A Testimony of God's Faithfulness!

Aloha,

You've heard me say that one of the things I love about YWAM Maui is the transformations that I get to see in people's lives. I've asked one of the DTS students in the school to write out his testimony so all of you can read about the transformations I'm talking about! Erik's story is a reminder that NOTHING can separate us from the love of God and that He is ALWAYS in pursuit of our hearts. I hope God speaks to you through Erik's story.

"My name is Erik; I’m 24 years old and am from Dellwood, Minnesota. I am a student at the Maui YWAM. I became a true Christian last march while in a drug treatment program. I had been lost in drug addiction and alcoholism for almost six years before having an intervention. I was a daily user and was lost in a useless life of sin and selfishness. Everything I did had a negative result and everywhere I went I left a path of destruction in the lives of people I encountered, especially my family. I would disappear for months at a time and neglect to inform anyone around me, at some times my family didn’t even know if I was still alive. However, Christ had a future planned for me, in December of 2007 my friends and family organized an intervention and demanded that I attend a Christian drug rehabilitation facility called MN Teen Challenge, I agreed to give it a shot as I had seen my life begin to slip away.
While in Teen Challenge God got a hold of my Heart, at an Easter play at a church I gave my life to Christ and accepted that He had died for my sins, and that He had a will and future already planned for me. Over the next nine months I learned what it meant to be a true Christian and developed my relationship with the Lord. As my time in the program was coming to an end I had to face what I was going to do after. I prayed continually and had a team of people praying for me, after a couple months I felt it had become clear that I was supposed to participate in a YWAM course. I felt led to this because it was a good opportunity to give back to God’s kingdom, which I had spent so much time destroying, and because it was an excellent chance for me to avoid old friends who could potentially tempt me back into my previous lifestyle.
Here at YWAM I have already built close relationships with fellow students and staff and I look forward to strengthening those. I also expect to bring my relationship with the Lord to a new level through devotions and prayer. I am looking forward to the outreach portion of this course, which I will be serving in Indonesia, where we intend to spread the Gospel and assist the community in any way possible.
I am so thankful for the changes the Lord has brought about in my life, without His influence I probably would have been dead by now, but instead, I am presented with an opportunity to spread the love that He showed me to people all over the world."

Aloha!

The new DTS is off and running! All of the students and DTS staff just returned from Exodus ( a three day camping trip with no toothbrush, deodorant, or a change of clothes with only ramen and oatmeal to eat! It's a great way to get to know each other).

On Tuesday they were told they would be moving locations when really we had a feast waiting for them! We call this feast 'Love Feast'. During Love Feast we have a time of foot washing for all of the DTS students, new staff and mission builders. Base staff washes their feet and prays for them. Just as Jesus washed his disciples feet as an act of serving them we start each quarter doing this as a way of telling them we are here to support and serve them during this time. The foot washing is followed by a time of worship and thanking God for all he has done and is yet to do!

With new staff, mission builders and a new DTS starting this is a very busy time for everyone on base! Please pray that God would give us grace and patience during these next couple of weeks. If you or anyone you know is interested in doing a DTS or mission building please feel free to get in touch with me!

God Bless!

The Holidays

The Holidays are over and soon the base will be busting at the seams with lots of new staff and a new DTS coming in!

Christmas was very quiet and relaxing with only 9 staff on base over the holidays. The break was much needed and a time to just hang out with people that in our normal base atmosphere you might not normally spend much time with. Kyle and I both missed our families but it was nice spending the holidays together.

A new DTS will be here on the 10th and our base will go from 9 to 60 is just one week! I'm looking forward to the start of a new quarter which will be my last with YWAM Maui. I think I'll appreciate everything a little more considering it will be the last time for most things.

Please pray for this quarter and that God moves in the staff and the students!

New Blog

Aloha!
I hope to keep all of you more updated on what's going on in my life through this blog. I'll be letting you know what's going on at YWAM Maui as well as in my life! Enjoy!

Update!

Aloha,
This last year has been full of adventure and changes. The year started off with staffing a Discipleship Training School (DTS) and leading a team of eleven to China. I returned to Maui in July and just two weeks later headed off to California and Montana where Kyle (my then boyfriend, now fiance!) and I met each other's families. After a month on the Mainland we flew to Scotland for two of our friends wedding. After an incredible summer we headed back to Maui to begin a new quarter on base. After being back in Maui for only a month Kyle proposed! It's been an incredible year and only now have things started to slow down.

I am now working as the Personnel Director for our base. I oversee our staff, short term volunteers, guests and base functions. Kyle and I are also leading weekly times of base wide prayer. This quarter has brought many challenges and stretched me in ways I wasn't expecting. I have had to rely fully on God in every area of my life, this does not always come easy to me. A verse I keep coming back to is Hebrews 12:1-3 " Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning it's shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him whoendured such oposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart". I've learned that all I can do is fix my eyes on Jesus and run after him.

I am nearing the end of my commitment here at YWAM Maui. I'll be returning to Eureka, Ca in the middle of March. While in Eureka I'll be working and wrapping up wedding plans! After Kyle and I are married we will be moving to Montana. While we are there Kyle will be working and I'll be finishing up school. We hope to invest into Kyle's home church and share with people what God has done in and through us during our time in YWAM.

Kyle and I both feel called to missions. We are still praying into where God wants us in the future but are excited about the plans that He has for us!

That about sums up 2008...I wonder what God has planned for 2009?

We're engaged!

Kyle and I were engaged on September 5th 2008! We'll be getting married July 25th 2009 in Eureka, Ca!

The Nelson's and Brandenburg's Meet!

During Thanksgiving my family and Kyle's both came to Maui . It was such a blessing that they were able to come out at the same time. We all had a blast and took advantage of the short time we were all together.