Outreach!

Today is my last day here in Oxford New Zealand!
Tomorrow morning I leave around 8 or 9am with Kenny and I will be flying to Auckland where my team will all meet up. From there we will fly to Hong Kong, Kenny and our leader Jon will be staying behind for just a little bit so Jon can get his visa all sorted out. The rest of us will continue on to Taiwan, they will join us shortly afterwards. After Taiwan we will go to China, than to Mongolia, than to the Philippians which we will be at the longest which is for almost 4 weeks!! We will have a short layover in Thailand and a 2 night layover in South Korea. We will get to stay at Dans grandparents house in Korea.
After that we will be on our way to Israel and we will be meeting the rest of our school there for two weeks and have our graduation on August 13th on the mount of olives!
I wont be able to update much if at all over the time of outreach.
I am so happy to be going on outreach, It's unbelievable to see how God has provided, he has just shown time and time again how amazing he really is.
Prayer: *Safety as we all travel and get to each designation *My leader Jon, he would be able to get his visa with no problems *Unity as a team, Patience, Keep short accounts *For our contacts that we will be able to bless them and really connect with them *We would really connect with the people of each designation and show Gods love on them *Health and safety *All of the other teams going, prayer for them as they travel *Overall that God would just really move in us and we would be open to receive and give what God has for each one of us, to experience God more and more in unbelievable and miraculous ways

Thanks for everyones prayer and support, You really helped make this trip possible.
Love and Blessings

God's Provision

Amazing news!
Literally overnight God has provided all my outreach money, and then some! Yesterday I had a few student's come up to me and tell me they where going to give me money so I could go on outreach, and combined with the money my parents where to generously give me and a few other anonymous gifts, I had so much that I was able to even give some to the gift pool to bless others! God is so amazing how he provides for us. I was really preparing myself for the worse, to not be able to go on outreach and go home early. But God has bigger plans. He really wanted me to just trust him and fallow his plans even if I didn't know what they were.
Isaiah 42:16 "I will lead the blind by a way they do not know. I will turn darkness into light in front of them. And I will make the bad places smooth. These are the things I will do and I will not leave them."
God has really tought me so much over this past two weeks, I am literally exosted just from all the emotions that I have felt and the ups and downs. I just am so freaking physiced that my whole team is able to go and we don't have to leave anyone behind because of financial problems. This time has totally pulled us together as a group. Alot of studants have been fasting untill God provided the money, even studant's who had their outreach paid for. Everyone really was generous and pulled together and really encouraged each other.
So this monday I will be traveling to Taiwan. After that we will be going to Mongolia, China and the Philipeans. In august we will be then in Jeruselum with all the teams for two weeks and graduate together on the Mount of Olives! It is going to be amazing, I am looking forward to see what God reveals to each of us and what else we will learn from this experiance and the many lives we get to touch.
I will try and put up one more update at least before I go, but after that I won't for awhile. For crazy scedual reasons and also for the protection of our contacts we cannot mention anything to do with God or YWAM because of the government and all that.
Thanks so much for prayers and support, You are all a blessing to me.
God is GOOD!

Bradly Hathaway-Silence

What's happening here?
I was once so alive and now I'm so full of dread and almost dead
Show me your wounded head that is lead to communion with the father
But where did he go?
His presence seems farther and farther away each day
but I'm trying so hard to steer his way
Yet still lonely and confused on this cold hard ground I lay

Speak to me wise mouth and say it's all good kid, it's nothing that you did, and though it feels like I'm not here with you right now just be still and silent and listen for that sound..
Shhh..
Did you hear it?
Listen again.
Did you hear it?
That silent voice that just spoke nothing, that is me, I'm listening to your plea with open ears Counting all your tears flowing from your irritated eyes
Searching the skies looking for that hope that beyond there lies.

Oh you young worrisome sparrow, find rest
Lay your battered head upon my omnipresent breast and make it your nest
No strong cold wind could ever blow and carry you from this your home
Look around, see the life shooting up from the ground
Spring colors springing fourth and celebration of your trusting

It's a constant process this is
Growing you into the man you are to become
But when you sense the setting of the sun know it is only rising and has just begun
Now go fourth, sing songs of faith, and lift up others in the midst of this race
And if you can't keep the pace or lose sight of my face
Know that I'm always near so you need not fear
But don't worry about all that right now
Just sit here and enjoy the peace I offer in my silence
When I am silent I am listening, and not abandoning.

