C+H

I've been meaning to write this update for a while now, but its hard to write an update when you are waiting for news yourself... finally, I have some great material to work with! 

I got engaged! yup, its been a journey, starting almost a year ago. So, I would like to dedicate this update to my beloved fiancee :) Hannah, I love you. 

We are both serving with YWAM Kauai, I am in charge of worship leading and she is over intercession. I cant lie, I have always been excited about these dynamics ever since I met Hannah, because worship and prayer are two of the strongest weapons and gifts God has given us. In worship we agree with who God is, and in intercession we agree with what he said he will do! So awesome :D  

Right now we are just over three weeks into our 2016 Discipleship Training School, or basically a "Christian crash course" haha. Its a time of complete focus on the Word of God and in our relationship with him. It has been said that it is basically all the best things you learn from bible college, condensed into 6 months. What I love about it, is that we arrant stuck in a classroom, but we take the students out daily to live out what we have learned from the Bible. Anything from praying for people to serving them in practical ways, being light and salt to the earth, spicing things up with Jesus and a healthy dose of the Holy Spirit ;) 

Hannah and I are hoping to get married this upcoming April. after that we have some big plans, but we are still figuring out the details of those things. In the not too distant future we should have some exciting updates on what God is leading us into, as far a ministry go's. 

until then, Mahalo E Ke Akua No Keia La! 

(thanks be to God for this day) 

   

She said yes!!! 

On our way home from one of our community outreaches, the students found a mule!

Satisfied

Well, this last year has been a whirlwind. It started with Mexico and ended with Nepal! 

One year ago I was house sitting for some close friends on the north shore of Kauai, taking the dog for walks down the extremely muddy back road that leads to the rock quarry side of "Rock Quarries Beach". I was in a place of wanting, wanting more of Jesus. As I was praying one morning, I asked God if there was anything I should know for the day, and In that still small voice I heard him say: "just say yes". For the rest of the day, I waited for a yes or no question, but nothing came, until that night. I was at a young adults bible study, and our leader asked if anyone would like to join him on a trip to Mexico, and instantly the word "Just say yes" popped into my head. Long story short, I ended up going on that trip, and it was one of the best 10 days of my life! That trip was spent hanging out with kids at an orphanage, eating the best food on earth (Tacos and In & Out Burger), and just being met by God everyday, as he poured out his love. Those 10 days marked the rest of my year, if not the rest of my life.

When we give up trying, and just simply trust that God is who he says he is (a Good Father), and just come before him with A "yes" in our heart, he dose not fail to satisfy our every need and want. The Word is true when it says, "Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart". And that has been my whole year, through thick and thin, He has poured out his love on me, and provided for my every need; He has literally blessed me in every area of life, in finances, relationships, family and friends, even in my spirit. I am satisfied. 

God has continued to work this way in my life, and even now, things are just getting started. I look forward to this year :D Thank you Lord. 

Himalayan Adventures

"I will lead the blind by ways they have not known,
Along unfamiliar paths I will guide them;
I will turn the darkness into light before them
And make the rough places smooth.
These are things I will do;
I will not forsake them."
-Isaiah 42:16

Almost two weeks ago I landed here in this country, and during these two weeks, we have had some minor trials. After 50 plus hours of travel, when we first arrived, we found out that almost all of our luggage was missing (either in Seattle or Dubai!). But everyone was so excited to be here, almost nobody was worried, and sure enough, after 5 days -without fresh clothes, all of our baggage arrived :)
Just this last week, we had a large sum of money stolen from us; we where on our way home from helping at a slum. Although we have had some minor set backs and trials, nobody has been fazed or worried.
Every time something happens we just take it to God and He reassures us that he called us to this place for this time, and that he will provide no matter what! As He says in Isaiah and in many other places "I will not forsake them", -we know who goes before us and sets our path, and I could never be more happy then to serve Him.

In this short time I already have many amazing stories to tell when I come home, but the best one so far has been of Gods faithfulness here.
It has been a prayer and a dream of mine to come back here, ever since the first time I was here 3 years ago, and God has gifted me with this trip :) I guess it's an early Christmas gift from God, at least that's how it feels!

