Back in Orlando

Well, the last week was spent in Miami being taught by a guy named Bob Felder, as well as going out and evangelizing on college campuses there. I've found that college campuses are a much easier place to share the gospel with people than downtown Orlando on Friday and Saturday nights. Apart from the fact that all the people I've encountered on college campuses are sober, they are generally much more open to a conversation. Bob has spent many years working at Miami Dade college, which has about 100,000 commuter students between it's two campuses. He shared with us about what Mormons and Jehovah's witnesses believe, as well as some approaches He uses to get into a conversation and share the gospel. The majority of the time in Miami however, was spent going and doing various things-all involving evangelism. It was an extremely good week in which we were able to speak with and share the gospel with more than two hundred people in a personal setting.

When I say evangelism, let me share what that can look like. When I go out to evangelize, I go and strike up a conversation with people in the most real, normal way I am capable of. If they want to talk, great. If not, I pray for them as they or I walk away. I use a variety of approaches, but my end goal is not necessarily to get them to pray a prayer. Everyone in downtown Orlando on Friday and Saturday nights getting drunk or trying to get laid is a "Christian". People honestly believe because they walked down an aisle one time and prayed a prayer that it means they are going to heaven. A true "born-again" Christian life will be changed, it will be different. How can an encounter with Almighty God, creator of the universe not change a person. It is absolutely impossible for such to be the case. And while lack of discipleship, even backsliding exist, there should be a difference between them and non-Christians. The bible says "you will know them by their fruit". These are some of the things God has been showing me lately. So, the end result for me is to share the truth of the gospel with people and destroy the view of God so much of America has. It's incredibly how many people forget that because God is loving He is also Just. So I go, and my goal is ultimately to help bring a restoration of what the bible says apposed to the misconceptions many have. And if I do this, people will see that they need God not by what I say or do, but by the very revelation scripture brings. It makes the concept of "this is how many people were saved by this message etc" seem so trite and even wrong, because of an inaccurate portrayal of what it truly means to be "born-again".

So God is showing me a whole ton of stuff lately, including misconceptions I have held that now-to be frank-make me sick. And while I by no means know everything, or even a lot, I have a passion to grow and seek truth. God's also been giving me a heart for the people here in America, which I have struggled with some after coming back from Africa. How can a place that so vehemently claims to be Christian be so lost? I pray that God will bring about a turning away from the watered down gospel and misconceptions that many believe, and will do my best to help that. Thank you all for all your support and prayers. Together we are changing lives eternally.

-Nate

Off to Miami for some more training!

Well, the last two weeks have already been incredibly down here and i have learned a ton. My school is actually driving down to Miami for a week to meet with a church and a teacher there and learn from him, as well as do a whole lot of evangelism on a college campuses there. I will try to find a place to update more in depth in Miami, but if thats not possibly then I will just update upon my return. Thanks for your prayers! I love you all and will update when I get a chance, but now I gotta go pack for Miami.

-Nate

Back at YWAM Orlando!

Hello everyone! I hope you are all doing awesome! Well, i am back in Orlando again! To those that are out of the loop, i apologize, as well as the length of time it took to update again. However, instead of updating here, i wrote out a pretty spiffy update letter, and if you haven't received one and would like one just let me know and i will mail it to you asap.

Well, first of all, Africa was incredible. It changed my life forever. It gave me a really different view of life and gave me a focus that i likelynever would have gotten had i not done this. (Save if God chose to do it another way). My life is not my own. Just that statement has been my cry to God. I found myself just breaking down crying over the astronomical needs of this world, and begging God to use my life to save the lives of others. Physical needs of course, but emotional, psychological, and most importantly-spiritual. There are still countless people in areas that have never even heard the gospel, yet we are spoiled enough to hear it 5 times, or 500 times here in America. In Mongolia for instance, we had a team there that did not have enough hours in the day to tell the gospel to people there. People there are just so hungry for it. If God wasn't leading me to go to college after this secondary school with YWAM, i would go be a missionary overseas...which brings me to my next point

Right now God has led me to do a secondary school with YWAM called the School of Ministry and Evangelism (SOME). It actually started this Monday and it is already awesome. The schools training consists of a lot of in depth study into the bible, but also focuses on evangelism a good amount. We get taught on a variety of things including the history of missions, styles of evangelism, apologetics of the bible. I am really excited to see what God does in this school. The school runs until mid-August, and I just found out that our outreach will stay in the United States, and focus on going to mostly locations and cities on the East coast doing things such as: evangelizing, working in a variety of ministries, and building up and encouraging churches and believers to list a few.

After the School of Ministry and Evangelism comes to a close this August, I will be flying back to Texas and registering for classes at UTA, then starting the following week. I must note however: that my purpose in going to college is not to better myself or my future, but rather to be able to more effectively help other people. I will be pursuing a degree in Civil Engineering and at least a minor in Business Administration (though possibly a double major). With this (or these) degree(s), i will hopefully be able to launch a Organization that focuses on bringing aid (food, water-such as wells or water filtration/piping systems, etc) to impoverished and needy people. But further than that, this organization would (through micro-loans and education) empower people to rise up out of their poverty and become self-sustaining. I will be working on that concept possibility during my SOME. At the very least I will be using my degree to enable my entry into countries inaccessible to a "missionary".

So thats the plan right now-but I'm always open to wherever God leads. I want to do his plans, not mine.

Thank you so much for any and all who supported me through your prayers and/or finances in my Discipleship Training School. You helped change many lives eternally-including mine. And thank you for all those who have partnered with me and gotten me to this secondary school-You are making an eternal difference. On Africa-There is just so much to tell. Again feel free to ask for an update letter-it covers some of the awesome things that God did through our team there. You can just shoot me an email at christs.follower89@gmail.com or give me a call on my cell. If you don't have my number, leave me a comment and I will call you or get you my number.

Thanks and I love you all!
-Nate