Hi my dear friends and family! I have been really excited about writing an update newsletter and getting into the habit of sending one out more often, so THANK YOU for being so patient with me. My heart for this letter is to just give fun stories and general updates of what you’re investing in. I am going to create a fundraising overview/update as well, but I’m still deciding if I’ll make it combined with this or separate..TBD.
I don’t think this will be too long, but I wanted to start off by saying thank you to each of you for supporting me in multiple different ways. Each person reading this has had an impact on my Journey with Christ, and it’s been cool to see my community in that way! I know that I am stronger because I have people who care about me, and I have been appreciating that more lately.
Where am I, and What am I even doing?
I have officially been at CGA for 4 full weeks! I didn’t explain this program to a lot of you very well, but since being here, I have gotten a good glimpse of how I can explain it more clearly, so I want to take this opportunity to explain what CGA is and why it exists so that you can better understand how you play a part in the journey!
The Center for Global Action exists to develop mature disciples of Jesus Christ who are activated in their calling and purpose in the Kingdom of God. Wanna hear something crazy and exciting? The program has been changing so much over the past semester up until now, and Holli, our program manager told us the other day, that after much consideration,,, the name of CGA has Changed to DLTA (“Delta”). DLTA stands for Disciple and Leadership Training Academy! This doesn’t change much about the program, but It makes sense as a title for this program, is easier to explain, and it’s meaning contains a few correlations to things that relate to how we’ll grow and change over the course of this semester. The word “Delta” refers to what forms when a stream meets a body of water, it is the symbol for CHANGE in math, it is a new beginning, and it honestly just sounds cool!! World Race DLTA!!!
Besides the name, the skeleton of the program hasn’t changed much except that it is now being more strongly encouraged to proceed this semester by participating in an “Activation” (through WR DLTA) during the summer, and then doing Phase 2 next semester. The summer Activation could be a number of things ranging between serving in Michigan or North Carolina, to traveling to Eswatini or Colombia for what would essentially be a ministry internship opportunity. As of right now, I feel pretty confident that God isn’t asking me to do any of these things or even come back for a second semester, but that can totally change, who knows!
I wrote out a whole thing to explain what DLTA (CGA) is, but it was kinda boring to read and also super long, so I deleted it. This is a (rather long) list of some one this things that I’ll be learning/going through in class this semester, and these are 1. Easier to read, and 2. Show a general picture of the heart of this program and what I believe I’ll gain from it!
– Understanding and solidifying identity in Christ
– How to actually forgive and release others
– How to recognize sin and repent readily
– Identifying and breaking habitual and generational sin patterns
– Overcoming fear and anxiety
– How to identify emotional/ relational wounds and receive healing from Jesus
– How to identify spiritual oppression, be set free, and set others free
– Training in physical, emotional, spiritual and relational health
– How to create healthy habits and rhythms
– Living in community
– Having to grocery shop and manage a budget
– Finding ways to serve others in everyday life with required service hours
– Training in financial planning from a professional! (yay!)
– Leading a service week (sometimes local, sometimes we travel regionally for this).
– Required presentations and other teaching opportunities
– Leading a retreat to care for one another during the semester
– An optional leadership club where we dive into leadership skills that will serve
us the rest of our lives!
I’ll finish the semester with a Capstone project where I’ll be able to explore what I perceive my calling to be, and I’ll be guided in 1-1 Coaching at the end of it all to evaluate what God is asking of me, and to make a plan for the future!
“Leadership is allowing yourself to be weak in the presence of others.”
This sounds like a ton, and Honestly I am already slightly overwhelmed with What God is teaching me, but I am finding so much Joy in knowing that He has me right where he wants me in this season, and I don’t have to know what is next. Not only as a student, but as a daughter, a sister, a friend, and a leader, I want to be a passionate disciple of Christ.
