We are leaving for Palau today and I wish I could write so, so much on this blog but I haven't the time!
I will keep you updated along the way tho!
I did want to leave you with an encouraging quick story!
(Bare with me, my mind is frazzled and in 'get everyone to Palau' mode)
Summary: Our last week's lecture topic was Spiritual Warfare with Dean Sherman. A word that has been spoken over our team heaps has been "unity" - With disunity we are near useless in God's Kingdom. If we can't live in love and walk in love, how are we to be an example to others? We must keep short accounts with one another, prefer each other over our selves and be loving in all situations. This is not always easy. Most of the time we have to lay our pride down, be conscience of the words we are saying and the actions we are taking.
So, as you know Max and I will be leading this team together and we have 8 amazing students! However, Max and I have not really been on the best of terms about the past week. There has just been an unspoken awkwardness between the two us. We both were aware of it, but just didn't quite know how to handle it. We knew that we could not leave for outreach having disunity between the leaders and that it would heavily effect the moral of our team.
I literally could not even make eye contact with him and had NO idea why! I love this guy, he is like my brother, we have become such great friends and so close these past months; I have missed my friend.
So, long story short, I have been extremely busy these past few days preparing to head out. This morning I had planned on attending the Easter service in Ohana court, doing some last minute packing and relaxing for the day. WELL, that did not happen at all.
The classroom didn't get cleaned and moved out of as planned, and many other small annoyances. My team decided to go to the prayer room and spend time with the Lord, which was PERFECT!
I, however, was down in an office waiting for Jim (our school leader) to arrive to go over last minute outreach info! (This is the great part..)
As I was waiting, I began to pray. I was suddenly overcome with a need to talk to Max, I literally felt my heart soften, the tension suddenly was gone. I texted our student Jessica and said "I am busy with a meeting BUT will you go give Max a hug for me and say 'Tayler loves you, seriously.' I feel an urge to tell him that right now and he doesn't have a phone and I know you guys are praying and feel prompted. And any tiff will only make our friendship stronger. The enemy will not have a foothold in this outreach."
She immediately responds with "OMGOSH Tayler Max said just before you said this he was praying for you! Tayler we were just praying about unity and how the enemy can't tear us apart! And GOLD DUST FELL ON US!"
Now, I don't have time to explain the significance of gold dust BUT I can tell you this.
This was a miracle.
This was God's kingdom pouring out on us.
It was the spiritual entering the physical.
I believe God was pleased with us, showering us with His love.
This was a sign that our team had not been asking for, but truly blessed with.
We were walking in unity, being obedient to the Lord, laying down our feelings and truly giving everything to God.
We are now leaving for outreach extremely pumped, knowing without a doubt we have God's blessing and aware that the enemy is trying to pull us apart because we are about to ROCK Palau with the love of Jesus!
I encourage you to ask about gold dust, pray about it and see what God reveals to you.
For me, it was a complete miracle.
Literally, gold dust just started falling on and around my students and Max as they were in the prayer room. An enclosed room. No joke. It just appeared.
I get butterflies talking about it and just want to cry.
I have never felt so loved, so free, so ready to die to myself every day and give everything to God to walk in obedience and be led by the Lord.
I know what he wants from me, and I am going to do my absolute best to give my all to him, be a great leader to this team and do absolutely EVERYTHING God asks me to do!
Also, He is so real guy's. So so real.
There is a God that loves you. Sees everything you do. Gives you free choice. And wants nothing more than to be a part of your life.
Feel free to email me if you have any questions or prayer requests!
We will have extremely limited internet access (prolly once a week for a VERY short period)
So bare with me if I take a bit to respond.
Love to all of you!!!
Be encouraged!!!!
xoxoxoxoxo
((Also! Short fun story, I needed $600 for my outreach, at a staff meeting we prayed about it, took up an offering and EXACTLY $600 came in!!! How GOOOOOOD is God!!
I do still need around $250 for a flight ticket to get from LA to Mazatlan! If you feel an urge to donate, I'd accept ;) I will be leaving Palau May 20th, flying over to LA then Mazatlan, getting aboard our Ship Caribbean Reach, sailing out May 28th! I will be the steward/cook on the 24 day sail to Kona!!)
Man, I love when I have time to sit down and catch up on my blog!
So much good stuff is circulating in my brain right now, praise God!
I hope you have read my last two posts because they have been leading up to this one! :)
If you haven't, do so now and then come back for this one!
