A good friend directed me to a great article about Youth With A Mission (YWAM) written by Christianity Today. The article is seven pages and has a great overall summary about the history, struggles, triumphs and everything in between. I hope you enjoy it, and please click on these words to get to the article.
Also, YWAM is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, and just concluded the final celebration in Kona, Hawaii, which is the home of the co-founders Loren and Darlene Cunningham. Its a very exciting time to be In YWAM, as they are really looking forward to the future full of vision and faith.
Nathan's Adventures with Jesus
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
Thursday, December 2, 2010
My parents and Haiti
Hey everyone! There has been so much happening lately I'm really glad that I have more to write about! Praise God for being exciting and full of adventures!
So for those of you who don't know my parents, David and Cindy Uttley, my mom is from California and my dad grew up in Haiti through high school, and then moved to New York. But the cool thing, and its totally a work of God, is that they both went back to Haiti and met each other at a print shop my dad was working at. So then, of course, because I'm their child and I'm alive, they got married!
This is another reason that Haiti is very dear to my heart, I have heard about it all my life, and they actually took me there when I was in 6th grade.
But back to my parents. As a result of all their life experiences such as their time in Haiti, my mom's nursing skills, my dad's fluency in Haitian Creole and their relationship with Jesus Christ, they have been used powerfully by God over the last 11 months.
The latest devastation that has hit Haiti is the latest Cholera outbreak. It is a deadly waterborne disease that can easily be prevented through proper hygiene. It grieves many of us to hear about the casualties that have numbered over 1,000 now. And at the same time, we know that there may be pain in the night but joy comes in the morning. And honestly the only reason I have hope for Haiti is because a little about who God is. God is faithful, he is patient, he is just and also merciful, he is good and loving, and is also full of wrath towards sin. I know that anything that happens there God is working for their ultimate good.
Currently my mom is in Cite Soleil, a slum in Port-au-Prince training the local Haitian nurse to prevent and treat Cholera. She is having the time of her life and feels like she is exactly where she needs to be. It is also quite a struggle, emotionally, physically, spiritually. And its in those times that we truly come close to Jesus, even sharing in the fellowship of His sufferings.
My dad is also leaving tomorrow, Friday Dec. 3rd to join my mom for a few days, as well as documenting Samaritan's Purse work in distributing shoe boxes full of toys for Christmas. It is such a great opportunity to share the love and message of Jesus Christ!
So if I could humbly ask you to walk with me in prayer, please continue to pray in the following ways:
Spiritual safety for my parents- I know that being in God's will is the safest place for them to be, please pray that they would continue to feel and hear His leading.
Faith for the Haitians- Pray that the locals would believe that they are capable of being used by God to bring transformation to their land. Also pray that they would come to a right knowledge of God.
If you would like to follow my mom's blog, clicking this sentence will take you right to it!
So for those of you who don't know my parents, David and Cindy Uttley, my mom is from California and my dad grew up in Haiti through high school, and then moved to New York. But the cool thing, and its totally a work of God, is that they both went back to Haiti and met each other at a print shop my dad was working at. So then, of course, because I'm their child and I'm alive, they got married!
This is another reason that Haiti is very dear to my heart, I have heard about it all my life, and they actually took me there when I was in 6th grade.
But back to my parents. As a result of all their life experiences such as their time in Haiti, my mom's nursing skills, my dad's fluency in Haitian Creole and their relationship with Jesus Christ, they have been used powerfully by God over the last 11 months.
The latest devastation that has hit Haiti is the latest Cholera outbreak. It is a deadly waterborne disease that can easily be prevented through proper hygiene. It grieves many of us to hear about the casualties that have numbered over 1,000 now. And at the same time, we know that there may be pain in the night but joy comes in the morning. And honestly the only reason I have hope for Haiti is because a little about who God is. God is faithful, he is patient, he is just and also merciful, he is good and loving, and is also full of wrath towards sin. I know that anything that happens there God is working for their ultimate good.
Currently my mom is in Cite Soleil, a slum in Port-au-Prince training the local Haitian nurse to prevent and treat Cholera. She is having the time of her life and feels like she is exactly where she needs to be. It is also quite a struggle, emotionally, physically, spiritually. And its in those times that we truly come close to Jesus, even sharing in the fellowship of His sufferings.
My dad is also leaving tomorrow, Friday Dec. 3rd to join my mom for a few days, as well as documenting Samaritan's Purse work in distributing shoe boxes full of toys for Christmas. It is such a great opportunity to share the love and message of Jesus Christ!
So if I could humbly ask you to walk with me in prayer, please continue to pray in the following ways:
Spiritual safety for my parents- I know that being in God's will is the safest place for them to be, please pray that they would continue to feel and hear His leading.
Faith for the Haitians- Pray that the locals would believe that they are capable of being used by God to bring transformation to their land. Also pray that they would come to a right knowledge of God.
If you would like to follow my mom's blog, clicking this sentence will take you right to it!
Sunday, November 28, 2010
A change of plans and prayer request
Hello everyone! First of all, I would like to say thank you to everyone who reads this blog, has prayed for me and has offered your financial support in this next season of my life.
Another thing is, and I constantly have to remind myself: God is good. He works everything for the good of those who love him. He is so committed to us and faithful that He sent his son to die, and He's coming again to rule the earth!
With that being said, I have to say that my plans changed. God's plans never changed, or will change, but my plans have changed. Originally I was going to meet the staff from YWAM in Tacoma, Washington and then do a recruiting road trip through Washington, Oregon and California. I just found out last night that will not be happening. At the same time, I still plan to go on staff with YWAM at the University of Nations. I still plan on going to Kona in February to start staff training for the April Call 2 All DTS.
The road trip getting canceled is due to my leaders, Aaron and Ronda Barker having a shortage of consistent monthly support. It is a very stretching time for them, and they will be very humble and honest to tell you that themselves. As they are going to be leading the school in April, it is completely necessary that they have an increase in monthly support, or they will not be able to lead to school. So I would just like to ask everyone that reads this to please pray that God's will be done! We know that He's good and will totally provide everything they need! Jesus said it so we're believing it!
I would also like to urge everyone who reads this to please seek the Lord about contributing to their support. Please don't feel any guilt or pressure to contribute, the key thing is just to ask God what to do and follow Him. I trust that He will guide you as you pray for my dear friends. If you would like to get to know them more and are interested in supporting them, please visit their blog at: aaronandronda.com. Thanks for praying!
An interesting thing about God is that when it seems like one door is being closed, another door is always being opened. For example: when Jesus died on the cross it looked like all hope was lost and all of his disciples basically gave up because their leader was dead! But the amazing thing is that God had that planned the whole time, for the sins of the world to be forgiven. And after dying, Jesus rose again and conquered death to give us new life in Him! That's the power of God!
With that being said, another opportunity has presented itself! I hope to go with my parents and members of Sisters Community Church to the nation of Haiti. I hope to leave January 7th and get back January 14th. If it works out, I'm sure it will be an amazing opportunity to partner with my parents in ministry, as well as continue to get God's heart for Haiti!
Please check back regularly, as I hope to keep everyone updated with whats happening, and thanks for praying!
Another thing is, and I constantly have to remind myself: God is good. He works everything for the good of those who love him. He is so committed to us and faithful that He sent his son to die, and He's coming again to rule the earth!
With that being said, I have to say that my plans changed. God's plans never changed, or will change, but my plans have changed. Originally I was going to meet the staff from YWAM in Tacoma, Washington and then do a recruiting road trip through Washington, Oregon and California. I just found out last night that will not be happening. At the same time, I still plan to go on staff with YWAM at the University of Nations. I still plan on going to Kona in February to start staff training for the April Call 2 All DTS.
The road trip getting canceled is due to my leaders, Aaron and Ronda Barker having a shortage of consistent monthly support. It is a very stretching time for them, and they will be very humble and honest to tell you that themselves. As they are going to be leading the school in April, it is completely necessary that they have an increase in monthly support, or they will not be able to lead to school. So I would just like to ask everyone that reads this to please pray that God's will be done! We know that He's good and will totally provide everything they need! Jesus said it so we're believing it!
I would also like to urge everyone who reads this to please seek the Lord about contributing to their support. Please don't feel any guilt or pressure to contribute, the key thing is just to ask God what to do and follow Him. I trust that He will guide you as you pray for my dear friends. If you would like to get to know them more and are interested in supporting them, please visit their blog at: aaronandronda.com. Thanks for praying!
