Ephesians 3:20-21 "Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be the glory in the church in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever! Amen."
Mark 16:15 "He said to them,'Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation.'"
I love when the unexpected in life turns out for the good. That's what happened when our speaker cancelled a few weeks ago. Still needing a someone to teach us on evangelism, my leader John called Kevin Stickle. Although Kevin was having an extremely busy week leading Impact Summer, he agreed to be our speaker. He invited us to be apart of Impact Summer. Impact Summer is part of the Byron Bay outreach that gives hundreds of YWAMers the opportunity to come to Byron Bay and evangelize to the "new age mecca" of Australia. How perfect; learn about evangelism, apply what was taught in real life situations, meet new people and see new places. Our base met people from all over Australia and even New Zealand. To say the past five days were life changing is not an overstatement. God really moved through Byron this week and to him be the glory.
Allow me the opportunity to talk about our speaker. If anyone has peace written all over them, it's Kevin. With his peripheral vision fading with a chance of going blind at any moment, he has amazing peace. His voice was always so calm and he always put his trust in God, even with obstacles against him. I heard that before he goes surfing he'll watch the waves for a half and hour and say "aye, I reckon that's a good one." as they pass and crash on the shore. It's as if he knows one day he may never be able to see it again. It reminds me not to take things like vision for granted. Best of all is his heart for evangelism. It was great to have a laid back speaker on this topic because it's one that a lot of people get anxious about.
The biggest thing I took from what Kevin said was not to worry and let God do the work. If we're willing to be the hands and feet of Jesus, he'll use us in ways bigger than we think we are. Insecurities, blemishes and all. God doesn't have us attain a certain level of perfection, memorize the bible, or graduate "God college" to evangelize. He likes us just how we are. I like that, because in no way will I ever be that way. Yes, it's nesecary to have a relationship with God and it's great to know the Bible. Sometimes it's good to feel like we don't have it all together because it makes us trust in God more. When we don't have the words to say, He will give them to us. I think that is very cool. Matthew 28:19-20 "Therefore go and make disciples of many nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."
During the week, we used a local church for everything. In the morning our DTS would separate from the rest of the group to have lectures. After lectures, we would reunite with everyone for corporate worship and a message to get us inspired for the upcoming afternoon. These times were Spirit led and it was hard not to feel the enthusiasm, love and desire for the people we would come in contact with. There is something powerful with a roomful of people excited about something. I can't think of anything more appropriate than to be excited for Jesus. After lunch, we would go out and evangelize. Then it was back at the church for another meal and then more evangelism in the evening. The girls slept at the church. An onlooker would think it was a refugee camp from the sixty girls cramped in one room. There was also one shower for all the girls, so claim your place in line. Good thing Australia has good water pressure and plumbing. Despite it's heavy use, I had a good, hot shower every night. (even if it was five minutes) There was absolutely no time to be alone at all. I didn't mind it though. I got to meet lots of new people who are going through the same DTS journey as I am.
The first day was kind of crazy. Our group got there two days late and everyone already was familiar with how this worked. On this particular afternoon we got into groups of four and the leaders set out a bunch of random objects. We played a game to see which group would get what. My group got a bag of m&ms and we were told to pray about how God could use the item to evangelize. Some groups had to be creative. There was toilet paper, giant beach ball, hula hoops, cups, napkins, paw paw, face paint, post it notes and other randoms. My group prayed about what to do and we felt led to give it to someone on the beach. When we got to town, we went to the beach and gave it to a woman. We told her what we were doing and gave her the bag of candy. She said "Oh my gosh, this confirms so much for me. I was praying today for a sign and you showed up, and well, this is just so neat." Tara asked her what she believed and it was obvious she was new age. We told her about Jesus being the only way and she seemed open to it. The only thing is, she was open to every belief and philosophy out there. I find it hard to tell people like this about Jesus. They are super nice and spiritual, but it's hard to breakthrough that believing in Jesus is the only way. This little creative activity turned out pretty good. Some girls from my base had the star shaped post it notes. They wrote messages of truth and bible verses over each one. They placed them all over the public places of Byron, and they're still there. It was cool to pass by them all week. This day was good, but they kept getting better.
