A Prayer Chapel Psalm

Love is outward
Love is others-centered

His love for me is desperate
Desperate to indwell me
Desperate to heal me
Desperate to teach me

My Father delights in His children

His love is outward
It is desperate to be shared
He wants to lead me into His eternal reward,
True Love never ending

Your ways are high above my ways
Your love is greater than all creation

Transform my heart
Let it reflect Your beauty
Let it never resist You

Amen

Back to Basics (Kona SLAM, week 1)

Aloha from the Big Island!

Last week our classes started for the Spiritual Leadership And Ministry seminar (SLAM) here in Kona Hawaii.  As classes began and I struggled to re-acclimate to the YWAM atmosphere, I felt a little lost. Life was so different back home. I have to admit that my relationship with God had grown cold, and now I find myself at a spiritual leadership school. Who do I think I am? What qualifies me to be a leader? The truth is, at this point I don't think I am qualified to formally lead others, but by the end of our first week the Lord began to change my perspective. I was feeling insecure because my pride didn't have anything to go off of. I didn't feel spiritually strong or exceptionally skilled, and God knows I have made countless mistakes in the past. But I finally realized that I'm not here because of my 'qualifications', but because of my calling, and at the center of that calling is relationship. God is constantly calling me into deeper relationship with Him.

When David Hamilton (former president of YWAM) was speaking about the importance of spending time in God's Word, he touched on a fundamental truth; "True love is this - to make the dreams of your Beloved come true". When I dream about the future I've often pictured greatness, but it's not about my own personal greatness, it's about God accomplishing great things. If I'm ever operating out of my own strength and understanding I feel completely overwhelmed when looking towards the future. A daily relationship with God is the only viable way to move forward. My eyes must remain fixed on Him. True love must be my motivation. The dreams that stir within me are God given, and it is His desire to partner with me to make them a reality. I don't want to be a 'great man' to fuel my own pride, I want to be 'God's man' to delight His heart. That sentence hit me after reading Psalms 131.

"My heart is not proud, Lord
my eyes are not haughty;
I do not concern myself with great matters
or things too wonderful for me.
But I have calmed and quieted myself
I am like a weaned child with its mother
like a weaned child I am content.

Israel, put your hope in the Lord
both now and forevermore."

According to Jim Stier (this weeks speaker and founder/director of YWAM Brazil) the only thing that will transform us so we can be co-participants in the divine nature is Jesus Christ within us. One thing we need and cannot forget, to sit at the feet of Jesus and let Him teach us.

Calling and direction for our future comes out of relationship. As we love Him, spend time with Him and ask Him questions, He will speak.

"The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still." - Exodus 14:14

He has put my insecurities to rest. I am here because He wants me here. I am here to grow closer to Him.

A new adventure begins!

One month ago I decided to go to a six week YWAM leadership seminar at their central school in Kona, Hawaii. Tomorrow morning I hop on a plane. What started as a dream is about to become a reality, and I definitely did not get to this point alone. Thank you so much for your prayers and for your unbelievable generosity and support. I received way more financial support then I was anticipating or hoping for. I will be coming back from this trip debt free and with all three of my jobs ready to take me back. This is amazing. Seriously, thank you so much!

More to come.

June Newsletter, 2014

 Greetings friends and family!

I hope this letter finds you all doing well. Many of you may remember some news letters I sent out in late 2012/early 2013 about my journey with the Christian missionary organization Youth With A Mission (YWAM). I wanted to send you this letter to summarize that experience and to let you know what’s going on in my life right now.

In September 2012 – by an amazing set of circumstances – I went to YWAM Los Angeles for a six month Discipleship Training School (DTS), and my life was completely changed.  Though I’ve been blessed with loving, Christian parents and I’ve known God since a young age, from 18 to 21 I walked away from Him, and gradually I became a shell of my true self. I was incredibly lost and my depression was becoming debilitating. I knew that I desperately needed God in my life, but I couldn’t reach Him, so He reached out and did the work for me. My soul was dramatically reawakened to God’s love and He was so clearly at work in my life. I showed up to YWAM Los Angeles on a whim, with no preparation and no expectations, but God miraculously provided all the money I needed for my tuition and outreach costs and I was able to serve in the Philippines and Thailand for three months.

 I had an amazing time in the Philippines. My team worked in an orphanage and undertook a huge tree planting project so that the sales of the fruit could benefit local farmers and the aforementioned orphanage. I had never worked so closely with kids before, and it definitely touched my heart. Taking care of those kids gave me an insight into the fatherly love of God. Thank God, we are all His children, so none of us have to be without a father! Our time in Thailand was an absolute blast, as well.

We spent one month in Chiang Mai – Thailand’s second largest city – partnering with a local ministry that reaches out to workers in the red light district and helps pull them out of the sex trade. We spent the second month in Mae Sot, which borders Burma and is highly populated with Burmese refugees. We had the awesome opportunity to do street evangelism, teach English to young students, do construction work at a school, and pray for the sick at a Burmese refugee clinic. The highlight for me was witnessing a healing, first hand. A friend and I were praying for a man who was burning up with fever and as we were praying we could literally feel his temperature dropping. All we could do was laugh. God is awesome!

The entire experience was amazing. It was not by my wisdom, strength, or carefully laid plans, and it was not by my provision. It was God. God was calling me back to where I belong and calling me to new heights. And He continues to call me forward. Since before my DTS was even over, I knew that I wanted to return to YWAM and continue to be a part of this amazing culture. I’d love to be a leader for a Discipleship Training School so that I could support students in the same way that I was supported.

