Vanuatu - Outreach Stories: Leno and Praying for Freedom

One of the common activities we do on outreach is "Treasure Hunting."

We've all been taught on the subject of "Hearing God's Voice" - obviously, the Lord communicates with us through his written word (the Bible), and that source of gaining communication from God is what reveals to us the foundations of the character and nature of God.  However, we also have the Holy Spirit - God's Spirit, 1/3 of the God-head - living inside of us, and Jesus called him "the comforter" and "the counselor."  During lecture phase, we're taught to practice "tuning in" to the constant communication that the Holy Spirit is directing toward our internal ears.  In truth, we've learned hearing God's voice is a lot more about silencing all the OTHER voices and listening to his "still, small voice."

Anyhow, when we Treasure Hunt, we essentially set aside some time to go out in twos or threes and meet people and pray for them, but first, we spend a few minutes asking the Holy Spirit to give us some clues or provide guidance and direction during our ministry time.

Often times, in our pairs or trios, one person will get a picture of someone wearing a certain color, or they'll get a sense for a particular place we should go to, or they might even hear a word that is some form of description for someone.  It's always fun to share back what each of us got from the Holy Spirit and then head out in search of these clues to locate our "treasures."

Gabe and I were doing an afternoon treasure hunt one day in the second village that our team visited. The day before we had gone out to treasure hunt and honestly had a pretty discouraging day - not many people were around the village, and the few that were didn't seem interested in engaging (one guy saw us coming, responded "Hi" to our hello, and then turned and took off in the other direction... awkward!)

So we had a couple clues from the day before we were still holding on to - I'd gotten a picture of a big banyan tree, and I felt like we supposed to look for people under trees, and Gabe had a picture of a guy in a blue shirt.

We headed out and greeted some people, played with some kids, prayed for a woman with mastitis and prayed a blessing over her newborn daughter.  But it was about an hour into our time that we finally saw someone under a big banyan tree - it was a guy named Leno that Gabe had met a few days prior, and he was limping slowly under the tree.

I greeted him and asked why he was limping.  He relayed that he had twisted his ankle the day before and it was painful to walk on. We asked if we could pray for him, so we sat down on a rough bench under the tree and laid hands on his swollen ankle and prayed.

After we finished praying, I asked him to move his foot around and see if the ankle felt better.  He said it did, so I asked if he could stand on it for me.  He did, and the look of surprise on his face was super fun to see.  I asked if it was better, and he said, "Yes."  Then Gabe asked, "Is it a little better or a lot better?"  And he grinned and said, "It's a lot better!"  He was putting weight on it and not needing to wince or limp from the pain.

He told us, "I want to come to your youth meeting tomorrow night.  I am very interested to hear what you say.  I would like to come!"  So we invited him, conversed a little more, and then headed on our way.

We were running out of time, and we decided to do one final walk up and down a street - prayer walking, while also looking for a guy in a blue shirt - before we headed back to our camp.

As we came around a corner, we saw a group of guys sitting under a big banyan tree, and one of them was wearing a blue shirt.

"Let's go!" I told Gabe, and we approached the guys and greeted them.  The man in the blue shirt was named Romeo, and we shared how we were out walking around the village and praying for people and looking for him, because we felt God had said we were to pray for a man in a blue shirt, and he was the first man in a blue shirt we'd seen that day.  So we asked if there was anything we could pray for.

He turned to his friends and talked for a few minutes, and then turned back to us.

"Yes," he said seriously.  "I need prayer.  We need prayer.  This is my father, this is my father-in-law, this is my brother, this is my nephew, " - he introduced the guys around him - "and our grandfathers lived in this village and put a curse on us.  They cursed us to not have hearts that are toward our families, good hearts for our families.  So we want to have good hearts, but we are under this curse and cannot have good hearts.  Can you pray for this?"

I was touched by his sincerity and his desire to experience freedom with his family members, so Gabe and I assured him that yes, indeed, we could pray for that.

I reminded him - this is a Catholic village and most people go to mass regularly - that the Bible says Jesus became a curse FOR us, so the work that Jesus did on the cross, dying for our sins and for the penalty of our sins, also means that Jesus's resurrection is an indication that all curses can be broken by the power that Jesus has.  Since we, as God's children, have free access into the throne room of God, we can ask him to break this curse.

So we prayed and did that, and as we finished and I opened my eyes, Leno was sitting on the end of the bench.  He had come up while we were praying.