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Ok! I'm trusting you read "Be Free" and "Palau Outreach"!
The "Be Free" blog literally came out of nowhere, I had no intention of saying any of that. The story just popped into my mind and I went with it.
Hope it had a positive impact on your life tho!
As previously stated, I will be leading the team to Palau for about 7 weeks! The team will be staying there 8, however, the Lord has called me to another task!
Prepare yourselves....
I will be leaving Outreach about 1 week early, flying into either Acapulco or Mazatlan and climbing aboard our ship Caribbean Reach.
-Acapulco-
-Mazatlan-
My friend Madison will be leading an outreach team on this ship while my team is in Palau. They will be traveling from somewhere near Panama, up into an area near Mazatlan or Acapulco. I should be arriving around May 20th (for their last week of outreach).
I will be stewarding/cooking aboard the ship! Caribbean Reach will leave port tentatively around May 28th and head to Kona! That's right my friend, I will be sailing her across the Pacific for a 24 day sail! Give or take a few days ;)
When my current school is over, I knew I would need to find something to do for a bit. Find my niche in Ships, take a little break from staffing schools but somehow still stay involved. One day, this idea popped into my brain to be the cook aboard this ship. I proposed the idea to Brett (he's the main leader of YWAM Ships) and his response was not what I expected. He rubbed his chin for a second, looked at me questioningly and said "Ya, I think that could work!" Immediately we went to our map on the wall of Micronesia, he started sharing his visions with me for our ships and told me they were in need of a cook! It was a total God send for this idea to come into my mind, because I would have naturally rolled into registrar or some office job for a couple months post DTS. Praise God, He gave me something active to do!
That is as much information as I have for now! I am very grateful God has opened this door for me and given me an opportunity to be a part of this amazing ministry! Our boats will be used to reach men, women and children in isolated, underdeveloped Pacific Islands and provide love, healthcare and heaps more!
As I have said before, I will be leaving for Outreach in a few short weeks, will be in Palau for 7 and then hopping aboard the ship for nearly a month; which means my communication and wifi will be getting very slim! I hope you will continue following me in this journey!
I am unsure of what exactly I will do once the ship is in Kona, God and I haven't got that far yet. But I do intend on sharing with you as I go!
I hope to gather financial supporters along the way to continue my life as a volunteer in this ministry. Seeing as how I will have selective internet opportunities in the next few months, I would love to communicate with anyone now as to how they can help me along the way!
Hey! I hope you enjoyed reading my recent post about our Palau Outreach!
If you haven't read it yet, I encourage you to scroll down, read it and then come back to this post!
Things will prolly flow a lot better for ya :)
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Good! You read it!
So, that is what we will be doing in Palau as well as our future goal with Ships!
How much of a blessing has God placed me in?
Seriously?
I wake up every single day, on my top bunk, in my girl snoring filled room, head to my daily porridge breakfast line and literally laugh at where God has me.
I am able to enjoy sunrises with the Lord, have intercession at the Banyan Tree cafe for our students with some of my best friends and enter in to a God breathed, victorious day.
Every single day is a new adventure, filled to the brim with tasks.
I used to wonder why God had me here, how on EARTH did I get placed in a leadership position, discipling young men and women, and where on earth did this knowledge come from to share with them? Last I knew, I was a pot smokin', beer drinking, coke snorting teenager that had no idea what she was doing with her life. Now, 6 years later, I get to walk men and women out of darkness and into marvelous light? HA! I love the forgiveness of our Lord, how His mercies are made new daily, how I get to shower his sons and daughters with Love and free them from what is holding them back, the same crap that held me back for years!
I remember when I used to hear about God, hear the name Jesus, hear about people going to church, and bla, bla, bla. I thought nothing of it. To me, they were just 'nice' people that didn't know how to have fun and were missing out on life! Man, was that the biggest lie the enemy ever told me.
Being a Christ-follower definitely isn't the easiest thing ever, but it's not meant to be.
We are to be set apart.
1 Peter 2:9 "But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light."
We are the one's fighting against the crowd of "normal" that the enemy has so deceived us with.
I remember one day leaving a gas station with my best friend's Anna and Casandra. We were in Granger, IN and this women pulled out in front of us as we were trying to leave a parking lot. I remember swearing at her and being so angry. She stopped her car, rolled down her window (at this point I'm ready to get out of my car and sock the lady) and she says "Why are such ugly words coming out of such a beautiful mouth?"
