Crosswalk Changes a Life

Friday I took the DTS students out to do our Crosswalk outreach.  One particular story of how this outreached changed a life I felt like sharing.  A girl name Rachel the day before the outreach was terrified about having to do it.  She literally was so nervous that she began to cry while speaking about it to one of the DTS staff.  That evening, we had our monthly Night of Missions at YWAM Salem in which we had speaker come share about being full of faith, foolish, and flexible for the Lord.  Rachel was brought to tears during the worship time, and she felt the Lord asking her strongly to participate in Crosswalk the next day.  So the next day when we got downtown after I did our briefing, prayer, and put the cross together I asked who would like to go first.  Nobody moved.  It was obvious the students were battling fear.  Then, form the back of the group a hand went up...it was Rachel.  She stepped up to the front, and was the first to drag the cross.  The Lord taught Rachel a lesson in obedience that day, and I was very proud of her as she took that bold step of faith.  What are you doing today that stretches your obedience to Christ?

Spring Break is Just Around the Corner!

The above picture is of our spring break t shirt orders for our groups!  In two weeks we will be getting our first group for spring break.  It is a group of 21 high schoolers and their leaders.  Spring break is kind of like the "pre-season" for the upcoming busy Mission Adventures Summer.  As always, I will be getting complete new young staff to help with the groups and this year it looks like we got quite a dynamic team.  It is always neat to see the "progression of our MA staff.  For example, two of our staff did their DTS at our base last year.  I spoke on evangelism in their school.  Now, they are staffing Mission Adventures and pouring into the lives of the students who come through.  God is good!!

A Great Week in the DTS

The above somewhat out of focus picture is from the classroom today as I was finishing up my week speaking on evangelism with the Winter DTS.  It was a great week, and I am looking forward to tomorrow when I take the students to drag a wooden cross through our city and then do the Gospel Guy.  Please pray for the students as this will be way out of their comfort zones in many ways.  This group of 12 students leave in three weeks to head to India and Nepal for their 10 week outreach.

Fall DTS Graduation

This past Thursday the fall DTS graduated 23 students who returned from outreach the same week.  Our building was packed with about 150 people! the kids love coming to these graduations and hearing all the cool stories of what God did on outreach through the students.  These young people have just returned from Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa, and Thailand.  It is always a privileged to be present at these graduations.  Especially since I get to know the students pretty well as I speak for a week in their schools on evangelism....which I will be doing this week again for our winter DTS! Prayers appreciated!

Word on the Streets

The above picture is of our weekly round up for the Gospel Guy.  We simply write some questions that people asked us on the street in those black bubbles, for people to read, and then contemplate how they would respond.  More than anything, it is a simple way to keep the Gospel Guy and evangelism at the forefront of our staff and students as they stand in line and wait for meals!

A Place of Darkness to a Place of Light

The above picture is taken at our youth pastors monthly coffee hour last week.  All these people are youth pastors in our city, passionately serving God.  Why I took this picture is because it is taken in the new "Shine" cafe which is run by the Salem House of Prayer.  It is a brand new coffee house in our city that has been in the making for the past 3 years.  Here is the amazing thing....this cafe used to be the darkest night club in our city where sex trafficking was going on.  We actually give all our Mission Adventures groups tours of place which takes them into basements where there where "sex rooms", trap doors, and all sorts of horrible things.  Today...it is a Christian coffee house!  What an amazing God we serve!!

Tons Going on at YWAM Salem

The above picture is of the announcement board in our main eating area on campus.  I decided to take a picture of it because it is so encouraging to see all the awesome things going on here at YWAM Salem.  From DTS students going all over the world, to the present Foundations in Counseling School, to the Ropes course, to Mission Adventures, and the Gospel Guy....things are busy here!  Often I will look at this board for encouragement.