Prayer request

Okay, so my healing retreat begins tomorrow, Friday night at 7:30pm (or in NY, 2:30pm) and will run through Sunday about 4pm (11am NYC time). Between now and then, please pray:
1. for protection against and bind up the enemy's schemes that would undermine the healing retreat; there will be about 30 people attending the retreat.
2. that the Spirit will reveal to me any strongholds or roots that need to be addressed and dealt with as well as wounds or hurts that need healing.
3. for the two counselors who will be working with me (I don't know who they are yet); pray for wisdom and guidance from the Spirit
4. that I will have an open and willing heart to received whatever God has in store for me this from Friday to Sunday.

From what I've been told about the healing retreat, most people give immediate testimony of significant changes. Many more, however, say that improvements were progressive and continued over months or even years after their retreat. Nearly everyone testifies to increased faith, strength and hope.

Jill, our instructor, gave us this verse and it really spoke to my heart:
"But I will not drive them out in a single year… little by little I will drive them out before you, until you have increased enough to take possession of the land." ~Exodus 23:29-30

Yeah, so that's it. Thanks for your prayers. God bless you all and have a great weekend!

Some highlights from the last 10 days:

Two Fridays ago (4/15), Ellel Pierrepont had Ground Force Day. Two or three times a year, both the staff and students gather together to beautify the grounds here. My fellow NETS students and I had the pleasure of being part of this occasion.

Ground Force Day

We split up into three groups; group one worked on the field in front of the main house; group two worked on the hedges; group three worked in the back of the main house. Although it was really hard work, I had a lot of fun (maybe it's because I've always lived in apartments and never did yard work before).

Teaching

Last week's teaching was great. Monday was Healing Through Forgiveness; Tuesday, the Power in the Name of Jesus/the Power in the Blood of Jesus; Wednesday, Heaven and Hell; Thursday, Generational Iniquity; Friday, Spirit/Soul/Body Ties; and Saturday, Understanding Successful Relationships.

teaching on spirit/soul/body ties

The lesson on Heaven and Hell was particularly good. What was particularly interesting was the teaching on the "pre-Cross" Sheol (or Hades). Supposedly, Sheol was divided into two "areas:" a place for the righteous (Abraham's bosom) and one for the unrighteous. The unrighteous either went to two places: one for human and one for fallen angels. It was all fascinating stuff.

Every Friday, we have communion service at 8:30am. This past Friday, the message was on the Passover feast. I learnt a bit this years ago (from a Jews for Jesus speaker), so it was really good to be reminded how the Passover Seder rituals all point to Christ and still apply today.

Other tidbits

I was encouraged to find out that each student has a staff member praying and interceding for them daily.

All the term 3 NETS students arrived today, so it's kinda crowded now; there are almost 80 of us here.

Been playing a little bit of tennis during some of the free time. Before coming here, I had not touched a racket in over 15 years and you could count the total number of times I've played in one hand. I hope to be a master by the time I come back home.

Me and Ashley (from Australia)

Prayer Request

I have a big prayer request: every NETS student attends a 2-3 day healing retreat during the first term. During those days, the healing retreat provides a special opportunity to receive personal prayer ministry as well as times of worship and teaching. They are available to the general public, so anyone can apply and attend. Normally, there is at least a three month wait list (they are very popular in all the Ellel Centres). My appointment is this coming up this weekend (4/28-5/1).
Not exactly sure how you can all pray for me. I'll update this blog by this Friday with more specific requests. For now, pray that during this week God will begin to prepare me for the retreat.

Well, that's it for now.

one week later

Well, it's been about a week since I arrived here and I still lack the words to fully describe how I feel. If I can sum it up into two words, it would be "overwhelmed" and "thankful."

