Let them praise Him with dancing!

All the wonderful School of Dance ladies

Ballet class :)

2 Timothy 3:16 tells us that “All Scripture is God breathed and is important…”  That being said, there is not one word in the Bible that is there by accident, or that is not of value.  We recently did a project in our school to find all the original words for “dance” in their Hebrew and Greek forms in the Bible.  The word “dance” or a form of it is used at least twenty-seven times in the Bible.  It seems to me that God found the word and the action of dance important to include, not only once or twice…but at least twenty-seven times!  I think that sometimes the church can forget about the power of dance and the freedom that it can bring.  In the Bible we see both the negative and positive powers of dancing.  We see that as God was leading His people out of four hundred years of slavery in Egypt, the most accurate response they could have was to dance for joy.  And we know that the famous King David had no other way to worship the Lord fully but through reckless abandonment in his dancing.  We also see the negative things that dance can be used for, such as the persuasion of Herod to put John the Baptist to death through a dance of seduction and temptation.  But whether it is used for good or evil, there is no question that dance has power.  This is why it is so important for the church to stand up and use the gift of dance that the Lord has given for His kingdom and His glory.  In these last two months I have already seen the Lord do so much healing in my own life, as well as give me hope for the healing that He is going to bring to the nations through dance.  I have the privilege of dancing with seven beautiful girls from all walks of life.  We have all seen our share of joy and sorrow in life, but one thing remains true for all of us- we have all seen God minister in and through us by the gift of dance.  God has restored my love and joy for dancing, and I have been able to have such an incredible time enjoying His presence.  Dance is probably the strongest way that I can connect and speak to God.  When I have no more words to express what I am going through, I know that I can simply pour out my heart to Him through the motions and movements that He has given me.  Dance is this joy and strength that I desire to take back to the nations.  Our school has an amazing opportunity to go to London and Scotland this summer.  We will be using dance as a way to connect with people that do not know the Lord.  We are going to use this art to speak directly to people’s hearts about the love that God has for them in a way that words cannot always do.  Dance breaks down walls and can penetrate into lives in such a strong force, and I can’t wait to see how God is going to use it this summer, as well as in the rest of my life! 

apparently dancers kick pinatas...

For such a time as this!

If you had asked me three years ago if I would be here in Montana doing School of Dance right now, I would have said no.  If you had asked me two years ago, I would have told you I was probably going to do it last year. And if you had asked me last year, I would have said “possibly…” with a doubtful hope. Yet it is amazing to me how God knows just the perfect time and place that He wants us.  I had thought I was going to do School of Dance last year, but God told me it wasn’t the right time. So I stayed home, and because of that I was blessed to be in Uganda for 6 months with two teams last year. And I saw even more of His plan for calling me to Montana for “such a time as this” as soon as I arrived.  It was my first full day here and I was talking to a very dear girl, Kelly, who is on staff with YWAM Montana.  She had been staff here back when I was doing my Discipleship Training School (DTS) and I have always admired her! She is staffing this current DTS and told me that she is leading an outreach team but their outreach location had fallen through because there were more students than they expected and the location could not cater for all of them.  So I just threw out in the conversation “well just go to Gulu!!”  Then that led into a longer conversation about what God is doing in Uganda, and a few days of prayer, and… to make a long story short, she is now taking the DTS to Uganda to work with Soldiers of Christ for two months!!  It was such an answer to prayer! We had been praying for another team to be able to come to Gulu and serve and help out while I am away and the staff in Gulu is furthering their training… and only God could have orchestrated it in such a way! If I had come last year, we wouldn’t have had such an answer to prayer, and the DTS wouldn’t have had an outreach location! 

            Besides that beautiful treat (which would have been enough in itself!) Montana has just been such a gift from the Lord!  I never could have expected that I would have an opportunity to dance this much again, and with such incredible people, and for the Lord!  He is showing me more and more every day about what it means to focus on Him and utilize the giftings and abilities he has given me.  It does make me laugh that the main correction I get in dance class is that my moves look “too African”… I guess that is just a what happens when you live in Africa for two years J haha and although it may not be exactly what my teachers are looking for… hopefully it’ll give me some advantage in the future for our training with the students in Gulu!  Although going from the 85 degree weather in Uganda to the two feet of snow we have gotten in the last three days has been an adjustment… I wouldn’t change being here for the world! It has been such a great reminder that Uganda (and my life) is in GOD’S hands, and HE is the one orchestrating everything.  And it has been such a wonderful time to get to spend with my Daddy!  As it is said “God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him” I am learning what it means to be content in ALL situations and know that my value is in my identity…and not my performance. God is so good!!



Montana is cold!!... but beautiful!