Well it's been WAY too long since my last post, and I have to apologize for that. It has been a very busy last couple of months and things have been pretty much none stop for me, but I am back home in Canada now to rest for a few weeks before I leave again and am off to Taiwan.
The rest of our time in Varanasi was extremely busy, but absolutely amazing!! Varanasi was definitely an experience of a lifetime, and I am so thankful that God sent me there and for what He did in and through our team there. It was amazing how God showed up in everything we did and made them all successful. As I mentioned in my last post, we were given the River Ashram to use while our friends were on holiday, so we held 24 hours of prayer and worship there on the Monday to the Tuesday after my last post, with us all taking turns throughout the day and night, which was AMAZING. The presence of God in the room was awesome, and we capped it off with a time of corporate worship and had another YWAM team from Idaho join us. It was a great time of prayer and worship for our team, and being able to share it with another team was a great experience for us and for them. We also went to the Mother Teresa orphanage in Varanasi with Raul from the Care Centre (turns out it's the Care Centre, not the K Centre....I blame Josh on that one...lol) and spent time with the orphans there that are mostly mentally disabled children. It was a fantastic time of just spending time with the kids and showing the love of God to them. We also planned to have another Kashipalooza gathering for travelers on the Friday, but between the 24 hour prayer, going to Mother Teresa's, helping at the Care Centre and helping out Helga, we didn't really have any time to prepare for our second Kashipalooza until Thursday night. Thankfully, from our experience the last week, we knew that the Thursday night was the best time to hand out flyers since most people seemed to just stay in Varanasi a couple days, and since we still had most of the supplies from the week before, we decided to still do it and just see how many people show up. It was definitely one of our least organized activities that we did in our outreach, but it turned out to be one of the best things we did (in my opinion at least). We had even more people show up than we did the week before, including more musicians, and because the weather was a lot nicer there were multiple circles around the ashram instead of just 1 around the fire. The atmosphere was absolutely amazing, and everybody had a fantastic time. We all had so many different opportunities to share our faith and what we were doing with everybody, and we had some awesome conversations with so many different people. It was amazing how even though we didn't put as much effort into it as the week before, because we followed what God was telling us to do, it was a greater success than we could've imagined it would be. Our last few days in Varanasi continued to be very busy saying goodbye to everybody and continuing to work at the Care Centre. We also went to the Mother Teresa House and played some praise and worship for the people living there, and went to one last Wednesday morning Christian Meditation at the ashram.
We left Varanasi on January 20th and went to Delhi for a few days before we flew to Bangkok for a little R&R and debriefing before we went back to New Zealand. It was a good time back in Delhi. We went to the Hard Rock Cafe for an amazing meal and had the best hamburger I had ever had in my life (or at least it seemed that way after not having beef for 2 months), and on Saturday night we met up with the other India team for the first time in 2 months. It was awesome to see them again, and it was even better spending the next 4 days with them in Bangkok! We had a great time in Bangkok seeing the city and experiencing the street markets there as well as the street food!! It was definitely a shock to us all being there and seeing how different it was than what we had experienced for the last 2 months, but we still were able to have an awesome time and I think we all enjoyed having nice hot showers and our own bathrooms again.
We got back to the base in New Zealand on Thursday Jan 27, and we took that day and the next to relax, adjust to the time difference and reconnect with the rest of our school. It was definitely a little strange for us all to be back together after spending the last 2 months with only your outreach team, but it was great to see all our friends and share about our experiences with each other. On the Saturday we went to the Parachute Music Festival and had an awesome time listening to some amazing music and speakers. The next few days were a little like being back in lecture phase because we had re-entry teaching and had some of our usual DTS activities like base worship and open meeting. Jake did a great job with the teaching, and I know that it was definitely helpful for me and I'm sure for the rest of my school as well. My parents got to the base on the 31st, so I got to introduce them to my friends/family that I had spent the last 5 months with for a few days before we all went our separate ways. It was definitely difficult to say goodbye to all of these people that I had grown so much with over the last 5 months, and I thank God for each and everyone of them because I know that each of us was brought to that school at that time for a reason. We all became so close during our school because God was moving in us and through us, and when God is there, everything changes.
