YWAM Kona-- New Revelation and Updates!

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           Aloha! Another month has gone by in this journey of YWAM! I’ve been here for 8 weeks! Crazy!! The Lord has been reminding me again how great a privilege it is to have this time away with Him. I look around at the beautiful Hawaiian scenery and I am in awe that the Lord would call me to step into adventure with Him in such a breathtakingly beautiful place! I feel so unworthy of this opportunity. I know He can meet me any time and in any place, but to start 2020 living and learning with Him in Hawaii has been beyond my wildest dreams!

           The past few weeks have been nothing short of intense! The class schedule combined with prayer sets, team time, track time, and work duty have every day feeling like a whirlwind! God has been stretching my capacity to know Him and pursue Him past the points of what I ever thought my body, soul, and spirit were capable of! There have definitely been very difficult days when it feels like I can't take in one more teaching or time in prayer because my flesh is weak. The verse in Matthew 26:41: "The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak" has never resonated more than in this season. But the Lord has reminded me that in my weakness and inability, He is strong and fully able. And in my times of being challenged and stretched is when I grow and mature in Him the most!

             Week 4 was Holy Spirit taught by Ashley Lane. Her teaching gave me such a deeper revelation of the importance of viewing Holy Spirit as a person. Holy Spirit is kind, passionate, and beautiful. It was a powerful reminder that Holy Spirit can operate in all five of our senses. He is described as many different things in Scripture: a dove, rain, wind, a seal, water, rivers, wine, oil, and fire. We spent time as a class going through each of these descriptions and outlining the way Holy Spirit resembles these illustrations. My favorite illustrations were how Holy Spirit is like oil and fire. Like oil, He brings healing, keeps the fire burning, is soothing, brings blessing, and brings a sweet fragrance to our lives. Like fire, He refines, purifies, brings warmth, and gathers people. Fire never burns the same and it is one of the most captivating and mesmerizing things to watch just like Holy Spirit!

         
Week 5 was Debi Yu teaching about the character and nature of God. God loves to share His power with us. When He gives Adam the job of naming the animals, He is sharing power and authority with him and this theme continues throughout the narrative of the Bible. I was challenged this week to think about my relationship with God and determine if I have any underlying roots of relating to God in a transactional way. This is the idea that we may, at times, unintentionally go to God thinking, "Well, if I do this, then He'll do this." I had to ask myself the question, "If God never blessed me again, would I still be willing to pursue Him? Would God be worthy of following even if I get no blessing in return?" Of course the answer is YES!! But this week was a good heart check and revelation of His worthiness and my desire to pursue Him in purity without a transactional mindset.

           Shannon Casteel taught in week 6 about fear of the Lord. A few key take-aways from this week were:

  • He never invites us to less, He always invites us to more.
  • My "Yes" to the Lord directly affects what is going to happen on the earth.
  • I want to give everything to Jesus because He is my beautiful Savior.  I always want to be asking Him, "Jesus, what else can I give to you?" Is there any part of me I have not fully surrendered? Is there any gift from You I can lay back at Your feet as an offering to You? He has given so much, I want to give all I have in return. 
  • God doesn't always answer our questions, but He always reveals who He really is.
  • Fear of the Lord will be marked by immediate obedience. 

           Week 7 was Steve and Ruth Moore teaching on friendship and intimacy with God. This week was one of excitement and joy in pursuing the Lord and being reminded of the adventure it is to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit. We can sometimes underestimate the power of the joy that comes from the Spirit of God. This week was a reminder that love and fear cannot be present at the same time. When we allow fear to creep in, we need a fresh revelation of the Father's love for us. And to get that, all we have to do is ask! Fear keeps us from our destiny, but love propels us into it!

           Week 8 was Kevin Stark and his wife Laura. They taught on evangelism and supernatural lifestyle. They taught on the concept that evangelism stems out of intimacy with Jesus. We all asked the Holy Spirit to reveal to us what the Gospel, evangelism, and a lost person looks like. When I asked the Holy Spirit these questions He answered!

  • The Gospel is the truth that will set you free! The Gospel is the love of God, your Creator, freely giving you the gift of His Son so you can be saved from the power of sin and death and live in relationship with Him. The Gospel is the Good News you have been waiting to hear, the hope you have been searching for, and the love your heart has been longing to find. 
  • An evangelist is someone willing to lay down their own life to share the sacrificial, go-out-of-your-way kind of love of Jesus with an unashamed fervency. 
  • A lost person is someone on the boundary line between the hope of knowing Jesus and the hopelessness of a life without Him.           
This week gave me a new excitement in sharing the Gospel. It gave me the revelation that despite the times I have said "No" to the nudging of the Holy Spirit to step out in boldness, He is so worthy of every time I say "Yes" again and realign my heart with His heart for the lost. It gave me the opportunity to share in the joy of Jesus as He showed me how much He loves to be in relationship with His kids. This week I got to see people find joy, hope, peace, healing, and encouragement through the power of the Gospel!!!!

         
The lecture phase of DTS is winding down in the next few weeks, but I am expectant for how the Lord wants to continue to blow my mind with new revelations of His heart and His Gospel. There has been so much freedom, growth, and expectation that has been planted in me in this season, and it's wild to think that the things I am learning now will take root and be producing fruit for the rest of my life. Thank you Jesus! 

          Update: I will be leaving for the outreach phase of DTS around April 4th. Due to complications caused by the coronavirus, I unfortunately will not be going to Thailand or Mongolia, and I am awaiting news about the new nation I will be ministering in for this phase of training. When I first heard the news, I was so full of excitement and expectation because I have so much faith for what the Lord wants to do through this interruption of our plans! Releasing control and letting the Lord do what He wants and lead our team to the right places and the right people is a privilege. It is the adventure of trust and faith that we have been preparing and praying for the last few months! I cannot wait to see the immeasurably more that comes from our lives fully yielded to Him and His plans. 

If anyone would like to donate to my last payment for outreach, the link is below! Thank you in advance for your donations!

https://apply.ywamkona.org/s/payment?cId=003f4000011p166AAA          

♥ Melissa


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