The Harvest Is Ripe in America

Dear friends,

I am filled with such joy as I am able to tell you just a handful of the amazing things that God has done in my life, the lives around me, and in the world over this past summer.  It has been nothing short of overflowing with testimony after testimony of God's love for His children and deep passion for all to know His name an fall deeper in love with Him.  I have never in my life been more convinced that the Gospel really is the good news and the power that the blood of the lamb and our testimony has.  God is alive and moving in the earth, and me & you get to be a part of it.  How exciting!

Exactly 3 months ago (to the day!) I wrote you and shared what the first two weeks of the Summer Quarter looked like.  As I read back over what I wrote, I am amazed that it only got better from there.  Our expectation for the summer as a whole was that the Lord was going to do something out of the ordinary, that he was going to knit our hearts together and bring us somewhere in the spirit that we had never gone before, because of the unity we had with each other, and the holiness and purity we walked as we chased after being fixated with one thing, and one thing only; the man Jesus Christ.  And as I write you three months later, I am more than thrilled to report the summer has been just that… more than we expected and full of promises fulfilled by the Father.

I was so blessed to have many of you invest in prayer & finances as I got to go to Pennsylvania for Circuit Riders this past month!!  One day, we were praying for all of the CR schools going to Fiji, LA, Pennsylvania, Kansas City, Kona, & Norway, something began to happen in my heart unlike anything I had ever experienced as we prayed for the one in Lancaster, PA and I said to myself "I have to be there."  I didn't know how I was going to get the money, or if I would even be able to go…. Housing, food, transportation, and so many things were ahead to figure out but I knew I had to be there.  Something inside of me knew that if I went, my life would be changed forever.  After only one week, I think actually less than 7 days, someone pledged to match $1.00 to every $1.00 that I was able to raise!!  So I got myself in to gear and did everything I could.  At the end of those handful of days, the Lord had provided above and beyond what I needed!  He also got me free housing with some of my best fiends that was walking distance from the school being held and almost all my food was taken care of!  God is the God of abundance!

Circuit Riders kicked off in the heart of Lancaster, PA for a full week.  Every day we would have training with about 500 other students who had signed up for the school.  And every day that number would grow because people would get saved, and immediately want to come to training to learn how to preach the gospel…. and this was a reoccurring story!  Every night we opened up the place to whoever wanted to come as we worshiped the King of Kings, and heard a message from one of the leaders.  And again, we started at around 1400 people the first night, and by the last night we grew to just shy of 2,000 people!!!  In just 2 days of outreach we saw over 320 salvations and 60+ hearings, just on the streets in this small town!!  People are ready to hear the gospel, the harvest is ripe!!!

Every day I could feel more and more fear break off of me as I became convinced at the reality of the Gospel, and the sacrifice of Jesus' life for not only mine, but every single person in the world.  If God send His son to  died for every person, wouldn't He want every person to know about it?  And as Christians, we have the answer and the privilege of sharing it with a lost and dying world in need of a savior.  We all were there at one point, we all have been saved by Grace and not by works, but by a loving Father who is so desiring a world to fall in love with Him…. and now from that place of knowing who we once were, and where we once were, we get to tell the rest of the world the good news.  Hallelujah!!

As Circuit Riders traveled all around the world (but mainly in America), they figured out that there was 1 salvation for every minute of outreach.  Jesus Is Alive!!!  He is awakening His bride, saving the lost, and preparing us all for His great return!!  Being a part of this story is one of the most exciting things in the earth.

We were so privileged in Kona to have held a Circuit Riders two weeks after I returned and it was also amazing!  I got to lead a small group for training of about 14 people.  As we hit the streets all of the outreaches as a whole saw 10 salvations in town and a handful of healings too!  I personally was able to be a part of 3 stories of 2 young women and a teenage boy coming to know Jesus.  It was so wonderful to see things like this happen in Kona, right in our back yard!!

After going to PA, I was able to go to Washington, DC with one of my best friends, Grace.  While I was there I got a call from my dad saying him & my mom wanted to visit me before I headed back to Kona.  Our time together was so sweet! We were able to just enjoyed each others company, share stories from the places we all had been over the last 8 months apart, and were also able to love on people in the streets of Washington, DC.  It was so fun to be able to share the gospel with my parents by my side.  It made something in my heart come alive and it was so fun!

