Arrival

Hello All!

I have just began a year long journey of pursuing God at Hillsong Leadership College in Sydney, Australia. I will be intensely studying the Bible and songwriting. I am so excited about what this year holds. I know that God has strategically placed me here.

During my time in Youth With A Mission I was sent on outreach to the Philippines. From the very beginning of my Discipleship Training School I was praying about my next step after YWAM was over. As we were traveling from city to city one day Australia popped into my mind. I was confused by that thought alone because I had never had a strong desire to go to Australia. The next day Hillsong was highlighted to me throughout the day. I knew that they had a college for a while looked at it one and wrote it off as not for me. Being completely honest I didn’t think I was good enough. When I felt that God was beginning to lead me there I still felt that I was not good enough, BUT i knew that those thoughts were not from God. If he was leading me I would obey despite what I thought.  He doesn't call the qualified. He qualifies the called. God blew my mind with confirmation after confirmation that I was supposed to spend a season in worship. God gave me a head start on this season of worshipping him while I was living in Texas. I am super pumped to continue!

I have been in Australia for a week now and already I have been blown away by God’s faithfulness. My travel and my first few days here were pretty rough. Rough days can be great though, they humble us and remind us were just people, we have limits, but God doesn’t and he is ALWAYS for us. The day after I arrived I went to Hillsong’s Summer camp called Summerfest and God met me there. The first night Hillsong United led us in worship and God began to move. During the four days at Summerfest I met a bunch of awesome people and made really fantastic friends. 

Getting home and finally getting settled into my house was a weight off my shoulders. I live with six other girls five from the states, one from Germany and one from Australia. They’re awesome!

This Sunday I also got to experience Vision Sunday at Hillsong. It was such a powerful reminder on what all believers are called to do. Spread the Love of Jesus everyday. The Church was packed out all day long and that night we had baptisms. Hundreds of people were planning on getting baptized but nearly 1,000 got baptized. Most of them made the decision then and there. It was such an incredible sight. Watching the children especially brought me to tears because they've dedicated their lives to such an incredible cause at such a young age!

School is going to start pretty soon! I hope to find a job here soon as well.

Hope all is wonderful for you guys!

God is SO faithful!

If you have prayer requests I’d love to pray for you. Just email them to calyssaevans@gmail.com.

“What then shall we say to [all] this? If God is for us, who can be against us? [Who can be our foe, if God is on our side]”

-Romans 8:31 AMP 

Last Stop: Tagum City

So we only have 11 more days here in the Philippines. Since the last time I have blogged A TON has happened. Ill try to fill you in.

On Thursday January 23 we headed up into the mountains to do some tribal ministry. It took an entire day to get to the place we would stay because the roads were so awful. We finally arrived in the town closest to the tribe at about 9 and as soon as we got there there were kids and youth waiting for us to put on a program. We were all so exhausted but we did one anyways. 

We left most of our luggage in a church because we were told that we were staying in the tribe for 3 days and we would only be able to take a backpack because we had to hike about a mile in mud and cross a river that came up to our thighs. We would have no water and no electricity. And since we arrived so late we would have had to hike it in the dark. Thankfully one of the people in the town offered to let us live in their house for a couple nights, and suggested to just go to the tribe in the morning and come back at night. So thats what we did. It was quite the adventure getting to the tribes the next day. When we finally got to the tribes we did a program for them. You know skits, testimonies, encouraging words. Then it started to rain so we figured we better leave before the river rises and we get stuck there.

We cut our adventure to the tribes short and went back to Ponabo that Saturday where we left our luggage. We slept in the church. The next morning we had church and the Pastor treated us to a buffet lunch. It was very nice. After lunch we all stuffed into a jeepnie with all of our luggage and came to Tagum. Where we are now.

The place we have been staying is so nice! We were SO happy to have beds and running showers! We have been working with the people involved with Impact World Tour. So we have been meeting with them, doing worship with them, and ministry with them. 

Monday we had a day off so most of us went to the beach and chilled. It was so nice!!

The next day  we spent the entire morning doing team time. Worship, devotions, and praying over each other. We went to the public parks and markets that afternoon praying and looking for ministry opportunities. This time it was difficult because when we first arrived there was absolutely no one out. As it got later more and more people started to come out but this time the difficulty was the language barrier. 

We decided to try mall evangelism the next day. There were a lot more people at the mall but most of them couldn’t speak english. We went back to the park where we were the night before and we ran into a large group of Korean missionaries. They put on a program for the community and we decided to work together. They performed a dance and a skit and then shared the gospel. Then we got on stage and did a couple of our skits. But before we even started the program I made a friend and had the opportunity to lead her and three of her friends to the lord. It was amazing! After that people just kept coming I didn’t count but it felt like around 15 people that I alone was used to bring them to Jesus. Our team was split up so I know that there was TONS of fruit that night! Hallelujah! :)

After that night We knew God had something amazing in store for the city and some of the local churches told us about the prayer walks they have in the parks in the mornings. We decided to join them at 5 A.M. to pray for more and more fruit in this city. That night we went back again and did another program for the people. More people came to know the Lord that night!

