I had a wonderful 5 months with YWAM, and traveling the world was phenomenal. While I was ready to come home when outreach was over, I know that I have been bitten by the traveling bug, and I cannot wait until my next opportunity to travel. I absolutely loved experiencing new places, cultures, and people. I especially loved people watching. I find it so incredibly fascinating, and I think you can learn a lot about people and their way of life just by observing them living their everyday life. The world is a big and beautiful place, and I want to experience it all!
God taught me so many things during outreach. I know that I'll be learning things from my trip for a long time to come. God is so cool like that. He can give you an awesome experience and allow you to continue experiencing it and learning from it long after it's over, because he knows when you are ready to learn certain things. He is a God of perfect understanding and perfect timing. I love it!
I am first going to try backtrack in an effort to recap a little bit of our time in Orange County, California. We were a part of O.C. Uprising with some YWAM students and staff from the Kona, Hawaii base. It was a large gathering of Christians seeking God for revival across America, starting in the O.C.!
Here is a video of some of the highlights of our time in the O.C.:
It was amazing to see and experience all the amazing things God was doing in the lives of the people in Orange County. The harvest was really ripe there, and we had the great privilege of being part of the harvest.
One verse that God really laid on my heart during our time in Orange County was Ephesians 3:7:
"By God's grace and mighty power, I have been given the privilege of serving him by spreading the good news."
The first day I went out to do ministry, I was paired with one girl from Denver and a staff member from Kona. We met and talked to a small group of middle school age Vietnamese girls who were just hanging out in a courtyard in the center of a shopping area. We talked to them for a while and asked them if they knew about Jesus, and we shared the gospel with them. Three of the young girls accepted Christ right there!
During most of my time in the O.C. I was really struggling to have a good attitude about ministry times, because I don't really enjoy just walking up to random strangers and starting conversations--friendship evangelism is not my strongest gifting. I struggled a lot with feeling guilty that I wasn't as hyped up as others, but God showed me a few things as I brought him those feelings. He reminded me that I am not to compare myself to others. Everyone is different, thus their walk with him will always look different, and that is okay; in fact, that's how it should be. He wants individuality, uniqueness, sincerity, ME. I meditated more on Ephesians 3:7, and God really spoke to me about how preaching the gospel was a privilege, and taking advantage of that privilege went beyond my feelings. He also gave me peace by reassuring me that my obedience to go out and engage in ministry despite my hesitations was all that he was asking of me. God was honored by my obedience to him. My love for him hadn't changed, just because I wasn't as amped up as everyone else. The enemy was trying to make me believe that what I was doing had no value and that it wasn't good enough. Anyone can be obedient when they're hyped up, but God saw me overcoming obstacles to show him I love him and to share that love with others. He saw my heart and my effort, and that made him happy.
Two other quick highlights from the O.C.:
1) My niece, Harper Marie, was born!
2) I had my last drink from Starbucks for 3 months. (I decided to fast from Starbucks for the entire outreach phase of DTS.) *I did so successfully!
Overall, the O.C. was great and really served as a good launching pad for us to travel the world and impact people for Christ!
