Steadfast

Fiji Final Update!

2011-12-26T11:59:00.000-08:00

God has been so faithful in everything that I have been able to be a part of this year from doing a two month road trip across the USA to being an assistant leader in the Awaken DTS and leading an outreach team to the islands of Fiji! What an adventure. God truly is worthy of our praise!

I apologize for the lack of updates on this past trip. We were a very mobile outreach team traveling all over the island of Viti Levu and usually in a location without internet or even electricity. What an adventure though! Seeing SALVATION, HEALING and DELIVERANCE as well as so much more. We worked mostly doing door to door in settlements and villages as well as nightly church services mainly in the AOG church. I know the first thing that comes to mind is an uncomfortable visit from the Mormons, but in Fiji where the culture is very much wanting you to come and "have some tea". They almost expect you to come if your a visitor. This was a very challenging ministry at first for us but after seeing so many people encounter the love of God it became more about being faithful with what God gave us.

We were very blessed to have one of our students be a very skilled photographer and make an amazing outreach video for us which goes over each location we went to with testimonies, pictures and videos. There is a short version which is about 10 minutes and a long version which is in two parts and is about 19 minutes. Below the link to both. Please know that your prayer and support was a huge part of this outreach happening! Thank you so much! God bless!

Here is the link to the long version. Make sure you watch both parts!

Fiji outreach (Long Version)

Here is the link to the short version.

Fiji outreach video (Short Version)

Bring Hope to Fiji

2011-09-11T14:25:00.000-07:00

At this point I am still in need of $1500 to go to Fiji. Please pray about how you can help be a part of taking the love of Christ to the people of Fiji.

If you would like to donate you can visit the support information tab

God wants a family

2011-08-09T19:04:00.000-07:00

After six weeks of this DTS I have seen so many breakthroughs in the lives of the students. They are so hungry for God and are stepping out of their comfort zones like I have never seen before. This group is simply blowing my mind with how they are laying down their lives to pursue what God has for them. I can honestly say that I am having to keep up with this group in running after Jesus.

This past week we had a speaker cancel on us last minute so we really had no idea what we were going to do. We got together and God started to bring some very interesting ideas to mind. The first day we had Andrew York speak who is our school leader. He shared an amazing message about the presence of God and how it must come before we seek out His plans. Most of the big church mentality is that if we get a really good plan and we can gather a lot of people than God's presence will come. What usually ends up happening is that we get amazing facilities with a good amount of people and there is such a lack of love and genuine fellowship. If we go after the presence of God, He will begin to create families and from that place he will release dreams and visions for what He wants us to do! This isn't just an idea; this is exactly what we have experienced in these past two years in this discipleship training school.

After that day we sent the students out on what we call a "Faith Journey". We basically sent them out in their outreach teams and had them pray about what to do for the day. With little to no structure they left the base and went all around the island. One of the many testimonies from the day was from a girl on my Fiji outreach team who was granted a free ride on a helicopter around the island that normally costs $500. She was even able to pray for someone’s healing through the intercom that everyone can hear through! The main thing I saw God do that day was solidify in the student’s hearts that it's not about what they can do for God but about them enjoying Him and moving from that place of knowing how much they are loved.

On Wednesday morning we split up the guys and the girls and had what we call "Men of Glory" and "Women of Glory". This was a preaching class us staff had been involved in before the school had started and changed my life forever. What we do is pick a simple topic for the group to come up with about a 3 minute message on and each person gets up and shares. More than having a good clean biblical sound message it is about people letting out their passion for Jesus and being set free from fear of man and passivity! I have never seen such a passionate and free bunch of men before in my life! The best part of this is seeing so many men be so brave and vulnerable in front of each other and letting loose the crazy passion for Jesus that is bottled up inside waiting to burst forth!

For the rest of the week we decided to do a 50 hour "Burn" which is basically nonstop around the clock prayer and worship. We had all the staff and students sign up for different hours day and night to be in the prayer room. This was such a good time for us all to seek God and ask for everything that He has for us. We ended this burn with a corporate set that ended with crazy dancing and chanting!

The next night we invited all of the students up to the house that six other guys and I are living at and we had a big family cookout. About 100 of us filled the house and the backyard. This was exactly how we felt like God wanted us to finish this week as a family celebrating the life that Jesus gave us!

"Revelation brings a Crisis"

2011-06-15T21:24:00.000-07:00

I have now been in Kona, Hawaii for three weeks and have gone through so much transformation! Yes I have completed a discipleship training school and staffed one last year but I am beginning to understand when our staff trainer Jeremy West says “be a disciple first always”. A discipleship training school (DTS) is something you can graduate from, but you never graduate from being a disciple. The past few weeks have been some of the hardest times in my short Christian walk, but it has been my choice to continue to engage myself with the heart of God that has changed me. In plain words I can't rely on my own experiential knowledge but to always be teachable and pliable by God.

During staff training the past two weeks the one quote that has been stuck in my head has been “revelation brings a crisis”. The idea is that when there is true revelation from God there should be some kind of crisis that provokes me to seek or desire a change. This should then hopefully bring me to seek Jesus Christ for the grace that I need to walk in it. It’s really the same as “revelation requires a response” but I never thought about the fact that when I start feeling like I’m having some kind of life crisis that it could actually be God’s love. In no way am I saying that God kills people to teach us or that he makes us suffer so that we realize we need Him. I’m saying that there might be heart issues or mindsets that we have and when we are pursuing God His light actually shines on us revealing the hidden things.

I had one especially hard week where I felt like all of my junk was rising to the surface. This was where I had to consider the fact that maybe God wants to do a work in my life. One day I felt so rebellious and didn’t want to do anything during worship or focus on God. I didn’t want to open my mouth or do anything. Later that day one of the other staff asked me how I was doing and I simply responded “bad”. She didn’t try to do anything other than simply pray for me and it was so encouraging! I know that God doesn’t want us to walk these things out by ourselves and that he desires for us to have loving friendships that can simply pray for each other and see breakthrough.

