***August 5, 2012 update: I am waiting for my long-term visa so I can return to Brazil with YWAM. Should be here any day now. :)***
July 15, 2012
Dear Friends, Family, Encouragers, Supporters,
Well, I made it back from YWAM Recife, Brazil in one piece. And can you believe I am getting ready to go back?
July 15, 2012
Dear Friends, Family, Encouragers, Supporters,
Well, I made it back from YWAM Recife, Brazil in one piece. And can you believe I am getting ready to go back?
It is really difficult to summarize 5 months into a couple of paragraphs but I want to share with you about this time in my life and also what is next for me.
YWAM or Youth With a Mission is the largest Christian missionary organization in the world with 1,000 locations in over 180 countries with a staff of over 18,000 – all unpaid missionaries. I first became interested in YWAM when my friend and mentor gave me an autobiography by a YWAM missionary in 2003 and said, “Here, the girl in this book reminds me of you.” My life was forever changed from that moment on. After numerous short-term mission trips over the next 9 years, I finally left my job at the hospital in 2011 and started on the grand adventure as a full-time missionary with YWAM. And I have never looked back. This is where I am supposed to be, no doubt about it.
The last 5 months in Brazil included a 3 month lecture phase and a 2 month outreach or practical phase. Together this 5 month period is called DTS – Discipleship Training School. All YWAM missionaries must attend a DTS before they can be on staff with YWAM. YWAM believes you cannot successfully be a missionary and help others if you have unresolved unforgiveness, bitterness, and hurts from your past that you are still holding onto. You cannot give from God to others what you don’t have. So the first 3 months of the lecture phase focused on ourselves, which I was honestly completely unprepared for. It was an emotional and wonderful time of healing, peace, release, and surprisingly…rest for my soul. And it was such a beautiful base to find that rest – 33 acres of gorgeous Brazilian rain forest.
One of the highlights of that time were living and doing life with the 21 other students from 9 different countries. It was such a rich time of learning from each other and getting to see the world through their eyes. Another highlight was having a mandatory one hour 6am meditation/quiet time with the Lord. God started immediately speaking to me left and right during this time and I told my discipleship leader I felt like I needed to stop, drop, and journal every 10 minutes what God was showing me. I learned that I could not afford to not have quiet time with God everyday. God wanted to speak to me! We also had a mandatory group intercession time in the chapel every morning before class and we boldly prayed for nations, the world, and my faith increased so much during this time. Prayer is so powerful!
Then came the 2 month outreach phase. Our class divided into 2 groups: half went to England and half (myself included) went to Sao Paulo, Brazil. Outreach was crazy, fun, exhausting, adventurous, and completely indescribable. Over the next 2 months, our team of 12 moved 7 times and lived in 5 churches and in 2 houses/apartments. We met with schools, prisons, street children, hospitals, assisted living facilities, favelas (drug lord-controlled slum areas), soccer (futbol) projects with inner-city kids, numerous churches and ministries, the government of Sao Paulo, and evangelized on the streets. We presented our anti-drug, anti-violence Christ-centered skits. We gave our testimonies. We invited people to church and prayed over them. We fed and clothed the homeless. We gave presentations. We sang and danced. Every day was so different and we were always so busy.
The highlight for me during the outreach phase was the most simple concept I had ever seen. One night at around 1am, we met at a church and joined their ministry I dubbed “the Jesus bus”. Once or twice a week, they loaded up an ancient, brown mini-bus with bread and tons of hot chocolate (it was very cold at night in Sao Paulo). We took this bus out and parked under a huge bridge underpass. Way up under the underpass, behind a large dirt berm was an invisible (to us) cavern where dozens of homeless lived. We waited patiently for about 10 minutes before one-by-one they started making their way down the steep hill to us. Have you ever had one of those “frozen moments” in life, where the scene freezes and you know you will never forget this moment in your life? This was that moment for me. Drug addicts, teen girls, transvestites came down the hill and gratefully received the hot chocolate and bread. We invited them to church, asked if they wanted prayer (all of them did), and spent time getting to know them. It was so simple, yet so powerful…and the absolute highlight of my entire time in Brazil. Before I prayed over a transvestite named Renato, the pastor whispered to me not to shut my eyes while I prayed as I could easily be stabbed in the stomach if my eyes were closed. I just smiled and felt perfect peace that God was protecting me. This is exactly where I’m supposed to be. I’ve waited all my life for this moment.
Surprisingly, a few weeks later in Sao Paulo - a city of 20 million people, the largest city in South America - I saw Renato, the very same man, on another street corner begging for money. I surprised the new pastors we were with by rolling down my window and yelling Renato’s name. He came over and smiled and shook my hand and we chatted for a bit in Portuguese. Seeing him again reminded me to pray daily for this guy who used to go to church with his mom when he was little and now was a homeless transvestite. And it reminded me that as D.T. Niles says, I’m just one beggar telling another where to find bread.
So, what’s next? I really enjoyed my DTS and I really like YWAM’s philosophy. They are really focused on evangelism and on helping the needy. The YWAM base I attended even had a home on the base for street boys…boys who were homeless and lived on the streets. I also like how they prepare people to be missionaries. So….Lord willing, I am returning to Brazil at the end of July to become staff for the next DTS class. I will mentor and disciple 3 to 4 English-speaking girls while they attend the classroom phase and walk beside them as they heal and also get peace for their souls. And then it is a possibility that I will help lead the outreach phase as well. I would also like to work with the street kid ministry that is a mobile team that goes out at midnight on the weekends. With all my training in child development, child psychology, and child life, it is a heartache to see young kids growing up on the streets.
I would like to stay with YWAM for a few years at least. I am interested in many things and many countries, and YWAM has diverse opportunities all over the world. In 2013, YWAM is starting a Medical DTS, which I am also looking into.
God is just showing me what is ahead in the next week or so, and is requiring that I trust Him to have my future in His hands. And for once, I am letting go and enjoying being surprised. It is a fun place to be! And I know the ONE in control has great plans for my life. Jeremiah 29:11 I am resting in that peace for my future.
Thank you for your support and prayers and love. I couldn’t have done it without you. I pray God blesses you in the way you have blessed me. (Prov. 11:25). Deus te abencoe! Abracos, Joy Daugherty
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