Some Birthday Pictures...

Just wanted to share some pictures from my birthday :)

My class decorated our classroom!

Everyone singing to me...

My SOE Class

From left: Stephen, James, Fred, Bree, Myrriah, Justin, Danny (school leader), ME, Amy (staff), Kersti (staff), Above me from left: Eric (staff), Miles, Moira, Nathan, Ryan.

My birthday dinner! The table was beautifully decorated.

A video of the YWAM Perth Birthday Song! And my amazing cake :)

I had such a great birthday. I felt very loved and special even though I was away from family and friends. What a great day!

Summer in November

Hello Everyone!

It has been a bit of time since I’ve given an update. The summer is here in Perth, as today I experienced my hottest day so far here- right at 100 degrees! I’m told it gets even hotter in January/February... around 110, but thankfully I’ll be in Mexico for most of that time.

The weeks are flying by. I can’t believe I’m at the end of week 7 already. Every week brings so many amazing new things as I gain deeper understanding of God and His purposes. God speaks something new every day. It is incredible to be in this environment of being in the presence of God, surrounded by so many devoted believers, all learning and growing in Him and impacting the places He calls us to go. I recognize that I am so blessed to be here and I thank you so much for sending me out! Your support is what got me here and onto this journey with God.

There is so much to say about these past three weeks. So much has happened! It would be far too much to type all my revelations and everything God has been speaking to me. I hope these summaries give you an idea of what God is teaching me.

Lecture Summaries:

Week 5, we had the topic “Spiritual Warfare”. I learned that prayer is our most powerful weapon against the enemy and therefore must be consistently involved in our lifestyles. We must ask God to open our eyes to the spiritual realm to effectively battle against the powers of darkness, pour in God’s presence, and be vessels to bring God’s Kingdom on earth.

We read "Eternity in their Hearts" by Don Richardson during weeks 5 and 6. This book is INCREDIBLE. Click here to see my book report.

Week 6, our topic was “Holy Spirit” taught by Peter Brownhill, the YWAM Perth base director. The teaching this week brought deeper understanding of the authority Christ gives us as believers and the church. This is the place from which every believer must move from: knowing our identity as a child of God and standing firm in our position with Christ. The more this truth is deeply rooted in our lives, the more effectively the Holy Spirit can move through us to work in the community and in other people’s lives and do amazing things!

This past week, our school leader, Danny Taylor, taught us about Spiritual Gifts and Apologetics. We learned that the gifts of the Spirit are used for the common good, to encourage others and to show the reality of God. Apologetics, or the defense of the gospel, can be used in love to give logical reasons for our faith when faced with unbelief. A good point Danny spoke to us is that “a person’s heart will never accept something their mind rejects.” Using apologetics, as led by the Holy Spirit, opens a person’s receptivity to follow Christ.

New Revelations:

God has been challenging me in my prayer life. He is calling me to become more disciplined, earnest, intensely passionate and committed in my prayer times. I have much growing to do in this area. I must be deliberate in increasing prayer in my lifestyle with the faith that I will see breakthrough as God moves through my devotion.

In light of this understanding about the power of prayer, I have been spending an hour in prayer and worship before evangelism outings. As I put this into practice, I notice my faith and level of expectancy is really increasing. I go into evangelism expecting God to do amazing things. Through the release of God’s power through prayer and the increase of my faith, my times in evangelism have been markedly more fruitful. Exciting to see this Biblical principle lived out in my own life!

God's challenge to me this week has been to step out in the gifts more. It has been a week of building up my faith. I feel that God is pouring more and more into me as a result of greater intimacy with Him and is encouraging me to take greater steps of faith. Putting this into practice, our school has spent time praying over one another to get words of encouragement from God, building one another up. It was miraculous to get messages for each other that were spot-on from God. Amazing that we have a God who looks for all kinds of ways to affirm and encourage us! How awesome is He.

Evangelism...

Amazing, amazing things have happened in evangelism this month. As a base, we have gone out twice (all 300 of us) into the city to publicly worship and share with people who stop and wonder what we are singing about. Through these times, we saw 2 salvations through meaningful conversations, many heard the gospel, and several received prayer. God is moving in this city and it is exciting to be apart of what He is doing!

One cool story from evangelism:

This friday, my school went in pairs to a nearby mall to allow God to lead us to anyone He wanted us to speak with, praying beforehand for words that would direct us to specific people. Okay, you might be thinking this is a bit strange, and I realize it's a bit "out-there" to walk up to someone random with a message from God, but it's amazing to witness the power of a specific message to bring faith and hope to a person's life. If it leads people closer to God, I'm all for it.

