everything

this is the drama that we did on St. Lawrence Island(we modified it to fit a little better with the culture). we did it in the school in Savoonga(in front of grades 9-12), and we did it in the church in Gambell. both times we got to talk through what life without God is and what it leads to and then got to talk about the great hope that is in life with God, very powerful times with the light shining on their lives, with grace and love.



I played God during this drama and that was one of the most intense things ive ever done, God broke my heart for what breaks His. i looked at how at the end of the line there was death, suicide, something that people struggle with, not only on the island but anywhere. at that point in the drama I was a emotional wreck shedding tears, but then i step up he turns for me and we fight, bam we are saved by his grace and our turn towards him.

love


ps i had a quote as my decription that didnt really sit too well with me. it kind of seemed like we could earn grace, it was probably out of context, i really didnt look at it before, but it was a martin luther quote. so now i changed it to a quote out of the bible, out of romans 8:15 (the message)

now

well i sit here still torn in many directions, this week has been a good week I am here pretty much being availible to serve by cleaning, working and praying with the ywam staff that are here.

the thing about short yet intense friendships is that they seem to leave you torn, I am now the only student(well im not a student anymore) left on the base, I am glad that i get to do my missing everyone in sections though, though i think the bandaid rip would seem to feel better. i miss the people on the island, and my fellow ex students, and well in reality i miss the people back home still too, but soon im going to miss ALL the people i met in alaska.

i was going to write something poetic about how i know that Gods timing is for me to leave and how everythings going to be better and while it would be correct, my emotions might be getting the best of me right now and i am feeling very human right now

back in homer

well i just got back in homer alaska, at about 4 am. im not really going to be able to write very much because of the culture shock and the whole overwhelming flood of emotions from a 2 month pouring out and pouring in of my heart. Ireally dont want to even start right now, but the relationships i made with the people are something that cannot be forgoten, everytime i close my eyes I see them, they are burned into my mind, i cannot say that i will not be back, i dont know how that looks yet but i love these people. God Reigns, in power, and in peace. to God be the glory, forever and ever. also on the plane ride home God really told me "its not about you, I Am there always".
but anyways cars, cement, flushing toilets, white people, trees, and grass are so foreign to me right now i think im going to go crazy.

all i can think of is the song "mighty to save"

God bless
chad

almost on the island

well it has two feelings to it, it feels like just yesterday i jumped on the plane. at the same time it feels like there is alot going on at home that im not a part of until i hear about it.

here I am 8-9 days away from leaving the city of homer and going to the town of savoonga, I am pumped bout going, its the first missions trip ive been on and im excited for that. God is really going to do something, he would do something even if we didnt go he is a living God and he works even when we dont see it. so we leave to go to savoonga, a town of 700 ish i think. we will be staying at a church and running kids ministry pretty much every day and doing bible studies and other stuff on some of the other days, we will just generaly be connecting ourselfs to this village. spending 3ish weeks there and then going to the town of gambell (20 minute plane ride away) and doing pretty much the same thing. we are pretty much going to be a open church to youths and children to come to after school and then again after supper and just really show them what Gods pure love is. we will very much be working with the elders of the village and the church too, learning more about the culture so we can help build it up, and see it through Gods eyes. we often go in with a western mentality, of our culture is the only culture that christanity fits into when really, that is only because we have made it fit. i mean we should be very sensitive to not try to fit christianity into there culture but to fit the culture into christianity, some things need to be cut off, there is some very dark shamen activity, but any power that they have is just a mimic of what power God has, the devil is not a creator hes just a copier. im kinda going off on rabbit trails here but yeah its going to be awesome, the only things that kinda suck are the fact we can only take 2 2 minute showers a week due to water supply and we can only make 2 20 minute phone calls becuase the only line we have is the churches and we want to keep it open.
there are 10 of us going up so you can pray for us all.
me, josiah, lissy, crystal, maxie, josh(staff) ian(staff) melanie(staff), lydia(not a student), nd christine(staff, only stying for the first 2 weeks)

these are dry communities but there is lots of home brewing going on, they had a raid a couple weeks ago going through the villages pray that God fills the whole that the people were trying to fill with alcohol.

mount redoubt exploded all over us we had like a centimeter of ash fall on us but we are good to go haha, its cool to have been in a earthquake and a volcano, but im praying for nothing more like that haha.

Godbless
chad

overview attempt

well i spent up most of the time i was going to write this responding to emails and now i only have a little amount of time to get through one of the longer posts i wanted to do.

well in summary, God is awesome.

as i am nearing the midway point of my school, I am really glad for all the prayers that have been sent our way because as a team we are starting to be very unified and really flowing with the unity of Christ and the holy spirit. I am really blessed to have all you people back home supporting and blessing me as I am here, and as I am moving on towards my outreach phase.

some of the main topics or ideas that I am starting to gain a foundation in are spiritual warfare, intercession, the father heart of God, the other aspects of Gods relationship with us like the bridegroom, the friend, king, lord, etc. if i had my notes with me i would give you biblical references. we also had a week of learning about world religions and a week of world view, where we learnt more about the way that the world sees things which really helped me gain a foundation of why i believe what i believe. (the bible), we had a week on relationships (marriage, friendship, etc.), one idea that is always coming up is finding Gods thumbprint in cultures and in people in general, often when we try to minister to other races we come with a white mans way of thinking and not a biblical understanding, while there most of the time is a heart change behind things that are cultural God sees importance in culture. guitar and singing is not what worship is. wow i am running out of time. i hope to go in depth with some of these things.

one thing that really hit me this week is this next statement.

every idea has consenquences. (good or bad) but it has a consequence.

so next time you have any ideas, make sure it is at the heart of what God wants.
a good way of figuring that out is through the bible.

grace and peace
chad

relationships

I am really realizing the importance of relationships, I dont know why we as humans let little things cause such big disturbances. we take ourselfs too seriously and just push people off. God is so relational, he doesnt want us to be stuck in religion and not feeling his presence. he wants to hold us in his arms and embrace us but most of the time we choose to do it on our own. God is much bigger than denomenation, but we all see God a little different so there is a place for denomenations in a sense but if your denomenation stops you from being friends or working together with a different denomenation then you arent being the relational being that God meant you to be. God wants us to value relationships with others highly, he wants us to walk not just 1 mile but 2 miles with them, reality is that there is little to no chance that you can walk 2 miles so you always have to be open to forgivness, if it isnt healthy to keep walking you have the right to step back and tell them I"m here for you and i want to work this out but you have to be willing to work this out for me to continue walking right now, but i will be here waiting for you.

God wants us to be able to lay our lives down for others, in humility considering them better than yourself. but at the same time stand strong in what God has taught you dont be waviering on that, but in love show grace.

-chad

5 things i strongly dislike and 5 things i love

love
1. God
2. What Hes doing in my life at YWAM
3. meeting new people/ new friends
4. ALASKA
5. Dreams for the future

Hate(strongly dislike)
1. How the devil likes to attack me in this place because he doesnt want to let me go
2. schedules
3. 3 minute showers
4. feeling alone even though i have lots of people around me/ missing people back home
5. the stuff that God makes me confront

-chad
pray for me,
God is good