Hands and Feet

2006-08-29T12:46:00.000-06:00

Okay, I'm home now! I came back to the States on August 6th, and had a week of debrief with the rest of my DTS classmates. Friday, August 11th was our DTS graduation, and I've been home since the 12th. I want to thank EVERYONE who has supported me in every way possible. Thank you for your prayers throughout my DTS. It was the best five months of my life, and I have become closer to God because of it.

You can check out pictures of the outreach, and see where we were in Brazil and what we did.

So what's next for me? Right now I'm working part-time at Family Christian Stores in Manassas while helping out with the youth group and teaching Sunday School. I believe God has given me a vision to start a youth band and a drama team consisting of the church's youth, so I'm really excited about it. I'm also running the Clear River Missions page, where I want to use it to promote global awareness in the church. I want to continue on in missions, but for now God has called me back home. I will continue to update this page with what I am doing in the field of ministry, and share how God has opened up opportunities since DTS.

Again, thank you so much for following me on this journal! You have truly blessed me!

2006-07-20T16:43:00.000-06:00

Oi from Fortaleza! I hope everyone is doing well back in the States. There is so much to cover, but I thought I would post what God has been teaching me and what I am learning on this outreach. You can also read the exact same post on my myspace blog as well.

Not gonna lie, this outreach has been extremely stretching for me. Who would have thought that God would continue to minister to you while you minister to others? I know some of you are thinking, "No duh Sam". But I guess in some sick way I thought you had to be perfect with God to minister to others, yet He still uses you in our weaknesses. I think that´s pretty crazy, but who am I to question God´s ways?

God has hit some areas of my life that needed to be nailed down. I´ve been going through some tough heart surgery during this outreach, more so then I ever did during lecture phase. But thankfully I have an awesome team who prays for me, and awesome leaders to guide me. I am sooo grateful to have a team that is united in Christ. Everyday I think, "Wow! This is how the body of Christ should act!". We are able to serve each other and humble ourselves, which isn´t always easy for someone like me who likes to be "calm, cool, and collective". Like I´ve said, outreach has been a stretch. This outreach just hasn´t been easy, but I know that it will produce fruit in the long run.

Jesus said in John 15 that He is the vine and we are the branches. For every branch that doesn´t produce fruit, He cuts off. But for every branch that does produce fruit He prunes. Sounds kind of silly, right? Yet pruning produces even more fruit. And that´s exactly what God is doing in my life right now, particularly in leadership, worship, and life in general. He´s pruning stuff so that more fruit will be produced. And all I need to do is to remain and rest in Him, and He will remain in me. And quite honestly, I´m still trying to figure out how to "rest" in Him and yet still minister to people. Somehow I think that defeats any purpose that He is trying to do in my life.

I could go on and on about what God has taught me on this outreach. And it´s amazing to see how people are receiving us, and how they are receive the Gospel. Ministry wise, I´ve learned not to depend on what I physically see. Who knows how many people have been impacted by the Gospel, and we don´t even know it? So I´m learning to depend on my spiritual eyes, and not what I see in the physical. That´s a tough one for a lot of people, I think. But I could be wrong.

Anyways, we´re here in Brasil for another two weeks, and then we have a week of debrief in Denver. I´ll be back in VA in three weeks.

Isn´t it weird how time flies during DTS?

2006-06-21T16:44:00.000-06:00

Hola from Manaus! We are finally here! This is just a quick update on what has happened in the past 48 hours.

We left Denver at 1:30 pm MT on Monday, and arrived in Mexico City about four hours later. When we arrived in Mexico City, our flight from there to Manaus was cancelled. So they flew us to Sao Paulo, which is at the very southern tip of Brazil. It was a nine and a half hour flight, including a stop in Columbia. At about 9am EST we landed in Sao Paulo, and waited until midnight to finally fly into Manaus. We arrived at the YWAM base in Manaus at about 5am. We had a chance to sleep in today, and check out the city of Manaus. It´s a very colorful and busy city, full of diversity and lots of tropical fruit! Tomorrow we will start our boat ministry, and we´ll be on the river for two weeks.

Here are some quick prayer points for the next two weeks:

The airline we used, Varig, has declared bankrupcty. As of today, all flights by Varig are indefinitely cancelled. We are extremely blessed to catch a flight to Manaus at midnight last night! Please pray for Varig and their employees, as well as a means for the team to get to Fortaleza next month and a means to get home in August.
We didn´t take maleria pills in the States, and our base director says we should. However, maleria pills are illegal in Brazil. We are starting a fasting and prayer cycle that will last throughout the whole outreach. Please pray for our health, especially when we are on the river for the next two weeks!
I´m actually enjoying the weather here! It reminds me of North Carolina. But please pray for the weather conditions down here as it is already taking a toll on some people. Pray for plenty of clean water for us to drink, and that we won´t become dehyrdrated.
Pray for the communities that we will reach in the next two weeks. Pray that they will see Jesus Christ in each of us as we help build their communities and share the Gospel with them.

So far, everyone is safe and we are enjoying life here in Brazil! I will give you guys an update on our boat ministry in two weeks! Thank you and God bless!

2006-06-19T09:12:00.000-06:00

We are ready to go! Everyone is leaving today with passport and visa in hand! We're leaving the base in less then two hours, and our flight leaves at about 3:30 EST. We'll fly into Mexico City, and then fly into Manaus at about 3:30 AM.

After the whole passport ordeal, we are sooooooo ready to go! The new class of DTSers are arriving, and it's really weird seeing new faces. I even met a girl who is from Winchester, and went to Fairfax High School for awhile (small world!). But seeing the new kids here reminded me of how far I have come in the past three months. God has equipped our us with awesome tools, gifts, and abilities to share the love of Christ to those who desperately need it. And now we get a chance to use these tools on the mission field. It's pretty spiffy stuff.

I will try to update as much as possible, but it will probably be much less then once a week. We'll be on the Amazon for 13 days, and we won't have internet access while we are there. We'll be back in the states on August 5th, do a week of debrief, and then I fly back to DC on August 12th. Please continue to pray for us in the next seven weeks. We've already faced some opposition, so we expect even more opposition in the following weeks to come.