An interesting thing about God is that when it seems like one door is being closed, another door is always being opened. For example: when Jesus died on the cross it looked like all hope was lost and all of his disciples basically gave up because their leader was dead! But the amazing thing is that God had that planned the whole time, for the sins of the world to be forgiven. And after dying, Jesus rose again and conquered death to give us new life in Him! That's the power of God!
With that being said, another opportunity has presented itself! I hope to go with my parents and members of Sisters Community Church to the nation of Haiti. I hope to leave January 7th and get back January 14th. If it works out, I'm sure it will be an amazing opportunity to partner with my parents in ministry, as well as continue to get God's heart for Haiti!
Please check back regularly, as I hope to keep everyone updated with whats happening, and thanks for praying!
Saturday, November 13, 2010
My brother got baptized!
Something amazing happened on the 3rd of November. It was a day I hope I never forget. There was bible teaching, prayer, worship, and best of all....
My brother, Josh, got dunked under water in the name of Jesus! He got baptized! He rededicated his life to following the one true God!
It seriously has been such an encouragement to see God's faithfulness through the whole journey leading up to the present. My whole family and everyone around Josh are reminded yet again that God is real, he hears our prayers, and is so faithful to keep his promises. And because my words can hardly describe what happened in Josh, I put together a video so we can all hear it straight from his mouth.
My brother, Josh, got dunked under water in the name of Jesus! He got baptized! He rededicated his life to following the one true God!
It seriously has been such an encouragement to see God's faithfulness through the whole journey leading up to the present. My whole family and everyone around Josh are reminded yet again that God is real, he hears our prayers, and is so faithful to keep his promises. And because my words can hardly describe what happened in Josh, I put together a video so we can all hear it straight from his mouth.
Thursday, October 28, 2010
My good friends and leaders
Hello everyone! I would love to talk to you about 2 amazing people who God used incredibly in my life. They are the leaders of the April 2010 Call2All DTS, the one that I was a part of earlier this year. And they are incredible! They LOVE the Lord, and are always taking others into the deeper things of God, and simply talking to them for 5 minutes makes me want to change the world forever! They are on staff with Youth With A Mission in Kona, Hawaii, and are a huge part of the leadership of that base. Its such an honor to have them leading the next generation. And because they are on staff, they require support. So if you would love to support this couple in staffing, they would greatly appreciate it!
If you would like to get to know them more, you can get to their blog by clicking here
If God stirs your heart to be a 1 time or continuous donor, click here
If you would like to get to know them more, you can get to their blog by clicking here
If God stirs your heart to be a 1 time or continuous donor, click here
Saturday, October 16, 2010
Thank you everyone!
After being home for 3 weeks now, I've finally been able to finish my thank you video! Since words can hardly describe my thanks to everyone, I hope this will help me out. And in the video you will also see a quick summary of everything that happened over the last 6 months. I took a Discipleship Training School in Kona Hawaii, and for outreach went to Thailand and Cambodia!
Thank you and God bless you for your generosity!
Enjoy!
Thank you and God bless you for your generosity!
Enjoy!
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Since I've been gone
So now I'm in Sisters, Oregon, United States of America. And it feels like I've been here the whole time... almost like I've stepped into a time machine and then went forward about 6 months. Well I know that I have changed so much, but in a way its really hard to tell because I'm just coming back to the same situation. And there are also some other hard things... like I haven't seen my dad in person for more than 6 months, and still have 1 more month until I see him face to face (besides Skype). But in the midst of all this I really need to hold on to the truth: that we will see Jesus face to face someday, and He will tell us: "Well done my good and faithful servant."
So God is good, and He never changes. And I just read a really encouraging facebook message from my best cambodian friend, and primary disciple: Behab. Here it is in its fullness:
(this is in response to me asking about the bible study)
So God is good, and He never changes. And I just read a really encouraging facebook message from my best cambodian friend, and primary disciple: Behab. Here it is in its fullness:
(this is in response to me asking about the bible study)
"Yes brother! It's going great and it's growing too. There are increasing so much. now there are 20 or 22 students in class, that so excited. and last thursday I were in Ngim class (an english class at the YWAM base) to share about GOSPEL, after I finishe d everyone feel more about Jesus. Thanks God. Oh! Now there're alots of staff in battambang, so witney she's ducussing with all the new staff to plan prayer room. And It will start next week. I'm so excited. Hey nate please pray for me and I need 200$ of DTS because I completed the application form already. I love you brother and I miss you so so so so soooooooooooooooooo much.
GOD bless you!
Behab."
GOD bless you!
Behab."
And thats how amazing God is! It is so cool to hear and know that God is ALWAYS working, and He is so capable of running anything. By the way, the class started out having 2 students... and The Holy Spirit just kept bringing them in!
So thank you all for partnering with me for the last 6 months, your prayers and support were a huge contribution to the fruit that is lasting and multiplying in Cambodia now.
Friday, September 10, 2010
Outreach is over. God is awesome!
So outreach is officially over. Wow! I didn't even see it coming. I feel like we were just getting into Cambodia, and today we had to say our goodbyes and have our last prayer times with the Cambodians. Well I guess time just flies when you're following Jesus!
We have seen so much happen in every area possible its hard to know what to write, but here's a summary of what we've seen God do:
So there has been lots happening here that I probably forgot to write on this blog, so I hope you keep checking it to hear fresh stories that are finally getting written down!
Also because words on a page really don't do it justice, here's a video taken by our DTS school leader Johnny Gillespie which describes the work God was doing through me. By the way, you can check out his blog as well by visiting this sweet website: Johnny & Jenni's Blog
Enjoy the video!
We have seen so much happen in every area possible its hard to know what to write, but here's a summary of what we've seen God do:
- 70 people accepted Jesus
- 6 Cambodian students got baptized
- 50 students learned about God & English at the youth center
- 120 student learned about God & English in the local village
- We saw an extreme makeover in local Cafe that will be used as a ministry to the community
So there has been lots happening here that I probably forgot to write on this blog, so I hope you keep checking it to hear fresh stories that are finally getting written down!
Also because words on a page really don't do it justice, here's a video taken by our DTS school leader Johnny Gillespie which describes the work God was doing through me. By the way, you can check out his blog as well by visiting this sweet website: Johnny & Jenni's Blog
Enjoy the video!
Sunday, September 5, 2010
Updated photos on Facebook!
Hey this is just an alert letting everyone know that I have recently been posting many pictures on my Facebook account for everyone to see. They are pictures of the whole outreach, from Bangkok to Battambang and a special album of our trip to Angkor Wat. It's such a blessing to have amazing technology, and I hope you are all blessed with seeing the glorious sights that I've seen!
A quick link to the photo page of my Facebook is:
Photos by Nate Uttley
Enjoy and God bless!
A quick link to the photo page of my Facebook is:
Photos by Nate Uttley
Enjoy and God bless!
Thursday, September 2, 2010
The many emotions of following God
I love it when people ask me how I am doing. One reason is because it shows me their love and genuine concern for my well-being. Another reason is so that I can actually think about how I am doing, which is becoming increasingly exciting every day!
I'm come to realize more and more over the last few months that one word will NOT give that question the answer it deserves. To really answer that question, in all of the depth that it allows for, I could spend all day. And then the next day hearing how you're doing, and then another day just relating to all the same emotions that we have. I hope someone is laughing about this, because I sure am!
But the truth is, sharing in that depth is so good for us! Because honesty just leads us closer to the heart of God. And when I think of all the emotions that God has for us and about us, its no wonder that our hearts are the same.
God grieves over us. God is excited about us. God has dreams for us. God rejoices over us. God gets angry about our sin. God is passionate about us. God is jealous for us. God is lovesick for us. And all at the same time! No wonder we often say we're doing "good" or "okay", to really go into detail would overwhelm ourselves and the other person asking us! But at the same time the overwhelming feeling of life just brings us closer to the man who is overwhelmed by us.