It's been four weeks since I returned back to Kona and have continued in the Track.   Just two weeks ago we had our quarterly Love Feast.  This is pretty much where we love on each other like crazy!!  We eat good food, we dance, we honor each other, and we have presentations from the electives that we have (Song Writing, Preaching & Teaching, Biblical Studies).  We had such a fun night all together and were able to reminisce about all the lovely things we were able to all experience over these past 3 months.

We are now at the end of the quarter & preparing for next quarter!!  The schools in the Track this past quarter were Compassion Ablaze, Community Transformations, and Crisis Response International and they have all transitioned into Staff Training and preparing for all of their students in the DTS' to come in just two short weeks!

I had the privilege this quarter as many of you know, to lead the Track with Blake & Shannon Casteel for the first time, and it went amazing.  So amazing that they have asked if I would join official leadership of the Awakening Leadership Track, and there was no hesitation in my heart!  In less than 2 short weeks we will kick off everything again for the Fall.  With around 100 staff coming to join us to be trained to staff DTS' this coming January, it is again the largest quarter we have ever had… and it just keeps growing!!  We are so blessed, and quite honestly blown away at how rapidly things are morphing into something that is wanting to be replicated on many YWAM bases across the world.  I don't know how I got into this position, other than the kindness of the Lord.  There are no qualifications on my part, except that He is my strength & qualifies me by His love and mercy every day.  Being in the Track, and now helping lead, my life has been extremely transformed in every way and I am so thankful for God's plans for my life overriding my dreams that I thought would satisfy.  He is so committed to each and every one of this and I am more convinced of it everywhere I go and with everyone I talk to.

In 3 weeks I will be headed home to North Carolina to spend 2 weeks with my family!  I am able to see one of my best friends from childhood get married and to meet my niece Dylan Rose for the first time!! I am very excited for this trip and appreciate your prayers as I am traveling!!

Thank you to every person who has invested in my life on this journey.  I am full of gratitude and thankfulness as I think of how each of you have had a part to play in this wonderful story.  I am blessed beyond belief!!

Have a wonderful day filled with the fullness of all the Father has to pour out on you!

You are very much loved.

-Lizzie Stein




For more information on the history/vision of YWAM and the purpose/heart of The Awakening Leadership Track, please visit another page on this blog:
http://shebegantofly.blogspot.com/p/vision-heart.html

If you would like to partner with me in prayer or be a one-time or monthly support please email me at oceansroar@gmail.com or click the following link: http://www.uofnkona.edu/support/missionaries/5644

God Loves To Show Up! [First 2 weeks of the Summer Quarter]

One of my favorite things about being on staff here in Kona is that every 3 months we start a new quarter.  This holds so much excitement in the days previous and especially the first couple of weeks in.  We experience a whole flood of new students who are desperate for change and hungry for God, people who have laid down everything they've ever known to have Jesus & discover the Truth, some for the 100th time, and some for the very first time.  The level of faith & expectancy is high, and not only do we love it, but God loves it.  We get to go to new heights every quarter, we get to see lives changed every 3 months, we get to experience a new side of God and go deeper in what He's already taught us.  If ever I forget the purpose of why God has me in this place, I am quickly reminded by the sweet Holy Spirit when I see lives absolutely transformed & laid down before the only who is worthy… and it compels me to go to that place of surrender again and again.

Just 2 weeks ago we started this wonderful process again.  5 DTS' were started: Awaken, Ships, Trailblazers, Island Breeze & Market Place, many 2nd level schools began, and over 80 people have come in to join the Awakening Leadership Track to be trained to lead over 3 DTS' next quarter.  And we have had an incredibly fun & fruitful time, to say the least.  Here's a couple of things that have been going on!

-- Every Monday night we gather together to worship for 2-3 hours, and pretty much just make space for Holy Spirit to take over our night.  The first one that we held, two weeks ago was amazing!  We saw over 20 instant hearings!!  One guy lost hearing in his ear, and instantly it popped and he could hear better in that one than the one that was fine!  Another girl was 100% healed from herniated discs all down her spine, while another one received healing from a headache & toothache!  Another crazy one was a torn ligament in a leg, causing a guy to not be able to jump.  We were amazed as we watched him jump up and down so high with no pain!  God really does love to heal, and loves to see us get so pumped again and again at the ways He moves!

