USA Festival Tour Summer 2009

We´ve graduated!! Today was our last day, and we are saying our goodbyes. On Tuesday we drove to Knoxville, TN and received a warm welcome. Wednesday was our last day of ministry. We prayed to see what we should do with our afternoon and felt to go downtown and pass out bottles of water, bubbles for children, and draw and give away some prophetic pictures. After that, we went to another youth group and shared with them, finishing with a call to be a part of fulfillign the Great Commission! We were able to pray for some of the youth and encourage them afterwards. We then drove through the night to arrive in Orlando and clean up from outreach as well as have some debriefing time where we evaluated what we learned and heard from God during this trip. Today we spent the day at the pool adn then went bowling. We also were able to share at our YWAM graduation, where 4 other schools were also graduating. It was great to hear some of the amazing stories as well as telling some of out own.

We leave Michigan tomorrow, and to be honest, are a little sad about it. We have so enjoyed the wonderful hospitality of the Muldoon family. We finished our last festival with a bang as ´artists´ on their youth stage. We were also able to help out with the youth lounge, spending time with the young people and talking about missions. We ran a children´s church service where we told the story of David and Goliath and did a fun skit.  We also had the opportunity to perform at a youth group, where several people made decisions to do a Dischipleship Training School. It´s so exciting to see other´s get excited for missions! We´re on the last leg of our journey, stopping in Tennessee on our way home. 

Tomorrow is our last day here at Kingdom Bound. It´s been a lot of fun! We´ve spent our time helping out in the kid´s tent in the mornings, singing, dancing and playing with the children. The rest of our time has been spent mobilizing people at the YWAM booth, setting up right next to the entrance to do some performances and give testimonies, taking care of our campsite, having some team time and worship, and going to some of the concerts and riding a few rides. We´ve been able to invest in a lot of people, and are sad to have to leave, but we know that our time in Michigan holds some amazing opportunities.

Tomorrow is our last day here at SoulFest. It’s been busy, fun, and also a bit trying. Camping while it’s raining is not much fun, let me tell you. But aside from that, we’ve been able to work as greeters at the entrances and get prayer requests from people to put on prayer walls. In the process, we’ve been able to get in some good conversations about YWAM and even pray for some people ourselves. We’re also taking turns at our YWAM booth in the vendor tent and mobilizing young people for missions! Yesterday we performed on one of the stages and were told by the sound guy at ours was one of the biggest turnouts for that stage. We were blessed to have sun and that’s why more people were able to watch. We were so excited to be able to share with people on stage as well as one-on-one afterwards. Please pray for good weather so that we can stay dry!

Our time in Virginia was short, but fulfilling. We were able to hang out with some of the inner city children at the community center. After showing them our dramas and dances and giving some testimonies, they wanted to show us some of the songs and dances they’d been working on! We also helped some of them bake cupcakes and brownies for a bake sale and had them teach us some of their dance moves. It was so much fun being able to spend time with them and make them feel special! We helped out around the base with some practical work such as picking up trash, laying down mulch, mowing the lawn and cutting down some bushes and trees. In the afternoon we had the opportunity to do some team building and a high elements ropes course. It helped some of us face our fears and was also a lot of fun in the process! Upon arrival in Connecticut, we led a church service and were able to encourage people into missions. We spent time after the service talking and fellowshipping with the people in the congregation. Today is our day off and we’ve had a restful time sleeping in, going swimming, playing baseball at the park, washing our laundry and checking our emails. After another day of ministry here tomorrow, we’ll be on our way to Maryland! Time is flying!

Hello from Virginia!!!

Our week of training flew past, and we now find ourselves on the first leg of our three-week journey in the US! This past week was full of many grueling hours of practice as we learned four dramas and two hip-hop dances.  We also had some amazing teaching times from local YWAM leaders on subjects such as Intercession, Missions, the Father Heart of God, Evangelism and a testimony workshop. We’ve spent time getting to know one another and becoming a team and now feel equipped and prepared to proclaim the Gospel and mobilize others into missions!

Sunday we did a church service at the Orlando Vineyard Community Church, and were excited to see our dramas and testimonies touch lives. Even though we were nervous and our timing was a little off, God showed up and one of the young men from the congregation rededicated his life to Christ! Many people were brought to tears as the messages of our dramas hit home. God is so amazing! After a long day of traveling, we finally arrived in Virginia where we will be partnering with YWAM Richmond in some existing ministries they have going on here. We hope to update this blog every other day so that you can follow our progress and continue to pray for us. Here is an itinerary of what the next three weeks hold for us:

7/20-7/21 : Richmond, VA working with YWAM.
7/22 : Travel to New Haven, CT and youth church service.
7/23 : Work with LOVE 146 in CT.
7/24: Rest day in CT.
7/25 : Travel to Maryland.
7/26 – 7/27 : Ministry in Maryland.
7/28 : Travel to Gilford, NH for Soulfest.
7/29 – 8/1 : Soulfest
8/2 – 8/5 : Kingdom Bound in  Buffalo, NY
8/6 – 8/8 : Unity Fest in Muskegon, MI
8/9 : Church Service in Detroit
8/10 – 7/12 : Ministry in Knoxville, TN
8/13 : Return to Orlando, FL
8/14 : Fun day in Orlando