So how am I? Well, in a typical day while following Jesus, at multiple points throughout the day, many that are overlapping, I feel these emotions:
1. love for people
2. irritation at people
3. grief over the depravity of my flesh
4. joy over what God has done
5. feeling like curling up in a ball and crying
6. so much passion and energy that I feel like screaming at the top of my lungs
7. hatred towards the enemy
8. excitement about the future
9. lovesick for God
10. stressed about money
11. wondering if I'm crazy for believing in God
12. ready to tell everyone how much Jesus loves them
13. full of faith to see everyone healed, saved and delivered
14. discouragement because God is really just teaching me to be patient!
15. very ready for Jesus to come back!
So that's just a typical day in my life of following God. I've never felt more joy, more ecstasy or passion, and at the same time I've never felt more pain, anguish and grief. Is it worth it? Sometimes the enemy tries to tell me no, but then the voice of truth always rings louder, and I feel God speak to my heart:
Its worth it! Keep going! Just think of judgment day when you will see me face to face, and you will hear me say: WELL DONE! MY GOOD AND FAITHFUL SERVANT!
And then I'll probably have even more emotions than I have ever experienced. Bring it on!
I'm come to realize more and more over the last few months that one word will NOT give that question the answer it deserves. To really answer that question, in all of the depth that it allows for, I could spend all day. And then the next day hearing how you're doing, and then another day just relating to all the same emotions that we have. I hope someone is laughing about this, because I sure am!
But the truth is, sharing in that depth is so good for us! Because honesty just leads us closer to the heart of God. And when I think of all the emotions that God has for us and about us, its no wonder that our hearts are the same.
God grieves over us. God is excited about us. God has dreams for us. God rejoices over us. God gets angry about our sin. God is passionate about us. God is jealous for us. God is lovesick for us. And all at the same time! No wonder we often say we're doing "good" or "okay", to really go into detail would overwhelm ourselves and the other person asking us! But at the same time the overwhelming feeling of life just brings us closer to the man who is overwhelmed by us.
So how am I? Well, in a typical day while following Jesus, at multiple points throughout the day, many that are overlapping, I feel these emotions:
1. love for people
2. irritation at people
3. grief over the depravity of my flesh
4. joy over what God has done
5. feeling like curling up in a ball and crying
6. so much passion and energy that I feel like screaming at the top of my lungs
7. hatred towards the enemy
8. excitement about the future
9. lovesick for God
10. stressed about money
11. wondering if I'm crazy for believing in God
12. ready to tell everyone how much Jesus loves them
13. full of faith to see everyone healed, saved and delivered
14. discouragement because God is really just teaching me to be patient!
15. very ready for Jesus to come back!
So that's just a typical day in my life of following God. I've never felt more joy, more ecstasy or passion, and at the same time I've never felt more pain, anguish and grief. Is it worth it? Sometimes the enemy tries to tell me no, but then the voice of truth always rings louder, and I feel God speak to my heart:
Its worth it! Keep going! Just think of judgment day when you will see me face to face, and you will hear me say: WELL DONE! MY GOOD AND FAITHFUL SERVANT!
And then I'll probably have even more emotions than I have ever experienced. Bring it on!
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Baptized into new life!
This past Sunday we saw 6 students from the youth center baptized! It was amazing day, full of worship, laughter and lots of water! It was such an amazing honor to be in the water alongside my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ as they commit to follow the King of Kings forever! And that just makes me remember the second time I got baptized and really encountered God! You can watch both of those videos right here! Enjoy!
http://www.facebook.com/#!/video/video.php?v=64121415883
http://www.facebook.com/#!/video/video.php?v=64121415883
Saturday, August 21, 2010
Burning for Jesus!
Together we had the CHOP meeting at the YWAM Battambang base! It was great to burn before the Lord! We had 6 Khmer students there, learning to live in a culture of worship & prayer, in an intimate relationship with the Lord. It is super cool to have the Khmer jumping in the prayer movement that is sweeping the globe and will continue to do so until Jesus comes back!
Saturday, August 14, 2010
Salvations :) and Sera leaving :(
 |
| Raising their hands to choose Jesus! |
It was an incredible day, everyone on our team was just so blown away! So I just want to say thank you so much for faithfully interceding for our team here! I just know that everyone back home and all of my supporters had such a big part to play in this miraculous event!
 |
| In Jesus' name amen! |
With that eternal hope in mind, I'm super excited that everyone who accepts Jesus gets to spend eternity together with the living God! Because these are the last days that we get to spend with our great friend, loyal companion and amazing woman of God: Serapina Dayoon Kim, or just Sera.
She has grown so much during the lecture phase, trusting God for a miraculous entry into America, then her parents approval, then quite a bit of money! Then after getting here to Asia she has battled against sickness constantly, and has been able to teach her second language English to other people as their second language! We will surely miss every single part of Sera.
I'm starting to realize how many goodbyes we have to say in YWAM, but the hope of eternity makes it all better.
So looking forward to the future, we are very excited for Sera's new year of school studying Architecture at Virginia Tech. And we're super pumped to see the discipleship of an entire farming village.
So please agree with God's plans and heart for the following areas:
1. Excitement about salvation, that everyone would have a supernatural interest in following Jesus
2. Battling against false religion in the spiritual realm, and really contending for whole-hearted love towards Jesus and Jesus alone
3. For an increase in quality of education, both English and Bible
4. For wisdom in finances
5. For good attitudes during sickness, and miraculous healing!
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
He heals!
So it was just such an encouragement when we're stepping out and risking looking crazy or having the disappointment of nothing happening. It truly is amazing when God just takes over and does what He wants to do!
But as cool as God healing someone is, we're not stopping there! We're going for the full discipleship of the entire world, so we're very excited to continue teaching the bible, even equipping the locals with the bible and teaching them what it means to really follow Jesus!
So we're really preparing these people to make a genuine decision to follow Jesus, and hope to see many salvations in the coming days!
So just an encouragement to everyone who believes in the God of the bible, Jesus healed people, the Holy Spirit healed people in the book of Acts, and you can pray to God to heal people too! And of course the whole point of healing is to get them saved and actually following Jesus and going for the discipleship of the world, but what a radical piece of evidence right?
So with God healing so many other people out there, we are also trusting God to heal our teammate, Min. We are believing God for a miracle, and in the mean time she is staying at a local clinic to get better. So please agree with God for her healing!
In addition, please pray:
1. For the village ministry to enter into self-sufficiency
2. For the health of the entire team
3. For continued vision and passion for the remainder of our time here
4. For joy overflowing regardless of circumstance
5. For the heart of prayer to be released even more!
6. That we would have continued understanding of God's amazing love
Thursday, August 5, 2010
Discipleship cycles and sickness
Over this past week, we have seen an amazing breakthrough in the bible studies. This week I have shifted from being the leader of the bible study to having a Cambodian lead the whole thing, while I am simply assisting. It is a very exciting time, because the group is going to be able to support itself and be sustainable even after we go back to Kona! It is only by the grace of God of course, and its totally by faith because I only speak about 5 words in Khmer.
In addition, the leader that has taken authority and is also helping every other person in the group to be leaders too. Just these last few days we have really been studying about salvation, taking them through the gospel, and they have been teaching it to each other and practicing answering questions! It truly is happening in an amazing way, and I thank God that I get to be a part of it!
One of the cool parts about following God is that its not just for the "professionals," its for everyone, not matter whether they're in full time ministry or a janitor at school. Not matter where we are we all have as much capabilities to represent Christ and disciple the world, because we all have the same holy spirit!
Of course, with the Kingdom of God advancing very rapidly, a few members of the team have also been getting sick. Right now I have a nasty foot infection, but God is so big that He could heal it instantly! At the same time as hoping for that, I'm also able to go to a local clinic to get another one of God's blessings: medicine!
Another amazing blessing is the ability to go to Angkor Wat tomorrow, one of the 7 wonders of the world! Praise God!
So please agree with God's heart and pray in the following areas:
1. Sickness begone in Jesus' name!
2. Continued depth of intimacy with Jesus
3. Continued vision for these next 5 weeks
4. For the House of Prayer to become functioning
5. For the students to become hungry for baptism and real boldness about their faith
6. Real discipleship that will still be going even after we leave
In addition, the leader that has taken authority and is also helping every other person in the group to be leaders too. Just these last few days we have really been studying about salvation, taking them through the gospel, and they have been teaching it to each other and practicing answering questions! It truly is happening in an amazing way, and I thank God that I get to be a part of it!
