Breakthroughs

It’s been an incredible week on the DTS. God is doing so much powerful stuff in these students’ lives. In staffing this school, God is really showing me the power of prayer for Him to breakthrough in their lives. We, as staff, have been really burdened and really fighting for the students in prayer, and as a result we have seen incredible breakthrough this week. Before the school started, Bruce Skinner, our base leader, taught that the Holy Spirit is the discipler. I’ve seen that this week. The Holy Spirit has brought incredible transformation, by His power and His power alone. It is nothing I have done. God has just allowed me the privilege to walk alongside the journey with the students and invited me to become a part of the work HE is already doing (and I’m loving it).

This week we had a speaker come from South Africa. He taught on the Holy Spirit, including how He moves and gifts of the Holy Spirit. It was a powerful time of God exposing the fear in my own heart and asking me how much I really trusted Him. God brought up all the barriers in my heart to experiencing more of Him: fear, pride, control, past experiences (both good and bad). The most amazing part of the week was getting to walk with the students as they said “God I give you the last ounce of control I am clinging to. I want your presence and you to be real in my life more than I want these fears of mine.”

I love what the speaker brought- in that He didn’t exalt an experience of God’s presence. He made it clear that an experience and encounter with the Person of the Holy Spirit is to lead you into deeper intimacy with the Father in your daily life and faith journey. I really loved that and feel like that’s what happened for the students this week as well. This week, I saw God breakthrough strongholds built up for years, give emotions back to people who had put up walls, restore broken relationships, and more.

One thing God reminded me in the teaching is faith in the provision of God. 2 Corinthians 9:6-11 says,

“The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must give as he has made up his mind, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work. As it is written, ‘He has distributed freely, he has given to the poor, his righteousness endures forever. He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness.’ You will be enriched in every way for all your generosity, which through us will produce thanksgiving to God.”

God has been speaking to me quite a bit about living a lifestyle of faith and trust in His provision. He has blessed me more than I could ask or imagine in both financial support and incredible relationships through those of you partnering with me. But, one thing He continues to remind me is that He has not blessed me in order that I hoard and have more. He blesses me so that those blessings will flow through me. God challenged me this week... Do I believe that everything is really His? Will He find me faithful with the finances He has stewarded me with?

So, to apply that... We had a night of giving. I’ve never done anything like that before. The whole DTS and others on base gathered together to give to one another. Before, we each asked God what He wanted us to give and to who and why. The point of it is to remind ourselves that everything we have is God’s and to enjoy the joys of giving to one another. It was amazing. I felt God calling me to give monthly to one of my friends here who has really been trusting God for finances. She has been so faithful to communicate with friends and her church back home. I feel like God is wanting me to continually let the blessing He has given me flow through me, and to trust Him with a greater faith. The rest of the giving night was beautiful- people gave away guitars, cameras, meaningful jewelry, money, acts of service, and more. I was challenged in thinking “I can’t afford this...” to change that to “I can’t afford not to listen to God.”

I feel like there is so much more I could share about this week, but I’ll leave it at that. Please continue to pray. I’m seeing God really move in response to your prayers. It’s amazing.

For the DTS, pray:

-they would continue to become a family, sacrificing for one another and holding one another up

-they would seek to choose God in times they feel like giving up

-for hearing God clearly for the staff as we are praying into outreach- who should go, details ,etc.

For me, pray:

-I would continue to invest everything I am in this school, while hearing from God and trusting Him in what He has for me in the next season of staffing here

-That I would simply hear God and obey wholeheartedly every day

-That I would seek and be filled with more of His Word

Thank you all so much for being such a huge part of my life. I am truly blessed.

love, Christy

Answered Prayer

"If we are faithless, he will remain faithful, for he cannot disown himself."

2 Timothy 2:13

For all those of you who have been praying faithfully, let me take you on a journey with me. Before I came to Australia, I was reading in John one day, and God began- out of nowhere- to speak about the importance of joining a local church here in Australia. He spoke some things clearly to my spirit about having eyes open for a church with people grounded in truth- A faith family committed to teaching the sovereignty of a loving God and upholding the authority of the Scriptures. I knew that I didn’t need a church that would give me a “feel good” experience, just one that taught the Bible and sought to live out what it said with all their heart.

I held onto this thing God had spoken and asked you to pray for God’s leading and direction. Before we moved, when we still lived in Shellharbour, I started to feel discouraged because I didn’t see those things realized in the way I felt like God had spoken. “God, did you really mean I would find a church like that? Maybe, I am being too picky and idealistic... No, you said I would know when I saw these things fulfilled. But when God? I don’t see it happening.”