-- The other day we got word that one of the schools Kona sends out, The School of the Circuit Riders, just finished in Fiji and they saw over 250 salvations in ONE WEEK!  Now they are headed off to California, Pennsylvania, Kansas City, Hawaii, Texas and ending in Norway!

-- Just in the past 2 weeks in the Track, we have seen people get set free from fear, break off life-long addictions, find family for the first time, and discover even greater the love of Jesus for them.  We have been gripped with holiness and laying down every part of who we are for the fullness of what God has for us.

We have seen miracle after miracle, a handful of salvations and have even baptized people right in the ocean downtown Kona just in the past 2 weeks… it definitely hasn't been a boring start, for sure!

(( Most of the things I have shared have only been a very small part of what we are involved in here.  If you would like to know a bigger perspective of what we do, please visit the University Of The Nations website at:  http://www.uofnkona.edu and http://thecircuitrider.com/school-of-the-circuit-rider/ ))

I want to thank all of you for praying for me & supporting me.  You are such a powerful people and I am really thankful for your friendship and all you've done to invest in me whether it be through finances, prayers, phone calls & pictures and sweet little updates.

It is always a little hard to be so far away from the ones you've grown up with and have gone through so much with.  Please know I miss you guys a lot and cannot wait to see those of you in NC in October when I make a visit home!

I pray that this update leaves you with joy, excitement, and fresh faith to see what God wants to do around you!  The thing I love about Jesus is that He loves to "wow" all of His children and to do amazing things no matter where we are at in our own lives and no matter where we may reside in the world.  So I would challenge & encourage you to really seek the Lord on what He wants to do in your life this week!  He is just waiting for hungry, faith-filled children to ask and say yes to what He has!

Me and some of my best friends here leading a worship & prayer set on Revival in America together!
[Grace (leading intercession), Tyler, Miriam and I singing, and Carly (leading worship)]

I will let you go with a fun little picture of Loren Cunningham, who is the founder of YWAM, and I… At our weekly staff meeting with the whole base 2 days ago, Loren shared an amazing word with us and I thought to myself, "I've been under this mans leadership and benefiting from His obedience for 3 years now, I really should get a picture!" and so I did.  He proceeded to pat me on the head and ask me what I wanted to be when I grew up, because I am so short… then he chuckled at himself and called me cute.  It was a great moment, haha.  He is such a sweet man and I am so honored to be here bringing the Kingdom to earth and seeing lives radically changed for God's glory, and having a blast doing it.  

Thank you again!

Current Need:  In just a few short weeks The School Of The Circuit Riders starts in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.  During this week some of my friends are also getting married there.  I have really felt it from the Lord that I am suppose to be there for this week, and am in need of finances to be able to go.  Someone has pledged me that for every $1.00 I raise, they will match it!  Which is absolutely amazing!  Currently I have raised $70, which brings me to $140.  I need to raise $730 more to meet my goal of $1600 by the end of this week.

I ask that you would prayerfully consider supporting me, whether it be $100 or $1... every penny counts!

God Is Moving!

What an incredible couple of days it has been!!  The week has been very full, with people coming back from outreach, people in the Awakening Track transitioning out of the track into staffing a DTS, I got to MC our Love Feast, and we got to do some really awesome community outreach!
But I wanted to share with you about the Community Outreach real quick, and then about our Outreach Testimony Report Back that all happened just yesterday!

