The latest and greatest (June 2014)
Hello my dear friends and family!
THE VISION:
Three years ago, as I was praying, the Lord laid the country of South Africa on my heart. At the time, I wasn't sure exactly what He wanted to do with me concerning that place, but I began to pray for it. He really broke my heart for the lost and broken within the country. So, I began to think about what life would look like if the Lord was calling to minister in Africa.
He gave me a word that I was to go there, and that launched me on a three year process of waiting, wondering, praying and hearing “no, not yet.” I have been presented with a few different opportunities to go there in the past three years. First for a ministry internship program, second,for a DTS, then for outreach, and lastly, for school staff that would eventually lead outreaches to that country. However, every time I came to the Lord and asked Him if it was time,
He told me to keep waiting and praying.
As I was worshiping one morning about three years ago, the Lord gave me a vision. In the vision, I was sitting alone in a class room, kneeling and studying the word, when suddenly, the heavens opened above me and a hand reached down from heaven and began to pour out a stream of living water over me as I studied the word. He was pouring life and truth into me, and I was getting filled and coming alive. Suddenly the scene changed, and I was standing in a village in Africa and dancing with some little girls, ministering to young
women and teaching the word of God. And I felt it again...”You are to go to South Africa.”
While I've been in this school, I again began to pray about going to Africa. The night after I began to pray, South Africa was brought up for our intercession, with this ministry called “Titus Project” and the Lord again began to stir my heart again.
After some more research and prayer, this was presented as the outreach location for our Bible school, and I knew that it was time. I began to think about the time I had spent praying over the past couple years, and I looked at where I had written down the vision. As soon as I began to read about it, I had to hold back tears because I remembered so clearly what the Lord had spoken...the classroom where I had sat and been filled up with the truth of God's word before I was sent out to teach, is the very place that I spend time studying alone in this very bible school! Who says the Lord doesn't speak in detail?! He has led me on a journey and prepared me to serve Him in this place!
BIG PICTURE:
More than just a vision for where the Lord is calling me to go, I hope that you can catch a glimpse of the
bigger picture here. God is doing amazing things in South Africa, and in the world through His word! I am so privileged to have spent the past 6 months studying His word in depth and learning truths that can radically change hearts, families, and culture. I now know, more than ever, that God is true. He is active and He is in pursuit of man to bring total restoration. He is in love with mankind, and the bible really is telling the ultimate love story of a God who relentlessly pursues a broken people in order to bring them into healing and fullness of life.
 |
| Costa Rica Outreach 2013 |
to enter into the most important relationship of all time- an authentic relationship with God. This is the truth and life that I hope to bring to Africa. We will be working to equip and train pastors as well as locals in biblical truth and training them to teach others how to study God's word for themselves in order that their communities would be transformed. There is a huge need in Africa specifically for biblical training and discipleship.
The wonderful thing about the African people is that they are full of passion! They get saved
and are ready and eager to begin teaching and transforming their communities. The problem arises however, when they don't have sound biblical understanding, and therefore end up teaching things about God that are inaccurate and can end up causing a lot of harm. The heart behind it is good, but they are lacking in knowledge of God and His word.
The Titus Project targets Africa and other areas with similar problems so that people can become equipped in biblical truth to be able to transform their societies. South Africa is the hub of what I call “The bible takeover”. There are biblical training schools and ministries to train pastors stationed there. Out of Cape Town, lots of people are sent all over the nation to teach and equip other
African countries and tribes with the word of God. South Africa is just the launching pad for a biblical revolution that is breaking out in many other African nations such as: Madagascar, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, Sudan, Cameroon, Nigeria, Togo, Central African Republic, Egypt and Mali.
What is “Titus Project”?
Titus Project is a three month program designed to equip School of Biblical Studies graduates to become teachers and to send them to places in desperate need of Bible teaching. Our goal is to equip the church world wide with tools for studying the Bible for themselves. We target places with limited access to Bible teaching. Our goal is that our program participants will become life-long Bible teachers and continue to equip the church wherever they go, whether back home, or into long-term missions. The first three weeks are spent in training. The next two months are spent on outreach in small teams focused on Bible teaching. The final week is spent in debriefing. We do not call our program participants “students”, but, rather, see them as co-teachers who work along side us. During the three week training phase, participants learn how to prepare, present and illustrate Bible teachings. Each participant will teach and be evaluated four times during their training and on outreach team-mates will evaluated each other for continued growth. We aim for each participant to teach between six and twelve hours each week. Many places in the world are hungry for Bible teaching and we desire to see School of Biblical Studies Graduates do their part to meet that need.
THE NEED:
THE MISSION:
The goal of outreach is to pass on to pastors the tools of Inductive Bible Study so that they will be better equipped to teach their congregations. Topics such as Bible overview, Historical and Geographical.
How can you get involved?
I will be in Africa for 3 months. I will be leaving a week after I graduate from my bible school and I'll be there from June 30th- Sept 13th. More than anything else, I would love your prayers as I continue on this adventure of following the Lord where He sends me! If you would like to partner with me financially, I will need to raise $2,000 for the tuition, and round trip plane tickets tend to be about $2,100. If the Lord lays it on your heart to partner with me in this way, that would be a huge blessing, but please feel no obligation! You can make out any checks to “Cayla Bertelsen” and send them
to my home address at: 11150 Sunburst St. Lake View
Terrace, CA 91342.
If you would like to get in touch and meet for coffee,
or just hear more about what I am doing, I would love to
chat!
Thank you for taking time to read this update, and for partnering with me in prayer! I am so grateful to have people like you
in my life!
Blessings and love in Christ!
~Cayla
Comments
Post a Comment