One of the cool parts about following God is that its not just for the "professionals," its for everyone, not matter whether they're in full time ministry or a janitor at school. Not matter where we are we all have as much capabilities to represent Christ and disciple the world, because we all have the same holy spirit!
Of course, with the Kingdom of God advancing very rapidly, a few members of the team have also been getting sick. Right now I have a nasty foot infection, but God is so big that He could heal it instantly! At the same time as hoping for that, I'm also able to go to a local clinic to get another one of God's blessings: medicine!
Another amazing blessing is the ability to go to Angkor Wat tomorrow, one of the 7 wonders of the world! Praise God!
So please agree with God's heart and pray in the following areas:
1. Sickness begone in Jesus' name!
2. Continued depth of intimacy with Jesus
3. Continued vision for these next 5 weeks
4. For the House of Prayer to become functioning
5. For the students to become hungry for baptism and real boldness about their faith
6. Real discipleship that will still be going even after we leave
Saturday, July 31, 2010
Rainstorms and Salvations!
Hello again! It is such a blessing to be able to post something to this blog! I found an awesome hotel nearby that actually has free internet! Praise God! There has been so much that has been happening so far!
During the first full week, our leader, Aaron Barker was sick with someone that is not from heaven! Meanwhile our accountant and awesome friend was also quite sick. So for the first week we were limping along, and really pressing into Jesus for strength. Thank God that He can still work even in our weaknesses. However, there was amazing fruit even the first week, as we were beginning to get God's heart for the city of Battambang!
We are able to help build a local cafe, which is leading to some amazing team bonding times. I hope to do another post about those times, but lets just say that we are bringing the kingdom into everyday things.
A huge part of what we've been doing is teaching english and bible studies at the local youth center. It is such a blessing to use something useful like english to draw people in! So for 2 days a week during those classes, we've seen amazing fruit, and we are actually just having group bible studies on Tuesday and Thursday! The students are so incredibly hungry for the one true God! It's just incredible. Incredible!
As a fruit of the English classes we've now seen 2 solid salvations, and we're continuing to press on to see our entire classes come to be saved by the one! The only! JESUS CHRIST!
Another thing that was quite exciting was to have a rainstorm completely drench the city of Battambang. Last night we had such a crazy rain and lightning storm that there was about a foot of water on the road and the power went out for about 20 minutes. The funnest part was that we got to cook spaghetti and hang out with kids in the storm.
On Saturday Min and I went to a local pizza shop with 10 of the kids from our bible study. We each got to share our testimonies, and after the course of those 3 epic hours, we heard that 3 students had become officially saved and that 2 more decided that Jesus was the only real God and wanted to follow him Whole Heartedly! And that all fruit of just getting together and discovering God's word together.
An amazing testimony was told during the time: Someone with an empty gas tank in their motorbike prayed to God, and He filled it up with gas! There is nothing short of God's amazing powers.
We've also seen about 2 healings per week, which is just amazing! It just truly shows God's character, and the little healings always draw them to the biggest miracle of all: getting their soul saved!
So thats what has been happening in the past, now looking forward to the future:
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| Our Bible study group! |
During the first full week, our leader, Aaron Barker was sick with someone that is not from heaven! Meanwhile our accountant and awesome friend was also quite sick. So for the first week we were limping along, and really pressing into Jesus for strength. Thank God that He can still work even in our weaknesses. However, there was amazing fruit even the first week, as we were beginning to get God's heart for the city of Battambang!
We are able to help build a local cafe, which is leading to some amazing team bonding times. I hope to do another post about those times, but lets just say that we are bringing the kingdom into everyday things.
A huge part of what we've been doing is teaching english and bible studies at the local youth center. It is such a blessing to use something useful like english to draw people in! So for 2 days a week during those classes, we've seen amazing fruit, and we are actually just having group bible studies on Tuesday and Thursday! The students are so incredibly hungry for the one true God! It's just incredible. Incredible!
As a fruit of the English classes we've now seen 2 solid salvations, and we're continuing to press on to see our entire classes come to be saved by the one! The only! JESUS CHRIST!
Another thing that was quite exciting was to have a rainstorm completely drench the city of Battambang. Last night we had such a crazy rain and lightning storm that there was about a foot of water on the road and the power went out for about 20 minutes. The funnest part was that we got to cook spaghetti and hang out with kids in the storm.
On Saturday Min and I went to a local pizza shop with 10 of the kids from our bible study. We each got to share our testimonies, and after the course of those 3 epic hours, we heard that 3 students had become officially saved and that 2 more decided that Jesus was the only real God and wanted to follow him Whole Heartedly! And that all fruit of just getting together and discovering God's word together.
An amazing testimony was told during the time: Someone with an empty gas tank in their motorbike prayed to God, and He filled it up with gas! There is nothing short of God's amazing powers.
We've also seen about 2 healings per week, which is just amazing! It just truly shows God's character, and the little healings always draw them to the biggest miracle of all: getting their soul saved!
So thats what has been happening in the past, now looking forward to the future:
- Pray that a Cambodian House of Prayer would get stirred up as we start the first steps for that
- Pray for radical discipleship of the new Christians, that they would be fully surrendered and eager for more!
- Pray that we will continue to see healing of entire people: heart, body, and soul
- Pray that Philippians 2:3-5 would become a reality for our team, to press in for the fullness of unity
- Pray that we would continue to have a greater understanding of how to have fun and rest in Godly ways
Friday, July 16, 2010
In Cambodia
Hello everyone! First of all, I would just like to say I'm so blessed by everyone's comments about this blog! It encourages me that I'm able to encourage others and that God touches your lives through me! Way to go God! Since its the summer now I know that everyone is just having so much fun in Sisters! I pray that you guys have as safe of fires as possible (because they are kind of necessary). I also pray that God continues to light a fire in your Hearts wherever you are! Seriously seeking God is the best thing ever! At the end of your life when you're at the Judgement Seat of Christ, nothing else will matter except for the things that glorified God! That's a very good thing to realize now while we still have more life to live.
So the team is now in Cambodia! Everyone is going through culture shock, which is good because it brings us closer to Jesus! It so amazing just how blessed America is materially! We are so blessed to have hot clean water, air conditioning and clothes washers!
We will be teaching english, which is one of the best ways to tell student about English actually! Thank God that I was born in America! I will actually get to be teaching bible with my friend, Min Young. Then in the morning we will be planting a church group and building a christian's cafe! It will be so exciting to see what God does!
It will be exciting to see if I can ever put pictures on here or even on Facebook. I hope that God just releases amazing internet here so thats possible (haha it could happen)! And I will only be able to update the blog about every Saturday, just so y'all know.
Well I really miss everyone and I'm super glad because that means it will be even better when I see y'all again!
Please agree with God that we will become closer to Him and be strengthened in the midst of new things and fun adventures!
So the team is now in Cambodia! Everyone is going through culture shock, which is good because it brings us closer to Jesus! It so amazing just how blessed America is materially! We are so blessed to have hot clean water, air conditioning and clothes washers!
We will be teaching english, which is one of the best ways to tell student about English actually! Thank God that I was born in America! I will actually get to be teaching bible with my friend, Min Young. Then in the morning we will be planting a church group and building a christian's cafe! It will be so exciting to see what God does!
It will be exciting to see if I can ever put pictures on here or even on Facebook. I hope that God just releases amazing internet here so thats possible (haha it could happen)! And I will only be able to update the blog about every Saturday, just so y'all know.
Well I really miss everyone and I'm super glad because that means it will be even better when I see y'all again!
Please agree with God that we will become closer to Him and be strengthened in the midst of new things and fun adventures!
Saturday, July 10, 2010
Moving into the neighborhood
In Thailand, there is a cultural mantra: "To be Thai is to be Buddhist." So in a country that is completely covered with Idols, statues, and temples with humans putting their money, time and hope into, the gospel of Jesus Christ is good news! I just heard recently that if a Buddhist accidentally kills a mosquito (which may actually be a re-incarnated ancestor), that have to do penance for 3 weeks! how amazing is it that our glorious God who actually answers prayers is the one that offered the sacrifice for us? The bible says that Jesus made himself nothing, coming Heaven down to Earth, being made in human likeness and dying for us! God came into our neighborhood and showed us His love! Wow! And the coolest part is that all we have to do for a relationship is repent, receive His love and live our lives to be like him! How great is our God!