I thank you for reading this blog, for praying with me, and for sharing my adventures with me. My teammates and I certainly appreciate all of the prayer support. It has definitely helped with our passport and visa situation, so please keep on praying! Thanks!

2006-06-14T14:38:00.000-06:00

Visa and Passport Update:

It has been a very crazy week! Over the weekend, the Brazil team prayed, fasted, and worshipped together. We asked God for direction and clarification on the situation. On Monday morning, the team leaders received a clear word from the Lord to apply for new passports and visas. The eight Americans on the team went to the passport bureau in Denver to apply for replacements. We were originally told that it would take 1-3 days to receive the new passports. But we got them in an hour!!! We FedEx the passports that same afternoon to the Brazilian embassy in Houston, and we received them back TODAY.

Rory and Rosa, who are from Canada and Australia respectfully, had to go through different procedures. Rory had an appointment at the Canadian consult yesterday morning, and for a moment there was some confusion with references. But during our team meeting this afternoon, we received a phone call from the consult that his passport is ready! As for Rosa, she had to fly to LA to the Australian consult to receive an emergency passport. She flew in this morning, went to the consult, and received her passport as well! Both of these passports are being FedEx this afternoon, and they should have visas by the end of the week. However, there is a possibility that Rosa can't enter the United States when we leave Brazil in August, so please pray that she will be able to enter so that she may graduate with us.

So we are ready to go...almost...

If it's not one thing, it's another. The airline that we will use in Brazil has declared bankruptcy. There is someone who might buy the airline, and if that's the case then we're in the clear. If that's not the case then our flight from Mexico City to Manaus will be cancelled, as well as all flights within Brazil and our return flight from Brazil to Miami.

So PLEASE continue to pray for us! We have come closer together as a team, and our relationship with the Lord is much stronger through these situations. We have a feeling that God is going to do some amazing, crazy stuff in Brazil. So please pray that God will continue to grant us favor.

"I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living. Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD. "(Psalms 27:13-14)

2006-06-10T11:26:00.000-06:00

This is an urgent prayer request on behalf of the Brazil outreach team.

We've sent in our visa applicatons about a week and a half ago, along with our passports. Everything has been processed, however there has been some confusion and the Brazilian embassy does not know where these visas and passports are. So they are currently missing in action, and we cannot get into the country without these documents. Three of our teammates come from countries where a visa into Brazil is not required, so they are able to get in with just their passports. However, please pray for the twelve of us whose passports and visas are missing. Pray that we will trust in God's perfect timing, and the we will allow Him to send us when He deems to be the right time. I'll keep you guys updated on the situation as soon as I find out. Thanks!

2006-06-05T18:17:00.000-06:00

Two more weeks until the team leaves for Brazil! We have prepared for out outreaches all last week with drama rehearsals and culture/language classes. We've had drama rehearsals from morning to night, and have been working extremely hard. Personally, this has definitely been a tiring week for me. God has really stretched me in not only patience, but with relationship with my teammates as well. Yet He has been completely faithful, and has given me strength and courage to work through outreach preparaton.

The following is an excerpt of the itinerary that we are sending out to everyone we know!

Our team of 13 will spend 7 weeks traveling in Brazil. Our time will be spent in two main locations. Manaus (North Central) & Fortaleza.

We will be spending 3 1/2 weeks in Manaus, serving in the Amazon Jungle tribes, a local orphanage, local churches and with the youth. Manaus will prove to be the most challenging living conditions for our team. (Living on the floor in village huts, sleeping on a river boat, no running water or functioning restroom, etc...) We are equipped to share Christ in these areas and we will do so in the small river tribes and the city of Manaus. In addition to these tools, we will also take with us skits used to teach about basic hygiene and sickness prevention methods.

After this, we will fly to Fortaleza (East) and spend 3 1/2 weeks working with a local Ministry called, “My Father’s House”. My Father’s House workers spend the majority of their time working to help the aid poor communities (Favelas) and the drug addicted youth of Fortaleza and surrounding villages. We will spend our weeks in Fortaleza serving along side this ministry. We’ll work in their “rehabilitation farm”, teaching music and life skills to to the kids who are enrolled in their rehab program. We plan to build a skate park and work on another building to
be used for future team housing. In Fortaleza, we will also be working with the local church to do outreaches and drama presentations for the local people. In addition to this, we will strive to spread the vision of local and world outreach/missions to those in the local church; especially the youth! Please pray that a passion for God will spread like wildfire!

This is just a brief glimpse of our outreach. Some major prayer points are:

Protection and Health
Humility and Love
Endurance and God Centeredness
Passion, Zeal, and Opportunity

I would like to encourage everyone to pray for us these next two weeks. We will continue to prepare for this outreach, and to bond together as a team. Please pray that God will prepare our hearts as we are about to live in another country for two months. We are very excited and anxious at the same time, and we can't wait to see what God has in store for us on this outreach!

2006-05-29T11:42:00.000-06:00

Happy Memorial Day! I hope everyone has a safe and fun holiday. We have the day off today, so no classes! Woo hoo! We also had no curfew this weekend, so we were able to stay up as late as we wanted. I didn't stay up that late, but I definitely got a chance to sleep in. I didn't wake up until 10am this morning. That makes up for my breakfast duty that I've done for the past eight weeks.

The lecture phase is about to wind down. We will leave for Brazil in exactly three weeks. Last week, we received teachings on spiritual warfare from Dean Sherman who has been with YWAM for many years. He gave us some practical and Biblical insights on spiritual warfare, which I believe will be very useful on our outreaches. Spiritual warfare is more then casting out demons. It's about knowing your authority in Christ, and knowing that we has Christians have the power to excercise the authority that Christ gave us when He left the earth. Now how cool is that?

This week we do not have teachings, but we will be preparing for our outreaches. All day every day we will rehearse dramas, and meet together as a group in the evenings. We've been meeting together at least once a week to pray over our respective countries, and to pray for humility and unity for the team. The Brazil team is totally awesome, as you can tell from the picture :). We have such strong leadership and prayer warriors in the group, and I have a feeling that we are going to take Brazil by storm.

There are three areas that I would like for you guys to pray over; for Brazil, for the team as a whole, and for myself on a personal level. Please pray over these items in the weeks to come as we prepare for outreach.