Gabe and I said goodbye because we were going to be late back to our camp, but we were so excited as we left because we knew that if Leno started talking to these guys and shared what had happened to his ankle, it would be an encouragement to the guys that praying in Jesus's name has real power, and just as Leno was healed in the physical realm, perhaps it would inspire their faith that something had truly just happened in the spiritual realm as well.

Vanuatu - Outreach Stories: Samson

Before my team left for Vanuatu, we spent time praying together and asking the Lord for pictures of people He wanted us to be looking for on Aneityum.

During our prayer time, I saw a picture of a man with his back to me, looking out over the ocean, next to a wooden structure with a thatched roof. He was wearing a fedora hat.

I told my team about the picture, and when we landed on Aneityum, I started looking for fedora hats. I hadn't spotted any until midway through our first medical clinic day in Port Patrick.

After lunch, I saw a young man approach several other guys at the clinic, which was being held under a mango tree on the beach. He sat down with his back to me, next to a community board with a thatched roof, looking out over the ocean.

He was not only wearing a fedora hat, but it was a hot pink one with a feather in it for good visibility measures!

I alerted my team, and we approached him and asked him if we could pray for him. We had a conversation with him, and learned his name was Samson. He ended up telling us he wanted to dedicate his life to the Lord that day.

Since we were staying on in Port Patrick for another week and a half, the guys on our team were able to hang out with him and encourage and disciple him in his walk with the Lord before we left.

It was so encouraging for my whole team to see the results of the picture the Lord gave us before leaving NZ.


- Dani

New Zealand - The Fattened Calf

Well it's been a mind-blowing week here at Marine Reach YWAM:

Last Friday we gathered to pray for our upcoming outreach. Several members of various teams were in need of funds, trusting the Lord to provide. We came together for a time of worship and prayed for miraculous provision for the ones still needing money.

God has been putting the story of the Prodigal son on my (Gabe's) heart this week - showing me that neither of the sons understood the Father's heart for them. The younger selfishly took from the Father and, after waste and rejection, crawled back convinced that the Father would reject him as a son asking, "Just treat me like a servant..." But the Father would hear none of that. Not for a moment does He even consider using the suggested the title of of "servant", but instead proclaims "My SON who was dead is now alive, he was lost, but now is found!" And he punctuates that title by pouring out his unrestrained generosity on his broken, unworthy son.

The older brother comes home from working his butt off in the fields to find the celebration in full swing, and he is irritated. He too, cannot fathom that the younger son has been accepted with open arms. He complains to the Father " but I never even asked you for a young goat!" He was such a hard-working, independent son - so low maintenance, never a burden. The problem is that by his words he reveals that he too is trying to be a "servant" to the Father, working hard to earn his approval.

And what does the Father say to this one? The hard worker, the go-getter...

Well he does not say "Good job, you saved me such burdens, and that's what I wanted: I don't want you to ask me for anything not even a young goat!"

NO, in his grace the Father affirms him with the same title "My SON, I am always with you, and ALL that I have is yours!"

Why not? Because the Father is not intimidated when you are high-maintenance, and He is not impressed when you are low-maintenance. His banner over you is love, regardless of performance or lack thereof.

During Friday's worship time it hit me... "Son, all that I have is yours." That means that if the older son had asked for a fattened calf, the Father would have given it without hesitation. In James it says "You do not have because you do not ask." And what is the fattened calf? It's extravagance, it's above and beyond what we need, it is an act of absolutely generous love.

Fast forward to Monday morning. At the (wise) encouragement of my wife, I went forward to share this word with everyone during our worship time. I challenged them to believe in the Father's heart for us as his sons and daughters, and to resist the attitude of the older son (sheepishly requesting the bare minimum) trusting, instead, that His heart for us is generous.

That's when things got a little crazy!

Cheyne, our base leader, led us in a prayer that God would release the "fattened calf" for us, the above-and-beyond.

We proceeded to count up how much money we still needed to send everyone on outreach and it totaled just under 6,000 New Zealand dollars. Since all outreach fees were due by 4pm that day (and we'd have to reschedule tickets for those lacking if the full sum was not paid) he asked us to take an offering. Many of the 50 (dirt-poor) YWAM students and staff came up tossing in a few 5 dollar bills, some tens, some twenties and fifties.