Another reason I like the verse above is because of who we're working with. We've been able to work with King's Kids, a ministry inside of YWAM. We've been going into a local slum and teaching the bible, praying for people, sharing the good news and doing mercy ministries like fixing houses. We were just recently told that the King's Kids team in Thailand is actually moving into the slum that they work at, just because God told them to! So inspiring!I hope you all are stirred to move into your neighborhood with the love and Good News of Jesus Christ!
If anyone would like to help me and the team, you can agree with God's heart in the following areas:
- On monday the 12th we are doing an open air evangelism presentation
- The christians in the biggest university in the world
- The thai YWAMers and christians
Monday, July 5, 2010
Thank God He can do anything!
So this is just a crazy opportunity to say thank God for being able to do so much more than we could ever do! Right now we are positioned across the road from a satellite school of the biggest university in the world! It is an incredible chance to plant small groups and have a church planting movement just explode! So please pray for the Lord to continue to open doors into the campus, that we'll be able to get discovery groups together and for the movement to continue even after we are gone! Please continue to pray for the release of signs, wonders and miracles, not to entertain us, but to confirm the gospel that is being preached! We know that Jesus is a healer and can heal anyone instantly!
Also, a little Glory to God moment, we saw our first salvation yesterday! On the independence day for America, it was independence day for Peter from sin and death! And now he has total religious freedom, both because of Thailand and also because Jesus will free him of everything that binds! Praise God!
Also, a little Glory to God moment, we saw our first salvation yesterday! On the independence day for America, it was independence day for Peter from sin and death! And now he has total religious freedom, both because of Thailand and also because Jesus will free him of everything that binds! Praise God!
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
In Thailand, aka Jesus Land :)
So it was a great flight, even with 5 kids everything went extremely smoothly! Praise God it was awesome! We are all so thankful that God put his spirit inside of us, and that the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control, and that we always have the holy spirit inside of us. That means that by faith we always have those things! And as we continue to walk in a life led by the spirit and not by the flesh, the Holy Spirit will manifest (show forth) all the time.
It was a great first day! We went on a treasure hunt around the area of the YWAM base that we are staying at. We were able to meet a girl in a divine appointment at a bookstore, and able to find someone at a local university who spoke English and wanted a bible to study it and learn from it! Praise God!
God really showed me that if we don't know what to do or where He's calling us to go, all we really have to do is just walk outside. As we just pray for our location and for God to give us his heart, we will be given so many things that could happen in that place! God really is so good that all we have to do is just be around the people that He loves, pray for them, and obey Jesus's teachings and the voice of the Holy Spirit.
Another thing The Lord showed me today is that He really did put each one of us in the individual countries we were born in for a reason. I am so glad that God has allowed me to be an American. No matter what the world thinks and says about America, and no matter how bad some things are, God is just so good that He wants even my American citizenship to be used for His glory! By the way, most of the kids here are very excited about meeting Americans and practicing English. Praise God!
It was a great first day! We went on a treasure hunt around the area of the YWAM base that we are staying at. We were able to meet a girl in a divine appointment at a bookstore, and able to find someone at a local university who spoke English and wanted a bible to study it and learn from it! Praise God!
God really showed me that if we don't know what to do or where He's calling us to go, all we really have to do is just walk outside. As we just pray for our location and for God to give us his heart, we will be given so many things that could happen in that place! God really is so good that all we have to do is just be around the people that He loves, pray for them, and obey Jesus's teachings and the voice of the Holy Spirit.
Another thing The Lord showed me today is that He really did put each one of us in the individual countries we were born in for a reason. I am so glad that God has allowed me to be an American. No matter what the world thinks and says about America, and no matter how bad some things are, God is just so good that He wants even my American citizenship to be used for His glory! By the way, most of the kids here are very excited about meeting Americans and practicing English. Praise God!
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Whats next?
So in case anyone is wondering what God has on my plate after Thailand and Cambodia, I still strongly feel the Lord leading me to go to Haiti. Despite being distracted by so many different options in YWAM, the Lord has been relentless in telling me to go to Haiti. So as soon as possible I hope to apply to be on staff at one of the YWAM bases in Haiti, either at St. Marc or Port-au-Prince. Please pray that God opens the doors to do that, and also just pray for Haiti anyways!
Saturday, June 26, 2010
He will always outgive!
At the beginning of this DTS, I was reading a really good book called Crazy Love by Francis Chan and the Holy Spirit. In it is a direct challenge to increase your giving, in faith that God will increase His giving. The passage he used is powerful: Malachi 3:9-11: 9 You are under a curse—the whole nation of you—because you are robbing me. 10 Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this," says the LORD Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it. 11 I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not cast their fruit," says the LORD Almighty
God spoke to me through this passage, and since that day He consistently told me to give away little portions of my savings to friends for their outreach money, or maybe to congregations for an offering. Now I want you to realize that this was all His money anyway, that He was just letting me borrow it. So He tells me to give all of it away bit by bit. I came to DTS with about $600 in my savings. So then I literally have such little money in my bank account that I can't even take it out because it is so small, and for about a month I've had to trust God for everything. I trusted God for laundry money, for contact solution, for the money for my infection medicine. He always came through, by working miracles through friends and just taking care of every single need that I had the whole time!
Now, at the very end of lecture phase, I have received $1,256 from the extra money given to me for outreach. That is more than double what I came here with! It is so cool to see God let me borrow His money, and then after I put it where He tells me, He gives me back more than double! You guys the God's promises are legit! Praise God!
In case you're wondering, The Lord told me to take $200 on outreach, and then to specifically keep $1000 for the trip to Haiti that I hope to go on in the future.
God spoke to me through this passage, and since that day He consistently told me to give away little portions of my savings to friends for their outreach money, or maybe to congregations for an offering. Now I want you to realize that this was all His money anyway, that He was just letting me borrow it. So He tells me to give all of it away bit by bit. I came to DTS with about $600 in my savings. So then I literally have such little money in my bank account that I can't even take it out because it is so small, and for about a month I've had to trust God for everything. I trusted God for laundry money, for contact solution, for the money for my infection medicine. He always came through, by working miracles through friends and just taking care of every single need that I had the whole time!
Now, at the very end of lecture phase, I have received $1,256 from the extra money given to me for outreach. That is more than double what I came here with! It is so cool to see God let me borrow His money, and then after I put it where He tells me, He gives me back more than double! You guys the God's promises are legit! Praise God!
In case you're wondering, The Lord told me to take $200 on outreach, and then to specifically keep $1000 for the trip to Haiti that I hope to go on in the future.
Friday, June 25, 2010
Goodbye Hawaii!
It is now the end of the 11th week of lecture phase. We are leaving Hawaii on Monday June 28th at 6:15 AM! Thank you all for praying for me and the team!
God is so fun
This is just a little tribute to our staff, We love them so much and are so thankful that God has allowed us to partner with them in this time! I hope you love this movie!
The Classroom- a spoof off the office and our loving staff
The Classroom- a spoof off the office and our loving staff
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Time flies!
It is so exciting to live life with God isn't it? It seems like I was just packing getting ready to come to Hawaii, and now I'm packing to get ready to go to Thailand! Its amazing to think that for the rest of my life on earth I am going to be doing 2 things: Loving God and Loving People! What a simple life to live right? I just thank God that we have an awesome retirement plan! I am constantly reminded of James 4:14: "What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes."
So I'll be flying to Thailand in 6 days now, and I just so thankful for every that has faithfully been praying for me and supporting me this whole time! I pray that the Lord pours out on you what you have been pouring out on me.
By the way, it will be very easy to communicate with everyone back home from Facebook (Nate Uttley), E-mail (tadmordrummer@gmail.com), or Skype (thenuttley). I hope to update my blog as often as I get the chance!
So I'll be flying to Thailand in 6 days now, and I just so thankful for every that has faithfully been praying for me and supporting me this whole time! I pray that the Lord pours out on you what you have been pouring out on me.
By the way, it will be very easy to communicate with everyone back home from Facebook (Nate Uttley), E-mail (tadmordrummer@gmail.com), or Skype (thenuttley). I hope to update my blog as often as I get the chance!
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
God cares... He really does :)
Its just been an amazing journey following God and actually trusting him for every single thing. Jesus says not to worry about any of your needs ever, to just seek him and He will take care of every one of your needs. That is so true! I didn't have the cash to buy contact solution, but after praying to God and giving that need to him, He radically provided through a friend just giving me some!
