I hope your holiday season is going well! I feel like mine has finally begun because we finally decorated our house! Also, the thanksgiving party we threw was a success! We cooked a couple traditional Thanksgiving foods and introduced our Asian friends to what Thanksgiving is really about (not just eating). We had a couple of our believer friends share what they are thankful for, and I know God touched the hearts of the people who don’t believe yet through those testimonies. They were filled with thankfulness for the new family in God that they have found and how God has allowed them to truly love other people. Please pray for the girls that heard about God (maybe for the first time) that day; that their hearts would be curious and open towards Him. I plan to follow up with all of them at some time soon to share fully with them.

Also, for the past couple of weeks, our group has focused on being unified within the body of Christ. Over the time that I have been here, God has taught me a lot about unity with other believers and how deeply important it is to our walk with Him. There are so many places in the Bible that talk about being a part of one body, forgiving your brother, and so on. As we talked about this subject, I felt like God directed me to the verses Colossians 3:11-17. As I was reading through it, I began to cry (and I don’t cry easily!). God used it to say a lot, but one specific thing I felt was that people who haven’t experienced God’s love also haven’t experienced the type of love we can have for one another within the body of Christ, and that deeply saddened me. The amount of growth that I have experienced through knowing and opening up to my brothers and sisters in Christ is amazing, and I love having this expanded family! I can honestly look at my friend Liberty and say she is my sister. That’s the type of love I feel towards her, and I’ve only known her seven months. I can’t fully explain what God was speaking to me through that verse, but I urge you to go read it and see what God speaks to you personally. J

Put on compassionate hearts; let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts!

Olli

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Pictures: My roommate and I with our tiny Christmas tree, Liberty and I just being us 🙂