Hello everyone!
I am all moved in to my house here in Georgia!! It has been the craziest few weeks getting into the swing of things at the Center for Global Action.
I live with a couple, Bill and Katie, who are on staff at Adventures in Missions, and their two young kids! There are 11 of us living under one roof, so it can get a little chaotic, (especially in the kitchen) but it is such a blast!!
The first thing we did was WELCOME WEEK!! All 26 of the CGA apprentices spent 4 days together in one big house on the lake without electronics. It was wonderful!! We got there hardly knowing each other’s names and left knowing a lot more about each other. We spent some of our time doing team building activities, some of it listening to the wisdom of our leaders, and most of our time processing with the Lord about entering into this new season of life. They asked us some really challenging questions which required us to sit with Jesus and figure it out.
It was so great to walk through some of the things I was dealing with and to really focus on the reasons why I had moved to Georgia to be discipled for the next 8 months.
Before I got here, I struggled to explain CGA to others because I wasn’t exactly sure what it would look like. Now that I’ve gone through one week of classes, I can share all about it!!
We start every Monday morning in worship with all of the staff members at Adventures in Missions. A lot of people in the world dread Monday’s but we don’t have to! It really is a wonderful way to start our work/school week off in prayer and worship with our Heavenly Father.
After worship, we sometimes have speakers come in to teach or talk to us about certain topics. We have already gone over topics like intentional goal setting and emotionally healthy spirituality.
This past Monday we watched a sermon from David Platt about how to study the Bible. I have learned that Studying and reading are completely different, and it has opened my eyes on how to intentionally read and catch even the small things hidden within a verse of scripture.
Tuesday’s and Thursday’s also start in a time of worship with just the apprentices of CGA. This does not always mean singing songs. For example, this past Tuesday, we spent that time praying together in small groups.
We also have a Bible study that we work through each week. This semester we are going over a study book called “Knowing God’s Covenant”. For the next 11 weeks, we will go over and study together the covenants that God has made throughout the Old Testament and then about The New Covenant, found in the New Testament. I am very excited about this study because we will build our Biblical foundation with our leaders who have walked through it before.
Wednesday’s are spent in our specific track. There are three tracks; leadership, worship, and liberation. I am in the liberation track. We will cover topics on broken and hurting women. This track is all about bringing healing and freedom to prostituted, abused or even church-going women.
These next few weeks we will be trained by mentors from Beauty for Ashes. This organization is partnered with Adventures in Missions, but focuses solely on women and inviting them into freedom to tell their stories and community with other women. They host retreats all over the world for women from 1 to 3 days in length. Over the next few weeks, I will learn how to become a Beauty for Ashes facilitator. This means I will be able to host these Beauty for Ashes retreats anywhere I go! I am learning about how to invite women out of a place of shame and into healing and finding their true identity in Christ. Many times women are ashamed of the struggles they are experiencing but some of Beauty for Ashes’ values are authenticity and vulnerability with other women who are going through similar situations.
This training will equip us with the knowledge and specific tools we need to carry out these retreats and bring God’s healing to other women!!
My weeks are busy here at CGA, but it is so fun and I look forward to learning and growing in Christ.
If you have any questions for me or just want to hear MORE, don’t hesitate to click the “Email me” link to the left, and I would love to chat! You can also click on the “CGA HOME” link to learn more about what CGA’s core values are.
I always, always, ALWAYS want to thank you for supporting my journey even if I’m not crazily travelling across the world. I wouldn’t be where I am right now if it wasn’t for you and your prayers. I truly mean that!
Love always,
Bri
2016-2017 CGA apprentices
My roommates and I after we won a lip-sync battle at Welcome Week!!
