It's Summertime

VBS, LDC and DTW

The last couple of months have been packed full but really awesome! It's summertime here so school's been out and it's been extra hot! For 6 weeks in April and May, the base hosted a secondary YWAM school, the Leadership Development Course (LDC). We had families and leaders from all over the Philippines and Thailand come for an intense leadership training. We were cooking for about 80 people everyday! It was awesome to have couples and families and kids around all the time, despite the extra work we had to put in to serve them. I love the life, wisdom and fun that they brought to all of our lives! 

At the same time, we put on 4 week long VBSes in our 4 largest communities. I, along with one other staff member here, was in charge of the 7-9 yr. old class. This is the same age group I worked with last year, but what I didn't remember was how crazy kids are at this age! As we taught them about the fruit of the Spirit, our own patience, love and self control were tested! We had 20-30 kids each week and had to really get creative to keep their attention and get them to learn the material, but despite all that, I loved teaching them and hearing back from them about how they could put these things into practice. 

Almost right after the LDC ended, I staffed the Discipleship Training Week program the base put on. This is a one week training focused on youth that gives them a taste of what DTS is like. We had 17 students, including 6 of the youth from our slum ministryou locations, attend. I had the privilege of teaching on hearing God's voice and worship! Since I love teaching and discipleship, it was my favorite week! All of our students were so hungry for God and responsive to all the different teachings! I loved getting to pray for and prophesy over many of them, and seeing them receive healing and freedom for the first time brought so much joy to my heart! One of the most amazing testimonies was from one of the boys in my small group, Francois. He was a Christian and even felt called into missions before coming, but he also considered himself a homosexual. He said he knew it was wrong but thought that he was just made that way and would stay that way for the rest of his life. However, throughout the week, he experienced the love of his heavenly Father for the first time and realized that there was hope for him! As he confessed his sin, he was able to see his true identity as a child of God! He said he felt freed from temptation and like a completely new person! I am so excited to see all that God will do in and through his life now that he is living in the light of God's truth! There is so much more to tell, but I'll just have to save it for another day! 

Blessings to you all,
Cassandra