How, then, can they call on the name of the one they have not believed in?
And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard?
And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?
And how can anyone preach unless they are sent?

Thursday, December 26, 2013

We are your church. We pray revive this earth.

We are part of the story.
I'm seriously just baffled by this right now.
We were not only saved but made with a purpose, a great destiny. To seek the lost and build the kingdom of God on earth.

I am so excited for this great big adventure on which I am about to embark. God has given me such a heart for this nation. People have asked me what I'm most excited about for the outreach and I told them - I really just want to meet the people. I want to talk to them and be best friends and give them hugs. And I think that's one really important thing - to love the one in front of you. Just love the one. So that's my game plan.

I am overwhelmed by the incredible opportunity I have to go to Asia for 2 months and be love to the people. I get to bring the gospel to people who have never before heard the name of Jesus. LIKE WHAT. My life is crazy right now. Following Jesus is a wild ride. But I like rollercoasters.


How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? As it is written: "How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!" Romans 10:14-15


Monday, December 9, 2013

Wait. what?

It is the craziest thought that I have 2 weeks left of my SOMD. Wait, excuse me what? That's not real life.
But yeah. The past 3 weeks have been especially incredible.
I guess I'll just highlight some of my biggest points from these weeks but in reality there are so many things I could say and would love to tell you about.

Last week we learned about the elements, which are representative of different personality traits. We learned about ourselves and what we can bring to a team/group setting and also how to better love and relate to others.
It was really helpful to learn these things because I think we've all had at least one moment when someone has told us to tell them a few things we like about ourselves. I will admit that I have always struggled to come up with even the most surfacy, half-true compliments. But I really learned so much about who I am at the core, which helps me to even further walk in assurance of who God has made me to be.

But more importantly during these weeks I feel has just been the concept of pursuit. Sometimes I get lost. It's really easy for me to get lost in all of the things I have to do and all of the things that I'm learning and everything else that is tugging at my attention. I used to get lost in the 'work' mentality. But when I just stop and talk to Jesus like he's my best friend, it is seriously just the best thing. It's the times when I just press pause on my mind and listen. It's the peace that comes from just being and knowing that His love remains the same even in those times. It's the assurance that He is more concerned about me as his child than anything I can do for him. The same is true for you. Guys. I just really love Jesus.  And these things seem so simple. But I think sometimes the most obvious, simple truths are the ones we overlook. This is definitely true for me, anyway.

This week our school leader is speaking on Developing Your Calling...so that should be pretty good I guess. But seriously though I am really excited/interested/maybe a teeny little bit scared to pursue God for my next step and get to the heart of what God made me for. You know. No big deal.

So that's just a little blurb for you.
Love you byeeeeeeee.

Sunday, November 17, 2013

It was a bit of a reality check arriving in Florida to an incredibly humid, rainy Saturday. Especially because I had spent the past week in the beautiful autumn of Talladega, Alabama where the air was crisp and cool. I was loving wearing my boots and scarves and hiking on the trails. Also, I enjoyed having a full bed to myself which was firmly planted on the ground, as opposed to the questionable stability of my top bunk, and its groanings whenever I moved.
We traveled about 8 hours by van to AL for the annual YWAM Southeast Conference, where many bases in the region come together for a week of teaching worship and fellowship.
Jim Stier spoke for the week and focused on the Kingdom of God. One thing he said that really struck me was "we often focus on getting from earth to heaven rather than bringing heaven down to earth." It is such a good reminder of the reality that we are called to bring and establish the Kingdom of God on earth. 
I've been struck over and over by the incredible revelation that God wants to use us. God wants to use me to bring the Kingdom, to heal the sick, to save the lost. God doesn't need us. Because of love, he desires relationship and uses us to bring people to Him. Aaah. Just gets me every time. 
Isn't it so incredible that God doesn't just love us to love us. He loves us to love others. He doesn't just heal us and make us whole so we can experience freedom, but so that we can have the authority and power to bring freedom to others and all the world. 
I am so amazed every time by the forgiveness and kindness of God. In my DTS, we had a week on strongholds. This was a whole week where we identified areas where the enemy has a "strong-hold" in our lives. These things manifest themselves in more ways that I ever could have imagined. Pride, fear, passivity, unforgiveness and unbelief are just a few.
 I had a time on the last day in Talladega where I just came before God in surrender and rebuked the lies of the enemy in my life. I cried. Then I shouted from the mountain-top (I mean, I was on the the top of the hiking trail so kind of literally) declaring the victory of God and the defeat of the enemy. It's incredible the power of God when we surrender and bring sin into the light. I am so thankful for a God who desire for his children to be clean and whole and close to him. I am so amazed every time by the goodness and faithfulness he relentlessly displays in my life. Life is better unhindered.
Sorry if my posts always seem a little preachy, but I do want you to feel a part of what God is doing in my life and what he's teaching me. I pray that you experience the fullness of God and pursue all that he has. It's incredible, let me tell you.




