Merry Christmas!!

Hey! :)

This week was jam packed with ministry but we took one day off. On Monday we went to the natural hot springs in the mountains. It was like a public hot tub with natural saunas because the water was pretty much boiling. It was awesome!

Tuesday we visited the homes of Compassion International sponsored kids. We got to minister to their families and share skits and songs. We did this all week in the mornings. 

The afternoons were always different. Because Monkayo doesn’t get many foreign visitors we are always invited places. Tuesday especially we ended up going to about three parties. Here for every celebration they roast an entire pig. I usually can eat pork, but it kinda freaks me out to see it in pig form.

Wednesday through friday we had the same schedule. We started the day visiting compassion families then went to the plaza. The plaza is just a park that was beautifully decorated for Christmas where dozens of people gather every night. We surprised them the first night and we came and sang Christmas carols and shared testimonies and stories.  I ended up playing with the kids all night. We played tag, hide and seek, sang songs and they taught us some games too. After that first night I had a possy of about 30 kids that would tackle me whenever I showed up. I have learned to just brace myself and plant my feet when I see them coming. haha. The next night we came back with more to perform. After each performance the team would just go out and pray and talk to people. More and more people would come the next night because they here that there are foreigners. You wouldn’t believe how much attention we get because we are not from here. On friday morning I just knew God was going to do AWESOME things at the plaza that night, and HE DID. We set up a sound system and preformed the skit I am in which is the Everything skit. I also shared my testimony. There was literally a sea of people on the plaza that night. So many people came to know the Lord that night!! It was amazing.

Friday morning while we were visiting the Compassion families we ended up going to the flooded area. It was literally only two blocks away from where we live where there was at least 8 feet of water. We got to share about the hope that only God can give us and that we may not know why these things happen but we know that God is ALWAYS with you when they do. It was really powerful.

Saturday we visited an old woman who had broken her arm and was sick. We came to pray for her and right when Sarah touched her she said she was healed. She repeated that about 40 times while we were that the pain had stopped and Christ had healed her. It was amazing. She was healed because of her faith. She reminded me about those who wanted to touch Jesus’ robe because then they would be healed. 

The family we are staying with owns a bakery and in the afternoon we helped him sell bread for Christmas. The bread here is AMAZING! 

Yesterday was our Christmas day. Except instead of Christmas its called Thanksgiving so there aren’t many presents just a lot of food. They killed two pigs and an entire cow for the church’s celebration. 

Afterwards a few of us went to the far out villages and handed out bread. I felt like santa. Then our team was invited to the youth Christmas service at the church. Sergio shared a message with them about God’s plan for them and their gifts. Then our team wanted to bless them so we prophesied over all of them. 

After church Sergio told me that the kids were looking for me earlier and they said that they already missed me. I am loving this community and all the children here. Having a great time! Merry Christmas! Love you!

P.S. Here are all my team mates for future reference so you know who is whom.

Tom (leader)

Kelly

Sarah

Sergio

Grace

Tim

Katrine

Jina

Jeriah

Sandro

Nayibe

and Me :)

California and Beyond!

It feels like forever since I have gotten the chance to sit down and write about whats been going on. Since we have left Kona life has been crazy. We spent 2 weeks in California. 

The first week we helped run the Call2All conference. I got the opportunity to volunteer with World Vision. If you know me well at all you know that is a BIG deal to me. We got to run the World Vision AIDS experience which REALLY powerful. We learned so much from the World  Vision workers. While I was volunteering I started reading Healing the Sick by T.L. Osborne. I got so much out of that book. Because I had never seen healing personally I just overlooked It I guess. But the book just revealed to me how BIG God is. No matter how much we think or try to understand God we can’t. That in itself is so humbling. We can’t put conditions on God. He is so much bigger than that! I had always thought that people just got sick It wasn’t anything spiritual and when you do get sick God can heal you but he just doesn’t. I had never thought that Jesus died for our sins AND our sickness until now. It IS his will is for us to be healed.  ALL it takes is trusting him and having faith that He is really that BIG because he wants to heal you. But you have to trust him and have absolutely NO doubts, after all he is God. I am still reading the book but since I have started I have been healed myself twice already. I would totally encourage you to read it. It will change your life.

After the conference we spent a week living in a mansion in L.A. :). I love staying in houses with our class. It’s like home, an environment like no other. I think that week was my favorite. It was another lecture week but this one we learned about Evangelism.  I think it is my favorite topic because it’s always a good thing to be reminded how being a follower of the living God is COMPLETELY different than any other religion. There is SO much archeological proof that the one and only Holy Bible IS true! I had no Idea of it before. We watched a movie about the real mount Sinai (which is actually in Saudi Arabia) and the government is hiding just how much evidence there is that the Bible is true there. 

Anyways, Evangelism was really good for me personally because I have always had a passion for it but for some reason or another I started caring what people thought for the last couple of years (pshh I don’t know why). It totally ignited that passion again. I am so excited to share with people. God is SO good. :)

The week in the mansion was our last week as a whole class. We split up to South Africa and the Philippines on Monday. We have been staying at a YWAM base in Davao.

The first week here we had our last lecture series. The mornings we spent watching a DVD series about spiritual warfare and in the evenings we would go out and minister. Our first time ministering as a group was to a church in the middle of the slums. They hold a children's ministry every week and we got to be in charge of that night. We played games and had a skit and just loved on the kids. Because I am one of the two blonde people on the team we get stared at literally EVERYWHERE we go plus we are like giants here. I feel like a celebrity. The little girls that night just stared at me and giggled and whispered they eventually just asked if they could play with my hair. It was adorable. 

The next time we ministered we went to a boys juvenile center. It was a Christian center and boys would go there for murder, rape, theft, and most of them looked around 13.  It was amazing what this center has done because pretty much all to boys said they had personal relationships with Christ now. When we asked to pray for them they came up to us and they all just wanted to go home and be with their families. It was heartbreaking. 

We just moved to Monkayo yesterday. We have already hit the ground running. We got yesterday that we would be running two church services today so our team split up. Yesterday God told me that I would have a big part in church today and he lead me to Isaiah 43 when I started feeling nervous. So this morning I just meditated on it more. When we got to church I ended up teaching the youth for an hour with one of my classmates and sharing my testimony in front of the whole churches congregation of about 100. God really got me through today. Normally I would have probably had an anxiety attack but this is what God told me through Isaiah 43. 

“Fear not, for I have redeemed you;

 I have called you by name, you are mine.

 When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; 

and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; 

when you walk through fire you shall not be and the flame shall not consume you. 

For I am the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. I give Egypt as your ransom, Cush and Seba in exchange for you. 

Because you are precious in my eyes, and honored, and I love you, I give men in return for you, peoples in exchange for your life. 

Fear not, for I am with you;

Me and my friend ended up teaching the youth on the spot. So we talked about hearing God’s voice this morning. Because so many people pray but never feel like they get answers while God is trying to talk to us all the time! It was totally a new thing for them. 

The cool thing about this church was that most of the kids were sponsored by Compassion International. It was so awesome to see how that organization looks from the child’s point of view. We got to stay and watch them all get their Christmas presents from their sponsors. I can’t believe that I have gotten to work with World Vision and Compassion International! God is so Good he just keeps delivering so much!

We will be here staying here for three weeks and we don’t have internet much anymore now that we have moved. So It might be a while until I can chat with the outside world. :)  Thanks for your support guys! You have no idea how much it means to me.

Love, 

Calyssa