Third YWAM Outreach Update

We have finished our week in Chester, South Carolina, and are headed to Nashville, Tennessee, for our last stretch of outreach! It flew by! Lots happened though, and here’s a recap-

-Our hosts, Chris and Amy, had prayed about our time in Chester, and felt like we were supposed to serve ministries that often get overlooked when teams come. So we cleaned a small church top to bottom, and did lots of landscaping for them as well. We joined their prayer group that night as well. Then the next day we helped a housing development ministry move offices.

-Chris and Amy also felt like we were supposed to leave some days open to just ask Holy Spirit what we’re supposed to do and follow His leading. So on Friday, we prayed about it, and I saw a picture of ‘route 99’ and a country back road in my head. Eric saw a wagon wheel, Jasmin saw a road curving to the left, and Alyssa saw a broken down car on the side of the road. We didn’t have much to go off of, and Chris didn’t even know if there was a route 99 close by. There ended up being a route 99 country road about 40 minutes away, so we drove there, and trusted Holy Spirit to lead us. As we drove, we asked Holy Spirit if He wanted to show us anything else- give us any more direction. I saw a white house with a porch on the left side of the road, and Eric saw a guard rail and a bridge. I said ‘I feel like we’re going to go to a house and ask the people there if we can pray for them or serve them’, and Chris said he felt that same thing. As we drove, we saw a car broken down on the side of the road, just like Alyssa saw, but no one was there. Emelia felt like we were supposed to turn left, so we did. I was confused and doubtful, so I asked Holy Spirit if we’d actually see a guard rail and bridge, and He said ‘Yes, and its coming up! And right after the bridge, you’ll see the white house.’ We drove and drove, and then saw the small bend in the road nthat Jasmin had seen earlier. As we turned the corner, we saw a guard rail, followed by a bridge. It was crazy, we were all freaking out! Right up the hill from the bridge, there were three white houses, but only one had a porch. I knew we needed to meet the people there and ask to pray for them. We couldn’t turn around though, because we had passed the house and the road was too small, so we turned onto another road to find a place to turn around at. We drove for a while, laughing, because there was no where to turn around, and we were in the middle of nowhere, on a super sketchy and eerie road! The first driveway we found, that we could turn around from, had a large wagon wheel at the front door, just like Eric had seen earlier. We were amazed. So we stopped and knocked on the door, but no one was home, so we prayed for them, and left a letter of encouragement. We went back to the white house, and Chris and I got out and were met by a man at the front door. We asked if we could pray for him, and he went to grab his wife while we summoned the others. We asked if there was anything worrying them, and they looked at each other, and his wife told us she had just gone for her last cancer scan, and they were hoping it would come back clear. They also said both their cars had broken down in the last three months and they just needed catch a break. They said they were so exhausted. Wow! They both had tears in their eyes, and my heart hurt so bad for them. We prayed for them and prayed for complete and total healing in her body. Chris put his hands on the mans shoulders and said ‘I know that as the man and leader of the house, you want to protect and help your wife, and in situations like this, there’s nothing you can do, and that is so hard. That weighs so heavy on you, and I want you to know God sees that, He sees that you’re hurting, and He is with you. He cares for you guys so much. Holy Spirit led us to your house. That’s huge.’ And then he prayed for the husband, as tears poured out of both mens eyes. All of us were crying by the end of the prayer, and we chatted for a bit, and then gave hugs, and left with our hearts overflowing. It was such a powerful and beautiful day, and a reminder that God speaks to each of us. I feel like the stories I hear from people at church and my leaders here, are finally becoming MY stories. Now I’VE seen God move in miraculous ways, and I’VE been a part of hearing His voice and being used by Him to bless others. I’ve always known that the bible is ‘alive and active’, but it felt like it was alive and active for others. Now I know that it’s alive and active for ME, and that is so cool to experience.

-I also dropped my phone in a waterfall! It’s a pretty funny story that I’ll save for ‘in-person’, but I’m not upset or rattled. I have an abnormal peace about it, haha. I think this is a beautiful opportunity to break the phone addiction, and learn how to spend my time in different ways. So I am phone-less for who-knows-how-long, but that’s okay! I have my laptop so I can still text and FaceTime, so you can still contact me! AND my credit card was in my phone case, so until I’m back in Canada, I can’t spend money either haha!

-I’m coming home!! I really feel like God is calling me home for a season; I think it might only be for a short time, but I have no idea! I feel like I might be called back to America for another school, but I don’t know- we’ll see! Anyway, I’d LOVE to connect with you when I get home. I should be home by March 6th- my flight has been all sorts of crazy, haha. (Pray it all works out for me to fly right home!) But let me know if you want to get together for coffee (cause apparently I’m a coffee drinker since YWAM…) or just to talk, and when, so that I can start putting my schedule together for my time at home, cause it might be short! This last week was pretty hard on me emotionally, and my faith felt very weak. I’ve had a hard time surrendering my plans to God, and trusting Him when he speaks and that He’ll take care of me- but its been strengthening me and preparing me for what He has in store I think. I’m ready to spend some time at home though!! Only a few more weeks!

Let me know if theres anything you want me to partner with you prayer for, or if you want to get together when I’m home! Thank you for your continued support and prayer!