To be honest, I am not in the Netherlands anymore, I am sitting in the Oval Cafe that is located on the Harpenden YWAM base here in England. I had every intention to write this update 2 weeks ago while I was in Amsterdam, but time flew by and the responsibilities of leading this team never wanted to take a break, so neither did I. As I sat with Jesus today, the short 2 hours felt more like 10 minutes as I listened to a song called "I Am the Lord's" on repeat for the majority of the time. (I have placed a link to the song at the end of my blog). The ending lyrics say "I leave all things behind, cling to the one I love" and as I listened tears filled my eyes. In that moment my heart ached and the thoughts of everything I have left behind for the time being flashed before me. Whether it be family, friends or knowing that the friendships that have been laid down may never be the same due to the distance placed between us, the pain was very present. The next song on the album started playing, the song is called "It's My Joy". The song kicks off with the lyrics "It's my Joy to lay my life down, because when I lose my life for your sake it will be found". IT'S SO TRUE. The Lord gave me such a sense of peace and joy. He so quickly comforted me and encouraged my spirit. I have found so much joy in living out a surrendered life to the Lord and missions.
As I was reading last week in a book called the Big Ten, I read something that was so simple and a great reminder of the mandate on my life. "As a believer of Jesus Christ, we are called to know Him, His heart and characteristics, and should reflect Him to the world around us. We are called to continue His earthly ministry". These short, simple, yet heart provoking two sentences have truly captivated me for the past week and the question that still lingers is, how do I continue the earthly ministry of Jesus more than I already am? Today I feel like I have come to the answer of that question, the answer is, I do nothing more. Yes that's right, I continue doing the same thing. The question of how to continue his early ministry has now become more of a mission statement, "I will continue the early ministry of Jesus Christ." Through whatever avenue of life the Lord calls me to, the mandate stays the same, save the lost, revive the saved and disciple them all. Love and serve to the best of my abilities and allow my life to reflect Jesus more each day. I could spend hours upon hours evaluating my life and find areas of fault, but I know the Lord is leading me and I can not help but be filled with joy because of how faithful he is. I hope some of this has made some sense. Writing has never been something I enjoy doing, I can express myself much better if a guitar is placed in my hands, but for the time being this blog will have to do.
Our time in Amsterdam was absolutely amazing. We were able to lead a handful of people to the Lord. After they accepted Jesus, we set up times at local cafes and we were able to disciple them more and take them deeper into the Bible, setting them up for success, teaching them how to maintain a heart fully revived and knowing how to live a life for the Lord. The testimonies of our time there could honestly last for hours. I am in the process of editing our second update video where we share testimonies of the Lord leading us to a specific cafe and having our waitress encounter the love of Jesus and accepting Jesus as her Lord and Savior, healings of deafness, and our team leading out in worship and ministry for a church of over 1000. I have finished one video and will post it below. If you have a smart phone, I am on an app called Voxer; I am able to send pictures and short messages through wifi. If you are wanting to receive pictures/testimonies straight to your phone of my time here in England I would love for you to add me. The times we live in are exciting and I want to share all that is happening.
I know the broke missionary thing to do is after sharing wild testimonies is to share the financial needs, BUT I am not a broke missionary; I serve a faithful God and He is a father who loves to provide! That being said, if you would like to be a part of contributing to my flight home to meet my new nephew, I would cheerfully receive!
In my next blog I will be sharing more vision for the coming months and what I feel the Lord is calling me to after I am done leading this team. Your support has truly changed my life! My desire is to be a voice to my generation to rise up and live fully for the Lord, I know this desire and mandate does not change based on location, so with that I will be spending some time home this summer (with small trips here and there staffing week long training schools in the US...and maybe in Norway). My time home will be spent with friends and family, resting and sharing with anyone who has an ear to hear of the beauty and freedom of Jesus Christ.
As I was reading last week in a book called the Big Ten, I read something that was so simple and a great reminder of the mandate on my life. "As a believer of Jesus Christ, we are called to know Him, His heart and characteristics, and should reflect Him to the world around us. We are called to continue His earthly ministry". These short, simple, yet heart provoking two sentences have truly captivated me for the past week and the question that still lingers is, how do I continue the earthly ministry of Jesus more than I already am? Today I feel like I have come to the answer of that question, the answer is, I do nothing more. Yes that's right, I continue doing the same thing. The question of how to continue his early ministry has now become more of a mission statement, "I will continue the early ministry of Jesus Christ." Through whatever avenue of life the Lord calls me to, the mandate stays the same, save the lost, revive the saved and disciple them all. Love and serve to the best of my abilities and allow my life to reflect Jesus more each day. I could spend hours upon hours evaluating my life and find areas of fault, but I know the Lord is leading me and I can not help but be filled with joy because of how faithful he is. I hope some of this has made some sense. Writing has never been something I enjoy doing, I can express myself much better if a guitar is placed in my hands, but for the time being this blog will have to do.
Our time in Amsterdam was absolutely amazing. We were able to lead a handful of people to the Lord. After they accepted Jesus, we set up times at local cafes and we were able to disciple them more and take them deeper into the Bible, setting them up for success, teaching them how to maintain a heart fully revived and knowing how to live a life for the Lord. The testimonies of our time there could honestly last for hours. I am in the process of editing our second update video where we share testimonies of the Lord leading us to a specific cafe and having our waitress encounter the love of Jesus and accepting Jesus as her Lord and Savior, healings of deafness, and our team leading out in worship and ministry for a church of over 1000. I have finished one video and will post it below. If you have a smart phone, I am on an app called Voxer; I am able to send pictures and short messages through wifi. If you are wanting to receive pictures/testimonies straight to your phone of my time here in England I would love for you to add me. The times we live in are exciting and I want to share all that is happening.
I know the broke missionary thing to do is after sharing wild testimonies is to share the financial needs, BUT I am not a broke missionary; I serve a faithful God and He is a father who loves to provide! That being said, if you would like to be a part of contributing to my flight home to meet my new nephew, I would cheerfully receive!
In my next blog I will be sharing more vision for the coming months and what I feel the Lord is calling me to after I am done leading this team. Your support has truly changed my life! My desire is to be a voice to my generation to rise up and live fully for the Lord, I know this desire and mandate does not change based on location, so with that I will be spending some time home this summer (with small trips here and there staffing week long training schools in the US...and maybe in Norway). My time home will be spent with friends and family, resting and sharing with anyone who has an ear to hear of the beauty and freedom of Jesus Christ.
The last year and a half has passed like a breeze, but at the same time it feels like my journey with YWAM started so long ago. I am excited to continue working with YWAM and continue sharing the Love of Jesus wherever I go.
Peace & Blessings y'all. : )
My paypal email is: Joseph@equinoxvisual.com
If you would like to send a tax deductible donation, send me an email at Joseph@equinoxvisual.com and I will give you all the info necessary to fulfill that desire.
Here is a short video update from my team that I made.
Here is a promo video of the Circuit Rider training schools I will be apart of staffing over the summer.
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