Pursuing His Calling - Isaiah 42:5-9

Last Week of Leadership School

2009-06-16T00:38:00.004-04:00

Wow, how times flies. Sometimes it seems like yesterday that I began Phase 2, and at other times it seems like I have been here for forever. I definitely can say that I have enjoyed my time here and have grown so much and have been challenged to be a better leader. I am also very excited for the next phase of this journey to begin in August.

So, our week at Eagle Rock (week 10) was great, and our speaker was Michael Berg from the YWAM Orlando base. We got to chat briefly about Orlando, and I found out he lives very close to where my brother and his family live. Plus I enjoyed talking to someone who knew what southern food was (like fried okra) for a change.

The speaker for last week was Dave Gustaveson and he is from the YWAM Los Angeles base. Dave is a very serious guy, but has a great sense of humor. Dave spoke on Spiritual Authority and really challenged me to think about how we are to submit to authority in the context of how God designed it, even when you may disagree with the person in authority. I may not be the fondest of some of the people we have in high political positions; however, I can still submit to their authority and pray for them, but also know that they still answer to the highest authority - God.

Well, as I write this I have 4 more days of classes left and then I graduate the Phase 2 leadership school at 2:30pm on Friday. This week is Director's Choice week, so the schedule is a little more laid back with the focus being on processing everything we have learned during these past 11 weeks, as well as some intentional team time. It is amazing how quickly I have gotten to know my classmates, but I guess when you live in community together 24/7 you become close very quickly. I know that many of the students and staff here will be lifetime friends.

I will be back in Georgia for 3 days after school ends before heading to Florida with mom and dad for about 3 weeks, and then back in Georgia again for about 4 weeks before heading out in August. I hope to see many of you and to be able to catch you up in person about this next phase of the journey beginning in August. I will also be sending out a newsletter within a week of returning home.

God Bless and I pray God's joy to overflow in your lives.

Week at Eagle Rock

2009-05-31T18:34:00.005-04:00

So, today the Phase 2 school and I headed up to Eagle Rock (where I did my DTS). The leaders decided to do something a little different for the week, so here we are. At the end of the week we are also going camping for two days. It will be kinda nice for the Phase 2 to just have some bonding time together.

There are still some logistics I am working on with the leaders from China, but when I update you all with those details it will be via letter for security reasons. When I go to China there will be things that can and cannot be said, so I will be sure to let you know those things. On a side note, the leaders had their second child, a baby boy, who is healthy and was born 10 minutes after they got to the hospital.

Last week was a busy week for me, as we have a big project due on Tuesday this week. One of our projects is to plan an outreach to an international location, which includes researching plane tickets, immunizations, budget, etc. My classmate Marcelo and I have been planning an outreach to China and Thailand, and is has been a lot of fun. The purpose of this project is to know what all is required to plan an outreach, so that in the future I will know how to do it if I need to. Even though it is a lot of work, I have enjoyed working on the project.

I hope that you all are doing well. Please let me know how I can be praying for each of you.

Crazy Week

2009-05-22T15:57:00.004-04:00

Hey again! I am excited to be back on track with the weekly updates! So, this week has been a crazy one. The Boarders DTS (for those who snowboard or ski) returned on Saturday and Sunday from their outreaches to Mexico, Panama, and Thailand. The Boarders DTS started while I was in Colombia on outreach, but I had the opportunity to meet many of these DTS students when I returned from my outreach for debrief week. It has been good hearing what God did in their lives through their outreaches. They are graduating today, but it has been nice having them around this week. And tomorrow the "Around the World" team that is part of the Multi-cultural DTS currently running here leaves for their outreach that takes them to 7 countries in 80 days. With the schools this semester being so small I have really gotten to know the DTS students, so it will be sad to see them go, but joyful at the same time.

Wednesday night this week was quite interesting. We participated in a worship event from 12 - 2 am that included several YWAM bases throughout the world all engaged in worship together via a program called Genesis. Genesis is similar to Skype, which allows you to see and hear people over the internet, and we were able to have 9 bases pulled up on our big screen at all times. It was a neat experience that included some bases from Amsterdam, Egypt, Colombia, Argentina, Brazil, Switzerland, Mexico, and some in the United States.

So, for the long anticipated wait - I will be leaving for China the end of August, and I have made a 2 year commitment to this team. With August being only 3 months away, I realize I have a lot to get done in that time, but I am excited. My current passport expires in January 2010, but I was strongly advised to renew it now here in the States instead of waiting to do it in China where it will be more of a hassle. So, that is the next big thing to do before I can apply for my visa. If you would be praying for those two things, I would greatly appreciate it. There are still many more details to come about China, but I need to finish filling in my family on them first, which I will be doing this weekend.

I am actually leaving in a few hours to fly to Orlando for the weekend where I get to spend Memorial Day with the family, and I will be back Monday night to resume classes again on Tuesday. I hope that you all have a wonderful weekend, and let's not forget to pray for our veterans and their families remembering the sacrifices they have made for us. God Bless.

Weekly Teachings and Phase 2 Fun

2009-05-16T02:16:00.004-04:00

Well, it's definitely time for an update. I apologize for the lengthy delay between updates, but I have been having problems with my laptop, and I only get about an hour's worth of use out of it everyday, which I have been using for homework. So, this will be a lenghty update to let you know what has been going on the past few weeks. I will start with a brief overview of all our weeks of teaching so far, and conclude with a bit of an update about China.

The first speaker we had was Dan Thoemke, who spoke on Spiritual Leadership from the book of Esther. The theme I took away from that week was: God has a place for you in His presence; from the perspective of Esther it was a fairytale of a peasant becoming a Queen as well as the redemption story for the Jews. The second speaker we had was Doug Toller, who spoke on Lessons in Leadership. The theme I took away from that week was: True leaders always persevere - we looked at the life of Abraham Lincoln and how he failed or was defeated several times in 29 years before he was elected President. The third speaker was Dean Sherman, whom I also had in DTS, and he spoke on Effective Personal Ministry. The theme I took away from that week was: Ministry is a choice to serve from a motivation of love and a flow of the Holy Spirit through you to meet the needs of people. The fourth and fifth speaker spoke on Wholiness (Wholeness and Holiness) and Public Speaking. The theme I took away from Wholiness week was: Focusing on becoming who I really am as being set apart for a significant purpose as a believer in Christ. And the theme I took away from Public Speaking week was: to quote JFK - "Public speaking is the art of diluting a two-minute idea with a two-hour vocabulary." Or, to create your own style and "groove" to speaking. And this week our speaker has been Chey Foran, a YWAM Denver staff member, who taught on the Strengths Finder 2.0 book. The theme for this week was focusing on discovering your strengths and learning how to "walk in them" effectively. For those of you wondering, my top five strengths in order are: Belief, Responsibility, Developer, Includer, and Positivity (if you would like a brief description of those sometime let me know).

China........well, as long as their baby does not choose to come early, I will be having lunch with the leaders on Tuesday (May 19th) to discuss details of China. While the one of the leaders did teach in my school for two weeks, as well as the Multi-cultural DTS this past week, there just has not been an opportunity before now to sit down with them and discuss work, life, and details of China. I know some basic information based on the leaders sharing during class times, so I will fill you in on those details. It is a pretty amazing story of how God began to put the plan into motion several years before the leaders arrived in China. They especially felt called to China and knew God wanted a specific city, but didn't really have clarity as to where specifically that was. They felt God laid on their hearts for three criteria to be met to know that it was the right city for them to be in. So, a scouting trip to China was taken, and through a conversation, a city was mentioned (to protect the leaders and the work they do I will not place it on here, but it is the one I have mentioned to many of you) that fulfilled all three criteria and to which they felt was God's leading. Later that night when one of them opened their Bible they found a piece of paper with that city's name and part of the map of China from a time when they had torn apart of map of the world to pray for the people of those countries, and not knowing it would be used years later as a confirmation of their calling to China. So, that is the basic story of how this team ended up in China. I look forward to sharing more with you as the rest of the story unfolds.

