It was Mother’s Day morning, and our team had packed into a small room to pray for the upcoming service. The pastor had asked all eleven of our team members to share a brief message. As I prayed, I distinctly felt a nudge from the Lord to change my message. God wanted me to speak on the importance of forgiveness. Someone in the room needed to call their mom. The more I prayed, the more I knew God was directing. It seemed my heart was going to beat out of my chest. Now, I’m not one to fly by the seat of my pants. I like to have a plan. I’ll spend hours preparing a message and practicing before I share. I tend to stumble and stutter when nervous, so I like to have time to polish my words. Yet, there was no time for polishing. So, I asked God to help me say all He wanted me to and prayed for reconciliation in broken relationships. The service was clearly guided by the Holy Spirit. You would think after eleven mini-messages, we’d be longing for the time to end, but actually it was the opposite.
Afterwards, a young man shared with me he hadn’t planned on calling his mom for Mother’s Day because of the brokenness in their relationship, but after hearing me share, he knew he had to. I was able to follow-up with him the next day as well to find out if he actually called his mom. With a smile on his face, he said he had. My heart rejoiced at God’s great love for this young man and knew that a bridge towards healing and restoration in his life had been built simply because I trusted and obeyed. Praise the Lord!
“You know, sometimes all you need is 20 seconds of insane courage. Just literally 20 seconds of just embarrassing bravery. And I promise you, something great will come of it.” (quote from We Bought A Zoo)
This story was one of many 20 seconds of courage moments I had on this trip. Actually, the entire team has stories of how God prompted courageous moments, and we did see great things come out of it as a result. Ministering amongst the native Alaskans, and in the church communities of Wasilla, Naknek, and Homer will forever be etched on my heart. We hope to stay connected with newfound friends in the Last Frontier.
Following Jesus Rarely Requires Foresight
Throughout the last six months during YWAM’s School of Evangelism, God has been high-lighting the words “Follow Me.” It seems everywhere I turn, I hear these words ringing through scriptures, messages, and songs. There’s much in life I don’t understand, honestly, but the Lord doesn’t ask me to understand. He simply asks me to follow! It really is simple. Yet, too often I make it difficult. When faced with the next step what if, how, when, where, why, and but thoughts will fill my mind and quickly provoke fear and worry within. God’s response to all these statements is the same every time,
“Do you love and trust Me, Amy?”
Yes, Lord, You know I do!”
“Then, Follow Me!”
Recently I read the story of Jesus calling Peter, James, and John to follow Him from Luke 5. They had been fishing all night with nothing to show for their hard work. Jesus got into the boat and told Peter to go where it was deeper and let down the nets. Peter didn’t understand and was tired from the hard work he had already been engaging in on the sea, but he obeyed regardless. The end result was a catch beyond his wildest imagination. There were so many fish, they had to get help from a neighboring boat. After returning to shore, these uneducated fishermen left everything behind to follow Jesus. Their lives were never the same as a result.
As Richard and I follow Jesus, He has us embarking upon deep, uncharted waters. We graduate from the school this Wednesday and are making plans to become staff members here at the YWAM Tyler base. Many of the details have not been ironed out. Actually there’s a lot we don’t really know or understand, but understanding isn’t needed to follow Jesus. We will follow Him and cast our nets in these uncharted waters simply because we love and trust Him.
On May 28th we have planned to fly to Seattle to spend a week with Kyle and Kelly. We are so excited for this opportunity to see them. We then will head east to see our friends and family in SC and NC. It will be nice to reconnect with our dear loved ones. Lord willing, we will load up a moving truck and relocate to Texas on June 28th. Because there is no available housing on the campus, we are looking for housing options in neighboring communities. Currently, we still don’t have our housing worked out and are waiting on the Lord to equip us to take this step. As we’ve knocked on doors for housing, we’ve continually been reminded to trust Him. Faithful is He who calls you, and He will also bring it to pass (1 Thess. 5:24). Many details need to come together, but we have confidence that the Lord will work it all out in His time and way.
Please continue to pray for us as we cast our nets. Satan has tried to discourage us along the way. We have felt the heat of his fiery arrows, but God has helped us daily to hold up our shield of faith, so we can keep on the path He has laid out before us. We know your prayers are making a difference in our lives. As doors open and God establishes our feet here in Texas, we will keep you updated. I have a feeling the stories will be awe-inspiring. They always seem to be when one follows Jesus.
Amy
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Richard and Amy Fish 