Missions Blog – A 2021 Roller Coaster Ride!

2021 WAS A ROLLER COASTER RIDE!

At the end of 2020 we decided to accept an offer to move to Norway to help lead a DTS there, and mobilize Norway for The Send, a stadium gathering that will be held June of this year (2022).

We kicked off the year leading an outreach team from one of our Discipleship Training Schools (DTS) here in Kona with our eyes set on moving to Norway in the late spring!

During outreach we were on tour, leading gatherings throughout Colorado, in churches and in homes, hoping to catalyze believers to be the hands and feet of Jesus to their local communities, as well as ignite their hearts for global missions. Matthew 9:35-38 was our anthem. Each gathering we would share and invite those attending to a second gathering to train on “how to share the gospel”, and we would go out to the surrounding community to share about the good news of Jesus Christ! It was so fun to see people light up with courage after seeing Jesus on the move as they were activated to share the gospel for the first time!

We then headed back to Kona after tour finished at the end of February to start preparation for our move to Norway, and shortly afterwards discovered we were going to be welcoming our second child in December!

Through the process of several months of wrestling with the Lord in the midst of covid craziness causing delays to our plans, we continually surrendered our plans for Norway to Jesus trusting that He would ultimately lead us to be exactly where He wanted us! By the end of June we felt the Lord was leading us to remain in Kona.

We felt so at peace with the Lord’s leading and felt a rush of renewed vision for being here in Kona.

Michael continued to serve and spark new vision within the prayer and worship ministry on our campus, YWAM Kona Music, as well as, joined the mobilization team where he hosted pastors from all over the USA and South America to bring them into the storyline of global missions. Along with the gatherings, he has been mobilizing the nation for a catalytic stadium gathering called The Send that will be held in Kansas City on May 14 of this year.

I (Amanda) jumped in serving the leaders of all of the schools we run on campus. Each quarter there are multiple DTS’s running, as well as many secondary schools. These schools are where our students get trained and prepared to be sent to the nations! I also joined the sports ministry leadership team, to help strategize how sports can be used to reach locals in our community, as well as, be a tool missionaries can bring with them when they move long term as a means of discipleship!

Finally after a year of twists and turns and a sweet season reestablishing in Kona, we welcomed our second son Levi David, and enjoyed our first Christmas on the island together as a family of four.

With the new year under way, we feel a lot of faith for 2022! We believe this is a season of stepping into who God has made us to be as a family! Full of faith and willing to go anywhere to declare His glory among the nations! We need an adventure in 2022, and we have one planned we can’t wait to tell you about in our email tomorrow entitled, 2022: Adventures with Jesus!