For Brazil (these have been taken from Operation World, personalized with our specific outreach):

The favelas (slums), a blight in every major city. This is definitely the case in Fortaleza, where we will do city ministry in the last half of our outreach. Millions live in the favelas where poverty, crime, and disease takes a toll on their lives. Pray that we will just lavish love on them as if Jesus was with them.
The little settlements along the many rivers in the vast Amazon jungle. We will begin our ministry in Manaus, and from there we will do river boat ministry up the Rio Negro. These villages are poor both physically and spiritually. We plan to build a well and a skatepark for these villages, and share the Gospel through our actions and our teachings.
Millions of children who have lost all or most links with their families. We will minister to children at orphanages. A lot of these children live on the streets, and prostitution, drugs, and AIDS are the normal ways of life. We will do various teachings, including music! Pray that Jesus will ultimately reach out to these children.

For the team:

Unity. Pray for team unity, and that there are no divisions amongst us through the whole duration of the outreach.
Humility. Pray that we will lay our pride down, and love each other through humility and cooperation.
Health. Pray that the Lord will bless us with excellent health. Digestive problems seem to be the most common problem on outreach, as well as vomitting. Pray that no one will be sent home due to illness.
Kingdom focused. We ultimately want to focus on bringing God's kingdom to Brazil. Pray that we will never loose that focus despite the cirumstances, and that we are able to move on for the glory of Christ.
Strength. We need spiritual, emotional, and physical strength. It's going to be rough on the Amazon, and we'll probably do some extensive hiking. Pray that we will ask for God's strength each and every single day.

For myself:

Finances. The final payment for the outreach is due on June 1st (Thursday), and I am still $1088 short. The Lord has sent me blessing upon blessing with finances throughout this DTS, but now is crunch time. If you have not given to the Brazil outreach, I would like to encourage you to prayerfully consider giving. It's an awesome and rare opportunity, and I'm super excited to share this with others. If you would like to give, please make checks out to YWAM and send it to this address:

Samantha McDaniel

Spring DTS 2006

c/o YWAM Denver

12750 W. 63rd Ave

Arvada, CO 80004

Humility. I need an extra dose of humility! I will probably discuss more about this in my next blog entry.
This might seem silly, but I can't swim! Yet I decided to do ministry on the Amazon River. Pretty crazy, right? A few of my teammates are willing to give me a few swimming lessons before I go. Please pray that I will put my fears aside, and learn to swim so that I won't drown in the Amazon.

Thank you so much for your prayers! I encourage each of you to keep on praying. Through prayer we have keys to the heavenly kingdom, and we excercise our authority in Christ. And I fully believe that Christ works through us through prayer, and it has definitely been a powerful tool in my life. So keep on praying! Thanks!

2006-05-21T18:03:00.000-06:00

Hello again! Here's a sweet testimony of what happened in class this past week.

First, here's a little bit of background information. Despite having a degree in music I've struggled with the performing aspects of music, especially playing keyboards in the worship band. I'm not as confident on keyboards as I am on clarinet, and I came from a pretty critical musical background. I grew up with a family of musicians which led me to an intensely competitive high school band program, and then a critical music program in college. To me, it seemed that everyone had a very critical opinion on music. It was either you play well, or don't play at all. It's no quincetance that I've been "dragged" into playing keyboards for at least three different worship bands (this story is for another date) while at the same time felt that I was never confident as a keyboard player. I have also struggled as a singer. I use to have a talent in singing when I was much younger, but when my voice changed I lost my confidence in singing. To this day people notice that my voice is unusually deeper then most females, and I sing in very low registers. To make a long story short, due to my insecurities and fear of man I avoided all opportunities to sing and play keyboards infront of people.

This includes leading worship. The problem? I really feel that God has called me to lead worship. And unfortunately, this requires singing and playing an instrument that isn't the clarinet.

The topic for this week was the Holy Spirit. When class started on Monday, the teacher asked if there were any worship leaders in the class. I felt a little nudge inside my soul. I thought, I'm not a worship leader. I've never led worship in my life! The class called out various names of people who either sing or play guitar, and no one mentioned my name. Okay God. No one is saying my name, so that means I don't have to lead! Finally, someone from DTS staff stepped up and played guitar.

But then I felt guilty. We have classes in the worship room, and a keyboard was sitting right there, plugged in, ready to be played on. I realized that I should have went up there to lead, because the Holy Spirit prompted me to go up there. But because of my fear, I didn't go because I didn't think I was good enough. I didn't beat myself up too much about it, because that's not what God does. But I did realize that I was disobedient. Shortly after worship, the teacher described the feelings of disobedience to the Holy Spirit.

"Ever get that feeling?" he asked, "when you disobey the Spirit? You feel this heaviness inside you, and you know you should have done what He had told you."

Um, yeah. Thanks. I'm feeling it RIGHT NOW!

So I asked God for another opportunity. That came two days later.

The DTS staffer who lead worship before wasn't there, so the teacher asked if any of us were worship leaders. I immediately popped up. I disobeyed before, and I didn't want to miss out on this opportunity again. Some people were surprised. They knew that I played keyboards, but I never mentioned to anyone about leading worship in a corporate setting. When I sat behind the keyboard, I was a nervous wreck. My hands were shacking, and I felt like I was going to throw up. I banged out a D chord, and then hurriedly flipped through the worship book that was left from that morning's worship time. It seemed like it took forever for me to find a song. I finally found "Here I Am To Worship", and then I thought came to mind. Oh crap! I have to sing! How will people know when to come in if I don't sing? Then I realized that the song was in E, and I was playing a D chord, so I had to modulate. And THEN I realized that E is not one of my comfortable keys, and I thought that the song was too high for me.

Needless to say, I was freaking out. But I did it anyway. Somehow I started singing, and playing at the same time. Somehow I didn't screw up. Somehow I was leading people to worship. Somehow I came up with some creative melodies and harmonies while the teacher was praying over people. Somehow I managed to save face while my nose was running, and there was no tissue in sight. Somehow, it all worked out. When it was over, I ran straight to the bathroom and grabbed a tissue. I was totally stoked! I couldn't believe what just happened. Afterwards, people were saying how bold I was to step up to lead worship. One of the staff members was actually praying that a student would lead worship for that day.

