Christmas 2011

I thought that it would be nice if I just put a video together of some photo's from Christmas day. Spent it with 300+ orphans handing out food, gifts, coke, and had many different games and such. Boxing day we had Christmas here at the base with everyone that is currently included in the YWAM Blantyre family. It was a great Christmas.

Hope your Christmas where ever you are was amazing. Many blessings for 2012, may you find what your looking for in the new year.

Travis

Outreach the first

This past week was our first week of outreach, though it’s early and in the middle of our lecture phase as well. During the week we went to two different orphanages, a street kid’s ministry, an afternoon church service and also did some local door-to-door evangelism in the surrounding area. We saw many blessings from God during the week, with God moving in each area we went to and using each one of the people that went to that place.
Monday and Tuesday we had the honour to go to Mioni orphanage, or Christian resource Ministry orphanage that Charles spend a couple years in while doing school. Our biggest goal for going here was to get to know some of the kid’s and to get them to know our faces as we are planning to go there on Christmas day to have a big celebration with them there. Monday was the day that I was able to go and we had a great morning of singing and dancing with the kids, something that they do incredible well. The students on the DTS also did a drama called “the thief of happiness” which is a hilarious skit that gets the kids involved and speaks about how God is our true joy/happiness and no one can steal him away like other things in our life. The afternoon we finally got to put our DTS team together and play some soccer/football. We had a great time playing with there team there and really worked together well and playing incredible well. Though while playing in net I happened to kick a good sized root while running for the ball and scratched my foot up pretty good, I’m fine just can’t really play soccer for a little while (though I finished playing that game that day of course). Everyone really seemed to enjoy the day and we came home in high spirits even though we had some confusion before coming home.
Wednesday we went to a completely different type of orphanage. At Mioni there are about 250 kids and very view overseers and the kids are able to do whatever they want. The place we went to on Wednesday was like a really big family with about 30 kids and a host family. The kids were very blessed and had so many good things going for them, It was interesting to see how different two orphanages can be even though they are less than 50 km’s apart from each other. Though we had a great time on Wednesday we felt as though it’s not somewhere we would be going back to often as these kids are very blessed and have much justice and we are more focused on those that have no justice in their lives.
Friday afternoon we headed out to a church for an afternoon church service that we would be running. The church was in a village that two of the guys come from so we were privileged to go and see/meet there families. Once we came back from seeing family we started paying some games with the kids outside the church. Once we were reading to start we could hear the soft sound of rain drops falling onto the tin roof of the church. By the time we were ready to start our drama, which is set to music, we couldn’t hear much and the stereo wasn’t very powerful. Before finishing the rain was falling so hard that no one but me, holding the speakers, could hear the music. So we just went straight into singing some more worship songs and just singing and dancing with the people there. We couldn’t complain about the rain though since we have been praying for it for a couple weeks now and rainy season normally starts back in October. The team made the most of the loud rain and we had a great time dancing and eventually, almost shouting we were able to share some words of encouragement and finally explained the drama that we did. Before we left the rain somewhat stopped so we figured it would be a good time to leave, yet as we walked the rain picked up and within 10 minutes we were all soaked down to the bone. Despite the walking in the rain, this was one of my highlights of the week as everyone on the team was still so happy and just filled with joy. As we walked in the rain, freezing cold, we just sang and rejoiced over the day and the rain that was digging into our skin. Once we caught a minibus back to the base we scared the people on the bus nearly to death I’m sure. We hopped onto the bus and just starting singing again as loud as we could. It was a brilliant experience and a memory that we will all hold dear I’m sure.
I have left out Tuesday and Thursday seeing as I was elsewhere as I had to work on getting my Visa updated for the duration of my trip. Tuesday was a nightmare as I went there and had them complain about my form that the week before they told me I needed when I went and tried to apply the first time. The rejected me once again but this time I just went to a local internet cafe to type the form out, thankfully I had a local friend in town that day to help me out with some things. So Thursday I went back and thankfully found out that I was approved for the Visa and now am just waiting for the forms to come in before I can go get my passport stamped. The whole ideal has been a hassle but I have been approved and that’s what matters.
This whole week was a big learning point for all of us, especially us as staff. We struggled a lot with communication and that caused confusion between us and that in turn affected the whole team. Thankfully the team is amazing and didn’t let it affect them too much, though we know that some people were hurt on the inside and we have since then worked things out. Being part of the leadership of this team has really shown me a lot of about myself. This week especially I have seen that though I can be a great leader, I’m not good at being a co-leader. I struggle with standing beside someone both have full control and coming to a conclusion together. Part of this I’m sure is my being prideful and always thinking my way is the best. I have a great team though and they have pointed some things out to me that I have done wrong, but all in a loving way that I can learn and grow and be the best leader I can be.

