Mariana Missions
YWAM Pittsburgh
Weekly Campus Outreaches at University of Pittsburgh
Above is a group photo of this fall's DTS students along with YWAM staff at one of our outreaches. During the Fall and Spring lecture phases of our DTS, all our staff and students come together for evangelism at one of our universities downtown. Many of our outreaches consist of sharing the wordless book (the gospel presented in colors), praying for people, Soularium tables, hot chocolate stands or simply just talking to people and sharing the gospel.
Kids Club
We wrapped up this season of Kids Club with an awesome Christmas party! We had around 40 kids come celebrate with us. We decorated cookies, they took part in a nativity skit, got gifts and even decorated some staff members as Christmas Trees.
Girls Group: Painting With A Purpose
I have been offered an opportunity to start a girls group with our local recreational center. A friend of mine and I have partnered together to offer a time of crafts and ministry time with some local middle and high school girls, while the boys are involved with the basketball and all that YWAM Pittsburgh men have to offer. We have had a really great turn out weekly, and look forward to diving into some heavy topics with the girls when the new year begins.
Concord Elementary School
God has opened a door for us to begin a program within our local public elementary school to start up a mentoring program. Every week once a week, we have two groups back to back from ages k-5 and have an activity/lesson prepared for them. We have complete freedom to speak Jesus' name in the halls of this public school. It is an incredible opportunity that we don't want to miss out on! In our older group of kids, we have two students who are part of the LGBTQ community. One of which is transgender and the other uses they/them pronouns.
As leaders and proclaimers of truth, we are give this special task to share the truth in love, but without compromise. I personally have been able to speak truth into our transgender student who was upset during our class time. I got to pull them aside, listen to their story and share my own testimony of how I struggled with my identity. Maybe not in the same way, but the journey of self discover and worth is part of everyone's story in some way.
Final Thoughts
That's a wrap everyone! Another year in the books. I don't know about you all, but 2022 has been quite the year for me.
I will be honest, this year has not been easy on me. It was a year of surrender, wrestling, endurance and hope. By His love, God has patiently taught me that He is trustworthy. Wow, it still blows my mind to this day. The fact that the creator of all things is willing to prove He is worthy of our trust. He shouldn't have to prove anything, but because of His goodness and desire for our hearts to willingly choose Him, He patiently pursues us by proving His faithfulness even when we are not.
Many days and nights I struggled with relying on what I know is truth, despite my feelings. It's been a journey, but truly a lifestyle change. Learning how to rely on what I know is true about God's character regardless of how I am feeling or even what my circumstances look like. It is a skill that every believer desperately needs to learn. It is probably one of the hardest lessons to learn, but coming out the other side, has changed my life forever. It is my foundation. No matter what I face in this world, it does not matter because the facts I know to be true of God's character and nature will always remain the same. It will not change, not even slightly.
I encourage you to pray and ask the Lord to take you through this lesson. Through this discovery I have fallen more and more in love with God and myself in the process. Therefore, in return been able to love others better. This is something that you can't truly learn until you walk it out for yourself.
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