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