Hello friends and family!
We apologize that it has been longer than usual for us to get this next update out to you! It has been a very eventful and full last 2 months--wonderful but full. We hope you all had amazing holiday seasons and got time with your families in the midst of all the chaos.
In our last update, we mentioned that our school had just left for outreach and within a few days we were about to leave for Mexico. We went to spend time with the family Karis n
annied for back in the States who have become our close friends--even family--the Haugens! It was such an amazing time and we felt so blessed and loved by their generosity of bringing us out to Mexico on their family vacation. Karis was extra ecstatic to have so much time with the kids and couldn’t believe how much all 4 kids had grown. She had her year made when the kids saw her for the first time in a year and a half and ran to tackle her with hugs! We had packed days of pool and ocean time and were able to help watching the kids so that the parents, Andy and Erin, could get either time alone or special time with one or two of the kids. We were also able to celebrate Thanksgiving with them, which was so special. We haven’t had Thanksgiving with family for a couple years so it was such a treat to celebrate it with family! We left the week with sleepy bodies but full hearts (props to all of you that take large families on vacation!).
After our wonderful week in Mexico we began a 73 hour travel journey to our next destination! Before that, our last longest travel time had been 54 hours, so we now have a new record--wonder how long until we break that one! It was a long journey, but we had fun along the way and were so excited when we finally arrived! As mentioned in our last update, we are not able to name the place we were or say too much about our time there. Karis is hoping to create a little video to share privately with those of you that follow along, and when we come home for a short season we would love to share lots more in person! What we can share is that it was an incredible time. God was so faithful through the whole trip, in our lives and others. We saw His handiwork in powerful and mighty ways, Holy Spirit truly had his way in peoples lives and hearts. There was healing of minds, hearts and bodies, deliverance in peoples lives, and growth in understanding Gods Word and love. We felt so incredibly honored to be apart of this community with such amazing people, people hungry for more of God and eager to share Him in their own land no matter the risks. We felt we learned so much from them every day and grew in even closer friendship with some individuals there who we have been intentional with the last couple years. God continued to speak direction, vision, and clarity about our future in this place. The time didn’t come without spiritual warfare and feelings of confusion and discouragement but our God is so much bigger. These things did not rule our time, but were overcome by His grace and kindness. We also were able to spend Christmas and new years eve here, which we really enjoyed! Sam especially enjoyed all the hours of barbecuing and eating various meats, while Karis enjoyed her special potatoes!
While we were in this nation, our school was in 4 teams in different nations around the world! They had really amazing times and God worked beautifully and powerfully through them and in them. They continued to be stretched and grown, seeing things through God’s eyes as they worked through discomfort, their own pre conceived ideas, and learned the beauty of the people and cultures of the places they went. They also saw many people healed, people come to Christ for the first time--even in closed country’s where it can be so rare to see ‘fruit’--people grow and learn more about Gods word and truth, and also be apart of mercy ministries in certain areas. So many of them felt so transformed by the time and all that God did and taught them. A good amount of our students left feeling a long term call to missions and a few of them feeling called to go back long term to the nation they were in on their 2 month long outreach. We feel so honored to be a part of what God does and is doing through these Discipleship Training Schools.
We arrived back to the Coast a week before our students and leaders came back and we were able to prepare their week of debriefing. We had such a sweet last week together, sharing, laughing, crying, trying to soak up every lesson and every moment. At the end of the week, we had their graduation where we could hear them share testimonies of all that God had done in their lives over this last season. God transformed people, in ways that we wouldn’t think possible, yet every school He does it. May we never loose that awe and wonder of watching God transform, heal, redirect, and call people. Over all, we can’t even put into words to how grateful we feel for the privilege of leading this last school. We went into it nervous, expecting stress, but eager to see God move. We came out feeling refreshed, excited, truly loving each person on the school, feeling so much personal growth and transformation, and amazed by the God we serve.
Although the turn overs between schools are so quick (this time we had 1 week before this next school, which arrives tomorrow), and can be emotionally difficult with the goodbye’s and not feeling like you can process everything fast enough, we wouldn’t trade it for anything. When we get overwhelmed thinking about having to say bye to students we have just poured our hearts out to and grown to love deeply, and having to quickly open our hearts again to do the same for a bunch of new students, it is quickly followed by Gods sweet reminder that this is an incredible privilege and honor. Worth while things many times come with sacrifices or hardships, but it doesn’t make them less worthwhile, and Gods grace is always consistent through it all, whether there are days we ‘feel’ it or not, its ALWAYS there.
