New Year Joys!
- Kayla Shenk
- Mar 1, 2023
- 4 min read
God is so good! These past few months, I am reminded over and over of God's kindness and I am filled with awe and wonder of what God is doing in our own region here in Lancaster and in the nations of the Earth! We know that we know that our family has been placed in the exact place God has ordained as we serve with YWAM Lancaster. It's not about an organization or one church or one region, it's about a move of God and we all get to partner together to advance the Kingdom of God! Each of us are commanded by Jesus to fulfill the great commission, to preach the Gospel and make disciples as we go and I am so grateful that God has brought us into a "presence-centered" community who is sold out for Knowing God and making Him Known!
NEW YEAR JESUS RALLLY
God moved powerfully at the Jesus Rally over New Year's! There were many salvations, baptisms, physical healing, and deliverances! Glory be to God!
New Year's Eve I got to pray with one precious teenager who was battling a spirit of suicide. As I began to pray for her, she started manifesting and I started declaring truth over her of what the Father says about her. She came to a place of peace and as we talked, she shared that she tried to take her life three times that year.
The Holy Spirit clearly showed me some "root lies" she was believing about herself. I led her through the "Gospel Process" that I learned through Life Awakening, and when she commanded the spirit of suicide to "come up and out and go to your burial plot in the grace with Christ Jesus", she began breathing normally and she felt it leave her! Her face changed and as we asked the Holy Spirit to fill her back up, close open doors, and forgive those who hurt her, God showed her how loved she was and how He was with her.
She encounter the Father's love and his Joy and she took a courageous step and shared her story on stage in front of everyone how God delivered her from the spirit of suicide! Everyone began celebrating wildly! It was an amazing moment! Then she decided to get baptized!
Glory be to God!
HUB LEARNING CENTER
It has been such a privilege to disciple my students at HLC. We believe HLC is more than education, it is a discipleship community focused on knowing God and making God known!
HLC is a place where students learn about the Father's heart, are equipped in hearing his voice, grow in boldness in intercession, build community, grow leadership skills, and grow a love for the nations, all while learning through hands-on experiences!
One of our high school students, Ava Martin, is creating newsletters for her leadership initiative project and I wanted to share January's edition with you. She is doing such a great job sharing highlights from our school for parents to read!
We had a wonderful time celebrating Jesus' birth and learning about how other cultures celebrate around the world! We even acted out the Nativity story for the school and our parents!
ENCOUNTER GROUP
Josiah and I haven't been involved with the Encounter group much this past year, but we have continued relationships with many young adults from the group. I had the opportunity to go to the New Year's retreat last month with the Encounter group at Refreshing mountain, and it was amazing to see how the group is being led and shepherd so well through the group leaders and Petra. The group is growing and changing and there were many new people there I had never met.
The day I was there, they had baptisms, and eight young adults got baptized! Some for the very first time, and some for the first time since they left the Amish church. It was so amazing to witness what God is continuing to do in the Amish community!
MINI DTS
YWAM Lancaster hosted thirty-two 8th graders from Linville Hill Christian School for a week-long intensive training.
The school leaders, and many of the students, have been praying for God to unite their school, and their prayers were more than answered!
The Holy Spirit radically encountered the students on the last night as they shared testimonies of how God had set them free. Some students were baptized in the Holy Spirit and there was reconciliation between the students and the school staff.
Josiah has been enjoying his role as kitchen manager at YWAM Lancaster. He has been leading the kitchen team, preparing menus, shopping for groceries, creating systems, and helping out in the kitchen as needed.
The new kitchen shed is complete and has been such a huge blessing to the base to feed students and staff!
PRAYERS & PRAISES
Praise God for amazing families at HLC and the10 students in my class and how God has been encountering their hearts!
Praise God for breakthrough in our marriage and a new level of freedom and friendship we have stepped into!
Please pray for spiritual covering over our family and our marriage
Please pray for health over our family and other students as we have been experiencing a lot of sickness this winter.
Please pray for our HLC Director Amanda Vargas as she is getting treatment in California for cancer.
We so appreciate each of you for your friendship, love, encouragement, prayers, and partnership as we serve God in Lancaster and see the Kingdom of Heaven come on earth as it is in Heaven!
-The Shenks
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