I was paired up with my classmate Miles. He got the word "fountain" so we went in search of a fountain in the mall. We finally came across a fountain and saw a woman sitting on a bench right next to it. We walked away to pray about the message God wanted to give her. We prayerfully agreed that God wanted to encourage her that He is taking care of her family. I approached her alone in case she would be uncomfortable with two people coming up to her. I told her that I'm a Christian and I was praying in the mall and felt that God had a specific message for her that He is taking care of her family, and not to worry because He loves her and will take good care of them. She looked at me with wonder in her eyes. She asked, "God sent you to me to tell me that?" and went on to tell me that she has been struggling to provide for her two girls because she is unemployed and is constantly worried about the future of her family. In fact, she had a job interview at a store in the mall in just 30 minutes and told me how nervous she was because she really needs the work. We agreed of how much God must love her to send someone to let her know that she doesn't need to worry, that He has it all under control. Then I asked if I could pray for her, which she gratefully accepted. I thanked God for his care and provision for her family and prayed for her interview- that peace would come over her and for the Holy Spirit to lead and guide her through each question. She started weeping as I spoke of God's love, faithfulness, and tender care over her life and His promise to never leave her. She was so touched by this encounter with the Lord. Isn't God amazing??

Everything in between...

So, Friday, November 19th, was my birthday! I had a WONDERFUL day. My friends on my school decorated our classroom and we had a fun time celebrating. I felt so loved all day long.

My friend Nikki who staffs at the Gold Coast base came to Perth this month to visit her family. We were able to spend time together a few times this month, which was such a blessing. It was so nice to see a familiar face.

I gave a devotion this week in front of my class, teaching about Jesus and the Samaritan woman at the well in John 4. I feel I am growing in a gift of teaching... I really enjoyed this and would like to pursue teaching more.

Concluding words...

OCC, you are in my thoughts and prayers. Thank you for your continued support. To my beloved family and friends- I miss you so much it hurts sometimes. I know I am in the center of God's will, which gives me great joy, but not a day goes by when I do not think of you. Thank you for your prayers, support, and unconditional love for me! I love you all very much.

Thank you for reading :) God bless.

Love,

Stephanie

Photos!

Outside of my dorm building...

Down the street I live on that leads to the base...

Inside of my dorm from my bed...

City of Perth!

The girls on my school

From left: Bree, Myrriah, Me, and Moira

I will post a picture of my whole school soon! (There are 7 guys)

More pictures soon to come :)

Praise Report and Financial Update

God provided the rest of my lecture fees this week! PRAISE GOD! He is so faithful. Thank you everyone for praying!

Another praise report is that my health is fully restored as of yesterday. I had a very fast recovery from a terrible head cold due to all the prayers that I received. I am very thankful!

I do have just one month to raise my outreach fees ($4200). I am trying to sell my car at the moment, but have not had a single person interested yet. Please pray for financial breakthrough however God wants to raise these funds. Please also pray for my classmates, Bree and Justin, as they are still raising both lecture and outreach fees.

Thank you so much for your consistent prayers... they are certainly making a huge impact and I am so appreciative :)

Blessings,

Stephanie

"Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep"

Hello and G'day!

Hope you are having a fantastic week! It is definitely warming up here in Perth. We've had some very hot days this week.

I'm not sure if you've noticed, but I've been a bit behind in posting my blog updates. This post is from last week. Our topic was Cross-Cultural Communication by YWAM Lausanne base director, Markus Steffen, a Swiss-German, who we had the tremendous honor of learning from this week.

Click here to see my lecture notes :)

Cross-Cultural Communication is an essential teaching for the evangelist. It all starts with loving the person, considering them and their interests above our own, and taking the time to fully engage them. Once the connection takes place, our message can come alongside this loving connection.

I was personally challenged this week in the area of controlling my tongue. In times of frustration, I too often let my flesh speak negativity. I realize that I have self control available from the Holy Spirt to help me through frustration, but God took me a step further in this teaching. My tongue should be set apart for the glory of God to bring fruit and life into the world. Our words matter all the time. I want to submit my words to Him, speaking only the truth onto myself and others, despite how I feel. God has given each of us the powerful responsibility to use our words wisely. It is the power to bring life or death (Proverbs 18:21).

A base event...

This Thursday evening, we had a event at Scarborough beach, run by a YWAM Perth ministry called Island Breeze. Island Breeze is a Polynesian cultural ministry that shares the Gospel through music and dance. They do an AMAZING job! Very talented men and women, and it is fun to watch. In the event, they had musical performances by the Island Breeze dancers and had a few testimonies in between the performances, with a Gospel invitation at the end. Earlier in the day, Danny asked if I would be willing to share my testimony. I was nervous at first, but once I started speaking, the words just flowed out of my mouth. It was amazing to share with so many people and I pray that God used my words to stir hearts and bring others closer to Him. The night was definitely a memorable one for me, and a tremendous opportunity to share with the people in the community.

One story to share from evangelism this week:

Before evangelism on Friday, Danny got the words "lost sheep" from God and felt to send us out in pairs to find one person that God leads us to minister to.

