I think it's about time for an update! It's been a while. I'm still learning, so please be patient with me!
At the end of September I finished leading a 3 month School where we had 12 students here to learn more about leadership and what that looks like. It was challenging for me as it was the first school I was a part of leading, but I learned a lot and got to see my students grow as well! After the school I was given a few days to rest, reflect, and prepare for the next season. It was really nice to be able to take that time to slow down and be intentional about spending some time with God!
After my days off I jumped right back into work in a new role in our accounting department. It’s been a lot of learning, since I didn’t really have any accounting knowledge before starting, but I’m really enjoying the opportunity to learn more and work with different people!
Over the last few months I’ve had opportunities to go out on local outreach (where we go into the city to do ministry). There are a few staff here that have started going to Venice beach to do evangelism every Friday afternoon. I’ve been able to go with them and it’s really amazing to see the impact they are making there. The times I’ve gone, we’ve brought a guitar and worshiped, we’ve done prophetic painting, we’ve held signs that say “free hugs” and “Jesus loves you”, and we’ve gone up to different people to talk to them. The first time I went was with the students of the school I was a part of. We sent the students out to talk to people, but they kept being rejected. One of our students brought a guitar and was worshiping during that time as well. We later found out that as he was worshiping something in the atmosphere shifted. All of a sudden instead of being rejected our students were actually able to have good conversations with people and they were open to what we had to say. God is at work in this city.
At the start of the month we had about 45 students arrive for 3 Discipleship Training Schools (5.5 months long), and a Chronological School of Biblical Studies (a 9 month long in depth study of the Bible). Although I’m not usually directly involved with the students who are currently here, it’s exciting to be a part of their growth.
Click on the photos below
If you want to hear some of the stories shared you can find the SOLD graduation video on YWAM Los Angeles' Facebook page!