I have simply experienced a passion for Jesus and a constant choice to engage Gods heart, no matter how I feel. I have had to press through some of the driest days where I don’t “feel His presence” and had to just trust that He was with me. This is so necessary in a place where ministry is 24/7 and I usually don’t “feel” like I can minister to others. I have to hold on to the truth that it’s worth it! When God is glorified through other people finding out who they are in Him than we continue to see more and more of who He is!

18 more days until over 100 students come to have their lives radically changed!!!

New Update!

2011-05-11T12:10:00.000-07:00

Update of the last few months

I recently spent two months traveling across the United States with a group of 5 friends that I work with in the Discipleship Training School. We visited different ministries and leaders of the ministries to gain perspective of what they see God doing in our nation and in our generation. It was an amazing eye opening time of seeing so many different parts of the church operating in exactly what God created them to be. There is so much diversity in the church and it is so beautiful to see a certain part working exactly as it should. Sometimes we would go from one place to another and it seemed like they saying complete opposite things, but it really took us to a deeper level of seeking the Lord and in the end we really saw that most of what they were saying was the same but communicated differently. I could see the love of God in so many different ministries and began to understand how I had to break some of the boxes I was putting Him in.

We also saw how God was revealing Himself to us in our small community of 6 throughout the trip. We had amazing times together as we spent endless hours driving over 13,000 miles in our 1998 Dodge conversion van. We really learned how to love each other and this only increased the presence of God in our group. God has been putting 1John 4:11-12 on my heart and revealing to me how much it connects to what He is doing in my life and in our group.

^"11 Dear friends, since God loved us that much, we surely ought to love each other. ¹² No one has ever seen God. But if we love each other, God lives in us, and his love is brought to full expression in us."

I have never seen God and known His love as much as I had on that trip and it wasn’t in the church building or listening to the preacher, it was with my friends as we would seek the Lord and love one another. This is simply the first two commandments of loving God and loving your neighbor. It was a deep revelation of how God really brought His love to a full “expression”, or “perfection” as we began to love each other. We had even seen a few peoples lives completely transformed and redirected back to God because of how they saw God in our lives! That was the most effortless evangelism I've ever been involved in.

My next steps

I will be heading back to Kona, Hawaii at the end of the month to work in another Discipleship Training School. I am completing my second year of my two year commitment and should be expecting anywhere from 70 to 100 students. The first phase of the school is three months of lecture where we have a different speaker each week talk about different topics about God like “the Father heart of God” or “The Holy Spirit”. During time we have close one on one discipleship and small group times with the students. The second phase is a three month outreach where I will most likely be taking a team to Southeast Asia to serve in different churches and ministries.

This is a service based ministry and I am committing my next seven months to this school. This school had a major impact in my life as most of you know and I have such a desire to see others have the same freedom and revelation that comes with a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. This school also has a major impact on the nations that we go to. Whether it’s serving long term missions or working with local native churches, we are able to see amazing fruit and this brings so much perspective to our students as well.

Your Part

Please consider how you might be able to partner with me in this next seven months either in financial or prayer support. Both areas are major areas that I depend on others for.

Prayer support

Please consider taking time each day or even once a week to pray for me as well as other staff and students. There is a constant battle going on and as we begin to tear down the works of the enemy in our lives and go after all that God has for us there will be heavy opposition from the enemy.

Financial support

I am dependent on financial support to be able to serve in this school since it is a volunteer program. Please pray about making a donation or even becoming a monthly supporter. Check out my support page for more info.

Love Amplified

2011-04-19T18:06:00.000-07:00

Enjoy my first video update! Only took me 25 tries!

Texas to Northern California

2011-04-02T19:56:00.000-07:00

We are now in the last couple weeks of our trip and have made it all the way up to Redding, California to visit Bethel Church for the weekend. We had such an amazing time in Texas, stopping in Waco and visiting the Antioch church which reaches out to the Baylor university and community college campuses by setting up discipleship houses and other training programs. The church also plants other church communities like this around the world and wants to plant one in all of the 50 states. Us guys were able to stay at one of these discipleship houses for a night and spend some time talking to the guys there. One of the guys had heard about what the Antioch church was doing and moved out to go to school there for a deeper relationship with Jesus and for the community that is created there. I was amazed at the discipleship that was going on here and vision to go beyond just surviving as a college student.

Next we headed down to San Antonio, Texas to visit a church that was hosting Todd Bentley for a few days of healing ministry. I know there is controversy over him doing ministry and his history, but he spent some time humbling himself and is back to working in his calling and God is still moving through his ministry so we decided to check it out. One of the hardest things being there was choosing not to judge and not even focus on him but to keep my eyes on Jesus and to see what God is doing. It was incredible how many people where healed and how they were able to keep the focus on God and continue to give glory to God.

We are now up in Redding, California visiting Bethel Church for the weekend and I am blown away by how awesome this place is! We arrived on Friday and attended that nights service and met up with some friends that were there. On Saturday we were able to go to the "Healing Room" where they have people come sign up to be prayed for. We where able to go in and see how it worked and it was nothing liked I expected. Instead of sadness and heaviness there was such a spirit of joy in the rooms and an expectancy for people to be healed. At the end we where able to stay with the staff as they circled around and shared testimonies. For almost a half hour they shared story after story of people that had awesome miracles and healing happen that day! If you would like to check out some of the testimonies you can click HERE to go to their testimony page.

We now have about nine days left on this trip and will be heading down to Sacramento and
Los Angeles. We should be meeting a few more people on the way but we will be taking some time to do some serious processing of all that the Lord has shown us.

Please pray that we make it through the rest of this trip as safe as we have and that we continue to stay open and available for whatever God has for us.

Check out our team page for more details and pictures!!! http://www.awakennations.com/

"By wisdom a house is built"

2011-03-22T17:20:00.000-07:00

Family fun day in the Rockies

We are now on week seven of our trip across the USA and are being completely blown away by the goodness of the Lord in so many ways. We have stayed at a lot of different houses, slept in a lot of different beds and met a lot of amazing people who love Jesus and have blessed us beyond belief. We don't even know most of these people and they are taking steps of faith to allow 6 crazy missionaries sleep in their house. I know that these people are sacrificing a lot to house us and make us meals. Each and every stop we have been able to share testimonies and life with the ones housing us and also receive from them. I am seeing so much how God loves relationship. We have only stayed in hotels a few times which have been huge blessing and very restful but I have to say that I have loved every house that we have stayed at no matter the sleeping conditions. There truly is more value in the relationships that we have had than a comfortable hotel room.

