Trafficking prevention in Nepal & India

Our anti-trafficking and prostitution ministry here in YWAM Perth, called Priceless, just finished a 5 week outreach to Nepal and India.  Their focus was on human trafficking prevention through education of individuals, churches and organizations.  In just 5 weeks they were able to teach and share the gospel to over 1600 people!  This trip was also strategic in setting up further opportunities for outreach next year in our next Megacities focus: Kolkata!

Salvation in the Outback

Leading youth to the Lord here in Western Australia...

“I got the word from God for this Coolgardie outreach. God told me to love his people and just focus on them and don’t focus on salvation. I was like okay.  So for two and a half weeks we stayed in this christian aboriginal school and in the school we did a lot of workshops and teachings and small groups. And every lunch break I really spent time with the kids there, and just focused on them and really connected with them,  and played basketball, and ate lunch and even on day off we spent time with these kids, so I really felt like I was connected to these kids. And on Friday, last Friday, in my quiet time, I was reading 2 corinthians 6 and there is one verse that says “now is the day of salvation” and I was like wow. It reminded me of how God told me not to focus on salvation, and now he’s like “now is the day of salvation”. I was really excited, wow, so cool. And we had a youth group, it was the last friday night, and me and Sue we sat down with three girls and really chat with them and in the end they accepted Jesus. It was such a beautiful moment, they started crying, and it was amazing, God is so faithful."

     - student on the Media, Art & Photography DTS, YWAM Perth

One in a million

A couple of Thursdays ago, we were talking to people around the hospital here in Perth. Luke met a man named Sam (name changed for his privacy), who was in a wheelchair.  He chatted with him a bit while he (Sam) smoked and then accompanied him up to his hospital room.  They sat together and talked for an hour. Sam shared the difficult things that he has been through in life and Luke told him how much God cares.  Sam admitted that he usually wasn't very open to talking about God stuff; he used to be religious but went astray because of alcohol and painful situations he had been through.   He was open to receive prayer, so Luke prayed for him.

The next week I (Claire) randomly ran into Sam as well. We chatted for twenty minutes before we realized who each other was: "Last week a guy was telling me about God. It really helped me alot. He had a beard and his name was Luke."  "That's my husband!"  I was just as shocked as Sam at the "coincidence."  We talked for a while and then agreed to see him the next day before he would be released from hospital (returning to his home about 200 km away).  Luke and I went to visit him, prayed for him and gave him a Bible.  He said both weeks he had been in a really tough spot, wondering if life was worth living anymore, and that us caring for him and sharing about God had really lifted his spirits. 

God is an amazingly persistent pursuer of people.

Movie makers in our midst

Wongi Warrior premiered last night in YWAM Perth 

This extremely well done 45 minute movie was made by our fellow YWAMers here in Perth. It addresses issues of racism, violence, teen suicide, reconciliation, and forgiveness as it follows a boy's drawings and recollections of his life and the life of his grandfather - a war hero, who fought in WWII.  The vision of this movie is to bring honour and dignity to Aboriginal people, in particular the Wongi people, while also being a platform for conversation and healing about the issues that they face today. 

These "movie makers" are not professional and had no real budget to work with. But they relied on God every step of the way and it is by far one of the best made films I've ever seen. 

God is a vision-giver and the one that makes it happen! 

Monk meets Jesus

This week is report back week at YWAM Perth.  Schools shared testimonies from outreach to nations such as Uganda, Indonesia, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, Nepal and others.