I was stumped.
I was prolly 18 or 19 at the time, and her words have stuck with me to this day.
I continued cursing at her, showing her no satisfaction that her words cut me deep.
To this day, I feel bad.
I wish I knew who this lady was, to thank her.
She had planted a seed in me, without me even knowing it.
I knew what she was saying was true, but without smoking, cigarettes, drinking, swearing, being the fun crazy little party girl.. Who would I have been? This was who I was.
I could never make friends, people wouldn't actually like me, I couldn't have fun, be crazy without these things?
As far as I knew, this was who a young teenage girl was supposed to be.
I fit in, I had heaps of "friends", the boys "liked" me, I could get what I wanted, I knew how to work the system, I was popular, athletic, smart.
Why on earth, would I want to change?
I was invincible.
Sad truth of the matter, my identity was found in this world.
I was rooted in evil.
I bought in to the mentality of what women were supposed to be like, that my body was made for guys to enjoy, alone I would be boring, ugly, a loser.
My heart breaks now, hearing young women's testimonies, because all are rooted in this same fear. A fear of rejection, being used and abused, the mental anguish they have been sucked into, the numerous lies the enemy has fed them their entire lives.
And the men, wow, my life has been so impacted by men stepping up, taking ownership over the way they have viewed and treated women. Hearing their confessions releases not only them, but the women listening.
Proverbs 18:21 "Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits."
The sad truth is, I can smile listening to their painful stories, because I know they want more. I know the way they have acted before, the poor obstruct views they have had on life, the negative self worth they feel - I know they are crying out for help, and that Jesus is standing there ready to respond.
All they have to do is ask.
Romans 10:9 "That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord", and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved."
Luke 11:9-10 "So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened."
So, why do I jump for joy, waking up on my top bunk every morning? Because I get to experience freedom in my friends' lives. I get to lavish love and joy on lost souls, I get to walk in humility and be Christ like. I live not for myself anymore.
Philippians 1:21 "For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain."
If you ever have a kind word for somebody, I want to encourage you to speak it out. I firmly believe it changes the course of a persons life, whether you see the fruit of it or not. That woman that day had absolutely no reason to say something kind to me. She doesn't know the impact it had on my life. It was such a simple response, opposite of what a 'normal' person would have done. And today, it is easy for me to talk to strangers because I know first hand that speaking encouraging words to someone is impacting and life changing. I don't get offended if they reject me, I'm not doing it for me, I'm doing it for them.
Sadly, it's not common for someone to compliment you without looking for something in return or having false motives.
How beautiful and easy is it to bless someone?
Take 10 seconds out of your day, look around your office/grocery store/who you pull up next to in your car, and say something positive to them!
ALSO, along with positive words, be mindful of how you react to people!
That woman should have reached in my window and slapped the snot out of me. Yet, she remained calm, I can still see the hurt in her eyes; she was sad for me. She knew I was a hurting little girl, putting on a false form of identity.
I want to encourage you friends, whether you feel like you have an impact or not, you do. People are watching and listening to you. You have choices to make daily.
What you choose to do affects eternity.
Galatians 5:1 "It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery."
And for my friends who have been in the darkness with me, I pray you one day will experience freedom.
I had to get to a point of not worrying about anybody else, not trying to impress others or fit in.
I literally stopped smoking, drinking, drugs, everything cold turkey and decided I did not need to live like that anymore; I knew in my heart that there was something more for me.
If you have the little nudge in your heart, if you feel convicted and know you are living a negative lifestyle, just stop.
The sad thing is, most people think they have to stay the way they are, that that is who they are because that's how everyone knows them as.. But it's not true friend.
In all reality, people will embrace and lavish you with love when you ditch what's weighing you down and decide to walk with Christ. The enemy only want you to think you'll be alone, you'll have no friends. What an idiot.
God called you to be princes and princesses, literally.
I used to think this stuff was all bologna, until I was obedient one day, I stopped fighting myself, I knew something was off and if God has been around for thousands of years, how could I deny His existence?
If the Bible isn't real, why has it carried on generation after generation, events been proven, history proving the words? Why does it stir up peoples spirits to oppose it?
Because we are all fallen.
The freaking enemy couldn't stand not being the best in Heaven (even tho he was the flipping guardian cherub of God's dwelling presence, but that's another blog) and now he wants his domain! He wants the people of this earth to follow him, every negative thing comes from him. That sly little devil has manipulated mankind, and wants you to believe the Bible couldn't possibly be true.