The next couple weeks my parents and I traveled throughout most of New Zealand. We had some amazing times and saw some of the most beautiful parts of God's creation. If you ever get a chance to go to New Zealand, do it, because it is so diverse and has so many different types of beauty to see. It was awesome getting to see my parents again and travel with them, but it was also very difficult for me as well. After spending 5 months being surrounded by friends and not being alone, I was suddenly that loner guy that is on vacation in New Zealand with his parents. I could feel the devil bearing down on me and attacking me, making me feel like a loser and alone. It wasn't so much that I missed all of my DTS friends, even though I did, it was more just a feeling of aloneness and being a loser that I couldn't shake. I even had a hard time talking to my parents about it. It really made the re-entry teaching that Jake gave us hit home. Thankfully, I finally did talk to my parents and prayed with them about it, and from then on it wasn't a problem anymore. It is amazing how God answers prayers, even small ones like that, when we call on Him for help. It was really a testament to me about how the devil will attack you at your weaknesses, but he can't hold up against the power of God and the power of prayer.
Being back in Canada has been a little strange, but it is great to be back home with my family and friends. It has been amazing seeing my nieces and nephew and seeing how big they've gotten and how much they've changed. It was a little tough at times because Hannah and Bannon didn't seem to recognize me at first, but it has gotten better as I've seen them more often. It has really shown me and taught me part of the real and practical cost of stepping out and following God is the difficulty of the toll it takes on relationships. Not just with missing out on holidays and birthdays and spending time with your family, but also the difficulty of knowing how hard it has been to get so close with my DTS family and then having to leave them, knowing I may never see some of them again. It is also hard knowing that I am going to get very close to the people that I meet at School of Biblical Studies and have to leave them in 9 months - 1 year after too. I absolutely love what I am doing and know that it is exactly what I am supposed to be doing, but coming back home and re-entering my life here has helped me get a better realization of the practical/relational cost of what I am doing. So please be praying for me as I continue to follow God that He will be lifting me up, especially in the times when I'm missing my family and friends.
As most of you know, I'm going to Taiwan for the School of Biblical Studies next. I fly out of London on March 22, and will be gone for 9 months - 1 year. I am so excited to be doing this school, not only because I know that it is something that God is calling me to do and is an important part of the equipping process that He is doing in me, but also because this is like a dream come true for me! Ever since I started thinking of getting involved with Youth with a Mission I wanted to do this school, so I guess this is part of God showing me that He meant it when He said that if you delight yourself in Him and He will give you the desires of your heart. Unfortunately the base has been having some problems with the Taiwan Government and have had troubles with getting us our visas, so if you could all be praying for favor with the government so that we can all get visas without a problem I would appreciate it. Thankfully, we can still get a shorter term visa and hope that all the problems get resolved before our visas expire or we'll just have to leave the country and go to Hong Kong and go back to reset our visas. It isn't ideal, but at least we should all have no problem getting into the country. Speaking of government, I was able to do my taxes this past weekend and I am getting about $2300 back in taxes, so I almost have enough money to cover me tuition (which includes my room) for the entire 9 months of the school! I still have to pay for my own food, but I should have enough money from the ongoing support that I am receiving. The only thing I'm not sure of is how much the Titus project costs, which is a 3 month optional outreach after SBS where we go and teach what we have learned, but I feel that this is something that God is calling me to do as well so that I can share with others what He has taught me, so I am confident that He will provide the funds I need to do that as well.
As for the future, I'm still not sure what God's bigger plan is for me at this point. All I know is what He has told me to do as the next step, and I believe He is teaching me to trust in Him and to not look too far into the future. I know that He has plans for me and I know that I am doing what He wants me to do right now and that He will reveal the next step to me in His timing. Please continue to pray for me for guidance as well as provision as I follow His call.
If you would like to learn more about the base and the school that I'll be going to in Taiwan, their website is http://www.ywamtaiwan.org/. If you have any questions or if you'd like to get together while I'm in town give me a call or send me a message on facebook or email me at stelps1@gmail.com.
I am also planning a barbecue at my parents house on Saturday March 19 starting at 5:00 to say hello and see ya later to all my friends and family before I leave for Taiwan. Unfortunately I don't think the weather will be as nice as it was for my last barbecue, but we'll make due. If you plan on coming, please send me an email to RSVP so that we can have an idea of how many people to expect.
