Righteousness, Salvation & the Laughing Father

[Just some journal thoughts from today]

Wow. It's a brand new day and I get to put on the righteousness of Christ! The gift of salvation is so incredibly relevant, every single day.

Forgiveness of all my sin and imperfection.
New life.
Purity in the eyes of my Heavenly Father.

Who needs that?...Me!
Who wants that?...Me!

I am so loved, always and forever. It just takes a little daily meditation on that truth for me to walk in that love. Victory over the power of sin and death belongs to Jesus, and freedom belongs to me! Because of His victory!

All that I am, I am in Christ.

To have free and uninhibited access to my Heavenly Father....what a thought. What a reality!
Can I fathom His holiness?
Can I fathom the the level of separation that sin brings between me and God?
Can I fathom the heart of the Father crying out for connection with His children?

He wants to restore the broken!
To lift up the destitute and the dishonored.
To give His children eternal life!
To make them come alive in His love.

But how does He look upon me and all of the redeemed?
He laughs and sings and shouts with joy and excitement, because there is nothing between us.
There is an open channel between heaven and my heart, because of Jesus.
And He has given me the Helper, the Holy Spirit living within me, leading me into all truth.

Does anything bring greater joy to the Father's heart than for His children to be able to fully receive His love and walk with Him here on earth?

How much joy do I bring to my Father?
What an incredible thing to belong to Him.


This is all your fault Jesus!
You get all the glory.

Vision, Communication & Mentorship: Keys for the Future

                                                                                                                                                  [Originally sent out on November 2nd. If you'd like to get on my email update list contact me at trevorywam@gmail.com]                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  
Here's an update you on the work I've been doing recently and what God has been doing in me personally!

Communicating the Goodness of God
For the past couple months I've been working in the Communications Department at YWAM LA. My work is primarily focused on running our social media, so I produce material for Facebook and Instagram every day and work on blogs for the website. I was attracted to this job because I really enjoy writing and that is a large part of what this work entails. Working in Communications has given me the opportunity to better appreciate what God is doing in and through our community. My job is to let the world know what God is doing in the lives of our students and staff and how He is impacting the world through our lives and our work. It is a huge privilege to be able to tell these stories and I get so blessed in the process! Much of my job involves communicating vision for our future schools as well, and it has been a joy to partner with our school leaders and communicate the heart of what God is doing through our various programs. It's rewarding work because God is so good and His involvement in our lives is exciting!


Visions of the Future

Recently, I've been considering several different ministries I'd like to potentially get involved with next year. After two years, this is the first time that I haven't been serving in a school and directly involved in leadership/discipling students. God put it on my heart to take this season away from schools, largely so that I could spend more time with Him to refine my dreams and plans for the future. I am super blessed to have this time to focus more intently on the ways He wants to challenge me to grow in my walk with Him and to dream bigger for the future.

The Importance of Mentorship
I have felt challenged for quite some time that I needed to seek out more intentional relationship with elders who can mentor me in my walk with the Lord. I'm happy to say that I have recently connected with a couple of older and wiser guys in our community that have agreed to walk with me and mentor me. I'm excited because I know that vulnerability and forward focused community is a way God has designed us to thrive, and mentorship is a very necessary tool to push us to our fullest potential. I think God desires for us to be pouring into people who aren't as far along as us, to have a solid group of peers that we do life alongside of, and to have more mature people pouring into us.

Thank you so much for reading all of this! Your friendship and support means the world to me! I hope that by sharing my journey with you, you are continually encouraged by the incredible character and nature of God. Even amidst insurmountable grief and struggle, He is good, and He is with us. If there is ever any way I can serve you, support you or pray for you, please feel free to reach out. I mean that.

Kansas City, Government & Growing in Prayer

[Originally sent out on September 19th. If you'd like to get on my email update list you can contact me at trevorywa@gmail.com]

Two weeks ago I had the privilege of attending the YWAM Together conference in Kansas City! YWAM Together is a one week gathering of YWAM missionaries and friends from all across the globe. We heard a lot this week about the current big picture focuses of YWAM - making sure that every person on earth has access to a bible in their native language, and bringing a Godly influence to the seven spheres of society.


Influencing the Spheres of Society
In Jesus' last words on earth, the Great Commission, he told us to make disciples of all nations. In the 1970's, YWAM caught the vision that this entails much more than simply preaching the gospel and being a missionary in the traditional religious context. As Christians, we are called to bring excellence and Godly character into every area of society: Family, Economics, Government, Religion, Education, Communication/Media, and Celebration. A little more on that concept here
http://call2all.org/Groups/1000090335/call2all/About/Spheres/Spheres.aspx#.V99xxpMrJ60


Influencing Government
Throughout the week I participated in the group focused on government. 7 years ago, I felt God put a burden in my heart to see Him bring transformation in the United States and among government specifically. It was very inspiring to hear from people that God is using around the world to make an impact in government, whether it be through lobbying for action on social justice and economic development, working as a representative in parliament, or simply through having relationships with government officials that provide counsel and wisdom. Our group is remaining connected online and I'm excited to continue learning in this area and see where God might eventually lead me.

[Friends from the Spiritual Leadership And Ministry School in Kona, HI 2014!] 

Growing in Prayer
The most impactful speaker of the week to me was Mike Bickle, the founder of the International House of Prayer in Kansas City. IHOP KC has been engaged in 24/7 worship and intercessory prayer since 1999. I was deeply impressed by the link between movements of prayer and of missions. If you look at every revival in history, it always starts out of a place of spiritual hunger and prayer. I feel inspired and challenged to grow in my own prayer life and relationship with God. Whether I remain in YWAM long term or not, I know that God has a mission for my life and I will not be able to accomplish it without a strong connection to Him in prayer.


I Want to Pray for YOU!
I was praying for some direction before I sent out this update and I felt God impress upon me to start a Prayer Team! This means two things. (1) If you'd like to be on my team I want to send you monthly emails with my own personal prayer requests. And (2) I want to pray for you! I would love to continually hear from you and be supporting you in prayer any way that I could. I am so thankful for all the love, support and prayer I've received over the years and I would love to give back and be there for you. Just let me know!