Last week we went bowling as a class, and were as a small group to "dress up." My small group went for the "gangster" look, while some of the other groups dressed up to look like our guys, or wore one of our Director's shirts that had been borrowed from his wife without his knowledge (pretty funny to see his face when he saw all of his shirts). I have posted these pictures for your amusement. I have also posted a few pictures of snow that we had here a few weeks ago (snow usually still occurs here until after Memorial Day). I also had the chance to go to a Colorado Rockies game (I have been to a spring training game for the Minnesota Twins, but never a MLB game during season before) for $15 - that price included parking, ticket to the game, magazine, and a hot dog and coke. Not too bad!! I had a lot of fun and posted these pictures too!

Thank you for your patience with me this past few weeks with blog updates as well as for your continued support of me. It is my heart and desire for the blog updates to again resume weekly. I pray God's favor over each of you and that you may be blessed beyond measure for the blessing that you have been to me. God Bless.

Work Duties and Assignments

2009-04-25T15:45:00.011-04:00

I know many of you are interested about my work duties and assignments for this school, so I thought I would update you on that.

My work duties these three months actually consist of two jobs. My first job is child care every Monday morning. I get to work with the toddlers and we do crafts, play on the playground, etc. while the parents are in a staff meeting. My second job is kitchen crew leader every other weekend. Every other weekend my crew and I (there are four of us total) are responsible for making all meals, cleaning the kitchen after every meal, cleaning the dining area, and washing and drying all dish towels that are used. We cook for an average of 40 people each weekend, and Sunday's lunch is our biggest meal. Last weekend we had pot roast for lunch on Sunday and it required that it was in the convection oven by 6:30am - luckily for me the new convection ovens for the kitchen had just come in the day before and were installed, or I would have had to put the pot roast in the old ovens at 4:30am (we have problems with the temperature of the old ovens being off by 100 degrees from time to time). I am definitely not my mother when it comes to cooking, but I am enjoying being in the kitchen and trying new things.

Well, my assignments this semester have definitely been keeping me busy. Here is a look at the different things that we are required to do:

Book Reports - we are required to read the following books and to turn in a book report on them every other week. The books are: A Tale of Three Kings by J. Oswald Sanders, Teaching to Change Lives by Howard Hendricks, The Shack by William Young, and a book of my choice.

Spiritual Leadership book by J. Oswald Sanders - we are required to read 3-4 chapters of this book every other week and do study questions at the end of the chapters.

Cast of Characters by Max Lucado - we are required to read 2 chapters every week and to be prepared to participate in a small group discussion of the chapters on Wednesdays with the class. We are also required to facilitate the small group discussion at least twice.

Memory Verses - we are challenged to learn passages of scripture and to "store them in our heart". Every other week we are tested on the memory of the following scriptures: Matthew 20:25-28, Colossians 3:12-17, Phillipians 2:5-11, and Ephesians 4:1-6.

Projects - we are required to do 3 projects during this school. The first project is leading a corporate intercession time. For this project we are placed in groups of 3 and required to research places in the world where the gospel is not being preached. Then we present the information to the YWAM community during worship time on a Friday and then corporately spend an hour in prayer for the different needs of this country. My group is researching Dayr az-Zawr, Syria. The second project is planning an outreach. We start this project this week, and we will be partnered with a classmate and will be required to plan a outreach, just like the outreach I went on to Colombia. The third project is called Holy Discontent. This project is done individually and is to open your eyes to the things of this world that burden you and spur you on to find a way to help. For example, if someone is burdened by child sex trafficing that occurs in Asia, they would do their project on the subject and how they can get involved in changing the statistics and preventing other children from being sold into this industry.

Sometimes I look at all of the assignments and think it is a lot, but I am learning so much and am challenged everyday. I am blessed to have this opportunity and am taking every chance I can to soak up all that God has for me through this time. Thank you again for your support of me through this season.

God Bless.

Phase 2 Leadership School

2009-04-09T23:05:00.007-04:00

Hey everyone! Well, I realize this post is more than a week overdue, so I will do my best to update you on the past two weeks.

The new quarter for schools started on Monday, March 30th, and this time there are two schools running at the same time (Phase 2 and the Multi-Cultural DTS). Both schools are being housed at the main campus in Arvada, and the campus is located across the street from a grocery store, some coffee shops, the church I attend here, and is within walking distance of many other places. While I did enjoy being at the mountain campus during DTS, it is nice to be at the main campus this quarter.

For those of you wondering about the two schools, I am in the Phase 2, which is a leadership school, and we have 13 students (9 ladies and 4 guys). The other school, the Multi-Cultural DTS, is the same school that I just completed in February, except this time the emphasis is more on representing multiple countries with the students. So, in that school there are 16 students (8 ladies and 8 guys), and they represent 6 or 7 different countries.

Our first week was spent bonding with our classmates and our school staff, as well as a few opportunities to bond with the Multi-Cultural students and the non-school staff (those that work in the accounting department, etc.). At the end of the week my class took a field trip to Boulder, where we did a picture scanvenger hunt, and we ended the day with a group photo.

This week, week two, has been spent with Dan Thoemke, a Pastor from Hillside Church in Golden, Colorado, speaking to us about Spiritual Leadership based on the book of Esther. I honestly can say that I never looked at the book of Esther before as a place to see Spiritual Leadership until this week, but it has been an amazing eye opening experience. We also started out the week with an amazing opportunity as a class that no other Phase 2 has had before.......we had a baptism of 4 of my classmates. Chrissy, a student from Germany admitted in class on Monday that she had never been baptized and really felt it was time to make that commitment. Three of the guys (Marcelo, Scott, and Josiah) all had been baptized before, but they all had made the decision to do it because their friends were doing it, so they wanted to do it this time as an act of obedience and as a representation of the transformation God had made in their lives. It was a really neat bonding experience for us as a class.

Looking forward to updating you again next week on what I am learning in class. I just wanted to say thank you again to all of you for following me on this journey, and for being a part of it with your support and prayers. I feel blessed to know each of you.

Also, for information sake, this time I do have cell phone service since we are at the main campus, and we are 2 hours behind Eastern Standard time. And my mailing address this quarter is:
Name
YWAM Denver
Spring Phase 2
12750 W. 63rd Ave
Arvada, CO 80004

God bless you and may His face shine upon you!

Preparing to Leave Again

2009-03-26T16:30:00.002-04:00

Hey everyone! It was great getting to see many of you during my break between schools, and again I cannot thank you enough for your loving support of me.

So, it seems like the past six weeks have flown by. I am just spending the next three days packing and doing the little things that need to get done before heading back out to Colorado. I heard from some friends in Colorado that they had a blizzard today with 8-12" of snow. So, while I guess I have gotten used to the sunshine these past few weeks, I may have a few more weeks of cold weather ahead of me.

Once back in Colorado I plan on resuming updating this blog weekly on what I am learning in school. And I will also update you on China when more of those details surface.

God Bless.

Back In Georgia, Soon to be in Florida

2009-02-21T20:22:00.006-05:00

Hey everyone! Well, I am officially back in Gainesville, GA for a few days before heading down to Cape Coral, FL for two and a half weeks. I am here in Gainesville until the morning of March 1, and will be back again from March 19 until the 30th. So, for those of you in Cape Coral, I hope to see you sometime between March 2 and the 19th!!!