Thursday, October 24, 2013

NEWS

I'm so excited to announce that I'll be going to East Asia in January for my outreach! I can't post the exact location for security reasons. We'll be spending about 2 months there doing ministry in the city, and we'll also be going to the mountains to some unreached people groups/people who have never before heard the gospel. I am so excited to experience more of God's heart for this nation! YAY TEAM

Learnings

Hey hey. 
I write to you sitting outdoors in my jeans, sweater, scarf and boots. This the first cold day we've had for..ever. This remains as the only downside I have encountered living in Florida; I miss my favorite season - fall. I was way too excited about putting on my warm things this morning like you don't even know. 
Anyway, I just thought I'd share with you some nuggets from last week's teaching. We watched Dean Sherman's video series on Ministry. It really wrecked me. There were so many revelations that came from his teaching and as I look over my notes I'm just wrecked all over again. 

He defined ministry as what God does through you by his Spirit. He said if you aren't serving, by definition you aren't ministering.
Isaiah 42:1 Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on him and he will bring justice to the nations
Isaiah 61:1 The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners...
He talked about the culture in the church today that sometimes says "Holy Spirit fall in this room" and asks for the presence of the Holy Spirit just for us to feel it and see that as enough.
 Jesus was filled with the spirit to preach good news to the poor, to heal the sick, to free the captives. The Holy Spirit is not a  presence we should merely sit in and enjoy for ourselves, but use to enable the work of God to happen through us. 

He went on to talk about gifts and said "gifts are for serving. A gift isn’t a gift unless you’ve given it away. If you haven’t given it away, it’s a possession. May you never know what gifts you have and what you are unless you intend to utilize it." He talked about gifts and each gift as a part of the body of Christ. 

That week was such a great challenge to me and I'm still processing and taking in everything that was said. Ugh. So good. 

Sorry for the rambly feel of this post. I hope it can encourage you in some way or at least make a little sense. 
I hope you, reading this, are doing well. If you would like to contact me, you can do so via facebook or email at larakaystricks@gmail.com. I'd love to connect with you and feel free to let me know if there is anything you would like prayer for, I would love to pray for you! 

Much love. 

Thursday, October 10, 2013

Little blurb.

So we're coming up on the end of the second week here. It is so good to be back.
The first week we learned about decision making and leadership. John Bills is such a great teacher and there is always so much to learn from his week! This week we've been learning about the essentials of the gospel. We are so blessed with amazing teachers, and the wealth of knowledge of the Bible that Al McBryan has just blows my mind every time. I have loved learning about the gospel and diving into scripture.
In the SOMD we are required to read the Old Testament. It seems like a lot when you think about it, but I am really loving going through the stories chronologically and seeing how the story unfolds altogether. So anyway, that's just a little nugget of how things are going here. Catch y'all later.

Monday, September 2, 2013

Summaries.

Well. It's that time. (Actually is much much too far past that time. But better late than never I suppose) 
If you happen to be interested in what happened on my outreach to South Africa and Mozambique in January, then you could read this. I mean, if you want to. And also if you happen to be interested in my Discipleship Training School Experience as a whole, you could read this. I mean, if you want to. 

I suppose now the only thing to do is for me to try to sum up the super crazy, life-changing-best-5-months-of-my-life-thus-far in a somewhat-concise way. Here goes nothing. 
I don't think I have ever been so happy that I made a decision in my life.
 DTS was literally the best decision I have ever made. It changed my life - it changed my entire perspective - it changed everything I knew about being a Christian and having a relationship with God. Seriously. 
Lecture phase for me was a lot of just figuring out who God is. I learned that everything flows out of intimacy with God. Because you know God, you love him. When you love him, you serve him. 
I had so much heart revelation of head knowledge, and it was amazing how everything became so real. Everything I knew about God, about the Bible, about relationship. I learned to know and hear his voice. 
I think missions is a great thing to get involved in, but the discipleship that I had during my DTS was really what impacted me and prepared me for doing God's work.

Our team of 18 said peace out to the US of A on January 7. After a 2 hour flight, an 8 hour layover, a 7 hour flight, a 12 hour layover, an 11 hour flight, and a 3 hour bus ride, we arrived at the Ten Thousand Homes base in White River, South Africa.

There for outreach we would go to one of the three nearby communities that hold feeding programs for the kids in the area - Clau-Clau, Mbonisweni, and Dwaleni. There we would play with the kids, sing a few songs, give a bible story or lesson on sanitation and help with the meal.

