My life needed redirection

As a burnt out special education teacher, I was desperate for anything different. At this point, I was wondering if maybe I was too desperate.

I reached for the clock before it went off at 4:30a.m. Why had I even bothered to set it? I’d hoped that sleep would find me and bring a temporary reprieve from the day I now faced. It didn’t. Things had been set in motion, and I had to respond to the day’s cruel schedule. That fateful day was in 1976. I would learn in the future, sadly much too late, that this was my only child’s life.

Loneliness was a heavy weight I was bearing. I was grieving the loss of beloved friends. Never again would I see their smile or hear their laughter. I wouldn't be able to share life with them anymore, in times of rejoicing and times of sorrow, nor would I ever be able to hug them again.

Go ahead, call me biased, but I believe YWAM Tyler has some of the best teachers out there. Not only do they impart Truth, but they also unleash Love. C.S. Lewis once said, "The task of the modern educator is not to cut down jungles, but to irrigate deserts." Our teachers value each student and believe in the more that God has for them. They're willing to plow the weathered soil of hearts to help people discover real and lasting freedom. Their love for Jesus is infectious, and I'm thankful for the investment each one has made here. During #TeacherAppreciationWeek, we're recognizing a few of the many awesome teachers God has brought our way. 

Life is, often, not what you plan for yourself but unfolds in ways that may be surprising.

I took my first mission trip, with my office team to Lubbock, Texas! It was my first outreach as a full time missionary with YWAM Tyler! None of us were students following leaders nor were there students following us. It was just us, a team of six full time missionaries, going into all the world to make disciples. Check out my photo journey of this outreach!

What do families entering missions need?

What must a training program provide in order to adequately prepare a whole family for a life of missions?

Reflecting on my own family's experience, I can now sum up these needs in two words: Partnership and Participation.

Tyler Tom is always on the hunt for amazing, true God-stories around the YWAM Tyler campus, and this one blew us all away! Join us as we travel with Derek Sandiford (one of our beloved South African staff members) on an unforgettable outreach journey...

It was 2016, and by a miracle of God's eleventh-hour provision I had landed in Mexico with the rest of my classmates on our School of Evangelism outreach. We were hosted by YWAM Creel, a base located in the mountainous Chihuahua region of Mexico. One of our exciting team projects was to create an agricultural garden using the contours of the earth to generate a self-watering system. We tried to enlist the services of the base's skid-loader to help us in this project, but all attempts to get this machine started met with failure. Because I'm handy with machines, I checked it over and determined it was in need of new filters. Willy, our host at YWAM Creel, offered to drive me to town to find the necessary replacements.

However, being in the remote mountains of northern Mexico as we were, this was no small undertaking. Quite unlike a trip to the local auto-parts store in America, this was going to be a full day's outing! To reach town we had to carefully navigate along a steep dirt road, made all the more treacherous by recent rainfall. We also had to pass through a checkpoint manned by military commandos, which Willy thankfully negotiated with skill in his fluent Spanish.

Commandos behind us, we continued our slip-sliding journey until, a little further down the road, we encountered a local man unsuccessfully attempting to coax a tipper-truck up the mountain. His vehicle was struggling to get any traction on the slippery road surface, causing him to lose more ground than he was gaining. Willy and I immediately pulled over and offered to help the guy. From the back of his Chevy truck, Willy produced a length of strong rope which we attached to the tipper-truck, securing it tightly to the Chevy's rear bumper. My job was to jump up and down repeatedly on the truck bed to enable our tires to gain traction on the slippery road. Meanwhile, Willy revved the engine to full power, straining the rope close to breaking point as we inched forward. Progress was slow, as we negotiated the many twists and turns and gradually gained ground up the mountain. I was sweating profusely with the exertion of repeated bouncing while working to maintain my balance on this hazardous journey. With each bounce, I strained to glimpse the muddy road ahead of us, willing our convoy onwards and upwards

Finally, I noticed with relief that we were approaching an area where the tipper-truck driver would be able to carry on independently. I willed my weary body to keep jumping, directing all my strength into each bounce with increasing determination.

And then, suddenly, I experienced a moment that changed everything...

I felt my feet push off the metal truck bed, as they had so many times already. But this time as I strained my eyes to see the road ahead of us, I was greeted only by a vision of clear blue sky. The familiar road had completely disappeared. In that awful instant I realized the Chevy had slid off the road and was now airborne - tumbling helplessly over the steep mountainside with tipper-truck in tow. My legs vibrated with an unnatural hollow sound as I landed on a truck bed no longer in contact with the earth. In spite of myself, my eyes squeezed tight as I mentally prepared for the crash at the end of this ride which I believed would propel me straight into heaven. I held my breath. And waited.... waited... NOTHING. Curiosity overcame fear as my eyes snapped open once again. To my utter astonishment, we were back on the road. The sensation of weightlessness evaporated and our convoy resumed our winding ascent of the mountain road. IT HAD ALL HAPPENED IN AN INSTANT.

YWAM Tyler has a rich history that started in New Jersey then led to California and finally ended up here in East Texas. God has shown up in many miraculous ways to guide, provide, and protect throughout the journey. Herb and Sue Haines share their stories of God's faithfulness showing up in surprising ways.

If you're lacking confidence, than this story is for you! Taylor shares about her experience during a training school at YWAM Tyler that changed her life and boosted her confidence. 

 YWAM Tyler has the privilege of hosting several ministries in the East Texas area. The Journey is located right off Interstate 20 and is a unique ministry seeking to bless people with good drink, delicious food, and most of all loving and gracious service. Everyone is on a journey of some sort, and it is the desire of those who run this coffeehouse that as they step into this business, God's love will be encountered in a special way. Many have entered this business to receive a warm drink, but they've left with warm hearts. 

My family and I were very excited and ready for what God had for us. We looked at the cost of the plane tickets for all four of us to travel. $5,000 USD. Our hearts sank. There was no way we could afford this.