Well, to let you all know my future plans. While in DTS God revealed to me two specific things that He desires for me to do in the next several months. The first thing was for me to go back to YWAM Denver and to complete a secondary school called Phase 2. Phase 2 is a leadership school that prepares you to lead in any aspect of ministry that God may lead you into, as well as, it is a required school for anyone desiring to become staff at YWAM Denver. Phase 2 is a three month school that will be from March 30 - June 19. There is an optional outreach for Phase 2 students; however, I do not feel that God is asking me to do the outreach at this time. The second thing that God revealed was His desire to send me to China sometime after completing Phase 2. There is currently a group of married couples and singles who are in China doing work (coffeehouses, workshops, etc.) and sports camps as a way of ministering. They are also currently working on ways of getting teachers into the university as a means of opening up doors for clubs, etc. One of the married couples (and also the ones leading the group in China) will be in Denver next month to have their second child, so while they are in the States, I will be sitting down with them and openly discussing with them all the things that cannot be discussed in an email. After that point I will be able to share with you more details of what the need in China is, and how I will be able to help this group. It's not a coincidence, though, that God laid on my heart to contact this couple while in I was in Colombia considering I only knew their names and where they were in China. And then to get back to Denver and find out their association and what type of work they are doing was unbelievable. Not to mention that one of my classmates' sister and brother-in-law are one of the married couples on this team. Small world, huh? No, that's just God!!

Well, I know that was a lot to give you in a short updated post, but hopefully I will be able to speak to many of you in person and share more about each of these next phases of my journey.

I have also posted pictures from Colombia for you to enjoy and they are in several different categories (food, places we stayed, etc.). Remember to click on the sunset on the right side of the page to access the pictures.

God Bless and hope to see many of you soon.

Coming Back to the States

2009-02-05T11:56:00.003-05:00

Hey everyone! So ministry is officially over for us in Colombia. We did our last church service last night, and have had our debrief sessions (time of discussing strengths and things done well during outreach) with our leaders today. I know I personally have had a great time here these past seven weeks. It has been kinda hard leaving the friends we have made at each place, but we know that we have fulfilled all that God had for us here.

I am definitely looking forward to getting back to the states and enjoying the food there. The food here has not been bad, just sometimes lacking flavor. And I probably will pass on rice for awhile considering I have had it for every meal since being here. What I will miss though is the bread and pastries the most. I don´t know anywhere else that you can find a loaf of cheese bread for $1, and pastries for $0.10. And it was nice too that there was a bakery practically on every corner.

Well, the Argentina and Mexico teams leave tomorrow (a day ahead of us) to return to the states, so it will be a nice reunion of the entire DTS on Saturday night when we arrive. Sunday morning our team will be returning to our assistant leaders´church to do a follow-up service for them, going out to lunch as a team, and then doing the necessary laundry that has been building up. And then Monday - Thursday will be spent in a classroom discussing how to acclimate back into your own culture after being gone, sharing with the current DTS (that started after we left for outreach) our experiences, and then graduation on Friday. So a full, but somewhat relaxed week too.

I look forward to updating you in the next week or so of my future plans after DTS, as well as the times that I will be in Georgia and Florida visiting.

God Bless and keep on persevering.

Back in Bogota

2009-01-28T13:46:00.002-05:00

Hey everyone! We are back in Bogota for the last ten days of outreach. We started here (even if for a day and a half), and are finishing out here, so that is pretty cool.

We had some amazing outreaches in Medellin and were blessed with eight wonderful translators the entire time we were there. On the last night in Medellin the team went to a really nice restaurant in the Medellin Botancial Gradens, and we invited all of our contacts as well as the translators to join us. We had a three course meal with an option of pork, fish, or steak - I of course choose the steak, and it was great. Each person´s meal was the equivalent of $6-8, which was amazing in itself.

Ministry starts up again tomorrow (we have a day off today) and is packed with doing a children´s program, manual labor at a children´s home as well as the YWAM Bogota base, and several church services. We also have the opportunity to go to Hard Rock Cafe Bogota on Sunday after the church services to watch at least half of the SuperBowl. (And for my brother and sister-in-law reading this, I will be cheering for the Steelers!!)

I will hopefully be able to check in again one more time before departing Bogota, but if not, I will be back in Denver the night of February 7th. All my pictures will be posted later that week, so that you can see the places we have been and what we have been up to here in Colombia. God Bless.

Exciting Ministry

2009-01-21T11:37:00.002-05:00

Hey everyone! Quick update for the week. This week of ministry has been centered around working with orphans and street kids. The YWAM Medellin base has 2 houses (girls´ house and boys´ house) that are for orphaned kids. The YWAM staff have a rotating schedule and take turns working at the girls´ and boys´ house and sleeping there. Earlier in the week we did a lot of cleaning of the houses and the rest of the time we have been playing games with them in the afternoon and helping with various projects around the houses.

We also have had opportunities to work with street kids. There are three levels for street kids here in Colombia. Level 1 is where kids go to a facility (to be honest it looks like a prison with all the gates and fences around it, but they are very nice facilities once inside) to stay if they want to get off the street and have a place to sleep and food to eat. The first few nights there the kids have 24 hour supervision as many of them are ¨high¨ from either sniffing glue or doing drugs. There are also several girls that come that have been on the street doing prostitution. If the kids stay at the facility long enough (the sad part is that they can come and go as they want) they have opportunities for good health care, food and shelter are provided for, and they get an education, and they can then move to the next level. Level 2 is where the kids have been rehabilitated long enough that they can move to another facility, which is usually a finca, and there they are taught to continue with education by being integrated into local schools and they have more responsibilities. Level 3 is basically where they try to integrate the kids back into society, either with family (that are not on drugs or alcohol or in prostitution) or if they are 18 or older into a place of their own and help them get a job. We worked with a level 1 yesterday and it was a great opportunity, but a sad experience too, in seeing the girls that were selling their bodies at such a young age (ages 10 and up), and the rest of them being ¨high.¨ They are all looking for love, but just in the wrong places.

Well, tonight we are going to a crack hotel for kids. It is called a crack hotel because the kids that come to the hotel are there when their parents are out on the streets doing drugs, alcohol, or prostitution, and the kids don´t have anyone to look after them. So, we are going tonight to do some dramas and puppets, and then we will pass out bread and hot chocolate afterwards to people around the hotel. I am looking forward to loving these kids tonight, since it may be the only time that these kids ever feel loved.

Gotta close for now, but I pray God´s blessings for you all. Please continue to keep our team in your prayers as well as the people of Colombia.

More Ministry and Fun in Colombia

2009-01-14T19:06:00.002-05:00

Hey everyone! Well, it´s about that time to move locations again. So, tomorrow morning we will head out to do ministry at a finca (farm) for boys, and then move to our next location in the evening. This time we will be staying at the YWAM Medellin base.

Ministry last week continued to be great, though I was out of commission all day Saturday with the 24 hour stomach bug that has seemed to plague three-fourths of the team. Even though I would have rather been doing ministry, I really feel like God had other plans for me for that day. I did a lot of praying for the team while they were gone, and for those sharing their testimonies. I have learned that sometimes your ministry for the day is just to pray for your team members.

This week we have done ministry in the neighborhood of the Bible College dorm, where we are staying, and some of the girls on our team were able to go to a girls´home and minister to eight girls, ages 10 - 14, who had either been living on the street or were prostitutes and had been rescued from that. I was one of the few that were not able to go, but the ones that did said it was so heart-breaking to hear the stories of girls who had started prostitution at the age of 6.

As far as cultural things go.....the Colombians don´t see white people (otherwise known to them as gringos) very often, so everywhere we go people stare and us, and even ask to take a picture with us! It was really funny at first when people would approach us and ask us to take a photograph for them, and just when you thought you were going to use their camera to take the picture of them, they put their arm around you and someone snaps the picture. I am sure in some of those first pictures many of us have the weirdest expressions on our faces, but now we just have fun with it. Driving here is crazy, and we definitely pray while travelling all the time. The best way to describe the driving is a cross between Atlanta rush hour traffic with New York City driving, all at the speed of the German Autobon. I really do not understand how there have not been more accidents here (we have only seen 1 fender-bender). It is crazy to the point that people will pass in a no passing zone on a curve of a mountain road when they can´t see around the corner. We have been lucky to have some great bus drivers, who drive defensively, and just make some smart decisions.

