Lou Engle and Acceptance

I was talking with a friend last night and reminiscing about what brought me to the point I'm at now. You see, I've never had a huge desire to leave the country for missions work. That sounds a little strange considering that's what I'm about to embark on, so let me explain.

I was sitting in a church in Berkeley back in September. The circumstances for how I got there are interesting but irrelevant at the moment haha. I was there for a conference on developing prayer and hearts for God at college campuses, Lou Engle was the main speaker. Lou spoke for 2 days and then left us with a challenge. He told us about a movement in the late 1800's called the Student Volunteer Movement in which thousands of college age kids packed their bags and set off to random spots around the globe to spread the good news of Jesus. He talked about this for awhile....then he challenged us.

He asked if we were willing to do the same thing (keeping in mind that 70-80% of the SVM volunteers died within 2 years of leaving). Would we take the challenge of telling God we would do the same thing if we were called? The SVM had a declaration that new members signed, not as a legal contract, but something within their hearts, a statement to God. This is a modified version that we were given and asked to pray about.

I declare that I am willing and desirous, God permitting, to become an intercessory missionary by planting prayer furnaces in the hardest and darkest places in the world.

I said this to God while sitting in an uncomfortable pew in that church. My heart is not for overseas missions work but rather to do what God calls me to do.

A few hours later I was offered the original money to go to YWAM. This is all Lou Engle's fault. ;)

Now, on to brighter, more relevant things!

Last week I was officially accepted into the YWAM Muizenberg DTS!

However, I have to wait to get my Passport details before I will receive my official acceptance information in the mail.

So, last Tuesday I woke up at 4am and drove to San Francisco in hopes of convincing the people at the Passport Agency to give me my Passport that day. It didn't quite work out like I had hoped, but I should be receiving it in the mail sometime this week.

I also purchased my plane ticket on a big step of faith. I need my Passport and Visa for SA before I can actually leave. I fly out of San Francisco on December 31st but I'm confident that God will pull the necessary strings to make that possible.

As of right now, I need approximately $3,000 to be able to fully pay for the school and the outreach portion of my trip (the outreach will be in Thailand!). I set up a handy link on the left side of the screen for anyone who would like to donate. Every little bit helps, a few dollars here and there certainly adds up over time.

Prayer needs:

1. For better time management skills in getting everything wrapped up here before I leave.

2. For the money to come in sooner rather than later.

3. For my heart to break more for those things which break the Father's heart and a deepening desire to help the people of South Africa and Thailand!

Do you have questions? Want to know more, or just chat? Call me, send me a message on Facebook, buy a carrier pigeon. Find a way to get a hold of me and do it, I'd love to catch up!

So, it's kinda like this....

This summer I was doing some half-hearted praying. I felt lead to go to a school of ministry but was running in to a couple problems. The first being that I had no money (which seemed pretty important) and the second problem, I didn't know which ''school''. That's why it was only half-hearted, you know? I had a couple schools in mind but was kind of leaving that whole thing up to God.

I told Him that I'd like to go somewhere but if He wanted me to go then He needed to figure everything out for me.

Guess what...He did!

A few weeks ago I was completely and amazingly blessed (like, picking my jaw up off the ground type blessed). I had mentioned those summer prayers to a friend. She happened to have a few dollars sitting aside that she didn't know what to do with. After much prayer on her side, she presented me with $6,000 and told me that if I wanted to go to YWAM then I probably should.

Quick side note: If you're not familiar with Youth With A Mission (YWAM), please check out their amazing website at http://www.ywam.org/.

So, I am currently in the beginning stages of applying for a YWAM school in Muizenberg, South Africa. It starts January 5th and runs for 6 months. More details will follow when things are a little more permanent. I promise.

While you're eagerly waiting day and night for me to post more jaw dropping blessings though, you can check out the YWAM Muizenberg website for a brief overview of what a DTS (Discipleship Training School) is and how their program works by clicking here.