Prayer:
-We are in the midst of organizing two Christmas parties and still need some funds/ideas for those so pray that those come in
-Our leadership is strong and isn’t selfish and we have good communication
-Two people are still seeking funds for our outreach
-Friend back home lost her Nana this weekend, pray for peace/joy in this time
-For a boldness and increase in Faith in these coming months of Outreach
-also for energy and strength as Outreach is tiring and exhausting at times
-BIGGEST NEED is that we need fuel, we have on gas in any of our cars and none in our generators and are in need of getting some. Pray that we get some quickly and easily.


Thanks’ everyone.

Have a very Merry Christmas, I pray that you will remember the true reason for the season and not get consumed in the commercialism that has taken over Christmas in the last century.

Many blessings from YWAM Blantyre and myself.

Dance Dance Dance!!

The week was been filled with dancing, acting and a look into the future. We finally started doing some ministry prep last week. Learning some skits such as “Everything”, it’s from a song called Everything by Lifehouse, most people I’m sure have heard of it or seen it before but if you haven’t go and look it up on youtube it’s an amazing drama and has really impacted my life a lot.
I was very impressed with the students as they learned the drama and easily picked it up and within a day and a half were doing it with precession. There are still some kinks to be worked out but just little things to make it over the top good. The best thing about this drama is that all the students are involved and it just brings the team together perfectly. (I’m ok with not being in it as I don’t like acting all that much) We were also taught some other short, quick yet powerful drama’s that are fun for younger kids. They are a lot of fun and just run off of improvisation which is great, but also has lots of involvement with the kids so that makes it much better. Also doing them in Chichewa makes a big difference when you have a lot of talking parts. As I’m sure you can guess I’m not doing these ones either since I can’t speak much Chichewa at all.
Our week of dancing and drama’s ended Friday night with what YWAM calls a “Love Feast”. It’s a night of setting up the room really nicely, everyone dressing up with their best clothes and we eat the best food we have. It’s a night of just admiring what God has been doing as people gave testimonies as well as just encouraged each other. It was a fantastic evening and was really uplifting to each of us. It’s amazing what some encouraging words can do to your Spirit. It was touching to hear some of the words people said to me, I have been feeling that I haven’t been that great of a leader here this season, but from people’s words they seemed to think the completely opposite which was uplifting to me.
The week had some very good high points, but sadly it seemed for me that the week was full of extremes. Though at times I was incredible joyful and Spiritually doing wonderful, there were other times when I was very depressed and Spiritually didn’t want to be doing anything at all. I think part of things going on with me is that I’m nervous and anxious about the next two months as I co-lead the team out on outreach. I don’t really know what to expect with anything and I know that the team is amazing and don’t need me to really be there to lead them I still feel the responsibility of leading them well. Thankfully I know that God is really in control and leading the team as He wants them to be led.

Prayer:
-some people don’t have all the money yet needed for Outreach
-we are in dire need of fuel, for cars, and generators
-Daniel and Suzy are sick
-We have another team coming from South Africa this week
-for a boldness as we start outreach

IFathers Lap
I don't want to stand on the door step,
Or be at the back of the crowd.
I don't want to be held back by the people of the world,
Or the pillars that hold it together.
I will push my way forward,
Not to be at the front of the crowd,
Not just sit at the feet at the edge of His thrown,
But I wanna crawl into the warmth of my fathers lap
And have His arms wrapped around me,
Feeling His breath as He speaks.
I wanna press my head against His Chest
And hear the sound of His heart beat.
I want to smile as my Father whispers into my ear how much He loves and adores me
I will hold onto my father when the storms come my way.
Holding tightly when the world tries to pull me away.
I will be strong, clinging to the Father.
Holding onto the words He speaks.
Living the Way He lives.

Moving Forward

An inspiration week has now past us by. We’ve been filled with new insights into our future and the things that God has in store for us. Learning what it means to be a servant leader and also being enlightened on the different ways we turn away from God’s calling into our lives.
We started the week by looking into the life of Moses and looking at 6 different ways that he made up excuses for not wanting to go to stand up against King Pharaoh. These 6 area’s hitting home to each one of us, knowing that at one moment in time I’ve said each one to God and tried to justify it by some sort of means. After looking at the life of Moses we moved onto the book of Judges and, with the help of all the students doing research on a couple judges, we moved forward to look at what it means to be an effective leader. Sadly I was only there to hear the first couple points in this topic due to being busy with other base things but they were powerful and I got to hear a little bit more later on on the rest of the points. But I can also see the areas of my life where these have taken place and are currently taking place as well. Starting off with perceiving a need that is something that we are doing here in Malawi with this YWAM base, we perceive the need for Malawian missionaries around the world and are doing our best to equip Malawians to go through-out the world preaching the good news.
From there we moved into talking about 12 ways God uses a leader: which is a powerful way into looking at the different leaders that God used in the Bible and how we are called into a life of obedience to what God is calling us to do. Our obedience to God is life changing to others around us and can bring transformation to the nations in doing so. We are called to life lives that expect God to work when we do our little part. Trust that God will do more than we can ever imagine possible and more than we can expect. When we walk in obedience with God we know that He works for His glory and is using us in a small part of a bigger picture. Though many times we do not know the outcome of our obedience God is working mightily and in stepping out in faith we are expecting God to show His power. I’m reminded of the “umbrella” story I mentioned in one of my first blogs from this trip that talks about expecting God to work when we pray/move in faith.