And while I may not be proficient in speaking Spanish yet, or even understanding it, I have definitely been immersed in it. It makes me laugh when people here ask you if you speak Spanish and you say no, so then they continue to talk to you in Spanish anyway. I may not fully understand, but I am able to pick up a few words that they say, so I am enjoying that. Plus I think they think I am funny too when I speak to them in English. But, I can tell you that I have learned very quickly how to order ice cream in Spanish - no problems there in saying that one!

Well, I hate to close, but I need to for now. I will update again as soon as I can based on internet availabilty at the YWAM base or an internet cafe. In the meantime, our team prayer requests are below.

Prayer Requests:
* Health - the stomach bug is still affecting our team
* Injuries - we have had a few random injuries (Joe injured his thumb during team game time one night, then fell off a seesaw at park ministry and cut up his arm - yeah, he keeps me busy with the First Aid job I am responsible for)
* Continued team unity
* Continued safe travel

Please feel free to email me any prayer requests you may have, as I am praying for each of you. Thank you for continuing to read my blog and your support of me. I pray that God may bless you for your faithfulness.

Colombia Outreach Update

2009-01-08T22:04:00.001-05:00

Hey everyone! Well, our time here in Colombia so far has been great and very rewarding. We have stayed at three places so far and will be staying at many more before it is all over.

The first place that we stayed at was the YWAM Bogota base. It was very nice. The second place that we stayed at was a finca (Spanish word for farm – though nothing like what we think of as a farm, basically it means a lot of land and beautiful foliage). The finca was owned by the church that we were working with the first week, and it was their retreat center. We think that it used to be a mansion because it was so big and beautiful. The third place, which we are currently staying at, is a Bible College dormitory that is very nice too. Several areas of the dorm have an open roof to allow cool air to flow into the building, since many people do not have air conditioning here. We leave the windows open at night while we are sleeping and it is the perfect temperature.

The food here is great too. We knew that the Colombians were very hospitable, but we also found out they are very generous with food too. It is the culture here to eat everything that you are served, unless you have a food allergy. The last two places that we have stayed we have had a cook, and our current cook daily reminds us that there are starving children in Africa (she knows since she lived there several years), so we better eat up! Again the food is good, just enormous portions. Instead of losing weight on outreach like most people do, I may come home having gained 10lbs!!

We have been extremely busy this week with ministry, but I have enjoyed it. The month of January we are working with Mark and Maritza, who are actually YWAM Denver staff, but will be working here in Medellin for a year. So, on Monday we went to a local park and did dramas. Our translators did not show up (other than Maritza), but it was cool to see how God still provided for us. A huge crowd gathered before we could even start the dramas, and then people talked to us for an hour and a half after the dramas. We were able to communicate through Maritza and some Colombian Christians who saw our dramas and offered to translate for us. Tuesday was spent at a farm where special needs adults live just “hanging out” with them and doing a brief program for them as well. Wednesday this week was our day off, so we explored the market shops around the area. Today (Thursday) we did manual labor here at the Bible College dorm. Tomorrow (Friday) we are going to a poor community to do dramas and pass out food to needy families, and then we are doing a church service in town in the evening. On Saturday we are going to a park to pass out food to the homeless, and I do not know Sunday´s schedule yet.

I will check in again in about a week or so. I hope that things are going well for you all and that 2009 has been a good one so far. God Bless.

In Colombia

2008-12-31T12:57:00.002-05:00

Hey everyone! I wanted to let you all know that I am safely in Medellin, Colombia! We arrived in Bogota on Christmas Eve, where we stayed at the YWAM Bogota base until the 26th when we left for Medellin.

Here in Medellin this week we have been staying at a church retreat center, which is really nice. We learned really quickly here in Colombia that many people do not have hot water for showers and such, so we all have become accustomed to cold showers, which actually after a while feels kinda good when it is hot outside. The average temperatures here have been 50 degrees in the morning and night and 70 degrees during the day. I can now say that I have also learned how to hand wash my clothes and hang them over a balcony to dry. Who knew 2-in-1 Suave shampoo could make your clothes smell so good.

Our ministry this week has been to work with the kids (ages 2-10) and the youth (ages 13-18) by doing dramas, giving testimonies, and someone preaching. We leave the church retreat center on Friday and will then be working with the YWAM Medellin base for the next 12 days, and will be staying various places. We will start out staying in a college dorm, and then will move to the YWAM base, and possible some host homes.

I hope that you all are doing well. I will post again when I can get to an internet cafe. God Bless.

Week Eleven

2008-12-12T21:42:00.000-05:00

Well, this week has definitely been an exciting one. The week started out with us going down the mountain on Monday, like we always do, but what we didn’t expect was to be spending the night down the mountain too. That afternoon around 3pm it started snowing at Eagle Rock, but didn’t reach Arvada until about 5pm. We left early that night to head back to Eagle Rock, but soon discovered when we were only about a quarter of the way up the mountain that we weren’t going to make it……my van had already fishtailed three times, and we soon discovered when we pulled over to put the chains on (before the worst part of the mountain) that one of the three vans was missing the chains. So, the decision was made that it was safer to come back down and stay in Arvada for the night. The 57 of us (staff and students) were split among the Arvada base and YWAM Denver staff houses for the night, and we just had a fun sleepover – we all just looked at this adventure as preparation for outreach.

We started out Tuesday morning with class down the mountain and made it back up the mountain by the afternoon. Our teaching for the week was on Evangelism, and I enjoyed our speaker, Richard Thompson very much. One aspect of Richard’s teaching that I found to be interesting was when he talked about the four reasons why many people do not do Evangelism. The four reasons are: Bad Experiences / Bad Examples, Apathy, Unbelief, and Fear of Man. We then talked about how to model Evangelism in the way that Jesus did it.

Tomorrow night we have our Love Feast with the entire YWAM Denver community. The students in my DTS, as well as all the secondary school students, and all staff come together at the end of the lecture portion of the school for a big celebration of what God has done the past 3 months, as well as a send off for the outreach portion of training. There is always a theme for Love Feast, so ours is Winter Wonderland (kind of funny since it is suppose to snow again tomorrow). I am looking forward to Love Feast and just “hanging out” with my fellow classmates, who are going on a different outreach than I am. I still can’t believe that the Mexico outreach team leaves a week from Sunday, and the Argentina team, and my team, Colombia, leave three days later on Christmas Eve. It seems like the first three months have flown by.

I pray that you all are doing well. Please let me know how I can be praying for you.

Thanksgiving and Outreach Prep

2008-12-04T16:47:00.006-05:00

Hey everyone! I hope that you all had a splendid Thanksgiving holiday. I know I definitely did. I was blessed to have mom and dad come out to Colorado to visit me for the holiday. I got to spend about two and a half days with them, and we had a lot of fun. I am very thankful for my parents for the love that they have always shown me, and for their unconditional support of me in following my dreams.

Well, this week has been Outreach Prep week, and we have been learning the different dances and dramas that we will use while on our respective outreaches. Each outreach leader was given the task of choosing the dances and dramas that would be most effective and culturally sensitive for our outreach locations, and this week we have been learning them non-stop. My team will be doing nine dramas and a skit with puppets (we are not doing any dances on our outreach team). Each outreach member is a part of four dramas, and I am involved in the three dramas called: Fix You, Gone, and Redemption, and I am doing puppets. I am pretty excited about all of the dramas, and our team has worked really hard during practices. Hopefully I will be able to film some of them and post them for you to see.

It is hard to believe that there is less than three weeks left before we leave for Colombia. We will be flying out on Christmas Eve and travelling from Denver to Atlanta to Bogota, Colombia. Luckily we have a four hour layover in Atlanta, so mom and dad, as well as a few other parents that live near by, are going to come see us at the airport. It will be nice to see mom and dad again, even if only for a few hours.

