A Motley Crew

Some of the Staff (a good looking bunch, I might add)

Me and my one-on-one, Bronwyn!

I figured it's about time I upload a few pictures of the people I've come to call "family".
In the top picture on the left is a few of the staff here on base. Kerry is working with the Forever Team, which is a ministry here on the the base which is focused on Olympic ministry and prepping for that. Josiah, Duane, and Tom are a few of the guys staffing on the DTS with myself. Though a handful at times, I love them to bits (even when they pass gas...). The two lovely ladies on either side of me (Isabelle and Teresa) were both on my own DTS last January. They were able to come visit us for a few days, which was wonderful and became quite a joyous reunion!
The bottom picture is of me and my one-on-one, Bronwyn. Bronwyn is from Ontario, Canada and is one of the sweetest people I know! For those of you who don't know, a one-on-one basically means that I mentor Bronwyn throughout the DTS experience. We meet at least once a week and discuss what God s doing in her life, her joys, and her struggles. Bronwyn is also going with me to Leicester for a week, which we are both very, very excited about!
So, these are just a few people that make, thus far, made up my Impact UK DTS experience. We may be a motley crew of sorts, but I love my "family" all the same!

Leicester. Here I Come!

Come this March, I will be leading a team, consisting of myself and one student, to Leicester, a university town north of Harpenden. As an "Impact UK DTS", we felt as a school that it was important to get out and help YWAM bases around the UK. We don't want to stick to our bubble that is YWAM Harpenden, but would rather see how God is working in other parts of the country. 

There are nine teams in total. Bronwyn, the student coming with me and my one-on-one, and I will be traveling to the base in Leicester to help them where needed and begin prepping ourselves for the extended outreach towards the end of April.

I am very excited to have an opportunity to lead a team for outreach. Granted, it's only me and one other girl, but I'm thrilled nonetheless! I believe that this will be an experience that will help me grow in my role as a leader and staff here in YWAM.


When I first heard that I'd be the only staff, I was shocked. I never expected to lead a team, no matter how big or small it was. After the announcement, I ran to my room and instantly started looking up everything possible about Leicester. Scrolling through the Wikipedia page, I started thinking, "God, I don't know if I can do this". However, halfway down the page, I came across the Leicester crest. Under the crest, it reads "Semper Eadem" , which is Latin for, "Always the Same".


Now, during the course of my DTS, some of the trainees wrote a song whilst on outreach about how God is never-changing, titled, "Always the Same". So, looking at the crest and knowing that all I needed was someone to rely on since I doubted my own ability so much, that was precisely what I needed.


God is Good. He is always there. He is always the same, unchanging, dependable, reliable, steadfast, and sturdy. So thanks God; Thanks for being there when I doubt and when worry seeps into my mind. You are with me always.

Breakthrough and Beginnings

Topic this week was Holy Spirit. Appropriate and much needed.

Not to say that the Holy Spirit hasn`t been working within the school these past few weeks, but a new revelation of why we`re all here and what God wants to do with us and through us has been made. 

During a worship session this week, one of the trainees asked aloud, "Why are we afraid of each other? Why do we feel the need to only be surface level with God and one another?". I've been asking myself that same question for the past few weeks. I got a picture of a handful of pebbles being thrown into a lake; together, they make a loud splash and the ripples are large. However, throwing individual pebbles into a lake makes a smaller impact on the surface of the water. I've been feeling like all of us, staff and students, have been focusing on making an individual impact rather than coming together to make a larger "splash". So when the elephant in the room was addressed this week, it forced all of us to rethink our actions and FINALLY say, "God, we need you because we can't do this on our own."

We need prayer. I know that God has big plans for the UK this year and that He will use us to make an impact. However, I don't want us as a school to become apathetic or fractured as a group. This is a team here to make an IMPACT, and that's precisely where I think the enemy will target us. Please pray for a unified team, full of the Holy Spirit and ready for action wherever need be!

Pause.

I need to pause. To pause and listen. Listen to God and feel confident in knowing He is there. He is there, forever and always. 

Take time to listen.
Take time to stop.
Take time to be.

