Herrnhut Germany // Graduation

So after over 20 hours of traveling we arrived back to Germany for the end of our DTS (Discipleship Training School).

We had a week of lectures and debriefs just preparing us for re-entry and going back home.

Then we had our graduation.

The last two weeks in Germany was a very bittersweet time with my new family.

I've lived with, cried with, laughed with, and learned with these people.

We became a unit that I'll never forget.

Now that my DTS is over, looking back at these six months seem like a dream.

I'd like to write something extremely insightful, something embodying how much I've grown and changed during this DTS but words fail me at this moment.

No words can explain what has happened to me...

If you want to know, I guess you'll just have to do one for yourself all I can tell you is it was the

BEST TIME OF MY LIFE!

But also is just the beginning...

something that launched me into this new future I'm embarking on with a right mindset, strong foundation and so much encouragement and support and the realization that with God, i really can change the World

Team Ethiopia is a GO!

This is my team.

They are all fast asleep.. but in less than an hour we will be climbing into a van on our way to Varnsdorf, Czech Republic. From there we will catch a bus to Prague, then the metro to the airport, where we will fly to Turkey and hang out for a few hours until we take another flight right into Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

and then we will be stuck in Ethiopia for two months together with no way out.

That idea would normal make me cringe..

but with this group of people I cant help but be excited.

people all day keep asking me how I feel and all I could say was "I don't know".

then a few minutes ago one of my roommates from a different school came up to me as I was talking about leaving and said "You're filled up with peace, huh? You have no fear or anxiety, just excitement."

Those words rang so true.

That's exactly how I feel.

I am not nervous or afraid,

just excited and at peace.

I feel sad to be leaving the friends I've made so far but excited about the stories we get to share with each other when we get back.

Cheers to Ethiopia!

Cheers to helping people in need!

Cheers to sharing our Father's love!

and then my life was changed, forever. No big deal

Lecture phase of DTS (Discipleship Training School) is coming to an end bright and early Saturday morning.

I have been here since early April.

As I watch new DTS's starting and more people come in to start their lecture phase I cant help think, you have NO IDEA what you are getting yourself into.

I have learned that DTS does not stand for Discipleship Training School... at least not to me.

It stands for Die To Self.

Before I came here I was a selfish person. I came here wanting to change the World, but not knowing what it takes.

It takes someone completely unselfish, someone willing to lay down their comfort and sometimes even their own life to make a difference, even if they don't ever get to see the fruit of it.

I could never have done that in March and if you told me that is what I needed to be willing to do to really make a change, I think I would've plugged my ears.

I liked who I was.

The bratty girl I enjoyed being.

The one who didn't see the point in offering a helping hand.

The one that only dreamed of changing the World but was too comfortable to actually do anything about it.

The girl who let fear make her decisions for her.

That is who I WAS!

I wish I could tell you the exact thing that changed me.

The exact word that one of my speakers said or a moment or revelation...

but I cant.

I have become exactly who I wanted to be.

I don't have to fake caring or put on a fake smile.

I am the happiest I've ever been.

Whether I am hanging out in the slums in Romania with the gypsies, or in Germany and walking around this beautiful little town I have been living in since April called Herrnhut.

My life has changed for the better, I have changed for the better.

And all because I was willing to die to my self.

to my own ambitions and say, God this is who I want to be. Change me. i am willing.

and he did.

It was that simple.

Its that INSANE!?

I have wasted so much time knowing who I wanted to be and trying to make myself that person.

Pretend to be happy, pretend to truly care.

and God made me who I wanted to be, and gave the life I used to only dream about.

I would love to share more about that, but I think I will wait until after outreach.

Saturday morning I leave to go to Ethiopia.

I will be living there for two months, putting everything I learned into action.

I could not be more excited for this.

I'm going to Ethiopia!!!

Me, just a poor little girl from Texas, who was struggling with school and how to take care of herself is now living her dream.

Let that forever be my testimony to how good God is.

Landshut

I know this is a bit late but this past weekend one of my really amazing friends by the name of Polly decided to go home for the weekend.

Polly lives in Landshut, its an eight hour train trip from Herrnhut.

She is a really good German friend I made while living in Herrnhut doing this DTS (Discipleship Training School) and also one of my roommates.

When she asked me if I wanted to go home with her for the weekend I was like "umm... YES!"

