2010 Year End news

December 2010 

Pastor: “God is good.” 

Congregation: “All the time.”

    I can’t even count the number of times that I have heard this phrase spoken in church. People say it smiling and happily. Yet I have never heard a pastor utter it during a funeral service... Why is it appropriate on a Sunday morning when everyone is feeling good, but not at a funeral when people are facing their own mortality? What the phrase says it that God is good, ALL of the time. God doesn’t change. God is good when you get a raise, at the birth of your child, and when you finish paying off your house. He is also still good when you get laid off, when your child dies, and when your house is foreclosed on. Yet we choose to ignore that because how we feel about God is too often governed by our surrounding circumstances.

    These past several months I have had to really look at what I believe and see if I truly believe that God is good in ALL situations.

In June I received a call from my parents telling me that Child Protective Services (CPS) had come and taken all five of my siblings away from my parents. The charges are all false but with CPS you are guilty until proven innocent. Hearing about the kids was the hardest thing that I have ever had to hear. My heart was torn out and  I just wanted to fix it; yet I was helpless. I struggled with asking God why all of this was happening. Why would he let a perfectly innocent family and children go through this? Through this searching he taught me two things that I thought that I already knew; that he is good ALL of the time, and how to truly surrender everything to Him.
    As I was processing and searching, God kept asking me who He was. I would recite back His character to Him and He would ask me “Am I still a good God?” Was a God that could let this happen “good?” Yes... As much as I wanted to blame and be mad at God I couldn’t. I knew His character, and He was still good. Even in the midst of these trials my God is still good. He is good on the mountain tops and he is good in the valleys. How different would our lives be if we truly believed that God is good at all times and in all circumstances. Or perhaps more  importantly; how different would our lives be if we LIVED our lives like we believed that God is good, all of the time.

     This past year has been full of challenges and of growth.
In March I stepped up to be the Interim Base Leader of the YWAM base here as we await the Visas for our new directors. Since then every week has brought new challenges as I learn all of the administrative details that go into running a missions base.  Renewing insurance, non-profit tax reports, accounting, and department budgets are all things that I have had to learn on the fly. I thank God for our patient insurance company broker that had to walk me through all of our different insurances and what I needed to do! I can truly say that in this time God has been my strength and my wisdom. I want to share this story with you about how I have seen God move when I in my own wisdom and strength had no answers.

   “At the very end of September we were praying together as a staff over the base finances: We were $10,000 in the red and had several large insurance payments coming up. We went before God asking HIM what we should do. God gave us three things while we were praying: 1. The phrase “Give out a cup of cold water in Jesus’ name,” 2. The desire to be a blessing to our community,  and
3. Wanting to bring the community onto our property, expose them to who we are, and expand our relationship with them. That is all we got from prayer, no strategies or ideas... The next day we got a call from Hovensa (oil refinery). There had been a vapor cloud that potentially had contaminated the cisterns of 500 houses in the neighborhood right next to us. They called asking us to be the distribution station of drinking water for the community! For the following 7 weeks we passed out 20,000+ gallons of water to hundreds of people that came to YWAM. That is over 320,000 “cups of cold water”! We built new relationships with many of our neighbors and were able to share Christ with the many Hovensa workers that were in and out of YWAM all day long. We also were paid $20,000, enabling us to pay our bills, get back in the black, and have some left to pay-down the mortgage! This was such an amazing picture of how God provides for our needs in unique ways and that He is still in control!”

King's Kids Camp
    This was our second year running a King’s Kids camp. KK’s a two week overnight camp that is designed to bring the students into a deeper and more intimate relationship with God. We had 21 participants graduate from ages 8-16. It was an intense two weeks as they had over 30 hours of class time as well as training in dance, drama, sports. They learned how to hear the voice or God, what intercession is,how to have Godly relationships, and much more. Through the camp we saw God transforming lives, especially in the area of identity. That seemed to be a key theme that resonated through each student. Finding their identity in God and being able to be accept who He made them to be.
As we discipled each child individually there were many tears as God was able to bring healing to their hearts. Some of the testimonies to come out of the camp were: “I didn’t feel worthy. Now God has given we worth.” “God was my last resort. Now God’s my priority.” “I didn’t trust anyone. Now I know I can always trust God!” “I struggled with love. Now God is all I need!.” “I felt insecure and unloved. Now I know I am accepted and loved by God!”

King's Kids International (KKI)

From the 21 that graduated, 9 were chosen to be a part of KKI. This is our year-long discipleship program. We meet one weekend a month for a continued time of discipleship and teaching. It takes what we started in the camp and brings them to a deeper level. These are the kids that we are training to be leaders in their generation and in King’s Kids.   
            
Also as a part of KKI we perform around the island at different venues; sharing God though drama and dance. Again this year we were able to perform at the Christmas Boat Parade. We performed and shared Christ with about 200 people that stopped to watch!
   
    This year we will be taking the kids to Puerto rico during Spring Break to do NIKO with YWAM PR. NIKO a survival camp with the purpose of taking each person toward their limits and a bit closer toward gaining character.  It is a tool for developing teamwork, a leadership and servant heart and also to show the value of relationships and the proper use of property and natural resources. It costs approx. $300 (flights & camp fees) per participant to go. As most can’t afford it we have been raising money as a group. Over thanksgiving we made and sold 150 pies! We will also be doing a spaghetti dinner/performance in March.

Project Homeless Connect

     Two mornings a week I work at the Lighthouse Mission in the personal care center. We give out clothes and hygiene products to the local homeless people.
      In November, the Department of
Human Services holds something called Project Homeless Connect. It is an event where they bring in the homeless and all of the service providers are there at one time. They can get dental care, ID cards, food stamps, haircuts, etc. The Lighthouse provides the Spiritual Care for the event. This includes counseling, music, handing out bibles, and photographs. They have a photo studio set up where the clients can get a portrait done. I was asked to do the photography and did portraits for 75 of the clients. Many of them don’t have photographs of themselves so they were very excited to get them! It opened up doors for us to be able to talk to and minister to them.

YWAM Caribbean's 50th Anniversary Celebration

In November YWAMers from all over the Caribbean gathered for 6 days in the Dominican Republic to celebrate the 50th anniversary of YWAM. The founders, Loren & Darlene Cunningham, joined us and shared about the history and vision of YWAM. We also had several amazing speakers and time of fellowship and sharing with friends from other nations. It was a great time of learning and encouragement. I was able to sit and get advice from people that have been in leadership longer than I have been alive! I love these conferences as they really feel like a big family reunion! Six days didn’t seem long enough to catch up!

 Prayer requests

Finances: I currently have less than half of what I need in monthly support. Please pray for continued provisions and for more people to become monthly supporters.
KKI: For the kids, that they will grab ahold of what we are teaching them.
Wisdom: As I go forward and work on expanding King’s Kids and lead the base.
Health: I just had my first cavity and found out I need some other dental work done.
Family: Please keep them in your prayers as they are in court, working through this. The judge has a gag order on the case, but please be praying for my parents and the kids.