Above is a picture of the Colombia outreach team. The three in the front our our outreach leaders, and the rest of us are students. (Darren, the outreach leader is front and center, and Keri and Angie behind him are our assistant outreach leaders).

Well, next week we are back to a somewhat normal week with teaching on Evangelism, so I look forward to updating you then on what I am learning.

Oh, and I have added some new pictures as well. A few weeks ago my small group and I did a photo shoot, so those pictures are posted, as well as some pictures of our recent snow.

God bless you for your faithfulness in reading my blog and for your prayers. I pray that you know how much I love and appreciate each one of you, and how thankful I am to know each of you.

Creative Presentation

2008-11-25T16:49:00.009-05:00

Well, I finally got my creative presentation posted on here for you to see. My creative presentations had to include different methods (such as teaching, drama, song, etc.) and since I used the method of teaching for my first presentation, I was not allowed to use it again this time. So I chose to do a video as well as write a poem about my subject matter. To view the video below, just click on the arrow and it will play.

Poem:

(Callousness Side)

We walk by without a care
who are we to stop and share
Our own agendas have dictated our day,
and to make an effort would get in our way

Why should we care
when no one else seems to either
We are better off to live for ourselves
and to not be tied down to helping anyone else

No one was there for me and I turned out just fine
and they will too in due time
I will just continue with this life
and one day will be done with all this strife.

(Sensitivity Side)

We walk by and can’t help but care
for we were created and meant to share
We might have our agendas planned for the day
but we are willing to allow God to change them for His way

We feel our eyes fill with tears
because we realize we all have similar fears
We realize this life is lived better together
and have hopes that it will one day be forever

There’s someone who says it will be just fine
and that He can be yours for a lifetime
We will continue in this life to press past all the strife
and one day will have victory in this fight

Go Conference and Week 7

2008-11-13T00:24:00.000-05:00

Well, I am back to blogging after missing last week since I was at the Go Conference, which was all about Missions. It was another full week, but a great one too. We were challenged by John Dawson (president of YWAM), Trent Shepard, Jim Stier, and Fred Market to join God in His movement “at home” and “around the world.” The organizers of the conference made the room assignments, so I was placed with three of my classmates that are not my roommates for the week, and it was fun to be with different people for a few days. And of course, we were able to take longer showers too, so that was a plus!

This week’s teaching is about Spiritual Warfare and Dean Sherman is our speaker. Dean serves in many areas within YWAM, with one of those being part-time at YWAM Denver, so we are excited to have him here this week. He definitely has a sense of humor as well, as he threw a Frisbee at me in class today (I didn’t even tell him I was a PE teacher – and no mom I was not misbehaving!). I look forward to sharing with you what we have learned this week from Dean.

I presented my second creative presentation on Tuesday, which was on Callousness vs. Sensitivity. I did a short video and a poem, which I am hoping to share with you soon. I will definitely post the poem, but I am working on being able to post the video too.

I pray that this week God may show you more and more of His love, and that you may experience a side of His character that you maybe have not experienced in awhile.

Relationships, Snow, and Hiking

2008-10-29T23:42:00.001-04:00

I can hardly believe that it is halfway through week five already. Time flies when you are having fun! So, last week concluded our lectures on Relationships, and here are some things that I learned from our speaker, John. Relationships are necessary, and we are to be part of the sonship. John defined sonship as a paradigm shift to being a son and a servant, not one or the other. When looking at both roles we find the significance in being a servant, as well as it is a role Christ has called us to, but being a son takes much more responsibility and includes our inheritance in Christ’s Kingdom. We also spent some time talking about how we are to not let the world define how to do relationships, but rather to do life with God and He will define those for us.

This week is about Fear of the Lord and our speaker is Lorrie Gray. Lorrie and her husband are on staff with YWAM Denver, so they are excited to be up at Eagle Rock with us this week. They also have a 16 month old girl, Zoey, so I am enjoying playing with her. (For those of you that don’t know, I love kids.)

Over the weekend 15 of us decided to get up at 5am and hike Eagle Rock (the mountain peak that is across from our campus) to be at the top in time for the sunrise. Now, let me just tell you……this is not your typical mountain. There are no paths, so you basically make your own path going up the side of the mountain, and over the many boulders (Mom-aren’t you glad I told you this afterwards instead of before?). It was an awesome hike though, and the sunrise was beautiful!! I have posted some pictures for you to enjoy.

It also snowed a few inches here last week, and I only got about 3 pictures since my camera battery died and I had to recharge it, but I did post those pictures for you too.

Well, I will post again this weekend, just in case I am not able to post next week. We are going to Estes Park, Co next week for the Go Conference. The Go Conference is a YWAM affiliated missions conference that is held every year and includes students from YWAM bases around the US that are completing DTS. So next week there will be 450 YWAMers at this conference. It will be exciting, and I am looking forward to it.

I pray that this week that you may know that God is bigger than any situation or obstacle that you may encounter. I pray that you all may be blessed in some capacity this week.

Week Four and Frustrations

2008-10-23T00:54:00.001-04:00

So, I can’t believe that it’s week four already. One of the leaders added up all the time that we spend in class during the first three months of the lecture phase and it is said to be the equivalent of going to church every Wednesday and Sunday for four and a half years. So, am I learning a lot? Yes! Am I going to have to go back and read all my notes again several times to comprehend all that I have learned? Yes! Am I loving it, despite being tired or overwhelmed at times? Yes! This week is relationship week, so I am looking forward to sharing with you at the end of this week what I learned from class with John Murphy.

So, I know you have all been waiting for this one……is there anything frustrating you? Of course living in a community with 40 students and 14 staff twenty four hours a day seven days a week on a mountain is going to have moments of frustration. What are the biggest frustrations? Well, the same things that are the biggest blessings too. One frustration has been my six roommates and I trying to find the balance of “preferring one another as more important than yourself,” and speaking up when something really bothers us so that we can fix the problem. It definitely is a test in humility, and a great learning experience. The other frustration has been with showers. We have a limited supply of water here as you have to actually buy water rights in Colorado, so Eagle Rock only has a certain amount of water a month, and when it’s gone, it’s gone. YWAM is working on the final purchase of another well to be used starting in January, but in the meantime we are limited to three minute showers. The time isn’t that bad (and I can't complain considering some people in the world don't even have water), but if we abuse the time then we may not have water at the end of the month to drink or cook with, etc. This is also another reason why we come down the mountains on Mondays to do laundry. So, while short showers and problems with roommates may be an occasional frustration, I wouldn’t trade this experience for anything.

Now for the fun stuff…..last night I got to go swimming at an indoor pool while watching it snow outside – it was so pretty. The Gilpin County Recreation Center is ten minutes from Eagle Rock and they have given us an amazing three month membership price of $46 (that is less than the students at the college I worked at paid a month). We go to the gym Tuesday and Thursday mornings, but we had some free time yesterday evening, so I went back again to swim. The gymnasium is really nice with all the essentials as well as the Olympic size pool. There is also a kid’s pool with a slide that is heated, so yeah, I went down the slide a couple times!

Well, I will close for now, but I pray that each of you is experiencing God in a new way each day too.

Weekend and Lessons on Character of God

2008-10-19T22:01:00.000-04:00

Hey everyone! So, the weekend is almost over, but it has been a great one! I had the chance Friday night to go down the mountain and into the city of Golden to the mall. Half of the group that went decided to go to a movie, while the other half of us decided to just walk the mall and spend time together (as if living in community 24/7 on a mountain where you can’t escape isn’t enough – I guess I am just a relational person like my mother). And then yesterday we all went into Boulder for the day. Boulder is a very diverse town as it is where the University of Colorado is located, but is full of great things to see and do. We spent most of the time walking around and just checking out the town, enjoyed the musical street entertainment along the way, and then went to a restaurant called Hapa for sushi (on Saturdays from 2-5pm you can get a plate of sushi for $3.50). I have never had a desire for sushi, but since this year is all about trying and doing new things, I figured I would try it. I have to admit that I am not likely to order sushi again anytime soon, but if it is the last thing there is to eat, then I will eat it. I have posted some pictures from yesterday for you to enjoy.

