There and back again...

Hi, friends and family...it’s been a long time!
Let me fill you in on what God has been doing in my life. I’ m back from my 5 month adventure at YWAM Tyler. It’s hard to sum up 5 months of change into one letter, but I’ll give it a shot.

I left for the YWAM campus in Tyler, Texas the same day that my family moved to Kansas City. It was hard packing up my life into boxes and saying goodbye to my house and all the memories I’ve had growing up there. I was a soggy mess of tears when I said goodbye to my family. It was hard, but I knew that I had to go where God was leading me.

The first few days were difficult. I didn’t know anyone. I felt homeless when people asked me where I was from, because at that time I didn’t have a place called home to go back to. The awkwardness only lasted a little while. I made friends in no time! I never thought I could become so close with 41 people from so many different backgrounds. We had married couples with kids, Koreans and a grandma. We became a family.

Lecture phase was different than I thought it would be. I thought the teachings would be incredibly hard to sit through, but God always knew what I needed to hear. I loved taking notes and just soaking in the wisdom that God gave to whoever was speaking. God revealed to me a lot about myself that needed to be dealt with, good and bad. My relationship with God grew as well as my relationships with those in the school.
One thing that sticks out to me the most is when I realized how personal God is. I always thought hearing His voice was so complicated, but He is always speaking to me. All I have to do is stop and listen. He has blessings He wants to give to me, but sometimes He’s just waiting for me to ask. God is faithful!

For Stateside outreach we went to Palm Springs, California. We did a lot of prayer and intercession around the city. We know that there is a real spiritual battle going on and prayer is a powerful weapon. Children’s ministry, street evangelism, and volunteer work are other things we did.
Next stop on outreach was Kenya!

It was my first time to Africa and definitely a life changing experience. It didn’t look anything like I pictured in my mind. It was green and beautiful. Apart from speaking their tribal language and national language, most people spoke pretty good English. That was really helpful during ministry. We spent 10 days in the African Bush with an unreached people group. We traveled in a little van called a matatu for 8 hours. It was a long, cramped, bumpy ride, but the scenery was beautiful! We arrived in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by mud huts and ostriches. This was Africa. I felt like I was in the movie The Lion King.

Every day we walked to the local school and taught different classes. The kids would run to us on hot sand with their bare feet. Their clothes were torn and dirty, but that didn’t even compare to the smiles on their faces. At first I was overwhelmed with everything: the heat, food, and the language barrier. But once again God showed His faithfulness and gave me a heart for the school. I realized that these kids are the next leaders of Kenya. They are the ones that can change their nation. That is something I want to be a part of! I know that even by just showing them how much Jesus loves them made an impact. I loved teaching my Kindergarteners!

Overall DTS was a great experience. It was life changing and is still challenging me to pursue God more than ever before. I feel like God still has more He wants to show me. Since I feel God is leading me into full time missions, I want God to prepare me as much as possible. I am pursuing the School of Evangelism (SOE). Some people like to say that it is a continuation of DTS. I want to learn how to be effective in our world today and I feel like this is the next step God is calling me to.

The school starts January 2nd and I am taking this month to fundraise. I know that there is no way I can come up with all of the money on my own, but God is faithful and will continue to provide for me. I ask that you would consider supporting me in the continuation of what God is doing in my life. Thank you for your prayers and support!
-Ana

When life gives you blackouts...

When Life gives you blackouts, make candlelight dinners. -Jacob

Yes, in Embu the electricity goes out randomly, but we have fun with it! Candlelight dinners and Frank Sinatra. haha

10 days ago we left for the African bush. We spent 8 hours in a tiny van going on very bumpy roads. I couldn't even fall asleep!
We arrived in a village that looked like it was straight out of Lion King. Little huts and the unique trees. Africa is a beautiful and dverse country.
We worked with the same school everyday. my kindergarten class was the sweetest!
I would mostly sit in on the classes and play with them during recess. One day the teacher didn't show up...so i was on my own! The kids didn't speak English so we sang a lot of songs. I think it was fun for them to have a little break. God knows that i am not a gifted teacher, but He still used me!
It was a fun and challenging experience. our days were pretty packed with visiting schools. Everyday i kept reminding myself that God is good.

So now we are back in Embu for a short few days and then heading off to Nairobi.
I can't believe how fast this is flying by!
Keep up your prayers!

Hukuna Matata

I can't believe i'm actually here!
i really don't have much time to update. It took about a 40 minute trek to get to a cyber cafe. I've never been honked at so much in my life. I guess blonds are unusual around here.