A couple of weeks ago I heard of an opportunity to attend a six week leadership school (Spiritual Leadership and Ministry Development, or SLAM) in Kona, Hawaii which is where the main hub school for YWAM is located. The school begins on July 4^th.Obviously I wanted to attend, but I was intimidated by how quickly it was approaching and whether or not I could realistically go. Just a few days ago – after some encouragement from a leader at YWAM Los Angeles – I pulled the trigger and decided to go for it. I know this will be an amazing school (the founder of YWAM is one of the teachers, for one thing) and an amazing time to further develop in the Lord. Please pray for all the logistics to come together within the coming weeks, for the students, and for the teachers. I believe that God has awesome things in store for all of us.

I have a couple of weeks left that I can work, but because this all came together so quickly I still need to raise about $1,000 on top of what I’ll make. Financial need can be very stressful, but I know that if this is where God is leading me, He will provide. He certainly has proved that to me before!

If you’re interested in reading up on the school you can go to
ywamla.org > programs > secondary schools > School of Ministry Development

And if you would like to contribute towards this journey you can donate at ywamla.org/donatepay and enter “SLAM” into the name of school section. 

Also, I know that many of you have been an unbelievable support to me in the past - both in prayer and in finances - and for that I thank you! Seriously, thank you so much! I hope that you share in all of the joy I was able to experience during my DTS, because you were a part of making it happen!

 

I hope that you and your loved ones are all truly blessed. Take care!

- Trevor

“I will never be the same, Love has called my name”

The Journey Continues

A brief testimony on the last couple years of my life, and what’s happening right now:

(originally published June 10th, 2014)


As many of you know, two years ago – by an amazing set of circumstances – I went to YWAM Los Angeles for a six month Discipleship Training School, and my life was completely changed. Though I’ve been blessed with loving, Christian parents and I’ve known God since a young age, from 18 to 21 I walked away from Him and gradually I became a shell of my former self. I was so incredibly lost and my depression became debilitating. I knew that I desperately needed God in my life, but I couldn’t reach Him, so He reached out and did the work for me. My soul was radically reawakened to God’s love and He was so clearly at work in my life. I showed up on a whim with no preparation and no expectations, but He miraculously provided all the money I needed for my tuition and outreach costs, and I was able to serve in the Philippines and Thailand for three months.

So unplanned. So unexpected. 100% God.

Since before my DTS was even over I knew that I wanted to return to YWAM and continue to be a part of this amazing culture. I’d love to be a leader for the type of school I went through so that I can support students in the same way that I was supported. It wasn’t just my life that was changing, lives were changing all around me, and our staff was constantly pouring into us and cheering us on. Amazing.

A couple of weeks ago I heard of an opportunity to attend a six week leadership school (Spiritual Leadership and Ministry Development, or SLAM) in Kona, Hawaii which is where the main hub school for YWAM is located. The school begins on July 4th. Obviously I wanted to attend, but I was intimidated by how quickly it was approaching and whether or not I could realistically go. Just a few days ago I pulled the trigger and decided I’m going to go for it. I know this will be an amazing school (the founder of YWAM is one of the teachers, for one thing) and an amazing time to further develop in the Lord. Please pray for all the logistics to come together within the coming weeks, for the students, and for the teachers. I still have a couple of weeks I can work, but because this all came together so quickly I still need to raise about $1,000 on top of what I’ll make. Financial need can be very stressful, but I know that if this is where God is leading me, He will provide! He certainly has proved that to me before.

Also, I know that many of you have been an unbelievable support to me in the past, both in prayer and finances, and for that I thank you! Seriously, thank you so much!

Well, thanks for reading guys and gals I hope you’re all doing well!

- Trevor

The devil is afraid of You

The devil is afraid of you. Big or small, young or old, no matter how many mistakes you have made, he is AFRAID. He hates you, he hates how much God loves you, and he’s terrified of what God could do through you. All he wants to do is destroy you, but his only weapon is lies. Don’t listen to him. Don’t believe what he says about you and what he says about God. All he wants to do is destroy you. All God wants to do is love you.

When a lake became a river (the day I met the Ocean)

I am a body of water. I am perfectly still, but I am not meant to be still. There is a Spirit that wants to indwell me. There is a furious love that seeks to overtake me. But I resist it. I resist company. I resist change. I stay where I belong. I am accustomed to isolation. I look out on all the other bodies of water. They are all so beautiful, but so apart. I am a lake. And a lake sits alone, surrounded by strangers; ruff land that pushes against me and tells me where I cannot go. A lake sits alone.

Then one day a storm came and woke me. I didn’t even know I was asleep, but I felt the storm stirring in my center, growing faster and gaining momentum. It brewed from the deepest of places. It was restlessness. The Spirit saw my restlessness and felt compassion. He breathed a mighty wind over me, and my stillness turned to waves. I moved for the very first time. I was alive for the first time. I felt something other than my cold, isolated stillness.

The Spirit came and sat beside me. He told me that I am not a lake (He said He’d know because He made me). The Spirit says I am a river and that He is the Ocean. He was there before I ever began, and all my lonely days I had been slowly making my way towards Him, separate, but connected. I saw the world with new eyes. There were countless rivers leading to the Sea. Some were obstructed. Trees had fallen and soil had stopped the flow. Most were like this, but many rivers met the arms of the ocean, and when they did the crash of waves was unspeakably beautiful. This is what we had all been waiting for. We were finally home. We started so far away not knowing what was at the end. We were afraid of the end. But then we saw Him; the mighty Ocean.

You are not alone. You are a river. Let the Spirit of God lead you into the endless ocean of His love.


“Then Jesus said, ‘Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls.’” - Matthew 11:28-29