Thanks for reading my long post, and God bless,
Matt
The rest of our time in Varanasi was extremely busy, but absolutely amazing!! Varanasi was definitely an experience of a lifetime, and I am so thankful that God sent me there and for what He did in and through our team there. It was amazing how God showed up in everything we did and made them all successful. As I mentioned in my last post, we were given the River Ashram to use while our friends were on holiday, so we held 24 hours of prayer and worship there on the Monday to the Tuesday after my last post, with us all taking turns throughout the day and night, which was AMAZING. The presence of God in the room was awesome, and we capped it off with a time of corporate worship and had another YWAM team from Idaho join us. It was a great time of prayer and worship for our team, and being able to share it with another team was a great experience for us and for them. We also went to the Mother Teresa orphanage in Varanasi with Raul from the Care Centre (turns out it's the Care Centre, not the K Centre....I blame Josh on that one...lol) and spent time with the orphans there that are mostly mentally disabled children. It was a fantastic time of just spending time with the kids and showing the love of God to them. We also planned to have another Kashipalooza gathering for travelers on the Friday, but between the 24 hour prayer, going to Mother Teresa's, helping at the Care Centre and helping out Helga, we didn't really have any time to prepare for our second Kashipalooza until Thursday night. Thankfully, from our experience the last week, we knew that the Thursday night was the best time to hand out flyers since most people seemed to just stay in Varanasi a couple days, and since we still had most of the supplies from the week before, we decided to still do it and just see how many people show up. It was definitely one of our least organized activities that we did in our outreach, but it turned out to be one of the best things we did (in my opinion at least). We had even more people show up than we did the week before, including more musicians, and because the weather was a lot nicer there were multiple circles around the ashram instead of just 1 around the fire. The atmosphere was absolutely amazing, and everybody had a fantastic time. We all had so many different opportunities to share our faith and what we were doing with everybody, and we had some awesome conversations with so many different people. It was amazing how even though we didn't put as much effort into it as the week before, because we followed what God was telling us to do, it was a greater success than we could've imagined it would be. Our last few days in Varanasi continued to be very busy saying goodbye to everybody and continuing to work at the Care Centre. We also went to the Mother Teresa House and played some praise and worship for the people living there, and went to one last Wednesday morning Christian Meditation at the ashram.
We left Varanasi on January 20th and went to Delhi for a few days before we flew to Bangkok for a little R&R and debriefing before we went back to New Zealand. It was a good time back in Delhi. We went to the Hard Rock Cafe for an amazing meal and had the best hamburger I had ever had in my life (or at least it seemed that way after not having beef for 2 months), and on Saturday night we met up with the other India team for the first time in 2 months. It was awesome to see them again, and it was even better spending the next 4 days with them in Bangkok! We had a great time in Bangkok seeing the city and experiencing the street markets there as well as the street food!! It was definitely a shock to us all being there and seeing how different it was than what we had experienced for the last 2 months, but we still were able to have an awesome time and I think we all enjoyed having nice hot showers and our own bathrooms again.
We got back to the base in New Zealand on Thursday Jan 27, and we took that day and the next to relax, adjust to the time difference and reconnect with the rest of our school. It was definitely a little strange for us all to be back together after spending the last 2 months with only your outreach team, but it was great to see all our friends and share about our experiences with each other. On the Saturday we went to the Parachute Music Festival and had an awesome time listening to some amazing music and speakers. The next few days were a little like being back in lecture phase because we had re-entry teaching and had some of our usual DTS activities like base worship and open meeting. Jake did a great job with the teaching, and I know that it was definitely helpful for me and I'm sure for the rest of my school as well. My parents got to the base on the 31st, so I got to introduce them to my friends/family that I had spent the last 5 months with for a few days before we all went our separate ways. It was definitely difficult to say goodbye to all of these people that I had grown so much with over the last 5 months, and I thank God for each and everyone of them because I know that each of us was brought to that school at that time for a reason. We all became so close during our school because God was moving in us and through us, and when God is there, everything changes.
