Update, Part I.

Hello my friends!

**Before you read this, could you take a few minutes and scroll to the bottom of this page and check out my fundraising update? Then you can come back to this and catch up a bit on my life, and leave me some comments. :) Thanks!**

This will be a relatively short post, but I wanted to take a few minutes and let you know what's been going on in my life down here in Texas.
~~This is the first weekend in the past month that I didn't have anything major going on. First we had the UPG LTE, which you can read about in my previous post. Then we had the Endurance LTE, which means we ran the Tyler Azalea 10k with the local community. Next I went to the Indianapolis BattleCry event. Finally, we had Easter break, which I spent with my room mates family in Austin.
~~As you can probably tell, springtime at the Honor Academy is crazy busy, and its getting busy-er as we approach the summer. Much of the busyness is caused by the two ministries that are a large part of Teen Mania: mainly, Acquire the Fire and Global Expeditions. Acquire the Fire youth events are 2 day concerts/conferences designed to reach middle school and high school students with the message of Christ and to transform their lives because of His love. I have to admit that when I first came to the HA I was a bit skeptical as to whether or not the ATFs really accomplished this goal. But so far I've been able to go to 2 events, and I've seen that people really do encounter God there. I love the focus this year, because it's all about Jesus. It was so cool to go the Indianapolis event and watch kids begin to grasp His love for them, and what He did for them because of it. At the end, they're given the opportunity to surrender their lives, or different sins they've been struggling with, to Him, and literally nail them to a cross. For a good 20 minutes the hammering fills the venue as 12 year olds, 15 year olds, high school seniors, parents and even youth leaders come forward and nail pieces of paper to the wood. It's a somber, tearful, yet joyful time. The worship afterwords in amazing. Being at Indy gave the 31 hours I spend each week working to make them possible new meaning, and I realized once again that it's totally worth it.
~~This weekend was our biggest event, the New York BattleCry! 13,000 people were there, and I'm looking forward to hearing how it went . . . I pray lives were changed! The ATF season is drawing to a close soon, with the last events only 3 weeks away. But campus life isn't slowing down, instead it's picking up as things transition into preparing for the thousands of youth who will be sent from here on summer missions trips with Global Expetions. God-willing, I'll be going on one too, so please keep me in your prayers for that.
~~So I just realized this update hasn't filled you in on much of my life, but that's partly because a lot of my life here involves the different ministries of Teen Mania. Other parts include my classes, my Core, and my relationship with God. Tomorrow I'll do my best to fill you in on those areas, but for now I must bid you adieu . . . Corporate exercise begins in 5 hours, followed by another challenging, growing, stretching, learning, exhilarating, enriching, fun, God-centered day at the Honor Academy. Until next time, I am . . .
Resting in Him,
Bethany