I am really excited for the New Year. I think God has good things in store and I believe for many things to come to pass. I still really have a heart for Brazil. It seems to increase all the time.I see doors open, but I don’t know how it will all come together. I want to study in Brazil the language of Portuguese so much. It has been my dream for the past 15 years to go back more long term to the land and people group I really love. My church is going short-term for 10 days. I have an invite from my friend Mabel to come and study, plus YWAM has open arms to help start an English as a Second Language School. So please pray for me.I have the openings, but not the provisions. My friend reminded me yesterday the beauty of humble beginnings and how foundational they are. It seems like God has stripped away all my self-dependence and I find a great deal of freedom in all that has been shed. I really feel free to live a less cluttered life and with my heart in the right place, I know God is going to bless entering into this year even lighter with arms opened wide.I will be substituting in the North Penn School District this month. I will pray and see what God does.
Aloha! I have returned from the University of the Nations in Hawaii! I hope you are doing well and have enjoyed your summer season. I am flowing into a new rhythm of life being back in PA, and have been happy to reconnect with familiar faces. God has provided for me to be substituting this fall in public school and participating in the course Elijah House School of Prayer Counseling. However, I also miss the amazing people I met along the path of discipleship in the Pacific Ocean and am eager to return. I thought this month I would show you some glimpses of the people you partnered with while helping me to follow God at the YWAM Base in Kona and give you a glimpse into my future.
My vision and purpose is to share Jesus with those that have never tasted the goodness of God, to bring others back to their first love, and stand with the suffering church. I truly want to encourage people to follow the creative design that God that He has placed on each one of our lives and to willingly place that in God’s hands. I want to walk side by side, training, and releasing healing through prayer support to each one along my path. In a book I recently read, “A Beautiful Way An Invitation to a Jesus-Centered Life by Dan Baumann, he sums it up in a few simple principles 1.We need to ask God to give us revelation of who He is. 2. We learn to trust God in the process of the journey and then we begin to understand more and more about his character. 3 We need to put others first and trust that God will provide for our own needs”. I have been very encouraged learning how to live this way and how to bear fruit that stems from my obedience. One of my high points of living in Kona was seeing students from 45 nations including Tajikistan, China, Kosovo, Mongolia, Kazakhstan; all which have very limited outreach have the ability to receive Christian discipleship training. I found joy in seeing many students learn not only English, but widen their capacity to stand on biblical foundations in order to expand their ministries. I look forward to impacting the un-reached more and more, and thank you for your prayers and partnership in such a beautiful way of living.
Much love, JoEllen
Partners: Important note -I will no longer be receiving donations through Storehouse Church. Instead I will utilize a support method that will allow for online giving called Colink.*All financial support will now go through Colink. Tax-exempt contributions can be sent to CoLink via one of three methods:
1.The convenience of your bank’s bill-paying function:
Vendor/Merchant is CoLink
Account Number is #810
2.Send checks, made payable to CoLink, with Account Number #810 in the memo line, to CoLink
16261 – 36th Ave NE
Lake Forest Park, WA 98155-66253.
3. Pay via PayPal at www.colinkonline.org. Designate the gift by putting #810 under “Note” at the end of the PayPal form.
Greeting from Hawaii that is peaceful again, after the crazy tsunami threat! We are thanking God for answers to prayer for mercy during the storm.
I want you to know that I am so grateful for you! I am blessed that the Holy Spirit has placed me on your hearts, and I feel privileged to partner with you. You each have made me feel fully encouraged to continue in my calling as a missionary with Youth With a Mission, it is your support that has made it possible! So thank you again, and again from the bottom of my heart.
Jesus says in 2 Corinthians 9:6 “Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously”. I have seen that I have been able to reap generously in spiritual blessings, because of that which each of you has sown within me. Furthermore, since September God has also allowed me to share with others, because He is so able to give what is needed for the moment. Thank you Jesus! I have been able to give (even out of my comfort zone at times), to abundantly bless others as a missionary. Jesus has fulfilled his promise to provide for me, as I have trusted him. I stepped forward, and have given of my life to follow God’s leading. The results have been a great deal of growing in my trust level to a God that is absolutely faithful.
During my time in “Fire and Fragrance” the YWAM missionary training school, God has clearly confirmed a long term calling to missions to reach un-evangelized people throughout the world. As you know, I had a scheduled trip to Afghanistan as apart of this school. However, God has a detour in this plan. He stopped me to consider the timing of this trip, and to wait for the yet to be met provisions of the budget. I have been listening to God’s voice, as I have been broken of figuring it all out by human reason. I decided instead to give God control to lead according to His will, to guide my steps and my life as he shows me how to adjust. I can honestly say this journey of following God has taught me much more about His character, and His voice, than actually reaching the final location in the Middle East.
