Hey everyone! It is the 28th of November.  We got back to Gainesville Sunday from Thanksgiving break.

                Since the last time I wrote an update God has opened my eyes to a new perspective. What I mean is living at the bamboo village has really changed my heart. I’ve realized that living with no electricity, cell phones, computers, and other distractions keeping me from learning what God has to teach me isn’t that bad either.  I’ve always thought that we needed all those things to live. Actually, it’s a lie the world tells us. Many people who live in poverty or in a foreign country live with out the distractions the “world” calls necessities.

            The last week of October we studied the tabernacle. The tabernacle is the place where salvation starts. Before trainers Thomas and Christina Karst came, we had to build our version of what we thought the tabernacle was out of bamboo. When they were teaching us I received a lot more out of what they said then I did reading from a book. God allowed me to let the information I learned soak in. The day we started studying the tabernacle, I felt like I couldn’t learn anything from reading the books, but God showed me that I could.

                November 8-10 a crew came up from Jacksonville, FL to help with our campus cabins.  The kitchen was almost completed; the boys cabin was painted; the girls cabin was worked on but it still needs a lot of work done to it. It was really great being able to spend time with the families of the other students.

The week before Thanksgiving break we learned about world religion. I thought that it was really interesting. I studied Buddhism. We have learned about many different cultures and religions. We were able to talk with and learn from two Muslim Imams at their mosque. Talking to them gave me a new perspective. Again, society tells us that other nations are terrorists, which is a lie. The Muslim Imam trainers were not trying to convert us to their religion but they wanted to teach us about their beliefs to have a better understanding.  But I did not convert to their religion.  I’m still a Christian and thankful that my salvation is not based on works.

November 27th we went to Niyélo. Niyélo is a government funded experiential counseling program. During our time there, we continued to learn more about team growing. The major activity that caught my eye was a low-ropes course element. We had to balance on a tight rope with 7 people walking from tree to tree. That experience for me was amazing. It was kind of hard however because even though I was only like 2 feet off the ground I kept loosing my balance and it was frustrating. My team however was really encouraging. I then had confidence in myself to finish walking on the tight rope.  Our team grew through the activities at Niyélo and learned to have more leadership skills.