It was a last minute decision, which are my favorite kind ;)

I had so much fun over the weekend!

We were mostly at her church and hanging out with her family.

Her family was the sweetest family I had ever seen....

I was so in love with the place and her friends and family I never wanted to leave.

I got to practice my German which was fun and enjoy a nice bicycle ride through the woods and this little village to this river which was one of my highlights.

If I wasn't using my friends camera I would've risked trying to film it while I was riding my bike, but I had strict instruction NOT to brake her camera. Dang.

It was so amazing how she shared all her favorite places with me.

It was a weekend to remember.

The only bad thing about the trip was visiting a Bavarian beer garden and not being able to drink a Bavarian beer!

Oh DTS rules... so silly.

When I told her brother I had never had a Bavarian beer before he exclaimed "that's a sin!". I wish he'd explain that to my leaders...

But in all seriousness I definitely plan to visit after my school so I can visit the castle and also take more pictures!

.. and finally get that Bavarian beer

hehe

Jane Austen is always the life of the party

This lady kept me up all last night.

Me and some of my roommates grabbed our blankets and jammies and huddled in an empty room in the castle around a laptop screen and watched two movies based on her books "Persuasion" and "Pride and Prejudice" and then Becoming Jane to top off the night.

It was quite the night, full of crocheting & knitting, laughing, and lots of tea.

tonight we've decided to do it again,

this time with Sense and Sensibility

currently watching (thanks to my lovely friend Josh):

currently listening to:

seeker lover keeper - rest your head on my shoulder

visa's and crap

guess who got her first visa in her passport today?

Dear Ethiopia,

are you ready for me?

because my passport is ready for you

If you say "stay tuned" one more time....

the last few days..

well since I blogged last have had some fun points.

allow me to share

• I had a fun photo-shoot with my besties bestie friends. It felt so good to take pictures again.
• I took a four hour nap in the prayer room
• I ate a cricket.. Yes I gave in to pure pressure and after years of vegetarianism I ate a little buggie bug... But I wont lie, it left me feeling so brave... like I could jump off a bridge or something... stay tuned... maybe I will..
• someone gave me 200 euro. No idea who its from. Just my name and money inside. I am one step closer to getting the money I need. YAY GOD!

I know their were other highlights but I cant remember them now.

This week has proven so far to be my favorite week of lectures, knowledge wise.

We are discussing Justice and Worldviews.

what we believe, & why we believe.

My kinda subjects.

also me and my friends here are making a list of things we are going to do before we leave DTS.

I guess this is what becomes of boredom...

Stay tuned folks, my life is starting to get a bit more interesting...

my life is out of control, and so is my acne

I hope you all have a happy weekend!

The secondary school that lives on our floor is going away for the weekend and the rest of the girls from our room and most from our school are going shopping in Dresden for the day.

Me and my two best friends Ali and Rachel decided to stay here,

with a few other people.

Its nice to have the castle to ourselves!

We are planning some nice "laying in bed doing nothing" time, followed by some "laying by the pool" time, with a big helping of an adventurous night.

photographer: Dorien Scheltens

funny faces, and far away places

Yesterday I did another photo shoot with Dorien Scheltens and a new friend named Dominic who is leaving next Sunday to pursue his modeling career.

Dorien took a lot of pictures that I'll post later...

but this is by far my favorite...

hahaha

also I had someone mention that my paypal button isn't working.

If you would like to donate money and its not working for you just email me at dietbrookewithlime@hotmail.com and I will give you my bank account info.

Missions in Ethiopia

Dear everyone.

I cant believe in a little less than a month I will be leaving for Ethiopia.

I'm so excited!

We filed for our visa this week!

I found out our trip will be 1750 Euro, which is closer to 2,500 something in USD.

As a photography student it stinks that my camera died, the camera I need is pretty expensive and I don't even have my outreach money yet.

I also have to get a few shots and a new hiking backpack, but my outreach fee's come before all this.

Looking at the 1,750 price tag on my outreach along with the fact I HAVE to get shots, life at times look very discouraging.

Sometimes I don't know why I am here.

I am the type of person that you get the money THEN you go do God's will,

but I'm learning if you will just follow God, in his timing everything will follow.

He continues to amaze me with the way he has provided for the people around me.

