ME: Who am I?

GOD: Marina: Sea Harbor ~ one who leads people to the living waters

ME: What does that even mean? (rolls eyes)

GOD: Allow me to show you.

We started off our YWAM Discipleship Training School (DTS) Outreach in Virginia serving at a Christian private school. Our DTS class was asked to be small group leaders at a middle through high school conference. As I was waiting at a table for the students to arrive, I decided to take the extra time to pray and seek God's heart for these students.

I still owed $750 on tuition, and the $1,000 for the outreach plane ticket was due that day as well. The trip to Greece was in just three weeks, and I was going to need an additional $2,000 on top of the airline ticket. I had no idea where this money was going to come from. Basically, I was freaking out.

I came to YWAM Tyler primarily to study and improve my English. The thought of being in a Christian environment while learning English encouraged me. However, God had higher thoughts about my journey.

YWAM outreaches are always life-changing! Recently, we had another group of amazing students graduate one of YWAM Tyler's missionary training schools. Students traveled to South Korea, Hungary, and Romania to share the love of Jesus with everyone they encountered in these lands. We always love to hear testimonies of what God is doing in students' lives during their travels. These stories are so encouraging! God is winning in the nations 😃 ❤️

During this season of my life, very few things are more gratifying than seeing people I have cried for, prayed for, laughed with, counseled, and shared life with for months say “YES” to God. And that is exactly what I have experienced this month with Jonna, Brody, and Landon coming to YWAM Tyler for a Discipleship Training School (DTS).

I met these three in Lubbock on a recent trip where I planted a seed, then watched God lead them over the course of eight months to YWAM. This is exactly what I was hoping for when I went to South Texas on outreach with a team of committed friends from YWAM Tyler.

During my School Of Evangelism (SOE), we traveled to Greece and Kosovo for outreach. It was a night to evanglize in the City of Thessaloniki. Evangelism is a time to freely allow the Lord to guide and direct our steps in a time and place. So as I was walking in the square with a group of people, I felt the Lord tell me to go to the other side of the square to a bench with two men sitting on it. Knowing the Lord was directing me there and not wanting fear to hold me back, I quickly crossed the square to sit with them and started a conversation.

On a recent Discipleship Training School (DTS) outreach to Mexico, Kelsey overcame fear by obeying God's leading. Her story is an encouragement to us all to not give in to fear but instead to step out in faith.

“What the heck am I doing?!?” I thought as we were approaching the prison for ministry. A group of DTS, Discipleship Training School, students and I were ready to go into a prison to minister to inmates in Pachuca, Mexico, but my thoughts started to make me anxious, “What’s it going to be like in there?” “Will it be safe?”

 A few weeks ago, sitting in the office of my probation officer, we began a conversation much like we do each visit, about current global events/disasters/atrocities, which inevitably leads to the big question, “What really is God’s perspective on it all?”

I believe poverty has no place in the Kingdom of God. Scripture tells us that the Church's mandate to preach the gospel also includes meeting the needs of the poor.

In recent years God has been stirring my heart with the desire to develop low-cost, space-efficient housing to meet the needs of people in impoverished communities around the globe. This has led me to develop a revolutionary house design, which I have now built as a prototype in the AgTech department of YWAM Tyler.

“Daughter, can’t you see that I’m right here?”...

One day a teacher in my Discipleship Training School (DTS) was talking about The Great Commission. You know, those verses at the end of Matthew, those words we Christians hear so often? “Go and make disciples of all nations.” Those words had always seemed so overwhelming to me.