One evening we were in Denver, Colorado and were praying for some of our YWAM friends after a dinner when a drunken man and his wife came up to us and he asked us for prayer and food. We were definitely more than happy to do that for them and since we had received so much these past weeks it definitely felt like time to do some pouring out. We spent time talking to them and praying with them. This man was so desperate for Jesus. He got down on his knees and cried out to Jesus for help with his drinking problem. These people were truly broken before the Lord and crying out for a savior and I know that He met them there in that moment. We don’t know where they are or what they are up to right now but we continue to pray for them and hope that they will continue to seek Jesus and be healed of every addiction.

We have met so many amazing people including some of the most influential ministry leaders in the world and have heard some of the most mind blowing wisdom and revelation but I have to say that the things I know we will remember and grow most from are the times together as a family. We have traveled thousands of miles together, had many conversations, prayed many prayers, laughed more than acceptable at times and have walked through major breakthrough together. We have been walking together with Jesus and I know that there is so much wisdom that will come out of those simple moments that we don’t always think to be important. We have to grow in wisdom to contain any amount of knowledge that we receive on this trip. The verse that has been coming to my mind a lot is Proverbs 24:3-4

“By wisdom a house is built,
and through understanding it is established;
through knowledge its rooms are filled
with rare and beautiful treasures.”

My desire isn’t to walk out of this experience with a really big head, but to have inspiration for a really nice house.

Simple Thoughts about Community

2011-03-02T07:21:00.000-08:00

This is a picture of our team down in Greenville, South Carolina with my dear friend Ian Finlay on the far right. He was one of my first friends in YWAM and became a brother despite our distance and going separate ways. It was such a privilege to get to see him for a short period of time and it was definitely worth it. We try to pray about every decision we make on this trip as a team and some of our stops have been specifically to visit friends/fellow YWAM brothers and sisters. Being able to encourage them and pray for them as well as receive from them is only creating a deeper friendship and connection that is able to last no matter what the distance is.

I am seeing how there are different levels of community and that they are all valuable. I would define community as a unified body that shares common interests. Would my friends that I rarely see but still have a connection to be considered part of my community? I would say yes and it is very important to build into those relationships. I would like to be way more connected to my friends and family than I am now but I am learning and seeing how valuable these relationships are. I am seeing how much God wants friendship with us and for us to have friendship with each other. Building stronger relationships can only create deeper stronger unity which in the end is better for everyone.

These are obviously very simple observations that I am stating and I in no way consider myself an expert in community. I only desire to learn about community and see the desire of so many people to have community become a reality rather than a hopeless discouraging effort. My prayer is that God will stir my heart and the hearts of others to value friendship and go deeper together. Then community wont be something that we have to create, but will be what God creates out of our love for one another.

Please pray:
-For us to be available these next few days as we take time to process. I am expecting there to be some time to just go out and do ministry. We are heading to Memphis today and will be staying right next to a park where we should be able to meet some people.
-For us to be able to process what we have learned so far and allow God to do in our hearts what He wants. We have listened to so many influential peoples wisdom and definitely some time to see what God has been saying to us.

Check out http://www.awakennations.com/ for more details on the trip and pictures!!!! It's worth the visit!!!!

Family Roots

2011-02-19T11:08:00.000-08:00

Chris Little's house in Fayetville N.C.

On my journey I have been challenged, encouraged, and blown away by some of these amazing men and women of God. The amount of wisdom that these people carry is just amazing. I have never heard the simplest truths become so deep and powerful. I am seeing this amazing God that we serve in a new light. At times I just couldn't take any more information and I would get overwhelmed or frustrated, but I started getting before God and asking Him what He wanted to speak to me. I have never had such a clear view on God and His love like this and I started to open my heart more and more to His love in areas that I never even thought of.

We were able to meet with a man named Matt Peterson yesterday in Winston Salem, North Caroline. Matt is a former school leader at Morning Star ministries in Charlotte N.C. and now pastors a church. He shared a lot with us yesterday, but the one thing that struck a chord in my heart was what he shared about the "Parable of the Lost Son"(Luke 15:11-31). Matt pointed out about how the son's expectation in coming back to his father’s house was so work as a slave and be fed. What actually ended up happening was his father welcomed him in, dressed him in a robe, put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet so that they could have a party! He had a wrong perspective about what His father was like.

I wonder how much of my perspective of what God had for me has been filtered through what I think I deserve or what lies I believe about who God is? I have been launched into a revelation of what it is to have my mind renewed. I have never had so much hope, joy, peace and excitement about what God has for me!

We are spending a few days in Charleston, S.C. to rest, pray and just enjoy family time together. I have been blessed with such an amazing group of people to live life with right now. I realize how important it is to have community to challenge, hold accountable, encourage and love each other. These are foundational things that I want more than anything in ministry. I see how important it is to have deep roots that can support the abundant fruit that we desire.

Prayer Requests:
That we continue to seek God for direction and be obedient.
That doors would open to the right people for us to meet.
That we would be open and available for God to put people in pour path to minister to.

The first steps

2011-02-12T09:29:00.000-08:00

After a week of this pilgrimage we are finally settled down in Washington D.C. where I hope to catch up on what God has been showing and teaching me through many amazing ministry leaders. We spent our first four days in Cambridge, Massachusetts at the Justice house of prayer where a lot of young people around my age and older gather to cry out to God for injustices like abortion and also for a revival in the many college campuses in the area like Harvard. One thing I never knew about Harvard was that it was founded to train ministers. Now it is far from its original purpose and is highly affected by humanism. We were also able to meet a friend of ours named Eunice who attends Harvard and holds a weekday morning prayer group with about 7 other students. These groups hope to see the Kingdom of God established and see leaders come out of Harvard that will be able to truly change the world.