That evening Amanda, Dave and I were the only ones from our school to join the rest for evening evangelism. The set up was free pancakes, chai tea and music in the park. I was having some good conversations and was feeling pretty good about things. After a conversation with a woman, Dave called me over. This is when he broke the news to me that he'll not be joining us on outreach. My heart sank. With such a small outreach team, each person plays such a big role. I was really sad, so I went over to a tree to be alone. As I was praying, this amazing peace and comfort came over me. God was comforting me and I felt the sense that everything would be okay. Dave needs to be hear still, and God will take care of us in Alice Springs. It will be different but I have no doubt that if this is the will of God, he will hold us in the palm of his hand the whole time. Continue to pray for my team. We are down to one guy and five girls , including our leader.
The next couple days are a blur of amazing events that happened. In a place like Byron Bay where the spiritual atmosphere is highly saturated, God does some pretty neat things to reveal himself. People are seeking the truth. When we share the gospel, it resonates something in their soul because it is the truth. Over the next few days people found salvation, were healed, came to a worship event for the first time and heard the gospel. One day we hosted a beach volleyball tournament. Seventy people joined and we had a blast. During a break a guy asked "What's different about you guys? You're respectful and value each other." and many asked why we were this. Afterwards we had a free BBQ for the hungry volleyball players and anyone else who wanted a burger. It was a lot of fun.
One day it poured the whole day. We had the day off but were still all together in Eastgate Church. What was the opportunity to get bored, God turned into something amazing. After lunch, everyone cleared the tables. We spent the whole afternoon up until dinner in worship and ministry. Toward the end, we got in a circle and prayed for each other. People were healed, and many other neat things were happening. A dancer who had a foot problem was walking on her tip toes for the first time in a year. A boy who broke his arm the day before could move his fingers and felt no more pain in his arm. He will soon go back to the doctor to see if the break was healed. A girl with asthma went for a run the day after to find she had to trouble breathing. God was in the house. An afternoon flies by when things like that are happening. After dinner,just our base went to the Byron Bay base to have a pool party. All in all, it was probably the best rainy day I've ever had.
My favorite day was the last evening. Everything we learned and prayed came together. We had another free pancake and chai tea night. There was also worship, testimonies and dances (the Brisbane DTS is catered to artistic people who are skilled in music, art and dance so they were a big asset to these evenings) I talked to about five people about the gospel. I was glad I brought my bible, because I could show them scriptures about how to come to salvation. I was personally praying for more boldness and confidence during the week and I really felt God helped me with this. I talked to a lady from Thailand. She is from the Gold Coast too. Although she didn't come to salvation, I believe seeds were planted and God stirred something in her heart. I gave her a bible and we read some passages together. When I get back from outreach in March, she invited me over for a Thai meal so I can "tell her more about this Jesus." This other guy I talked to was a "committed heathen" and thought that without saten, we couldn't have any fun. He never heard Christianity before, and I think in his heart he wanted to know more, because he kept asking questions. We talked for about an hour on Jesus and the fall of man. That evening, some people came up to the park and tried to destroy the peace. A couple teenagers went up to the front, mocked and mooned the crowed. A few girls came up to the microphone and said "don't believe this, it's stupid !@#$%" We didn't react to this, rather we let it happen. I think it showed God more and more. If that was saten's attempt to stop something great God was doing, then that's pathetic. You didn't have to be a Christian to see that. It was all the more a testimony to how good God is.
I was so glad for the chance to do Impact Summer. I will never forget the friendships I made, people I met and the encounters with God. I will take what I learned and apply it for when I leave for outreach to Alice Springs. I know God is going to do awesome things there as well. Thank you for your continued prayers and support. Please pray for my team as outreach is rapidly approaching and there's a lot to get done.
No comments:
Post a Comment