          Every Wednesday afternoon we set aside time to go out into the community in various ways to do outreach.  As you know, we have been partnering with churches and distributing Bibles to the houses in Kona all around, and it's been amazing!!  We just heard that with our group and the DTS' that did their outreach here, over 150 families got a Bible for the first time in their home!!
Well, the outreach with the churches has ended so as we prayed about what we should do, someone got the idea to buy a bunch of burgers and head into town and pass them out to the hungry; so we did!!  We bought 20 burgers from McDonalds, walked about 5 minutes down the street and hit the beach where a bunch of surfers were.  We got to share the gospel with over 7 people and give them food.  Then we headed into town and met a bunch of homeless people who we were able to really love on.  Kona is full of people living on the streets, because it's so easy to do.  And a lot of them are caught up in drugs and drinking, so it's not uncommon to find them hiding out by the beaches and on the sidewalk drinking in the middle of the day.  We ran into about 5 people who were really drunk and just wasting the day away.  We got to share the gospel with them, pray with them, give them food, and show them Jesus' love.  It was so much fun!!

          Over the past 3 days, the campus has been filling up with the returning outreach teams who have been gone for 3 months in various parts of the world.  Fire & Fragrance teams returned from Monday morning until Wednesday morning, and it's felt like the biggest family reunion all week!! It's been so wonderful to have them back and hear all of the amazing stories.

[Pete & Kenzie Mitchell, and Ethan Leavitt as we are about to hit the streets!!]

          Every time a DTS returns, we all gather back for Outreach Testimony Report Back, where we listen to each outreach team share on the amazing things that happened, so we got to do that last night!  As I was sitting there, surrounded by well over 300 people, I listened to the stories of Gods faithfulness and His pursuit after the ones He has created and longs for, and my mind was blown at what I heard!!

The teams were sent out into India, Nepal, Amsterdam/London, South Africa, Uganda, LA, New York City, and DC.  The story of each was that the simple gospel was preached, and thousands came to know Jesus for the first time!

Uganda alone saw over 500 SALVATIONS!!  India saw in a short hour over 100 people instantly healed from major sicknesses and pains.

In Nepal, they told people that they would pray for them to be healed of whatever they had.  A man then walks up to them with a fractured wrist.  It was visibly obvious that the bone was out of place as it was penetrating the skin, and the man was in a lot of pain.  As the girl on the Nepal outreach team began to pray for him, all of the sudden they hear cracking and look down and his wrist had popped back into place and became COMPLETELY HEALED!!!!

This is just one of many many stories that we heard of over 2 hours of sharing.  It was amazing!!  With all of the outreaches combined, the Good News of Jesus was shared to over 5,000 people, and they saw over 1,500 salvations in just 2.5 months with 150 people sharing the gospel!!!  They saw blind eyes open, deaf ears begin to hear, they saw the dead raise right here in Hawaii, and many many more amazing things of Jesus pouring out His love.  Jesus is so ready to encounter His people and loves when we partner with Him and believe that He actually is willing AND able!  People are hungry to hear the GOOD NEWS of the gospel, and it's absolute proof by these testimonies.

[In the Fire & Fragrance Tent listening to the powerful testimonies]

I am so stirred by yesterday to not walk in any fear, but just to love on people the way that Jesus did and tell them of who He is and who He has been in my life.  Our testimony and story with Jesus is the most powerful tool that we carry to bring the kingdom to earth.

I hope you are all pumped & excited and that this put fresh faith in you for what God is doing all around the world!! I love you all and hope to hear from you soon!

My Life In A Week

It's been a little over a month since being back and it feels so good to be in the swing of things again! This quarter we have an AMAZING crew in the Leadership Track.  Right now we have Awaken DTS staff being trained to staff the July school just around the corner, and we also have Community Transformations DTS staff who are leading the school in the Fall.  These are some of the most fun people I've ever met and it was such a joy to come back to a full & vibrant group.

Over the past week I decided to take some pictures of the key things that I do on a weekly (and sometimes daily) basis here on campus and then paint a little picture of what it looks like!! I hope this provides you with a good idea of the different things I do & am involved with in the Leadership Track.
Enjoy!

   

Every other Tuesday afternoon we have a staff meeting where all of the staff on campus from every department, which range around 300-400 people, come together and we have a little family time.  We are so privileged to have Loren & Darlene Cunningham, the founders of YWAM, call the Kona base their home and attend these anytime they are here.  This past Tuesday we were able to pray with Darlene & commission out a group of people as well as hear her and Loren share on the goodness of the Lord and His faithfulness all across the world.  It was such a beautiful moment, I am so thankful for these times we get with them!