The last couple of days have been awesome. We have been getting to know some students in a discipleship program similar to DTS. Everyone is super friendly and excited that we are here. Yesterday we had the opportunity to work with a boarding school. I love those kids. I was mobbed as soon as i let them touch my hair. Kids run up to me on the street to touch my skin.

Thankfully most everyone speaks English, but i am trying my best to learn some Swahili. Little did i know that i already knew some before i came. Just watch Lion King!
please continue to pray for me. I miss you guys!

Hello and goodbye

Hi!
I'm back from Cali. Sorry for no updates, we didn't have internet access the whole time.

It was an awesome trip. We stayed at this Christian School in Coechella Valley. The first week we did a lot of evangelism and prayer around the city. I've never been fond of walking up to random people and talking to them, but the more you do it the easier it is. There are so many people hurting and looking for an answer. And I know the answer!! I have a lot of cool stories of all the divine appointments God set up for us. I don't have time to write them down now, but if you want to hear more, remind me later!

The second week we worked with Jordan Outreach ministries. We helped clean out their warehouse and organize all the donations they get in. Every night we ran the Kids Klub. Some of the kids were wild and crazy, but i made lots of new friends. And i even got to play princesses with some little girls. That really made me miss the sweet girls i babysit at home!

Overall it was a challenging and awesome experience. Thank you for all your prayers.
Tomorrow i leave for Kenya. I can't believe how fast all of this is flying by!
I really miss all my friends and family. I always realize that right before i'm about to leave the country.

I love you all! Please be praying about my next step after DTS. I really need some direction.
See you in 4 weeks!

Long time no post!

Has it really been 3 weeks already? Time really slips away here!
We have been running from team meeting, to shopping, to cleaning everyday this week. i can't believe its almost time to go! tonight i have to say goodbye to half of my school. My half will be in Cali and the other half in New Mexico. I wish i could skip the 26 hour car trip and just be there...but i guess its all part of the fun.

3 weeks ago we had a speaker named Ray Highfield. He is probably one of the most amazing people i have met. His life story changed mine. His whole heart is compassion. thats what he's all about. He has a ministry that works with AIDS patients. man, his stories really made me think about the way I live. I wish i could write more about it, but my time on here is running out.

We had a week on abortion. It was very detailed and shocking. I couldn't believe my eyes. I will never forget that.

Now here i am just waiting for our room to be inspected. I have spent the whole day cleaning and i'm starving! Tomorrow morning at 6:00am, I'll be on my way to Cali for 3 weeks. Please keep me in your prayers. I'm not really sure what to expect, but i'm ready for God to use the gifts He has given me! How exciting!
I love you guys.
feel free to call, message or email me!

Oh relationships...

Dear friends,
Let me just say that God is GOOD.
I learned many things about relationships that i never knew, or really thought about.I loved our speaker, she sang to us. haha.
This week God has shown me just how personal He is. On Tuesday i was having my quiet time, but all i was really doing was complaining. This might sound really ridiculous to some of you but it was a really big deal to me! There is no public piano on the base for people to play. You have no idea how hard it has been the past two months not being able to express my heart in that way. At home I played all the time. When i was happy, confused, angry, you name it. It was the way i expressed my feelings to God. kinda like how David in the Bible wrote songs. Anyways, during quiet time i was complaining to God about how I have no piano. Then He stopped me and said,"Ana, why didn't you just ask me?" I was like, "oh, its that easy, isn't it?" So i asked him to provide a piano i could play. I didn't know how or where it would come from from.
A few days later my friend, Katy asked if i wanted to go to her house to play some games. So I go and what to i see? thats right...a real live piano. I thought i was going to cry! God is so good!
Saturday I went shopping with my boyfriend's mom. It was a blast! She blessed me so much. and it made me realize how much i miss shopping with my mom. I love you mom!
So that is just a little summery of what happened this week. Please be praying for my school. A lot of people still need to raise money for outreach!
I love you all! thank you for your prayers.
You can call or write anytime!

Ministry prep!

Hey guys!
I just finished ministry prep week. It was long and exhausting.
We split off into our outreach teams and really focused on what we're going to do in Kenya. We worked on VBS, teaching English and polishing our testimonies. We also spent many hours working on a hip-hop dance and a drama called Clincher. By 10 o'clock I was wiped out!
It was good just getting more of an idea of what we'll be doing. A lot of friendship evangelism. Just getting to know the people and sharing God's love. We'll be in Churches and working with kids. I'm so excited!
On Friday it was my friend Stephen's birthday. I made him a chocolate cream pie and thats when i realized how much i miss cooking. Thats one really hard thing about living here. But its not forever.
I had a blast on Saturday just exploring the little Texas towns. We went thrift store shopping, because none of my clothes are conservative enough for Kenya. While I was at the store i actually met a lady that has been to Kenya before...what a small world. I found two pianos at good will. I really wanted to cry. I miss playing so much. Its ridiculous.
They seriously need to invest in a Piano here!