When everyone who could give something had done so, we all prayed over the little basket of money asking God to miraculously multiply the money (which we all assumed to be a pretty small amount). As we continued to worship our accountant counted up the money, and then announced...

"It's eight thousand dollars. It's EIGHT thousand DOLLARS." As the news registered, Cheyne shouted "Well, if you missed it, those of you who owed money... You're GOING ON OUTREACH!" And the room spontaneously erupted in applause.

And then, it got even crazier!

About this time, our friend Vanessa from Germany who sprained her ankle 2 weeks ago (and has hobbling around painfully with her foot in an ACE bandage) stood up and said "Wait, my ankle, it doesn't hurt any more. It doesn't HURT any more!" She then proceeded to jump up and down with tears streaming down her face until she got mob-hugged by 5 or 6 of her nearby girl-friends in excitement.

Also during this time, another girl (who had accidentally dropped her phone in the toilet 2 days ago and completely broken its speakers) received a text message, and to her astonishment, the phone's speakers rang out clearly. Astonished, she exclaimed "Um, that's not possible! Guys, guys, I think God just healed my phone!?!"

As the day went on, story after story kept coming in, with 2 students who called home to friends and family to find that people they had been praying for for years had begun a relationship with Jesus and asked the students to help them learn more about Him!

This is the fattened calf. This is above and beyond what we asked for or imagined, and we feel so humbled and privileged to be loved by such a kind and generous Father!

New Zealand - Outreach Prep Week

Weekly Update:

This week at DTS we are completing Outreach Prep week. What that means is, essentially, we're packing for a 7-week camping trip, during which we might be preaching sermons, performing skits or musical presentations, teaching health education classes, entertaining children, giving testimonies, leading worship, and doing basic medical clinics, along with (of course!) doing lots of relationship building and praying for people.

We're excited!!!

If you've ever gone on a bit of an extended trip, you'll have an idea of what this week looks like – multiply that by 60 people and put them all in one large base, and you might picture about what's happening here!

I (Dani) am working with another girl on our team to FEED our crew of 9 people (plus an extra, honorary team member who will be joining us in Port Vila). We've developed a 7-day meal plan, found/developed recipes for all 21 meals, compiled a master list of all the ingredients we'll need, and calculated the quantities of what we'll need for the 5 weeks we'll be feeding ourselves (on the first 2 islands – once we head back to Port Vila, food is provided). We shopped for spices and more difficult-to-get items here in NZ, and packed them into a box, which will be part of our checked luggage. The rest of the non-perishable shopping we'll do in Port Vila once we arrive (perishables are all kind of up-in-the-air regarding what we'll be able to actually get on the specific islands – we'll be playing it by ear!)

Gabe is in charge of worship music for our team, so he's restrung an old guitar that one of our teammates' family loaned to us, and he's also printed out chord charts for a good selection of worship songs, and transposed them into manageable keys.

On top of our responsibilities for our team, we're also packing, of course. We'll be sleeping in our hammocks, so we both have a hammock, a mosquito net, a sheet, and a fleece blanket. Bedding plus a couple changes of clothes, a couple warmer layers to put on at night, toiletries, insect repellant, and a good supply of granola bars also round out our packs.

Everything that we're leaving here will go into garbage bags, have our names attached to it, and it will be put into storage early tomorrow morning. For the first half of tomorrow, all 60 students and staff will participate in a base-wide deep clean, leaving all the dorms and smaller rooms spic and span, ready for the new batch of students for the October school to arrive in about a week and a half.

So, it's a little busy around here! But currently the weather is cooperating with clouds and sunshine and a nice brisk wind, so everyone's laundry that they're trying to finish before the final pack is drying rapidly!

We'll be sending out our October newsletter before we leave, so keep an eye in your inboxes/spam inboxes for that.

We'll be disconnected from the internet until we arrive back in NZ the first week of December, so although we won't be posting updates, we'd love to continue to have your prayers for us and our team!

New Zealand - Ready... Set...

It's funny how sneaky time can be.

Outreach, which has felt miles away, is now right around the corner!

Dani and I have been excited as we gather the last few supplies needed.  I will be coordinating worship for our team during outreach, and Dani will be helping to coordinate meals!

We are excited as we pray and intercede for the people of Vanuatu, and our time among them - and we'd love to invite you to feel free to partner with us in prayer!  A quick snapshot of what He's put on our hearts is this:

That God would prepare His heart of love for the people Vanuatu inside of us.