On Wednesday mornings the Leadership Track comes together at 8am for what we call Contending Hour.  During this hour we take about 30 minutes (sometimes less or more) and pray in the spirit, then from that place we have intercession all together for the rest of the time for whatever the Lord has led us to for that day.  In the beginning of the track over a year ago, this hour was extremely stretching & not extremely enjoyable as I learned to use spiritual muscles I never had before.  But now I have grown to love it and it has even become one of my favorite things we do!

After Contending Hour, from 9am until 12pm we have Practical Training & Teaching.  We have had the privilege of having some of the most amazing leaders of this generation come and speak to us.  Some of the topics that we may learn are on Preaching & Teaching, Godly Confrontation, Worship & Intercession,  Practical studies in the Bible and scripture memorization, Leadership, A Disciplined Life, and so many other amazing topics!  This past Wednesday we had Christian Gonzalez teach us.  Part of what he shared on that really wrecked me can be found in this statement he said while teaching:  "The questions leading us to an "I don't know" aren't naive, they are there so we may have the fullness of truth. The ability to say "I don't know" is the foundation of all wisdom and knowledge. The mystery and romance comes in the not knowing and being able to search it out for the rest of our lives. It's humility to go on the search into finding out the mysteries of God and who He is."

On Wednesday we also have community outreach.  The Leadership Track does a handful of different ones to serve the community but the one that I've been involved with this quarter is Bible Distribution.  The American Bible Society gave YWAM over 8,000 and the leaders of our campus really felt the Holy Spirit leading them to have a Bible in every home in Kona.  So we have taken on the challenge!  Every afternoon we go door to door for 3-4 in hopes not just that they would each have a Bible, but that we would also create relationships with the people in the community.  So far it has been absolutely amazing!! I was a little nervous the first time we headed out, but it has become something that I look forward to.  We are challenged in so many different ways and have not only see fruit in our own lives but have seen the Lord really moved in relationship with people here in Kona.  The picture shown is of me and my friend Anthony (who is staffing Awaken in July) climbing up a driveway to a families house.

On Monday, Tuesday, Thursday & Friday our Leadership Track (as well as some of the DTS' on campus) are in the Prayer Room from 1-3pm.  Each set looks like about an hour of worshipping and then transitioning into an hour of intercession with various topics such as praying for revival in America, Outreach teams to be refreshed (and we sometimes get words for them and send them while they are on the field), praying for our Kona community, leaders on the base, and so much more!  I've never experienced the Lord move in such a mighty way before as I have this past week specifically.  We are seeing so much fruit in our sets not only in our own hearts but as we hear about the people and places we are praying for and how God is doing amazing things through these times.  It really is amazing how God LOVES to give us His heart for things and then answer our prayers!  I have the privilege of singing on two of these 1-3 sets on Thursdays & Fridays.  This is the 5th quarter I've done this and it's an absolute blast.  Fridays are especially fun for me because we get to have Shannon Casteel (leading the Leadership Track) lead the intercession time for revival in America!

   

Last quarter the Leadership Track was asked to pioneer the first ever high-school youth group on Thursday nights for the youth on campus, so we did!!  The first night we launched Youth Ablaze, we were expecting about 15 people to show up, instead we had over 60 high-school students!! We were absolutely blown away and continue to be by their hunger & desperation for more of Jesus!!  This past Thursday we had Isaac (in the track, staffing Awaken) lead worship with Mia & Micah who are high-school students.  Then, Ben Peterson (who is staff with the Prayer Room and does many other amazing things), spoke on the Holy Spirit.  We ended the night with everybody getting baptized in the Holy Spirit.  It was such a beautiful & rich night to watch everyone go deeper, staff included.

Friday mornings we start all being together for Family Time which is an hour of sharing testimonies, hearing people recite their memorized scripture, listen to a word from one of the leaders, and enjoy each others company.  After this, we all break up into our electives.  The two are Songwriting & Worship and Preaching & Teaching.  Last quarter I decided to do Preaching & Teacher, only because it scared me so much.  This quarter I am doing it again for that reason along with me actually starting to love it.  My elective is taught by the absolutely amazing Ashlea Brenenman, but this morning we had Andy Byrd as a guest teacher.  He taught on the importance of not speaking out of insecurity, but walking in all humility and from that place we gain the authority.  His teaching was not only challenging for our own lives, but also extremely practical in how to communicate best.  "We may not all be called to preach for hours and hours to hundreds of people all the time, but we are all called to be communicators.  And the goal of communicating is hearing & learning."