Support

Hey everyone,
I wanted to let you know that there is still an opportunity to send support for me and my fellow students on my DTS. If you are at all interested you are more than welcome to do so, whatever you feel led to give would GREATLY help us and our vision God gave us.
As of right now I need almost $5,800, and there are a few more studants and a few staff that are in need of support.
Our leaders Jeremy and Will have bought most of our tickets yesterday, and they are holding off on 6 tickets as of now until the money comes in.
The reality is if we don't get enough money some of us will not be able to go on outreach. Like how I have shared in my last post I really have a deep desire to go and see ALL of my family (ywam fam) go.

So if you want to give, you can go on our website and pay online-

ywamoxford.org

Or send a check made out to YWAM Oxford, here is the address-

PO Box 47 Oxford, North Canterbury 7430 New Zealand
Please send me and e-mail or something if you are sending a check, so we know that money is coming in, it takes about a week and a half to recieve mail from the States

Or call the office and talk to one of the staff-
Office # 64 3 312 4951 Office Fax # 64 3 312 4955

Thank you so very much for your time, support and prayers. You all have made this trip possible for me to experience. I appreciate you all so very much.

~Romans 10:15 And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, "how beautiful are the feet of those who bring the good news!"

My update...

So last week was probably the hardest week here yet.
We had our lectures on Lordship by Mark Parker, He was so awesome and really challenged me. There were so many things that were coming to the surface that I needed to deal with and totally surrender to God it was overwhelming. I needed to deal with some pride issues, my "fear of man", some past stuff with relationships, paths I chose to walk on and bad choices. So there was alot to face and confess to God as well as I had been really upset and trying to cope with the fact that I may be coming home sooner than I wanted...Yes, that means I still don't have all my money for outreach.
At first I was mad at God, upset and really heavy hearted because I REALLY want to go on outreach and it was not looking like it was possible. So I was really wrestling with God on that all week. And God just opened my eyes more, I had to re-evaluate the reasons why I was wanting to go so badly and what was my purpose for going.
He asked me if I wanted to go because it would be fun to see these different places and be with my YWAM family longer, or if it was because my heart truly broke for the people there and I wanted to reach them and become more intimate with God. And If I was not wanting to go home yet for the right reasons.
That really got me thinking and it stirred up that passion again to go for the RIGHT reasons. So I just had to lay that down. If God wants me to still go on outreach than I will most certainly be willing to go and totally psyched and thankful for that. But if God doesn't want me to go on outreach and just go home, I need to be prepared for that and willing to obey him...which is really hard for me to even think about but that's the reality of it.
On Friday we had all laid stuff down and that's what I felt needed to be laid down, to just totally trust in Gods plan and not to try and make my own anymore. That day we where in lectures for like 11 hours, we had a short lunch break in the middle but that's it. So that was really draining but soo good. The one worship song "blessed be your name" we were singing that day had a line that really stuck out to me, "When there's pain in the offering blessed be your name". We truly know its a sacrifice/offering when there is pain in it, and yes it will be painful but I know that it is molding and shaping my character and walk with God. And that's what I came here for, to be transformed by God and walk in HIS plan for my life.
One verse that helped me was Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 it says how there is a time for everything, a time to laugh and a time to cry, a time to build up and a time to tear down, to find and to loose, to be quiet and to speak up, a time to have sorrow and a time to dance...and so on. You have to endure the bad to really appreciate the good and to really be stretched and grow. I really had to learn how to really worship God even if I was not wanting to, to worship him in the good and bad times.
By the end of Friday I was emotionally, spiritually and physically drained, and we were just starting worship again. At that time I really had to rely on God's strength and give him the worship he deserves, even if I didn't like some stuff that was going on and I was tired I knew he was showing me how to lay it down and give him all...no matter what.
So tomorrow the leaders are buying the tickets, and it will probably be the deciding factor if I go or not. Tonight my outreach team prayed over me at our meeting and that really helped give me peace, I really love my team and I really would love to go on outreach with them and experience all that God has in store. But really I know that whatever happens will be for the best and I'm still looking forward to see what God has in store for my future.
So if you could be praying for me and a few of the other students that are in the same boat as me that would help so very much and give us peace.
All I have left to to is to prepare to be amazed...