Up to this point…
I love living in Georgia, it is so warm (sorry family, i know it’s probably snowing in Colorado). Where I am is at least a 20 minute drive from everything, so it feels nice and surrounded by nature out here in Gainesville. I live on the Adventures in Missions base, and share a “house” with 7 other girls in the “Upper Room” of the World Race training center. I share a room with the other three girls in my class, Hannah, Sydney, and Anahbelle. Our room is very peaceful and has little touches of each of our personalities and it is one of my favorite things about being here. I love the girls, we get along so well and they are very encouraging and we have all gotten into good rhythms of living with one another.
Along with us four up here in Upper Room, we live with two house mentors, Bri and Jaide, and two girls who did CGA last semester, Kelsie and Joy! Every Monday night, we have house dinner, where two of us cook dinner for everyone and we slow down to rest and hang out with one another.
We have two boys in our class, Caleb and Jonas, and they live in a house next door to the base with two boys who did CGA last semester, Conner and Brett, and their house mentors, Aaron and Reed.
I genuinely can’t express how right it feels to live here. We have such a small class (Six of us), and that makes it very easy to connect with everyone. We hang out a lot. They boys come over for study parties a few times a week (& usually we get no homework done because talking is more important), Jonas plans worship nights for us, we go get milkshakes and drive an hour to trader joes together, and I feel like I am truly able to be myself in their presence. I want to ask God to lead me to cultivate community like this wherever I end up, because it has been so valuable for my soul. I feel more thirsty for God after hanging out with my class.
Actual Class!
A pretty standard class schedule (apart from community) usually looks something like this throughout the week:
Monday:
9:00-10:30 Worship with Staff
10:30-12:00 Worship together as a class
12:00-1:00 Lunch!
1:00-2:30 Hermeneutics
2:30-4:00 Bible Study
4:00-5:00 group book/homework discussion
7:00 House dinner
Tuesday:
9:00-12:00 class
12:15-1:15 Fundraising/Support.
Wednesday:
7:30-9:00 Leadership club
9:00-12:00 Class!
Thursday:
9:00-12:00 Class!
Friday:
9:00-12:00 Fellowship Friday!
My teachers are Holli and Alayna, and they are both TRUE WOMEN OF GOD
Here are three things I am dwelling on, and conversation points if you want to specifically hear more about what’s happening in my personal walk with God!
– Surrendering my need for productivity.
– Learning it’s good to ASK God for things.
– Starting to recognize the ways God intentionally and specifically loves me.
I want to serve him with my life, and I don’t always know how to do that. My teacher Holli frames it this way “At DLTA, we are helping you build a boat. You need to “build a vessel” that can weather the storms of life that come your way and still hold on to Jesus. You need to repair any holes in the hull of your soul, and need to know how to open up your sails to have the Holy Spirit move through you into a world that needs the light of the Gospel. And you need a map, or at least a compass, to direct you to the places you can partner with God to see the Kingdom come to earth as it is in Heaven.”. This picture that represents the heart of CGA/DLTA is a sweet guideline to help me see who God has called me to be.
I have a fundraising update, and more specifically what your financial support goes towards while I’m here, and I’ll be working on a Newsletter about that this week/next week! I think I’ll continue to do ministry through World Race, so I am aiming to grow in partnership development, so that I’ll have a strong team to help send me out financially wherever God has me next! If you have a giving budget and want to hear more about why this is worth investing in, I would be happy to tell you why this is important to me, and how it’s important to God! Here is my fundraising page link, I appreciate all and every donation that I receive, because I know God uses our obedience of monetary possessions to bring us closer to him, and guide us to value his worth above all things.
Ellie Hood Support-Raising dashboard!!
Some fun things coming up this week
– This week we are studying The Holy Spirit, and I’m so excited!
– We are celebrating Valentine’s day for house dinner tonight with the girls and i am looking forward to the time of fun and rest.
– I am training for a Marathon with Caleb and it’s week 2! (LMK if you have advice lol)
– I currently have bread in the oven and I’m excited to eat it. Heheheeh
– I am looking to send mail to people for fun & also receive mail (CUZ IT’s SO FUN)… so if you want some art or a random letter in the mail LMK & send your address.
OKayyyyyyy! Signing off, THANK YOU FOR READING! May the Lord bless you and show you his never ending love this week as you live and care for the things around you!
Ellen Ree Hood
February 10, 2024
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