Next Steps

A year ago today (December 7) I was driving home from school and all of sudden my music stopped playing and my phone began ringing very loudly. It startled me but I quickly looked to see who it was and it was coming from Orlando, Florida. I knew exactly who it was calling. I answered the phone (which first of all, I hardly ever answer my phone, and second, I know that you're not supposed to do that while you're driving) and I was right. It was someone from YWAM Orlando calling to tell me I had been accepted into the Discipleship Training School for the Fall of 2019. I was so excited. It was finally so real that it was what I was going to do. Little did I know, that it was going to lead to so much more.

My DTS lecture phase is quickly coming to a close. We only have 2 weeks left which makes me extremely sad because it has been the most incredible time. The memories I have made, the things I have learned, and the family I have gained all are just a few of the things that make this season of my life the best. I'll be coming home in two weeks to spend Christmas week with my family and then I fly out to Taiwan on December 30th. I'll be there until February 21st and then I'll be flying back to Orlando for a week of debrief. Pictured above is my team that I'll be spending my time with while I'm there. I am very excited but nervous. It is for sure going to be a wild adventure trying to navigate life in a foreign country but I put my trust in the Lord so that's good enough for me.

Lecture phase...where to start? I grew up going to a Christian school which was amazing and played a big role in my life. But in the past almost 3 months, I have learned so much about the Lord than I had in the other 17 years of my life in school and church. My worldview was and still is being radically shaped into one that fits the truth of the Bible and the Lord's heart. I have so many stories I could tell from this experience. There have been so many times God has brought me to my knees in order to build me back up in His truth. I have experienced an increase in excitement and desire to hear the voice of God and to listen to His heart for all things. One thing that has majorly shaped me in this adventure is a lot of talk and teaching on our original design and our calling. Our original design is exactly what it sounds like: the person God originally designed us as individuals to be. Its the innate character He set deep down inside of us. I have earnestly been seeking God's heart for me, His original design for me, and His calling for me. Let me tell you, if you seek the heart of God, you will find it. Over and over again, God has wrecked me with the fierceness that He loves us with. He continues to amaze me every day with the things He shows me and the ways He overflows my cup with His love. Just this week, we each got an envelope with a piece of paper in it that had notes written by staff members of what they heard God saying about our original design. The catch: they had written them during a morning worship on September 26th, three days before we began to arrive on campus. They didn't know us yet. And so I opened mine and read what people had written. And they could not have been more spot on. The things God revealed to them spoke to my past, my present, and my future. One person wrote about how God was going to rewrite what love looks like. And God did that for me during our teaching week on freedom when I first let God love me like I had never before. Another person wrote that I was born to fight for justice which was something God had been putting on my heart recently as I began to ask Him for my next steps. I was in pure awe as I read these things because once again, I saw the incredible power in hearing the voice of God as well as how much He loves me. And He loves you that much too.

One Tuesday night, I was praying about my next step after DTS. I was scared to ask God. I wanted to know what was next but at the same time, I didn't want to know because I was afraid it would be something I didn't want or it would be hard to do. I had a couple things in mind that I felt God was putting on my heart but I didn't know. But I asked and He responded. So, I thought it fitting that, on the one year anniversary of my acceptance and basically commitment to doing a DTS, that I announce what I will be doing after my outreach and DTS come to a close. I graduate from DTS on February 28th. I will head home after that (and a little vacation:)). Then, on March 30th I will be coming back to YWAM Orlando for a second school called the School of Ministry Development (SOMD). This is what I view as a continuation, in a way, of DTS that begins focusing on all of the things you learned about God and yourself and teaches you to use that in ministry and leadership. It is the same length, 5 months (April-August) with 3 months of lecture phase and 2 months of outreach. What does this mean? I'll only be home for about 3 weeks. I'll need to raise around $3400 in that time. I'll only be with my family for a short period. I'll be gone for the whole summer. I'll also be spending summer in Florida which might be a little rough. But I know this is what God is calling me to do. I am so excited for this opportunity. I am so excited to continue my training with YWAM Orlando. And I am so excited to see where God calls me to do.

For those of you wondering, this does mean college is out of the picture in a traditional sense. YWAM actually has a program called University of the Nations which does have seven different areas of study, ranging from sports ministry to counseling to practical health that I am looking into doing as a possibility. It is a hard thing for me to do, not going to college, but I have such a fire and a calling in my soul to tell the world about Jesus. I cannot go sit in a classroom in a college when I know that it is not my college. Is this against the norm? Yes. Is this scary? Yes. Will I have to raise all my support money? Yes. But where God calls you is where He will get you, money being no obstacle of the Almighty God. I know there are going to be people who disagree with this decision. There will be people who frown upon not going to college, getting a degree, and getting a job. That's fine. God has called me. He has called me into devoting my everything to taking His name to the nations. So with full confidence in the faithfulness of God, I walk into the future with my eyes fixed on the one who gave His all for me. The one who never stopped chasing after me. The one who said, “I died for those beautiful brown eyes on the cross.” The one who placed on my heart a desire to fight for those who can’t or won’t. The one who is my everything.

Listen. Is God calling you? Where does He want you to go? What does He want you to do? For many, college and a job are what God has for you. Don’t let that be a waste. Don’t get swept into the monotony of everyday life. Fight for Jesus in EVERYTHING you do. In your everyday life, you come into contact with people. Take the opportunity to ask them how they are, if you can pray for anything, and to check in with their life. Seek the heart of God in everything you do. Ask Him to show you the heart He has for the people you meet. For some of you, you know in your spirit God is calling you to missions. He is calling you to step out of your comfort zone and into the nations. Listen. Obey. It’s the best decision you’ll ever make. God has a heart for you and a design for you. He has placed a calling on your life. Are you following that calling? Or are you doing your own thing? Think about it. Pray about it. He’ll tell you what He wants you to do. The question is: will you obey?