As 2010 started, YWAM entered into its 50 year anniversary....PARTY!!!! And thats the exact word that the international leadership of YWAM got for this year 2010...JUBILEE! This year is going to hold an array of blessings. God is going to pour His anointing over YWAM and we are going to see things happen this year that will completely point people to the Kingdom. And that has already been the case here in Byron Bay.
During my own journey this year, God has blessed me so much with so many different gifts and people. In September I arrived here in Byron and found myself questioning a lot of why I was here, what was my purpose. I would be in the prayer room all night crying out to God for answers and just clear direction for my time here...and one night He ROCKED UP!!! It was one of those encounters you will never forget, but you can never explain...I'm sure some of you can relate. I fell flat on my face with overwhelming joy and anguish. Its like God answered so many prayers at one time....ahhhhhhhh....bring it on LORD! That night God spoke to me in an audible voice, I don't know how to explain it, but HE SPEAKS!!!! Callie asked me a few days ago what He sounds like, hmmmmmm...soft and comforting (as if Gods voice would be anything else)...incredible...thats how I can explain it. That night God let me hear the cries and prayers of those boys and girls chained to human-trafficking. Girls chained to sex trafficking would pray the most horrific prayers you can ever imagine. Just cries of "why" and "please just make the bad men go away". This is something that God gave to me personally, so I don't know how much to share, but I will say that this injustice is something that cannot be dealt with lightly. We must stand up and fight in our prayers, if you are spending too much time on facebook or twitter, than get off your computer and start praying for the lost and broken. John Piper once said "one of the great uses of Twitter and Facebook will be to prove at the Last Day that prayerlessness was not from lack of time"....wow...convicted me fully. Still, that night God released me to go and lead with passion and truth. I'm praying that as you read this, God is speaking to you in a clear voice about what your position is in His army...where do you stand?
A few months ago, Callie broke her ankle skateboarding trying to do some crazy stunt involving a few cars and possibly a kangaroo...I'll get back to you on that one, ha. I went to visit her shortly after her accident and then a few weeks after that. And just recently she has started to walk, her second first steps, they were not captured on video. I say all this because her faith through this whole process has been something that blessed me fully in my walk. Through the storms and clear skies, she never once gave up. God has been speaking to me lots about this season in my life...PRAYER OBEDIENCE CONSISTENCY. I reckon each one of these things finds its roots in FAITH. Even today God was speaking to me about how sometimes we need to be broken in order grow in our faith, its vital! Callie recently brought her crew from YWAM Sunshine Coast to Byron Bay for their weekly teachings. This week was evangelism, bring on the passion and boldness!!!! My boss (Kevin), taught on their school while I had the opportunity to take them into the town for some creative evangelism. The week was AMAZING, filled with salvations and healings. The sunshine coast crew were epic, such boldness and humility! I loved it, each day was filled with some kind of revelation of His heart. Ever since that night in the prayer room, God has not stopped speaking to me, it's like we are teenage girls sitting in a room pillow talking for hours...yeah thats right....teenage girls, ha! But really, His voice is amazing and so clear to me. One night as we were praying and worshipping getting ready to go into the town, Callie came up to me and asked for prayer. A wall was being put up in her heart and it needed to come straight down! As I began to pray God began to speak. Callie was going to be lead to somewhere she didn't want to go that night, God was literally going to ask her to do something that would totally take her out of her comfort zone. But from her stepping out, God was going to expand His Kingdom through her. The spirit was alive that night, we both kinda fell to our knees and just waited. God was definitely going to challenge Callie that night. After a few other prayers, we headed into the town and immediately got into the battle. A few of the guys came up to me and said that they just talked with a blind guy who was threatening them. One of my guys even got a verse in Isaiah where God told him that he was going to open the eyes of the blind...bring it on!! So I joined them and this lead me to Caleb. Caleb is an aboriginal who claimed to have fought in the Gulf War. He shared stories with us about the men he killed and the death he saw. The anger and fear in his eyes was alive with evil, but God had a different plan that night. The guys I was with never backed down from the conversation, how could we, angels were with us!! Each time we would present the gospel to him or even ask him for reasoning to his beliefs. Caleb would become offended and explain to us that because we are Anglo-Saxons, this made us "bad". Even though on some occasions, he shared his love for us and his appreciation for our pursuit of something bigger than we are...but still, we were always wrong in the end. Caleb tried to explain to me that the use of the gospel was completely unnecessary to understanding God and knowing who He is. He tried to carry the bible away from me in an effort to prove his point that the gospel is not needed. I continued to explain to him that each of the words in scripture are God breathed, but his beliefs said otherwise. In the end, Caleb stormed off threatening to kill someone that very night. We prayed for "someones" safety and the spirits living inside of Caleb. I just don't understand the tactics of the enemy sometimes, I am not going to be scared or impressed by what they do. These spirits are powerless and just cause a lot of noise and distraction. Talking with Caleb that night was the hardest conversation I have ever had while evangelizing, I reckon the enemy is getting scarred of our passion and boldness! Going back to Callie's night, she was later lead to a dark alley where she didn't want to go. But she went and knocked on the door...literally. God brought her to a door that she was supposed to knock on, as she was knocking and yelling "HELLO!" a group of local kids stumbled their way to a park bench. She figured they weren't where God was leading her, they seemed too easy...like she was expecting someone who looked intimidating. But she went and talked with them anyway, she ended up praying for one of the guys and saw him healing that night. Both the boys entered the Kingdom that night!!!! Callie stepped out in obedience and saw a healing and a salvation, pretty sick night!!! I can remember her coming up to me with a huge smile and I could only make out the words healing and salvation, the other words were fused together with wow and "did that just happen!?!". Needless to say, this was an amazing night. We went back to the church at around midnight and prayed and worshipped until 330 in the morning!! Each of us laid things down on the alter and some people experienced real freedom that night....God is soooooo epic. It was awesome to have the sunny coast crew here, they are such an amazing group with such a passion to see Gods word brought to people...I friggin love them!
Our new DTS crew just arrived here in Byron, there are 9 of them all together. I am starting to know each of them, and I'm so stoked for this school. They are a very musically talented group with hearts seeking Gods word...love it! My role for this school will consist of evangelism coordinator and injustice teacher. My passion is to see the lost and broken found in freedom through Christ. This is something that plants a fire in my heart, to see the prayer of Isaiah 58 lived out. So many times I think that we water down the gospel in order to not offend people and to stay safe. But when I look at the lives of the apostles and Christ, I don't see safety. So thats my plan for this next school, not to hold back the truths about injustices, but to bring passion with Gods heart. Our evangelism nights will not be planned weeks ahead of time, we will let the spirit lead us that night. All missions are rooted in worship, so I reckon we should continue to follow the footsteps of Christ in all outreaches. Please pray for the hearts of these new students, that God would speak to them clearly. Bless you all
