Ok after I have tried to send my Newsletter per E-mail. I had decided to just blog them because it's to much work and most of the people I have tryed to send them they could not receive them.
Hey Everyone!
I just wanted to give you an update, of what I’ve been doing in the last few years!
This is for everyone! People who know me really well or people who just know my parents or haven’t seen me in a while!
I am working with an organization called Youth With A Mission (YWAM). YWAM’s mission statement is to KNOW GOD and to make Him KNOWN. This ministry began in 1960. The main focus was giving young people opportunities to demonstrate the love of Jesus to the whole world, according to His command in Mark 16:15. Today, we still focus on youth, but we have members (known as “YWAMers”) of almost every age. Many of our short-term efforts have grow into long-term endeavors that have left an impact in lives and nations. YWAM encourages new vision and the exploration of new ways to transform lives through training, conveying the message of the gospel and caring for those in need. We are currently operating in more than 1000 locations in over 150 countries, with a staff of nearly 16,000. A prerequisite to joining YWAM staff or receiving further training is YWAM’s Discipleship Training School (DTS).
Now back to my Story!
I first heard about YWAM when I had just turned 5. A YWAM group came to stay at my parent’s guest house for a few months. When I was almost 18, I took a job at a guesthouse. Located inside the guesthouse was a small YWAM office, plus my boss was a former YWAMer. Isn’t it funny how God clears our path before we get there and prepares the way for us?
I still didn’t know much about YWAM until my brother Johannes, a YWAMer himself, sent me an email. He invited me to join a DTS starting at the end of February 2009. I had committed to work at the guesthouse until the end of March. “No big deal!” I thought, “I’ll just take the DTS starting in the fall.” But my brother insisted on me coming to the DTS in February. I am not a risk taker, but I took the challenge. I had 2 week to decide if I should go. This meant: praying about it, talking to my boss, buying an airline ticket, and getting over my traveling fears (I hate traveling on my own). God managed everything; he really wanted me to go! I got laid off, I found a cheap ticket and God gave me peace. March 1st I was in a plane on my way to Ozark Arkansas!
The first three months of my DTS I spent time learning about Jesus and the way He feels about me. What a time of transformation!
After 3 months of life changing experience, I went to a communist country in Asia for two months. A country where no one is allowed to teach the gospel. A place where people are stacked on top of each other, because there are too many people and not enough space to live. It was a hard experience, but helpful to see the world from a different point of view. Living in a different country makes you different. Now I see things through different eyes. Let’s just say God renewed me through and through. HE scrubbed me real clean! =)
After my DTS, I decided to stay and work as Kitchen Staff on the Campus in Ozark, Arkansas. During my entire DTS I had a hard time deciding what to do after. I worked in the Kitchen as my work duty for the first 3 months. And I really enjoyed it! It seems like God instigated for me to stay here because the former Cook just had her second child. There was no way anyone else had the time or knew how to cook for 30 people every day for 2 meals. So I decided to stay. I have been working here as YWAM staff for 6 months now. I have made a year commitment.
……….my Story is going to continue.
What you are going to read in my next letter is: My life in YWAM Ozarks as a Staff.
God bless you
Angelina
P.S: We, at YWAM Ozarks, would love to pray for you! Let me know if you have any prayer requests, and we will either pray for you during one of our campus intercession times or I will keep you in my prayers personally!