We were then launched off to New Jersey where we visited the Resting House of Prayer where we were welcomed in like family. As soon as we arrived they sat us down and fed us and then let us rest until the next day. I loved seeing such an awesome group that loved Jesus and wanted to do ministry together. They were such a great example of being family in the body of Christ. They love serving the Lord and their heart is to bring healing and restoration into peoples lives in the community. I believe that this is the kind of community that everyone desires and it’s good to see it that its possible.

Next we took a trip to Lancaster P.A. where we spent a few days with a man named Corey Martin. He is an awesome man of God who truly loves telling people about Jesus like I’ve never seen before. Corey is a pastor of a church and also does a lot in the community as well as works a few jobs. I have never seen someone so passionate about sharing the gospel before. I was able to go with Corey and Chris Little to a drug and alcohol rehab meeting that Corey does ministry at. The age group was between 18 and 21 so it was a little intimidating for Chris and I to share, but Corey was so unashamed about confessing the love of Christ and didn’t hold back. Chris and I mentioned what we did in Hawaii at the Discipleship Training School and two of the guys were showing a lot of interest. They more expressed their desire to just go to Hawaii but I could tell that they hungered for a chance to have their lives changed.

Next we left Lancaster and drove to a town called Coatesville P.A. where we met up with a man named Jamie Galloway. He is a young pastor who had such a perspective on the Kingdom of Heaven that shook us up and challenged us more than anything yet. I could see how his teaching was shared in such a sincere way, but language and lack of time got in the way of a lot of understanding. I can see how instances like this this split up so many churches and denominations in the body of Christ. I am still trying the process the giant load of information that he gave us in the short time we were with him.

I now sit here in Washington D.C. wanting to process everything but overwhelmed at the thought of traveling for two months. With the Supreme Court across the street and having just read about the Heartbeat Bill I am faced with the reality that there are problems in this world that are bigger than me and my understanding, but the creator of the universe knows every day of my life. I just want to know Jesus!

"Ask where the good way is, and walk in it."

2011-01-19T19:40:00.000-08:00

Sometimes making a choice in life is like entering a giant knotted highway (as seen above). We enter in and we have no idea how long it will take, how frustrating it will be, or where we will end up. My commitment to follow Jesus at times feels this, but as soon as I focus my eyes back on Jesus I am filled with peace and Joy. The decisions I make are so much more than Geographical steps, but they are choosing every day to acknowledge God in everything I do; choosing every day to love God with all my heart, soul, mind and strength; and receiving His love before trying any of this.

It has been an amazing time of rest being home and it seems so soon but I will be leaving for Boston February 3rd. I will be traveling across the United States with some of my friends/co-staff to seek perspective of what God is doing in America and to learn from different pastors/ministry leaders. I have an amazing opportunity ahead of me and I am excited to see how these steps of faith draw me deeper into a relationship with God and with others.

We have a van, an itinerary, and plane tickets to get to Boston, but we are going to be depending on God to provide in allotting of ways. This is a big test for me and I'm sure for others. A lot of what I wanted to grow in this year was simply faith. I don't always realize what I ask for until I am required to walk in it and believing that what I asked for has been or will be given at the right time. These steps have drawn me lower and lower to a place of constant prayer for God’s presence. It's when I stop everything and seek God that I truly have peace in knowing how awesome He is.

I want to embrace the simplicity of just walking with God and communicating with Him. I recently read in a magazine about Intimacy with God. It talked about how we are made in God’s image so that we can relate to Him. I might be way behind on this understanding, but I always thought it just meant that we looked like him, but I started to understand how much he wants to communicate with us, verbally, non-verbally, or any way that we are known to communicate that we don't even realize.

We don't have to leave it up to the experts or our pastor to talk to God. He created us all to relate to Him!

Finishing strong.

2011-01-02T17:06:00.000-08:00

Our last ministry location was in Chiang Mai, Thailand at a restoration home called "Abba House". This was such an amazing ministry that we were able to partner with for ten days and see some life changing moves of God. We worked with a group of men who were saved through the prison ministry that Abba house does in the Chiang Mai prison. We also worked with a larger group of girls that were saved out of all sorts of different situation such like trafficking or abuse.

From our kitchen sink, Northern Thailand's largest mountain was placed in perfect view. Every night the sunset was placed right at the peak of the mountain. We were staying in brand new buildings with nice beds and hot showers. I felt such a peace of how we were ending this trip. I could start to look back and see how God's presence was there this whole time. How beyond my struggles and my failures, God was in control and working.

We were able to do allot of work with the men and women there. We even went with them into the Chiang Mai prison got to see around 200 men give their lives to Jesus! A few days into our time with Abba house we were notified that we would be spending our last two days with the ministry three hours away in a hill tribe called the "Lahu". We spent the one day traveling to the village, spending time playing with the kids and eating meals with the people. Our second day which was our last day of ministry ended up being a Sunday which involved having 4 church services and an additional 2 services since we were going to be there. We started at six in the morning and didn't end until nine at night!

We arrived back in Bangkok and headed straight to an Island for debrief. It was a big transition from a cold hill tribe village where we slept on a concrete floor and put on most of our cloths to keep warm, to arriving on an island by speedboat and laying on the beach in the warm sun. Looking back I experienced so much of Gods presence in all of my different circumstances. Whether in Hawaii, Cambodia or Thailand I was given the strength and love that I desired from God.

"11 I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. 12 I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. 13 I can do all this through him who gives me strength." Philippians 4:11-13

Be Available

2010-12-19T20:18:00.000-08:00

In our lack of traveling experience we had to change hotels three different times in our five days in Mae Sai. We never seemed to explain how long we wanted to the rooms for and since it was a busy time of the year they were pretty booked. We ended up finding a inexpensive but very nice hotel that overlooked Burma and was very close to the border. I was not going to allow myself to get frustrated by all of my mistakes but was going to trust in God and knowing that He works despite our mistakes.

Our whole team was with us at this point and we decided to have a time of prayer and worship one night outside of the hotel. We were praying for our team and for the city we were in and also for people that were involved in prostitution. We were asking God for His heart for these people and didn't really know what we were getting ourselves into. About a half an hour into it I looked up and saw two men taking a young girl dressed like a prostitute into the hotel and up the elevator. I knew what was going on but didn't want to interrupt our prayer time. When we were finished we decided to take a walk and prayer around the area that we knew had brothels.