Thanks for tracking with me!
This week is on relationships. oh boy!
haha.
I love you guys!

Love letters

These are the letters i was telling you about. So here is the letter to my Father...



Dad,
I have so many questions. Why did you make a misfit like me? For so long i wandered trying to find the place where i fit in. i wasn't good enough. i wish I knew why you made me so different. Everyone else seemed to fit in fine, but i had to pretend like i did. I wasn't happy, you know I wasn't. i was a lone. i felt abandoned by you and by everyone. i want to know what you really think about me, not just what I've read in the Bible or heard from others. i want to hear it straight from your heart.
Love, Ana

His response...


Dear daughter, my princess.
Can't you see how i took the time to make you different from all the others? I never made you a misfit, bu i also never intended for you to fit in. i created you to stand out. you may have felt alone, but i never left you. i tried speaking to you, but you shut yourself off from me. you don't even know how much i love you. i am so patient, and i am waiting for you to grasp the hight, the length and the depth of my love for you. Don't you know that i created the stars just for you because i knew you would love to look at them? I carefully pieced you together. i picked out your hair color, eyes and nose. Do you really think i would make something that i didn't like? you weren't a mistake, i had you planned since the beginning of time. i was so excited when May 12th came around. I was so excited to show off my beautiful daughter to the rest of the world. What makes you different is what makes you beautiful. I know you better than you know yourself. i know the desires of your heart, i put them there. i value you. you are my daughter and I am proud to be your dad. i love you And. i love everything about you.
Love, Dad


If you want to know what God thinks about you. Write Him :)

Hey everyone,
Sorry its been so long since I've posted an update. I try to do it once a week, but some weeks are busier than others. So, lets take a little trip back to three weeks ago....

Our speaker who was supposed to come, got in a car accident(thankfully she wasn't badly hurt, but she was pretty shaken up) the day before she was going to speak. So instead, We had Leeland Paris who is the base director. He's such a sweet man who reminds me of my grandpa. He told lots of interesting stories and shared with us about the character of God.

The next week was plumbline. It really took my back to the beginning and it helped me to understand more about who i am. They made us write a letter to God as our Father and then write down His response back to us. It was pretty awesome what He said. If you want to read it, I'll post it in another blog.

This past week was on the Fear of the Lord. Boy, does it really make you think. Lots of information on Holiness and blessings that come from it. Our speaker asked us a lot of difficult questions that hurt my brain sometimes. But i think its like growing pains, so its a good thing....unless my head starts to get bigger too.

My best friend Julie just got back from her outreach in Romania. It so fun to spend time with her here. Friends reunite!

This next week is Ministry prep week. Its going to be extremely busy and exhausting, but i'm so excited! we've already been preparing a little bit. We learned a hip hop dance. This is no Kings Kids choreography! Its really challenging for us tall, lanky people.

So everything is going great. Make sure to look at my Facebook for more pictures!
i love you guys :)

Power from on High

Wow, what a week I've had.
Last weeks speaker was Kip Gaines. He covered a few different topics. The first was the "broken heart of God."
He talked about what grieves God's heart: Man. What hurts Him more, wickedness or ignorance? What hurts Him the most is when we leave Him out of our lives. Then he started to talk about the death of Christ. I've heard that story millions of times, but this time was different and i thought about it in a whole light. Christ suffered a lot of physical pain, but that didn't even compare to the emotional pain He felt when He was separated from His Father. Jesus died of a broken heart.
That day left me feeling pretty heavy.
The next day we talked about the Holy Spirit. It was awesome. After going through scripture after scripture, we had a ministry time. And we prayed for people who wanted to be baptized in the Holy Spirit. Kip called it receiving "power from on high." It was awesome.
Since that night some of my friends have been meeting in the prayer chapel for worship and prayer. God has been moving. I have never felt closer to Him. When i'm in His presents it feels like minutes. Better is one day in His courts, than thousands elsewhere. God is awesome.
I love my friends and all that God is doing in me.
Don't forget to check out my pictures on facebook!
Love you guys!

