A steadfast Grip

  The old richety red van screaches to a sudden stop in unmarked parking. From all surrounding sides come swarming children. Running, skipping, pressing closer and closer. Their smiling facing and heartwarming laughter trickle inside as they circled around the vehicle. Some waiting in patience. Others jumping up and down with excitement. The double doors swing open and out pour the passengers inside, just as giddy as the anxious onlookers.  With no delay children encompass the white people with suffocating hugs. But there is no thought of discomfort. Only a rising joy and unearthly love welling up inside. It grows and it grows... until no longer can it be contained. Soon laughter errupts from all around and shouts exlaiming pure delight. The games begin. There is no lack of thrilling energy.  It is like a buzz, an electricity flowing from deep within. Power beyond expression taking place of reason and practical sense. There is no denying the power that is at work. It is something. Something greater than comprehension.  We grasp for it, and it is granted in small portions. Little doses that bring survival and perserverance. To call it human resource is asking for the credit of what it certainly is not. To call it the power of a King of Glory, a God most high, that is truth. That is where all the credit is due.

  This is our experience every day during the week. As our relationships with the children in the Projects grow we are falling ever more in love with them. We have been able to meet some parents and tell them why we are here. They seem very open and willing to talk. Our team is praying for opportunities to reach the parents and see families transformed. We know God is doing BIG things. Bigger than we can even imagine. Our team is confident that we are exactly where God wants us. We are holding on to his word and promises that lie within it. He is our rock and foundation. God is growing our confidence and throwing our fears and doubts behind us as we press into his plans and desires for our outreach. God never dissapoints and we are forever greatful for his unending faithfullness.

  We are continuing our work at the Lighthouse Mission. Serving every Tuesday and Friday morning.  And participating in the afterschool program. The kids there are opening up more every time we go. This week we split the group in half of Tuesday and Wednesday afternoon. One day half of us went to the Lighthouse and the rest of the team went to the Paradise Mills project. We absolutely loved doing that. We hadn't been to Paradise Mills for weeks and we really felt we should continue going there. The kids were so excited to see us. They told us they thought something bad had happened to us. So we are going to continue splitting up the group.

  To end this week we had our 24 hour prayer day. And during the afternoon we felt God wanted us to go to the Kennedy Project and write words for the children there and the project on the basketball court. We went while most of the kids were still at school. Here are some of the things we wrote....

  What is truth? Truth is all around us. Truth is the sun rising and setting every day. The tide crashing on the shore in endless waves. As dawn bursts forth, we step into the kingdom created by the One Living God. We see compassion unfolding in the lives of His follwers. We see His love seeping into the hearts of the lost. The ones He is calling back to him. This is our reasoning. This is our truth; That something greater than our lives is at work in this world. The work of the Hand of God.

 Expecting His Glory to fall! -With all our love, team St. Croix

Where None Have Gone Before

 

"I begynnelsen skapte Gud himmelen og jorden"

   -Genesis 1:1

Norweigen Bible/ Bibelen Guds Ord

  We kicked this week off by going somewehre we have never been yet. There is a squatters community on the island of St.Croix. No one goes into this community before. The people living there are mostly immigrants from the Dominican Rebublic. We had to split up into two groups. One group went far into the community. And as they walked around they met a couple that invited us to thier wedding! Later we went back to help them move a car from their yard.  While one group was walking around, the other group found a project that we were not expecting. While talking and playing basketball with some teens, we met a 19 year old named Jarica. She told us that no one had ever come to thier community to spend time with them before. We all felt that it was God guiding us to them and how receptive they were of us yet again.

The living conditions in the squatters community

  Then in the evening we weent to the kennedy project and Jared and Melissa B. taught on creation. we did a craft with them and they glued pieces of paper on to represent the different things God created on the different days. it went over really well, the kids loved it! then we gave them calk to draw on the basketball courts their favorite things God created. we saw kids write "i love jesus", "God created the world". It was amazing!!



Melissa  and Jared teaching the kids! There were about 30 kids sitting in the circle 


  Tuesday morning we went to the lighthouse in the morning.  On Tuesday and Wednesday evening we went back to the lighthouse for the after school program we have started helping with. Tuesday Jared and Melissa B. taught their creation lesson. And Wednesday Melissa J. taught clean mouth, clean heart lesson. Tuesday night we helped the St. Croix Christian Church tby watching the children of couples in the church while they took a  parenting class. This is something we will be doing every Tuesday night while we are here. 

Leah helping some of the younger kids at the Lighthouse

  Wednesday and Thursday morning  we spent time cleaning the appartment, and painting it for the new base directors to live in. They will hopefully be ariving at the end of February, so our team may be able to meet them! We are praying that they arrive before we leave. 

Mindy, Joo, and Solveig doing the primer coat!

  Thursday, in the afternoon we went to the Kennedy project. Melissa Jensen taught a lesson on hygeine called clean mouth, clean heart. A lot of the children in the projects have really rotten teeth so it was really good to do that teaching! But then she related it back to how we have to have a clean heart along witha clean mouth! And then we did a prayer with the children who wanted to ask Jesus to be their best friend and come into their hearts. We had four children come to the Lord along with others praying along in the group. It was so incredible! God has definitely been directing us in every step and knew that the kids would respond the way they did. We are so excited to go back and continue teaching. In the evening we began our 24 hour prayer. 

