Greetings from Chad Reimer in Homer, Alaska with YWAM june 6th/ 2011
Gal 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
Today has been a day of prayer and encouragement. I have committed myself to a people whom the Son of God loves and gave Himself up for. Its been a week since the graduation of our latest Discipleship Training School and almost 2 weeks since we got back from our 2 month outreach to St. Lawrence Island. It is awesome to see what God can do when people surrender their hearts and their time to God. I saw the students of our DTS really grab onto the solid foundation of Jesus and start to tear down the things that hindered them from understanding the fullness of the truth. Throughout our time on St. Lawrence Island I also got to see many individuals come into the salvation Jesus offered them. Today is a day where when we minister to people we get to look at them with love and perseverance in relationships, no matter what is going on in their lives we get to offer them Jesus.
Our model of outreach can be interesting at times, we go into St. Lawrence Island with little to no ministry schedule or plan. We call on the Holy Spirit to guide us and give us ideas and open doors for us and then we run with it. God had amazing plans for us these past 2 months, things we couldn’t have imagined. So many friendships were built with people of all ages and out of those relationships a lot of trust was built because they know that we are simply there to love them and to show them Gods truth. In Gambell we had 40 kids show up at our door everyday for the first week of kids ministry time for about 2 hours after school, they just crave the love that is offered. The youth were the ones that wanted to hang out and hear about how God really is real and active and how He does move in power and wash away our sins and heals our hearts and gives us courage to walk with Him. They always wanted to be with us, as it is quite refreshing for them to be in a positive environment. I am always humbled to be able to help the elders of the church run the services and also to be able to pray and encourage each other as we walk together in bringing Jesus to a lost generation that is looking for its identity.
Honestly there are snares of the enemy that seek to destroy each and everyone, no one is exempt. Most of these traps are really just small lies that entrap minds and hearts to keep us in shame, guilt, or fear. During our nightly worship and bible study in Savoonga (the second village we went to) I really got to see the truth battle those lies. As some of the youth were picking up the bible and reading things for themselves for the first time, whether they were reading that they were fearfully and wonderfully made, or that there is no condemnation for those who are in Jesus, or that Jesus came to bring deliverance from sin it really delighted my heart to see lights go off in their minds and the utterance of there mouth declaring the truths that God had revealed to them through the Word.
Both villages have a population of about 750 each, they are isolated in the far north west. Alcohol, suicide, depression, sexual abuse, addictions are things that effect every single person whether first hand or second hand. Suicide and abuse have caused severe trauma that wars against the minds and hearts trying to drag down the value of life in which Jesus established on the cross. The battle rages, we are in a fight together as followers of Christ to encourage and pray for these people, and for others like them all around the world. We saw about 40 people give there lives to Jesus during our 2 month trip, but there were countless others who were encouraged and prayed with through the many struggles and trials that they are faced with every day, many received courage to face the battle, others were healed in their hearts, bodies, and minds. The work is not finished though so keep praying for them to press on towards the goal and also for those who are walking in
darkness heading towards destruction.
In the beginning of July we are trying to get a group of youth from st. lawrence to join us in homer for a mini DTS as they are really looking for a deeper time of learning, we are praying and pooling together money to offer scholarships as it is quite a challenge for most to get airfare off the island.
Sincerely
Chad Reimer