The walk was very quiet since most of the brothels are behind closed doors and the streets were pretty quiet that night, but we prayed out loud and I brought my guitar and worshipped God. We got back near the hotel and decided to stop and get some snacks before heading in. Outside of the store were about 6 young adults. Some were drinking and hanging out but there was one young girl holding a baby. I stayed outside and played my guitar and the girl with the baby started speaking english to me. She began to ask me questions like my name and where I was from. I ended up finding out that a church payed for her to go to bible school and to speak around America including Ohio!

Another man was there that was also a Christian in the area and we talked about God and what we were doing. Out of nowhere the two guys and the girl I saw earlier walking into the hotel walked right up to us standing there. I was so shocked and nervous that I was standing there with these people. The girl with the baby grabbed the girl that I assumed to be a prostitute and took her home. When she came back she told us about the girl she took home, that her father had sexually abused her and that her mother passed away so she ended up on the street prostituting herself at the age of 15. Our hearts sank as we stood there embracing the reality of the area we were in. We talked more with the girl and she told us that she was praying for the girls in the area and trying to take care of them.

After all of this we stayed for a few more hours talking and also playing some worship songs that even the drunk guys were singing along with! We had no Idea what we were getting into that night but looking back I could see how we got exactly what we were asking for. We wanted to have Gods heart for the area and for the people and we got it. We were thrown right into the life of the people and the reality of their struggles. Our hearts were broken but we could see that this is what God's heart was for these people.

I had a whole new perspective on these Burmese/Thai people of this small town. I was shown that they were so hungry for the love of God and that us making ourselves available that night to just hang out with them and love on them was exactly what God wanted. Our five days in the small border town with no plans gave us the chance to just be available and see what God wanted to do. I didn't just get Gods heart but truly fell in love with the area and the people and hope to someday return to Mae Sai.

"In all their suffering he also suffered, and he personally rescued them. In his love and mercy he redeemed them. He lifted them up and carried them through all the years." Isaiah 64:9

Drop in Center

2010-12-12T11:39:00.000-08:00

The morning of our second day in Mae Sai, Chris and I started our day by going out and getting coffee from a nearby restaurant and had no other plans for our day. We had left our students for a few days to go ahead of them and had no other plans but to pray into the rest of our outreach. On our way back to our room we stopped at the front desk to ask about doing some laundry and were met by a tour guide named Saemoon. He had been waiting in the hotel lobby for us because he had heard that there were three foreigners were staying in the hotel and he wanted to offer his tour to us. I decided to talk to him since we were planning on going into Burma and I wanted to have a guide take us in. I told him that we were Christian missionaries and what we had been doing the past two months and he was very excited. He began to tell me his testimony and and how he had been an alcoholic and in the streets until a English man named Frank came and took him in and gave him cloths and a shower. Saemoon was so excited at this point and had no desire to sell us his service as a tour guide but instead now he wanted to take Chris and I to meet frank!

We were walking down the streets following Seamoon into the red light area near the border to meet some man named Frank and had no idea what to expect. We arrived at a large building and walked in to a see people of all ages hanging out watching "Mr. Bean" and eating lunch. We met Frank who was an older English man. He sat down on the floor with us and began to tell us all about the Drop in Center and how God gave him a heart for the people in the area of the border and especially the children that hang out on the bridge. The kids are sent out by their parents to beg for money that is usually to support their own drug habits rather than pay for food. Often times if the kids don't bring back enough money they will be physically abused. Many kids also have problems with sniffing glue.

Frank wants to give the kids a safe place to come and stay whenever they want that is safe. He feeds the kids as well as teaches them the bible. The building is four stories with allot of space and Frank wants to use the top two floors for discipleship training and to be sending them back into Burma. This was such an amazing day of seeing a glimpse of what God is doing in this area and how there is a light shining in the midst darkness.

If you would like more information about the drop in center or if you would like to help support you can email Frank at frank@supportingheart.com

Our Shelter

2010-11-24T00:49:00.000-08:00

Chris, Sarah-jo, and I arrived in Mae Sai after a five and a thirteen hour bus ride. We decided to leave the students for a few days and go ahead of them. It was 7am and we didn't even know where to say. We had a taxi driver take us to a guest house and hoped and prayed for God to bless us. He drove straight up to the border checkpoint and then took the last road on the left down into the market area which was a small China town. Literally in the middle of a crammed market area we were dropped off at the guest house. As we climbed the four floors with our luggage all I could think about was getting sleep, and after 18.5 hours on a bus with no sleep I was very motivated to climb those stairs.

We entered the room and were immediately blown away by the view of the mountains of Burma. With just a tiny river separating us from the closed nation of Burma a.k.a Myanmar, we were as close as you can get with a birds eye view. I went straight to bed and woke up after having a pretty crazy dream about being bitten by snakes. Chris also had some crazy dreams and we realized that our location was a huge spiritual stronghold and we needed to cover each other with prayer and create an environment in our room that was soaked in Gods presence. After staying in locations that were covered in prayer for the past two months we realized it was our turn especially if we wanted to have any joy or peace in this place of Spiritual chaos.

The rest of our team will join us on Friday and we will then go across the border to Burma so we can get visas for our last couple weeks in Thailand. We will do our best to soak this place in prayer and get perspective for the rest of our time in Thailand. It's overwhelming coming to places like this where there seems to be no glimmer of hope or sign of progress but, sitting in Gods presence and remembering who it is that we serve brings more hope than I could ever create.

"The number of Burmese women and girls travelling to Thailand through Mae Sai to enter the sex industry is increasing. 60% of them are under 18 years of age." (Aphaluck Bhatiasevi, "Influx of Burmese sex workers via Mae Sai on the rise," Bangkok Post, 2 June 1997)

"20,000-30,000 Burmese women are in prostitution in Thailand." (CATW - Asia Pacific, Trafficking in Women and Prostitution in the Asia Pacific)

The Lord says, “I will rescue those who love me.
I will protect those who trust in my name.
When they call on me, I will answer;
I will be with them in trouble.
I will rescue and honor them.
I will reward them with a long life
and give them my salvation.”
Psalm 91:14-16

My prayer is that the people of Burma will know God and cry out to him.

