Next stop...

As you may know, I recently finished my Discipleship Training School (DTS) through Youth with a Mission (YWAM). This entailed a three-month lecture phase in Kona, Hawaii.  During those three months I attended “class” everyday learning about God and who He is and what He means to me. I also had training in videography and photography for missions and learned how I can use these skills to bring awareness to injustices in our world. After lecture phase was outreach. My outreach was to India and Nepal, where I spent a total of three months serving the people there in any way I could, which included making videos for the ministries already there.

During my time in India, I came across two backpackers who had left behind their lives at home to travel to “find” themselves. One was a Buddhist and the other an atheist. In the brief conversation I had with them I felt far more connected to them than the people of India who I came to serve. I don’t know what it was, but it had me intrigued. Shortly after this I met a YWAM team from New Zealand. They were backpackers. In talking with them I found out that there outreach was geared towards ministering to people just like the backpackers I met, people traveling abroad in search of answers. I couldn’t believe it.

It is hard to explain the impact those six months has had on me. My entire worldview has been shifted. Things I may have thought were important a year ago now seem to be of little significance, and likewise things I didn’t take the time of day to think about have become staples in my everyday life. The effect has even been exponential. After coming home I felt like I needed to take time and just seek Jesus, and see if He alone, without much else would be enough for me. He is.

After coming home I have been praying and seeking God asking what it is He has for me next. I applied to staff the Backpackers DTS happening this September in New Zealand (the same DTS the group I met in India was from). I was accepted yesterday, and will be leaving in three weeks (here we go)! As a staff, I would be involved in the school itself by mentoring students throughout the lecture phase as well as leading a group of students on Outreach, wherever that may be. I will also be a student at the Leadership school during this time, learning from those in leadership there gaining skills that I believe will be very useful in any future ministry I am involved in.  After being involved in missions internationally I have come away with an awareness of the “missions” need in my own country, my own community. I believe this time in New Zealand is a time of preparation and training, especially in the leadership sense, and will prepare me for a long-term commitment to ministry, what that may be I do not know, and that’s ok.

I am going to need lots of prayer during the next seven months. I remember my time in DTS as a student was exhausting and draining, I can only imagine how much more so it will be as a staff, but in the best way. Here are some prayer points if you feel led to pray for me during this time:

            -Safety traveling to New Zealand

            -God’s wisdom, guidance and discernment throughout the whole process.   

            -Strength and endurance throughout my time in New Zealand, and wherever

 else I may go.

- Funding for the outreach portion of this commitment.
(I have gotten into screen printing and have some designs up on Etsy and all profit is going to 
fund this outreach. Here's the link if you want some cool t-shirts!

 https://www.etsy.com/shop/ThreadBearDesign?ref=hdr

- That this whole experience will bring glory to God and that I will be able to       

 do my part faithfully. 

I really appreciate you all and am looking forward to updating you on what God is doing in my own life through this time, as well as the lives of others! I will try to take more pictures this time around!