Monday, January 24, 2011

First week of staff training

Hey everyone! I'm here at University of Nations where I am on staff with Youth With A Mission. It has been a week now of being on staff, and it is an incredible experience. I feel like I'm exactly where God wants me to be, and I see His goodness all around me. I've been rejoined with so many good friends, and have made many more. Everyone is so eager to talk and be friends. And everyone has the pursuit of one person on their mind: Jesus.

We spend much time as a campus and as individuals simply being with our precious savior. It is in His presence that we get transformed, we get refreshed and we receive new strength for the new battles. It is in His presence that we find out who we really are, and who God really is. What a privilege to live in the presence of the Almighty God!

Looking ahead to future, we are very excited about the April Call2All DTS. We already met as a school and have been hearing so many good things from the Lord, who is giving us our identity as a school. So far we have 11 staff, and they should all get here early February.

We are in the process of praying for and recruiting students. We are expecting the Lord to send a huge workforce into the harvest fields, and we are hoping for 60+ students in our school. Will you be part of the faithful intercessors who join us in praying for these students?

Also, here is a little more information about the school and how you can join us as we follow the Lord.

Video:



U of N Kona
Call2All DTS
YWAM home page

Thursday, January 13, 2011

Its actually happening!

This is one of those exciting moments where I can just see God's hand at work in amazing ways! I'm finally going to Kona! After three and half months, I am soon going back to the YWAM base to start the work the Lord has prepared for me! I now have enough support where I can confidently go back, knowing that I am in God's will and He is providing for me! Its so exciting that after talking about it for so long, its actually happening! Praise God!

And I have really cool news about my family as well. They are just so fired up for God! It has been such a blessing to see in each one of my family members. My parents are coming back from Haiti with a week long missions team that they are leading! They continue to amaze me everyday by their willingness to go wherever and do whatever the Lord has them do. I am truly blessed to have such amazing parents. Papa mweh aye Mama mweh, M' reme ou. (My father and my mother, I love you, in creole).

My brother is doing amazing at Oregon State University, where He is studying Graphic Design. He is working hard, getting good grades, working a job on campus, and He has just started leading a high school group at his local church. It really is incredible to see God just dramatically turn his life around! Please continue to keep my family in your prayers, because we know that Satan doesn't like it when people follow Jesus.

If you could partner with me in prayer for the following things:
  • For spiritual authority in our staff team to lead a powerful school
  • For all of our financial and housing needs met
  • For God to send the right staff and students to our school
  • For vision and passion to really see this school be the best it can be
  • For us to be focused on intimacy with Jesus, that ministry would be an overflow
  • For my family to have unity, God's direction and deeper intimacy with Christ
 Thank you so much! Your prayers make a difference!

Also, I hope you enjoy this awesome video about the Call2All Discipleship Training School.

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas! I know its a little late, but at the same time I'm getting an early start on this year! I hope everyone has had a great holiday season, full of family, friends and lots of JESUS!
Its been a while since my last post, so this one is a recap of everything that has happened over the holiday season.

The first big event was having Tom & Alex Purvis leave, a young couple that are on staff with Campus Crusade for Christ. My parents were very generous in letting them stay with us. We really miss them not being here, but we're very excited that they get to do the work of the Lord! They are going to be working in Utah, which surprisingly is an unreached people group, with about 1% of the population Christians. Feel free to check out their website: tomandalexpurvis.com. I highly recommend them as people to support. From the first day they stayed with us through the very end they were incredibly encouraging, friendly, hard working and have amazing hearts to pursue God.

Next, we had all the family home! And this was the first Christmas where everyone was believing in Jesus! We had a really cool time reading the story of Jesus' birth and praying and worshiping together.

The day after Christmas, I flew to Kansas City, MO for a young adult conference called "onething". It was put together by the International House of Prayer in Kansas City (IHOP-KC). There were amazing times of worship and teaching, and everyone walked away more encouraged to live what society says is radical, but the bible says is normal. I want to highly encourage anyone that is interested to check out the free archives of teaching and worship, its powerful. Click this sentence to watch the onething archives.

So now I'm in Sisters, Oregon getting the final details taken care of before I head to Kona January 17th.

Merry Christmas! Here is a video showing the highlights of this past holiday season:

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Youth With A Passion

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.

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!




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!

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.