Halloween

Don't be afraid of the darkness-

its only a opportunity for the light.



The more I live, the more I realize my own need for God-

Last night was just another one of those times when I caught a glimpse of the darkness and evil humanity suffers with; apart from Christ.

Walking the downtown area of Kona last night night i was once again brought to tears as I realized where I could be- 
And that it's only by by the mercy of God that i am not living life, apart from Him-

I could feel a strong presence of evil even before i got into town, 
once there it was even stronger.   
People walking around wearing some of the most evil and dark looking costumes I had ever seen in my life. 
There seemed to be people whose only intent was to bring enjoyment to themselves by causing terror and fear to others.
At some point i walked past a small girl dressed in a extremely sexually provocative way- 
with a short tight skirt eventuating her fishnet tights and low cut belly shirt.
To top it off her face was completely made up in a dramatic way.
I took a second look at her and realized she was just a child.
Probably about 6 years old.
What was she doing down here all by herself at this time of night?!

Marisa, Sami, and I wanted to be present during the festivities to use this opportunity to reach out in the midst of darkness and be a light to the lost.

Our plan was simple: 
Marisa sang and played her ukulele, while Sami and I put up sign that read, "spiritual insight" (which actually meant praying and prophesying over everyone who stopped).

The first fifteen minutes or so business was slow, and i began to get discouraged; thinking maybe I hadn't really heard God on doing this.

But we continued to pray and shortly after that a older man stopped and began to talk with us.

God immediately gave me a word for him, so I shared how I saw that he had a big, kind heart and was a loyal, generous person but that because of past hurts his heart was broken and he was losing his ability to really love.

Since he had mentioned God, I felt lead to share how God wanted to restore and heal his heart; so that he would be able to receive love and give love at a greater capacity then he had before.

He put his hand over his chest and smiled, 
"you're right on about the heart stuff; 
let me tell you what I see,"  he said pointing at us. 
"I see three glows"

After he left we started singing along to Marisa playing the ukulele, when a young boy attracted to the music came over and started sharing about his life.

"I tried to kill myself but God saved me," he said.

"Ever since then I've been trying to follow Him."

We began to prophecy and pray over him, speaking out what God was showing us about him.

By this time a group of his friends had gathered around us and one of the guys Barry was highlighted to us.  
Barry was clean cut and not participating in the costume party, but we all felt that God really had something for him tonight.  

So I asked him if we could give him some 'spiritual insight'

He seemed unsure.

"You've been through a lot." Sami said

Slowly He began to relax as we shared what God was showing us, and gave him encouragement.

Even after his friends left, Barry stayed and continued to talk to us; opening up about his dream to go into the army or the police force and help people.

We ended up praying over him and before he left I gave him a drawing of a picture God have given to me earlier.

It was off a sink with the faucet on and the basin swirling as the water went down the drain.

Earlier ,when I had been drawing it, I had no idea what it meant but as I handed it to him God showed me the meaning.

"A lot of things in your life have been out of your control," 
I said, pointing to the swirling water in the sink basin.

"Its tried to suck you down a dark hole and make you feel lost,"

referring to the open drain pulling the water down.

"But the one thing you have had control over," here I showed the faucet with water streaming out, 
"is your response.
You haven't shut yourself off, instead you have continued to pour out what you have and keep an open connection with God."
Barry took a step back, "Wow!...... I don't even know what to say. " 
"Dose that ring true with you?" I asked.
"Ya, I mean everything you guys said is right on.
Man I wasn't expecting this-
I was just hanging out with my friends....you know,
because its Halloween,
then I meant you guys 
and.......Wow!
I don't even know what to say....
I'm overwhelmed!"
He took a step back but his eyes were filled with so much hope.
"Its Jesus man, He really loves you!"
I blurted the words out of my mouth.
He smiled and put his hand on his heart.


I don't know if I will ever see Barry again. 
Before I left we invited him to visit the Kona campus, so hopefully I will at least get to talk with him once more.
But I know God sent us out, on Halloween night, for Barry-
and I got to be a part of calling him into his destiny.
Something I wouldn't have missed out on for anything!

IRAQ

So tomorrow is.......my birthday!
thats means today is my last day of being 21.
wow.......
I should be feeling old right?
But realy, my life is just starting!
I'm not quite sure how to anounce this, so I will just say it-
"I'm going to IRAQ!!!!"

For the past month or so my heart has been moved for the Kurdish refugees that are fleeing Syria.
I have been prayerfully considering going and recently God has opened the door for us through
a doctor (who has been working in the middle east for some time)  extending an invitation to our team to come and partner with him in his work.


What's going on in Syria?

In 2011 when the government reacted harshly to protesters by opening fire, the activists responded back by creating organized rebel groups against the government; starting a bitter civil war that is still taking place to this day.

Recently there has even been a rise in the violence and already more than 100,000 are dead and over 2 million, (more than half are children under the age of 11), have fled the country as refugees to find shelter in neighboring countries such as Iraq.

1,000s are journeying across the boarders daily and it is estimated that there could be 3.5 million Syrian refugees by the end of the year. 

So where is Iraq in this?

Right now Iraq's Kurdistan has nearly 172,000 of the refugees and they are in great need of massive international support.

What will I be doing in Iraq?

I have been given the amazing opportunity to lead a trained team of young people into partnering with a group of medical Doctors to  provide much needed relief to the refugees.
The war has made many children orphans and many women widows and we will be working with an orphanage and also doing projects such as creating a bio sand filter to provide clean drinking water.
We will be in Iraq from approximately December 18 to February18.

I can't say that I'm going into this completely fearless, I have come to the place of realizing that there is tons of risk involved and it could be potentially dangerous.
But I feel a peace from God that He is calling me to go to Iraq and I trust Him.
Please pray for me! 
And if God moves your heart to give financially or you even want to send warm clothes (as it will be winter in iraq) I would appreciate anything you want to give.
Thank You!

A Piece of My Life-

Iv'e been wanting to start a blog for some time now;  its not that I'm an extraordinary writer or that i have so much free time that I've taken to this as a hobby- 

It's more that I have so many stories that are taking place in my everyday life, and I want my friends and family to be able to hear them and see a piece of my life that I'm living with Jesus-

At some point I'll go back and share my testimony of where I've come from and all that God's done in me, but for right now I'll just go with where I'm at-

For the past 3 months I've been training at a missions base as a part of YWAM (Youth With A Mission), in preparation for leading a group of young people on a journey to know God and make Him known.

On September 26th I began the journey of helping lead a group called Crisis Response (CRI).

In the past CRI has been a part of training and deploying hundreds of volunteers to places that have experienced extreme disaster- such as:

New Orleans after hurricane Katrina,

New York after 911,

Haiti after the earthquake,

Colorado during the flooding,

and many more places where CRI has come in with volunteers trained in basic medical care, search and rescue, and disaster debrief tools.

Of course in all of this our main focus is to bring Jesus into the area of crisis through prayer, ministry and service as we become the hands and feet of Jesus.

So far it has been has been a huge adventure, and every day i'm learning to live more in Christ as I slowly die to myself-

Today I was just thinking about where I am now and I was almost brought to tears with thankfulness as I thought of what God has done for me.

It is truly by the grace of God that I am, where I am- now at this moment......and that is Beautiful~