Now, we are on the verge of the coming school and getting really excited for what is coming! We just finished an awesome week of staff training that was specifically focused on leadership. Each of us is being pushed into new ways of thinking and leading—stagnancy is the enemy! This school is being led by our base leader, John, who we both look up to and respect immensely and who has had a big role in supporting us here is Australia. Running alongside this DTS, will be a specialized Around the World DTS, led by our friend, Fleur, who has staffed more that 20 DTS’s and is a legend around our base for her dedication to God and her heart to disciple young people. The two schools will do many things together, including lectures, community outreach, and living, but will be separate for other specialized teachings and activities. Between the two schools there will be 52 students—the biggest intake ever! Needless to say, between our huge school and our awesome staff team, this school is going to be impactful.
There are many highlights that are in the future for this school, but one of the biggest is the chance to see the Haugen family again! We got to spend a week with them in Mexico as mentioned earlier, and in March, the Haugens are coming to the Sunshine Coast for five days! We are so excited to show them around our favourite spots and give them a taste of what things are like on this side of the world! We both love being able to show family and friends around this place that has become so dear to us and introduce them to the community that we are a part of, so this is a huge honour and something we are hugely looking forward to! (If any of you out there are even remotely interested in coming to Australia, we would LOVE to see you and show you around, so please contact us!)
Another defining aspect of this school for us will be that we are leading outreach! Come April, we will take a team of around 12 students with the rest of the DTS to Uganda to participate in a church planting initiative that has been in the works since last year’s outreach when we trialled the planting process with many Ugandan leaders, pastors, and churches. We are excited for this prospect and to go back to the place where many of our Ugandan friends will have been working for the last year and a half. There will definitely be more to come on this topic as we prepare more as a DTS and make preparations to go!
Over the next months, we are looking forward to telling all of you so much more about what God is doing in the school and our plans for outreach, but until then we’d just like to say a few words about how each of us is doing and what God has been teaching us!
Sam: Coming off the restfulness of our time overseas, Sam has been able to jump into DTS life again with relative ease. He loved seeing all the students and staff come back from outreach, but was not prepared for the goodbyes that inevitably followed. Since the goodbyes, Sam has spent the week transitioning into the new school mindset and has felt the grace of God filling his spirit and giving him the excitement to charge into the coming months with joy! Deep care paired with release are two things that we learn and are refined by in this season of staffing. Sam is so grateful for God’s constant nearness in each transition.
Karis: While sad to leave the place we love, Karis also came back to Australia ready to be back in our home and anxious to see our friends who were scattered around the world. She quickly had to say goodbye to some of her close friends after the typical student goodbyes. Karis is learning about God’s nearness, comfort, and provision through this. She has also been led into a number of relationships with neighbors around the community, which has opened up more of her heart for those in our immediate vicinity. We are excited to keep connecting with these neighbors to allow God to work in their lives—Karis is refusing to live passively whether she is in the YWAM community or not.
We have both loved seeing how God has been leading us as a couple. He has been speaking to us in ways that unify us as a couple and grow us ever closer to him. As we head into this next school, we hope to continue to grow in our leadership individually and as a team. As always we will need to fight for time alone as the school’s routine sets in for the next three months and then on the two months of outreach. This is not so daunting as we both have already seen God’s provision of time and faithfulness over the last few schools we have been a part of!
Lastly, we want to thank each and every one of you for your prayers, financial support, and encouragement. We are always reminded of our incredible support system and how God has provided each one of you in our lives. We love you all and would love to hear how you are and how we can be praying for you. Always feel the freedom to reach out to us for any reason!
Love,
Samuel and Karis
Photos
1. The Haugen family, who we were in Mexico with
2-4. Sam and Karis with the kids in mexico, ecstatic to be seeing them again!
5-6. For those that didn't see Karis' instagram post, after 1.5 years Sam was able to pick up Karis! Thank you Jesus for healing and for this spontaneous moment captured by a sweet 7 year old.
7-11. Photos from where we traveled after Mexico. Beautiful mountains, some snow, Christmas celebration, always trying to keep warm, and gorgeous views!
12-13. Sam and Karis at our students graduation!
14. Our close friends from staff that have now finished their staffing commitment and left shortly after the students.
15. Karis and her sweet one on one that she had durring this school, soaking up every last minute the last week!
16. One of our close groups of friends on staff here, doing a last hangout before two of them head off!
17. Our sweet friend (close friend's girlfriend) Georgia came to visit again and stayed with us!
Video - Worship during graduation of our students!
Alexis- A student that wanted to share a little bit about her testimony and how God used DTS to change her!
Julie from Norway, another short testimony of how God used DTS to impact her.
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