It's not always easy, and clearly from my lack of posts over the past few weeks, it's something I am still very much learning. 

Psalm 46:10 says, "Be still, and know that I am God;
   I will be exalted among the nations,
   I will be exalted in the earth.” 

The Hebrew word for "know" is "yada". However, it means "to know" in the most intimate and close way. In Genesis, when Adam lay with Eve, it is written that he "knew" her; he was intimate with her and the two became one. God wants the same with us. Not to be intimate in a sexual way, but rather to know us deeply; to become one with us and just to be with us. We need to be still and intimate with God, allow Him to speak to us, give Him time to be glorified and acknowledged as our One True Love.


I need to pause. To pause and listen.
God is here and He is waiting.

 

Stir it up in our hearts, Lord

First week of the Impact UK DTS. Success! 

Though we are still missing a few of the accepted trainees, most everyone has arrived safe and sound and are bonding through the shared experience of the awkward DTS introduction. I can already see friendships forming and God working in their lives. Needless to say, I am so pumped to see more happen!

Currently, we are having a time of praise and worship and prayer. The trainees have been asked to write themselves a letter about what they want to get out of this DTS, which they will then seal and read at the end of DTS. I think many people, myself included, come thinking they will simply learn about God and that's it. But God is so much bigger than that! He doesn't want us to just know Him; He wants a genuine relationship with us, each of us! Someone used this quote during my DTS and it really stuck with me,

"God loves us enough to meet us where we're at, but too much to keep us where we're at".

And I think this quote is so true. We were not made to dwell in the muck and grime of sin, but to be pulled out of that and cleaned by the grace of God.

So, though it's only the first week of DTS, I know that God has big plans for all of us, staff included, to pull us out of the dirt and into His Kingdom. Blessed be the name of the Lord! Somebody give me an "AMEN"! 

And so it begins...

This is it; the final mad dash before the beginning of the DTS. Though I dislike the word stressed, it seems to be the only word to describe my anxious unrest and bloodshot eyes. Don't get me wrong; I am so thrilled to start this school off and meet all the trainees coming in from around the world. But I think my body is subconsciously preparing to be stressed by pre-stressing itself out (it's weird and makes no sense, I know). 

Other than a being in a constant state of jitteriness, things have been good. Who knew that once you acquired the title "STAFF", God could still talk to you and challenge you? All I can say is, thank God that He does! It's been wonderful to get back into the swing of "being" with God again. It's something He's really challenged me about; putting Him before my own needs and wants. Painful at times, but so worth it in the end!

The trainees arrive on Saturday. Please pray for safe flights and travels for the students and that we, as staff, will be able to welcome them into a warm and organized environment.

This post will be brief as I am about to enjoy some quality girl time before the school starts. God knows I'll be grateful in three months time! Much love to all of you and, hopefully, you'll hear from me soon!

Wake Up Anew

Twenty Twelve. It has begun.


I recently read something that struck me as, well, obvious and silly; "Every beginning is new". My initial reaction was to scoff at the pages of the book and say, "Well, no duh, pal!". However, that urge was soon thwarted when it hit me how true those words really are. There are no "new beginnings", just beginnings. And every beginning is an end of sorts; it signifies the start of something, thus imposing an end onto something else. This becomes a giant loop that goes on and on and so forth...
What I'm trying to say is this; right now, this very moment, is a beginning if we so choose it to be.


I'm in the process of reading a book by John Ortberg called The Me I Want to Be. In the first chapter, he writes about how God wants us to flourish so we can become the person He has created us to be. I will always be "Jade" no matter what, but God has an intended purpose for my life and, therefore, striving for it will only make me more "Jade". Granted, Mr. Ortberg does a far better job of explaining this than I can, so I highly recommend his book. 


Basically, this is a time of beginnings. We need to make the most of these opportunities, take advantage of the fact that we don't have to be stuck in a life without beginnings. We can wake up each morning and see a fresh start, a "new beginning", if you will. We can grow and flourish everyday so we can become more like the person we want to be, the person God wants us to be.
So I wish you all a very Happy New Year and that you'll find your own beginnings, whatever they may be.