It's the End of SOMD As We Know It (SOMD~WK 11)

This is my last blog that is required for this school. Don't worry, I plan to continue to update it, though maybe not as often. The end of this school is quickly approaching. I can't believe it, it feels like it just started. This school has done so much on helping me develop who I am so I can become the leader I was called to be. It has helped me understand that i need to be confident in who I am, in my identity in Christ so then I can share with others on how to step into their identity. I have learned that constant communication is key, with not only with those around me, but with Holy Spirit, Jesus and God. I am beyond thankful for this experience and it has become an important time in my time here at YWAM.

As we are wrapping up this school, we finished reading through Revelation this week, which means I have read through the entire Bible during these past 4 months. It has been an amazing experience, and although it wasn't always easy to read (we read each book straight through in one sitting) or to understand, it was stretching to get to see more of God's character, nature and love for us. I love how I can learn so much from reading his word and how God speaks through a book that was written before I was even a thought in the universe! I understand more of the context and history about who, what and why each book was written, and it makes me want to study His word even more!

This week's teaching was more story/experience lead. The YWAM San Diego/Baja director was our speaker. It was a more chill week, listening to Sean share more from his personal experience with YWAM (he's been on staff for 30ish years) and how being in communication with God is important and we need to be in constant willingness to serve to figure out what our calling may be.

Our outreach was very different this week. It looked very different than I thought it would but I loved it! Our time this week was spent building relationships at a local mosque. It's time for the Muslims to celebrate a time of fasting and prayer during a time they call Ramadan. They fast (no food or drink, including water) from sunrise to sundown and at sundown, they break their fast with feasting as a community. It was totally different then I thought the experience would be like. Everyone was so eager to share their faith, but not in a way that they were trying to convert us all to Islam. I think the experience was important because in order to build relationship, we need to understand a little about their culture. They have a strong understanding for Christainity as well as curiosity to hear from us what we believe. They understand what it's like to have their religion be misunderstood through media and they want to share the “truth” behind their beliefs.  I'm so thankful for the opportunity to have been there last night and I would jump at an chance to do it again.

After this school is over, I will be continuing my commitment as staff here at YWAM LA. I'll be serving the base as base staff (exact role TBD) as the base is a little slower in summer. If you'd like to hear more about what we do as a base, please feel free to contact me. I'd also just love to chat!

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Understand the Culture (SOMD~ Wk 10)

I'm thankful for this week's teaching about Culture from our speaker, Jeremy.  is important. It's the center of who we are. It has shaped how our parents raised us and ultimately live out our lives. It is important to understand one another's culture as it can be a tool used to share the Gospel with others. It's crazy to me how much culture influences our faith and how it has changed dramatically. I think it is important to know the history behind our culture and how it has affected the church. I think that the Church believes it needs to be separate from the world, but I don't think that is right. I mean, Jesus was right in the middle of "sinners" during his time on earth. His heart was to bring relationship between him and others. To be in the world, not of it. I have a friends who want to impacted the "secular" world with the love of Christ. I think that's amazing. We are created to bring glory to God's name as well as share this glory with all the world. That starts with understanding the culture of those we are called to share with.

Compassion Discipleship Training School (CDTS) 2017

This week, the Compassion students returned from their outreach. These are the students that I had the privilege to staff in the Winter quarter. They had a week of debrief and it was so good to be with them and see how they have grown over their outreach. Today (Saturday) they graduated. I am so proud of them! They have grown so much in their understanding in who God is, who they are, and how to share Him with others. They are such world changers and I can not to see where God takes them next.

My lovely small group!
(From the left: Kaylin, Me, Jael, Catherine, and Megan)

Leadership Goals (SOMD~ wk 9)

This week, we had Alberto from a local church, The Gathering LA, speak to us about leadership. It was really good to hear a teaching on this topic from someone outside of YWAM. I love that YWAM LA brings in others from outside our community, as it allows our community to grow beyond our "gates".

Alberto also had us break into groups to work on a project. Each team had a leader, who has a future ministry or business they plan to start in the future, and two others to help present it. I was with my friend Jack, and we worked with our friend Hannah and her vision to start a gluten-free bakery here in LA that employs women who are coming out of human trafficking, giving them the ability to learn life skills and be mentored in a loving, safe community. Alberto wanted us to write a mission statement, vision statement, and values for the business, as well as figuring out practical details on how it would raise support and recruit volunteers/employees. It was amazing to be able to listen to my friend and hear her heart behind a dream I have heard her talk about for a while now. We helped her put her ideas onto paper and helped her communicate her thoughts to be presented. I'm excited to see this dream become a reality in the near future. It was humbling to be apart of someone else's dream and how I could honor Hannah by helping her accomplish (however small my part was) her goal. We then presented it to the class, and heard from 8 others who have ministries and businesses they want to start to glorify the Kingdom.

On Fridays, we normally do local outreach. This week, we went to Venice Beach to do evangelism. Our goal is to be a light to those who don't know Jesus. I love how evangelism doesn't mean to shove Jesus or the gospel onto others, but to show him, even if we don't mention his name. It means building relationships with those around us. I love that this can be done in so many ways and that there's no formula on how to do this "correctly". I was with two of my friends, Taylor (Canada) and Molly (Denmark), who had never been to Venice, so we used that to our advantage. We explored the boardwalk, talking to whoever would respond back to us and ended having a few great conversations with people. One guy seemed really hunger to learn more about his purpose in life, but wasn't sure if believed in God. We encouraged him to ask his questions to God and wait for a response. He said he loved to journal, so Molly bought him a journal and encouraged him to use it. This was the best Venice experience I've ever had (I went a lot last summer with Mission Adventures, the high school program I staffed here at YWAM LA) and it wasn't because a bunch of people got saved, or I was able to be great. All that happened, was I had a chance to speak into someone and be honest about what I believe in. I didn't try to make anyone believe in what I believe in and I don't know what will become of this guy in the future. I am so thankful for times like this. It's all about being bold and listening to the Holy Spirit and anything can happen!

I can't believe we are finished week 9 already!

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