The next couple weeks my parents and I traveled throughout most of New Zealand. We had some amazing times and saw some of the most beautiful parts of God's creation. If you ever get a chance to go to New Zealand, do it, because it is so diverse and has so many different types of beauty to see. It was awesome getting to see my parents again and travel with them, but it was also very difficult for me as well. After spending 5 months being surrounded by friends and not being alone, I was suddenly that loner guy that is on vacation in New Zealand with his parents. I could feel the devil bearing down on me and attacking me, making me feel like a loser and alone. It wasn't so much that I missed all of my DTS friends, even though I did, it was more just a feeling of aloneness and being a loser that I couldn't shake. I even had a hard time talking to my parents about it. It really made the re-entry teaching that Jake gave us hit home. Thankfully, I finally did talk to my parents and prayed with them about it, and from then on it wasn't a problem anymore. It is amazing how God answers prayers, even small ones like that, when we call on Him for help. It was really a testament to me about how the devil will attack you at your weaknesses, but he can't hold up against the power of God and the power of prayer.
Being back in Canada has been a little strange, but it is great to be back home with my family and friends. It has been amazing seeing my nieces and nephew and seeing how big they've gotten and how much they've changed. It was a little tough at times because Hannah and Bannon didn't seem to recognize me at first, but it has gotten better as I've seen them more often. It has really shown me and taught me part of the real and practical cost of stepping out and following God is the difficulty of the toll it takes on relationships. Not just with missing out on holidays and birthdays and spending time with your family, but also the difficulty of knowing how hard it has been to get so close with my DTS family and then having to leave them, knowing I may never see some of them again. It is also hard knowing that I am going to get very close to the people that I meet at School of Biblical Studies and have to leave them in 9 months - 1 year after too. I absolutely love what I am doing and know that it is exactly what I am supposed to be doing, but coming back home and re-entering my life here has helped me get a better realization of the practical/relational cost of what I am doing. So please be praying for me as I continue to follow God that He will be lifting me up, especially in the times when I'm missing my family and friends.
As most of you know, I'm going to Taiwan for the School of Biblical Studies next. I fly out of London on March 22, and will be gone for 9 months - 1 year. I am so excited to be doing this school, not only because I know that it is something that God is calling me to do and is an important part of the equipping process that He is doing in me, but also because this is like a dream come true for me! Ever since I started thinking of getting involved with Youth with a Mission I wanted to do this school, so I guess this is part of God showing me that He meant it when He said that if you delight yourself in Him and He will give you the desires of your heart. Unfortunately the base has been having some problems with the Taiwan Government and have had troubles with getting us our visas, so if you could all be praying for favor with the government so that we can all get visas without a problem I would appreciate it. Thankfully, we can still get a shorter term visa and hope that all the problems get resolved before our visas expire or we'll just have to leave the country and go to Hong Kong and go back to reset our visas. It isn't ideal, but at least we should all have no problem getting into the country. Speaking of government, I was able to do my taxes this past weekend and I am getting about $2300 back in taxes, so I almost have enough money to cover me tuition (which includes my room) for the entire 9 months of the school! I still have to pay for my own food, but I should have enough money from the ongoing support that I am receiving. The only thing I'm not sure of is how much the Titus project costs, which is a 3 month optional outreach after SBS where we go and teach what we have learned, but I feel that this is something that God is calling me to do as well so that I can share with others what He has taught me, so I am confident that He will provide the funds I need to do that as well.
As for the future, I'm still not sure what God's bigger plan is for me at this point. All I know is what He has told me to do as the next step, and I believe He is teaching me to trust in Him and to not look too far into the future. I know that He has plans for me and I know that I am doing what He wants me to do right now and that He will reveal the next step to me in His timing. Please continue to pray for me for guidance as well as provision as I follow His call.
If you would like to learn more about the base and the school that I'll be going to in Taiwan, their website is http://www.ywamtaiwan.org/. If you have any questions or if you'd like to get together while I'm in town give me a call or send me a message on facebook or email me at stelps1@gmail.com.
I am also planning a barbecue at my parents house on Saturday March 19 starting at 5:00 to say hello and see ya later to all my friends and family before I leave for Taiwan. Unfortunately I don't think the weather will be as nice as it was for my last barbecue, but we'll make due. If you plan on coming, please send me an email to RSVP so that we can have an idea of how many people to expect.
Thanks for reading my long post, and God bless,
Matt