Isolation is key in his tactic.
Well my friend, I've come to tell you, YOU ARE A SON/DAUGHTER OF THE CREATOR OF THE UNIVERSE AND WILL NEVER, EVER, EVER BE ALONE! His children are called to walk in love! When you are around true Christ-followers, there can't help but be love all around.
You can smile, be accepted, have confidence, walk in the fullness of who God created you to be.
You will find your giftings and talents and be able to enjoy them!
This news is great, if it doesn't have you hyped then I don't know what will.
I personally, am so freakin' thankful the Lord revealed Himself to me when I asked, that He guides my life and has so many good plans for me. It isn't always easy, I assure you, but how can anything bog you down when you know you get to spend eternity, in Heaven, with the big guy, lavishing in His presence, in eternal glory?!
Hallelujah.
Romans 8:37-39
"No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us. And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God's love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow- not even the powers of hell can separate us from God's love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below- indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord."
***As you can tell, I did not fulfill my task as stated in the beginning of this blog! My heart veered another direction and I went with it! If you'd like to talk to me about anything I wrote above, please contact me! I would love to discuss anything, process any confusion, help in any way. And please, check out my next post for what I'm doing after Palau :)
In less than three weeks I will be on a plane headed to Palau!
That's right my friend, we will be leaving Kona around March 30th, headed to Palau for around 8 weeks and returning the end of May!
Staffing this school and planning an outreach has been super time consuming but really fun!
I personally, alongside my amazing co-leader Max, have been preparing the budget, vaccinations, travel arrangements, contacts with Palau, running Outreach meetings, and spending heaps of time buried in paperwork and computer screens! :) If you're like me, and love research and having a task before you, then planning an outreach is great fun! We also have been busy with lectures, small groups, one-on-one's, staff meetings and much more!
The team and I have been preparing skits, dramas, testimonies and heaps more!
I'd love to keep you in the loop so here is what I know so far about what we will be doing and where we will be going!
Our contact has told us during their intercession times for us, the word 'evangelism' has come up repeatedly! They requested we bring tracts so we can go out to the streets, highways, anywhere and invite people to our home! To be hospitable, welcoming and relational. They feel our team will be speaking to many people and be blessed in our conversations; pretty awesome.
We will prepare for concerts, preaching and hosting Bible studies.
We will be putting on concerts/worship and preaching to the youth!
Our Bible classes will tentatively be taught at night to both children and adults.
They have requested we bring films depicting God and His greatness!
There are a few YWAM'ers living in Palau, however, they work full time jobs, live in separate houses and don't have a base/campus! They requested that we bring machetes, saws and work materials to help build their YWAM home! We are honored to be with them in the very beginning phases of building their YWAM base! This will be a beautiful beginning and we are blessed to be a part of this story!
We also will be visiting other states/islands and helping with repairs/damages cause by a typhoon.
We will be visiting the islands of Kayangel, Anguar and Peleliu for sure.
I am under the impression we will be going other places as well, however, these three specifically have been communicated to us!
Anguar is the southernmost island in the Palau Islands group, with around 200 people populating the small island. It's known as monkey island, cause there are wild monkeys runnin' around! It was a battle site in WWII, many American and Japanese battle relics remain scattered throughout the island.
Kayangel is the northernmost state of Palau! The land area is about .54 square miles! Around 140 people live here. The only power on this island come from solar panels and personal generators. There is one small library and one small school teaching from K-9.
Peleliu is located north east of Anguar with a total area of 5 miles. It is the third most populous state in Palau. This island was a site of battle in World War II. Many of the installations of the WWII era are still intact (i.e. airstrip, etc.) and shipwrecks from the battle remain visible underwater just off the coast. I have a very strong feeling something major is going to happen when we visit this state.
We will most likely be using their community center for our housing. However, when we visit other islands we are hoping to put our hammocks to good use!
There is a hospital nearby our first location upon arrival, so we will be able to visit with people there, pray for healing, be an ear for someone to talk to and show compassion and love in any way needed.
We have to bring our own coffee and coffee maker if we want any! So if anyone wants to donate Via to me, I am accepting! ;) I may just search for a little thermos/french press, but we shall see!
We will be cooking with little gas grills, enjoying rice, fish and anything else the locals eat :)
We are in charge of our own food, grocery shopping, cooking, etc. This shall be fun!