I hope you've enjoyed seeing a little bit more in detail what happens on a day to day basis here in Kona!!  I am so thankful that I am able to be doing what I'm doing.  This past month as been filled with an increase of revelation that God really is as good as He says He is, He really does answer prayers, and He is constantly faithful.  I pray that you are filled with the same revelation and even more!!

If you would like to hear more about these aspects or learn more about something else that we do here, please send me an email and I'd love to talk with you - oceansroar@gmail.com.  Have a wonderful weekend!

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If you are interested in becoming a part of YWAM Kona either long-term or for a short 2 weeks in the Summer by doing a School of the Circuit Riders, please visit these websites for an endless amount of possibilities: http://www.uofnkona.edu   //  http://thecircuitrider.com

School of the Circuit Riders promo:   http://youtu.be/_lJ5pvsDI4M

Amsterdam: Shifting with Worship & Intercession

Hello everybody!!  I hope this little letter finds you all doing really well.  My team and I have been in Amsterdam for a little under a week now, and it has already been what my heart knew it would be... Amazing.

Since the very beginning of planning this outreach to Amsterdam, we have felt in our spirits that it was going to be very different than any other outreach we've all done in the past, and it has been just that.  As we began to pray into what that could look like, we felt a strong call to be a "strike team", meaning we would go in with a word of the Lord, do just what He has called us to, and then leave.  Since being here in Amsterdam, the word has not changed but only become more evident and alive in our hearts.  We knew that this meant we were called to worship Jesus with our whole hearts, and to intercede on behalf of Amsterdam.  Since being here, we have felt called to invest not just to the lost on the streets, but also to revive and encourage those on the YWAM base where we are staying at, De Poort [The Gate in Dutch].  We have been spending each morning in 2+ hours worshiping Jesus and praying for whatever Holy Spirit leads us to invest in that day, in the Prayer Tower.  The Prayer Tower is so amazing because it is at the top of the YWAM base and it has all glass windows over looking the whole city of Amsterdam.
This calling for this trip from the Lord has totally challenged my heart and shifted my perspective of what is most influential.  We cannot base our success on what our eyes see, because we only see in part anyways!  But we have to base our success off of our obedience, and that is what we are doing.  Pouring our love on Jesus, and praying out of that place for the hearts of His lost children to turn back to Him, is where everything is based out of for us, and it's such a beautiful thing to see.  It has united our team is such an amazing way and we are truly becoming family.
Along with worship and intercession, we have been serving the base here every day by making the meals for everyone and cleaning the building.  And then we have also been able to go out and do ministry in the streets!  Today we worked with Serve The City - Amsterdam, which is a volunteer based organization that aims to create community in their society by serving the city through organizing and facilitating volunteer projects to help the underprivileged.  We got to split into teams and some of us were able to paint an autistic school building, some helped put wallpaper in a mentally handicapped mans house, others gardened, while my team were able to feed over 100 homeless people homemade pancakes.  We also asked the Lord for words for each of them and made them cards to keep.  It was so amazing to see people get so touched by such a little thing in our eyes, but it may have changed their lives forever.

So far Amsterdam has been so amazing.  I love the city, it's absolutely beautiful and I really have fallen in love with this place already.  I am so excited to see what else the Lord does on this trip with all of us together.  It's so encouraging to see His promises being fulfilled.  I'll update more later once things happen!

Here are some pictures I've taken so far... Hope you enjoy!

   

 Prayer Tower // Top:  Panoramic view of the Prayer Tower
Bottom: View out of one of the windows of the river

[Beautiful Canals around the corner from our place]

  [Exploring with my friends, Aaron & Tegan]

[Down almost every street you will find this beautiful view at night]

 

[Blake, Shiloh, & Arrow making

pancake mix for the homeless!]

 

[At Amsterdam Square]

Freedom From Fear - Testimony!

What an incredible month it has been!!