The first time we went to the feeding at Mbonisweni, I met a little girl named Nobuhle. She grabbed my hand and pulled me over as the kids were starting to sing songs. I danced with her and she sat on my lap for the story. I asked her about her family and school and what she liked to do. She played with my hair and told me I was beautiful. I was surprised, mostly because I felt like it was my job to say that. Later, she invited me to sleep over at her house. My heart melted a little bit.
 I was struck by the love that she had for someone she met not 45 minutes ago. It is amazing what a 9 year old girl can teach you about genuine love and friendship.

While we were in South Africa, the director of Ten Thousand Homes, Jeremy, had a vivid dream about holding a day camp for the kids who live in the communities.

So, we asked God what this day was supposed to look like. And so we had our theme - royalty.We wanted the kids to feel like little princes and princesses and feel valued.  So we spent the week preparing for the big day.
About 400 kids came to the camp that day. We had a number of different stations like face-painting, soccer, movie, coloring, but I got to help with the photo booth. After they were registered, each child got their photo taken. I had 200 kids to photograph, and they were all very reluctant to smile. They were all beautiful, nonetheless. But we printed out the photos and got to hand them back to the kids. It was amazing to see all the kids with a photo in their hand and a smile on their face.
 Also while we were there, our team was able to complete a rain catchment tank at Ten Thousand Homes and teach some of the locals how to build them. They have already been replicated in the community! It was so awesome to team up with Ten Thousand Homes and be a part of the awesome work they are doing there! So much amazing work has happened there since we left in February and I encourage you to check it out and see what God is up to through Jeremy and the staff! Go to www.tenthousandhomes.org or like Ten Thousand Homes on Facebook.


It was about a 4 hour drive from where we were in White River to the Iris Ministries Center in Zimpeto, Mozambique.

There are about 200 kids that live at the center. We had opportunities for ministry almost 24/7, and all we had to do was step out the door. We ate breakfast, lunch and dinner with the kids. We played with the kids on the playground. I got to sit with a group of 9 year old boys at all the meals for the time we were there. Our team also helped the staff take care of infants and toddlers as well as the special needs children that live at the center. It was so much fun getting to be friends with them. 
We also had opportunities for ministry outside the center. In the city Maputo, we did hospital ministry, jail ministry, and a worship service ministry at a park. On Fridays we went to the Bocaria, which is a huge trash dump. I'm not sure there's a way to describe the smell. There is a community right beside it. People live there, but work in the dump, looking for things they can collect to re-sell.
Our team split up into two groups- one half went into the community and the other half went on the dump. I went to the community, and we walked around to a number of houses and prayed for people who were sick or hurt. We met a woman sitting outside, she was older and in a lot of pain. We prayed for her and then left to go to the next house, but my friend Katelyn and I really felt like we should go back and pray again. While we were praying, we felt like there was a root of bitterness in her life that was holding her back from healing. So we prayed over her and then she felt a little better. But we wanted God's wholeness and full healing for her, so we prayed again, and she said "I feel better. I have the joy of the Lord." She attends the church in the community and was able to come to church that afternoon. 
That's just one story of healing from the Bocaria. God is moving in Mozambique. I'm so glad our team was able to join up with and see how God is working. On this outreach I learned so much about the power of the Holy Spirit and prayer. It was so awesome to see how God was speaking and using our team to minister to the people that we encountered.
Outreach was the testing ground. It was where I really started to see change in myself, and started practicing things that I had learned in lecture phase, sometimes without realizing it.
We as a team asked God to break our hearts for the kids, realizing the full weight of what we were really asking for. And he did. So every day, we loved on those kids with everything that we had, being vessels for God's immeasurable, unconditional love.
I am so glad that I got to see even a little part of God's heart for the kids. It was amazing how he was revealing things to me and really spoke to my heart. I just saw so much joy and potential in them. As we got to know them, I got to see so many great qualities and learn about who they are. My heart broke and everything in me desired for them to know how valuable, gifted, important, and loved they are.
And being in the photography track, it was awesome for me to be able to capture those "moments," that really showed their joy and beauty. As a photographer, it was my heart to go without an agenda - not to look for the photo that has the most shock value, or the one that matches the poor and weak image of them that we’ve been fed but to capture the truth and show the God-given joy and beauty in the original design.

So, now let's talk about you. Whether you supported me financially, in prayer, or both
I want to thank you so much for supporting me and making these stories possible. They literally would not have happened without you. I have been so blessed by your support. This has been such an incredible growing experience and I am so. so. thankful. I am forever changed.
May you be blessed.
I am SUPER excited to be going back to Orlando for a School of Ministry Development in about 3 weeks! Thank you all again for supporting me and sending me! I so appreciate the role that you have played in my life! Thank you for your prayers as I go; I can't wait to see what God has up his sleeve!  

For His glory,
Lara