Straining toward whats ahead

2010-11-17T23:18:00.000-08:00

Our time in Cambodia has ended and our work in Thailand has just began. Leaving Battambang was a very sad time. We had a great time of ministry there and many friendships were formed. We were able to plant many seeds and see authentic interest in a relationship with Jesus. It's almost too easy to see God moving there. You get a real sense of how much God loves people and is seeking a people that are desperate for Him.

There were at least 20 of our friends at the house the morning we left Battambang. We were able to stay at a pastors house the whole time where we were cooked delicious khmer dishes and soups. They really treated us like family and dealt with our loud Western culture for 7 weeks. I started to feel at home sharing a bedroom with my co-leader Chris Little, making coffee every morning at 4:30am and enjoying the presence of God in our room covered with pink tile all over the walls. It was a huge 3 story house that was mainly built to house all of the YWAM teams that were there serving. We would have our prayer and worship times on the empty open roof space where we would have all the loud city noises including the metal workshop that was next door.

Getting into Thailand was like leaving a spiritual warzone. Phisically and spiritually I could feel the diffence of the atmosphere of the two countries. It's almost a relief to be in Thailand right now but the biggest challenge is to keep focus and have perspective that outreach is not over in any way. This is a mentally challenging time because most of us want to start talking about Christmas and home.

We are working at a local church in Kantharalak, Thailand. Teaching english, sharing testimonies, doing dramas, and giving out bibles. It is amazing getting to go into the schools and talk about Jesus and his love to hundreds of young Thai kids. After our time here we will go up to Mai Sia which is the very north of Thailand and Serve in a wedding!

Well my prayer this next month is Philippians 3:14 "I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus." Alot has happened so far but my eyes need to stay on the prize!

Being Available

2010-10-27T01:07:00.000-07:00

Life in Cambodia is beginning to set in. The reality of living in a place like this takes some time to set in and to mentally BE HERE. Once you accept the fact that you are living in new place you begin to enjoy the small things and to make it your home. You invest your heart into the place you’re at you begin to see why God has called you there and what he actually wants to do through you. I have to quickly turn my focus from the minor discomforts to seeking Gods presence perspective.

We were able to spend a week at an orphanage in a village a few weeks ago. As we adjusted to sleeping on the floor in mosquito nets and taking bucket showers in rain water, we had our lives changed by these kids. They were mostly between the ages of 3 and 12 and were mostly all Christian. These kids wake up at 5 every morning to do chores before breakfast and then have a time of prayer and worship before school. They have prayer and worship three times a day and the rest of the day they are either at school, doing chores or playing games. The simplicity of their lives and their pure desire and devotion to God was nothing like I have ever seen. “Blessed are the pure in heart for they will see God.”(Matthew 5:8) Seeing these kids sing to the Lord and cry out to him brought me to tears, not because of their lack in material things but because of the reality of Christ established in their lives. Those kids taught us more than we could have ever taught them.

“And he said: I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 18:3)

God is working so visibly in people’s lives here. We were able to take a two day trip to a city called Siem Reap which is home of one of the Seven Wonders of the World Angkor Wat. God had been speaking to me allot about sharing the gospel and being available for him to move. I had these things on my mind as we headed there and had a good feeling that it was going to be more than just a weekend trip. I ended up running into two people that I was able to talk about Jesus with and pray with one of them to have a revelation of Jesus.

Our team is doing Korean classes and dance classes at the Youth Center we are working with. One of the classes has added a bible study and both have kids that are asking for bibles. The openness of the people here is incredible. They are truly hungry and wanting to know about Jesus. There is so much hope in my heart for this nation to be transformed and be built up with a foundation of Christ. What an amazing opportunity it has been to speak the love of Christ to the future leaders of Cambodia!

Week One!

2010-10-02T00:54:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone! I have finally found internet and a chunk of time to write. Since leaving Kona over a week ago it has been an amazing adventure learning how to lead a team of 11 all the way to Battambang, Cambodia. Our trip took us from Kona, Hawaii to Bangkok Thailand where we spent the night and left the next day for Cambodia. We had to leave one of our students back in Kona because of visa problems which ended up causing him to have to join our Haiti team. We had a three hour drive to the border which ended up being more than just a normal border crossing.

Our van driver that picked us up from Bangkok drove us and dropped us off at a official looking small office where a very polite, English speaking Cambodian man greeted us and had us sit down to start filling out visa paperwork. He kept talking to me and telling me all about how great the visa process was and how fast they get it done. I started feeling very uncomfortable looking around at all of the workers staring at me. We were just about done filling out our paperwork when the man began to tell me about the price. He was asking for 1200 per person baht which is the Thai currency. Now it's been a while since I was in Thailand and the numbers were not making sense in my head. grabbing a pen and paper I realized that he was asking $40 to process a $20 visa. This is where I started getting a little frustrated. I looked behind me to see if the van that dropped us off was still there and I didn't see it! I quickly realized that the van driver had moved the van and was sitting right behind me.

So I spent a few minutes arguing with both men about the price and why it was so much. The Cambodian man, swearing that he was an honest man, was trying to tell me that he could get it done in 10 minutes and that the real border would take 3 hours and since it was closing in an hour that we wouldn't make it in time. At this point I was angry that we had wasted our time there and knew that we were right in the middle of a scam. We packed up in the van and headed for the real border. Getting out of the van the second time was a little different. We were surrounded by men asking to carry our luggage and to help us get visas. We kept our mouths shut and walked across into Cambodia.

Battambang is a pretty large city about two hours east of the border. It is very hot and humid especially when it rains. I would compare it to breathing through a sock. The streets are pretty dirty and and very busy with people on motor bikes and a random Lexus SUV. Right now we are staying at a house that is owned by a retired Cambodian pastor. We were able to sit down with him one night and hear his incredible story of how during the time of the killing fields him and his family were taken across the border into Thailand for two years to work in deadly conditions. He was an English teacher at that time and since he hadn't worked for the government at that time he was not a target but out of suspicion there was a order sent for him to be killed three times. The man in charge of the camp liked him and protected him each time since he knew he was a good man.