That He would go before us, stirring up a hunger for Him among the islanders we live with.

That we would be ready in every place and every context to share His love (grocery store, hospital, church, home etc...)

That sincere worship would rise from our team, leading to increased (and lasting) worship among the nations!

That we would honor our fellow team members and build each other up in love through all circumstances.

That we would have creativity, energy, and direction to be a genuine blessing to the local people.

That God would glorify Himself through healing, miracles, and outpourings of His Spirit.

But more than any other thing (and encapsulating every other facet), that the GOOD NEWS of the gospel of reconciliation (God not counting men's sins against them) would be taught, preached, portrayed clearly, and represented well through our actions!

Jesus is ever and always the only thing that truly changes anything in the hearts of men.  May His bride listen to His voice carefully before a world that is crying out for His gracious love.

New Zealand - Halfway There

Here's a quick update on some more practical details this week.

In the last few weeks we've been getting more practically equipped for our outreach to Vanuatu:

Delving into practical medical skills - taking vital signs, learning about wound cleaning/wound care, resuscitation/CPR, performing simple vision tests, and conducting simplified physical therapy classes.

We've also studied how to do health education, taking into account cultural differences and varying world-views.  Through all these things, we are endeavoring to not just make a difference for a few weeks or months, but to create lasting practices that lead the people of Vanuatu to rich, full, healthy lives!

Our Outreach Teams have been chosen, and Dani and I are on a team of 9 fantastic people (each one passionate about following Jesus) going to the southernmost island of Vanuatu (called Anatom - pronounced "An - eye - tchom").  

We decided to be called "Team Hobbit" since we are a group of 9, leaving from Middle Earth (aka New Zealand), to go to a volcano, and our average height on the team is about 5' 5" (I am the tallest person on the team... that's a first!).  Today we had our first team prayer time, and our excitement continues to grow as we understand God's love for the people we are traveling to minister to and help!

As of this week we are about halfway through preparations, and we'll be leaving for Vanuatu in less than 6 weeks!

New Zealand - Good News

"Who was the first person to receive the gospel?"

This thought came crashing through my mind in the middle of our worship time this morning.  We've been practicing hearing God's voice this week, and (sensing that He may want to speak something to  me) I followed the train of thought.

"I don't know God, what do you want to show me?"

We as sincere followers of Jesus Christ enjoy the benefits of the new covenant He payed for with His life; it's accessible to us any time we choose to focus on (and receive) the truth.  Forgiveness, release of shame and guilt, loving adoption as sons, fellowship with His spirit, and grace that empowers us to change all lie at the fingertips of our hearts and minds.  His gospel stops us from running in circles in the dark, gratifying our own desires, yet never being satisfied.  It gives us an anchor, a light, and a hope to walk toward.

As an admission, I often focus instead on trying to manage my bad behaviors, sin, and selfishness in an effort to be worthy of this blessing, but how do we really receive this covenant?
Romans 10:9 says that all we do is declare Jesus to be Lord, and we believe that God raised him from the dead.

Who was the first participant to drink of this beautiful new covenant?  As I considered this a picture of the thief on the cross next to Jesus sprang to my mind.  This man accepted that he had lived a life apart from God, and deserved his sentence of death.  This man expressed that he believed Jesus would live to "come into" his kingdom.  This man died shortly after Jesus (they broke his legs to speed up the process, but found that Jesus had already died).


And I thought of the beauty of it all...

If you are a God who wants to put an exclamation point on the fact that salvation is 100% a gift of grace that no man can earn, who do you pick as the first child of your new covenant: A thief, a man who squandered his inheritance, condemned to death by the world, unable to do anything whatsoever to serve you or earn your love, with just hours to live.  Broken.  Beaten.  Hopeless.

A heart that cries "We deserve this condemnation and death but you do not...  Jesus, remember me when you enter into your kingdom."

And the Son of God, who leaves the 99 sheep to find the one who is lost replies "I'll do more than that... I will see you there today."


This is the power of the gospel, this is why it's called "good news", because the moment at which we have nothing to offer him is the moment when He offers us everything.  The day we realize that we have no strength to change our sin and darkness, and come to Him in humble faith...  This is the day that everything changes.


God, may I spend less time trying to deserve your mercy, and more time standing in AWE that you give us mercy at all!  Restore to us, your people, the joy of your salvation!