YWAM in our Hearts...

I feel like I have missed so many blogging opportunities!! What can I say? Busy seasons, babies born, moving a half a dozen times, traveling in missions..Life happened! ... and one day all these stories and blogs can probably be compiled, Lord willing, into a book of our life in missions and how good God has been in the process of the journey!

It was about 3-4 years ago that we first started making contact with the base in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii. We hadn't decided on which DTS to join, as there are dozens to choose from. Although, there are only a few that accommodate families, because most are geared for young people. That made it easier for us to decide. After connecting with the leader of the Crossroads DTS, we felt a pull and peace with that particular school. It was for a more mature crowd, singles 25 and older, and families. The leaders have stayed in touch with us and have been there to pray for us and give us all the details we needed to make our decision plus encouraged us with their testimony of raising 5 kids in YWAM.

Waiting on the Lord to show us the path to take was a process. We had debt! We couldn't just up and leave with that hanging over our heads! There would be no rest on the mission field, serving full-time if we had that to worry about. We knew that working hard to get the debts paid off would have to come first. Sometimes following your dreams means doing the hard stuff first and getting it out of the way! So, that's exactly what we did! We also worked missions into our schedule and lived within a means to make that possible. It took several years of focus and prayer and trusting God to move on our behalf. He has been ever so faithful. The hard stuff doesn't just disappear when we give our lives over to Jesus. Sometimes the hard stuff becomes even more magnified as God wants to prune those unpleasant things from our lives. We then can be more free to be a blessing in God's Kingdom and give a better representation of Him.

We hope to encourage others to do the same! Start with writing down your dreams and goals! Habakkuk 2:2-4
 Then the Lord answered me and said:

“Write the vision
And make it plain on tablets,
That he may run who reads it.
³ For the vision is yet for an appointed time;
But at the end it will speak, and it will not lie.
Though it tarries, wait for it;
Because it will surely come,
It will not tarry.

⁴ “Behold the proud,
His soul is not upright in him;
But the just shall live by his faith.

Journal, post it on the fridge, proclaim it, pray over it! Write down that vision! It will give you purpose in work, in prayer, in relating to those with like-mindedness. God will stretch you to fulfill it, He will grow your faith! Endurance will be your mainstay. Keep your eye on that goal!

Without a vision the people perish. Proverbs 29:18

And Paul writes in Philippians 3:12-14...

I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me. ¹³ No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, ¹⁴ I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.

These verses encourage me that as long as I am keeping Jesus as my final and daily prize, I will no fail but I will soar on wings of faith! 

So How Are We Getting to YWAM ?

Many people may be wondering why we are choosing to join YWAM (Youth With A Mission) and how we are able to do it financially. A little background may be necessary if you have not known us for very long but I will do my best to make this short! For most of the 11 years we have been married we have been in ministry somehow, either in church or missions. Missions has been our passion together and we have traveled to and from Mexico serving others in many ways. We have felt God pulling us in a different direction for many years and have not had the means to follow what had become a dream a few years ago. This dream seemed to lead us to a family oriented, group of missionaries, with similar passions and values. That is exactly what joining YWAM will allow us to do. Plus, so much more! The options and adventures in missions and serving others are almost endless with this organization. Since its world-wide, in over 180 countries and work in 1,100 locations. Read more about YWAM here... http://www.ywam.org/about-us/
One last note about where we will be with YWAM concerning the kids... They will have an awesome opportunity to be in their own mini-mission training school during our lecture phase of training in YWAM. Its called Foundation School, check out this link to read more about it!
http://www.uofnkona.edu/ministries/foundation-school/

So, during our last 5 years of coming and going into Mexico, Israel has worked the temporary work of outages at the nuclear plant, STP. We rented a house for a year and knew that with the cost of rent just going up, we would need to buy a house to help us get into a lower payment and out of debt eventually! Thus, freeing us up to do missions more full-time. And, we knew the house would be a special price and special place to meet our needs. With the market down here around the Bay City area being rather difficult on buyers, we knew we would need God's intervention! A large mortgage was out of the question! But we didn't need to have many repairs and put lots of money into it either. It sounded impossible to find such a deal! BUT GOD came through! As I did my research online shopping for this impossible house, up popped a foreclosure. I found I was the first to view it on the website and that it didn't even have an MLS number. I thought that was strange but the fact it was in the 25-30k price range, I called immediately about the double-wide manufactured home in Blessing, Tx. (right outside Bay City) that day! It was on 1/3 of an acre, at the end of a street with no through traffic, without a busy street nearby, which was also a prayer of mine!
Little did we know how much trouble it would be to buy this house, but we found it had title troubles and took us 8 long months and 2 contracts to finalize the sale! God worked much patience in us that year! I am so glad we didn't give up! This was the house we were looking for, as it was the perfect size and only needed some cosmetics. We put in carpet and some flooring and repaired some walls. Throughout the 3 years we lived there, Israel build a front porch and improved the looks of the land greatly! It had been a wonderful house for our children to make memories in and we were so blessed to have it for that short time. All along living there, I called it our "launching pad" - a place that would help launch us into the great unknown! It really allowed us to travel more freely to Mexico and do missions and we thank God He allowed us that time to grow together better as a family.
While we were there the value of the house doubled! God provided us the means to YWAM through selling it and making the profit that would pay for the training we desired. We hope to sow into other young people who have missions in their hearts and of course our own children in what God has for them and their future. To God be the glory for His ever-present hand throughout this journey into full-time missions. As a family of (soon to be) 6, this seems like a huge feat, but then again, we have seen God provide for many larger families who are making an impact in the foreign field!
For with God nothing is impossible! Luke 1:37