final look into Gabby's scandiland adventure DTS 09/10

first off please forgive me for the lack of updates! i planned on writing one before outreach to France in Feb, but instead, here we are in May =)

i'll start off explaining a bit of my first time leading an outreach team! I, Mitch, Mal and their baby Silas led an amazing group of artists to spend 5 weeks in Paris, and 3 weeks in southern France, Nimes. Ministries included street performing, leading church services for a church that worked with the homless in Paris, living and learning about the city, learning to be in the world but not of it! a good example of this was hitting up an english speaking open mic cafe night every monday! this was a place where we could be around local artists and perform any pieces we'd like to share, ex: songs, poetry.

In Nimes we taught English at a Catholic highschool and middleschool. because it was a Catholic private school, we had complete freedom to share our relationships and experiences with God. So fun!

leading a team for the first time was quite hard for me. i learned a lot about the humility it takes to be a leader, and how to be confrontational in love and grace. it's one of those stretching moments you experience with God because he loves to mold you into his likeness. praise him!

Okay so now i've been back in Aalesund for 3 weeks and diving head first into our last month of the DTS! so many fun events happening, especially with spring a coming =) Norway had their national day on the 17th, including national costumes, ice cream, BBQ, and parades! One of my favorite days in Norway! Our DTS is having their Grand Finale concert on the 29th where students in each creative track perform their final pieces. This years theme focuses on God's love for diversity in his people. I look forward to seeing the incredibly talented and gifted students give glory to God through their art!!!

Well, i'll be heading to America june 13th, spending a week first in Washington st. with the boyfriend and his family. then off to my little home of an island Kaua'i! I cannot express how deeply excited i am to be with loved ones again and just share our love for Christ together again! Hope i can meet with some of you and have a good chat and or prayer..i'd love that.

So thank you for reading the little i've shared, please feel free to ask ANYTHING you'd like!

i love you.

God is doing incredible things in my life here, in this blessed place with blessed friends <3

your friend,

Gabrielle

end of the year start of a new

i see it time for an update! i decided to combine dec & jan because we had christmas break from the middle of dec till jan 2. so there has been a lot going on these past couple weeks and i will attempt to summarize the goods of it.

being away from home during holiday season gifts the feeling of nostalgia. and with my two house mates gone for their hometowns i was left alone with the house to myself.  but oh boy did i love it! waking up in an empty house is a joy for me! i spent the first few days without leaving my house, staying in my jammys and watching old movies. =) then hosted a slumber party christmas celebration with a late supper (not dinner) on christmas eve where we talked for hours and ate goodies, tried to watch White Christmas but fell asleep. because we like to party we woke up at noon and opened gifts and cooked the best bacon, eggs, hashbrowns, and cinnamon rolls ever! the BEST! so you can see my christmas time was spent with good people, and good food. 

I celebrated my new years in a town near Trondheim because I got asked to volunteer as staff at a youth conference called NÅLK, a bit north from here. I got to meet maybe around 60 Norwegian youth from the ages of 13-18. it was great to actually be in the norwegian culture, sometimes our base can be so international i dont get much exposure to the core of the culture. so this was an interesting and fun challenge. surprisingly they hungered for teaching on christianity and got deep into topics asking questions and being open to how they think and feel. they admired the camp for having less of an attitude of "lets just have fun" and thanked the leadership for the seminars and being open for discussion. im sure you could say it was more of a disciplship training camp ;) im very happy i got to be a part of it.

Right after the conference was a workers gathering at the main ywam base in norway called grimerud. here i experienced for the first time -20˚F wheather! mmhmm, freezing, dry, cold. but extremely extremely beautiful! most of the bases in norway meet at this gathering once a year and have worship, seminars, and fellowship. its nice to get connected after the break, although it can be a bit overwhelming with all the people. after having our cars freeze it took us a bit of work to get back home, but we made it! in pieces, but it didnt take us long to get ourselves back together again, happy and safe and warm =)

ok i think this shall be all for now, there will be an update in feb, because in march we leave for

OUTREACH! YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEY!

march 2nd, i and my friends mitch, mal, and their baby silas, will lead a team of 8 to France! we will spend about 4 weeks in paris, and 3 weeks in a town south of france called Nimes. our ministry will include street performances, working with the homeless, and working with the students in highschools. this will be my second trip to France so i am very happy to return and reconnect with the friends i made! 

thank you God for my beautiful friends and family who read my blog about your work in me and this dts. you are a faithful father and i love to learn to love you! may they be blessed with your unconditional love and acceptance. may they experience you on new levels and recieve what you have for them everyday. in jesus name aaamen!