After the move to Port Kembla, I felt God calling me to run after the things He had spoken, and I randomly found a Baptist church online called Wollongong Baptist Church. I went and was immediately overwhelmed with the fingerprints of God on that place. It’s probably the most diverse church I’ve been to, in culture and in age. There are over 25 different nations represented there, and they have worship services in Chinese, Greek, and Burmese. The church has such a missions heart and focus on reaching the nations!

“God, could this be you? I see you at work here.” There is nothing glamourous about the worship, but they teach truth and are faithful to the authority of the Scriptures. “God, I am seeing the things you spoke that day about. I am watching to see what you are doing...”

That first Sunday I visited, I sat next to an 87 year old woman. She told me she came to know the Lord when she was in her thirties and has walked with him since. She and her husband started a church in their home, inviting people off the streets of Wollongong. She wants to share a meal with me and hear more about what God is doing in the nations through YWAM!

The next Sunday, I met a family from El Salvador! I spoke Spanish with this couple a little older than my parents’ age. They were so refreshed (and I was just plain giddy!) to speak with someone in their native tongue. They have a daughter who is my age. Later that night, I went to another service, and she introduced me to a lot of her friends who are students at the university in Wollongong.

I met another couple who have had a ministry to university students for years. They have opened their home to university students for months and years at a time and have had over 200 university students in their home over the years from tons of different nations! They have even gotten the opportunity to travel to some of their home nations with them because of this ministry. God is working in this church. His heart for the nations is evident in this place...

Today was my third Sunday to visit, and God solidified the stirring up in my heart about being a part of this faith family. I went to lunch at the pastor and his wife’s house after the service. They have three kids- ages 8, 5, and 2. I felt like I was back in Birmingham with my church family... right at home in the kitchen as I helped prepare lunch over good conversation and was taken into the 5 year old girl’s room, as she showed me her treasures! At this point, I am thinking... “God your grace is more than I imagined.” I enjoyed an amazing meal of breaded chicken, potatoes, and caesar salad... finished with an amazing desert of lemon pie and ice cream AND.... a latte made using an espresso machine! Heaven? Maybe. Haha.

I had such a good conversation with Rod and Christine about the church’s history of mission and God’s continual drawing such an international body together. We talked about all kinds of things. I spoke with them about how encouraged I was by today’s message on Ephesians 2... it was such truth proclaimed, glorifying God to the max. We talked about how we are saved only by grace, and nothing we done on our own. We talked about the strength knowing Christ provides in all circumstances, even in suffering, knowing that He is sovereign and in control and His character is good. So refreshing. This church is totally committed to the truth of God’s Word. God completely confirmed that in my spirit through my conversation with them in their home! Praise His glorious Name!

I’m humbled and thankful. Even in my doubting, God still proved Himself faithful to me. He spoke, and He answered the cry He put in my heart more than I could have pictured or imagined! Even through I doubted and questioned whether it would come to pass, He continued to work on my behalf.

"If we are faithless, he will remain faithful, for he cannot disown himself." (2 Tim. 2:13).

Even when I was faithless, He remained faithful. What a great God we serve! Thank you all of you who have continued to pray about this. I believe I am seeing the answer to prayer because you prayed! What a tangible example of you truly being on the journey with me!

The beginning of a journey... DTS starts!

It’s been a while since my last update. You might expect me to say that things slowed down after the big move and Christmas and New Year’s holidays. Nope, just as crazy- just in a different way!

January 4, we began our second week of staff training where we continued to get ready for the January DTS. We continued getting closer as a team and doing all the little things we needed to in order to welcome them to their new home. Our base leader, Bruce, spent some time as well equipping us with truths about New Testament discipleship. His talks freed me up a lot with the reminder that the Holy Spirit disciples those seeking Him, and my job is simply to point them to Him.

Last Saturday and Sunday, we welcomed 8 students from 6 different nations to the YWAM Wollongong family for the next 6 months. We have 8 amazing students, hungry to know God more and dive into this crazy adventure from the United States, Canada, the UK, Ireland, Malaysia, and Australia. I’m so excited they are finally here and I know God has really incredible and specific purposes in store for this group of students.