Thank you all for your support and prayers, God is with us and I have seen it. I will try and do some more updates while I am here, sorry if they seem slightly vague, I won't be able to use names or places while I am here, for safety reasons... So bare with me haha!

God bless, Christian.

Once again

The time has come! A week from today I will be flying to Nepal. 

The last three months have been very fun and exciting, I have had the opportunity to lead our students in all sorts of activities and outreaches: I have taken them surfing and hiking, I have led them on local outreaches, I have even been able to make traditional Hawaiian food with them. Over the course of this discipleship training school I have had the honor of watching God work in the lives of the students and staff, He really has been growing each one of us.

When I look back and remember all the missions trips and Ywam schools I have been a part of, it is hard to look past the actual going to the Nations part; you often forget about all the training and preparation that happens before you leave on a missions trip, and all you remember is the trip itself. The reason I point this out, is because I think this school is different... It will be very hard to forget these students and all of the things they have done here on Kauai, and for the community of Waimea. 

All that said, the one thing I look forward to most every year (besides seeing my family), is going out, traveling to old and new countries. I love experiencing new people and cultures, I love getting to know them as close friends and growing to appreciate their food and ways of life... and even more than that, I love sharing the love of God with them, the story of Jesus Christ :D

Thank you all for your support and encouragement in what I do! It has been a wonderful surprise seeing all of the help I have received from many of you over these last few months! I am excited to travel to Nepal once again, thank you so much, and God bless you :) 

Normal Life

Feels like forever since my last post, mite as well have been too with the way time goes by here... Two months ago I was in Mexico, hanging out with orphans and eating really good food. Now it's today, and I can barely remember last week! but, Anyways, I will do my best to let you know how life has been, and hopefully share some exciting news, but that's for later.

So far this summer, I've been able to help run a 24 hour worship and prayer event (we are planning to run another one within 3 months), coach at a kids sport camp (VBS style), help lead lots and lots of worship sessions, and of course I had the opportunity to go to Mexico at the beginning of summer. Besides all that, it's been, for the most part, mostly normal. 

Although it's been "normal life" for me, God has been keeping me close by his side... I think that's a good way to put it. While I was in Mexico He showed me a new level of rest and peace that I haven't had before, ever since then, I have been seeing Him move in my life a lot more often than I did before. I would like to think that I can hear his voice better than before too, ha. I don't know why that's funny, but it is. Basically, to put it simply, God has been blessing me with more than my basic needs. Now, I'm not talking about money, though I haven't run out yet. No, I'm talking about things I want lining up with what He wants... and then, boom! it happens, and it happens without my involvement, except for maybe a prayer. Sometime a thought just pops into my head, and God brings it about. like the other day, I was like: "man, it would be cool if I got a ride home" (I was in town, and didn't want to wait for the bus). Well, I ended up getting a ride and free lunch... I didn't ask for lunch, but I was hungry :D 

Being A follower of Jesus Christ ain't so bad! He doesn't have employees, he has a big family. And he takes care of us kids, and it's his pleasure to do so, he wants to prove his love to you everyday. Don't just take my word for it, lean on him. 

Now, for further proof of that statement, and to come back to the exciting news I hinted at earlier. God has opened a door for me, a big big door! a door that typically involves thousands of dollars and a lot more than one flight. Its a place I've been before... have you guessed it?
This winter I will be spending Christmas in Nepal! yup, I have the honor of leading my very first team on an outreach, to one of my favorite countries :D 
I've been hoping and praying for this for a while, so I am very excited for the trip.

That's it for now, thanks for reading!
Keep me in your prayers, I've got some support raising to do.

God Bless, Christian Savage.

Mexico outreach

Well, its been a few days since I returned from Tijuana, I promised I would post an update about my trip, so here it is!

I have been on mission trips before where whatever you do feels like a task or like work, this was not one of those trips. Now, let me begin with where I was at before this trip to Mexico, and how it came to be... because that's an interesting story :) 

Journal entry -April.2,2015- While praying this morning, I asked the Lord what he would like me to ask for, he said: "Ask for obedience and the Spirit of yes, in Christ Jesus!" -as soon as I prayed that out I felt the weight of the Holy Spirit on me! very cool :)

That day I was very expectant to see what situation or offer would arise for me to say "Yes Lord!", but nothing happened all day long... until our young adults bible study that night. Our leader Troy asked if anyone would like to come on a short trip to Tijuana Mexico, as soon as I heard the offer the Lord reminded me of what he told me in the morning! From that point on I was very excited to see what God had planned for this little trip, and I stored up what God said in my heart.