Just a short testimony of my Amsterdam fundraising - I RECEIVED ALL OF MY FUNDS!!!  So it is officially official, I am headed to Amsterdam in a short 8 days!  I am so expectant of this trip, and in my spirit feel a lot more is going to happen than our team is expecting, and I cannot wait to see how it all unfolds!!
Thank you to every single person to gave, whether it was $5 or $200, every single dollar helped me make this dream a reality and I am so extremely grateful for your support!!

This past month for me has been absolutely FULL of breaking free of fear.  Well, let's just be honest, this past year has been pretty intense is overcoming fear, haha.  But this past month especially I have broken through so much, and I was just so excited that I had to share a little bit of it with you!
Most of you know that I have had so much fear & anxiety when it comes to speaking in front of people, so much so I will do everything possible for it not to happen.  Within the past 3 years, I have had crazy revelation that this is not my "personality", but the place the Lord has called me to thrive in, to set people free in, to bring peace & restoration to hearts, to speak life & bury death.  The enemy knew this was God's design over my life, and so my whole life he has tried to destroy that.  And for a long time I gave in to the fear, I gave in the anxiety, I gave in to the insecurity, I gave in to the plan of the enemy.
Over this past year, the Lord has not just been riding me of the fear of speaking in front of people, but going even deeper into the issues of my heart that create that fear.  He has been securing my identity in Him, and in Him alone.  When this happens, it no longer matters what other people think of you, because you are not performing for love... you are living out of a place of love.
This revelation has become even more real to me and alive in me as I have chosen to step out.

Two weeks ago I spoke at a Christian private highschool here in town.  For two days I shared on Identity through sharing my testimony and journey with the Lord over the past 10 years.  It was absolutely incredible!!  The second day I spoke to a group of 15 students who were 13-17 years old.  By the end of the class, not only was a student in tears after I called her higher in Jesus and started prophesying who he created her to be, but the principle was also in tears!!  As I was speaking, the Lord gave me this very intense vision of fear and anxiety leaving me as I was speaking.  It was as if glass was being violently & swiftly removed from my back by the words that were coming out of my mouth.  The more I spoke, the more free I felt, and the more free others become.  This day really marked a place in my heart and destroyed the thinking "What I have to say is not important".  I knew that that was a lie, because I saw the important in my words as students were falling in love with Jesus and finding out who they were.

Every Friday a group of us in the Leadership Track meet together for an Elective.  For 3 hours we are trained up into being better teachers and preachers.  One of our assignments this month was for us to be in groups and speak for a whole week in middle school or high school class on campus.  My friend Cammie and I spoke in the 6th grade class this past week.  Going in, we knew we were going to be speaking on Identity in Christ, but we didn't exactly know what the week was going to entail... But the Lord unfolded it so beautiful.
For the first part of the week, we each took a day to share our testimony of finding our identity in Christ.  On the third day Cammie led out identifying false identity and how to over come that.  We spoke a lot on the power of declaring scripture and the power of life and death in our tongue.  Then on the last day I led out Original Design.  Original Design is knowing the original intent of your life, the way God created it to be, before satan came in and began to speak to us lies about who we are.  We spend some time writing down 3 lies we've believed, then writing down the 3 truths about who God says we are.  THEN!  We all stood up on our chairs, all 15 of us, and we each declared one sentence of who we were.  It was one of the most beautiful times I've ever experienced.  One by one, each heart, had a revelation of what GOD says about THEM, and they declared it for all to hear.  Some started crying, as it was a struggle, and we were able to walk with them through the fear and into greater freedom.

This week was so powerful for me because I almost felt like I was one of the students... I am at the very beginning of a beautiful journey of not just believing in my head what God says about me, but believe it so much in my heart that my life reflects that truth.  I believed before that if I were to step out and speak up I would feel insecure, more fear & anxiety.  But what I actually felt was full peace, extreme freedom, and confident in being a daughter of Christ.