The fact is that this wasn't from me at all. I can't explain it, but God truly interceded for me that moment. My hands were moving on the keyboards, but it wasn't me playing. I believe that since I obeyed Him, He came and totally rescued me from making a complete fool of myself. "But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us." (2 Corinthians 4:7, emphasis added). Paul is talking to those who are in the ministry of reconcilation (chapter 3), and because of God's mercy we do not lose hope. But we show people, through this ministry we show God's power through ourselves. And we're merely just jars of clay.

So that was my experience with Holy Spirit week. I will update later on in the week on outreach preparation for Brazil, along with a whole slew of prayer requests and praises.

2006-05-14T18:58:00.000-06:00

Hello people! Here's another awesome update, straight from Colorado.

This week was a bit calmer then usual, but much needed. The teachings this week was a little bit more practical. We just did a teaching on Bible study, particularly devotional Bible studies. Quite honestly, I've always known that the Bible was an important tool. It is a major essence of our Christian faith, and an important book for our devotional lives. Yet I didn't realize how powerful the Bible is until this past week. The Bible is God's divine written word, where the Holy Spirit speaks to us. As our teacher Dannie Fischer said, it's a lot more then black ink on white paper. It's full of God's promises and God's corrections. When you look at the Bible as a powerful tool instead of just an "important book", your perspective of the Bible completely changes. I take the Bible a lot more seriously now then I did before, because it is God's divine revelation to His children. It has surpassed the test of time, and it translates to every culture that has ever existed. So this week has definitley brought in some practical application to my walk with Christ.

In the meanttime, we're getting ready for Brazil! The above picture is the team, with 11 DTS students and two staff. We started to rehearse dramas last week, and we're getting our immunization shots this Wednesday. Not exactly what I call a fun time, but it's much needed. We're also having meetings once a week, and doing research on the different social spheres of Brazil. We're already praying that God will pave the way for us, and prepare our hearts, minds, and bodies for the journey ahead of us. This is going to be an intense outreach! Details will come the closer we leave for Brazil.

The biggest prayer request right now is for the outreach team. Please join us in prayer while we are preparing for this outreach. Pray that the places we go to Brazil are ripe for the harvest, and that we are able to sow seeds wherever we go. Please also pray for complete and total preparation. We need to be prepared emotionally, spiritually, and physically. This is a demanding outreach and a challenge for everyone on the team. We're going to be on the Amazon for at least a week, possibly more. Conditions are going to rough and somewhat outside of our comfort zones, but please pray that God will continue to give His strength and wisdom to us during this outreach. Also, some of us have not raised all of our funds for the trip, which is due June 1st. Personally, I still owe $1388 for the trip. Please pray for God's awesome provision for this outreach for each and every single one of us.

Finally, continue to pray for the sick. My roommate, Phil, is still sick! She's been sick for at least a month. I've also had a cold for the past week, and many others are sick as well. It's expected for illness to be passed around since we are living in community, but we all want to be well before outreach! Please pray for God's healing power on everyone.

I hope everyone is doing great! I've been praying for Clear River, particularly little Jackie. Let me know if there is anything that I can be praying about. Thank you!

2006-05-07T16:12:00.000-06:00

Wow, where has the time gone??? We're half way through our lecture phase in DTS! I'm leaving for Brazil in about a month and a half. Time has flown by so quickly, yet there's still a lot to do before August. We have six weeks of class, and then seven weeks of outreach. It ain't over yet!

We were in Albuquerque, New Mexico all of last week doing prison and youth detention ministry. For four nights in a row, we went to women's and men's pods as well as schools who teach youth who have fallen away. We performed a variety of dramas that portray Jesus' love for His people. It was amazing to see how these dramas affected the people. Some of the dramas portray how Jesus meets us in our need and even in the mist of our sins. Just to give you guys a picture of what our dramas are like, they are all done over music. No one speaks in these dramas. We act out certain scenes during specific points of the music. For example, in one of the dramas we have someone doing drugs while a Satan figure is nailing him to the ground, symbolizing how drugs and alcohol can bond us to sin. At the end, Jesus comes and frees him from the bonds. Unfortunately we weren't able to record or take pictures while in the prisons, otherwise I would show you one instead of trying to explain it!

It was an overwhelming experience to say the least. New Mexico isn't exactly the prettiest place in the world, but Albuquerque is definitely a city in need. After performing our dramas we were able to talk and pray with the people in the prisons. It was awesome to plant seeds of hope into their broken hearts, and to simple share God's love with them. The very first person I talked to on Monday night was a woman who was in tears after watching out dramas. She felt ashamed about what she had done in the past, and felt she couldn't figure herself. At one point in the conversation I looked her straight in the eye, and told her that she had never disappointed God. We prayed together and she made a recommitment to Christ. Thursday evening I met a young girl who was in the youth detention center for drugs. She is an extremely bright girl with such a wonderful future ahead of her. We also prayed together, and she made a commitment to Christ.

There are at least a hundred stories very similar to mine from just this past week. At least 30 people made a commitment to the Lord, and we're not sure how many made a recommitment to Christ. There are probably dozens more who have received hope in some shape or form, whether it's from the dramas or through prayer. They seemed to appreciate the simple gestures of kindness like talking and listening to them, and not judging them for what they have done. It was truly a humbling experience, because they are just as broken as anyone outside of prison. "But the Scripture declares that the whole world is a prisoner of sin, so that what was promised, being given through faith in Jesus Christ, might be given to those who believe."(Galatians 3:22) It's so true. The only difference between us and them is that they wear orange and we don't. We need Jesus just as much as they do. Matter of fact, there really shouldn't be an "us and them" mentality. We are all the same in Jesus Christ.

So here are some prayer requests:

Continue to pray for the sick, because now I'm sick! I caught a minor cold while in New Mexico. I'm bombarding my immune system with orange juice, water, and rest, and I'm feeling better. But all 20+ girls in the DTS class shared a room for the entire week, and this is passing around pretty quickly. Please pray for rapid healing, and that no one would become poorly ill.
We are still raising funds for outreach. For myself, I still lack funds that are due this Thursday (I have a payment of $638 due this week). Despite the situation I am confident that the Lord will provide according to His time, because He has definitely provided for me before! Please prayerfully consider supporting either my outreach to Brazil or anyone else in my DTS class that's going to Brazil, Thailand, or Mexico. If you have any questions, please email me at dddelon44@gmail.com or leave a comment on this blog entry.
On a similar note, please pray for outreach preparation as well. We received a taste of what outreach will be like in New Mexico, and now we will completely focus on our overseas outreaches. Pray that God will provide unity within our outreach teams, and that He will pave the way for us when we arrive in our respective countries.

