Tuesday, April 16, 2013

Byron Bay - God did miracles in people's hearts!

Byron Bay


Hey guys!

How’s it going? Thank you so much for praying these last two weeks…they’ve really flown by! A ton has happened but here is a quick recap…but first –

WE ARE COMING HOME FOR A VISIT IN MAY/JUNE!! Bethany’s brother Micah (who lives in L.A.) is getting married to an awesome girl named Tei and they have asked us to marry them! Yewww! We will be in California May 1 – June 3! We will try and have a gathering to be able to see everyone…we’ll keep you posted. It’d be SO good to see everyone!

Byron Bay
We took a road trip four hours south to a crazy little beachside, hippie town called Byron Bay.  We had about 50 of us traveling and we met up with 3 other DTS’s from Brisbane….so we had around 120 people in total, sleeping on the floor of 2 churches! Our main goal: Evangelism! We had some lectures on the subject but we mostly just got out there and connected with people.

One day we went to a little town called Nimbin which is the drug capital of Australia. We put on a free barbecue, played live music and simply loved on the people there. There were literally hundreds of conversations with lost, hurting people. Here is one story from one of our students, Nancy Jane.

Nancy Jane walked up the main street of the town and saw a shop called Perceptio that sold crystals, clothes, and new-age books. She felt like the Lord was leading her to go in and talk to the woman working behind the counter. She was busy talking to a customer so NJ awkwardly tried to pretend she was shopping while she waited for the chance to say hello. Well she finally got her chance and just started a conversation with her. The woman was really beautiful but NJ said her eyes were so vacant and distant looking. The woman tried to get her to put on a ring (with spiritual power) but NJ politely refused.  After their conversation ended, NJ went back to the barbecue and told one of our staff, Phil what had happened. He suggested they pray for her and see if God would speak something about her. They prayed and Phil got the word “Brazil” but didn’t know what that meant. NJ felt like the Lord was saying that this woman had been abused when she was a little girl and that she had been raped by someone that she thought she could trust. NJ was freaking out and was like “I can’t go in there and say something like that to her!!”. Phil encouraged her to go and said he would go with her. They walked into the store and just came straight out with it. NJ said that they had just been praying for her and asked “does the word Brazil mean anything to you?”  Her jaw dropped. “My parents are on a cruise in Brazil right now” NJ continued “God showed me that you were abused and raped when you were a little girl by someone you thought you could trust…is that right?” The woman just began to weep. There was no one in the store so she just kept crying. NJ began to tell her that God knows everything about her and that He loves her so much. She was amazed. They prayed for her and gave her a Bible too! She said “I am definitely going to read this! Thank You!!”

Anyways, there are so many stories but God moved so powerfully this week. Hundreds of people heard the gospel, many were physically healed and a few gave their lives to Christ!! Thank you JESUS!!

Also it rained the whole week, but every time we went out in faith to talk to people…the clouds parted and the rain held off - and the moment we would leave it would just bucket down!…your prayers were answered!

















Relationships

Bethany and I had the privilege of speaking on a topic that is so important and definitely on the minds of young people constantly -- relationships. We had 2 other people speak with us as well…so we mainly focused on guy/girl romantic relationships. It was such an awesome week!

God used us to challenge our crew to relationships of radical purity! We were brutally honest about our story and the ways that we both had blown it physically with each other before getting married. Some of the students came to us and the staff to confess similar things, some girls even broke up with boyfriends back home that they knew were not right!!

We were so blessed by our DTS too…after speaking they gave us a gift that they all chipped in for. They paid for Bethany and I to go to a nice hotel for a night in Noosa (a nearby resort area) and even gave us spending money for dinner! We were blown away! Definitely felt loved by these guys!

Anyway that's it for now!! Next week is The Living Word where the students learn about the importance of the Bible and how to study it in context.


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