That is what has been communicated with us thus far! We are very, very open though to anything the Lord leads us to. We are going into this outreach with a 'faith journey' attitude and are wanting to be completely dependent on the Lord.
This morning I was reading my devotional, and it was talking about leaning (having full reliance) so much on the Lord that if He were to remove Himself we would fall flat on our faces, because He will be holding us up. (Yes, I compacted my devo., so hopefully you get the point). And that is exactly what I want. I want to be trusting God in absolutely every situation; thru our evangelism, agendas, meals, finances, conversations, relations, etc. I am so stoked for this faith journey because I know for a fact God is going to shine again, and again, and again.
Hallelujah.
Our team is coming together so well! Everyone is very outgoing, outspoken, full of energy! Our skits are hilarious because each person is willing to step out, have no fear of man and just be silly. It's such a blessing having a talkative group, that is on fire and ready to just go for it! I'm blessed to be leading this group for my first outreach.
Palau was put on YWAM Ship's heart many months ago, I'd say around October 2012. We are hoping to build relationship with the islanders and be able to serve them time and time again. We, as Ships, feel very called to the Pacific Islands. Micronesia is where we are building relations right now, with hopes to sail El Encuentro and our Caribbean Reach to in time!
Through out 2013 we will have 4 DTS's running (1 per quarter), I believe tentatively 2 BCC's (Bible Core Course) 2 IPHC (Intro. to Primary Health Care), and 2 SONS (School of Navigation and Seamanship) running and will eventually be able to incorporate all of them together on our outreaches! Therefore, entering these islands with practical help in various areas! We also, as I have said before, are working alongside Justice Water (to build practical clean water projects and help people with basic sanitation) as well as Steps of Justice.
This fall, we are hopeful that our first sail on El Encuentro for outreach will be stocked with medical assistance, a dentist, Bible Core Course students and much more! We're aiming to have our first medical outreach! Keep that in your prayers! :)
El Encuentro
Caribbean Reach
Caribbean Reach
El Encuentro
Look forward to sharing more with you and seeing things unfold, friends!
P.S. check out my next post for what I'm doing after outreach :)
PEACE! OH! I almost forgot! I have been living as a volunteer for 6 months now, still have $0 income and am in need of supporters! I still need finances for my outreach, as well as constant support to continue my commitment with YWAM Ships. If you feel in anyway called to be a part of this amazing journey with me, please let me know. Even if you can only commit to $20/month, it's better than nothing. I do need a little over $1,000/month in support. I have complete faith my finances will come in! Please, contact me with any questions. I also have a "Support Tay Tab" on the top of this page. If you are confused about YWAM, what I do, or how the funds reach me, anything, I would love to chat with you! Mahalo dear friends :)
This is a VERY very small glimpse into what has gone on these past few months!
Sunday spent at Hapuna beach with school!
Climbed the rocks at Hapuna; pulled off a successful back flip here.. Pretty stoked :)
Enjoyed a beautiful Hawaiian dance during lecture
Girl's night! Dance party in the classroom!
Thursday Night Meeting at the Flags!
Students interacting during lecture!
All staff meeting in Ohana court! This is just a quarter of the people there.. So many!
Worship in Monday Night Ministry in Prayer Room!
Our students during lecture! :)
Midwife classes!! Woo!
Ben Nanoa teaching on Father Heart of God!
Praying for our sweet Sadie!
Miranda! Taking authority over lies and actioning it out!
All YWAM Ships staff, plus two schools together!
My current small group girls :)
Staff meeting! Praying for one another!
Thursday night meeting!
Changed it up a bit, usually in Ohana Court, but this Thursday we all met around the flags and served fish and loaves!
Feeding the thousands like Jesus did!
Thursday night at the flags!
The baskets we set around for people to enjoy!
Setting up and serving fish and bread for thousands on my birthday.. What a beautiful gift! Thanks Abba!
Me and my brother's after a water fight :)
Max and Madison... the boys crashed our girls night/dance party.. It was epic :)
This was the food line last quarter in corporate week!
THIS is why I love staffing DTS'! Seeing the break thru in people's lives!
Jesse was a student in my October DTS, and seeing him step out here, the way they all interact together is so, so awesome! This was our debrief week when they returned from outreach :)
A little Monday night worship in Ministry Night
Jonathan David Helser is the band here.. Check them out! So so amazing!
Little bit more worship :)
Our YWAM children took over the stage Monday morning worship!!! It was SOO fun!!