I'm goin' to Kenya!

Yes, its really true. I'm going to Kenya, Africa for outreach. I still can't even believe it. A couple days ago our leader wrote down 4 destinations on the black board: Kenya, South Africa, Peru and for the safety of others i cannot name the 4th. My heart was pounding so fast. How could i make the right decision? Everyone of those places sounded equally amazing. When I began to pray, the only thing that i could not get out of my mind was Kenya. God had spoken and thats where i'm headed. I'm crazy excited!

I've finally processed the lecture from two weeks ago. Our speaker talked a little about John Lenin from the Beatles. Now let me explain why. John grew up in an abusive home and his mom beat him if he didn't want to go to church. He wasn't a popular kid in school and was picked on a lot. And when this hurt child grew up into a hurt man, he started something that changed thousands of people for worse. Sad story?

Imagine what could have happened if someone just showed him love. Real love. What if that love changed his life and in turn he changed other people's lives for the better?

That idea challenged me. Many of you know that i have a heart for kids. When i look at a child i always wonder who they will be when they grow up. A doctor? A pop star? The president? How can i make an impact on these kids now? I need to love them. Thats my calling.

I'm still working on processing last week, but I'll get there :)

Last night a few of my friends got together to worship under the stars. by the end of the night there were almost 10 of us. It was so amazing to be outside, looking at the stars and know that God holds the universe in His hands. I am so small, yet he wants to hear us sing. I love that God is so big that I will never understand Him. He blows my mind!

Well, thats it for now. I'm very sleepy and I have to be up before six tomorrow to go work out. yeah!

I love you guys!

Week two.. God's Love for a Hurting Generation

Last week was awesome. Our guest speaker was Dave Gustaveson. He is actually an old family friend. And he wrote a series called "the reel kids." I read all his books twice when i was younger. So I guess you would say I'm a huge fan.

I can't sum up this weeks topic into one sentence. We covered so many different things.

The first day he talked about becoming child like. We went over the verse in Matthew 11:25 where it says that you must become like a child to enter the Kingdom of heaven.

We also talked about forgiveness, freedom in Christ's love, Spiritual warfare, how to be a godly rebel, and the importance of waiting.

God spoke to all of us this week. I'm still trying to process everything I learned. God is doing so many good things. He is building a solid foundation in my life and I'm very excited about it. Hopefully I'll be able to put things into words once i process things a little bit more.

Its been raining like crazy here. But i love it. I would really love a pair of rain boots so i would stop ruining my shoes. Thats about it for now. I'll write more next week. Thank you for praying for me. I really love it here!

The first week

I'll start by saying that it is wonderful here and I love my school!

I arrived at the small Tyler airport and was greeted by my best friend Julie. I was so thankful she was there to help me through my first night. Everyone was really nice, but i still felt like crying all night. Thankfully the first night quickly went by and the next day was much brighter.

I'm quickly making new friends from all over the world. My team is made up of 42 people. Most of them are from Korea. We also have some married couples and families. Its a really diverse and fun group. I'm finally getting names down!

This whole week has been orientation. We did student introductions, work duty training, and a tour of the base. My work duty is cleaning the whole girls dorm. Its a lot, but the girl i do it with is awesome. She loves to clean!

We have a very structured schedule, which keeps us busy. The weekends are a little slow when you don't have a car. But you find things to do. its too hot to be outside unless you go swimming in the lake. Its gorgeous here. More green then I've ever seen!

4th of July was awesome! We volunteered at this big carnival thing. It was held Father Heart; its a home for unwed, expecting mothers. Its a really wonderful ministry.

This is our first official week. I'm excited to see what God's going to do!
Thanks for all your prayers!

I posted pictures on facebook. http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=184153&id=538970899&l=fc577cfa49

Oh, and if you would like to send me letters here is my address:
YWAM Tyler DTS-KK
PO Box 3000
Garden Valley, TX 75771

Just a blog for now.

And so the adventure begins. I am now on the plane headed for Tyler Texas. To tell you the truth, I’m happy to be staying in Texas. I love being a Texan!

Leaving home behind was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do. Not only was I saying goodbye to friends and family, but to the place I grew up. I know this time will be good for me, but so far I’m nervous and excited. Airplanes make me nauseous, which never helps anything.

Thank you all for helping me get here. It’s been a long process, but you guys have stuck with me in prayer. I know God’s plan is bigger and better than mine.

I’ll try and keep you updated as much as I can. I’ll be posting lots of pictures on facebook! Please feel free to call, message or skype me!
I love you guys!