full outreach summary

To all those who are loved by God and called to be saints:

firstly I would like to apologies, I’ve been avoiding a spelling and grammar read through for quite some time, this was written before I came home. I pray this is a blessing to you as you read of God’s amazing work in me and through me.

My life has been quite an adventure over the past few months. Firstly, I want to thank those who were called to support my mission, without you all this would not have been possible. Not only was this a time in which I was able to come along side missionaries in England, Bangladesh, and India, but a time of immense growth for my relationship with God. The past six months I was involved in a course in YWAM (youth with a mission) called a DTS or Discipleship Training School. These schools take three months of a "lecture phase" in which students study scripture, work through sin that is holding them, and work through issues in their pasts all with a perspective of growing closer to God. My particular school was littered the way through with evangelism into the local town. Our leaders organized this not only to spread the gospel into the hearts of the locals, but to prepare us for the three months of mission work we would be taking part in after this "lecture phase". This time of intense character change and growth was beyond what I had expected and could even imagine. This time was quite instrumental in the ways God used my team as we traveled to the land of spice to share the message, and I am so overjoyed that our leaders had focused on getting my peers and I close to God, because it made sharing God's love much more real. The things we had grown in during this time set not only our own walks in line, but gave us real testimonies we were able to share in these other countries, for instance, one girl on my school, Rachel, was missing quite a bit of the funds she needed for the phase of the school in Bangladesh/India, but so was a girl on our team from Egypt, Martina.  Rachel, despite her lack of funds, felt God tell her to give Martina every  last cent she had for outreach. God made it clear to her that she was generous when it did not cost her anything, but at her own expense, she would hold onto money. This revelation compelled her to give everything to Martina, leaving her with no way of getting to Bangladesh.  She then resigned to the idea of having to stay in England, forgoing this trip. But God had different plans, with only three days left until the plane left for Bangladesh, an anonymous source (or many) was the origin of the funds for the entirety of what was necessary! This and many other stories of God's goodness scattered the three months in England, and looking back, I see how many of them grew us specifically to be used in Bangladesh and India, and I am so grateful that we had such a time.

kitchen duty

Giant's causeway in Ireland with the team

India and Bangladesh teams in england

a few of us taking silly pics

The outreach phase was quite a bit different from lecture, from the complete change of culture, temperature, and economic conditions were quite different, but even the schedule differed greatly. From a schooling time with free weekends and a lot of sitting and learning, to a time of constant evangelism and ministry, moving from place to place, and being in front of the class; the way in which we spent these months was quite different from the previous three. The leader of my particular outreach tam had been in prayer over what to do with our eight person team to spread the gospel and help those in need. God revealed to him a crazy plan which involved moving around Bangladesh for the entire outreach, giving us access to ministries in five different towns. Once this hugely diverse outreach in Bangladesh, we were to meet the eight person team who compiled the rest of our school in India where we climbed the Himalayas. The stories simply of traveling could take pages to tell, and immensely more so the tales of how God worked, but for simplicity sake I want to share one or two stories from each location and a small summary. Feel free to ask me about any of these places or people that pique your interest, I love to tell of what God has been doing.

Our first Location was the capital of Bangladesh, Dhaka. My team and I were bombarded as soon as we arrived with hospitality of the most extravagant kind. While adjusting to the Muslim culture and the completely destitute living conditions we were aided by an amazing team of missionaries. Our hosts prepared us for the culture by getting the girls culturally appropriate clothes and teaching us quite a bit of the local language, Bangla. But the culture and language were by far not the weirdest part of being there, as we were not locals, we drew a crowd everywhere we went, no matter what we did. Our ministries included working with street children, evangelizing at the university, and many other unique ministries (including a dance ministry) but the most exciting moment of Dhaka was the young man who approached me outside of a museum. My team and I were given a day off in which we decided to go to a museum and see the old part of the city. This decision was thankfully blessed by God, because as we left the museum a young man of about twenty approached me. This was not uncommon as many people wanted to talk to foreigners if for no other purpose than to practice English. But as he spoke I noticed a unique grasp of the English language that few other Bangladeshi's possessed. He asked me what I studied at university, which made it clear he was a student. I told him I planned on studying theology, and at that he nearly leaped out of his sandals. He quickly asked me to explain the gospel, and I, perplexed, explained from creation to redemption. But that didn't satisfy him. He questioned why there were more books in the New Testament than the gospels. And through questions he made me explain to near exhaustion the bible and my own testimony. He asked me to pray for him and I was able to give him the address of a local church as well as a bible in Bangla! Dhaka was also the location of my first experience sharing testimony of God's work in my life, which, though frightening, introduced me to the joys of speaking to believers. After that service I was dedicated to becoming a better preacher, creating in me a desire to volunteer to speak at any opportunity given. God did so much while we were there, but I hope this is a glimpse into what God did.