Friday we walked around where we are staying and evangelized to the neighborhood. That night we were invited to two different youth nights. I went with Tim, Sergio, Grace, and Kelly. We performed the Gospel Skit, I sang a solo of the Revelation song and Tim shared the message on hearing God’s voice. That night God gave me a hint to what I will be doing next, after YWAM. He sure keeps me on my toes. :)

Saturday we did more community evangelism around where we are staying and then later that night we went back to the park and market and shared the Gospel -- flash mob style! God moved powerfully that night! We walked around and every now and then we randomly performed one of our skits. It really drew a crowd. We continued walking around and came across a blind man begging on the street corner. It felt like a dream. We all felt like we needed to pray for him. So we did. Then we found a translator so Nayibe could share her testimony about healing. We prayed and prayed then we left. After that our group was very discouraged that God didn’t heal him. We took a break and just talked about what happened and prayed for more faith and more understanding. After we got up again and continued to look for opportunities to share the Gospel. The very first person we came across was a guy playing music  on the street and he was looking down when we approached him. When he heard us he looked up, and guess what! He was blind too. I was surprised. We began to pray for him as well and all of the sudden a worship song that Katrina from Norway taught our team popped into my head. I had never even hear it until she shared it with us a couple months ago. I started singing

Through you I can do anything

I can do all things

Cause its you who gives me strength

Nothing is impossible

Through you blind eyes are opened..

and there I stopped. I totally forgot that was a part of the song. I got goosebumps, then kept singing. Once we were done we continued and started walking again. I recognized where we were and I knew we were approaching the first blind man again. I stopped about 20 feet from him in shock. I heard something familiar. Across the street I heard the faint sound of the worship song playing over a speaker somewhere. As I listened closer I heard...

Through you I can do anything

I can do all things

Cause its you who gives me strength

Nothing is impossible

Through you blind eyes are opened

Strongholds are broken

I was in awe. God is going to heal both of them. I have NO doubt about that. God is so amazing!!

Sunday  morning we went to church with the owner of the place we are staying. This was the first time since we have been in the Philippines that we have not performed or done a “special number” at a church. It was nice to just take in the message. That night we went and ran another youth night where I shared my testimony and Kelly shared the message. 

Monday we invited the youth that helped serve us in Monkayo to visit us. Eighteen of them came and we just hung out played games. While we were statying in Monkayo they were very hospitable towards us and we were SO grateful so we washed their feet and prayed over them to bless them. We are so thankful for our time with our family from Monkayo. :)

Tuesday we rested because Wednesday we started our 72 hours of prayer. The prayer week was was so awesome! I think all DTS’s have to have a 72 hours of constant prayer. Each person individually had to spend at least 36 hours in the prayer room and there had to be 2 people in the room at all times. The Holy Spirit totally took over me during that time I drew so near to Christ. Such a blessed time I will cherish it. 

Prayer lasted until Saturday morning at 8 A.M. After prayer we were invited by a local pastor the go to a beach and pool so most of us went. It was a lot of fun especially because the Impact World Tour workers and performers came with us!

This morning we attended the Four Square Church again. This time we sang some worship as our “special number”. and then we came back to the base. The team hung out with the youth from the church. I haven’t been feeling well so I have just been resting. 

Well now you’re all caught up! So much, I know! I can’t believe we have less than a week left here. It has gone by so fast! 

Please be praying for the salvations that have occurred here. God has done amazing things here and the last thing he wants are temporary commitments. He want our everything! Please be praying for lifelong commitments for those that were reached! 

Thanks so much! :)

Disaster Zone

Hello! Time is flying here!

Here is the down low. After leaving Monkayo we headed to the Nehemiah House. We arrived there at three in the morning after the craziest bus ride ever. Thankfully the next day we had off so we all just relaxed. The Nehemiah House is a home for sexually exploited girls. There were 18 girls there ages from 8-16. It’s a place for healing and restoration done by only the Holy Spirit. The Owner was a YWAMer who went on outreach to the Philippines and just never came home. Sounds like something I would do. haha. He created the Nehemiah house in the 1990‘s and since then over 500 girls have gone through the house and ALL of them have left having a personal relationship with the Lord, even the few that came in as Muslims. The Holy Spirit is SO present there the atmosphere was SOO anointed!

The House was hit by the flood pretty hard so there was a lot of repair work to do. We helped rebuild the wall that the water had broken down. We also dug up about 6 inches of mud that the water washed all over the property. When we decided to go there we didn’t know if we would have electricity or water. Thank God that we had it because after the physical labor every day we stunk! 

We spent the majority of our time there helping restore the place. In the afternoons we spent time with the girls and led Bible study for them every night. The girls are so awesome I loved getting to know them and spending time with them!

On Friday Grace and I went to the doctor. She had been feeling really sick with a cold and my pinkie toe was swelling up. I thought my toe was broken because I woke up the first day we got there and it hurt SO bad. It wasn’t broken but i did get an infection in it which caused it to swell up and be extremely painful to touch. Grace ended up having Pneumonia. The woman who took us to the doctor was the social worker for the Nehemiah House. She was awesome! I loved spending the day with her and Grace.

The entire time we were staying at the Nehemiah House we were asking how we could get out in the community to talk to people and just give them hope and encouragement through Jesus. The only way we would get that opportunity is if we just went out and walked around. So we did. We headed toward the river and there we found people washing literally everything they had. We went up to a few of them asking if we could help them out and all of them said no. So we just talked to them. We came across a 50 year old lady named Ava and she told us her story. She has diabetes and half of her extended family went missing after the flood. Then on top of that she found out that her husband has a whole other family. We got to encourage her and she knew that without Jesus she couldn’t go through anything like that.

On our last day at the Nehemiah House we took a tour around the flooded areas.  It was devastating even a month after the flood. The river literally rose 30 feet in places. Completely washing houses away and clearing entire neighborhoods. Over 1,000 people died as a result of the flood. There will be pictures up on my Facebook later. 

Now we are back in Davao for a few days. We are staying at the YWAM base and Craig our staff visitor is here!

I’m still loving it here. I can’t believe we only have one month left of YWAM. I want to do everything i can just to cherish the time we have left together. :)