I hope this encourages all of you to really get the Lord's heart not only on situations in your life, but on YOU as a person who God is pursing and desires so deeply to walk through every part of life with.  If there are areas of fear, He wants to fill those up with His perfect love that casts out fear.  If there are areas of anxiety, He wants to give you His perfect peace which guards your heart and mind in Him.  If there are areas of loneliness, depression, oppression, ect. ect... He wants to reveal to you the amazing family that He has invited you into and show you a whole knew reality - His Kingdom on earth, in your very life.
In Hebrews 12 He says that He rewards those who seek Him.  This is a promise of God.  Seek Him! I promise you, you will not be disappointed.  He is a Father who loves to give His children good gifts!!



Below are some pictures of this past week in the Foundation School class here on Campus.  Hope you enjoy!

The Students speaking life over one another!

  

The whole beautiful class with Cammie and I and their teacher Jon

Me teaching them to put a stake in the ground that we will no longer believe what the enemy

says about us, but only God!!  After this was the declaring of who they were!!

Amsterdam Outreach - Exciting News!

       I absolutely love being able to share exciting news with you, and that is what I have today!!  As you can see from the picture above, there is a bit of traveling in the new future for me.  And, if you have been on any other forms of media you have seen my posts about a trip to Amsterdam in March!
       I have been in The Leadership Track for just under a year now, and as leadership has prayed, they have felt the Lord call them to take an outreach as a group every 3 months, and I get to be a part of the first one!  The idea to go to Amsterdam was a word that was given to the Leadership Track by Loren & Darlene Cunningham and a few other key leaders on the YWAM base here in Kona.  As they were going over places where we had teams going consistently, they felt a tug on their hearts to send more people into Amsterdam, and asked us to take it on.  Needless to say, we are very excited to see what the Lord is going to do through us!  Here are a few objectives to our trip:

• Meet with Key Leaders in the city to possibly start Fire & Fragrance DTS' there in the very near future
• Building relationships to prepare the way for future YWAM teams to be in Amsterdam months at a time
• Going into the 3 Red-Light Districts to minister to the prostitutes who have been victims of sex-trafficking.
• Doing prayer watches in the 24-7 house of prayer in the middle of the Red-Light District
• Working with the organization Serve The City Amsterdam

 
       The more I think & pray about what this trip is suppose to hold, my spirit gets so excited!  We all have felt that we are going to be a "strike team" as we go in.  We have a mission, to revive hearts & bring life to the dead.  We want our lives to be a witness to all those around us.  We realize that our time in Amsterdam is a short 2.5 weeks, but there is such an expectation in our spirits for what the Lord is going to do!! When the Lord calls a people to a place, there is more that He can do in one day than we could do in 7 years without Him.  And the call of the Lord on this trip has been immense!!
       I know that this is the Lord by many different signs, but one of them has been the financial provision over all of us.  In just 2 weeks I was able to raise over half of the money I needed for the outreach, which is amazing!  I was also able to watch my leaders, who have a family of 5, have had over $11,000 given to them within 2 weeks!  The stories go on and on of how the Lord has been so faithful to provide for this trip.  We are all getting very stirred!
       So on March 11th, I will be flying to Amsterdam, which will be my first time to Europe.  I also have the opportunity to go to a couple other places in Europe when we are done.  We have 2 week break before we have to be back to base for the April quarter of schools.  Between March 28th and April 11th, I will be traveling with a few friends to Scotland, Wales, Ireland, and London.  Those two weeks will be filled with seeing a handful of friends that I have not seen in quite some time, visiting other YWAM bases around Europe, investing in friendships, and continuing to dig the wells of our hearts for what the Lord has for all of us in the upcoming months.

       I want to personally thank all of you for investing in not only this trip, but investing in the dreams the Lord has put inside of me.  You have each been a testimony of Gods faithfulness, and a sign & a wonder to my own life.  THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU for obeying the Lord is the biggest and simplest ways.  You have been a part of a story with Jesus that is so priceless.  While we are in Europe I will try to update this as much as I can to keep you in the loop.  If you would like to receive email updates (which may be more frequent), please contact me at oceansroar@gmail.com and I will put you on there!
       If any of you still feel led to give and would like to invest in the rest of this trip, I only need $500 for all the housing, food & transportation while on outreach in Amsterdam.  Please email me at the address above and I will give you multiple options for giving!

God bless you all, have a beautiful week!

-Lizzie