outside museum

New years Party

Dance Battle on New Years

Me and Ismael (street kid)

We next traveled to another economically provident city called Chittigong. Where, much to my surprise, we were scheduled to teach a DTS for their first week. While the surprise of such a task that I felt clearly unready for was nearly overwhelming, our own DTS had prepared us so much. I was able to speak the first day, and my team brought forth so much wisdom for the students it quite astounded me! We had grown so much and we were seeing the fruit! This time was so amazing! Unfortunately, on the other hand, I had planned on speaking on God's call for our lives when I came down with severe stomach pains. To say it gently, that day I emptied myself of anything in my digestive tract. The team was amazing at filling in the time with relevant and powerful teaching, but it was a bit of a disappointment as I had wanted to teach. That Friday, God made a way for me to teach! A youth group invited us to come and run it for a night, and when we discussed who would preach, the team let me. We were able to lead worship, play awesome games, and I was able to give a sermon! It was such an honor and so beyond what I could have imagined myself doing before this school! God worked in that group and I’m still in contact with the leadership! They are amazing and I was so glad I was able to meet those amazing people and speak into their lives. It was in this town that I learned of my grandmother's death. It was quite intense as she was one of the people that blessed me constantly and just wanted to talk and share her faith. My team was amazing with me though, and we were able to sort of celebrate her life quite a bit as I shared a lot about who she was.

The Church i was given the ability to speak at

Shanon and I on a river to the water park

After Chittigong, our travels brought us to a large village called Rangamatti. Here, we were led around by a YWAMer who was busy setting up ministries there amongst a people oppressed by the government and in the midst of revolt. While there, my team involved themselves in visiting Buddhist homes and sharing the gospel, and I was even invited to the professor of philosophy’s home for tea and to discuss religion! All of the interaction we had was amazing, but I think the coolest part was a trip we took up river to run a kid's camp. Half way thought the week we were able to go to the local river and go four hours north to land and walk about five miles to a village in the deep hiltracks! It was so near the revolutionary troops that we had to bring five armed police officers (government orders). But this long trip brought us to a Christian’s house where we were able to perform skits, play music (yes, I lugged my guitar all that way :) ). We ran a few games and were blessed with the spiciest food I have ever ingested. The fifty or so kids were all accompanied by their parents who all loved us by the end! This and many other evangelism opportunities presented where we saw God move! 

Rachael and I on boat ride to village

Running a kid's camp

From Rangamatti, we traveled to the most amazing place I've ever been! Fortiquchurry was the location of an eleven day ministry my team was able to do! Here, I saw God move, here, I saw people come to Christ, here, I saw how God can put the right people in the right place at the right time! This small village in the midst of forest and farmland was dotted with clay homes and animals. Every home was host to chickens and cows, whilst the hut we stayed in was a two room clay/tin house with a squatty potty around back. Bathing in the river and being able to kill the chickens for dinner, this is what I imagined outreach being. The people of this village were so amazing, after so long being surrounded by Muslim culture, we entered a place where these Hindu people had gender equality, an extremely relaxed attitude, and a freedom expressed in everything they did. There was a very dark part of this society though as they worshiped Kali (the Hindu goddess of chaos). A local Christian who had done a DTS in Chittigong was constantly beaten by her family and forced to eat food from the Kali ceremonies. The mission team wasn't always there, but she was, and here testimony of holding onto God has been huge! She is slowly seeing the village turn to Christ, but her suffering is continuing. Please pray for her. Our ministries here included soccer ever day at 4:00 with all the men of the village where we shared the gospel and our testimonies each half time! A few were responsive with this ministry, we also had a team of the girls go to the local school to teach English (most kids would not be able to be educated past twelve because they were needed at home or in the fields). We even held a Bangladeshi new year party/festival where I was given the opportunity to speak the gospel from beginning to end as well a my testimony to the entire village (about two hundred Hindus). The most fruitful ministry was house visits though, we saw an old drunk guy named pukkido come to Christ and in one day reduced his alcohol intake to one cup of sakki. God used the testimony of my two leaders to bring this guy into a real conviction, we saw tears run down his cheeks as he contemplated his actions in regards to his family, and he accepted Christ! We were able to go to a families house also that was covered in images of Hindu Gods, and thanks to God moving in our explanation of Jesus as the only God, the husband and wife forsook all of those Idols and accepted Christ! these three were at the first ever church service that village had ever experienced! Unju, the girl who had done a dts, had volunteered to be the pastor for this new church. Miraculously, one of our team had gone to University for architecture, and was able to do blueprints for a long planned school and church that the missionaries from Chittigong had been focused on. God put us there for so many reasons and it was amazing to see him move! 