Whether they come back to the castle with an envelope on their bed full of money, or the money is just magically in their bank account, less than an hour before they HAVE to turn it in.

God continues to provide for other people and I know he wants to do the same for me.

In less than four weeks I am suppose to be hopping on a plane and jetting off the Ethiopia...

and I have no IDEA how I am going to get the money.

and at times I want to give up and just pack up and go home.

that would be better than having to ask people for their money...

but then I watch this video...

this video is one of the projects we are going to be working with while in Ethiopia.

these girls smiles make me want to strive even harder to meet them.

Meet their families, help their siblings and friends...

if you'd like to help me get to Ethiopia you can donate here,

also if you'd like to mail me something, anything! a letter! or whatever my address is:

Brooke Akins

JMEM/DTS

Untere dorfstr. 56

02747

Germany

its always a good day when I get mail!

but I wouldn't recommend you mail anything after next week because sometimes it takes awhile for the mail to get here and I wouldn't want it to get here after I leave.

thank you guys for your help.

even if you cant donate, prayers HELP, encouraging words HELP, love HELPS!

with love,

Brooke

BIG OUTREACH

two weeks ago we were given our choices for big outreach.

I had the option of Tunisia, Serbia/Albania, or Ethiopia.

I really wanted to go to India but that wasn't an option.

We had one day to think about it and write down where we wanted to go and over the last two weeks the leaders have been praying about it and keeping our choice in their mind but also putting us where they feel led to put us, they have the final choice.

two days ago we were told the teams... and I got my first choice...

ETHIOPIA

I also get to go with my best friends here.

In one month I will be leaving to live in Ethiopia for two months....

Do you want to know how excited I am?

uhh.. yeah.

{all images found on weheartit}

Mini Outreach: Thursday & Friday

(me knitting by Rebecca Lozano)

Thursday we went to a cancer hospital and just offered people prayer. it was really amazing. It was great to see the peoples faces change. When we walked in it just felt so depressing and when we left everyone seemed so hopeful, which is what was most important to me, to bring hope and happiness, even in the worst situations.

Friday morning we packed up the van and started the drive back. We had a few fun stops on the way, like to take group pictures.

and to drink extremely unsafe mud puddles in this giant crater looking thing we found.

and to eat at TGIF in a mall in Budapest Hungary.

When I got back to the castle I stunk, I had wore the same clothes a couple times before and I couldn't remember the last time I brushed my hair but I felt so... refreshed. I'm very much looking forward to the big outreach.

Mini Outreach: Wednesday

Wednesday we went to this other gypsy village. We sang songs and played games with the kids. This little cutie was stuck to my hip the entire time. Then it started storming so one of the gypsy families invited us into their home and 30 minutes later when we came out the kids were still there. They waited in the rain for us, I never felt more famous in my life, or more mad at parents haha.

Mini Outreach: Tuesday

Tuesday I went to a tuberculosis hospital were I went into the children's wing and played with them. Not all the children had TB. The hospitals are so corrupt that sometimes the doctors even tell the parents that the child has TB so they can keep them there and get their money. There were these adorable little girls there with their cute little brother, they didn't have TB. We played with them a lot. the girls had shaved heads because when they got to the hospital their lice was so bad. It took one of the girls almost an hour to warm up to us and start playing with us instead of laying in the fetal position in her bed facing the wall. These kids were brought to the hospital by their mother because they were extremely malnourished. The doctor nursed them back to health and the mother never came back to get them. They are probably going to be sent to an orphanage. If they would've fit in my pockets, I would've taken them home with me. They were the cutest kids and so amazing.

We also got kicked out. haha

its okay though, we didn't do anything wrong there was just this crazy lady & the hospital wasn't mad at us.

Its a great story to tell my future kids though, & I think it was funny to tell people I got kicked out of a hospital

pictures by the insanely talented Rebecca Lozano who I feel blessed to be around

Mini Outreach: Sunday and Monday

I've been back from my mini outreach (a.k.a Romania) for a few days now so I thought it was about time to tell you about my Romanian adventures!!! So I've been so lazy with my blog lately. Remember when I used to blog like twice a day? ahhh.. the days! anyways! Two Sunday's ago we set off. My group left bright and early at around 4am. it was a twenty hour drive to our hostel and when we got there we were exhausted!