The ministries we have worked with so far both involve teaching English. One of the ministries is a restoration ministry that takes care of girls that have been rescued out of sex slavery or abusive situations. The other ministry is in a poor area of the city that teaches kids English and is an amazing opportunity to disciple new Christians and share the love of Christ with the ones that aren't Christians. We will start teaching more specialty classes when the youth center starts its new quarter after next week.

I am amazed at how much English the Cambodian people speak compared to Thai people. It is amazing because it is allot easier to do friendship evangelism since open evangelism is illegal in Cambodia. A few days ago we found a gym and went that night where I met a young man named Ponits. He was a very good English speaker and very talkative. We didn't have allot of time to talk but we planned to meet back at the gym another night. I am amazed at how open and excited the people are to hang out and talk. We are very excited to spent six weeks here and live life with the Cambodian people. We are definitely getting Gods heart for the people and excited to see what God is doing in their lives.

Well that is a taste from week one. Please keep us in your prayers as we continue to settle in here and build more relationships with the people. Thank you for all your love and support! God bless.

He is worth it!

2010-09-05T17:39:00.000-07:00

How is my life prioritized? Is God first in my life? Do I put other things before God? Do I seek the presence of God and live from His grace? These are some of questions that I have been challenged with lately. At this point in my life I am being challenged more than I ever have and stretched in so many ways. This challenge to put to death the old man and seek a life in Christ that is powered by His Spirit and motivated by Love.

When I prayed and ask God to take my life and make me new I had no idea what I was asking or what would come out of it. I know this is what God wants and what is best for me but I had no idea what this required. I have to say that I am at a really hard place in my life but I know that there is breakthrough ahead. I know that since I am coming against strongholds in my life and that I am seeking Christ I will have breakthrough and I will walk in more and more freedom. Since I have started battling and putting to death desires to give up and continue to press in, I am seeing breakthrough and God is revealing so much to me that I was oblivious to.

Since I am leading an outreach team, closely walking with three male students, helping manage and prepare our building for the the extra amount of students that will be arriving next quarter, working the classroom sound, as well as many other responsibilities, how do I spend time with the Lord and prioritize my relationship with Him first? I can't say that I have done this as well as I hoped I would but I am learning more than I could ever imagine. If I knew that staffing was going to be this amount of hard work and stress with constant 12 hour days and needing to be constantly physically, mentally and spiritually ready I would probably have chose a different path. I know that God is leading me in this and He is wanting me to grow closer to Him and more dependent on Him. I know that this is a lifelong process and a daily decision to pick up my cross and follow Christ.

"Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit." Galatians 5:24-25

Great is His faithfulness

2010-08-23T01:30:00.000-07:00

Please read this slow and try to think about your own life.

What would I do if my right arm stopped working? I wouldn't be able to play guitar, baseball, frisbee golf, go fishing or many other things that I love doing. All of these things that I love and enjoy are possible because God has allowed me to have two working arms. I am so blessed to have the things that I have. In no case do I deserve to have what I have or be where I am.

Life can be so frustrating sometimes and can cause us to forget the things that God has done for us or stop appreciating the things we do have. Last year during my discipleship training school one of the speakers made the statement "gratitude will change your attitude." I took that and ran with it. Going on outreach to Thailand last year was amazing but there were many sacrifices that went along with it. I realised how much I had when it was taken away. Sometimes at that point its too late and we can't get back what we have lost. Thankfully I was able to come back home from Thailand and have new perspective on how much God has blessed me.

My challenge to myself and any reader is to spend a couple minutes every day and thank God for what He has done and for what He has given us. It's when I am most frustrated or just in my worst mood that this has completely changed my life.

He restores my soul

2010-08-05T19:32:00.000-07:00

What happens when you just run out of gas, or when you hit a wall, or you just can't do it anymore. Is it a lack of sleep, or a lack of caffeine or a lack of food? When the weight of the world is on your shoulders and you just can't do it anymore what do you do?

I got to this point this past week and was in one of the hardest spots I've been in a while. The school is going so well and I am seeing more and more of the awesome power of God in other peoples lives, but it's requiring so much more of me constantly giving of all that I have. I didn't get much rest during the weekend and started off the week physically, emotionally, and spiritually drained. This was beginning to worry me since I need to be there for the students and I didn't think that I could even make it through the week. This was where I realized that I could not do this. With all of my heart and all of my efforts I could not possibly do this on my own strength. I came to the end of myself and had nothing left to give.

This is where I realized that I was not receiving my strength from Christ. My focus went from putting Jesus first always and living from His love to putting the school and the students first and losing the intimate relationship with Jesus that I had. Getting to that point of burning out truly led me to the place of realizing how much my soul longs for the living God. These days are getting harder and harder but I know that putting Christ first in my life and seeking revelation of His love will always give me the strength and hope I need for every day.

"The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters,
he restores my soul.
He guides me in paths of righteousness
for his name's sake." (Psalm 23:1-3)

If you can relate at all to how I was feeling I highly recommend checking out this weeks speaker Andy Byrd. You can listen to the podcast HERE. This gave me great perspective and taught me so much. Peace and Love!

Borrowing soil

2010-07-26T17:40:00.000-07:00

Our speaker last week, Matt Rawlins spoke on "Fear of the Lord". It was a very challenging topic and I didn't have very much time to process it all. I did go back and listen to one of the days that he spoke on the podcast that we have available Click Here. It took me about 2 hours to listen to a one hour lecture since I had to pause every ten seconds to write down certain quotes that really hit my heart.

One thing that I just barely caught was that we can borrow other peoples soil. In other words we can borrow other peoples experiences and revelation of God and use it to help us in trusting and obeying God. Now this is something that I do all the time. When I listen to speakers here or go to church on Sunday and hear the preacher share his revelation, I can usually come away with something that encourages me or gives me a boost of faith.

This made me think about my life and how many people have spoken into my life. How much soil I have borrowed from other people. I have to admit that it feels pretty good when I get to hear the latest revelation from some of my favorite pastors. Its like I just got some nice, fresh, dark soil. It looks good and it feels good at first but how long does it last before the wind blows it away, or the rain washes it away? I eventually loose grip of these revelations and then I'm back to needing more.