Over the past few days my feet have been infected, and right after praying and seeking God's will to find the cheapest solution, a friend comes and tells me that there is actually a doctor walking by that can make prescriptions and everything! So then I go and talk to the doctor and he fills out a prescription... free of charge! Then one of my other friends completely gives up 2 hours of time, takes me to Walmart, gives me $20 and now I'm all set! Just because she was moved by the love of Jesus!
So that just goes to show you that God is always there, and He will always take care of every single one of your needs. In fact, He's already taken care of your biggest need, salvation!
Over the past few days my feet have been infected, and right after praying and seeking God's will to find the cheapest solution, a friend comes and tells me that there is actually a doctor walking by that can make prescriptions and everything! So then I go and talk to the doctor and he fills out a prescription... free of charge! Then one of my other friends completely gives up 2 hours of time, takes me to Walmart, gives me $20 and now I'm all set! Just because she was moved by the love of Jesus!
So that just goes to show you that God is always there, and He will always take care of every single one of your needs. In fact, He's already taken care of your biggest need, salvation!
Monday, June 7, 2010
A gift of abundance
Just a little note of thanks to all my supporters! I hope to contact you all through the phone, mail or email. I also wanted to just thank all of you guys! Because of all the amazing donations, I have been able to help out the leaders of our outreach with their funds as well! Its quite amazing, because if I hadn't received as much money as I did, our leaders wouldn't be able to take us on outreach! Its just amazing how God will give some an abundance to fill the need of others! Thank you all and God bless!
Thursday, June 3, 2010
God is so rich!
We're at the point in our DTS right now were we are paying all of the final funds so that we can go on outreach! At the end of week 4 we needed about $60,000 over the past 4 weeks, and especially the past few days, we've seen God provide even more! God is just getting us to trust Him even more right now!
Its awesome to see everyone just worshiping God for who he is, not as a reaction to the money that they got. God is so good that if we just focus on who he is and what he's like, we can have complete faith that He will provide. And with faith, God will move mountains for us!
Praise God for his faithfulness and provision! Everyone will get to go on outreach because He's so awesome!
By the way, the teams are going to:
1. Afghanistan for 12 weeks
2. Philippines for 6 weeks, Singapore for 6 weeks
3. Thailand for 3 weeks, Cambodia for 9 weeks (That's the team I'm on)
Its awesome to see everyone just worshiping God for who he is, not as a reaction to the money that they got. God is so good that if we just focus on who he is and what he's like, we can have complete faith that He will provide. And with faith, God will move mountains for us!
Praise God for his faithfulness and provision! Everyone will get to go on outreach because He's so awesome!
By the way, the teams are going to:
1. Afghanistan for 12 weeks
2. Philippines for 6 weeks, Singapore for 6 weeks
3. Thailand for 3 weeks, Cambodia for 9 weeks (That's the team I'm on)
Saturday, May 29, 2010
Freedom of speech is awesome
Those that live in America are extremely blessed! We have freedom of speech and freedom of religion, amazing! God is so good! I just read a book about a guy who was imprisoned in Iran for 9 weeks. Not only did the book get me stoked to fall in love with Jesus so much that it doesn't matter if I get imprisoned or not, but it got me deeply thankful for the amazing blessing that we have in simple things like being able to talk about our relationship with God anywhere in America!
God also asked me to fast from speaking for 5 hours today. It was the hardest fast I've ever done! If anyone knows me in person, they know that I like to talk about Jesus a lot! Cause He's so awesome! The crazy thing is that when you're trying not to talk, God teaches you even more about himself! And the more you learn the more you want to tell people! And then God just creates this hunger inside you to tell the whole world about him! Oh GOD! TO PROCLAIM THE WONDERS OF YOUR HOLY NAME!
It seems that only once we have our freedoms taken away are we truly able to enjoy the fullness of them. Thank God that we EVER get to talk about how awesome He is.
God also asked me to fast from speaking for 5 hours today. It was the hardest fast I've ever done! If anyone knows me in person, they know that I like to talk about Jesus a lot! Cause He's so awesome! The crazy thing is that when you're trying not to talk, God teaches you even more about himself! And the more you learn the more you want to tell people! And then God just creates this hunger inside you to tell the whole world about him! Oh GOD! TO PROCLAIM THE WONDERS OF YOUR HOLY NAME!
It seems that only once we have our freedoms taken away are we truly able to enjoy the fullness of them. Thank God that we EVER get to talk about how awesome He is.
Thursday, May 13, 2010
Worship Duty
When we think of worship, I normally think of intense praise in the form of music. There might be some people dancing, a few people on their knees, and most people probably with their hands raised at least as high as their belly button.
The awesome thing that God has really been showing me is that everything we do can be worship unto God! The way we love each other, the way that we do our schoolwork, the way that we play sports, the way we spend all our of free time.
The coolest thing is that we get to do 2 hours of work every day as a part of our DTS learning experience. And its not actually work, its worship! And what better way to feel closer to Jesus than to actually do what Jesus did! For Jesus came not to be served but to serve!
So have a great time living a lifestyle of worship! And the greatest part is, that means we can enjoy dying to ourselves and loving our enemies just as much as our favorite worship service. Pretty Rad!
The awesome thing that God has really been showing me is that everything we do can be worship unto God! The way we love each other, the way that we do our schoolwork, the way that we play sports, the way we spend all our of free time.
The coolest thing is that we get to do 2 hours of work every day as a part of our DTS learning experience. And its not actually work, its worship! And what better way to feel closer to Jesus than to actually do what Jesus did! For Jesus came not to be served but to serve!
So have a great time living a lifestyle of worship! And the greatest part is, that means we can enjoy dying to ourselves and loving our enemies just as much as our favorite worship service. Pretty Rad!
Sunday, May 9, 2010
Thailand and Cambodia!
By the way, I'm going to Thailand for 3 weeks, and then to Cambodia for 9 weeks for outreach! It's going to be really exciting, and God is totally gonna show up in massive ways!
So far we know that we will be:
So far we know that we will be:
- teaching english
- helping out the orphans
- doing street dramas and worship concerts
- helping and encouraging the local missionaries
- And much more! God full of fun!
- The soil to be ripe for the harvest in Thailand and Cambodia
- Unity in our class and outreach team
- More divine inspiration for ideas to reach out during outreach
- For a continued motivation to reach out while in Kona
- Continued wisdom and love from the leadership
- To be eternally minded in everything that we do
- Guidance for the leaders and kids
Happy Mother's day!
This is such a great day, we get to celebrate the amazing gift that mothers have been to us from God! I hope that everyone is able to have the joy of giving their moms an amazing day!
I have really been learning a lot about the importance of the family, and I'm so stoked about the body of Christ! I'm seeing how with Jesus we seriously have family all around the world, united with one heart, one mind, one spirit and one body!
God has totally healed me of all of the rejection and all of the judgment that has resulted from that. He's totally told me that no matter what I do, or where I go, that I am still loved just as much. And even when I hate him he still loves me the same exact amount. That truly is some crazy love that He has for us! It's amazing that when we find our identity in God love's and not our actions, its so much easier to love ourselves and love others!
I hope everyone is enjoying the things I write about, if anyone has any questions please don't hesitate to comment!
I have really been learning a lot about the importance of the family, and I'm so stoked about the body of Christ! I'm seeing how with Jesus we seriously have family all around the world, united with one heart, one mind, one spirit and one body!
God has totally healed me of all of the rejection and all of the judgment that has resulted from that. He's totally told me that no matter what I do, or where I go, that I am still loved just as much. And even when I hate him he still loves me the same exact amount. That truly is some crazy love that He has for us! It's amazing that when we find our identity in God love's and not our actions, its so much easier to love ourselves and love others!
I hope everyone is enjoying the things I write about, if anyone has any questions please don't hesitate to comment!
Friday, April 23, 2010
The power of youth
Its amazing how God works, no matter what your age! We just had a speaker who was telling about his teaching a 3 day conference on church growth even though he was 23! Because God has no age limits, whether young or old, everybody gets to be in the party!