The next day we got up and went to the YWAM base there that we were hooking up with and working with that week so they could fill us in on the things we could do that week. We found out that that day we were going to be going to this Gypsy village called "Cold Valley". The people living there are in extreme poverty and are also outcasts to society because they are gypsies. We played with the children and sang songs with them. as much as I want to say I touched their lives... they touched mine.. These little kids who have never seen me before would come running up to me and grab my hand and jumping on me just wanting love, and giving love. it was heart breaking to see their older sisters and mothers and know that 50% of them were prostitutes and to know that these cute innocent little girls are growing up in their footsteps. I just wanted to save them. It was amazing to be working with the YWAM base in Targu Mures because they really have a heart for this place and want to open up a building in cold valley for school and also a place for them to get medical care. When we first walked into the village these kids started coming up around us and grabbing our hands and hugging on us. It was amazing...

pictures by my lovely friend Rebecca Lozano, except for the first one which was taken by the also lovely Kaci Gadberry

Mini Outreach

Aww.... Herrnhut! I've been living here for six weeks! Can you believe it? I cant! Isn't Herrnhut such a cute town!? Europe is so beautiful... at times sketchy but always entertaining! Its so fun how even walking to the grocery store can become an adventure. Like today me and Rachel decided to take a new way home and ended up lost in the woods and found this little hiding place deep in the woods that was... really creepy but extremely awesome at the same time. It was like a petrified forest... This is completely off the subject of why I wrote this blog.. I get distracted so easily.. ANYWAYS! Tomorrow I leave for my mini outreach! I am going to..... (drum roll please) ROMANIA! I'm very excited! My group definitely is the best group of people to spend a week with, I would say. we have Josh, the comedian. Becca, the photographer/ artist who collects dead things and is one of the most awesome/interesting people you will ever meet. Julian, the World travel from New Zealand. Simon, the Arnold Schwarzenegger impersonator. Lydia, the gorgeous German headbanger. Mich, the fact finder.. and the one who loves to prove anything you say wrong. & then we have our leaders Kaci & Caleb or are awesome and laid back. Talk about an awesome outreach :)

We are going to be working in children hospitals and with sick and poor children.

I'm so excited!

But I wish time wasn't flying by so fast!

I want to live in your lens

Like I said, I did a fun photoshoot yesterday with the lovely Dorien Scheltens.

I wish I could take pictures like she does....

"can I take your picture?"

I love living in this community of Herrnhut, Germany.

Most of the staff here are extremely artistic and sometimes you may have a girl walk up to you that you've never met before and ask you if she can take your picture.. which is what happened to me on Friday.

I ended up getting to do a fun photoshoot yesterday with the super talent Dorien Scheltens.

She is from Holland and is just fun to talk to and super fun to take pictures with.

I'll post more pictures from it soon but for now I have to rush and get ready.

One of my new friends from New Zealand who is also a student here at YWAM is having her birthday party!!!

and I can never turn down cake and food that's NOT from the castles kitchen

nothing like me when I'm sick to kill the mood

This morning I woke up sick.

Like earth shattering, sore throat, entire body aching sick.

I thought, hmmm... perfect opportunity to lay in bed, be lazy and blog...

but then I realized a few things.

Brooke's Sick Characteristics:

- More impatient than usual. And not just a little cranky stomping when someone is taking a little longer than I would like

I mean, crying because my internet is being slow, instead of just getting up and going to the other room where I have perfect connection.

- I am more cranky in the morning. I don't care if I've already been up for 30 minutes... your voice is loud and annoying and other people are sleeping so I have no problem telling you to shut up.

- more of a picky eater. I only want the foods I cant have such as chocolate and all the other sweets you shouldn't eat while being ill and I refuse to eat any peasant food such as BREAD or anything else you try to give me. I don't mind making ugly faces, and I don't care if I cant take those pain pills on an empty stomach. I want what I want.

so maybe I should just go back to sleep and rid the World of my sicky self until I am feeling better

wishing money grew on trees.

Who wants to give me money?

hahaha

Times are gettin hard, I must say.

- I need a new camera (yeah, mine stopped working... while I'm living in Europe.. & about to go to a third World country in two months... Awesome huh?)

- I need 150 euro for my mini outreach at the end of this month

- & lastly I need a little more than 2,000 American dollars for my main outreach in July.

I'm freakin out.