Again, I can't thank you guys enough for all of your prayers and support. It's been an amazing experience and it's not even over yet! As we say in DTS, we have an awesome possum God. I think about everyone at Clear River and in VA/NC often, and I pray that everyone is doing well!

2006-04-30T07:38:00.000-06:00

Here's a quick update on what's about to happen this week.

In about an hour or so, the DTS will leave for New Mexico to do prison ministry. We've rehearsed dramas for the past two weeks, preparing for this week. We still have normal class sessions, but we get to use what we learn in practical application. This week's topic is on evangelism, and we will have class during the morning and the afternoons. Then during the evenings, we will go out into the prisons and perform our dramas, share our testimonies, and simply talk to the people who desperately need hope. I honestly don't know what to expect from this week, except that God will definitely move in these prisons. I've been praying that our class will set aside our fears to bring a light into the darkness. A lot of my classmates have never performed infront of people, and some are pretty nervous about it. But I believe that God will do the performing for us, and He will work through us.

Please pray for us as we are in New Mexico this week. We will be back on Friday, and I'll give you guys an update on what God has done in the prisons. Thank you, and God bless!

2006-04-25T21:21:00.000-06:00

Whoa, two in one week! This is a special outreach edition of Hands and Feet ;)

This evening our oversea outreach teams met for the first time. The Brazil team has 11 members including myself. Our DTS director is leading our outreach, and one of the DTS staff members is joining us as well. We don't have a specific itinerary, but we do have a general idea of where we are going and what we will do.

As of now the departure date is June 17th. We will fly to Miami, and then fly into Sao Paulo. From there we will travel to Manaus, a city of a population of about one million. The interesting thing about this city is that it is only accessible by plane or boat. There are no roads going in or out of the city. From there we will start our boat ministry. We will do at least two weeks of ministry, possibly as much as three or four weeks. During this time we will travel by boat and visit the local tribes that live near the Amazon river. The opportunities are endless at what we might do. We might drill wells or build houses, but whatever we will do we will do with the love of Jesus Christ. The Gospel will not only be spoken, but it will be in our actions as well. After our boat ministry, we will travel to Foraleza which is on the coast of Brazil. We will do a variety of inner-city ministries, such as orphanage and prison ministry. We will arrive back in Denver on or about August 5th.

That is the basic plan for now. A lot of things could change with outreaches, and we have to be willing to follow the Lord at any and all cost. It could very well be that Brazil could close off its borders, and God might call us into another country. But we are all open to the challenge, and excited to see where the Lord will lead us. The outreach teams will meet at least once a week between now and before we leave. We will also spend a whole week prepping for outreach, rehearsing dramas, and becoming mentally, physically, and spiritually prepared for the challenges that are ahead of us.

For myself, God has convicted me of some awesome character traits that I need to adjust. As a detailed oriented person, I "need" to know what is going on and what we will do ahead of time. This outreach requires tremendous flexibility that I don't seem to have! I've already expressed this to the team, and it's something that I'm already seeking guidance in the Lord. I know that God will guide me in this area of my life, and that I won't lose my sanity from any "lack" of organization.

As far as fund raising is concerned, I am a little over half way to paying off the outreach. I still need $1414 to pay off the outreach, and at least $639 is due May 11th. God has already blessed me by providing funds for tuition, and I know that He will provide for this outreach as well!

Please leave comments or email if you have any questions concerning the outreach. Things could very easily change, and I will keep you guys updated.

2006-04-23T19:52:00.000-06:00

Hurray for pictures! I was finally able to load some, thanks to my roommate Nicole for lending me her laptop.

This was a pretty rough week for DTS. We received a teaching on the Father Heart of God from Jeff Pratt, the base director at YWAM Axiom in New Haven, Conn. I think this was definitely a breaking point for a lot of people, including myself. It is statistically proven that one's view of their Heavenly Father is based off their view of their earthly father. If a person's earthly father was loving, caring, and nurturing, then that same person will more than likely think the same about their Heavenly Father. If one's father wasn't any of those things but in fact mean spirited and abusive, then they will think the same of their Heavenly Father. A lot of us did not have aweome relationships with our earthly father, and have struggled with the fact that God is a loving Father who desperately loves us and wants us to love Him back. So the first two days of teaching was very hard to swallow, but we had a day of "practical application" on Wednesday.

We've talked about the hurts and wounds in our lives, and how living in openess and complete brokeness heals the wounds. So take a wild guess what we as a class did on Wednesday? One by one, we each confessed a wound, a hurt, or a sin that we've been struggling with. I was able to admit about things in my life that I've carried for a very long time, and it was wonderful to be embraced by a God who is really a loving Father. I won't go into detail as to what was said, but we prayed for each person after sharing their testimony, and we were able to intercede on their behalf. It has definitely brought the class dynamic closer together, knowing that we can trust each other and fellowship with each other.

I've definitely notice things a bit more differently then before DTS. I've noticed that people are naturally drawn to us whenever a group of us go out. Yesterday afternoon a group of us went to 16th street in Denver to just chill and hang out. On the bus there was a guy who asked us if we were part of a church, which was funny because none of us were wearing anything resembling Christ. We talked to him for awhile and found out about things in his life, and we told him about YWAM and what we do. He seemed pretty impressed at what we do, and he was a pretty cool guy. We also went to Boulder to hang out last night, and met a couple of homeless people there. They desperately need someone to love them, and that's what we tried to do. It's funny, because we had no intentions of making our trip to Boulder an evangelism trip, but it's a 24/7 job.

I also found out that my sorority, Delta Delta Delta, has a chapter at UC Boulder. This school has struggled with substance abuse within fraternities and sororities the past couple of years, and quite a few student deaths have happened due to substance abuse. Since our visit to Boulder, the Lord has laid it on my heart to really reach out to the Greeks at Boulder and educate them on substance abuse and the true meaning of sisterhood. The only thing is that the school year is coming to a close, students are going home for the summer, and there are no Greek activities over the summer. Maybe this is something I'm suppose to do in the fall, if I decide to return to Denver? Hmmm, I'm not really sure.