Now, between that time and the time of the actual trip, God was faithful and provided me with all the finances I needed. 

Our flights to San Diago went well, and I was blessed with a free breakfast at the airport, because my friend decided she wasnt hungry after all. we started on our way down to TJ and stopped at In & Out Burger for an early lunch, I would recomend eating there if your ever on your way down to Mexico. I could easily go into great detail about the food in TJ, but it would take up A LOT of room... so I will leave it at this, tacos there are very very good, and its never been so easy to thank the Lord for something :)

During our trip we spent the majority of our time at an orphanage called "Ninos de la Promesa", its located right on the ocean about 2 miles south of the border. This orphanage is most likely the best one in TJ, and it has a very cool story. They started out very small, right next to the red light district in TJ, and over time God blessed them and raised them up into there new facility. The children there are encouraged to pursue there dreams, whether that's surfing, skateboarding, guitar, art or college; the orphanage helps them along.

A couple of times we went along with the kids from the orphanage up to the poorer orphanages to serve them food and play games, and just to share the love of Jesus.

It was after one of these times, that while we where in the van driving home to the orphanage, the Holy Spirit came over me, and I was overwhelmed with the idea that, I was literally being Gods hands and feet here. Jesus wanted me to know that he wanted to hangout and play with these kids, and to spend time with them, and the only way to do that was through me! This revelation marked the rest of my trip, whatever I did, I did out of the love of Christ. 

The trip to TJ was full of the joy of the Lord! though there where times every day when the enemy would attack, each time something came up we would pray against it and trust in the Lord and move on. The enemy failed at every turn, (which reminds me of a certain scripture) Luke 10:18 He replied, "I saw Satan fall like lighting from heaven. I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you." 

All in all, it was an awesome trip, just hanging out with my Lord Jesus Christ. It was very refreshing, and it was full of revelations from the Lord. I believe, and I think its right to say that the key to going long-term on the missions field is Jesus alone. When your with Jesus, nothing is work, nothing is task, everything becomes an act of love... and falling in love with Jesus isn't hard at all. 

Here is a post Mexico journal entry: "This one thing I have found to be true, this one thing is fact! If we have good works but not love we have nothing; Mary had no works, just love for Jesus, and Jesus desire this (Luke 10:41). In my walk with Jesus there surely will be works to be done, though nothing is work when you do it out of love! My goal is to spend my days at Jesus' feet, and whatever happens there in that place, will be good and fun and joyful. And whatever is hard wont be so hard, because it will be a sacrifice of love."

May god bless y'all 

yours truly, Christian.

Acts 13

Last week I had the opportunity to teach at our young adults bible study. We've been going through the book of Acts, chapter by chapter. I ended up being asked to do chapter 13, the same day as the bible study -which is good, because it didn't give me any time to mess around-. As I studied Chapter 13 I learned so many things I never knew before, and I fell in love with the chapter and the book. Acts should be read as a whole, because it is the story of the early church, and it should be studied verse by verse; the book is chocked full of huge things, often packed into single versus! For example, it often says things like "When they had gone through the whole island as far as Paphos" pause... wait, how big is this island? well if you look up the island of Cyprus, you will find that it's about 140 miles long, by 68 miles wide... thats huge! and it would take a long time to go through it, as it's filled with mountains, lakes, forests and even snow in the winter! (The book of Acts often says places and names, but rarely tells you the distances they traveled) 

As I read chapter 13, the world of Paul and Barnabas came to life to me; I am a very visual person, and as I read I can't help but imagine what their adventure was like. The journey starts with the church in Antioch, a big happening city full of gentiles. we see a "crew" of teachers and prophets and quite plainly, just good friends: Barnabas, Simeon who they called Niger (Niger is latin for black or dark, so he was probably black), Lucius of Cyrene (He's from north Africa!), Manaen (an old friend of the guy who was incharge of Jesus during his final hours) and we also have Saul (who hasn't changed his name to Paul yet)... What an odd bunch! its cool because it shows the diversity of believers. 

