Hello everyone!

It has been a while since my last email update (I apologize). I cannot believe that I am already eight weeks into the training! Firstly, I would like to say thank you for your prayers and continued check-ins. I am supplied and encouraged whenever I see a text from you guys.

So, what has happened?

I realized that I did not show you guys who is on my team, so here they are:

The Riverside team has a unique situation. For the most part, we serve at the University of California Riverside campus, however, they are on a quarter-based system, so they began the school year just this past week. In the meantime, we had the opportunity to preach the gospel at a nearby community college and local Baptist university. It was definitely a challenge learning to preach the cold gospel. If you don’t know, I am an introverted person, so it is hard for me to strike up a conversation, but I am coming to learn that it is normal to talk about the Lord. The students on these campuses are super open and willing to listen. Even if it is just a little enjoyment from the classes, they are open to hearing. Praise the Lord for so many open vessels! In our video class, we listened to a message given by brother Dick Taylor. In the message, he mentioned that we don’t need to be fantastic preachers, but faithful farmers. Our speaking on the gospel does not need to be anything grand, but we can just give little dispensings and little speakings.

So, with UC Riverside, there are about 30 plus students in the Christians on Campus club and over the summer orientations, over 260 students signed up for the club. Praise the Lord for so many warm doors. When we’re not on the gospel, we are texting students and setting up appointments with them. Please pray that these warm doors would stay warm and open.

As for the training environment, it has been a challenge but there is a great supply. I am coming to realize that everything in the schedule is so intentional and that you truly cannot go through the training without touching the Lord. I am learning to become more dependent on Him and lean on my Beloved.

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Here are some spiritual nuggets that I enjoyed from this week:

In Spirit class, the speaking brother asked us, “How are you doing in the training? Are you struggling? Are you in a dry and barren land? If so, we need to drink.” First Corinthians 15:45b says “the last Adam became a life-giving Spirit”. We receive Christ as the life-giving Spirit in our spirit by drinking Him as the living water. The more we drink, the more this living water becomes in us “a fountain of water springing up into eternal life” (John 4:14). The fountain is God the Father as the source of life. The Father in the Son emerges as the spring for the expression of life and the Son as the Spirit is springing up to become a river flowing in us and flowing us into eternal life. Our flowing into eternal life utterly depends on our drinking, our coming to the source. I also really enjoyed the matter of flowing, specifically in Ezekiel 47 (it sounds random but just wait).

In this chapter, we are given a clear picture of the flowing of living water out of the house of God. In Ezek. 47:3-5, we are told of a man, Christ, that went out to the east with the measuring line in His hand and measured out a thousand cubits, leading Ezekiel through the water that was flowing out of the house. The man measures out the line four times (4000 cubits total). Each time, the level of the water rises first from the ankles to the knees, to the loins, then to the point that he is completely submerged in the water. This can be seen in our experience of Christ. Christ’s measuring is His judging, testing, examining, and possessing us. In our Christian life, we are put in limiting and exposing situations. The more we go on, these situations become more constraining and sometimes more unbearable. But as the Lord said, “Do not be afraid”. This measuring is just so that the Lord can gain us and possess more of our being! As the water increases, the more we are unable to move through the waters. As we try to move and wiggle free, we realize that we can’t get out. This reminded me of 2 Cor. 5:14 which says, “For the love of Christ constrains us…”. The word constrain here means “the rushing of great waters”. So as the Lord continues to measure us, the more we are being constrained by the love of the Lord. The more measuring, the more the water level rises. Eventually the water will increase to the point that we are completely submerged, and the water becomes “waters to swim in” (Ezek. 47:5). By this time, there is no point to try to struggle free. The flow of life is sustaining us, supporting us, and even carrying us away. All we must do is concede to the flow. This flow of water in Ezekiel 47 is flowing to the east side (v.1), which signifies God’s glory (as the sun rises in the east). So, in this flow, we are being carried into God’s glory. We are being carried into eternal life, all the way to the New Jerusalem, which is God’s eternal goal. Praise the Lord for His measuring! He just wants us to be in the flow. But we have to drink. Lord Jesus, cause us to drink of You!

(Oof that was a lot of writing. But I have more so bear with me lol.)

Another class that I am taking at the training is called the Experience of Christ as life. For majority of this class, we have been going over the spiritual anatomy and physiology of man. Specifically, the parts of man (body, soul, spirit), the parts of the spirit (conscience, fellowship, intuition), the parts of the soul (mind, emotion, will), and the parts of our heart (soul + conscience). Due to man’s fall, there are many hindrances preventing God from spreading throughout our being, thus, we must deal with these parts of our being.

I personally have been appreciating the matter of dealing with our heart. Our heart, that is, our psychological heart, is the most important organ of our body. The function of our heart is to love the Lord. (Wow.) Loving the Lord is the first requirement to experience Christ as life and to enjoy Him. Whether or not the life within us can grow depends on our heart being open to the Lord. The heart is the entrance and exit of our being. Prov. 4:23 says to “keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it are the issues of life”. It is not only the gate of life, but it is also the switch of life. When our heart is closed to God, it is difficult for Him to have fellowship with us. If our heart is open, then God’s life has a way.

We will be put in situations where we will say to ourselves, “Why don’t I have His leading? Why don’t I love the Lord the same way I did? Don’t I need to exercise my spirit?” Our heart is the switch. It is altogether a matter of the heart. While I have been in the training, I have been struggling to turn my heart to the Lord. I would say the words, but part of me did not mean them. Then I ponder why I am not enjoying Christ. If we don’t allow the life through, God’s life cannot manifest itself through us. I realized that I was not open to Him. There are parts of my inward being that I didn’t want Him to touch. Thus, the Lord gained many small prayers from me. I prayed, “Lord I am not open to You right now. I don’t want to turn to You right now, but Lord, I am open to being opened. I am open to be loved by You.” I pray that I come to have a more affectionate relationship with the Lord. (I will be praying this prayer for you all as well.)

In all our dealings, we are experiencing Christ as life. Dealings constitute an extremely important position of the experience of Christ as life. Dealing implies that we follow the leading of the Holy Spirit to purge away all the difficulties that hinder the growth in life. So, in our dealings, we first start with the heart, then we come to the spirit, then the soul, which is the reflecting organ, created with the sole purpose of expressing God. May we learn day by day to come to the Lord and turn our heart to Him. As it says 2 Cor. 3:16, “when the heart turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away”.

Prayer Requests:

o That my tripartite being will be taken care of while I am here. My body has been really tired and aching so please pray for my health while I’m here.

o For the contacts at UC Riverside. That they would remain open to the Lord, open to having appointments with us trainees, and that they would get connected with the saints and have a smooth entrance into the church life.

o That I would continue to touch and turn my heart to the Lord regardless of my outward condition

Thank you for reading up until this point. I know it is a lot of words. Now what you have all been waiting for… photos!!!

Please keep in touch and let me know how you guys are doing and how I can pray for you! I promise I am not too busy. (Remember, no one is ever too busy.)

Much grace,

Tofunmi Sodeinde