Here is a brief summary of my experience here so far:

After spending Saturday settling in, we had our official welcoming ceremony for NETS 16 (there have been 15 previous NETS classes) on Sunday afternoon. We were first introduced to the staff at Pierrepont. There are over 70 staff working here from all over the world, representing over a dozen nations (from Pakistan to Malaysia to Australia). Afterwards, each student introduced him/herself and gave a brief testimony of why they are here. Many of them took huge steps of faith and sacrificed so much to be here for the next five months: some left their spouses and children in their respective home countries; others have quit their jobs without anything to go back to; some even sold their homes to come here. There are over 40 NETS students (with over two dozen more on the way to take an optional term three) taking term one with me. Like the staff, they come from all different parts of the world (UK, USA, Spain, Hong Kong) and are all different ages (20's - 60's). One of my fellow students is from Taiwan so I'll get to speak some Chinese with her (and help with her English). There are also staff from the Ukraine, so I get to practice Russian too.

I have made some good friends already. The people who I have spending the most time with are Melvin and Gabriel (Sierra Leone), Shuan (South Africa), Barry (Canada), and Glen (UK).

Melvin, Shuan, and Gabriel

Glen and Barry at breakfast

Class

We basically have classes M-F from 10am - 6pm (with worship, lunch, and three coffee break sprinkled in between). Classes are held at the "main house." Jill Southern, the director of Ellel Pierrepont, is our primary teacher, but we will be taught by many instructors over the course of the next several months. This week we covered: foundations of Christian truth, understanding the Bible, and belief systems.

Main House

Jill

my fellow classmates

I am so thankful that God has led and brought me to this place. Although it's been great so far, I'm starting to miss home.
Well, that's it for now. I'll try to update more often for those who are bored or actually want to know what I'm up to.

some of us during an after dinner walk

btw, if any of you (wink wink) want to send me any mail or packages (wink wink), my address here is:
Ellel Pierrepont
Frensham, Farnham, Surrey
GU10 3DL
UK

T-plus 79 hours later...

yes everyone, i am in england, but it wasn't easy getting here.

as my parents and i entered the british airways terminal at 6:30am, we were greeted by a worker who informed us that my flight was delayed four hours due to mechanical problems. since my flight was supposed to be at 9:15am, it would now depart at 1:15pm, which meant i had about seven hours to burn. the situation was even more complicated by the fact that i was supposed to arrive in london at 9pm (where i was to be picked up by someone from ellel pierrepont), but now wouldn't get there until after 1am. fortunately, british airways offered free accomodations at the ramada hotel at JFK (i also got to have free breakfast buffet) where i took a two hour nap (since i pulled an all-nighter to compensate for jetlag). the rest of the time passed rather quickly with the help of the sports illustrated baseball preview issue.

i arrived at heathrow airport in record time at 12:30am and made an obligatory stop at immigration. the rep took my passport asked me how long my stay was for and what manner of business. when i told him five months for school, he asked for papers to show proof. unfortunately, i did not bring any papers other than my passport. the rep proceeded to spend the next several minutes rebuking me for not bringing any proof (said sternly with a british accent: "america is so strict... how do you think your people would react if i showed up in your country without any papers?" i just shrugged my shoulder, apologized, and explained, "the UK website said all i needed was my passport if my stay was less than six months." he raised his eyebrows, mumbled some more complaints, looked back and forth between me and my passport, and then reluctantly stamped it. all this took about 5-10 minutes.

i was greeted by a worker from ellel pierrepont who faithfully stayed at the airport to pick me up along with two other students, judy and victoria (one from florida and the other, canada). while driving to pierrepont, i found out that judy and victoria were both detained by immigration. judy was detained for two hours and victoria, EIGHT hours! strangely enough, both did carry papers and proof, yet they were still held at immigration. when i found this out, i was very thankful and praised God that i did not have to go through what they did (have any of you watched the terminal?).

in case you have wondering what my accomodations look like, here are some pics:





well, that was my first night in the UK. i will update and post up more pics later...

T-minus 6 hours

"Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go." ~ Joshua 1:9

T-minus 33 hours

yeah, ok, so i'm not that original. but it's true though. in about 33 hours, "I'm leavin' on a jet plane..."

T-minus 56 hours

two more days till i leave for ellel.

hey, this blogspot thingy is cool... it may be cooler than xanga...