Monday, January 25, 2010
NEW BLOG NAME
January 2010 Prayer Letter
Goodbye St Croix, USVI
Time at YWAM St Croix has been marked by Caribbean leadership
meetings, leadership training (EQUIP), Jericho kids program as well as
Kings Kids program. I was thankful to be able to put up new curtains
in the cabins, thanks to the Belmond Evangelical Free church ladies.
Due to transitions at the base, programs have been put on hold except
hosting teams. Kings Kids is still continuing to meet once a month
also. All trainings and other outreach will wait until St Croix YWAM
can recruit a new director and further staff. Thankfully, the base has
not experienced any further break-ins or burglaries. I will miss the
island greatly ~ the YWAM team, those we ministered to, and our local
church family (SCCC). After my two months spent in Australia I felt
led by God to release St Croix, and to contribute to the Brisbane,
Australia area.
Hello Island breeze Brisbane
Departure date: February 16,2010
Isaiah 57:14
And it will be said:
"Build up, build up, prepare the road!
Remove the obstacles out of the way of my people."
Serving with Island Breeze Brisbane affirmed for me some of my
spiritual giftings and more importantly my passions, including
connecting and supporting the community. The verse I've shared is one
that has been etched on my heart, and my motivation for ministering
this year. The staff is made up primarily of islanders as the base has
a specific vision to reach the Pacific islanders. I will be working
with staff from Tonga, Fiji, Samoa, Vanuatu, Philippines, Korea, Papua
New Guinea etc… This will mean cultural differences that can be a
blessing and a headache. It also sometimes brings a smile to my face
(an example: a young man from PNG decided to ask the hospitality staff
for something and as he approached her door he began to call out
"knock knock, knock knock" instead of actually using his hand to knock
on the door. We watched him stand there for a minute simply yelling
"knock knock" until she opened the door, confused. Ha!)
Island Breeze Brisbane is composed of Admin centre, Missions centre,
Cultural centre, Training centre and Community Centre. I have been
asked to join the community team and am looking forward to jump into
ministry again. Community team involves local mentorship program for
junior high/high school teens. Each public school has a chaplain and
we are coordinating with them to spend lunch breaks with the students,
offering encouragement, hope and friendship to the kids. Broken homes,
abuse and self cutting seem to be prominent amongst the teens that we
work with. I feel a strong desire to use some counseling skills but
more importantly share God's grace and freedom. Many don't know that
the freedom God offers us as His children extends beyond an after-life
salvation to being able to see the life changing healing from the Holy
Spirit in the here and now. We also offer opportunities for these
teens to meet with us on outreaches during the weekends and our
Tuesday night meeting. We have begun a partnership with the local food
pantry and are volunteering two to four individuals each week to help
in their warehouse. Community team also hosts the Tuesday night
meeting, open to the public, that involves fellowship, worship and a
teaching each week. We periodically entertain at elderly homes and
join with a regular team who does evangelism in 'the Valley', a
downtown clubbing area of Brisbane. My personal vision includes
connecting with local organizations that are reaching out to women in
the community. The local Body of Christ remains a priority for us and
we continue to volunteer with churches and youth groups as well as
using sports (soccer and rugby) as a source to connect with the
community.
For more information about the base please visit our website:
http://www.islandbreeze.com.au/
Finances: Finances continue to be a 'living on faith' experience.
Looking at living in Australia means a lower monthly rate owed to the
base for my housing/food. There are new fees however including
transportation (example: I take a train to church on the weekends). I
am praying that God will bless me with a car, not only for my own
transportation but to facilitate the community team also. My home
church, Belmond Evangelical Free Church, has offered to accept
donations for me in order to continue a tax deduction for you as a
supporter, and to facilitate the ease of getting the money directly to
me (direct deposits incur fees both on the Australian account and the
US account). Please make checks out to 'Belmond Evangelical Free
Church' and mark in the 'memo' line my name or attach a note along
with the check….
Further support can be directed to:
Belmond Evangelical Free Church
Attn: Support for Alissa
2796 130th Drive
Belmond, IA 50421
Prayer Requests:
Travel finances and protection
Ease of transition with new community, new friends, new ministries
Sale of old YWAM base property in Brisbane
Volunteers to fill in 'backbone' areas of the base: kitchen, admin, hospitality
Increased discipleship and accountability for staff and in ministry
Continued vision and passion to spread the Gospel of Jesus