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!

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 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

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!

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)

"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."

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.

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:

• 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

We also had 10 team members leave, so over the course of the whole outreach, we saw our team go from 16. We started out with a family of 4, a family of 5, and 7 singles. Then, as people got commissioned to start school and battle sickness, we were left with 1 leader and 5 singles. Pretty unique!

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!

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!