Here's an amazing testimony from Laos:

"This one day in Laos, it was the three of us and we were about to go out and we decided to pray and we got a picture of a monk standing in front of some flag poles and Natalie got a word about a wounded heart. There was a temple down the road, across the street from a place with flagpoles, and so we were like "let's go there." We talked to a monk who didn't speak English but he went and found a monk who did. So we asked him, "Do you have time? Can we chat with you?" He was like "sure, sure." So we went into the temple. So we chatted with him a bit, asked him what he believed.  Then Natalie just went for it and started talking about Jesus and at first he was really defensive, but then she started telling him about the word she got about a wounded heart and his whole face softened. And in the end we asked if we could pray for him and the Holy Spirit hit him and we got some scriptures for him and stuff.  Then we gave him a Bible and said we'd come and visit him again... When we went back to visit, to see if he had any questions about what he'd been reading we found out he had been showing all the other monks the Bible and telling them all the stories and everything. Then we came back the last time to follow up with him and we asked him "do you want to accept Jesus?" And he did, so we prayed for him and he gave his heart to the Lord right there in the temple in front of this massive Buddha statue.  He told us he wanted to accept Jesus the first time we came to visit.  He said when we prayed for him that first time he saw a picture of Jesus welcoming him home. Then another time when we prayed for him he saw a picture of Jesus accepting him, hugging him."

- From the School of Worship, YWAM Perth

A new sound at YWAM Perth

One of the things I love most about being a missionary at YWAM Perth is that there is always room for new vision!  This band, called Della Fern, has just officially started their career together here in Perth. They all love God and have a passion to see music be an influence for good. They don't just want to be a good band or to sell some CDs; they want to change the way music is done.  And they are really good! They performed for the first time this friday and sounded incredible together.  

Missions isn't just handing out tracts on street corners!  It's exciting to see people use their talents in creative ways that will bring kingdom culture to every aspect of society. 

I'll try to post some links to their music when they put them up.

Jesus in the Park?

This incredible testimony was shared yesterday by one of my Fijian missionary friends.  She and her fiance were strolling through a park on a Sunday afternoon and met a scruffy guy who said he wanted salvation.  They said "okay," but then he walked away.  He came back a little while later and said again that he wanted salvation.  They invited him to sit down and he began to share that he felt God was distant and he wasn't sure if God was really "there". They prayed for him, walked him through a prayer of repentance and then he started getting very upset and aggressive. It was like he totally flipped personalities.  They continued to pray for him and then my Fijian friend remembered she had had a dream about saving someone from drowning. So she prayed against a spirit of death and immediately he became normal again.  He said to them, "What happened? What did you do?  I've been feeling that way for 36 years and now it is gone!"  He is going to begin meeting with his new friends to learn more about relationship with God.

And all that from a leisurely stroll in the park! 

Back on blogger!

To be frighteningly honest with you, the reason I stopped writing was NOT a lack of time or inspiration, but the conclusion that nobody knows this page exists! The world's best kept secret ;) But, now I am assured by blogger.com that at least one person has looked at this page in the past month... so for YOU, my one follower, I am writing this blog for you.

UPDATES Galore!!!
Since my last entry... I started dating someone named Luke, led the coordinating team for Megacities in London (for 4 months, during the Olympics = epic), got engaged (to Luke), visited home, planned a wedding, did the wedding (with Luke, fortunately), and have settled back into ... wait settled into for the first time... married missionary life.  Luke and I have a cozy little studio flat.  We both are full time missionaries with YWAM Perth: I continue to serve in a ministry called Megacities http://www.megacities.org.au and Luke is getting ready to lead his second Discipleship Training School in October (very exciting!) https://www.facebook.com/PerthSportsDts

Megacities is going to KOLKATA starting April 2014 (until March 2015).  The city is thrilled and anticipating the flood of missionaries that will come to bless, serve, and strengthen their efforts to reach the city.  Keep your eyes peeled for videos popping up on this site.

Street Chaplains - I continue to go out monthly, now with Luke.  The second to last time we were out we had a long and fruitful conversation with a couple guys about God. One, who said he was agnostic was actually giving me evidence for God and telling me reasons why God could very well be true.  I challenged him to keep seeking God and to not waste time, He is worth knowing now. The other guy used to be a Christian but became an atheist by watching atheist videos on YouTube.  Luke recommended some quality Christian apologists videos and in the end both were open to prayer.  Those types of encounters make all the sleep-loss worth it.

Until next time (which will be a whole lot sooner than last time)!

Want more news?  Check out:
YWAM Perth Fortnightly news