I am not saying that listening to sermons is pointless and that sharing revelation is meaningless. I am saying that it is important to work that soil down deep where my roots are so that I can use it to grow. I want to take that revelation and use it to build faith so that in obedience I may know/experience God. Simply, revelation requires a response.

James 1:2-4
Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

Peace

2010-07-13T21:46:00.000-07:00

The students are here and the first week of lecture is in full swing. This weeks topic is hearing the voice of God which takes me back to last year in my DTS when I was here fresh from Cleveland and so hungry to hear God. I know these students are just as hungry as I was and it just makes me excited knowing that God is so real and wants them to hear His continual proclamation of love over them.

I started my day at 4:30am saying goodbye to my sister Jessica as she heads off to India for her Photogenx outreach. It was amazing seeing her for the month and Her extended two weeks since her visa came late. I am considering that a blessing since we were able to hang out more and pray with each other more and have crazy times of uncontrollable laughter. I consider our lives as a true testimony of God bringing families back together and uniting them in His love.

What God has been doing in my life here so far is giving me His peace. I have never been so at rest with where I'm at and what I'm doing. One thing I realized is that this school is bigger than me and discipling these students is also more than I could ever handle, but I know that it's not me teaching these students. I know that the Spirit of God is going to teach these students and love these students more than I ever could. I am truly finding peace in knowing how much God is in control of this school and in control of my life. The more that I let go of my worries and the more that I acknowledge God then the more I am feeling His peace wash over me and His joy strengthen me and His passion drive me to do things out of Love.

My hope is that I can continue to have this perspective and live from it. I know that this is the best place to be discipling these students. I hear so much about staff being burnt out and sometimes even hurt after a school. My prayer is that I can continue to live from the abundance of God and be a servant to these students constantly giving out of the overflow.

In My Place

2010-06-27T13:35:00.000-07:00

There is nothing like being put in your place by the Creator of the universe. While snorkeling for the first time yesterday I was just amazed by how scary, beautiful and vast this ocean is. I was about 50 yards off shore swimming by myself looking down at the beautiful coral and all the different sea creatures. I could have stayed out there forever, floating around thinking about all of Gods creation in that tiny speck of ocean I was in.

Being in that place gave me a good perspective of where I am and who He is. He is the creator of the universe and submitting my life to Him gives me perfect peace. Also, knowing that the creator of the universe thinks about me and knows my hearts desire gives me hope for my dreams and my future. "How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand." Psalm 139:17,18

Students arrive in 11 days!

Simply Jesus

2010-06-11T19:41:00.000-07:00

Aloha friends and family,

Arriving in Kona, Hawaii was almost like a dream. Friends from last years school came and picked me up at the airport. It was like I'd never left. They couldn't stop talking about how the Spirit of God was being poured out on the campus like never before. They told me about some pretty intense encounters that they had and I was a little overwhelmed. Going from home and living the more normal American lifestyle to the largest YWAM base put me in spiritual shock. It took about a week to let go of my doubt, burn my ships and accept the fact that I am exactly where God wants me.

Right now our staff consists of fifteen with a possibility of five more. We have been meeting in the mornings to work on student applications and we spend the afternoons in prayer. These past two weeks we have had the most amazing times of prayer together and we have really been able to get to know each others hearts. We all went on a retreat to a nearby Christian center and spent three days sharing testimonies, praying, and prophesying over one another. God gave me his heart of love for each staff member and really bonded us together.

Being part of the staff for the first time is definitely intimidating. Having the opportunity of walking with Gods beloved and to be involved with their discipleship is a responsibility that I know I couldn't handle if I didn't have revelation of the simple fact that Jesus loves me! He not only loves me but he likes me! I know that there will be really hard times during this school but I also know that if I abide in His love than I don't have to worry about how much experience I have. It's God's love that flows through me and it's His Spirit that will transform the hearts of the students and make an eternal impact in the Kingdom. It is the simplicity of the love of Christ that I want to truly know first and foremost in my life. "What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ" (Philippians 3:8).

This is just the beginning. The students arrive in 26 days from all over the world. My prayer is that they would simply know Jesus.

With love,
Matthew Scaparotti

2010-04-26T21:01:00.000-07:00

Hello friends and family,

As you may know, I recently spent six months attending a Youth with a Mission Discipleship Training School (DTS) in Kailua-Kona Hawaii. I had just ended a five year relationship that started when I was sixteen. The relationship left me broken and scarred and needing to find healing and restoration. Through the first three months I experienced major healing and restoration in my life and was baptized for the first time.

With a solid foundation of Christ in my life I was able to go with a team to Thailand for the second portion of my school. We traveled all over the country for about three months. From teaching English to children to ministering in the slums, red light districts and orphanages, hill tribes to college students, God was continually giving me His heart and strength to be passionate daily about the ministry. I was just about ready to move in with every ministry that we worked with.

After my DTS experience coming home was a bit weird. I definitely had to get used to the usual Scaparotti diet of pasta, cheese and more pasta instead of the Thai diet of rice, soup and more rice. I've had an amazing time being home and getting to spend some much needed time with my family. I was able to go to my high school and share my testimony and experiences with the senior class. It was amazing to see the students respond to my story. A couple of students even wanted to stay and talk after school. One student said that the struggles that I had were the same that they had been dealing with and didn't know what to do. I have been able to stay in contact with that student and talk through things with them.

My plan for this summer is to join the staff of the next DTS in Kona, Hawaii which will go from July to December. I will be leading a small group as well as meeting individually with the students. Then I will be taking a team on a three month outreach which could possibly be back to Thailand where I have ministry contacts and am familiar with the landscape and culture.

God restored me and gave me a new identity in Him but this came from completely surrendering my life to Him and letting Him heal me of my past. My goal is to see the students let go of everything and allow God to heal and restore them. I hope that in walking with the students during this time I can help them to find their true identity and seek Christ relentlessly.

I am ready to pour out my heart for this school but I need prayer and encouragement on the way. I am hoping that you might be willing to partner with me for these six months to make an impact on these students as well as the nations. I really appreciate any support you may feel led to give.