If you have heard me talk about DTS, but still are unsure of what it is we do here... check out YWAM Wollongong’s website... http://www.ywamwollongong.org. Here’s a little bit about DTS taken from the website:

“Discipleship Training Schools (DTS) aim to prepare messengers of the gospel, helping students to know God in depth. The goal is to form Christian character and establish Biblical relationships while developing a daily walk with God. The intensive Christian training course begins with an 11 or 12 week classroom phase followed by a typically 12 week outreach.”

So... we have a different international speaker every week teaching on topics like how to hear God’s voice, how to study the Bible, the Fatherheart of God, spiritual warfare, Biblical relationships, a Biblical worldview, prayer and intercession, mercy and justice, etc. It’s an amazing time of God refining the students’ hearts, burning their hearts with the things that His heart burns for and then sending them out to make disciples of all nations.

Before every group of students arrives, we spend time praying for them individually and for the school as a whole. When praying before the school, God led us to Jeremiah 17:5-8 as a theme verse for the next 6 months for this group.

This is what the LORD says:

“Cursed is the one who trusts in man, 
 who draws strength from mere flesh 
 and whose heart turns away from the LORD. 
That person will be like a bush in the wastelands; 
 they will not see prosperity when it comes. 
They will dwell in the parched places of the desert, 
 in a salt land where no one lives.

“But blessed is the one who trusts in the LORD, 
 whose confidence is in him.

They will be like a tree planted by the water 
 that sends out its roots by the stream. 
It does not fear when heat comes; 
 its leaves are always green. 
It has no worries in a year of drought 
 and never fails to bear fruit.”

I’m excited to see what God does in this school. Already I feel challenged to really depend completely upon God for strength and wisdom. He is responsible for growth and everything that happens. I am just a vessel and a tool in His hands. I really want to remain humble and teachable during this time and embrace everything He has for me to learn in this season. I also want to step out and take risks and not shrink back because of fear.

We’ve just about finished our first week, which was basically an orientation week. We’ve talked about YWAM’s history and YWAM Wollongong’s history, along with some of our values and vision. Bruce has been sharing with us some teaching on discipleship, and we are spending a bit of time this week sharing the stories of each of our lives with each other. It’s been great so far. Next week, we are jumping in fully and will be learning about hearing God’s voice.

Thanks again for all of your prayers and for being on this incredible journey. I can’t wait to share more of what God says and does!

Christmas in Australia...

Enjoy a window into my Christmas this year in Australia...

So, after we finished “moving” and making everything somewhat live-able for the next few days, we began preparations for a nice Christmas Eve dessert. I made my mom’s famous Heath Bar recipe for everyone. We decorated, setting up our Christmas tree, adding ambiance and “holiday glow.” Then we enjoyed fellowship together along with apple pie, amazing chocolate pie, heath bars, and Christmas sugar cookies! After dessert, we all walked down to the beach. On the way to the beach, we handed out candy canes to people on the streets and outside in the neighborhoods and wished them a Merry Christmas. At the beach, we played/ sang worship under the stars, celebrating the gift of Jesus to the world. It was an awesome way to celebrate the eve of such a blessed day in history.

setting up our Christmas tree amid the organized chaos of the move!

This is after we decorated the tree... we were proud!

The finished product!

Christmas Eve dessert! Mmmm... delicious!

Christmas morning, I woke up to the sound of LOUD Christmas music blasting from the living room- just like at home!!! Dave and Donna greeted us all, and we watched each other open gifts from family. I got to skype with my family for a little while, which was amazing. Then I helped in the kitchen to cook Christmas brunch. We enjoyed a REALLY good Christmas brunch together around a massive table (about 20 of us). We had french toast, breakfast casserole, hash browns, and fruit salad. Mmm!

The girls who cooked Christmas brunch

Brunch!

After brunch we went to Port Kembla beach on Christmas Day! The beach on Christmas?! Yes, indeed! The waves were amazing, too. After the beach, we all got ready and dressed up to go to Nanna Bell’s (basically, my surrogate grandmother) house for Christmas dinner. She had chicken, turkey, pork, dressing, potatoes, salad, rolls, and pavlova (a famous Aussie dessert). It was an awesome time of fellowship and just being together... one big family. One new thing was playing cricket in the back yard... Christmas is so different here with it being summer, but a lot of fun!

At Port Kembla beach.... absolutely beautiful!

All the staff girls dressed up and ready to go to Nana Bell's

Nana Bell's Christmas dinner

Well, I just wanted to take the time to blog about Christmas... hopefully that gives you a small window into the Aussie Christmas craziness that has been the past few days! I hope you all had a blessed day filled with celebration and joy over the birth of our Savior...

