When we moved to Texas to join staff at YWAM Tyler, we thought we had figured out what God was doing in our lives. Okay, let’s just be honest, if ever you have a similar thought, chances are something different is about to happen.
Though I’ve always loved the area of communications, both oral presentation and written, I never imagined myself deeply engrossed in it like I am now. The power of the written and spoken word in many ways is immeasurable.
I shared recently about my friend Mark from Haiti, whom I communicated with for over a year before he was able to come here for discipleship training. During his 13 weeks on our campus, I’ve enjoyed watching the transformation of his life. This past Friday he and his team left for outreach to India for a little more than a month. On Monday he was still short over a thousand dollars, yet by a provisional miracle, Tuesday morning he had all his money for the outreach. I took him shopping that evening to buy him some needed supplies for the trip. It was a blast cruising through Walmart as the amount of options seemed overwhelming. It was fun watching him excitedly hold up pants and shoes, elated they were in his size! After finally settling on his favorites, he was ready to go! Thank you for praying for him.
Leveraging social media to publish God’s awesome works is another way we are sharing with the nations. We have fun doing it too. Our Instagram following just hit 5k and we decided to celebrate with the 5 thousandth follower and send them some free merchandise. She’d not heard of YWAM before, so after getting her info, we set up a time for our call team to chat with her on the phone. It was really special. After receiving her free gifts, she posted this on Instagram. It brought a smile to my face, as I realized everything we do matters for the Kingdom.
Two weeks ago, the Family DTS leaders asked me to share in the classroom leading up to their last week on campus before outreach. My first session with them was filled with stories of how God has been so incredibly gracious in our lives. Our stories opened up many questions these families had about doing missions / ministry as a family. It was awesome. The second day I brought my favorite team building exercise, “The Lego Challenge.” We laughed and learned so much about ourselves during this time. This is one of my Hallmark moments to date here at YWAM Tyler. I love every opportunity I get to teach.
If you’ve been keeping up with our journey here at YWAM Tyler, you know that Amy has taken on teaching at Christian Heritage School this year. Amy teaching here wasn’t part of our original plan in coming to Texas, but her giftings in teaching and communicating with the students reminds me of how important her role in training the next generation truly is.
CHS is quite an amazing environment to provide an educational experience for students to build their worldview in all subjects through the lens of the Bible. At the beginning of the school year, Amy asked me to come teach Frankenstien for a couple sessions since it’s in my wheelhouse of expertise.
Teaching the complicated story of Mary Shelly’s life, and what might be the real message behind Frankestein through the lens of “who is God” and “what is man,” was just incredible. This is just one of many examples of how principle based education works.
Amy recently completed one of her favorite exercises with her Bible class. It’s called
“The Scribal Project.” Each student took a couple chapters of the Gospel of Mark and hand-wrote it word for word, no verse number, no chapter headings. Then we made a scroll to hold their hard work. We wouldn’t have God’s word today if it wasn’t for these scribes that dedicated their lives to preserving the scriptures. This project always raises awareness and appreciation. One student remarked that she felt a real closeness to God when copying the Word and another reflected that it was an honor to carefully write out each verse.
Audrey has taken on more leadership this year in the area of communication as well. She’s continuing to be part of a team called “Space For The Spirit,” which is a group of students passionate about prayer and worship for their peers.
While helping me as well with managing our ongoing, daily, social media projects for YWAM Tyler, she’s also started overseeing the Instagram account for her school CHS. After sharing the vision of how to create an engaging Instagram for CHS with her principle, she was released to see this project get off the ground. You can follow the school’s publications @christianheritagetyler on Instagram.
What an eventful month it’s been. A few more events I’ve left off and will share with you next time. We are truly grateful for all the prayer support and financial support given to allow us to volunteer with YWAM like we do. You are are a part of each of these stories. The extension of your support reaches through us and blesses others. You are a vital part in advancing God’s kingdom. Thanks for being part of our team.
I suppose we will always have specific needs to be met in order to continue in this work. As the cost of living continues to rise, we pray our monthly support would as well. Commodities like health care, housing, cars, computers, etc. are so important in the work we do. We keep these needs before the Lord and ask Him to supply all that we need to accomplish His will. As you pray for us, please pray for God’s provision in our lives as missionaries with YWAM.
God bless. We love you all.
Richard and Amy Fish 