Speaking of outreaches, we are going to Albuquerque, New Mexico next week to not only learn about evangelism but experience it as well. We will witness to people and perform dramas at prisons and youth detention centers in the afternoons and evenings while receiving teachings during the day. And we almost has our oversea outreach teams set. We will have our first outreach meetings on Tuesday, and we'll start prepping for those outreaches as well. And this week our base director, Peter Warren, will teach us on the Fear of the Lord. So quite a few exciting things are happening lately.

On a lighter note, the pranks have already started. I won't say anything more than that...

Here are some current prayer requests:

Apparently I spoke to soon about people getting better. One of my roommates, Phil, has a chest congestion. She normally sings in the band that I play in on Sunday mornings, but she couldn't this morning. She's hoping to see a doctor tomorrow. Please pray that Phil will quickly get over her chest cold and feel 110% better.
Definitely pray for our outreach preparation for New Mexico. We've been rehearsing dramas for the past week, and we're hoping to make an impact on the lives of these prisoners. Pray that we will continue to carry the Gospel with us no matter where we go.
Continue to pray for the oversea outreaches, especially preperaton for the outreach and the funding raising process.
Pray that the pranks want get too out of hand.

Overall, I'm still doing very well. I'm fed pretty well here, and the weather has been warm for the past couple of days. However, it's suppose to snow the next two days. Weather is really crazy here!

I pray that all you lovely readers are doing well, and enjoy the pictures!

2006-04-16T11:53:00.000-06:00

Teach me your way, O Lord, and I will walk in your truth; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name. Psalm 86:11

Sense of time is totally lost in YWAM. I've only been here for three weeks, yet it seems like I've lived here my whole life. We're learning a lot about each other, and our classmates have truly grown to become brothers and sisters in Christ. Our theme for DTS is "undivided", which is based on the above scripture. The DTS leaders prayed over us way before we even arrived, and this scripture came to them during a prayer meeting. Our class is truly undivided. We come from all over the world with one goal in mind; to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ.

This concept was introduced to us this past week while we were at the Eagle Rock base of YWAM Denver. This base is about thirty minutes from Arvada, and it's hidden away in the Rocky Mountains. It was awesome to get away from the Arvada base, and spend time with other DTS students and staff. I played some frisbee golf, which I haven't played in quite sometime. Needless to say I'm not very athletic, but the guys who were playing were very encouraging and gave me some frisbee tips. We also hiked up Eagle Rock mountain, which was really intense! The thin air and high altitude makes simple activities like walking a total chore, so it was pretty difficult for many of us to climb up a mountain. But it was worth it at the top! I'm still having difficulties loading my pictures to the computers, but hopefully I'll post some up before the end of the week.

The teaching this week was on relationships, which was an appropriate topic for us since we were bonding closer together at Eagle Rock. It was taught by John Murphy, who is a staff member at YWAM Denver and has done teachings on relationships for other DTS schools as well. God has shown me the importance of relationships, especially relationships with other people. John has taught us that we need to treat people based on their value, not their behavior. Each person has value, despite what we might think of them. If we view each person this way, then our perspective of them completely changes. It has certainly changed my perspective on relationships with others, and I continue to seek God in this area of my life. Relationship with God also needs to be established, and we need to know our place with God before we can establish our place with others. We are all sons and daughters of God, and until we understand this then we will have a very difficult time relating to others. This is just a snippet of what we've learned this past week in class.

We arrived back in Arvada on Thursday night, and then the next night both DTS and Phase II went on an outreach to Evans, CO. Evans is a small town about an hour outside of Denver, and we went door to door placing door hangers for a new church that is starting up called The Gathering. With 50 YWAMers, who knows how many houses we have hit with door hangers??? The church's first meeting was this morning at 10:30 MT, and we hope to find out how many people came in the upcoming week. It was interesting going door to door. I was able to talk to a few people about the church. Most people happily received the invitation. There was one house where I was almost chased by a pit bull. The dog blocked the door way, preventing me from approaching the doorway. I wasn't able to leave it on the doorknob, so I dropped it on the door step.

As for my overseas outreach, I have decided to go to Brazil. We will leave on June 18th, and we'll be back on August 4th. The first three weeks of the outreach will be on a boat sailing down the Amazon river. We will visit tribal communities who have never heard of Jesus Christ, which involves a lot of hiking and hot weather! Then the last half of the outreach we will do inner city ministries, particularly children and orphan ministries. So we have the best of both worlds on this trip. The first payment for the trip is due this Thursday, but praise God for His awesome provision because this is already covered! However, I still need to raise another $1550 for the trip, which at least half is due on May 11th.

So here are some praise reports and prayer requests:

People seem to be feeling better! We still have a few sniffles here and there, but no where near as sick as some people were the first week we were here. Praise God for people getting better!
Continue to pray for my classmates and their choice for outreach. We are suppose to notify our leaders by Thursday, and some can't decide where they are going. Pray that God will give my classmates wisdom and strength to step out in faith.
Pray also for His provision to continue to flow. As for me, I've raised half of my outreach funds, but I still have another half to go. Pray that I will keep enduring in faith, and only God will send the funds for all of us to go to our designated outreaches.
Pray that God will continue to do heart surgery on us. God has continued to show us His character through DTS, and we don't want to ever forget it! Sometimes the class can be a bit overwhelming with the information, and we need time to let it sink it. Pray that God will continue to show us understanding through the teachings, and that we won't give up through the difficulties.

I also have a myspace account with some more insightful blog entries, but that's not updated as much as this blog. But if you have a myspace account, you can add me on as well!

Thank you again, and God bless!

2006-04-08T15:58:00.000-06:00

Hola and hello! I said that I would post pictures, but since these are community computers (I do not have a laptop) I am having a hard time uploading the pictures from my camera to the computer. I'll post them as soon as I receive permission from the tech guys at the base. Until then, please accept my apologies.

