Go to Facebook for pictures

So this blog doesn't like to let me add photos and it always messes up so if you want to see pictures please go to my facebook: Spencer Oswald and if you aren't my friend add me and then you can see a bunch of pictures I was able to add in the past few days!

Nations to Nations Conference

So sorry I haven't updated in a bit, I have been in South Africa going to a conference celebrating the different nations and the love of Jesus. Every night we spent in worshiping the Lord at either a school, church and one day in front of the town hall. It was the first time I truly let go and praised the Lord without fear of looking silly. I danced like a kid and one night we ran around the church with different flags praising the Lord. During the day we either helped out around the YWAM base there or we learned about worship. We also had a morning of having everyone show us what their talents are that God had given them. Many of the people did poems or sang and I was going to show my photography but didn't have a computer so I just talked about how photography is very spiritual for me. Outside of our group from Lesotho there where 3 other YWAM bases there and a total of about 35-40 people. It was great to get to know other people going through a DTS and I really got the feeling that after talking to them Lesotho is where I am suppose to be. Although God was showing me a lot during this time I also had to call on him a lot as well for my good friend from work I found out had taken his life a week prior to me being there. I spent a lot of time in prayer and although it is still hard God has given me comfort. On a more positive note, during worship one day I got a vision of me in an industrial room and inside of that room there was a large water pipe. As I looked at this pipe I saw a lot of pictures and videos and certain sections of the pipe where dark while others where gray. As I looked farther down the pipe I saw that the pipe was glowing white...so white that I could barely see. As I looked farther to the left I saw Jesus jumping up and down having an amazing amount of excitement. After asking what this meant God showed me that the dark and gray areas are different parts of my life where times where hard or I was away from God. He then said that the white part is my future and that Jesus is so excited for what is about to happen. Through the week I asked for different things from God including joy, direction, freedom, discipleship and excitement and in that week after looking back I received all of those.

The week was great but the most amazing thing that happened was something that could add to my direction and calling. After telling a fellow DTS student from Drakensburg (South Africa) about my potential backpacking ministry that I may start in Seattle he told me that YWAM has a backpacking DTS and ministries in Australia. I believe he was just trying to help but it affected me more than I thought it would. As he said those words I got this huge sense of peace as well as shivers down my back. Within seconds I also got this sense of excitement and a feeling of "go for it, go for it." Since then I still haven't haven't been able to get the idea of going to Australia off my mind. If I would go I would probably need to commit for 2 years and would cost a lot of money. Although there are challenges ahead I know God will provide where ever he calls me. It will be hard to decide between me going to grad school and me potentially going to Australia. After talking with Josh a fellow Lesotho DTS student he gave me comfort in that God sometimes gives us choices and one may be his plan but even if we choose the other he will still bless us.

Today another amazing thing happen, we went to a local high school and God for a week had asked me next time we go to a school to tell my testimony. After doing a drama it was my turn to tell my testimony and the holy spirit was given me not only a sense of peace but a sense of excitement to get a chance to tell of the amazing power of Jesus and what he can do in peoples' lives. As I talked i talked about my dad and then screamed out loud "Why God, Why would you do this," explaining to them that I was angry with the Lord about why he did these things to me. Then I continued and talked about how God is our father and whether you don't have a father on earth you do in heaven and he will never leave your side. As I did the alter call about 40 kids came up to receive christ. I was so pumped about the power of the Lord and what he has in store for the future.

Hopefully next I can upload pictures!

Pictures

Hey so I am still working on getting more pictures on here. I have taken a bunch but the internet is really slow and takes forever to upload some pictures...but hopefully I can make it work soon!

Malealea - Camping and Horseback Riding

Well this weekend we decided to head off to go camping just to get away. On the way there we decided to use a friend of a leader here and well it was an experience. He took us in two smaller cars through a bumpy dirt road and well we made it but we had to stop only a short bit before we got there because a few of the screws off of the caliper came off and the breaks where not working that well. After they fixed the problem with a coat hanger...its africa.... we made it safely there. After a wonderful meal of sausages and such cooked over the fire we went to bed. That night one of our teammates got very sick with what seemed to be a fever and body aches and she was unable to go horseback riding with us on that saturday. As we left for horseback riding we went though these gorgous hills and valleys...I will have pictures later... and we eventually made it to this waterfall that landing into this amazing rock pool. Once we trekked down to the waterfall we jumped in pool getting a shower from the waterfall above. Once we made it back on horseback I saw that my legs where very burnt but only around the thigh leaving an ugly looking sun burn. That night we met some south africans and after eating our wonderful lamb steak (it was cheaper than beef) we joined them around the fire and I got an insight into what it meant to be south african and about there local politics. The next day is where things turned a bit sour. We where suppose to be back around 1pm but our ride was 7 hours late...yeah 7 hours.. So as we sat around we at least had some added bonding time. Once they finally arrived they made up a story which we couldn't put the pieces together to validate and they also wanted twice the money agreed upon. After getting home around 9:30pm we where welcomed by some worried staff that didn't go on the trip. Although we had a few road bumps it was great to get away for a weekend before we head back into learning about the Lord.

Soccer and lightning

So last Monday we tried to go to a soccer game within a 5 min walk from our house. The game was between the local Lesotho national team and the South African national team and it was a friendly to tune up the South Africans for the world cup. Unlike the states when they see lightning here they keep playing...until it gets really close...Before I go on I need to mention there are more lightning storms here in lesotho than anywhere in the world...So eventhough it was a big storm compared to ones in the states we started to walk to the game. The storm wasn't a few miles away....it was directly above us and lightning would strike very close to us as we walked quickly to the game. We where hoping to see a few minutes then walk back because it was dangerous to stay the whole game. So when we almost get there...a huge lightning bolt strikes between us and the soccer building...the bolt was within 15 feet of myself and the other people with me. The energy from the bolt shook my body and made me jump. There was only one other time I was that close to lightning (I was in a bus in brazil where lightning blew up a transformer within 5 feet of my window in the bus). Once we got in the building (there was no stadium just this building where the players stayed...kinda like a dorm house.) Anyways we got inside the building and all the players where one floor below us. Soon after they came up to where we where and I got to talk to one of the players in the South African team for a short bit. He thought we where from the international school down the street but I told him we where from YWAM. He had a lot of concern for us to try to run back to the house but we went anyways the storm had moved on a little bit... As we left and said bye to the player we ran as quick as we could. It was quite scary as lightning and the deafening thunder was still very close. All of us did a lot of praying as we ran back. By Gods grace we made it back safe and sound and have a crazy story to go with it!

So our second speaker came through this week and she was amazing. We talked about spiritual warfare and prayer. It kind of reminds me of a lot of prayer and stuff my mom would talk about. They touched on everything from demons to the different spiritual giftings the lord can give through the holy spirit. After one of the sessions that talked about fear and anxiety I had the speaker pray for me to help overcome some of that. My goal here is to let go of anything still holding me back and to grow my knowledge and relationship with the Lord before I come back to the states. I have an idea of where the Lord wants me but I want to stay strong in Him and prepare myself for the journey ahead. The lady that prayed for me saw I had great furtile soil on which i can grow and bear fruit.

On another note I am looking forward to hopefully going next week to see one of the largest waterfalls in the world....no not victoria falls but there is an amazing one here in Lesotho. We have been cooped up in the house because well the town here (eventhough its the capital) is still fairly small and there is not much to do. We also do not have internet but it does let me concentrate on God....and hey at least there is a nice pool that we can go to for only 3 dollars!

Well that is all for now!

More Pictures

Here are some more pictures that I have taken