  Friday half of us stayed on base for prayer and the other half went to the lighthouse. This week Melissa B. preached the word! Then we spent the rest of our day doing our prayer day. We spent time praying into the business sphere in st. croix. On Wednesday we found out that the main oil refinery here on the island is going out of business. This will have a crippling affect on the island. Many businesses and families will be affected. We are praying in faith that God has the situation in his hands, and it will bring glory to Him, even if we can't see it yet. This time will give the church to bond together and be a living testimony of Gods faithfullness even in the tough times.

  This saturday we went to a wedding in the squatters community. The couple told us they were so greatful that we came. And the bride looked  beautiful! It was unlike any wedding any of us had been to. It was very casual and short. But it was definitely a wonderful thing to be a part of. And everyone was so glad to be there!



Our team with the bride and groom!!



Overall team feeling of the week? 

"Our team loved being so busy every day this week!! We are so excited about how the children responded to our first teachings. We cannot wait to see how the rest of the lessons go, and  watch the kids grow.  The kids that came to the Lord are in our prayers constantly. We know God is doing something BIG on this island! And we are so excited to watch his plans unfold. We have been brought here for such a time as this!"

With all our love! Team St. Croix

A Rising Light

 "Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the Lord  will be your rear guard."

                                                          ~Isaiah 58:8

  Monday our team went to Christansted and performed a drama about God restoring our hearts after they have been broken from different things of this world. Like alcohol, and drugs, and broken relationships. We performed it twice and talked and prayed with people afterward. It was a really great time of ministering to the people on the streets.

Hanna stealing Jared away from Mindy. Leaving behind a broken heart

Minday and Malene talking with some local homeless

  Later that day we listened to a sermon from Josh's home church in California. The teaching was one section of a series on different lies the devil loves to tell us. The one we listened to was how the devil will feed us the lie that "the bible can't be trusted", then the pastor gave reasons why we could. He described how the bible is texturally accurate, archeologically accurate, and historically accurate. It was a wonderful teaching that our team enjoyed listening too! It really emphasized that God never contradicts himself and treating the bible for what it is, Gods living word.
 
Here is a link to the website if you are interested in listening yourself! We highly encourage it! :)
<a href='http://www.searchablesermons.com/?VideoID=1520'>http://www.searchablesermons.com/?VideoID=1520</a>

  Tuesday we went to the Lighthouse Mission in the morning. We spent the rest of our afternoon helping clean the ywam base and preparing rooms for other people that arrived later in the week. It was a great time of fellowshiping and helping out the long term staff here. Before coming here we felt like God had been telling us that we would be doing some sort of rebuilding for the base here. And cleaning is just one way we have been able to help out and build it up!!

  Wednesday we were surprised with a day off to go boating and see Buck Island!! A family in the St. Croix Christian Church lent our team their boat for the day to bless us for sharing our testimonies and helping teach Sunday School. We were blown away by the generosity! So our team was able to spend the day on a beautiful catamaran with perfect sunny weather. We were also able to snorkel off the side of the Island at the only underwater state park!

The team posing for a picture on the 'Kindred Spirit'

  Thursday we Felt the Lord was leading us to do prayer walks in Christensted. So we were sent out in pairs of two and walked out in faith. We were able to pray with the people sitting outside, walking around, waiting for taxis, and setting up booths. We had a great time just asking the Lord for guidance and seeing where he took us with our obedience. We discovered that some people are very receptive to us, and others are not quite as much. But we never let that discourage us. We have confidence that God was moving and know that even if we cannot see what he is doing, that doesn't mean nothing is going to happen.  Later that day we went to the afterschool program that the Lighthouse Mission runs. We played games for the first half our got to know the kids. We were then able to help with their homework. We will be going to the afterschool program about twce a week. The teachers who are there every day were very greatful to have us there. They were also very excited about the  kids response to us being there! Our team is looking forward to building relationships with the kids and continuing our ministry with the Lighthoues Mission!!

  Friday we went to the lighthouse in the morning. This week Jared preached! He talked on being thankful and the golden rule of loving your neighbor as yourelf. He talked about how when you love eachother the world around you becomes a better place. A message much needed to hear by the homeless in this community. We have observed that there is some hostility between the homeless, even inside the lighthouse. And they took the message to heart. After it was finished they thanked the pastor and the long term volunteers who are there every morning cooking for them. It was great to see the immdeiate response they gave to the message! We were very encouraged. 





                   Jared preaching the word, Mindy being excited, Hanna listening intently...  

  During all of this we  had a group of people stay on base to keep our 24 hour prayer day continuing. We started thursday night at 10 p.m. and ended 10 p.m. Friday. We had a time of worship, prayed into the education circle, gave encouraging words, had a time of personal devotion, went on a treasure hunt, had a time of thankfulness, washed our leaders feet, and ended with some worship. It was a wonderful 4th 24 hour prayer day!
  We had a wonderful week full of listening to the Lords voice for guidance, and walking out in faith the things he showed us!  

Overall team feeling of this week:
" We are now at the halfway point of our outreach and things are begining to pick up! The holidays are over and more ministries have opened up. We have more set plans and are becoming organized. God has been teaching us alot about being patient and waiting on him. Next week we are going to be starting a mini DTS for the children  at the Lighthouse afterschool program and the children at the Kennedy project. We cannot wait to see what God does in the next part of outreach!!"
                                                                                 -St. Croix team

                                           
                                                 Bringing Joy to St.Croix!!

Just the Begining

  As our third week here in St. Croix comes to an end, the team is filled with an eager excitement for the weeks to come. We celebrated the new year by watching Aladdin, playing cards, and eating delicious snacks

  On Sunday morning Hanna, Mindy, and Melissa Birdsong were given the opportunity to share their testimonies with the St. Croix Christian Church. At the end of the service the pastor had the girls stay up front and asked the congregation to come and recieve prayer from the girls if either of the testimonies had touched them or related to them in some way.  The girls had a wonderful time praying and encouraging the people who came forward and felt that God moved in an amazing way that day. Later the team was informed that three people came to the Lord that day!

Mindy starting off the morning, Hanna and Melissa right beside her

  This past week we spent some more time in the projects. The Lord has really been showing us that while we are here, the projecst will be one of our teams main ministries. Monday and Wedsnesday we spent the afternoon with the kids in the Kennedy project, And tuesday afternoon we spent time at Paradise Mills. At both projects during the week we brought books with us. We were suprised at how many kids wanted to read with us! But what was more suprising was their level of reading. We had them sound out the words they didn't know, but it was challenging for them to put the sounds into the word and say it all together. Our team was so touched by how much they long to learn. It was incredible to see their determination to read and figure the words out. We have felt the Lord leading us to have afterschool programs with them and little bible studies. So next week we will begin incorporating Jesus in more ways while we spend time with the kids.

Mindy with Aquoi

Leah reading with the kids

We also had the kids in the Kennedy project pick up trash one day! And we were all suprised at how excited and willing the kids were to clean up. We picked up at least a dozen bags full of trash and the kids loved it!!

Melissa B, Melissa J, Solveig, and Malene pose for a picture with the kids in their gloves!

Solveig with some of the younger children

  Tuesday and Wednesday morning we went to the Lighthouse Mission to help feed the homeless and also bless the ministry by painting and organizing their food storage room. The leaders were so greatly blessed and said it looked great. We have had such a great time at the Lighthouse Mission. And have some more opportunites to help them expand thier ministry. Josh has been using his technology skills working on a newsletter for them so they can mail out the things that the Lord is doing in the Mission. So that has been one way our team has been able to bless them. Leah shared the message on Friday. She shared her testimony and talked about the gifts God has given each individual and  how he has placed a destiny and calling on every life he has created.

Some of us girls painting away :)

  Thursday we spent the day having team time and preparing for a movie night with the congregation of St. Croix Christian Church. We decorated in a Hawaiin theme because our team is from Hawaii and the movie we would be watching was about a surfer from Hawaii. Our team prepared a Hula dance for them. And we shared a video of the Ironman triathalon that we were a part of during DTS. Malene shared a little after the clip about how God gives us dreams we are only able to accomplish if we depend completely on him! We then watched the movie Soul Surfer. A true story about a young surfer named Bethany Hamilton whose arm was bitten off by a shark, yet she persevered and continued surfing. Bethany and her family were Christians and in the movie they protrayed that. The bible verse that helped them through the ordeal was Philippians 4:13 "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." A verse that I am sure brings hope and strength to all who face trails in life.

The girls dressed up in Hawaiin attire for our Hula

  Friday after we got back from the Lighthouse Mission when Leah preached, we sepnt the rest of the day in 24.7 prayer. We started at ten in the morning and went to ten in the morning on Saturday. We spent time in worship and prayer for the churches here in St. Croix. We had personal deviton time. And we spent most of the evening praying into the different opportunities and doors the Lord has opened up for us. He gave us so many things to do and we got so excited as we prayed into different areas and what his plan was for us in each one. We also drove into Christiansted and prayed as we drove through the night activity, interceding for the people. God has been showing us his heart in so many ways. Our time on the island will make a lasting difference, not just in the physical, but in the spiritual. Lord we are ready for all that you have for us!!

Happy New Year from St. Croix!!!

St. Croix Team New Years Resolutions:

Solveig: I have never been into new year resolutions

Melissa Jensen: To create more, love more, laugh more, and radiate the beauty of the Lord in everything I do.  

Jared: I dont do those

Hanna: To fall more in love with Jesus everyday and live that out in my life!

Mindy: To read the whole bible by the end of outreach.

Leah: To go to the beach at least once a week for the rest of the year!

Joo: To have patience

Josh: To learn how to play the guitar for worship

Malene: I don't have one

Melissa B: To know the Holy Spirit in a more intimate way 

                       YWAM logo created out of license plates by one of the staff here at At. Croix