When All Means Fail

I know that this might sound strange but I didn't really know who David Wilkerson was until the day that he died. When looking him up I found his blog and read his last post before he died. His last post was for sure something that I needed to read and hear. 

     To believe when all means fail is exceedingly pleasing to God and is most acceptable. Jesus said to Thomas, “You have believed because you have seen, but blessed are those that do believe and have not seen” (John 20:29).

Blessed are those who believe when there is no evidence of an answer to prayer—who trust beyond hope when all means have failed.
Someone has come to the place of hopelessness—the end of hope—the end of all means. A loved one is facing death and doctors give no hope. Death seems inevitable. Hope is gone. The miracle prayed for is not happening.
That is when Satan’s hordes come to attack your mind with fear, anger, overwhelming questions: “Where is your God now? You prayed until you had no tears left. You fasted. You stood on promises. You trusted.”
Blasphemous thoughts will be injected into your mind: “Prayer failed. Faith failed. Don’t quit on God—just do not trust him anymore. It doesn’t pay!”
Even questioning God’s existence will be injected into your mind. These have been the devices of Satan for centuries. Some of the godliest men and women who ever lived were under such demonic attacks.
To those going through the valley and shadow of death, hear this word: Weeping will last through some dark, awful nights—and in that darkness you will soon hear the Father whisper, “I am with you. I cannot tell you why right now, but one day it will all make sense. You will see it was all part of my plan. It was no accident. It was no failure on your part. Hold fast. Let me embrace you in your hour of pain.”
Beloved, God has never failed to act but in goodness and love. When all means fail—his love prevails. Hold fast to your faith. Stand fast in his Word. There is no other hope in this world.

30 Countries Before I am 30

I know I am only 21 and have some years until I am 30, but I think I am going to embark this challenge of 30 countries before I am 30. There is so many places that I want to go and what better way to make sure it happens, to turn it into a challenge. 

1. Australia

2. New Zealand 

3. Spain

4. Morocco

5. Italy

6. Germany 

7. Czech Republic

Looks like I have 23 more places that I need to go until I am 30. Here is just a few places that I would like to go to.

Uganda (number 1 place)

Mexico

China

France

Thailand

Haiti 

South Africa 

Kenya

Brasil 

Egypt 

D.R Congo

India 

Turkey 

Burma

Cambodia 

And the list just goes on and on. Another goal of mine is to fill up my passport all way before I have to get another one. But that is just something on the side I would like to do.  

You Know You're A YWAMer When....

This is something I found on my friends facebook and I thought it fit my life very much!

Your vocabulary consists of an unlimited great many multitude of acronyms: YWAM, DTS, SOS, SOE, SBS, SOD ect. and only you and every other YWAMer on the planet know what they mean.

You never cease to be amuse by acronyms like these:

     Young Women After Men

     Yes, We Arrange Marriages

     Youth With A Meeting (this couldn't be more true)

     Youth With Aut Money

     You Will Always Move

Your goal in life is to "Know God and make him known!"

You think it's perfectly normal to drop what you're doing to go to another country without exactly knowing why because you know that is where God wants you.

You give away something you need because God has led you to do so.

You are quite happy to accept that your future husband/wife is probably in a different country.

You need time to "process" everything.

At the airport you set your bag on the waiting room chair and sit on the floor.

You're watching the Simpsons, Ned Flanders comes out and your say Dean Sherman.

You know that "every problem in the world is a problem of relationships. every relationship problem is from pride. so pride is the cause of every problem in the world." (Dean Sherman)

You have bathed in a river for a minimum of 5 days straight and have gone a minimum of 5 days straight without bathing at all. 

Pooing and peeing in a hole doesn't phase you the way it should.

In any sort of social situation you are no longer ashamed to talk about having diarrhea. You won't refer to it as an upset stomach, you can call it what it is.

You can't afford to be scared of spiders, bugs, rats, ect.

If someone mentions a friend or family member that is with YWAM and your ears perk up and you have to immediately ask which base and see if yo have met them.

You get something pierced or tattooed before returning home.  

When the word "flexible" takes on a whole other meaning.

You know the full meaning of the word "transition". It defines your life. 

You actually MISS the food in your outreach country. 

You go to a non-YWAM retreat and you think it's weird you don't have meal prep and clean-up. 

You know how to ENCODE emails written in Muslim or Communists countries so that is doesn't sound Chrstian.

You'll sleep on any ground, anyplace, anytime.

"Base" is a word that means ministry center.

On your birthday you know to expect a construction paper card signed by everyone on the base.

Comfort is luxury.

You have an unspoken bond with everyone and everyone who has done a DTS.

You leave with total non-denominational view of Christianity and get really annoyed over petty Christian bickering. 

You know that everything in life is a "heart issue"

On week you can't afford to buy coffee, the next week you're in another country on outreach.

You know how to give your testimony in 5 minutes. 

After meal you wash your own dishes. 

You have a place to stay anywhere in the world because someone you knew knows someone who knows them.

You're no longer surprised at money turning up randomly and anonymously, just in the nick of time.

You know you're a YWAMer when you can say "base food" and everyone knows what your talking about.

You miss lots of people ALL the time.

You left your heart in another country.

You feel right at home in any YWAM base in any country in the world!

Proverbs 15:13

A glad heart makes a happy face; a broken heart crushed the sprit.

Am I Ready?

Today I went to coffee with a dear and just talked about life after being home from YWAM SF after three years and me moving down to Azusa to go to school. I really haven't been given the chance to talk about how being home is going and talking about my time up in SF. I can all the processing with myself, but there is something powerful about talking through things with people that are close with you.
We got talk about me moving down to APU in September and how excited I am to be just doing school for once. Something that I am not use to, but am really excited about. I am ready for this change and ready for something new. But I got to thinking about me going to APU more once I got home and started getting scared for some reason. I am scared to get close to another group of people that I know will become like family to me. I'm scared to be open with new people that don't know my past. I scared to see what the Lord if going to do with me while I am there, but in a good way. I'm scared to fail.
There are so many things that come up that make me scared for this new adventure that I am about to embark in.

Count Down

As days go by I am counting down for two different things.

In less then a month I will be going on my very first road trip with a few of my friends to Iowa. I couldn't be more excited about this. Not only because I am going to Iowa, but that my first road trip is there. It will be a nice way to just get away for a few days and hang out with friends that I miss so much.

On September 2 I will be moving down to Azusa to go to APU. And this day couldn't come soon enough. I want this date to be here right now! I am ready for something different and change. I've always had the desire to go to college and get an education and knew the day would one day come. It's one thing to take classes online, but then to be living on a college campus and just doing school and worrying about anything else, that is what I am excited for. I only have 2 years left, but I am ready to make these next two years be the best ever!

Bring on Iowa and bring on APU!