"Truly he taught us to love one another. His law is love, and His gospel is peace. Chains shall he break, for the slave is our brother. And in His Name, all oppression shall cease. Sweet hymns of joy, in grateful chorus raise we. Let all that is within praise His Holy Name!"

Moving Update!

First, MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE! I’m writing this the day after Christmas, but it’s still Christmas in the States. Whew, this has definitely been the oddest holiday season of my life! Things have been non-stop and crazy with the big move to Port Kembla!

We started packing up the entire base over a week ago and began the process of moving EVERYTHING in to our new building on Wednesday. I knew moving an operation of this scope would be massive, but I didn’t have a clue until we actually started doing it. We moved Wednesday, Thursday, and the first half of the day Friday and finally have almost everything in our new home! The past few days I have cleaned/ bleached smoky walls, cleaned/ bleached/ disinfected numerous toilets and showers, unloaded moving trucks, hauled mattresses, and cooked with cooking supplies in boxes all over the kitchen! It’s definitely been a CRAZY experience!

I cleaned a few toilets...

owning that bathroom!

This is our new base from the outside... we call it the "pink palace" sometimes.

Side note: Our room is tons better. It’s still quite small (I think smaller than my dorm in college), but it has its own bathroom, which is amazing! Before, I lived in a cubicle with paper thin walls. This room actually has concrete walls, high ceilings, a real functioning door, and a window! What a blessing! It’s a small space, but it feels much more permanent and homey already. There is still a lot of work to do to make it into a haven and a place where I can invite people into, but I’m excited about the possibility of that.

This is definitely a "before" picture of our room, but I thought I'd put it up anyway!

All in all though, I am absolutely amazed by the joyful attitudes and willingness of the community of people that I live with. There is no way we could pull something this huge off without everyone’s help, but it’s amazing to see what God can do when everyone comes together for a purpose bigger than themselves. It’s exciting to be a part of pioneering something new and to be present for God setting up the foundation. It all feels very purposeful and exciting. There’s still boxes everywhere and a ton of work to do, but somehow even in that, it feels like home. Being here in Port Kembla just feels right.

So, thank you all so much for your prayers. I’m so excited about being in this building and having a permanent place for our ywam family to call “home.” God is birthing something new in this place... that’s for sure. I'm cutting this short and going to post again about our Christmas here with more pictures. Enjoy... part two will be up shortly!

Training and Transitions

Wow, it has been way too long since I've updated. Life has been quite busy, but good. I've been learning a lot, and I am diving into my new life here full-on. Before I start this update, here's a couple quick pictures from Thanksgiving. We had an amazing time of celebrating God's goodness and thanking Him together corporately as a base. We enjoyed an awesome meal of turkey, dressing, sweet potato casserole, green beans, cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie, and pecan pie. The whole night definitely exceeded my expectations!

A Thanksgiving celebration like no other- 65 people from 7 different nations coming together celebrating God's goodness and enjoying life together.

We were LOVING the sweet potato casserole! Mmmm... ! I might add that Meg and I made this using a Southern recipe! :)

Meg (a fellow west-Tennessean) made sweet tea! Representin' the South!

Anyway, fast forwarding a little, November 28th to December 11th, I was in Sydney with 9 other people from YWAM Wollongong completing a YWAM training course called Certificate IV in Training and Assessment. It was an intense two weeks and hard to push through at times, but I learned A LOT.

I learned a good deal more about what a Discipleship Training School really is, as we were pretty immersed in the school curriculum. We talked about what we can do, as staff, to help the students get everything they can out of the school and learn in a way that leads not just to knowledge, but to applied knowledge- wisdom- and lifestyle change.

In the course, we discussed so much, including:

-various styles in which students will learn and process information and how to lead in a way that incorporates a variety

- how to teach a skill in a way that can be easily practiced and assessed

- time management and how to build things into my schedule that will lead to a healthy lifestyle and keep me from becoming burned out.

- how to mentor a student in a DTS environment and figure out where they are at in the context of the topics being covered... setting goals for them that are specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and timely.

-how to create a classroom/ learning environment that builds expectancy and anticipation

-how to lead a small group and the purpose of a small group in DTS context

-how to plan Outreach activities and ministries in a way that targets areas of growth in each of your students lives.

One thing that our facilitator, Judith, said during the week that I feel like sums up the challenge of mentoring and discipleship: “My role as a leader is not to hear God for you. My role as a leader is to facilitate the obedience to the Word of God in your life." This is huge. I want to lead in such a way that does not create a dependence upon me, but a dependence upon God and His Word that will translate into the student's life back home.