They taught us to loosen up! Stop being so serious! And dance with the freedom they have!
Epic.
Kia's birthday!
Girl's celebrating the birth of our beautiful Kia girl
Little day of hitch hiking with my students :)
Our girls are freaking AWESOME and SO fun!
Bake sale!! Trying to raise money for Palau in any way possible!
Girls raising support for Palau!
My awesome Palau team :)
My man Austin.. passed out after a long night of babysitting to raise funds for Palau :)
Our students had a scavenger hunt last week!
They won prizes on creativity.. They needed to get a photo of one person in water.
They managed to get into the pool used for scuba training at Jack's Diving Locker!
Needless to say, they definitely won!
Me and miss Emma!
Adorable kids we were babysitting :)
My best buddy Stephanie!!
Christmas with my small group girls.. Throw back! :)
Sitting out here working on my blog as Tim returns from surfing!
Pretty stoked to be going to Palau with this guy!
My running buddy Brad!
Out to our school dinner for their graduation!
*That's my mini update thru photos and videos!! Hopefully this made you smile :)
It was a pretty slow start with this school, every group is different.
In the beginning, it was a little difficult to get the students interacting in lecture's and kinda stepping out, but these past three weeks have been amazing! Three weeks ago we were blessed beyond blessed to have Kenny Peavy come speak!
His topic: Kingdom
He made it so simple and beautiful, everyone's hearts were changed!
He is a powerful worship leader in California and full of wisdom.
He literally sat on a stool in front of the classroom, we circled the chairs in the room and just listened. Sometime's speakers come in with agendas, and we take heaps of notes and get fed a lot in our minds, but Kenny's approach is simple.
He doesn't come with anything but a guitar and Bible.
No notes, no white board needed, just truth.
It's amazing the effect some people have over a room.
Our students were drawn to him, each and every one of them.
A lot of our students were needing break thru. They were needing "Jesus" to not just be a 'good idea', 'something they believed in to make their parents happy' or 'the person who is happy with them when they do good and mad at them when they do bad' - but to truly have a personal relationship with Christ and recognize Him as the King and Ruler that He is!
Kenny is very prophetic, you look into His eyes and you can see his mind working, and then when he speaks it's as if he's known you your entire life.
The Holy Spirit works thru him in such an exciting way.
One day I was sitting outside of our classroom during lunch and he just sat next to me and said, "Tayler, how are you doing?" and at that moment every single person stood up, walked inside the classroom and knew what he was really asking.
We proceeded to talk, and I kid you not, he knew me better than I did. Before I knew it I was talking, tears streaming, and such truth had just been blasted in my face. Good truth.
I had prayed to God and asked Him to have Kenny say something to me that only God would know and no one else, and sure enough, He did.
Our God is a faithful God, He always makes me laugh :)
Needless to say, I was rocked that week, as well as the students!
He made the Bible so simple. Spoke in words and terms everybody understood and could relate to.
He simplified what we have made so complicated.
His agenda is simply to let the Holy Spirit guide him.
On day one, he had just talked about the Bible and God's Kingdom and about an hour in to it he asked if anyone would like to rededicate or commit their lives to Christ. Our students literally, leapt out of their seats to get in line!
14 people could not wait to know this Jesus!
Our students in line waiting to recommit their lives to Christ!
Our little Kia girl! She was filled with unexplainable JOY - It was awesome!
Praying for our sweet Sarah!
Praying for our sweet Jessica!
Miss Lucy, our fear conqueror!
Tessa! Knocked out by the Holy Spirit!
So needless to say, after this week our students have been on fire for God! They've moved from lecture phase and retaining knowledge to now being in a place of WANTING to know more.
Wanting to know why things are the way that they are.
They are digging deeper in their relationships with Christ.
The spirit of unbelief has been stripped from them and it is beautiful.
There is no more "religion" floating about the room, but full on relationship with Jesus.
The Bible is real and true.
They are able to step out and ask questions because they genuinely are curious!
It's so awesome!
This is my favorite part of staffing - Being able to see the break thru's, see the changes in the students. I literally see the change that happens inside of them as it pours out into the way they act, communicate and interact with other people.
The moment Jesus becomes more than a "good idea" is remarkable.
I don't know about you, but seeing people overcome doubt, lies and strongholds is one of the best things!
This is why I love what I do.
I don't have an income. I pay to disciple students.