God has really been showing me and a few others the power of being child-like. You see, children have everything else that we need to be complete Christians. Because Christian means "little Christ," we need to have the faith and boldness that Jesus represented all day long. Many Christians have the knowledge and wisdom part down, and I feel like God really wants to remind many of us, no matter how old or experienced we are, that need to be like children to enter the kingdom of heaven.
Children have dreams that are amazing! Have you ever met a kid who didn't believe in his heart that he could be an astronaut, brain surgeon, professional sports player or world peace hero? I mean kids have such faith and vision for the future that it just gets you pumped! When I was 5 years old, I believed in my heart that anything was possible! I thought I could win the lottery, no matter how crazy the odds were! If we can unleash a spirit to dream like children, we could really see the whole world revolutionized by the power of Christ.
Another thing that children really have that everyone needs is acceptance. A child will get to know someone, and they have had no time to develop preconceived notions that will be used for their judgments. I think you get the point, that children are just awesome! So innocent, honest, accepting, faith-filled and bold. Could you imagine if every christian was child-like, and filled with the holy spirit and wisdom? I pray to God that this will be restored!
And how much more amazing will the body of Christ be if everyone has the exuberance, adventurous spirit and gung-ho attitude that every 18 year old has? If we could take a generation that has been walking away from church doing the peak of their high school years and show them that they can go travel the world and make a huge difference right out of high school, how much greater will the body of Christ be? And where does it say in the bible that you have to go to seminary or get a degree first to make a difference? By the way, I love education and hope to spend the rest of eternity getting one. But seriously, why go to college to get a degree that you won't do anything when you can just go to the mission field where you'll do some serious learning? Now, its totally different if God calls you to get an education, which is awesome! But don't let the world tell you that you have to meet their requirements to be effective for Christ. All that God cares about is your heart to know him and make him known.
What if we could grab every young person that is walking away from the church during their late teens, which is reaching 90% these days, and tell them that they can make the change? What if we could tell them that their anger towards the church is a good thing if it motivates them to BE the change? Could you imagine! I declare over this generation that their passion will be used for the good of the kingdom of God. We need a restoration of the early new testament church, and I declare that it will be through all generations partnering together and getting a fire under our buts that will do it!
A whole world tasting the goodness of God through child-like faith, 18 year zeal and elderly wisdom... sounds pretty good doesn't it? I just really pray that we as a body can harness the power of youth.
God has really been showing me and a few others the power of being child-like. You see, children have everything else that we need to be complete Christians. Because Christian means "little Christ," we need to have the faith and boldness that Jesus represented all day long. Many Christians have the knowledge and wisdom part down, and I feel like God really wants to remind many of us, no matter how old or experienced we are, that need to be like children to enter the kingdom of heaven.
Children have dreams that are amazing! Have you ever met a kid who didn't believe in his heart that he could be an astronaut, brain surgeon, professional sports player or world peace hero? I mean kids have such faith and vision for the future that it just gets you pumped! When I was 5 years old, I believed in my heart that anything was possible! I thought I could win the lottery, no matter how crazy the odds were! If we can unleash a spirit to dream like children, we could really see the whole world revolutionized by the power of Christ.
Another thing that children really have that everyone needs is acceptance. A child will get to know someone, and they have had no time to develop preconceived notions that will be used for their judgments. I think you get the point, that children are just awesome! So innocent, honest, accepting, faith-filled and bold. Could you imagine if every christian was child-like, and filled with the holy spirit and wisdom? I pray to God that this will be restored!
And how much more amazing will the body of Christ be if everyone has the exuberance, adventurous spirit and gung-ho attitude that every 18 year old has? If we could take a generation that has been walking away from church doing the peak of their high school years and show them that they can go travel the world and make a huge difference right out of high school, how much greater will the body of Christ be? And where does it say in the bible that you have to go to seminary or get a degree first to make a difference? By the way, I love education and hope to spend the rest of eternity getting one. But seriously, why go to college to get a degree that you won't do anything when you can just go to the mission field where you'll do some serious learning? Now, its totally different if God calls you to get an education, which is awesome! But don't let the world tell you that you have to meet their requirements to be effective for Christ. All that God cares about is your heart to know him and make him known.
What if we could grab every young person that is walking away from the church during their late teens, which is reaching 90% these days, and tell them that they can make the change? What if we could tell them that their anger towards the church is a good thing if it motivates them to BE the change? Could you imagine! I declare over this generation that their passion will be used for the good of the kingdom of God. We need a restoration of the early new testament church, and I declare that it will be through all generations partnering together and getting a fire under our buts that will do it!
A whole world tasting the goodness of God through child-like faith, 18 year zeal and elderly wisdom... sounds pretty good doesn't it? I just really pray that we as a body can harness the power of youth.
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Video and pictures
I put together a few tours of the campus, some videos from friends and its on vimeo: YWAM Hallelujah!, and all the pictures that I will be taking will be on Facebook!
The first week!
This has been an amazing week so far! Praise God for all that he's been teaching me! We have been learning so many things just in this first week! Every day we have 3-4 hours of lectures in the morning, with amazing teachers from 21 to 40! They all love the lord and have had some really amazing God things happen to every single one of them!
We also spend at least 2 hours monday, wednesday, friday in the prayer room, worshiping and interceding before the lord. For those that don't know, to intercede means to stand in the gap, just like Jesus is interceding before God the father on our behalf.
One of the coolest things is learning to hear God's voice! How cool is our God that he still speaks to us no matter how deserving we are! Once we ask God's heart for something, whether its a country, people group or sphere in society, we pray God's heart back to him. Intercession is extremely effective because we ask God what he wants instead of simply praying what we want!
We are also learning to cultivate intimacy with Christ! I am getting taught a whole new concept from God, that the most intimate thing we can do is rest with someone else. Just like a child in a fathers lap, if we just relax in God's presence it really brings us closer together. A great example of this is shown in Genesis. On the 6th day God created man, and then next day he just wanted to hang out with him! It sure seems like God just wants to hang out with us! And the cool thing is, intimacy with him makes our missions SO much more effective because he will give us his heart for things and we will be able to hear his voice so much clearer! PRAISE THE LORD!!!
By the way, if anyone has any prayer requests, I would really love to pray for everyone of you!
Peace out with the Prince!
We also spend at least 2 hours monday, wednesday, friday in the prayer room, worshiping and interceding before the lord. For those that don't know, to intercede means to stand in the gap, just like Jesus is interceding before God the father on our behalf.
One of the coolest things is learning to hear God's voice! How cool is our God that he still speaks to us no matter how deserving we are! Once we ask God's heart for something, whether its a country, people group or sphere in society, we pray God's heart back to him. Intercession is extremely effective because we ask God what he wants instead of simply praying what we want!
We are also learning to cultivate intimacy with Christ! I am getting taught a whole new concept from God, that the most intimate thing we can do is rest with someone else. Just like a child in a fathers lap, if we just relax in God's presence it really brings us closer together. A great example of this is shown in Genesis. On the 6th day God created man, and then next day he just wanted to hang out with him! It sure seems like God just wants to hang out with us! And the cool thing is, intimacy with him makes our missions SO much more effective because he will give us his heart for things and we will be able to hear his voice so much clearer! PRAISE THE LORD!!!
By the way, if anyone has any prayer requests, I would really love to pray for everyone of you!
Peace out with the Prince!
Monday, April 12, 2010
God is Good
I don't know really what to say except that God is just so good! This whole world that he has given us is just filled with his goodness. Its amazing, even the suffering that hes taken me through seems awesome in hindsight, like he was just giving me a hunger to be where he wants me to be, so now that I'm here its just the best feeling ever! God is so faithful that he can use any situation and any suffering for his glory and the blessing of those that he carries through.
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Thank You and Goodbye!
So this is my last day in Sisters! It has an exciting 3 1/2 weeks leading up to this moment! There is so much thankfulness to given out!
I would like to thank God first and foremost for putting so many people in my life, his provision, faithfulness and love.
Much thanks to my parents, who have prayed with me, cried with me, forgiven me, bought me underwear, helped me pack, encouraged me, support me, gave me a house to live in and food to eat, and believed in me even when I didn't believe in myself. I am forever in debted to them, and I think the only time they will get paid back is in heaven.
