An update written 8 October 2011 – Arvada, Colorado
It was really sad to say goodbye (again), and a really long flight (33 hours),
but God is so faithful and it is SO good to be back here again. It really does
feel like home in many ways!
So there are 4
schools running this quarter at YWAM Denver: a Musicians DTS, Young People’s
DTS, School of Social Justice (which I did last year) and School of Ministry
Development (which I am doing now). There are over 100 students this quarter,
so it’s pretty busy!
The first week was
really full of getting to know people and settling in. Praise God, I have had
absolutely no jet lag and have been sleeping pretty solidly from 11pm-7am every
night! Previously, the first week has been hard as I only fell asleep around
3am and then had to get up early. God is so good! There are 30 students in my
school, which is the sum of all my previous schools! Our director is Mark
Davies – an amazing man of God who is a great leader and inspiration.
It has been
amazing to see how all the students are diving straight in. Worship times have
been so Spirit filled, with people relinquishing things, strongholds being
broken and lives being changed – and it’s only week 2! During worship last
Wednesday, they said they felt like God wanted to break strongholds that have
been in people’s lives for a long time, so I thought about the fear and
insecurities that have previously had a huge hold in my life. As I thought
about it, I didn’t have that heart-beating feeling when you know you need to go
forward – I just had a huge sense of peace. And then I realised that God was
confirming to me that those things are over and done with in my life. Praise
God! I knew I had been through a process over the last 2 years of breaking them
down, but to know that they are gone is SO freeing!
Last Friday, we
had our normal Kingdom Night, where we went into downtown Denver to love people
and worship Jesus on the streets. At first, I just sat and sang along with the
guy playing guitar, then stood up and watched for people who stopped to see
what was going on. This one guy came over, and asked if the packets we had were
to give out (they had toothpaste, water, etc in them), so I gave him one. He
also noticed the Bibles we had there, and asked for one of those two, and
pointed to a specific one he wanted, because he used to have one like it. It
turned out he was homeless, and couldn’t get a job because his ID had been
stolen, and was trying to get a new one, but they couldn’t find his birth
certificate either. So I prayed for him, and he left. Shortly afterwards, a 22
year old woman (Toni), came up and was watching what was going on. I started up
a conversation with her, and it turned out that in the last couple of months, a
really close neighbour, her mom, uncle and cousin had all died. So she had a
lot of pain, anger, questions and frustration at God and the world. I got to
just listen to her, and also share how I dealt with my close friend Claire’s
death two years ago, and my grandpa’s death four years ago. Earlier in the
conversation, I offered to pray for her, and she declined. Later on, some other
people were praying for someone else, and she said prayer actually sounded
pretty good, ‘cause her family could use all the help they could get. She used
to go to church etc with her mom, but now she’s mad at God for taking her away.
She said she wouldn’t normally have stopped, but for some reason, tonight she
did. After we prayed for her, she said she felt better. Please keep praying for
her – that she will slow down and give God listening time to answer all the
questions she’s asking Him, and that she would be open to experience the
amazing love and comfort of our God.
Last Saturday,
we watched a documentary by Exodus Cry called Nefarious, which is about human trafficking. Flip, hardcore! Almost
every one was in tears, but there is also so much hope in Jesus! We had a time
of praying for each other and interceding for this issue afterwards, which was
so beautiful, because our tears bless God’s heart so much. It was glorious.
Yes, there is great evil in this world, but our God is greater and His love is
more powerful! Please take a few minutes to watch the trailer at http://nefariousdocumentary.com/.
Awareness is one of the ways that we can stop this atrocity.
Right after
that, some of us were sitting around in the lobby of the base with a guitar or
two and singing, and more people joined, and it turned into a spontaneous,
powerful time of worshipping our God together for who He is. He is so glorious!
It was so beautiful, seeing the students gathering together, and freely
worshiping our God. This kind of stuff normally happens around week 9, and it’s
only week 2! So please be praying for more of God! He has something huge
planned for this quarter and all these students. It’s so exciting, and I am so
blessed to be able to be back here for this time!
This last
week’s teaching was on discovering your strengths, and living and treating
others from that perspective – building them up in what they are naturally good
and teaching from that perspective, instead of trying to make them into someone
they aren’t naturally.
The entire
community is heading down to the Colorado Springs base to meet with other bases
for what is called the Acts 1 Conference, where we meet together, pray and seek
the Lord. I am so excited to see what God is going do and say. Please be
praying that we will be united in heart, and that we would be expectant and
open to let God be Himself.
In faith, hope
and love,
Janine
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