Now to update you on what I learned this week on the Character of God. Our speaker this week was Donna MacGowan, the DTS Director’s wife, and she used to be a school teacher, so I enjoyed her teachings a lot. During our teaching one thing I learned was: “that God will never hurt you except to help you.” Just like the times that we get a splinter in our hand and our mom or dad pulled it out for us – it may have hurt when they pulled the splinter out, but it helped take the pain of the splinter away. We did several activities throughout the week as well, and one of them was to find an object that described your relationship with God and to bring it to class and share with everyone. I used two objects – the first was an onion to symbolize that God has to peel away the layers (fleshly things in my life) to get to the core, the sweetest part (where the focus is on the spiritual); and a propel packet to signify that water is plain and boring (much like my life when lived on my own), but when the propel powder is added to the water it gives it flavor and shakes it up a bit (a life lived for Jesus instead).

I hope you all are doing well. Please let me know if there is a specific need that I can be praying about for you. God bless you all. And thank you for your prayers and encouragement.

Lessons on the Father Heart of God

2008-10-16T00:15:00.000-04:00

I wanted to update you on what I learned last week during “Father Heart of God” week with Jeff Pratt.

One thing that really caught my attention was the statement: “Some people never pass through the pain to get to the pleasure.” Jeff used the example of exercise (no wonder I liked him!) in that if we stop every time we feel the burn we would never get to the pleasure of actually getting in shape and feeling better physically. The same is true spiritually – if we never push through the pain, then we never get to the great reward that God has for us.

Another lesson from the week that really stuck with me was based on “Seasons of Captivity.” Jeff was sharing about a three month experience where God lead him out of full-time ministry and into work on a fishing boat cracking live crabs and cutting salmon ten hours a day. He was not very excited about it, and couldn’t figure out why God had him going through this experience, but he quickly learned many things in his season of captivity. One thing he shared about the experience was: “that in captivity God will show you the worth of a soul.” We may not always know why God asks us to do certain things, but if we are obedient to do them, we may see the worth of a soul in someone who God has purposely crossed our path with. You see, after three months on the ship, on the day the ship pulled into port, a guy nicknamed Rip, asked Jeff to lead him to Christ. Had Jeff tried to escape his season of captivity and left the ship early, or not lived his life for Christ, that one soul may have been lost. The second part of this lesson that also stuck with me was the question: “Why do we question if we are in the will of God when things are uncomfortable instead of if we are in the will of God when things are comfortable because God has not called us to be comfortable.” This statement is so true. It is easier to question God or to call out when things are not going my way, but when things are going great, I kind of forget that God is there. I get the mentality that I can do this on my own. Oh, how WRONG I am!! I need God at all times and need to be in the center of His will, whether it’s when things are comfortable or uncomfortable.

There obviously was so much more that I learned last week, but this blog would become a book if I included it all. So, I just wanted to share with you the things that impacted me and meant the most from class last week.

This week we are talking about the Character of God, so I will be sharing the lessons I learn from this week’s classes soon.

In closing, I pray that God may fill you with His love this week and that you will see His hand of blessing in all that you do. And I want to share with you my life’s verse for encouragement.

“The Lord will work out his plans for my life – for your faithful love, O Lord, endures forever. Don’t abandon me, for you made me.” Psalm 138:8

Assignments

2008-10-10T22:39:00.002-04:00

Hey again everyone! Well, week two is over, but there is still homework to complete this weekend. Yes, I said homework. The teacher has become the student once again, but I am actually enjoying it because I am learning so much. Since DTS is a school and I will earn 20 college credits through the University of the Nations (part of YWAM) once DTS is over, we are required to do assignments. The assignments are not meant to be busy work, but to challenge you in your walk of faith.

So, here are the assignments that we are required to complete during the lecture phase of DTS.

1. Book reports – we are required to read 5 five books (that are based on YWAM Beginnings, Relationships, Character, Prayer, and World Missions) and do a report for each book. Every other week a book report is due.
2. Meditations – each week we are given a different passage of scripture to meditate on and to write our personal insights / what we learned from the scripture.
3. Weekly Tests – each week we are tested on the previous week’s lectures.
4. Velvet Elvis – a book by Rob Bell that we are required to read a Chapter a week (starting week 3 of school and concluding week 12) to discuss during small group times.
5. Quiet Time Notes – we have a weekly journal that we are to fill out that is more or less to get or keep you in the discipline of having a quiet time with God.
6. Creative Presentations – we are assigned 2 presentations based on character traits and each presentation has to be a different method of delivery whether song, skit, dance, teaching, etc. (I have already done my first presentation which was FAITH vs. PRESUMPTION, and I used the teaching method, so next time I have to do something different)
7. Final Test – a major test given at the end of the lecture phase, in which we will be required to recall 2 major points from 10 of our speakers and apply each point to our lives.

It seems overwhelming at first, but it’s really not that bad. We actually have an optional study hall for 2 hours every Tuesday and Thursday night to work on assignments is we want, and plenty of time on the weekends.

Well, I pray God’s blessing upon each of you, and will update you soon on what God taught me this week in “Father Heart of God.”

Week 2 at Eagle Rock

2008-10-07T22:14:00.000-04:00

So, I will start with a little update from last week. Each week of training is on a specific topic, so last week was on “Bonding.” We spent about 15 hours a day in getting to know one another through various activities and by sharing our testimonies. It is pretty neat to see a diverse group that God has called to Eagle Rock for this time of Discipleship Training School, and how we all began to bond very quickly. We have 26 females and 15 males and have students from Canada, Sweden, Germany, Mexico, the Netherlands, South Korea, and all over the United States. We concluded the week by taking a field trip to Estes Park, CO (about an hour away) to hang out in town and to see the elk. I had a lot of fun, and have posted those pictures for you to see.

It’s now week two of training, and we are definitely back to a more normal schedule. This week’s topic is the “Father Heart of God” and our guest speaker is Jeff Pratt. This morning Jeff used some very powerful movie clips to reiterate what the Father’s heart for us, His children, looks like…….I don’t think there was a dry eye in the classroom after each video. We also started our weekly chores this week, and I am responsible for answering phones and doing some office work – I think I am the only one with secretarial experience, but I am not complaining. I will also have some weekend kitchen duties from time to time, as well as helping with some housekeeping chores.

Since DTS is a school, we do have homework and projects to do, but I will share all that information with you in my next blog update on Thursday or Friday, so you will have something to look forward to.

Also, I know many of you have asked, so here is my mailing address until December 18, 2008.

My Name
YWAM Eagle Rock – Fall DTS
3840 Golden Gate Canyon Rd.
Black Hawk, CO 80422

Check out the Pictures of YWAM Eagle Rock

2008-10-02T00:51:00.003-04:00

Hey again everyone! I have posted pictures of where I am living for the next three months on my picasa web account. You can either access it by clicking on the picture of the sun to your right or by going to the following web page: http://picasaweb.google.com/abarnette22. You can then open the folder titled YWAM Eagle Rock, and then EITHER double click on the first picture to open it and then you can click on the arrow at the top of the picture to scroll through them all, OR you can click on slideshow and it will play for you (if you do slideshow, when it gets to the end it will restart, so just hit ESC to quit).

Finally Here at YWAM Eagle Rock

2008-09-29T23:27:00.005-04:00

Hey everyone! So, I apologize in the almost 2 month hiatus from blogging. August and September became a little busier than I anticipated, but I was very blessed to meet with many of you during those months and to be able to hear what is going on in your lives.

