“Where are you right now?” is a question I’m asked frequently. To which I usually respond
with a sympathetic nod, as I’m not always sure where I am these days either. One of th
e exciting aspects of working within a global family like YWAM is that you never know where you’ll go next. Right now David and I are working with YWAM Salem Oregon to run a 3-month bible school (CBCC). It is an honor to help train these young missionaries in the inductive bible study method. Not only does it empower them to study God’s word on their own, but it will enable them to share these simple tools with believers across the globe. YWAM missionaries are in more then 1,100 locations – ministering in some of the most remote and isolated places on planet earth. We love being a part of getting practical, straightforward techniques for studying and understanding God’s word into their hands.
Last week David and I had the privilege (and heavy responsibility!) of lecturing through the book of Isaiah. As the students are studying Chronologically, this is the first major prophet they had encountered. We had only 10 1/2 hours to make it through 66 chapters of dense material. Outside of those lecture hours the students spent the rest of the week on their own, meticulously studying through the book verse by verse. In preparation, David and I began our own studies of Isaiah back in January. It’s fair to say I became obsessed with Isaiah. I fell head-over-heels in love with the book. It wrecked my world in the best way possible. I began to see Isaiah in every other book of the bible, in every worship song, in every prayer time, and even in my dreams. It’s weird, I know.
The week of teaching went very smoothly. We somehow made it to chapter sixty-six with five minutes to spare! The students were excited to be “introduced” to the Suffering Servant of Isaiah – the coming figure who would deal with sin once and for all. As a Chronological School, messianic prophecies really do come as a ray of hope among the cycles of sin and failure of the Old Testament. Overall, the emphasis of Isaiah is on trusting God for salvation regardless of how formidable the opponent. Over the course of preparing this lecture David and I have had many opportunities to put this truth into application. Trusting God for health issues. Trusting God for finances. Trusting God for guidance and direction. Each and every time he has come through for us in unexpected way.
Our students graduate on June 24th. At that point David and I will be spending a few weeks in Ohio visiting family and friends. If you are in the area, we’d love to meet up with you for a cup of coffee and reconnect! At the end of July we will be returning to Hawaii and our ministry with YWAM Kauai.
As always, thank you to our support team for your generous hearts. Your faithfulness is the reason we have been able to remain in missions. Our stories and testimonies are as much yours as they are ours.
elliottmissions 