A Little Bit of NC

Well, its a week into my DTS outreach, and just wanted to put together a little update. We've been doing something called "mobile teams" which the stateside part of our outreach, which the purpose is not only serving, but also mobilization [recruiting]. So we drove up to North Carolina, as we have some good contacts up here. The 22 of us piled into 12-passenger vans, and we started the trek...but not without complications! One of our leaders had gotten really sick over Christmas, and hasn't been able to leave her home in Canada, and she wasn't going to be able to join us on during mobile teams. We were bummed, but knew that she needed to be full and healthy before leaving for South Africa in a few weeks! Then, we were supposed to leave super early the morning of the 31st, but because of the snowy weather up north, one of our teammates flights was delayed. So we left after we picked up that afternoon, pushing our drive much later into the night than planned. So we rang in the new year while driving down I-77 in North Carolina. It was quite merry. But we arrived in Thomasville safely, and settled in for the weekend. We were visiting the church of Steve Shamblin, who was one of our speakers during the lecture phase of DTS in Orlando. He was one of our favorite speakers, and when he offered for us to visit, we were than excited. Right off the bat, his team had a time of ministry for us! They prayed over each of and spoke words from God on our lives. The words Steve prayed for me specifically really confirmed what God had already been speaking to me regarding my next steps. It was very encouraging. We had alot of downtime this weekend, which was a blessing. We did do their entire Sunday morning service though. We shared about YWAM/DTS and what our outreach was going to be [I shared on our purity education aspect] and testimonies, did a drama, a dance, and had a time of prayer. It was a full, but exciting morning. It felt so natural to be doing ministry alongside these people, like I've known them my whole life. God has truly knit our team together. On Monday, we left Thomasville and headed over to Burlington, which was only about 45 minutes away. We have been staying at the home church of one our teammates, and they have been the most generous church to serve with. From sleeping arrangements, to food menus, to ministry connections...they have been a blessing. We have spending our days at Haw River Elementary, a lower income area school that this church does alot with. We've just been going to serve in the school in whatever capacity they've needed. And we've definitely been a help! From copies to organizing to reading with kids to bulletin boards, we've been put to work, but its been a blast. Last night [Wednesday] we did the youth service, which was a really good time also. We shared about YWAM and DTS, with the hopes of recruiting students to do a program with YWAM Orlando. Three of us shared testimonies on something God had taught us during DTS. I shared on Lordship, and God really challenged that within me regarding my plans for Cambodia. We did a dance, and had a time for prayer and questions as well. They teens were really receptive, and we even heard that an email came in from a parent of a teen who wants to do a DTS after she graduates this year! So that was pretty cool. Mobile team is not over yet though, we are here until next Monday, when we'll drive back to Orlando and then have a day to transition, and fly out to South Africa on Wednesday! Here's a glimpse of what the rest of my week in NC looks like and some ways you can be praying for me and my team:

-Saturday, we're volunteering with Living Free Ministries, a men's rehabilitation center at a local farm. We will be doing anything and everything from office work to cleaning out horse stalls.
-Sunday morning, we will be doing the entire children's service for 1st - 4th graders [about 75 of them!]. We're planning on sharing about missions, the story of the Good Samaritan and compassion, talk a little about our outreach to S. Africa and even teach them an African children's worship song & dance!
-Sunday night, we will be doing the youth service again, but this team we will be teaching them. It will be the first time implementing our purity material with the whole team teaching it, and I'm pretty nervous/excited. The team has really gotten excited about this focus, and many of them are anxious to communicate the information. We're also during our drama and having a time for more ministry/prayer.

Please be praying for the rest of our mobile team outreach and the people we're encountering. Please pray for the sickness within my team, that they are healed quickly and it doesn't spread. Please pray for Tasha, our leader who is still in Canada healing and recovering. Also lift up her reentry into the States, that she is not delayed in getting back to us. Please also pray for our travel back to Orlando [I'll be driving again!], and our time of preparation there. Also, on Wednesday/Thursday we'll be en route to South Africa, so any and all prayers would be appreciated then as well. Plans changed a little, and we'll be headed to Botswana within a few days of arriving, so I may be out of communication a little longer than expected. But check out the YWAM Orlando website for updates.

Thanks for all your prayers and support. God Bless.