A short update........I sold my car to a family friend in September, so that was a huge praise and one less thing to worry about before leaving for Denver. Also, for those of you that I did not get to see or talk to this summer, I know my outreach options for the second part of training. We have been given three choices: Mexico; Bogota, Colombia; and Ushuaia, Argentina. We were told to pray about it and to go where God is leading, and if He was not specific then to just choose. After praying about it, God is leading me to the Bogota, Colombia outreach.

Ok, now on to what you really want to read about. I made it to Denver early this afternoon, and was taken to the main campus in Arvada to check in and to meet my fellow students. After lunch and some paperwork we were then loaded into vans and taken up to Eagle Rock (the mountain campus) where I will be living the next three months. The girls are being housed in The Lodge which has 6 dorm rooms (4 student rooms and 2 staff rooms), an auditorium for worship, a men and women's bathroom, and a lounge area. Each student room has 7 girls per room, with 6 bunk beds in each room, so for the most part we each get our own bunk bed. I definitely will learn a lot about community! Our bathrooms are complete with 5 showers, 5 toilets and 6 sinks and are really nice. Each of us also get our own cubby in the bathroom to hold our toiletries. From 10pm to 7:45am we are allowed to utilize the men's bathroom as a second bathroom, which gives us amble space for 28 girls. The other three buildings on campus are the Big House, the Gym, and the Dining Hall. The guys are staying in the Big House which is across from our building and has the game room in the basement of it. Pictures will be posted soon.

Speaking of pictures, I have added a link on the right side of this page that says pictures and includes a picture of a sun. If you click on the picture of the sun it will take you to my pictures that you can look at. The pictures are in a public folder, so you do not need to log in to see them. Just realize though that when you click on it, it will redirect to a picasa web page, and away from the blog page. So, if you wanted to come back to the blog, you will have to pull the page up again. I am working on trying to get the pictures on the blog where you do not have to navigate away from it.

Ok, I will close for the first day, but I pray that you all have a blessed week, and know that I am praying for you.

Poison Spreads

2008-08-02T00:48:00.000-04:00

So, a few weeks ago I was helping out at a backyard Bible club when I was stung by a yellow jacket on my left ankle. There were yellow jackets everywhere at this apartment complex and I had somehow escaped getting stung the two days before, but on the third night, I wasn’t so lucky. To top it all off, I am allergic to yellow jackets, and of course was not carrying my epi-pen with me. That night I only had a small allergic reaction and the swelling was only the size of a quarter. But, as things go, the next day my leg and ankle had swollen to the size of a dollar and a red streak was running down my leg toward my veins, indicative of a medical condition called cellulitis. Cellulitis is when toxins seep into your veins (which run to your heart) and then spread to the rest of your body through your blood stream, and can be fatal. So, I got on the phone and called my Doctor and got a prescription medication right away. I’m happy to report that after a week, all the swelling and redness disappeared.

I wanted to tell you the above story, so that you would have a better understanding of the life lesson that God taught me through this experience. You see, there are things in our lives that can be like the yellow jacket poison. If we get stung by it, and don’t get medicine to treat it quickly, then it will continue to spread until it gets into our bloodstream, and eventually kills us. Maybe greed, pride, jealousy, bitterness, etcetera creeps in and when we recognize it we think that we can handle it, yet we all know that we can’t, so it begins to spread. The only way to keep it from spreading is to call upon the true Healer, Jesus, who takes those sins upon Himself on our behalf. He reminds us that we might have scars from the sting, but that we have once again been spared from something far worse. Our hearts may be small in size, but it is the most powerful and vital organ in the body. So, what are you allowing to flow to it? Poison or God’s love?

Goodbye Gainesville State College

2008-07-26T02:07:00.002-04:00

On July 1, 2008 I said goodbye to my friends and co-workers at Gainesville State College where I have worked for the last 5 years. Very few people in life are fortunate to find a job they love and people they love working with. Well, I was blessed to have found both at Gainesville State College. I am grateful to those who came alongside me in those 5 years and helped to mentor me, encourage me, cry with me, and basically just walk through life with me. And while these words will never truly express all I want to say, to all of you at GSC I say thank you.

F.A.Q. (Frequently Asked Questions)

2008-06-06T23:10:00.000-04:00

Why are you going with YWAM instead of some of the other organizations out there?

Simply put, God was very specific as to who I was to go with (see 2nd blog entry in May). It would be much easier to go with an organization that helps pay a salary or a stipend, but God has been teaching me obedience and to have faith in Him, and that He will provide for all my needs wherever He calls me, so I am going to trust Him for that. Isn't that what faith is all about - trusting Him without knowing what the outcome will be?

Why did you resign from your job 2 ½ months before you will leave for Denver?

Since I work for a college, teaching schedules as well as classes taught are made several months in advance. So, in September 2007 I had to make the decision as to which months I was going to teach in the summer (’08), and since I usually took July off to spend with family before starting work again in August, I stuck with the same schedule (God hadn’t revealed His plan to me yet). Once I knew God’s plan for the future, I knew that I would have budgeted enough money to still take time off in July to spend with family and to get some business affairs in order, and that I could then find some part-time jobs or do babysitting, etc. from August – September, since I wouldn’t be teaching when classes started in August.

What do you plan on doing with your things?

I am only allowed to take 2 medium sized suitcases and a carry on with me to Denver, so for now I plan on leaving the rest of my things at my parents’ house in GA. Once I know where I will be going after Denver, then I will figure all of that out.

Where will you be going after Denver?

As of right now, I do not know where I will be going after Denver, but God has told me that I will start in Europe or Asia, and that eventually one day I will be in Africa (my heart’s passion). YWAM does not send you to a certain base after completing DTS, but rather you have the option of where you want to go based on job availability or where God is leading you to go.

What kind of job will you be doing with YWAM?

YWAM has the need for people with every kind of training imaginable – from IT specialists, to accountants, to nurses, to teachers, to coaches, etc. Each person uses their gifts and talents to not only minister to the people, but to also help run the YWAM bases. Some people are called to the “front lines” of ministry and others are called to “assist those on the front lines.” Each job is equally important. God may change His plan, but for now I know that I plan on using the gifts and talents that God has given me to help teach and put together recreation / physical education programs wherever He takes me.

If you have any other questions, feel free to ask and I will do an additional blog of F.A.Q.

Support Letter

2008-06-04T11:55:00.000-04:00

Dearest Family and Friends,

God is infinite in His wisdom and plans for our lives, so it is my honor to share with you the work that God has begun in me, and will continue, until its completion. For several years now I have had two passions in my life – teaching and doing mission work. While I was able to combine those two passions while working at Gainesville State College, I still felt a deeper desire to do them long-term, on an international level, and in some of the most desolate areas. In July of 2007, while taking part in a short-term mission trip to Kenya, God confirmed my calling to be a missionary.

After returning from Kenya, God immediately began to put things into motion that I still would not comprehend until months later. One of those things was the specific organization that He desired for my training and mission work – Youth With A Mission, also known as YWAM. YWAM has 200 mission bases around the world.

The first part of my journey will take me to Denver, Colorado on September 29, 2008 to take a Discipleship Training School (DTS) program. The first three months will be dedicated to classroom work, as well as plugging into mission opportunities with the YWAM staff in the Denver area. The last two months will consist of a seven week international mission trip (location unknown until the DTS begins), followed by a week of debriefing, with completion of DTS on February 13, 2009.

Once my training is complete I am then eligible to apply to be staff at any of the YWAM bases. Certain locations may require more training such as cultural training pertinent to a specific area, etc. At this point in my life I feel God is calling me to make a 3-5 year commitment to missions. I know He is calling me to go abroad after completion of DTS in Denver, but I do not know yet where He is leading. I trust that in His time, He will put all the pieces of the puzzle together and lead me once again to where He desires me to use the gifts and talents that He has given me.