Thank you to my teachers, Mrs. Spear for doing my recommendation and praying for me when I really needed it. Mr. Rexford for helping me get tough and always encouraging me. To Mrs. Johnson, for being full of life and letting me pray in class. To Mr. Cotner, for being a friend even when we're not at church. To Mrs. Sampson, for giving me so much freedom in school to work. Thanks to Mr. Hodges for hosting an epic year of FCA. To Mrs. Harrison, Mrs. Novotny and the rest of the aspire volunteers.
Thanks to Mr. Macauley, for being an encouraging and positive coach no matter the record. To Mr. Stewart for giving everyone the "ticket to the show" and always smiling when you did it. Thanks to everyone in the office, to Pinky, for being kid's second mom, to Shelli, for getting the transcripts and everything together for kids, to Dan and Cindy for keeping the schedules and credits in line, to Mrs. Nielsen, for keeping the funds together! Much thanks to the janitors/custodians for keeping it clean!
Thank you to everyone at Sisters High school for 4 great years of awesome education!
I would also like to thank everyone that has been praying for me ever since I was born. I know there's a lot out there, and I hope you're encouraged by the way that God has totally rocked my life!
Also, thank you Jesus for dying for our sins, and rising from the dead to prove what you said!
Thanks to Tim Kizziar, Dan Keels, Kevin Marks, Paul Rawlins, David Yost, you guys have pastored an awesome flock! Truly shining the light, and its just shows that God truly has a hold of your lives completely!
Thanks to Sheryl Whent, Stu Ehr, Mindi Cotner, for just the church an enjoyable place to be!
Thanks to Kelly and Eli Pyke, for taking us into the wilderness without once wondering if we were going to die!
Thanks to John Colter, the Bensons, and everyone else at Younglife!
Thanks to all my friends, for always wanting to have fun no matter what, and I hope all you guys continue to seek God with all of your heart, for if you seek him faithfully he will never disappoint you!
Thanks to YWAM for letting me in! Praise the Lord!
Again, all glory to God forever and ever.
I would like to thank God first and foremost for putting so many people in my life, his provision, faithfulness and love.
Much thanks to my parents, who have prayed with me, cried with me, forgiven me, bought me underwear, helped me pack, encouraged me, support me, gave me a house to live in and food to eat, and believed in me even when I didn't believe in myself. I am forever in debted to them, and I think the only time they will get paid back is in heaven.
Thank you to my teachers, Mrs. Spear for doing my recommendation and praying for me when I really needed it. Mr. Rexford for helping me get tough and always encouraging me. To Mrs. Johnson, for being full of life and letting me pray in class. To Mr. Cotner, for being a friend even when we're not at church. To Mrs. Sampson, for giving me so much freedom in school to work. Thanks to Mr. Hodges for hosting an epic year of FCA. To Mrs. Harrison, Mrs. Novotny and the rest of the aspire volunteers.
Thanks to Mr. Macauley, for being an encouraging and positive coach no matter the record. To Mr. Stewart for giving everyone the "ticket to the show" and always smiling when you did it. Thanks to everyone in the office, to Pinky, for being kid's second mom, to Shelli, for getting the transcripts and everything together for kids, to Dan and Cindy for keeping the schedules and credits in line, to Mrs. Nielsen, for keeping the funds together! Much thanks to the janitors/custodians for keeping it clean!
Thank you to everyone at Sisters High school for 4 great years of awesome education!
I would also like to thank everyone that has been praying for me ever since I was born. I know there's a lot out there, and I hope you're encouraged by the way that God has totally rocked my life!
Also, thank you Jesus for dying for our sins, and rising from the dead to prove what you said!
Thanks to Tim Kizziar, Dan Keels, Kevin Marks, Paul Rawlins, David Yost, you guys have pastored an awesome flock! Truly shining the light, and its just shows that God truly has a hold of your lives completely!
Thanks to Sheryl Whent, Stu Ehr, Mindi Cotner, for just the church an enjoyable place to be!
Thanks to Kelly and Eli Pyke, for taking us into the wilderness without once wondering if we were going to die!
Thanks to John Colter, the Bensons, and everyone else at Younglife!
Thanks to all my friends, for always wanting to have fun no matter what, and I hope all you guys continue to seek God with all of your heart, for if you seek him faithfully he will never disappoint you!
Thanks to YWAM for letting me in! Praise the Lord!
Again, all glory to God forever and ever.
Monday, March 22, 2010
HUNGRY
This whole past year has been an amazing experience. I feel like God has let me experience a hunger in my heart and in my spirit more than ever before! Its always interesting when God will give you a desire to do something that seems right but then he makes you wait. This is what the whole past 2 months since the earthquake in Haiti has felt like. I've wanted to go ever since my dad (yay little daddy and big daddy!) left on January 13th. It's been on my family's heart and mind ever since it happened.
For the 5 weeks my dad was in Haiti my mom was emailing, researching and calling almost non-stop to either keep my dad or keep the world informed. As a family we prayed more frequently during that period than any time I can remember. During about the third week of Dad being gone, my mom and I received word that we would have a great chance to go and stay with my Dad, for at least 2 weeks if not more. Now that'll make you hungry :) So Mom and I were just praying and asking (almost begging) God to let us go... and then a week later we find out that it wasn't going to work out at the time. Now this is how I am convinced that God has a sense of humor. My dad got back from Haiti on a Tuesday, and on Wednesday Mom found out that she was leaving on Friday!
During this whole time I really felt that I should graduate high school a trimester early, because I felt that with that I would be able to go to Haiti for a much longer time than two weeks. So I'm praying and asking God what he wanted me to do, and I kept hearing YWAM... Haiti... YWAM... Haiti. God just kept making me hungry to seek him. So then, I emailed the peeps at YWAM base in St. Marc, Haiti, and they strongly advised that I trained at a different location... haha I wonder why? (maybe the earthquake kinda "shook" them up a little bit :)
So then, after much research on the internet and word of mouth of experienced people, I found an awesome base in Kona, Hawaii. When I found the class named Call2All I felt my heart and the angels around me sing! It totally described the passions that God has given me: to pray, to see the message of Jesus be carried to the farthest reaches of the earth, to experience a spirit-led life, to cultivate intimacy with Jesus, and and to surrender to God's will in all parts of my life. After a couple weeks of working on the application, getting reference forms and getting health tests, I finally got in! I'm really thankful to John Colter, Jordan Rudinsky and Samra Spear for helping me out with all of that! And God for informing the people making the decision that it was in his plan too!
I still haven't had God's promise of going to Haiti with YWAM fulfilled yet... but I know that the hungrier I get for God to work the sweeter it will taste when he does!
For the 5 weeks my dad was in Haiti my mom was emailing, researching and calling almost non-stop to either keep my dad or keep the world informed. As a family we prayed more frequently during that period than any time I can remember. During about the third week of Dad being gone, my mom and I received word that we would have a great chance to go and stay with my Dad, for at least 2 weeks if not more. Now that'll make you hungry :) So Mom and I were just praying and asking (almost begging) God to let us go... and then a week later we find out that it wasn't going to work out at the time. Now this is how I am convinced that God has a sense of humor. My dad got back from Haiti on a Tuesday, and on Wednesday Mom found out that she was leaving on Friday!
During this whole time I really felt that I should graduate high school a trimester early, because I felt that with that I would be able to go to Haiti for a much longer time than two weeks. So I'm praying and asking God what he wanted me to do, and I kept hearing YWAM... Haiti... YWAM... Haiti. God just kept making me hungry to seek him. So then, I emailed the peeps at YWAM base in St. Marc, Haiti, and they strongly advised that I trained at a different location... haha I wonder why? (maybe the earthquake kinda "shook" them up a little bit :)
So then, after much research on the internet and word of mouth of experienced people, I found an awesome base in Kona, Hawaii. When I found the class named Call2All I felt my heart and the angels around me sing! It totally described the passions that God has given me: to pray, to see the message of Jesus be carried to the farthest reaches of the earth, to experience a spirit-led life, to cultivate intimacy with Jesus, and and to surrender to God's will in all parts of my life. After a couple weeks of working on the application, getting reference forms and getting health tests, I finally got in! I'm really thankful to John Colter, Jordan Rudinsky and Samra Spear for helping me out with all of that! And God for informing the people making the decision that it was in his plan too!
I still haven't had God's promise of going to Haiti with YWAM fulfilled yet... but I know that the hungrier I get for God to work the sweeter it will taste when he does!
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