Me and the local kids climbing trees

First ever House Church

Me and raj

"so that's culturally appropriate?" mark- "no it's weird here too"

Me and the pied piper with an audiance

Our next destination was almost less of a ministry destination and more of a vacation hotspot. Our planned ministries mainly included mainly prayer walking and church visits, but the unplanned Ministries were proof of God's love of adventure. The next location is known as Cox's bizarre, and it is the longest beach in the world! Upon arriving I had the urge to skim board or surf, but knew the likelihood of such a venture seemed impossible. Yet on the second day there, a girl from my team wanted a few of us to go to the beach for the sunset. While sitting on the beach, a group of surfers walked past, as it turns out, one was a professional from Bangladesh and the others UN refugee workers. The professional lent us some surf boards the next day, and we were able to talk to him about Christ. It turns out, five years earlier, he began surfing when a YWAM team called "surfing the nations" gave him a board! It was so exiting to know that YWAM has had an impact over there, and we actually sang worship songs together! It was an amazing time of encouraging churches and so many unique ministries, if we meet in person, ill most likely be telling you one of the stories from Cox's Bizarre. 

Me and Carly chillin

This is the professional we surfed with

Riding about the streets in a taxi

The last week we traveled back to Dhaka and built upon relationships we had built up there. We had the opportunity to speak in several houses and work in a mother Theresa house for orphans. Fortunately, a local pastor housed us as the hotel we had used last cheated us out of a bit of money. This guy had such a love for God and desire to see Muslims saved! He was so great, and his two sons were funny. Barney at eleven and Eli at eight. Pastor William was raising these boys alone as his wife had died in a rickshaw accident seven years earlier. Despite the traded and running a quite large house church, he had so much time for these kids. The oldest, Barney, had been learning guitar on the church's. When we arrived and pastor William saw my guitar, he was quick to show me his pride and joy. He brought me to a guitar case which held a guitar a YWAM team had given the church. To my dismay, it was the same model as my beat-up/beach guitar. God brought conviction on me as I knew there was no chance they could even purchase a guitar where they are let alone afford one. All week Barney and I would play together, and I was able to show him a few tricks, but I noticed that he loved playing my guitar, so at the end of the week, I gave them my guitar. The family was so cool, and we are still in contact with them! But that last week in Dhaka had a lot of sorrowful goodbye's. I really miss that city and know ill be heading back.

All dressed up for last evening

Teaching Barney guitar tricks

From the heartfelt goodbyes in Dhaka we entered into a warm embrace from our other team that had been in India. Our arrival in New Delhi led quickly to a drive to the Tibet boarder where a team of Norwegians led us and a team from Thailand up a Himalayan range called Panchacholi (five kings). On a 50 mile trek over seven days, we prayed for and interacted with an unreached people group called the kulmani. It was an amazing time physically as well as spiritually. About four days in, I really loved the people, with minimum contact, (in which we spoke different languages). But it was amazing to see our group love these people. One girl on my team, Carly, after only one week of being there had decided she was called long term to those people! She is taking a teaching English course as I type to do so! Those two weeks in the mountains was amazing, and I still cannot believe how God moved in our hearts! 

Climbing up

me, cold, at 4100 meters? no way

Villagers we ate with

The plane ride to England and one last week of lectures in which we debriefed were the capstones on this monumentous journey. It seems a bit surreal now, but I see everyday different ways in which I and others on my DTS have changed! What a blessing those months were! A huge appreciative thank you goes to anyone with the attention span and patience where I trailed off enough to get to the end! Loll :) I pray that this has been encouraging as well as informative to you all, and an update about the Olympic outreach I was involved in is soon to follow!

Grace and Peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ!