Florida Talk | The Next Step

Before we get to more important things I thought I would start by looking up a bit more information about the state of Florida. Because to be quite honest I’ve never been to Florida in my life. Heck, I’ve never been to the east coast of the US. Here are a few random facts for you and me.

1. Florida winters average anywhere from 53-68.
2. Florida’s population ranks 4th in the U.S. behind California, Texas & New York. 
3. The capital of Florida isTallahassee. 
4. The Florida state animal is the Panther.
5. The Florida State Marine Mammal is the
 Manatee.
6. Florida is not the southernmost state in the United States. Hawaii is farther south.
7. Gatorade was named for the University of Florida Gators where the drink was first developed.
8. The largest lake in Florida is Lake Okeechobee.
9. Just north of Haines City is the Baseball City Stadium the spring training home of the Kansas City Royals. Haines City is known as The Heart of Florida.
10. The Florida Museum of Hispanic and Latin American Art in Coral Gables, is the first and only museum in the United States dedicated to the preservation, diffusion, and promotion of Hispanic and Latin American Art.
11. The state constitution allows for freedom of speech, a trial by jury, and pregnant pigs to not be confined in cages.
12. Men may not be seen publicly in any kind of strapless gown.
13. You are not allowed to break more than three dishes per day, or chip the edges of more than four cups and/or saucers.

I hope that gives you a better idea of the Sunshine state. Probably not, but it was fun!

So my adventures with YWAM began the day I left for Germany thinking I would have an amazing life experience for 6 months and get my butt back to Texas. This is true. I had an amazing life changing experience encountering God at YWAM Herrnhut and was back in Texas 6 months later, but a month after returning to Texas after much praying and listening I jumped on a flight back to Herrnhut, Germany to begin the secondary School Of Intercessory Prayer and to also step into full time missions as a staff member of YWAM Herrnhut. At this time I was already considering joining the team that was being assembled to pioneer the YWAM Herrnhut satellite base in Sarasota. 4 months of life in Germany a couple of other countries here and there and I am back in Texas preparing to move to Florida for an unknown amount of time! There you go. It is settled. I hope Florida is ready for us!

But I am sure you are still confused on some details. To be honest I don’t have them all figured out, I never really do. That is the beauty of our hope in Jesus, we don’t always have to have the answers and details perfectly sorted out. He is our perfect Father whos ways are much higher than ours and will never leave our side. What else do I need?

But I will fill you in on what I do know =)

What the heck is “YWAM Herrnhut Sarasota satellite base”?

YWAM (Youth With A Mission) is the missions organization that I did my 6 month DTS (Discipleship Training School) with. Herrnhut is a small charming village in eastern Germany where the base “YWAM Herrnhut” is located. And where I chose to attend the MOTA (Marriage Of The Arts) DTS as well as my secondary school. This is now somewhere I call home. A satellite base basically means that we are still a part of the YWAM Herrnhut community and still carry the same DNA as the Herrnhut base. We are an extension of YWAM Herrnhut located elsewhere. In this case Sarasota, Florida.

What do you actually do?

I have the absolute honor to be a on the team that pioneers the base to run discipleship schools. Pioneering means we are doing something new. It means hard work and exciting times! Just as there were people who chose to walk along side me as I grew and encountered God in my DTS I will walk along side individuals who are students in the DTS as they learn and grow. This is anything from building relationships with individuals, interceding for students, teammates, provision, leading outreaches to different countries and in the states to cleaning, cooking, working out visa issues and answering the phone. Any tiny detail to big picture things you can think of that is needed to do missions there is a chance as the pioneering staff we will do it.

What is the YWAM Herrnhut DNA?

To put it plain and simple. Discipleship. Seeing more and more Europeans jump into missions. Reaching the most unreached countries, known as the 10-40 window, with the love of God and partnering with God to use art to do this.

Why Sarasota, Florida?

The beaches, duh! Just kidding. After much prayer, listening and exploring, the leadership of YWAM Herrnhut felt as if this is where God is wanting YWAM Herrnhut to expand. As I said above we are hungry to see Europeans, especially Germans, to rise up and go into missions. Notice I chose not to go to YWAM Tyler, Texas, but instead chose Herrnhut Germany. Why? Because if you are going to do something crazy like a six month discipleship school you might as well leave the country, right? Offering a base in the United States gives Europeans the chance to come to the states.

Sarasota also has a beautiful unity among believers and an art scene full of opportunities to preach Jesus!

Personally why did I choose to be a part of YWAM Sarasota?

First and foremost God gave me peace about it. Secondly, I love the states and I love Europe. I want to see the states won over for Jesus just as much as I want to see Europe won. In Florida I get the amazing opportunity to fight for both. I am excited to partner with local churches and do local outreaches in the states. The possibilities are endless of things we can do in the states! But at the same time I will get to pour into Europeans lives and continue to fight for Europe.

Are you doing this alone?

Of course not! I am so so so stoked to join an amazing team. As of now we have a lovely German-American married couple and their baby boy as our leaders, a happily married American couple, 3 other Americans, including me, and 2 other Europeans and hope to add to our team before our first Discipleship School begins in January! I was able to get to meet and get to know my team the last month or so I was in Herrnhut and I am so ready to jump into this adventure with these guys. We have an incredible team I hope to share more about with you in the future!

Is this like a job? Do you get paid?
This is full time missions. I have accepted the invitation that I feel like God has given me to be a full time missionary with YWAM Herrnhut. So this means, no I do not get a check every month that a boss man signs like you probably define a “real job” by. But I do consider this my job. We put our everything into this life that God has called us to! Everyone from the top YWAM guy to me receive payment from people who choose to become a part of our missions support team because they believe in what we are doing and want to be a part of it by offering monetary support monthly. It is an absolute privilege and I wouldn’t have it any other way!

What is this talk about a sports DTS?

I dream of mine that I feel like God has placed on my heart as well as others in the YWAM Herrnhut community is to see YWAM Herrnhut pioneer a sports discipleship school, a school that uses sport to share the name of Jesus in the nations. My life was changed through sports ministry and I would love to change others lives through it as well. There is nothing concrete to this dream just yet besides my prayers =) We will see in the future!

Can I visit you?

Yes please!

How long will you be there?

That is a very good question. A year ago I would have never thought I would be preparing to move to Florida. I will keep you updated!

Will you take a photo of a manatee and share it?

You bet I will!

In all seriousness there are a lot of unknowns in this next step, but I honestly wouldn’t have it any other way. I am confident I am in God’s will and in my opinion there is no better place to be. My God has proven himself time and time again in such creative ways that He is recklessly in love with me and everyone else walking this earth. I am choosing to take His hand again despite fears and questions because I know His character always overcomes circumstances. I am incredibly excited to dream up the impossible with the others on my team for each other, for the states, for our students, for Florida, for Germany, for YWAM Herrnhut, for Europe, for the nations and for our Father’s kingdom. I would absolutely love if you would continue to walk along side me in this next step.

I can’t tell you how thankful I am for the support, encouragement and prayers. Without those who send, those who are sent wouldn’t get very far at all. Our God is so good my friends. Praise Him at all times!

 This is a photo taken by one of my teammates on an evening walk in Sarasota. Seriously.

That lovely green star is where we will be.

This my friends is where we will be going, the 10-40 Window. 

And this beauty is few of the brilliant teammates I will be joining in November.

Germany Outreach | The Reality

Outreach is a hard thing to put into words that really suffice, even if it was only three weeks. God never stops speaking and I love it! I wasn’t supposed to be on this outreach in the first place, but I really felt like God was giving me a nudge to take a risk. It was more than I could ask for. The finances weren’t there, but He provided, the team to go on outreach wasn’t exactly there, but He provided. I was able to share God’s love along side amazing friends, work with ministries that are crazy passionate about His kingdom, see the beautiful country of Germany and experience the blessings that is the beauty of Germans who are incredibly in love with Jesus. There were a ton of laughs, some hard days, but God was faithful in showing me more of himself and giving me a deeper passion to share His love. He never disappoints.

I always feel like I cheat the places we go to reach out. I go to serve, teach and love and I walk away from the time feeling like I was served, taught and loved on so much more. I pray that wherever I step my foot that our Father’s presence overflows from what was poured into me by others and the Father himself. But you can’t give away what you don’t possess yourself.

I was reading through journals that I wrote in throughout SOIP and outreach. A prayer I prayed from the beginning of SOIP and whether it was teachings, prayers or in conversation this topic was constantly brought up throughout outreach.

The thought and desire that God wouldn’t be only some theory or idea, but a REALITY in our lives.

As I read through stories, thoughts, prayers and revelations that I journaled I was in awe as I read just how faithful God was to make himself known as more of a reality in my life these last 6 months.

In outreach God was made more of a reality through the friends and mentors he surrounded me with to grow and sharpen each other as we reached out. Through encounters we had with people on the streets of Germany that shared how they literally felt His presence through our words and joy. The reality that we are able to align ourselves by His spirit with Gods heart through prayer and worship.

On outreach I encountered God in such a personal way that I had never experienced before. And when you really get even the tiniest glimpse of His joy, peace, love and holiness you can’t help, but want to give it away and hunger for others to experience the same. God was faithful in showing me the reality that Christ lives in me. Before Jesus Christ died people had to go certain places and do certain things to find God, but it is a reality that through Jesus’ death and resurrection He lives in us in the fullness. It is a reality that He never changes and that He will never forsake us. It is a reality that He is love and is our provider. It is a reality that He is the perfect father and that we are seated in heavenly places with Him. It is a reality that His mercies are never ending and in His eyes we are Holy and blameless.

This is a reality that has been poured into me, but how do I do outreach or every day life that communicates this reality to others?

I’m not an expert follower of Jesus, but I do hear Him speak and this is what I feel like I’ve heard.

You can’t give what you don’t possess yourself. If we choose to be in His presence every day with our everything. He will be faithful in revealing himself to us. By His presence alone we are changed. No one can walk away from His presence unchanged. He promises life in abundance. If He is our reality then in abundance we will be filled by Him and He will overflow from us and others will notice. If we choose to be led by the Holy Spirit every day He will lead us in practical ways to serve and love. But mostly we must be humbled by His fierce love and know that relentlessly pursues us and those around us. By His presence overflowing from us He is made known as a reality in others lives. 

Psalm 146

Praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord, O my soul!

I will praise the Lord as long as I live;
    

I will sing praises to my God while I have my being.

Put not your trust in princes,
    

in a son of man, in whom there is no salvation. 

When his breath departs, he returns to the earth;
    

on that very day his plans perish. 

Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob,
    

whose hope is in the Lord his God,

who made heaven and earth,
    

the sea, and all that is in them,
who keeps faith forever;  

who executes justice for the oppressed,
    

who gives food to the hungry.

The Lord sets the prisoners free; 

the Lord opens the eyes of the blind.
The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down;
    

the Lord loves the righteous.

The Lord watches over the sojourners;
    

he upholds the widow and the fatherless,
    

but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin.

The Lord will reign forever,
    

your God, O Zion, to all generations.


Kate Noelle Workshop | The beauty

There are people in this world that talk about what they believe in and things they love, but there are also people who live what they believe and love. People who's beauty completely overflows into others' lives. Kate Noelle is one of these people.

There is good and bad sides to social media and technology these days, but one of the great things is staying in touch and keeping up with people who God uses to encourage, challenge and inspire you. Kate had influence in me stepping into YWAM and has continually been an encouragement to continue to pursue what God has given me. 

A few weeks ago a friend and I were able to meet her "in real life" after keeping up with each other on social media for the last couple of years. Kate held her first ever photo workshop in Nuremberg Germany, so we packed a bag, jumped on a bus and made a weekend trip out of it! 

I learned more about my camera and technical things regarding photography, but because Kate speaks straight from the heart I also learned about life. She spoke about relationships, confidence, excellence, passion and beauty that can not only be addressed in photography, but directly in life. I hope I am someone who has a beauty that overflows into others lives to inspire and challenge. Kate shared a quote in the workshop that I adore. 

Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful we must carry it with us, or we find it not.

-Emerson

It was such a beautiful weekend and so mind blowing to finally meet someone who our Father orchestrated to influence my life in so many ways. Enjoy a few of the the images i shot throughout the workshop!

These are a few shots from friends.

Photo by Jenn Tate

Photo by Jenn Tate

Photo by Jenn Tate

 Photo by Sophie Kröher

  Photo by Sophie Kröher

  Photo by Sophie Kröher

 Photo by Sophie Kröher