Ranch Camp and IMO

steph, jana and catherine

the inside of our cabin

my beautiful outreach leader, Kerry

Julia and I at the Bison Ranch

Hi Everyone.

This past week has been flying by and I cannot believe that in two weeks i will be in Nepal. It is coming up so fast but the excitement is growing in me and my team and meeting after meeting has been awesome-in talking and learning more about Nepal and what we will be doing there.

This past weekend was really enjoyable, as a whole school we went to a Bison Ranch a few hours away and spent one night there. It was in the middle of nowhere-and looked similar to alberta flatlands. All the girls stayed in a beautiful log cabin with a loft on top and Bison blankets were covering each bed. They had acres of land and I was able to walk wherever i wanted, they also had horses that we were all able to ride. It was such a great time to relax and enjoy the beautiful creation as well as working on preparing my first teaching that i did on Monday which was teaching the Inductive Method Overview. While at the ranch the Lord gave me a lot of peace of why I am doing Titus and that I belong there and that God has a very specific purpose for me and what I am doing.

Monday morning I did my first teaching which was a forty five minutes teaching of the inductive method. I taught about types of Bible study, the importance of prayer, different between inductive and deductive, and then the three steps-Observation, Interpretation and finally application. I really enjoyed this teaching and got a lot of great feedback of things that worked really well and also advice on how to better my teaching. It was great to teach to people that truly care about my teaching and that want me to be the best that i can be. But what I really enjoyed was the fact that i had to do a self evaluation after and in doing that I pray about what God thought about my teaching and it was something really healthy and good to do.

I was reading in 2 Timothy today about what Paul wrote to Timothy just before he was about to die and he was passing the torch on to Timothy. And he was reiterating the fact of what it means to be a teacher and how he needs to make sure he is teaching sound doctrine and being humble.

I charge you in the presence of GOd and of CHrist who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: preach the word, be ready in season and out of season, reprove, rebuke, exhort with complete patience and teaching. For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions and will turn away from listening to the truth and and wander off into myths. As for you always be sober minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.

This was really encouraging to hear and read--to know that I am going to Nepal and will teach the truth, and i cannot to pray that I can go with a humble spirit, and realizing that yes i am the teacher but my job is to make sure that the students learn--and to really take that seriously and take it to heart.

I have been also learning a lot about myself and who I am. We have been doing different character tests-learning how we communicate, which side of the brain we use more, are we divergent or convergent and it has been really crazy learning these things. It just makes a lot more sense that school was difficult for me because i am a divergent learner-and i am visual and kinesthetic, that my mode of intelligence is interpersonal and musical. Most schools do not cater to those people and as a teacher I want to make sure i am catering to my students need. THat i am creative in teaching-and that everyone will learn-and that i can teach it to them in a way that they will understand.

Currently I am working on my preaching--for friday so if you think of me on friday could you pray that I will be led my the Lord and that he will guide my words and my preaching and that he will be glorified in all that I do.

Thanks for all your prayers, i love you so much--and please email me and let me know how you are doing.

Titus week one

I cannot believe that the first week of Titus is complete. It was a jam packed 5 times will classes that started at 8 am and ended around 5pm. The Titus staff is amazing and really supportive-they come to class prepared with informative lessons planned as well as great stories from when they did titus. They have endless examples of what to do in situations, and there hands on experience helps so much. Some of the lectures that I had this week were: heart of a teacher, how to teach the inductive method, how to prepare a lecture and presentation, how to mind map, how to use verbal and non verbal communication as well as oral communication and finally the vision of Titus. The Vision of Titus comes from the book of Titus--there are many great parts of that book here are a few key verses:

"Paul a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, for the sake of the faith of God's elect and their knowledge of the truth which accords with godliness in hope of eternal life, which God, who never lies, promised before the ages began and at the proper time manifested in his word through the preaching with which I have been entrusted by the command of God our Saviour."

Titus 1:1-3

"For the grace of God has appeared bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions and to live self controlled, upright and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Saviour Jesus CHrist, who have himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works." Titus 2:11-14

Just reading these verses--and the whole book of Titus and seeing how Sound Doctrine is so important and how I am an ambassador and need to go out and share that with the people of the world. And in this instance that is Nepal. We have had a few team meetings and its been so good spending as a time praying and working together as a team. We are really unified already and we bring lots of different things and skills to the table. Wednesday was a creative day and everyone made teaching tools to teach the inductive method-so lots of cutting, coloring, gluing, laminating took place--of things such as what is Observation, Interpretation and Application. As well as pictures to use for different illustrations and what is means to study in a deductive and inductive manner. Today (Friday) my Nepal team shared in front of the SBS about Nepal--here are some fact that you might find interesting:

--77% of population live on less then $2/day

--1/4 of population lives below the poverty line

--52% of the people are illiterate (this will cause us to use much oral communication when teaching)

--in 2008 the unemployment rate was 46%--compared to Canada and USA which is between 8 and 9%

Religion

--Majority (about 80%) are Hindu

--Christianity is between .5 and 2 % of all people.

Government

--Just in August 2011 a new PM was elected and he is a Maoist communist-so there are lots of riots and outbreaks.

These are just a few things about Nepal that I researched and I hope it gives you a better understanding of what Nepal is like. I am getting excited to go--my team leaves on the morning of Sunday Oct 9th and return back to MT on the 7th of December. Also the two main places my team will be is Katmandu and Pokhara

Prayer Requests

-my teachings (I have 4 teaching between now and the time i leave for outreach)

-unity within my Nepal team

-energy and hardworking ethic especially during these two weeks before i leave. I will be teaching a lot of Old Testament (Num, Deut, and 1-2 Kings) so lots of reading and prep comes with that.

-confidence-realizing that i am here for a reason, that I am a servant to Jesus and i need to go and be His hands and feet in Nepal. That i will be confident in my teaching

Thanks so much for you prayers--please send me and email at breclaassen@gmail.com I would love to hear from you and how you are doing. Love you all.

Back in MT September 18th

I just want to do a quick update about the past few days. As many of you know i am doing the Titus project this fall in Lakeside Montana, where i spent my last year doing SBS. Wednesday night I was still waiting for all the paperwork that i needed to cross the border and I was frantically calling the base and trying to get things in line and things were just not working out. Thankfully Thursday afternoon-4 hours before I was going to leave the paperwork came in the mail and i was overjoyed with God's provision. I went to the mailbox and screamed when i saw the envelope and I had to explain to my neighbour what was going on. Then with all my paperwork inline i was able to cross the border thursday night, stay at a friends house in Washington and took the train Friday night to Whitefish MT. It was great to see so many familiar faces-even on the train, there was 9 of us on the train that were going to base so that was awesome to see people again and meet new ones. Despite not getting much sleep on the train it was so good to come back to the base and it really feels like home. Coming out of the van and being greeted by friends that I had done SBS with this past year was the best welcome ever. I am in room with 3 amazing girls--we are going to have a lot of fun for the next three weeks. Yesterday I walked down to the lake twice, with friends, talking and catching up--it is so nice to be able to do this before I get really busy starting on Monday when classes begin. This morning a bunch of us went to a small Baptist church in lakeside--it was the most welcoming church I had ever been to and they were so excited for us to be part of the service. I am so glad to be back here, its going to be intense but i am so ready for this next season of my life.