Texas

I left Kona June 17th for Texas and arrived there the afternoon of the 18th. The team all met at the airport, most of us arrived the same time, and the first thing we did was go to Chick-Fil-A. Ummm I had missed that place so much. I can't even describe my happiness at being able to eat there first thing in Texas. I was a little choked up as I put in my order. Not even exaggerating. That was probably the best welcome I could have ever asked for.

After Chick-Fil-A we went tour houses. Hailey, our team leader, is from Austin and we met her family when we arrived, I love that family. The men on the team stayed in a little apartment attached the their house, and us ladies stayed in a house a little ways down the street. It was the nicest place ever.

The next day we all headed to YWAM Austin's base in Leander and spent Thursday until Saturday with them. They are a small base of three staff, their names were John, Tanya, and Greg, and had just purchased a property. I really enjoyed our time there. Thursday night we did their community meeting. We led worship and shared testimonies of what God was doing in our lives as well as in the world. We also got to hear about what God was doing in their community and pray for and encourage them. The next day Tanya took us to Heart of Texas House of Prayer, HOTHOP, and we were asked to speak to their youth about missions and what we experienced and how God partners with us and wants to partner with us now, not just in ten years when we're older and wiser. What really stood out to me from that time was when Jessica shared about how much God's heart was for them and his immense love for them. It was so encouraging even for me to hear. On Saturday we went with those youths to an outreach YWAM Austin does. They normally do it Tuesdays but they wanted to have a barbecue Saturday. While we were there one of the guys have his heart to the Lord! We also found out later that on the next Tuesday someone else gave their heart to the Lord! Amazing! In all it was super fun and seeing the HOTHOP youth step out in boldness was so encouraging.

From then on we were with Hailey's church. Her dad is the pastor there so we spent our last week with them. All throughout the week we had worship nights from 6:30 until about 8:30. Monday and  Tuesday morning to afternoon we served the church by painting their old youth building. They are turning it into a type of halfway home for people who need help getting on their feet. They have a couple and their baby right now living there. They met the woman earlier this year on one of their outreaches and really felt to take her and her boyfriend in so they did. Seeing the way they've adopted this couple and brought them into their church family was crazy, amazing, and ridiculous. This is what Jesus intended the church to look like! I was so encouraged and blessed by that. Wednesday we went with the youth to a place called Barton Springs and just hung out with them and got to know them better. It was a great time filled with much fun, laughter, and kindred spiritness. I don't know is that makes sense but oh well. Thursday afternoon helped Rick Pino and his crew setup for Tabernacle of David conference. Hailey's brother, Jordan, and two of the church youths, Kylie and Caleb, were with us too.  The first night of the conference was amazing, Sean Feucht lead worship and Dutch Sheets taught. Dutch shared his testimony and at the end we prayed for prodigals to come home. On Friday we had a 12 hour Burn at the church from 6:30pm-6:30am. What I mean by "Burn" is that we spent 12 hours straight just worshiping God.  There were many people coming in and out during the Burn but there were also quite a few who stayed the whole time. 

That was basically the end of our time In Texas. Sunday was our last full day there. :( After Texas I went on a little detour to Oregon for about a week and was visiting my friend Stacy I met in January. That was loads of fun.

That's all that happened in Texas! I really loved my time there and I'm hoping to return in October for Circuit Riders. That's not for certain but I would really love to go. I'll see what happens.