YWAM, Madison
HAPPY EASTER !!!!!
Indeed he has risen and praise him for he has proof that death can not win. Alleluia!!!
Here is what God has been doing in my life recently…
I want to start this letter by congratulating all of the graduating Fall DTS students. I hope your outreach was both fruitful and inspirational. I am sure there were many challenges during your outreach, but you didn’t let that stop you. You grew. You made it back.
Your graduation speeches have inspired so many people around you (including myself). As a staff member and as a friend, I am very proud of each one of you. God is proud and smiling as you share your experiences.
YOU GUYS ARE WORLD CHANGERS.
I know our time together has already ended but I hope to see all of you soon. God has a calling for each and every one of you, and I know we will see each other again in the future.
Here is the a photo of celebrating dinner that we had before their graduation
The last photo of all us together.
Special to thanks my staff team who made this journey possible and it has been an blessing to work with all of you.
***
While the amazing students were on outreach to the Middle East and Mexico, I was called to part-time work within our Winter school. I have led an elective alongside another staff member who is a very kind and sweet friend, Patience. The elective is called Spark Art and we offer it weekly for the winter DTS.
The focus of Spark Art is to see where the Bible talks about art and how it can be used to share the Gospel. In addition to Spark Art, I was involved in their local outreach every Wednesday afternoon before the Worship, something I was also a part of that involved going into the city of Madison and praying for the city and the people. We also went to a low-income facility to help with an after-school program.
On Thursdays we held staff meetings and in the afternoons we prayed for different nations, to give them and us wisdom.
There are many other activities I am a part of like cooking lunch, cleaning, and helping students.
One activity that came up was babysitting. I babysat one of our staff member’s children and it struck me that these are the future of our world. Children are blessings, Jesus spoke on that fact time and time again. Children are the future of our community, they can make the world a better place, and we should strive to teach them the Word of God with all of who we are.
quick update that the winter DTS are in Tanzania and will be going to Zambia
***
In all honesty, this Fall DTS semester was challenging for me, especially around outreach. I was constantly falling into self doubt and wondering about my worth.
Why was I on staff? Why wasn’t I put to outreach? Did I even deserve to be on the staff? It’s hard, being on the staff yet not being allowed to go on outreach with everyone else.
The negativity just kept hurting as the weeks flew by. Even when everyone came back for the last week, I almost felt like I wasn’t part of the team anymore.
But instead of allowing me to wallow in these thoughts, God kept pushing me forwards, to keep helping and doing all within my ability to spread His Word.
With God and the supportive people he has brought into my life, I feel more encouraged than ever before. There is a reason God wants me to stay and even though it’s hard now, God has a plan for my life, and I will let Him lead me.
***
I want to let you guys know that now I am working with other staff to prepare for our Mission Adventure (MA). There will be new staff members coming whom I am very excited to work with!
Mission Adventure is a one-week program targeted towards middle and high-schoolers. It focuses on questions of worth and truth, using games, classes, and daily outreach to bring the students closer to God.
Although aimed towards younger people, this program topples difficult questions– the main theme is ‘what is truth?’. It forces students to confront their personal biases and insecurities through questions such as ‘is it embarrassing to follow Christ?’.
We are very excited to have these students here; our goal is to inspire them to keep living life through the Lord. Personally, I want to help the students understand that God loves them
in a deep, personal way.
I hope that the story of my life, even though it was painful for me, may impact others and bring them closer to God.
In the end, every pain, every struggle, every insecurity can be used by God in a positive way, but only if you let him. It’s all about God: fellowship, experiences, understanding. It all leads to God and the need for Him in this broken world.
I can’t wait to show you how God has worked through the students in Mission Adventure!
Please pray for this group of middle and high-schoolers. Please pray for the staff, that their words be filled with wisdom and understanding; please pray for the students, that God will touch their hearts; please pray for me and the other staff and that everyone remains healthy and strong throughout the program.
Thank you all for the prayers and support! Because of your faithfulness and generosity I’ve been able to watch students grow in amazing ways, and honestly, I’ve grown so much as well.
Your support matters greatly.
Thank you and blessings to you all ;)
-Han Byrne-Cox
Stay tuned for more exciting news to come!