GREAT news to share on this, my 50th post!

Hey Everyone! I want to share with you all about my weekend! It was PHENOMENAL, in the fullest sense of the word. For those of you who don't know, I went to Sparks, Nevada (a very close suburb of Reno) this past weekend to minister in my friend Laurel's church. There were about 15 first and second year students on our team, and we just had a BLAST! It was an amazing feeling to be functioning in the gifts and skills that we've been being taught about and trained in over the past few months. I just kept laughing inside (and outside) myself thinking, "We're doing the stuff. We're actually doing the stuff!"

There were two main parts to this trip, one of which I'm particularly excited to tell you all about :). Not only did we get the opportunity to rock the socks off her church on Sunday, we also went Treasure Hunting on Saturday....in the casinos!!! It was amazing! We were totally covered with the favor of God so though not all of us were 21, we had no problems going into all parts of the casino to minister. Just to think that we ushered in the presence of God into such an incredibly dark place STILL puts a smile on my face! I can't help it! We PRAYED and PROPHESIED over people in a CASINO!! And we saw several people get healed, and many touched by the power of God. The most amazing encounter for me was one my friend Ben and I had with a homeless man. He was just wandering around the casino, and we decided to go talk with him because he was wearing a green jacket (one of the clues on Ben's list). Long story shortened, that conversation became one of the most incredible experiences of my life. Simply talking with this man, Daniel Severson, exposed me to the raw heart of God in such a powerful way...At the start, he just kept telling us over and over again, "I just wish I had someone to talk to...someone who wouldn't think I'm an evil person..." Ben and I were just wrecked with compassion, and told Daniel honestly from our hearts, "There is nothing we'd rather be doing than talking with you right now." And that's where it began. He told us about his life and troubles of course, but then as we asked more questions, he began to tell us the things he had always longed to do. "I wish I had a better job because...well, then I could work with the homeless and feed the homeless and help kids...And you know, I've always wanted to come up with medical breakthroughs that no one has thought of before." We were just BLOWN AWAY. What INCREDIBLE treasure and greatness the Lord had hidden in the heart of this man. And it didn't stop there! No joke, the most incredible wisdom and insight began to pour from this man's mouth! I'm talking the wisdom of Bill Johnson, here. Ben and I just kept looking at each other with our mouths wide open, thinking, "We just heard that in a teaching session a few weeks ago." It was so trippy! So, we ended up talking with him for over an hour, prayed with him, called out the greatness we were seeing in him, prophesied into his life, AND went across the street to McDonald's to get him some food. One Big Mac meal, and three other Big Macs to go ;). After we hugged him and said goodbye, Ben and I could hardly speak...all we could do was grin and laugh at the incredible thing God had just done. Honestly, if that had been the ONLY thing we had accomplished for the entire weekend, the only life that was touched, I would be completely satisfied. That experience totally transformed my heart...I've never felt such complete and total love for a stranger in my entire life. It didn't matter in the least that he was dirty, that his clothes were torn, or even that he smoked a joint right in front of me. None of that matter...through the eyes of God, I saw a person. A person just like any other that needed to know he was a treasure to the heart of God.

Ha, so that was just Saturday! On Sunday, our team was basically in charge of the entire service. We had pre-service prayer, and got to pray over the pastor. That was AMAZING, and he is an incredible man of God. Then we started the service with worship, and it really flowed with what God was doing...the Holy Spirit was so thick in that room! I got to paint during worship too which was amazing, and I shared the prophetic word that the Lord had given me to go with it. Then we just flowed into prophesying over the congregation, both individuals and the whole. The Lord had ALOT to say to the pastor :). After that we called out words of knowledge for healing (aka God told us specific injuries, ailments, etc and various prayer needs), and 3 people were healed even before we prayed for them! We just called it out (asthma, a stomach problem, and something else), they checked on their problem, and it was totally gone! PRAISE JESUS! Though I don't know of all the healings that occurred, I know God was moving in powerful ways, and the service on the whole was phenomenal.

So that was my weekend! And my response was the painting at the top! Just pouring my heart out with thanks and praise to the Lord. The idea of a drink offering, poured out before the Lord, is very powerful to me...

And then there's a picture of my little Element in the snow! :)

That's the scoop! I love you guys! 4 days and counting!

Blessings,

Melissa