So, applying and implementing all this will be a challenge, but it is a challenge that I'm excited God is taking me into. I feel totally unprepared, but have peace in the midst of it, knowing that it's ultimately God doing the work and I just have to be willing and engaged.

On that note, this week is our first week of DTS staff training for the January DTS staff. We are doing a lot of team building stuff, praying into the school and the students, logistical stuff, etc. It's already been incredible, after only 2 days, and I can't wait to see what God does in this school.

So, how is that for an update? Still tons to come... the rest of this week of training, a week of moving the base to our new location in Port Kembla, Christmas holidays, another week of staff training, and the January DTS starts January 10!

Thank you all so much for your prayers. They are so valuable to me, as are each of you. I miss and love yall tons!

love, christy

Exciting News... the roller coaster ride begins!

As I write, I feel like there is so much going on, so much to tell. I'll start with the small and move to the big. This past weekend, I got to spend some more time with the September DTS before they leave on their outreach to Southeast Asia in the next couple weeks. We went to Sussex Inlet, about an hour drive away. At Sussex, we slid down this massive sand hill all the way to the bottom where it shoots you into the water below about 30 feet or so out. We also explored, snorkeled, and saw kangaroos. :) Here are some pictures from the day:

my roommate Amy (from Seattle, WA) and I

view from the top of the sand hill

I finally saw kangaroos!!!

I'm still working in the office (which is mixed with all sorts of other things throughout my days). Office-wise, I'm serving in the Registrar department. My specific role right now is answering web inquiries. When people are interested in doing a DTS, they e-mail an inquiry and I send them the information they request and walk with them through the application process. It's actually quite the exciting job to have the opportunity to be the first contact the DTS students have with anyone on base before they come. I'm enjoying it, as God has really prepared me and helped me to see the purpose and importance of it in the big picture.

Last week, the mobilization team I am a part of had a meeting with the lady who is over Scripture classes and Bible clubs in all the schools in the region. There is such a need for young people who are passionate about God to come in and share with these kids. There is so much opportunity to connect YWAM Wollongong to the community and come along and serve the local ministries that God has already established and is using to bring Christ to the area. My heart is to see overseas missions, local missions and ministries, and the local church all connected, equipping and serving one another together. This is something I'd love for you to be in prayer about, because I see God doing something.

What's coming up in the next month...

This friday, I am leaving for Sydney, along with 9 other staff, to do a training called Phase 1 Certificate IV in Discipleship. This course will serve to make me more effective in leading students in a way that is conducive to their individual learning styles and where they are at. I will learn to lead in such a way that the students who are here to do their DTS feel equipped and excited to learn and get the most out of their school. I've heard the Phase 1 course is very technical and sometimes hard to engage, but really important and valuable when it comes to leading a DTS and making sure the students understand and really do learn what they are there to learn. Please pray for me and these 8 other staff as we will be immersed into all kinds of intense training.

Ok, so big news...

YWAM Wollongong recently exchanged contracts with the owner of a property in Port Kembla (about 20 minutes drive away) and is in the process of purchasing a new facility!! As a base, we have been looking at properties for a while. This place simply can't accommodate all the growth that God has been doing in this community, which is an awesome problem to have! The base is only 4 years old, and God has multiplied the people here like crazy! The journey to this point has been so good and filled with so many God stories. Hopefully I'll get all the crazy, God-provision stories for you at some point soon. But, for now, here's the gist of it...

Port Kembla is a port city that once was the hub of Christian activity, but with increasing industrialization and the steel industry, is now a declining community. It's a pretty dark place in need of the light of Christ. The seller of the property had multiple offers on the table WAY better than ours, but he chose to sell us the property because he believes we would bring something good to Port Kembla! Because we are renting our current property, we plan to move out of here and into the Port Kembla building on December 22nd!! It's super soon, and we will need a lot of God's grace and strength in order to move and transition smoothly. So, that is a big prayer request- for everyone! I'm excited about the move and all God is taking this community of people into. He is definitely doing some big stuff, and I'm really humbled to be here in this season of the story God is writing.

A couple of weeks ago, we prayed over the city of Port Kembla... getting God's heart for the people there. This is a view from a lookout overlooking the coast...

I am thankful for each of you. These are exciting times. You are on an exciting journey. I'm so blessed to walk it with yall!

love, Christy