If your going to skip ahead and read Chapter 13, you need to backtrack a bit and study Paul and Barnabas. You will find that Barnabas is the guy who introduced Paul to the other believers (nobody except Barnabas would trust Paul, because he persecuted the church and killed christians). So when you come to 13 you already have a sense of Barnabas and Paul's close friendship. During their missions trip they led a high up Roman official to Christ, drove off a magician, planted lots of churches, and along with many other events the chapter ends with them getting kicked out of a city and walking away, full of joy and the Holy spirit :) Saul changes his name to Paul (the name Saul is Hebrew, Paul is Greek), so we see Paul's heart turn towards the Gentiles, his original calling. 

I always used to look at Paul as a guy I wanted to be like, but now I can see I am a lot more like Barnabas, a piece maker. Though I will always desire the fire and authority of Paul in his speaking, he's just a gnarly guy! I would recommend giving it a read, are you a Barnabas or a Paul? both are essential, and together they make a great team.

First John Three

-1st John 3-

"See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are."

Since the beginning of time until now, who has been able to capture the beauty in a sunrise, or who has ever replicated the solemn warmth of a sunset? Even the most precise picture or painting cannot do either justice -there is a living beauty in nature. In the same way I might say, who has ever experienced love apart from the love of the Father? who has known true love apart from God? But God in his love and righteousness has given us his love freely. He shows his beauty in his creation, at times just in glimpses and moments, but soon for eternity. He even transforms us into the fullness of what he sees in us; he always sees the potential in us, and calls it forth into reality... He calls us his sons and daughters. 

Nepali Sunset 2013

Hey y'all, here's an excerpt from my personal journal, This is mostly from April 2nd, 2015. (the pictures are from my first Missions trip in Nepal 2012) 
God bless :)

(Ephesians 1:3-14)

"Blessed be the god and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places-"

He chose us before the foundation of the world, he chose us to be holy and blameless, in love he predestined us to be adopted through his son, he has blessed us, he has redeemed us, he has forgiven us, he has given us his grace in abundance, he makes his will known to us, he unites all things in him; you and i and the world, in Christ! he has given us an inheritance, he has made us to be praise and glory to his name, he has saved us and given us the Holy Spirit, he has guaranteed our inheritance until we acquire possession of it! and all of this is to his glory! because he is wonderful, merciful, loving, beautiful, and inspiring, and awesome; Jesus is seriously the greatest gift we have!

He created us in his own image, giving us the desire to create as he does, and he gave us the desire to learn and to grow in him; each person is uniquely made: He created surfers, skaters, artists, musicians, mathematicians, dancers, farmers, locals and haoles! every single person on earth has a God given gift that only they can do. God has made it so that as we get to know him, we get to know ourselves better; we see ourselves as God sees us! As I follow Jesus, I find myself learning new things and growing in areas I never thought possible; I have taken up singing and guitar, skateboarding, surfing, traveling, missions, speaking in front of small and large groups, leading worship with small and large groups, leading people, teaching people, praying for people and just getting to know perfect strangers. Before I was saved; before my friendship with Jesus Christ, I was all about myself -what I could get and what I wanted. But as I grew closer to God, I started really loving him, and loving everyone else around me. "Its impossible to hate someone when true love is at work in you". You see, Jesus came to save all that his father gave him, his desire is that not one of his people should be lost. This is what he says:

(John 14:18) 

"I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Yet a little while and the world will see me no more, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. In that day you will know that I am in the Father, and You are in me, and I in you."

Today is Easter, the day that we celebrate the resurrection of our best friend and savior Jesus Christ!

He is the son of God. 

On our way to share the love of Jesus Christ with our Nepali friends!

Sharing the Gospel at one of the many brick factories in Kathmandu 

New life :D

A summary

Six and a half months ago, seven students arrived from Canada, Germany and the US. All of them stayed through to the end of the lecture phase; at this point they had spent roughly 600 hours training, reading, learning, preaching, teaching, worshiping, praying, volunteering and working, all towards being a missionary, whether at home or away! (yes, we did let them go to the beach).

