YWAM Tyler Visit: 4 Things I Appreciate About YWAM Tyler

 

Dear friends,

Hello! This month I had the opportunity to volunteer at YWAM Tyler for 10 days.

One of my favorite spots at YWAM Tyler

While there, I mainly served in hospitality, at the hotel, and at the Journey Coffee House. 

Putting my organization skills to use in the hospitality storage room

I hadn't been on base in close to a year, and I missed it. A lot has changed at YWAM Tyler in the last year and I felt I needed to get back on location and spend time in service and in prayer about my future and the possibility of my joining full time missions there. 

Although some of my friends are no longer serving there, and there are a few new faces, it was good to be back. 

Fishing at YWAM Tyler

4 Things I appreciate about YWAM Tyler

• Community and Fellowship. I love being in a community of like-minded believers. There's housing and dorms available on base, that most missionary staff live in. This creates an environment where people can spend time at each other's houses trying unique foods from each other's culture and playing games that become very animated and filled with laughter. Being able to live closely together and fellowship, whether it's over food, games, or worshiping and praying together, is truly a blessing.
• The Lord's presence. The Word says; "Where two or more are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them." Mt 18:20  This is definitely the case for YWAM Tyler, as the Lord's peaceful presence hovers over this base. When you step onto the base and walk through the grounds, especially the prayer chapel, you can really feel that the Lord has indeed blessed this place.  
• Mercy ministry opportunity: MercyWorks. This is the department I am interested in joining. The vision of MercyWorks is to bring hope and lasting change to people afflicted by war, famine, extreme poverty and natural disaster. At present, they are focusing on Africa, where wells are being dug in several villages and medical clinics are being held at no cost for people in need.
• Fishing. The base is beautiful and has multiple stocked ponds scattered across the property that I enjoy fishing in. This is a time when I connect with the Lord and really process the events of the day or week.

Scripture for Thought: 

"Trust In the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will direct your paths." Proverbs 3: 5-6

Prayer requests: 

Guidance and provision for going into full-time missions.

Blessings, 

                Grace

 

EMS Training Update

 

Dear friends,

Hello! I hope your year has been fantastic so far!

I am pleased to announce I have completed the EMS course! I am now awaiting a testing date for the national certification exam. 

As I have mentioned before, I took EMS training for the purpose of pursuing rescue and relief missions. I believe this training has really taught me not only the skills necessary for caring for people who are in vulnerable states, but also that its okay to not know something and ask for help. 

           "For I know the thoughts I think towards you, declares the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope." Jeremiah 29:11

Something the Lord has been reminding me of through this process is, our plans are not always His plans. And why we think the Lord wants us to do something is not always the actual reason He has us do it.

Biblical reference: Isaiah 55:8-9

Prayer requests:  

• Prayers for coming test. 
• Guidance and provision for moving forward into full time missions. 

Thank you for supporting me through your prayers and encouragement!

Blessings,

                 Grace

Summer Mission Work

 Season of Service and Training (SST)

Summer of 2024

Dear Friends,

 Hello! This summer I had the opportunity to staff YWAM's Season of Service Training in Tyler, TX from July 14-28. SST is a Discipleship and Missions program for teenagers. 

Meet my small group. I had the honor of being able to disciple these five young ladies this summer, who came from all over the states to learn and grow in their relationships with Jesus!

  

School of Transformative Joy.

Our school of 61 students was called "The School of Transformative Joy". We spent one week on base where the students had classes on how to hear God's voice, who God is, and preparing for the outreach week where they were able to put what they learned into practice.

Because of the size of our school, we split into two teams for outreach. I was on the team that went to New Orleans. The other went to Houston.

Teaching VBS Crafts 

A portion of outreach was a VBS where the students were to lead. Myself, and a fellow staff member, taught a small group of students crafts, so during VBS they could do them with the kids.

 

SST students took part in several other ministries which included, street and homeless ministry, and work duties around YWAM NOLA to bless the missionaries there.

                                                        

"The Lord your God is in your midst, A victorious warrior. He will rejoice over you with joy, He will be quiet in His love, He will rejoice over you with shouts of joy." Zephaniah 3:17 

Here's a short SST Student Testimony!

"Before coming to SST I struggled with trying to carry my own burdens and it made me so anxious about everything but coming here I have learned to let God carry those burdens because I can’t and that I can really talk to him about things that are making me anxious."

Update on Current Training:

As I stated in my last post, I'm currently enrolled in EMS training.  I have completed the instructional phase and I'm now going into rotations.

I have 2 shifts in an ER and 4 shifts on an ambulance.

Prayer requests:

• The Lord continues to speak into our 61 SST Students.
• Rotations go well.
• I pass EMS testing.

Blessings,

                   Grace

A Welcome and an Update!

Hello friends this is Grace, welcome to my blog!  Here is where you'll find news and updates about my journey in missions. I want to thank all of you who have prayed and supported my missionary journey and I hope you find this post, and blog, enjoyable and informative!

 

A little about me and my journey: 

When I was eight years old, part of my homeschooling curriculum was a book called "God Speaks Numanggang" (pronounced New Mung Gahng). As my mom read this book to me and my siblings, God spoke to my heart and told me that being a missionary was His plan for me. Now, many years later, I'm pursuing that calling.

In the fall of 2022 I began missionary training in Tyler, TX with Youth With A Mission. YWAM. I attended two schools there. Discipleship Training School (DTS) and School of Evangelism (SOE). This was a wonderful experience for me. 

After attending YWAM Tyler, I participated in Bible-Survival-Combat training (BSC). This is an intensive rescue and relief missionary training course, which is an area of mission work I'm very interested in.

 

As I type this post, I'm on base at YWAM Tyler to staff SST. This is a Discipleship and Missions program for teenagers. I will be here for the remainder of July. I'm so excited to be back on base and look forward to working with the SST students again this summer and taking them on outreach.

What's next? 

• To help further prepare me for the rescue and relief mission field, I am currently training to be an EMT through Texas EMS.
• After completing EMT school, I plan to take a Wilderness EMT upgrade course which will help me with emergency care and first aid in remote locations. This will be perfect for the mission field!
• After I complete all of my training, I am planning to join up with a rescue and relief organization where I can bring help and hope to those in need!

I have been researching different organizations and teams and praying about which will be the place God can best use me. One of these I'm looking into is MercyWorks which is part of YWAM. I did my DTS mentorship with MercyWorks and really enjoyed it. 

Prayer requests:

Please pray for the SST students, staff, and leaders. 

If you'd like to receive all of my latest posts by email please subscribe to my blog. I plan to post updates Bimonthly. Also, keep checking back for new photos in my page tabs in the menu bar. I have a lot of photos to share with you and it will take some time to get them all organized and posted.

Blessings,

                Grace.