(Pics: 1. Lil' girl taking our pic; 2. Our team; 3. Painting the church's new toilet rooms; 4. Lil' Daniel and I speaking to University students; 5. Grace and I)
Dear friends and family! A lot has happened in the last year! By March I came back from two months of ministry on the Next Wave (130 foot YWAM sailing ship) in Sicily and Greece and jumped into preparations for the April Discipleship Training School (DTS).
The Next Wave ship ministry was amazing! As part of the crew, I served them in any way I could. I did lots of upkeep on the boat, developed friendships with crew and a DTS outreach team (Harpenden, England), and served in the local churches. One of my favorite memories was traveling to Enna, a high mountain town on the island of Sicily. While there, I helped with a church outreach and shared in their meetings. I felt like part of their church family and was so blessed even though I went to be a blessing! This experience showed me how much I love to encourage believers around the world to draw closer to God, to reach out to their community, and to step out in missions! My time aboard the ship also gave me a closer look at an intensive, community environment where it takes effort to be healthy and value each person. A surprising door that God opened for me was to speak into people’s lives and the Next Wave’s ministry through serving & building relationships. Yet again, I see that I like new experiences and learning new things where I can change. Even though I was there for only two months, God used me!
YWAM Values 1 and 2 ~ “To Know God and Make Him Known”
After our students completed three months of lecture phase, my co-leader Becca and I led ten people (including a family and 12 year old son) to Thailand and Cambodia for the two month outreach phase of the April Discipleship Training School. We were a diverse team in age range (12 to 50) and in nationalities. Our students were from the U.S.A., Canada, Northern Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, and Japan! Not only did this give us many opportunities to grow relationally, but students and leaders also grew in character!
In Ratchaburi, Thailand we worked alongside a YWAM couple Bromwyn and Noiy. Our team used English to share about Jesus in three schools and with university students. After one class, a student asked our translator questions and accepted Christ! We loved playing games, singing, and teaching Bible stories to Burmese refugee kids. We also served the local churches by planting trees, praying for people, and sharing in services. Over 1000 Bibles were given away at our evangelistic programs to a neighborhood and a factory. Many people heard the gospel for the first time and now have the opportunity to read the Bible! Ratchaburi was our students’ first ministry area, and they rose to every occasion in preparing and in serving various ministry opportunities!
About four hours north of Chiang Mai, up a winding mountain road that makes motion sickness tablets a necessity is the small town of Pai, Thailand. It has become a tourist hot spot because of it’s beautiful scenery, retreatful nature, and draw for adventurous spirits! Beforehand however, we only knew we would be working with a small, isolated church. But this church turned out to have such a heart to reach their community. The team was able to serve the church by cleaning, painting, and sharing in their services. We also used teaching English to tell about Jesus and teach Bible stories in three schools. We were so humbled & blessed that God would use us as a public school invited us to do an evangelistic program where 38 students made commitments to Christ!
In Battambang, Cambodia, we partnered with the YWAM base’s ministry, discipling and evangelizing through building friendships. Our students helped with English classes at the YWAM Youth Center, sharing testimonies on “God days” with the non-Christian students (even 12 year old Daniel). We taught English as part of a church’s outreach ministry, ministered to rescued trafficked girls, and ran a VBS program for orphans. One highlight for our team was joining Kaylan’s and her brother Dath’s ministry. We reached out to slum and street kids by teaching English, Bible stories, worship songs, a New Believers class, VBS, and feeding over 120 poor families on Saturdays! Becca and I did specific ministry teaching English and sharing testimonies with a group of youth each day and also taught devotions for staff at a rescue and rehab ministry to formerly trafficked girls.
There are several experiences and people that were so impactful to me this DTS and outreach. One time after a service, our team prayed for church members. As I was praying, I just held the pastor’s wife in my arms as she cried. I so desired to surround her and these believers in prayer as I realized how few Christians there are in Thailand and maybe how alone and few they may feel. Another day we prayed for a sick woman in a hospital, and I was so moved by God’s heart for this woman. This was the first time she said “yes” to accepting Christ! I don’t know if she was saved right then, but she is stepping towards Jesus! There were days on outreach when I had so little of my own strength, but God gave me His hope and strength again and again. One specific instance I had no time to prepare the devotion I had to give to the trafficked girls ministry staff. But I was able to teach for forty minutes! Afterward the pastor asked me to speak in their Sunday service. That God would choose to use me when I felt so weak was so humbling. It left me in such awe of God who meets my needs so tangibly!
Please Continue To Pray For Me:
- My Health: Immune System, Body, & Skin
- As I transition out of the Personnel Office (which I helped with temporarily this fall.
- Safe Travels Oct. 24-Nov. 22 to E. Montana, Minnestoa, Wisconsin, & California
- It’s my birthday Oct. 27th
- Preparing for School of Dance Studies: Lectures & Dance
School of Dance Studies is January 4 - August 20, 2010
- Upcoming Outreach Opportunities
- Financial Support: Monthly & Projects. Currently, my support is below budget for what I need to make ends meet this year.
I would love to hear from you. You can reach me at the below address, e-mail, or phone. If you would like to see me while I’m traveling, please contact me soon! I’d love to see you if I’m in your area! May God bless you.
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