Before they went on outreach three of our students prayed and decided it would be best to return home; so the team that we ended up sending to the nations was made up of four students and two staff. While in the Philippines, one of our students had to return home to help their family. So these are the stories of the three that made it to the end, through all the trials and all the joys smile emoti

While in the Philippines our students were able to work with a YWAM Ministry called the Nehemiah houses. the Nehemiah houses serve to help female victims of sexual abuse, human trafficking and maltreatment, most of whom are between the ages of 7 and 18.
while there, our students made friends with many of these girls. Towards the end of their stay with these safe houses, while they were playing a card game, one of the girls opened up to one of our students and shared her entire story, about how she was abused and how she has forgiven the people who abused her. Although you would never expect a person to share about such traumatic events in their life, it is not uncommon to hear when the redemptive work of Jesus Christ has taken place.

Much of what I heard from our students was about the relationships they built with their new friends around the world. They were able to teach and play games with kids in slums, to do house visits in places flooded in 6 feet of water, they did skits and sang songs, they even got to lead worship in a strip club! they feed and hung-out with kids who are forced to beg for money by their parents. one of our staff was able to meet up with a Muslim family that we made friends with last time I was in Bali. All in all, it sounded like a great trip to me smile emoticon

I love seeing what people look like after they get back from outreach, they are almost always a little messy and smelly, especially after 3 months of minimal showering and washing! but what I like to see is the glow in their faces. when someone leaves on a missions trip, they typically don't know exactly what they're in for; they go out to serve people, but what they may or may not realize is the work that God is doing in them, and often times when they return home, they find that everything has changed... which isn't true at all, in reality they have changed. And forever they will have a different perspective on life, and they will be wrecked for the ordinary.

Thank you Lord for all the work that you've done in our students lives and in the nations, and thank you all who have read this far 


smile emoticon

update

"They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life." 

-Timothy 6:8

Its my first couple of days back on Kauai, and I cant help but feel zealfull for telling people about Jesus Christ. This isnt something I feel all the time; its not something I feel 24/7, although I wish I did! Because its a good feeling, filled with expectancy and joy; its similer to those times when something amazing happens, and you cant hold it back, and it sits on the tip of your tung. I just want people to know the love that never ends, that they can take hold of life, and truly live! There are far to many benifits to having Jesus as a friend, He takes away all our fears and worries. The best looking face is one that has no fear, and is filled with joy.

Hanalei, Christmas tree bonfire.

If you stop and listen, and look around to see what God is doing, you mite just stumble on something great -and if you join in on it, you wont be disapointed. 

AN INTRODUCTION

At times in my life, I have felt a fear, that if I follow God I might lose the things I love -this of course is a lie from the devil-. God created us for good works, and not works done by our power, but by his! And because of him we are saved; By his grace I am saved (and that is a thing of wonder). I think that many people have felt this fear as I have, but there is no need for it! in fact, we should rejoice! God created us, and that means that we are his design. Each person is a unique reflection of God; the same way a painting reflects the artist who painted it. When God saves us, he does just that, he saves "us"; He takes what he planted in us and grows it, and he takes the bad things and destroys them. When you follow Jesus, you grow into what you would love to be!

I have found this to be true in life, that as I grow into the calling that God has given me, I see more and more of the things that I have dreamed of come into fruition. God gives good gifts, even ones we had no idea we would like! I never knew that I would love to sing and play guitar (I was an introverted child). I never thought I would travel the world, and I never thought I would be a full time missionary...but slowly and surely God put people, and places, and events into motion around me, that would nudge me on to my next step of faith. I think God does this for all his children, if we let him.

The more time you spend with him, the more you love him. God is good.

My name is Christian Savage, I am a missionary on the island of Kauai. I love to surf, skate, and hike, and I have a heart for spreading the love of God to the unreached people groups of the world. I work full time with Youth With A Mission, a non-profit, non-paid organization (we raise our own support). I can honestly say that the power of Jesus Christ is the only thing that sustains me. My hopes in creating this blog, is to share with you the random joys of a life pursued by God.

Yours truly, Savage. 

Hanalei bay, fall 2014 (beach BBQ outreach)