, freeing time.



The next day we went to Zermatt where the Matterhorn is located. Some hiked, others ventured around the little town and went to the shops. (If you're familiar with Toblerone chocolate that's where it's from and why it's in a triangular shape)

 

The beauty there was astonishing and truly AWESOME!!

The peak in the back is the Matterhorn!

I was on the Daniel fast right before the trip, so  I got to celebrate the break of the fast with an apple strudel and a coffee

We found where the Hobbits stay in Switzerland

Becky, me, Sabastion, and Eun Song

It was so beautiful! If only the photo could give credit to how amazing the scenery was.

I thank you all for continuing to keep me in your prayers and am so very thankful to be here. I know, here is right where I'm suppose to be.

And now for week 6: Identity.

PHOTOS!

This post won't have me saying much, but photos speak louder than words right?!
ENJOY!

Our expectations for the school and what we want to do (I'm the red)

My room (bottom bunk in the middle)

This is the Canaan House (staff house)

some of downtown Lausanne

Cathedral in Lausanne

Largest stain glass window (I think that's what they said)

Me and Karina in the Cathedral

cleaning up after dinner!

Our class theme is walking on water, so painted out feet...

...to put on our wall in the class (right before this we had a really good time praying for each other and having our own experience of "walking on water"

My first Swiss Chocolate that I bought!

Construction worker doin' his thing in st

Swiss Night! 

Cheese and cheese fondue!

Araceli and Our speaker for the week Rebeca (she works in Amsterdam evangelizing)

Tiara!

Joel and Thomas with the chocolate fondue

My Wonderful Class and Staff! Top left: Joel (staff), Tiara, Karina, (Rebeca -speaker for the week), Middle row: Becky, Manuel (staff), me, Eunsil (staff), Sabastian. Bottom: Mariela (staff), Maria, Araceli, Eun Song, Joy (staff)

Eun Song and I before going on outreach

The Jazz Festival (largest one in the world) in Montreux  

Beautiful view in Montreux

Sunset!

Evangelizing team

Korea traditional dress. We have a Korean team called One Voice with us for the 2 weeks of the jazz festival to  do outreach with

Dustin Kelm

World Champion Cyclist

10ft cycle

One Voice Team doing a drum dance

Swans in Ouchy, Switzerland

Karina at the Lake

Gelato in Switzerland after the lake!

God Loves Different

SO last week for lectures our theme was "Hearing God's Voice" and of course touching on all the different ways he can speak to us (through the Bible, meditation, nature, worship, prayer, others, prophecy, etc.) Near the end of one of our lectures, the speaker wanted us to go outside, spend a little time in prayer, and listen to what it was God wanted to tell us. She instructed that we bring back one object to the classroom to talk about what it was God had told us.

As I went outside I walked down the driveway toward the bus stop on the road a little ways down. I sat there and just sort of observed all that was around me (still grasping the fact that I was actually in another continent!). The day was ABSOLUTELY GORGEOUS. The sun was shining and there was a perfect breeze coming around every so often.

And this is what I ended up writing down:

God loves Different.

With man there are no 2 alike.

Nature, His creation, repeats this.

How many different types of tress, birds, flowers, types of grass?

Everything has it's own uniqueness. Not even just for His sake; though, so He doesn't become bored, but for man's sake as well.

In everything He does, He thinks of us.

He communicates with us all in different ways - In our own way that He has intended for us. 

He is a personal God.

He cares about the birds and the trees as well as you and me.

How boring would life be if all there ever was was one type of fish, one type of flower, one type of tree. There would be so little excitement and never any new discoveries.

Having differences allows us to show our uniqueness and the beauty and the creativity of our Father, the one who made us.

Thank you Lord SO very much for making my world full of life, differences, and uniqueness. You are a Father who cares about the most minor of details. And that makes all the difference in the world.

For my object that I brought, I ended up bringing more than one. I grabbed 5 different kinds of flowers (they were small ones from the grass) and 2 different kinds of leaves. I stucked them in the folded area of my paper where I had written everything down.

So far the lectures have been great and super powerful! And I'm looking forward to the rest of them!

Switzerland!!!!

I HAVE ARRIVED!

I am in the land of Swiss chocolate, Swiss watches, and yes Swiss bank accounts!
When I arrived in Geneva I knew I was in the Switzerland airport because the advertisements on the wall were all for watches and then the clocks that hung down from the ceiling were Rolex!!

I was a day late to arrive since my first initial flight was completely canceled in Norfolk. I had no way to reach my international flight, so I got to spend an extra night at home (which my mother was extremely thankful for!)
    My long flight wasn't too bad. Luckily we were served a meal and we could control the movies we watched. They even had TV shows, games, and music options! At the end of the flight, I had arrived in Frankfurt, Germany. While I was sitting and waiting for my next flight to Geneva, a gentleman leaned down to me and said "wow you are beautiful"...and then sat down and introduced himself as "Lorenzo. I am Italian." Not so sure if that line had made girls swoon over him before, but it didn't phase me any. I tried to be cordial until he began to say he loved me and wanted to get married. In my head I was just thinking "Does he really think this works?!" He kissed my hand and after that I was looking for a way out! He continued to ask for a kiss and I said no and he asked for my hand but I refused. And again reiterated his love for me and his admiration of my beauty. Eventually I was able to escape by saying I need to check my flight, but not after I had to give him my e-mail address (don't worry I typed out a fake one...0.0) 

Once in Geneva, from the airport, I had to get a train ticket and find my way to the train station. Oh and carry my luggage which consisted of two luggage bags and my carryon. Luckily for me I have a smart father who had given be a bungee cord to tie my carryon to one of my other luggages so I could effectively roll the luggage. (however it still was difficult to do) After asking for help a couple times I successfully had my train ticket AND had gotten on the right train. The scenery was beautiful. On one side were the mountains with Geneva lake down below and on the other side were neighborhood type village clusters with breaks between of fields and farmland. I sat admiring it all and wishing I had someone to share it all with.

From the train station, I had to find the McDonald's where a staff member from YWAM was picking me up. The problem with getting out of the station was I had to go up 2 flights of stairs....a bit hard to do with three things of luggage. I made two trips (probably looked a bit ridiculous too, but made it up the stairs successfully!) Found the McDonald's and was on my way to the base!


The base use to be a hotel way back in the day (it's been remodeled some since). There's a forest nearby where we can run trails, go on bike rides, not to mention they have a PING PONG TABLE! The internet cafe is where we get the wifi, but the hours of availability for the wifi is limited (so mostly likely not a whole lot of online stuff since I'll have to use that time to do schoolwork). The meals are cooked for us or we pack them when we have a sack lunch/dinner day. In my room there are 3 other girls: Eun Sung is from South Korea, Tiara is from Canada, and Katrina is from California. Our room is a bit small, but no worries there for me.
So far just have been doing orientation type things and explanations of things expected and to do.

Sorry I don't have any photos for this blog. I haven't had time to connect my phone to my computer, but I'll get some up soon.

Much love,
Rebecca