Bansenblog

Greetings Friends, Family and innocent bystanders,
I'm glad to get a chance again to write another post to share with you what's going on with us here with Youth With A Mission in Chico, CA. The passage of time since my last post to you is kind of testimony that they are keeping us very busy with school, work duties and a fairly tight schedule in which to accomplish all of this. This experience so far has really been a challenge for us, as many of you know us to be a chase-life-from-behind-the-eightball family. But the routine of our daily school schedule has been good for us.
Well, I'd like to share a bit about what we're doing right now and who we're doing this with. The YWAM base here is designed to disciple individuals in their walk with the Lord Jesus and prepare them for their calling whether they go on to be missionaries, ministers, helpers, workers, leaders or whatever, here in the states or overseas working with the local church, or with a missions organization like YWAM, or in whatever arena God leads them to minister. The school we are a part of (Crossroads Discipleship Training School) is strongly based upon refocusing individuals on a strong, personal and ongoing relationship with Jesus as well as learning to reflect His character and communicate His love for the world. (Wow... that was a mouthful, but that described it well.) These past 4 weeks we've had weeklong lectures and an emphasis on living a lifestyle of worship, intercession, hearing from God/knowing His voice. We've had our understanding of “who God is” questioned and challenged and we learned about the father-heart of God and are correcting our human misconceptions of God's nature. This, so far, has been a powerful classroom/lecture time ordained by God.
The team of students who are here at the Crossroads Discipleship Training School, and who will also be going with us to minister in the Fijian Islands during outreach, are a mixture of different backgrounds and walks of life from around the world. Here is our demographic makeup: We have 15 adults, some of whom have brought their children (there are 12 children in all on our team). There are 4 single moms with their kids, and 2 husband/wife families with their kids. The rest are single adults. Rohillah is from Uzbekistan, Debbie is from Scotland, Hope is from Vietnam, Myung Wha is from South Korea and the rest of us are from the States: Florida, Virginia, Texas, Ohio, California, Hawaii, Minnesota, and Indiana (us). Everyone has come to the school hungry and eager for more from God and anxious to see what He can do with us and through us on the mission field.
We have all been gelling together wonderfully, and it is amazing to see how much we all have in common, even for some of us being from such different cultures; it is evident that God has put us all together. God has given us a beautiful sense of family in our teammates. Even our kids all seem to get along well and really like each other. We all have a great expectation that God is only just starting to a work in us all. Keep us in prayer as God prepares us for outreach.
The weeks ahead will be difficult for all of us as God further purifies and strengthens us as a team. We’ve been told that it is pivotal and momentous for many people in this school as they submit themselves fully to God. That’s why, it seems, they call this a ‘crossroad.’ Some of the classes and speakers ahead will be helping us to deal specifically with the broken parts of our lives in which we need to allow God to do His surgery. God wants to send whole people into His work, ministering to others the healing and fulfillment of God’s love for each of us. Not that we will be perfect and God will suddenly be “done” working in us after this experience – just closer to His plan for completion in all our lives.
Well, that’s a bit of what is going here. I apologize for taking so long to finish this post. Time here just flies. We are blessed to do this and to have so many of you praying for us and supporting us as we dive into this crazy, life-changing, life-giving thing in obedience to God’s calling. Please continue to pray for us that God will change and shape Ginger’s and my attitudes toward daily time issues, our time with the kids, and that we can accomplish everything that we need to do. Pray that we can complete our assignments with time to reflect on them (so that they aren’t purely academic, but rather heart-changing). Pray that God will heal and strengthen our bodies, and pray for God’s financial provision for us. (Praise God with us that the lecture phase of the school is covered. And please continue to stand in faith with us as we wait to see God provide for the outreach phase). God has been meeting our needs in awesome ways, and we know that He will continue to do that. Thank you for partnering and believing with us in this great adventure. More news to share soon. We love you all!

Contending 4 the faith,

shawngingerhannahelijah