We've started our lectures this week in DTS. Last week was an introduction week, and becoming familar with YWAM and the base. This week, we've finally started on the teachings. This weeks topic was God's character, and how we can develop His character in our lives. Blake Mattocks was our speaker for the week, and the cool thing about him is that he use to live in Manassas over 15 years ago! He is currently a pastor at a church in Arvada, and he taught us some amazing stuff about hearing God's voice and recognizing God's characters within us. He also had us do an unusual activity. For a span of about 30 hours, each student had to carry a ball and chain for one hour. After the hour, we passed it down to another student in the class. The point was that Christians have things in our lives that weigh our spiritual lives down, and we need to cut off the ball and chain in order to be free. That's just a taste of what we've learned in class this week.

We've also started our weekly outreaches to the Denver metro area. This week I went to an apartment complex called Joy House. This is a safe haven for single moms who are recovering from addictions. Thursday night was there Bible study, and a group of us went over to babysit their children. I had the privelage to play with a four year-old girl named Chloe for about an hour and a half. What an imagination! We pretended to be various animals at the zoo, and we built a fort with a couch, table, and pillows. The television was never turned on. It was awesome to see the love of Jesus through this child, and I prayed that her imaginative spirit will continue to grow throughout her life.

I also had a rare opportunity to attend a worship conference this weekend in Golden. This conference was supported by YWAM-Denver, so students were able to attend for free. The conference talked about worship as a lifestyle and not the musical aspects of a Sunday morning service. They also talked about stepping out in our comfort zones when performing acts of worship, and not caring what others might think during corporate worship times. This was an awesome opportunity for myself, since I definitely feel called into worship ministry. But God convicted me of something during this conference. I feel that I'm too involved in the technical aspects of worship, and insecurities and doubt surround me when I purely concetrate on performance. God has challenged me to seek the heart of worship through music, and not from the technical aspects of a worship service. I think God will continue to challenge me in this area throughout the DTS.

Overall, things are going great. Living with six other girls has actually been a blessing. They are awesome girls, totally respectful, and all are truly women who are after God's heart. The class is starting to bond closer together through class, activities, and meals. This evening we are leaving for the extension campus in the mountains, and we will be there until Friday. We will continue to have teachings there, as well as bonding activities, hiking, climbing, and just relaxing in the mountains. The only obstacle that I'm overcoming is my work duty. Each student has ten hours of work duty to keep tuition costs low, and most people have them Monday through Friday from 3pm-5pm. I was assigned breakfast duty, which is from 6am-8am. Not cool, because I am not a morning person! But I ask God to get me out of bed every morning, and somehow He has managed to do it.

Things to pray for:

That breakfast duty won't kill me!
Various students in DTS and Phase II (the leadership training school) are becoming sick. One of the girls in DTS missed three days of class this week, but all the DTS girls prayed over her and her fever broke that evening! Please pray that illness does not spread over the base, and that God will protect us from sickness throughout the duration of DTS.
Please pray for our choice of outreaches. I have decided to go to Brazil for my outreach, and half of the outreach fees has already been paid. Many student still don't know where to go, and the deadline is April 20th. Please pray for God's wisdom on us as my classmates decide wear to go. Please also pray that God will continue to provide all our fees for outreach.

In the next week or two I will give more details about the outreach to Brazil, such as financial information, what we will be doing, and things like that. Thank you again for all of your prayers! I definitely appreciate everything that everyone has done. Thank you and God bless!

2006-04-01T12:10:00.000-07:00

I've just finished my first week of DTS. Whew!

This has been an awesome week of drawing closer to the Lord, and bonding with other believers. The first thing I noticed when I arrived were the mountains (obvioiusly!). Arvada is at the foot of the Rocky Mountains, and we have a wonderful view from the base. During quiet time I sit by the pond and look at God's wonderful creation. It is truly a blessing to be here! I'll post a picture in a few days to show how amazing this place is, but even a picture can't cover the awesomeness of the Rockies.

The first week was our adjustment period to YWAM life. There are about 30 of us in my DTS class, and it is truly a community atmosphere here in YWAM Denver. We've been eating, fellowshipping, and playing together this past week. We've also shared testimonies, and have freely discussed how God is working in our lives. We are an extremely diverse class. My classmates come from South Korea, England, Switzerland, Chile, Canada, and Australia, as well as various parts of the United States. It's amazing talking to my classmates, because I am learning a lot about various cultures and backgrounds, and they are learning a lot about my background as well. During a bonding activity, I had the opportunity to tell people about pig-pickins. Very few people know what they are! I'm trying to get the staff to do a pig-pickin before we do our outreaches, but apparently it's not that popular in Colorado. We've also hiked a few mountain trails yesterday afternoon, and that was a lot of fun! Spring hasn't quite sprung yet in Colorado, but I love the mountains here!

Though the bonding activities are fun, our DTS leaders reminded us that this an awesome time to draw nearer to the Lord. Very few Christians receive an opportunity like this to purely study God and listen to Him. We are all very fortunate to have five months apart with God. Already God is speaking to each one of us in our class. He has spoken to me about certain issues in my life, and how much I need to lay down in order to follow Him. I believe that God has brought me here to Denver for a reason, and has placed certain people in my life that will help me with my walk with the Lord. I am truly blessed to be here, and I can't wait to see how the Lord will change my life.

God has already answered some awesome prayers, even before I came to Denver. He provided all the funds needed for tuition, plus contribuitions towards outreach. Of course, this happened at the very last minute, but my praises go to Him! And last night I was asked to play keyboards for a local church in the area. Other DTS students will be playing in the band as well. This is a rare opportunity for DTS students to play in the area! I am truly blessed to continue to play, even when I expected not to play keyboards for five months.

As a class, we are completely open to what God has to say to each one of us. At the same time, our minds have quickly shifted to the outreaches that are starting in June. We have a choice of three locations, which are Mexico, Thailand, and Brazil. I was leaning towards Thailand before I came to Denver, but I wanted to be open to where God will send me. On Tuesday, the outreach coordinator announced that half of the outreach fees are due on April 20th, and that this will determine where our location will be. When I registered the day before, I gave accounting all the funds that was raised for outreach without even knowing where I would go. It turned out to be almost exactly half of the outreach fee to Brazil! Since then I feel that God is calling me to Brazil, but I still need more prayer about this and make sure that this is where He wants me to be.