I partnered with a guy named Jeffrey from Indonesia. We both felt led to go to a nearby park. In the park was an aboriginal woman who was sitting alone in the grass. We walked over to her, introduced ourselves and started making conversation, then asked if we could sit down with her to continue to talk. We spent time getting to know her and had the most amazing conversation. There seemed to be a lot of pain in her life as she copes with it through alcohol which has gripped her for many years. She recognizes the destruction of it and had stopped drinking for about a week now, so she is in a place where she desires to make things better. Jeffrey shared his testimony with her and it was so powerful- going from the depths of despair to finding hope in Christ. After this, she started opening up to us about her past, and sharing her story with us. We listened intently for 10 minutes and as she cried and told us her pain. It was a beautiful and amazing thing to speak truth into this woman’s life and tell her the hope of the Gospel. We spoke of the redeeming and healing power of God with the hope that these words will take root in her spirit. We prayed over her and by the look of her eyes, she was completely touched by the love of God. She received a Bible from us and I pray that God continues to gently pursue her.

God, you are incredible. Your love is amazing. You are a God that goes after the lost sheep, the One that comes searching for us when we go astray. Thank you for your unfailing love and devotion to leading us in right relationship with you. What an honor it is to be used by you.

A few prayer requests:

• I have been feeling sick this week. Sinus pressure, cold symptoms. Please pray for quick healing, as I do not have finances right now to buy medicine.
• Speaking of finances, please pray for God's provision for the remainder of my lecture fees. About another $500 to go. I also need to raise $4,500 for my outreach to Mexico City in about a month's time. I will give you more details of my outreach needs by the end of the week.

What is happening with you? Please let me know if I can be praying for anything for you or your family, or just fill me in on what's going in your life! I long to remain connected to friends and family around the world. Send me an e-mail at stephanieungaro@hotmail.com, mail me a letter (to the address in Perth on the right side of my blog), or post a comment! :)

Thanks for reading!

Lots of love,

Stephanie

Video Update!

A short video update. I get attacked by a fly at the end :)

Plow, Plant, Water, Reap!

Hello Readers :)

All I can say about this week is... WOW! The topic this week was called Personal Evangelism. I learned so much! Our speaker was actually brought to us via live video through a video conference call system called Genesis (similar to Skype). His name is Danny Lehmann, director of YWAM Hawaii. He has an incredible anointing in the area of evangelism and imparted his wisdom and passion to us this week.

Click here to see my lecture notes on Personal Evangelism.

Something I was most challenged by this week was my need for God to move me into a place of brokenness. God wants to break my heart for people. Realizing that brokenness is a painful position, I choose to love through pain, just as Jesus did, in order to reflect the love of God to others. I lay down my comfort, my whole self, with the knowledge that God moves through a place of brokenness to reach His people. I willingly lay my life down for the cause of Christ, for the beautiful people He created. I pray that God gives me the grace and strength to walk out this renewed mindset in true and faithful obedience.

One cool story from evangelism this week in the city:

I spoke with a young aboriginal girl, 17 years old, who stopped with her family to watch one of our dramas. I started up a conversation with her, which eventually led to asking questions about her faith. She had no real knowledge of Jesus and seemed hardened with indifference, but was very open to hear. I got to share with her the Gospel and told her the amazing impact that God has had on my life. As I was sharing, God was giving me words to tell her- words about her great value in the eyes of God and His love for her. At this, I could tell she was softening, taking in the truth of what I was saying. In the meantime, another YWAMer was speaking with her mother and two little brothers, who were very receptive to hearing his message. The mom asked for prayer and accepted a Bible. I pray that God continues to reveal himself to this family and that they surrender their lives to Jesus as they discover His love and truth.

This week, we had a book report due on a book called Going Public with the Gospel. The book caused me to think of ideas and methods to reach the lost in the context of a city or community. Click here to see my book report.

Every Friday evening, we have a base-wide church service. Peter Brownhill (director of YWAM Perth) gave the message this week, and it was a message that I will not forget. He spoke on the meaning of true servanthood, as seen in Luke 17: 7-10. I realized that I often look to the approval of people when I am working, craving acceptance and encouragement. However, true servanthood is found in obedience and humility, without expecting anything in return. Reaching this place of humility requires us to lay down our "rights" as humans to be recognized, valued, respected, with the knowledge that we are incredibly blessed to be serving the living God. Jesus laid down his rights as he became fully human, taking the very nature of a servant (Philippians 2:5-11). I had a time of laying down my rights and repented of my ungratefulness. My heart moved into a place of sincere, overwhelming gratitude to be in the amazing position I am in to serve in the Kingdom of God. I desire to walk in obedience to the Father without the approval of people, with the knowledge that I will one day be lifted up in honor by God himself in heaven, receiving His ultimate approval- What could be greater?

Definitely a lot of growth is happening in places I did not expect. God is expanding my character. It is challenging, but very good. I feel He is using this time to prepare my heart for the mission field. He is toughening my character to withstand the challenges that life in missions will bring, and breaking my heart to love people with everything I have. With this knowledge, I am deeply motivated to continue to press in to God and walk in obedience to His teaching. God is doing amazing things!

That is all for now. Thank you for reading all that I am learning and processing! And above all, thank you for praying for me. Not a day goes by where I am not thinking about all my friends and family back home. I love you all so much!

Bless you,

Stephanie