Gave up everything to pursue Christ, and I get so many glorious rewards every single day.
I literally, couldn't be happier.
The great part also, is that God is working in the staff too!! We aren't just facilitating a program, but we literally are having break thru's, on the floor crying, and walking this journey with the students! We are transparent, showing our weaknesses and being real with them; which is beautiful.
One core value of YWAM is 'do first, then teach'.
Such a great value to have!
How do people impact you? If your parents say don't drink soda, and then continue to drink it in front of you, what good does that do to get you to understand it's bad for you?! Same goes for us as staff, if we tell our students to have quiet times, step out (especially when it's uncomfortable) and yet we aren't doing it, why would they?!
I, personally, have had too many break thru's to type up. If I shared and explained every one of them, my blog posts would be pages and pages long!
But God is good. So good.
I have such an understanding now of creation, why we were created, how we are to act, who we were created by and for and so, so much more. This was all very difficult for me to see in previous years. I think it's very common for people to get swept up in stereotypes, religions and worldly views. Also, many people do misrepresent Christ and call themselves Christians. So I understand the doubt, confusion and desire to continue living as normal.
BUT, if you are wondering what this "Christ following" stuff is all about, I encourage you to ask.
Ask me, ask someone you trust. Open up the Bible and see what God has to say. Start researching things on your own. Go to the library and do some research. I'd encourage you to read any books by Joy Dawson. Start with Oswald Chamber's "My Utmost for His Highest"
I would love to answer any questions you have!
Many of you know me and have witnessed the MANY mistakes I have made over the years, especially since being a Christ follower, but how AWESOME is it that I don't have to live in the shame and guilt!? I literally am forgiven and can live freely, use those mistakes as testimonies for others!
God is so good.
He is so real.
He communicates with us.
He is living and breathing.
And my life has been radically changed.
My life has been ruined for the ordinary.
You may think I'm crazy.
But I know what true love is, and wouldn't walk away from it for the world.
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AFTER Kenny Peavy, we had Danny Lehman come and speak on evangelism! His approach was different than Kenny's! He shared many personal testimonies with us.
He used to be a long hair, beach/surfer/pot head bum living totally for himself, before one day a man came up to Him, told him who Christ was and gave him a tract.
He then took the tract home, put it on his dresser for a few months and then one day really read it and understood the fullness of God's love for him.
From that day forward, he has been on fire, giving his entire life to God!
He shared many powerful testimonies with us, gave us deeper insight into evangelism and took the "scariness" out of it for our students!
Many people hear the world evangelism and have many preconceived idea of what it means.
However, it's not hard!
It was a very eye opening and great week for our students!
Now, they can't wait to go down town and speak with people!
Which, coming from a quiet school, is HUGE!
God is so good and breaking down their walls!
I love it!
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After evangelism was another round of Corporate Week!
This week was prolly one of my favorites!
It was led by Brian Brennt and Andy Byrd, two men you should read about!
Andy Byrd is one of the most impacting, influential men I've ever met!
He is absolutely ON FIRE, in LOVE with Jesus!
We go thru this manual called "Salvation Encounter" and literally spend the ENTIRE week in Ohana Court, split off into outreach teams, in circles, on chairs, yelling at the tops of our lungs!
We are walked thru Knowing God, a guide to Gospel Truth.
Which then leads us into a clean break up, clean house, freedom, getting ready to take the ground back and praying repentance!
After that, we walk our students through shame, rejection, unforgiveness, anger, fear, "I don't care", and body image struggles! We scream with them, repent of these problems, break off the strongholds and walk out feeling like a million pounds has been lifted off our shoulders!!
We then walk them thru "The Christian Birthright Card", God's love and forgiveness and walking in the opposite spirit.
This week is powerful and intense. On about the third day we had worship at the end of lecture and I was SO filled with joy and the holy spirit I was just jumping around, spinning in circles, smiling from ear to ear! I could not get enough of God's goodness, mercy, freedom, forgiveness and EVERYTHING else that He is!
My worship lifestyle changed that day.
The fear of man was broken off and the truth of the King was revealed.
I wish everyone could experience this week, haha.
So much crap we carry around and live with for YEARS.
I love, love, love the simplicity of God.
Aside from my personal break thru's, our students are experiencing them as well!!
I'm so stoked for outreach and how amazing our students are going to do!
They are in the best places they've ever been with God and really understanding what it means to be a Christ follower and I am SO excited to lead them to Palau!
