A Week in Derby

This past week my team and I made the four-hour journey to Derby for midterm outreach. Throughout the week we participated in a variety of ministries with the YWAM Derby team. We had the opportunity to share the Gospel with countless people, love and minister to people from all different backgrounds, and the chance to put the teaching of the lectures into practice. Here are some brief testimonies of my experience:

On Sunday, we had the opportunity to join a local church and participate in their service. A few of the members of our team gave their testimonies, and we were able to chat with many of the congregants and encourage them in the faith. Later that afternoon we went into the downtown for our first attempt at street evangelism. At first, Katya (another DTS participant) and I struggled immensely to approach people. After about 30 minutes of wrestling with fear, we finally pushed through and prayed for a man. Then in our next encounter, God really showed up. What we thought would be maybe a five-minute interaction, turned into an hour and a half conversation. We met a young guy in his twenties, who was struggling in life. He had just quit his job and was experiencing workplace abuse in his final weeks at work. He was struggling with purpose, direction, and identity. He had walked away from God, but in the week before our conversation, he was beginning to seek God again. Our meeting was very much a God moment, where God wanted to show this young man that he was seen and loved by God. We had an incredible conversation where we encouraged him with the simple Gospel. That no matter what he had done, he was forgiven. God was not condemning him, but calling him back to Him because God loved him that much. I was able to share my testimony my journey through sin and loneliness, and how God met me in that place. We were also able to connect him to churches in the city and events where he could connect with other young people who loved Jesus. Lastly, we were able to pray with him and his next steps.

After finishing that conversation we met up with our group and trekked back home to unpack, where we prepared for Monday morning. That evening I was asked to help lead 2 hours of intercession and worship. This was something I was excited to do, but I also felt so shackled by fear. Ever since I attended worship school leading worship has always been a place of struggle. This was often due to a lack of motivation (having been burned out), wrestling with the struggle of needing to be perfect, or even struggling with never being good enough. But praise God, he again showed up in my weakness. In many ways, this opportunity to lead worship became such a very freeing and healing experience. Not only were many blessed by our time of worship, but the past traumas and fears I had been battling were beginning to be removed from my life. After finishing our 2 hours intercession and worship time, where we prayed for the city of Derby, we joined the rest of the YWAM Derby team for lunch and then base clean up.

The next morning, we again went out and evangelized in the streets. This was another day where I had to battle, despite having had victory on Sunday. For many years I have struggled with the lies of rejection in my life, and for some reason on this day, those lies dominated my mind. If I am being completely honest, I lost the battle to fear... Fortunately, that was not the end of the story. Later that afternoon, we helped at a ministry called "New Like Gold", an old folks gathering at a local church. During our time at this ministry event, our team shared testimonies, led worship, and had a small teaching time, which I was asked to lead. Again, before this teaching time, I was riddled with fear, but then I heard God say, "Do not worry, I've got this". Sure enough, as God does, He showed up and provided everything I needed. Once I stepped up to the podium, all the fear and worries ceased. It went far better than I could have hoped or expected, and many of the people who attended were grateful for the words the Lord gave me. After finishing up at the church we proceeded to head home where we received some introductory teaching on the story of the Bible.

On Wednesday we had the opportunity to join YWAM Derby's newest ministry "Cafe316". This ministry was designed to offer a free cafe experience for anyone in the city who wanted to come. Our job was to help serve as needed but also to engage with anyone who came. I had the pleasure of talking to a gentleman for the entire time. This gentleman had gone through quite a bit, and he just wanted to share his story and his frustrations in life. He just needed to be seen and heard. This conversation opened up, another door to share my testimony with him and my story about how God has journeyed with me in some of my darkest places. By the end of our time, I had the opportunity to pray with him and encourage him in his journey. After participating in Cafe316, we again went out and participated in street evangelism. This time, I was determined not to let fear win. So, within the first ten minutes, my buddy Jose and I asked if we could pray for an elderly gentleman. After praying for this gentleman, he proceeded to share with me just how good God had been to him. He had tried to commit suicide 6 times, but every time he tried God met him and prevented him from dying. He was now a grandfather of five, with a sixth on the way. He was just so thankful to be alive, and for how God had gotten him to where he was. After, this incredibly encouraging conversation we continued to reach out to various other people we met, but were met with continued rejection. Thankfully God was beginning to uproot my fears, and despite the continued rejections we just kept going.

On our last day in Derby, we again went to the streets to evangelize. Thursday was a bit more of a mixed bag. We had a few conversations here and there but also received quite a few rejections. Finally, near the end of our evangelism time, Syzmon and I met 2 friends, Mike and Barrie. We wandered into a Catholic church and while sitting and praying there we felt the Lord tell us to write the gentleman in front of us a note. So, before we left we gave him the note and left. Upon, coming outside we met his friend Barrie. At first, Barrie was quite standoffish, but then Mike (the gentleman we had given the note to came outside) began to cheerfully engage in conversation with us. We had the opportunity to hear their stories and pray for them. It is amazing what a small note can lead to. After we finished our evangelism time we went back to the local church for the homeless ministry called "Manna". Similar to Cafe316, many of us were either serving the food or drinks, while the others sat with the people who had come and engaged in conversation with them. Through this ministry, many of us had the chance to love every individual who came into the church, to hear their stories, to share ours, and to pray with them.

Overall, our trip to Derby was a great experience of lots of learning; where we were forced to leave our comfort zones and to share our testimonies and the Gospel on many occasions. We also had many opportunities to use our gifts and passion in the various areas of ministry and discover new passions and giftings. Another blessing of this trip was the incredible opportunity it gave for team bonding. Whether it was walking to and from events, hanging out in our free time, or taking time together in the morning or evening, the team bonding experiences will help us to continue to build chemistry, trust, and friendship as we head to the Mediterranean for outreach in December.

Thank you again for your continued prayers in this adventure. God is so so so good. This next week we will be discussing freedom, please continue to pray for me that the Lord will continue to soften my heart and take it to new levels of surrender and freedom. Also, continue to pray for me as I wrestle with the fear and lies in my life. 

Grace and Peace,

Cameron