So here are some praises and prayer requests so far:

Praise God for bringing our internationals here! We are waiting for one more from the UK who didn't receive his visa until last Saturday, but he will be here this Tuesday. Everyone else's visas went through, and I am blessed to have such wonderful classmates to share our experiences.
We are currently praying over where to go for outreach. We leave June 18th (or there abouts), and the first payment is due April 20th. Please pray that God will gives us direction, that He will make it super clear as to where we should go. Please also pray for funding. We were given wonderful suggestions on how to raise funds, and the staff has been very helpful in this arena. Please pray that God will continue to provide our needs, and that we may put our trust in Him while we are serving Him.
Pray that God will completely do "heart surgery" on each and every single one of us. Pray that we will each run towards Him for strength on a daily basis, no matter how tough it gets.

And I would also like to praise God for giving me such a wonderful church family. They have truly supported me through this process, and I don't think I would have had a chance in the world to do this if it weren't for my family at Clear River. I am very grateful for the prayers and support of my church, and I couldn't thank them enough. I'd also like to praise God for giving me such a wonderful biological family as well. God called each of them to support me, and each one (including my fourteen year old sister!) have promptly listened and followed God's voice.

I am very grateful to be here. I will continue to update weekly on what's going on. Thank you so much for reading!

2006-03-24T12:30:00.000-07:00

Okay, one more update before I leave. Here is my contact information while I'm at the base:

Samantha McDaniel
Spring DTS 2006
c/o Youth With A Missoin
12750 W. 63rd Ave.
Arvada, CO 80004

You may also email mee at dddelon44@gmail.com while I'm in Denver. I'm pretty sure I will not have internet access while I'm on outreach, but if that changes at all I will let you know. Thank you and God bless!

2006-03-19T15:22:00.000-07:00

I want to be Your hands, be Your feet. I'll go where You send me, go where You send me. And I'll try, yeah I'll try, to touch the world, like You touched my life, and I'll find my way to be Your hands. - Audio Adrenaline

One more week.

In one week I'll board a plane to Denver, Colorado to embark a Discipleship Training School at Youth With a Mission-Denver. Have I ever been to Denver? Nope. Have I ever been to the Rockies, or anywhere west of Texas.? Never. Do I know anyone over there? Hardly. Do I know what I'm getting myself into?

Of course not, but I'm not worried.

I've learned a great deal about faith these past few months. I was first introduced to YWAM about two years ago when my brother did a missions trip through Mission Adventures with YWAM-LA. I was in college at the time, and I thought I might go into missions after college. I was earning my degree in music, and at the time I didn't think people with music degrees could be missionaries. But about six months ago I decided to visit the YWAM website and search for opportunties for musicians. There are LOTS of opportunities in worship and music ministries around the world at various YWAM bases. I've prayed over this exciting opportunity to serve the Lord with the gifts He has given me, but I had a lot of doubt running in my mind. How am I going to afford the training courses? Where will my income come from when I join staff? How will my student loans be paid off? I could have very easily subcombed to the pressure, and let those questions get to me. I could have not tried at all. But there was a strong urge to go ahead and apply for a DTS anyway, despite the circumstances. And I've learned that God has a tendency to lead us through baby steps. So that's exactly what I did, I took small steps towards the bigger goal.

For some reason, God led me to YWAM Denver to do my DTS. I can't explain how it happened, but I know this is where I should be. So I took baby steps. I requested an application. I filled it out, and sent it back to them. I had three people fill out my references. I had my doctor fill out my health form. I waited what seemed like forever to see whether or not I was accepted. I found out the day before my birthday that I was accepted, and a week later I was able to send them the downpayment to secure my spot in the class. I visited friends and family in Texas and North Carolina. I wrote letters to my whole church asking for prayer and financial support. I turned in my one month notice at work, and told them that I was flying off to Denver to become a missionary. I also started on the application process for School of Worship in Montana this fall, pending on my completion of the DTS in Denver. I've written emails to my classmates, and the DTS director has called me a few days ago to go over basic information and to pray with me.

Okay, that was a lot of baby steps. But with every step is God's reassurance that this is indeed His will. My confidence isn't in my circumstances, but in Him alone. My faith has grown tremendously since I decided to do a DTS, and I can't imagine what He will show me during DTS. I feel excited and overjoyed that in just one week I get to experience God like I never have before.

My goal for this blog is to update the readers on what is happening during my time with YWAM. I will share what God is doing in my life and in the lives of others, and what I am learning on a week to week basis. I will also post some pictures here as well, but I will have a seperate site for more pictures. My prayer requests will be at the very end of each entry. Prayer is very essential for missions, and it's not by my strength but His alone that I depend on. So I like to conclude with the following prayer requests:

The Lord has been extremely faithful in providing the means for me to go to DTS! He has provided a round-trip plane ticket as well as two-thirds of the tuition costs. With one week left, I still need $1045 to pay for the lecture series. This is due when I arrive next Monday. Praise God for the provisions that He has provided, and please pray that He will continue to provide and pay for the remainder of the lecture series.
The DTS class is extremely diverse! There are 29 of us in the class, and almost half are from a country outside of the United States. We have a student coming from every continent except Antartica, as well as students from all over the country. But some of the international students are having a hard time obtaining visas and plane tickets to get to Colorado. Please pray that all of the international students will obtain visas with great ease, and that everyone has a means of transportation to Denver. Pray that God will bring us together safely and securely.
Most people who take a DTS have just completed high school, and they are about 17-19 years old. I'm probably one of the older students in the class and this is not my first time away from home, so homesickness won't strike me down as hard as it will for others. Please pray for the younger students in the class that are leaving home for the first time. Pray that God will give them strength, wisdom, and encouragement. Pray that while they are in Denver that homesickness will not get the best of them.
If you haven't noticed, I love praying for people that I barely know :). So my final prayer request is for our DTS leaders, who are Mark, Brent, and Heather. Please pray for God's wisdom to be upon them as they embark another DTS term and lead this new "international" class into discipleship. Pray that they will continue to focus on Jesus through all circumstances, and that they are encouraged to know that God has truly annointed them to lead this wonderful class.

Feel free to leave comments with prayer requests, and I will certainly pray for you as well. See you when I get to Denver!