On Friday evening we started 24 hours of fasting, prayer, intercession and worship. This is our second time doing an extended time of prayer and of fasting, but our first time to put the two together in one slot. I was very excited about jumping into the prayer time and once the signup sheet for hours of prayer slots was done I quickly added me name in for 2 hours of prayer in the middle of the night hearing from different people that the late night prayer slots were powerful. I also have been trying to increase the length of time I am able to pray for, looking back at our first time of 24 hours of prayer 1 hour alone was not enough hence signing up for 2 hours in a row (which I can tell you was still not enough).

Let me introduce you to our prayer tend:
You walk into the large red tend and straight ahead of you on the far side of the tent is the “holy of Holies” of our prayer time. While walking towards the “holy of holies” on your left are pictures of kids hanging on the wall, your mind wonders where the kids are and what their lives have entailed to this point, saying a soft prayer as you keep walking forward. As you come to the white cloth that separates the outer court area from the inside the prior person greets you and says a short prayer for you, blessings you and asking for the Holy Spirit to speak to you and touch your heart that hour. You walk in to the presence of God that has been evident from the testimonies of those that have gone before you. You look around though the first thing that has caught your mind is the wall standing before you, that in the past was white but now is teaming with colors from different people writing and drawing prayers, words of encouragement, scriptures and pictures of “typical” Christian signs. As you look over it you read each saying that is on it, reading over the scripture and praying for things that people have written.
There is some soft music playing in the background that you just now have noticed, though you don’t understand all the words (as a western) you sing alone as best as you can but just enjoy the background music. As you move to the left of the Graffiti wall you read more read some scriptures posted on the wall about prayer and intercession. Seeing the guitar leaning against the wall and pick it up, strumming a couple notes, realizing that you can’t play much you put it back down and saying a quick thanks for all the people that God has gifted with the ability to play music. Hanging on the curtain is a piece of cardboard with pictures on it. Pictures resembling different area’s in injustice in the world, things like: abortion, slaves, child soldiers and many more. You spend a good portion of time praying for child slaves, prostitutes and soldiers as you have always had a heart for the children of the world.
On the other end of where you stand, past the graffiti wall and the entrance in which you came in you sit on the grown, staring into a cub surrounded by the crown of thorns. Beside it, below the cross is a bun, the body of Christ. You spend some time meditating on Jesus’ death and thanking Him for dying for your sins. As you say Amen you hear the sound of food steps in the grass outside and realize that your hour is already over and the next person is coming to take over for you.

Now this wasn’t my personal experience this time but is a sum up of what different people have gone through as well as my first experience in the prayer tent a couple weeks ago. My experience this time around, during my first 2 hours in the middle of the night was amazing. I went into the tent with expectations to be praying for a couple different things and God had different plans. I didn’t even get to the “holy of holies” and stayed walking around in the outer court area. I spent my time praying for a couple different individuals and got some pictures and words for them which was amazing. It was incredible to sit in God’s presence for those 2 hours and just know that He is speaking powerfully. Shortly before my time was up I started to feel uninterested in prayer, more so because I knew my time was almost over and the next person was on their way shortly. But I grabbed some paper and a marker and pressed on and wrote some words about prayer and just was praising God through written word. This season of my life God has really shown me the power of prayer and I’ve really started to enjoy it and spending time with God seeking the things that are on His heart and how He wants me to pray about them but also that He puts a burden on my heart to do something about those area’s as well.
It really was a powerful week and everything seemed to just fit together, prayer, lectures, and e-mails I received from people it was astonishing to see that God uses people all around the world to bring a message about the same topic to one area.

Prayer:
-We are starting outreach preparation now and looking towards what is going to happen for the next two months.
-Pray that God reveals his calling to each one of the students and his plans for there life
-Continual pray for the revival on Malawi and that God uses us in some small powerful way
-Pray for a boldness for us as we go out and preach
- Our team safety and unit in the outreach phase.

thank you all dearly for your prayers and constant support in this season of my life.