In preparation for this next phase of my life, I have resigned my position at Gainesville State College, effective July 1, 2008…the end of the second summer session. I plan to take some time off to have a little vacation, spend some time with my family and get my business affairs in order. Since I will no longer need my car, I have it for sale. I can use my parents’ old car they have at our Georgia house if my car sells before I have completed my time at the college. Once I sell my car, I will use the proceeds left after I pay off my car loan towards my expenses for DTS in Denver. I also plan to do temporary jobs in August and September to make some money to fund this endeavor.

I am personally responsible for all the expenses involved with DTS and my future mission trips. In order to go and fulfill all that God has planned for me, I need to develop a prayer and financial support team. This team would be made up of churches and/or people willing to either pray regularly for my ministry, provide financially for my ministry, or a combination of the two. My church, Lakewood Baptist Church, in Gainesville, Georgia, has already pledged to provide some support, for which I am very grateful. The total cost for my training in Denver will be $6,000. The cost includes lodging, meals, and training in Denver, international airfare for the 7 week mission trip, visas, and lodging and food at the YWAM base where I do my mission trip. All my personal needs, including laundry, etc. will be my personal responsibility, as this is not included in my costs. Presently I am trying to secure short-term support for the first part of my journey, the DTS training in Denver. Because this is basically considered schooling, any financial contributions made will not be tax-deductible and will have to be made to me personally. Once I become staff with YWAM, as with many mission organizations, I will not be paid a salary, but will have to depend on continued support to fund my ministry. One of the things I liked about YWAM is that they do allow their staff to work part-time, if they can find employment, to help raise their funds. As a YWAM staffer and when I am on the mission field, any contributions made at that time can be made through YWAM, for my benefit, and can be used as a tax-deduction. If any of you feel that you can pledge any form of long-term support, I will provide you at a later time with more information about that.

I am asking you to consider whether or not you can be a part of my team. My most urgent need is support for DTS, but I hope that some of you will feel you can also support me for the long-term. I need to have my team complete as soon as possible, hopefully no later than September 15, 2008. I have enclosed a Response Form and an envelope for your response.

If you would like to be part of my support team, please mark whichever area/areas are appropriate for you on the response form. If you decide to support me financially, please make your check payable to me, attach your completed response form, and either bring to me or my father, Andrew (Andy) Barnette, or mail it in the enclosed, addressed envelope I’ve provided.

I am very excited about this opportunity, and for getting to be a part of what God is going to do through me, and in the lives of all those that I will meet. I appreciate your love and friendship. Thanks for considering joining my team.

For those of you who are my friends in my home state of Florida, I will be home the second weekend in August, and I hope that I will get to see at least some of you while I am there.

Yours in Christ,
Andrea Barnette

If any of you do not have access to a computer, and prefer to receive periodic written updates from me, there is a place on your Response Form where you can request that.

Also, if you would like more information about YWAM Denver, feel free to visit their website at:
http://www.ywamdenver.com/

God said YWAM

2008-05-29T23:48:00.000-04:00

So, I wanted to share my story of how I ended up with deciding to partner with Youth With A Mission (YWAM) Denver for doing my mission work.

Well, it all began in August of 2007 when my parents and I arrived in Kona, Hawaii for a vacation. I had only been back from Kenya for a week, during which time I helped take care of my 2 nephews, and the morning after my nephews went home my parents and I flew to Hawaii. I was pretty exhausted and my body was still trying to adjust to all the different time zones, but one thing I remember very distinctively when we arrived in Kona was a group of college aged kids that were getting their luggage and piling into a van with the sign "University of the Nations" on the side of it. Being an educator I remember thinking that must be an interesting school, but didn't give it anymore thought. Two days later my parents and I went to the store, and sitting in the parking lot was a University of the Nations van. Again I became curious, so that night I logged on to the internet and googled the school. What I discovered was a college that offered Bachelor's and Master's degrees with a Christian emphasis, but that required all students to complete a Discipleship Training School (DTS) before any other classes could be taken. The DTS could either be completed at a University of the Nations Center (several locations around the world, but the main campus is in Kona) or at a YWAM base. I remember linking to several YWAM bases from the school's website and learning that Loren Cunningham, who founded YWAM, also started the University of the Nations schools. Again, I thought all of this was cool, but kinda put it in the back of my mind.

Fast forward about a month, and on the night of September 21, 2007 as I was praying I heard God say to me: "Colorado Training Center." It obviously didn't make sense to me at the time, but I prayed about it and wrote it down in my journal, as I was sure that God would give me more in His timing if I was suppose to do something about it. Well, four days later on the 25th God then said: "YWAM." I had a little harder time believing this was God speaking to me, instead of thinking it was my own thoughts because I had been reading blogs of some fellow believers that were travelling the world, and in some countries they had been staying at YWAM bases. So, God said: "If you need confirmation, then you will find the name Tabitha on a YWAM Australia page." I kinda laughed, but somewhere deep down also knew that I should trust God on this. So, doing what anybody would do when God tells you where to find something, I googled YWAM Australia. I searched, and searched the pages for the name Tabitha, but with no success (I am sure God was laughing at this point too). So, at this point I am thinking that either God doesn't believe in Google or it's not time for me to find the right website. =) Well, the next day, the 26th, on my way home from work, I heard God speak to me again, and this time He said: "Denver, Colorado - this is where the training center is located in Colorado that I want you to go." So, of course when I got home, I checked to see if there was a YWAM base in Denver, and what do you know, there was! I still wanted the confirmation about YWAM and was still curious about the Australia page, so on the night of the 28th I typed in the google box: YWAM, Tabitha, and the first result that came up was: YWAM Newcastle. I clicked on the first result and was shocked and excited to see that Newcastle is in Australia and the name in the middle of the page was student Tabitha McLauren's name. I just sat in awe of God for the next few minutes at how awesome He was.

From there, God laid out the plan for me to do the September DTS, since I had a contract with work that would extend through the summer, and September was the next available option for me. So when I applied and was accepted, it was just yet another confirmation that this is where I was meant to be in the next phase of my life's journey.

Confirmation to do Missions Full Time

2008-05-22T23:01:00.000-04:00

I love how God uses many different ways to speak to us about His plan for the path that we are meant to be on at a particular moment, and how when He speaks it, it resonates deep in your heart and brings so much peace. Well, that's exactly what happened for me on Friday, July 20, 2007 while in the bush of Ewasu, Kenya.

I was on a short-term mission trip with Adventures in Missions and we had just arrived that afternoon in Ewasu after leaving the slum of Kibera where we had been teaching in a school the first part of the week. Immediately upon our arrival in Ewasu we were greeted by the children and a game of soccer quickly ensued.....we of course lost and it was memorable for me because I ripped my skirt, exposing my behind to everyone! After a few games of soccer the kids headed home before the sun set and the animals would start roaming for the night. For the next hour the team decided to use the time we had for personal reflection / quiet time. Before I left on this trip to Kenya, my friends had compiled a set of cards for me to read everyday that I was gone, so on this day I started my time off by reading one of those cards. As I read the card I began to cry, and I knew that the reason I was crying was because God was speaking to me in a very personal way.

Inside the card was the following scripture:

Thus says God the Lord,
who created the heavens and stretched them out,
who spread out the Earth and its offspring,
who gives breath to the people on it and Spirit to those who walk in it,
"I am the Lord, I have called you in righteousness,
I will also hold you by the hand and watch over you,
and I will appoint you as a covenant to the people,
as a light to the nations,
to open blind eyes, to bring prisoners out from the dungeon
and those who dwell in darkness from the prison.
I am the Lord, that is my name;
I will not give my glory to another,
nor my praise to a graven image.
Behold, the former things have come to pass,
now I declare new things;
before they spring forth I proclaim them to you."
Isaiah 42:5-9

I read these verses several times, and prayed, and God just said: " You do have a calling and it will be to take my truth to those I send you to." And at that moment, it wasn't said, but I knew that my calling would include some of the most desolate areas in the world. God confirmed my calling that day to be a missionary full-time and revealed that for a little while that it will be completed on an international level.