I have discovered that as a missionary, I can error on the side of spending a lot of time drawing attention to my ministry needs that are truly pressing. This is because I know with certainty that I really want to serve and fulfill the great commission. However, what has come forth is the reality that I am committed to serving God and others, no matter the location. I resonated with my base leader this week as he gently reminded the missionaries “it is not about us”. He is right! It is about sharing in God’s plan. In addition, I have increased my heart for people to know Jesus and share his goodness with those around me. What I have figured out is that I can confidently say that the financial giving that has come thus far from you has flowed into a valuable training period. It has increased my love for God and developed within me more and more of an outward focus. In addition, that which has not come has not come to pass yet has not hindered me, but is just is sending me in a new direction and causing me to wait for the right time to share in the Muslim world. So this past week, I have decided to pursue instead a possible local outreach here on the island of Kaui for the 10 weeks of outreach. This is exciting, because recently I have connected with several young local Hawaiian girls. They are spiritually hungry, un-churched and want a spiritual mother. It has highlighted for me a special focus on God’s heart for the islands. The blessing in this is that with a local outreach possibility; I will be able to look forward to this time of fitting together a more defined plan for a longer term commitment as a missionary. Plus, it will not be as financially demanding. I will continue to count the cost, as I am attempting to build stronger foundations towards longer term ministry. I believe in time God will unfold how I will reach the darkest places with his love. I plan to be in PA in July and hope to present a live defined vision for future missions work and see so many people that I miss and give out a great deal of hugs!
I hope that you will continue to prayerfully lift me up in prayer in the coming weeks. Prayer is the greatest foundation in all that I do. During the time in our school we have learned about the marriage of the 24 hour prayer movement and missionary outreach. I have counted it a joy to daily be interceding corporately 15 hours a week for people all around the world. It is something I learned how to do during this training that will be apart of me for years to come! I also love that prayer is always a basis to position us for practical outreach. As I gain more details of my 10 week local outreach, I will forward them to you. Continue to check out my blog at joellenreynolds.blogspot.com for weekly updates.
Thank you for your continued giving, love and prayers it has made the kingdom of God advance!
Psalm 67:2“That your ways may be known on earth,
your salvation among all nations’.
Happy Thanksgiving to all and Aloha from Kona, Hawaii! I spent the day doing dishes for over 800 people from at least 60 different nations in the world! I am reminded this time of year, that I have much to be thankful for in my heart. First of all, coming to the University of the Nations to serve has allowed me to get a glimpse of how we will participate in heaven, because from every end of the earth we will come. Many of these people are my English as Second Language students, and many, many more are my housemates, which have become my good friends.
Secondly, God has provided for my financial needs since August, when I quit my job. This basically is a huge miracle! Thus, I have been given everything need to travel to Hawaii and live on a daily basis through the wonder of answered prayers, and the generous giving of others. This is not a small event at all, as the cost of living in Hawaii is not cheap. Therefore, being supplied for my needs thus far makes me feel grateful on a daily basis.
On the other hand, this journey has not been without challenges. At times, being the only English as a first language speaker at work and home can be lonely. In my apartment of 30 housemates, I am the only American. This has presented occasional difficulties to my feelings of intimacy and missing my family. In addition, my schedule has been full of teaching and meetings related to my volunteerism. At times, I am a bit physically tired and need good skills in making priorities. SO PLEASE CONTINUE TO PRAY FOR MY LAST 3 WEEKS IN THIS ROLE!
Overall, my time in Kona, Hawaii God has given me many people to love. I have grown in my mercy and understanding of God’s bountiful love. The Spirit of God has been speaking to me to pray in a way that I feel his heart for people. He has shown me the joy of knowing him, but the pain of his calling out to the world that doesn’t. I believe he is calling out deeper and to more people…. as the time nears for his return and to gather his children. In my heart I sense that God longs for the return of those that have lost their first love, those that have not tasted in the goodness of God, and that Jesus is grieving for the suffering church throughout the world. I really want to be one that is passionate for his name no matter what it costs. For me, that means I need to respond to his call to go to the hard places in theworld in the future. I don’t know where that will be, but as ironic as it sounds, God is preparing and imparting in my heart in Hawaii a willingness to go to places where I may suffer for the sake of sharing his goodness. Youth With a Mission has been a necessary part of the process, and I can affirm that that is has been the right place for me to be in this season of life.
As far as my next steps, God has provided an apartment for me to move into to during Christmas. A kind friend in Hawaii has given me his place to spend my holiday, while his family is away. This is a real provision for me! I will then start the DiscipleshipTraining School called “Fire and Fragrance” in January. I am excited as God has been stirring in my heart and be joined soon by my friend in PA, and I will move onto the campus. What I need at this point is all my finances for the school and my missionary outreach assignment for a total of $10,210 for my fees. Then, of course I have my own expenses like health insurance and personal needs. If you sense that God is asking you to be apart of this, I will be so grateful and your obedience to God. I really believe you will be blessed in your giving towards God’s purposes. I am so thankful for those that already have been behind me and know God is showering down blessing they can not contain.
Special Praises:
I now have transportation with my electric scooter- which makes life much more flexible!
My students have improved 100 percent in English and have grown in their desire to serve God!
God is preparing me for “Fire and Fragrance”!
Health and healing from my sinus problems.
Many opportunities to interact and pray for other people!
God gave a regular prayer partner and true friend in Mabel from Brazil allowing me use my Portuguese again!
Prayer Corner:
For financial provisions needed
For the upcoming changes in my role at the YWAM base (moving from English as a Second Language Teacher to a student learning to put in practice the 24 prayer movement) the would be covered with grace.
For the Christmas holiday away from family and close friends and 3 week move during that time.
Financial Giving: Storehouse Church/J.Reynolds YWAM Outreach P.O.Box 535 PlymouthMeeting, PA19462
Check payable to StorehouseChurch (write J.Reynolds YWAM in the memo section of all checks). . Giving is tax-deductible.
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