What Next?

Hola!
So now that I have shared with you guys about my DTS experience and all that has happened with in the last 6-8 months I would like to share with you all "What's next."

I graduated from my DTS in New York, March 8, 2013. It was definitely a bitter sweet good-bye for us all, but God was good.

I came home shortly after that and spent alot of time praying and asking the Lord what the next step is for me. As I prayed many opportunities came up, some in the states and some over seas, but God made very clear what He wanted me to do.

God called me to New York way back in 2008. He put an overwhelming desire in my heart for New York and all those people. I knew than that someday I would be returning. I realized that God didn't put New York in my heart for no good reason. =)
Also, while I was DTS I spent the whole 3 months of lecture phase praying and fasting asking God to give me a nation a people, somewhere to go once I graduated. I was free and open to go wherever God would send me, but through out the whole time God was silent. It wasn't until I got to China that He revealed Himself to me. He reminded me through an English speaking Chinese woman, that God said, "THE" nations not just "A" nation. Which totally made since why God wasn't saying anything to me. It was because He has called me to go to many places. So having all that in my head and praying about where to go, this is what God said.

I will be returning to YWAM Metro New York as part of the Frontier Missions Department. I will be living there in NY on the base for the next committed 2 years. In the future I hope to be leading teams to nations around the world with people who are unreached with the gospel. But in the mean time I will be working with immigrants who have come from other nations to the New York City area. I will most likely be leaving for this adventure the first part of January 2014.

If you have any questions or would like to financially sponsor me, send me a message and I would love to connect with you.

Thank you all for all you do! You are such a blessing!

<>< Shelby ><>

Remembering All That God Has Done

Hello,
How are all of you? I hope all is well.
I have been so excited to write to you all to share how my trip to China went. It was seriously such a divine time and I was so thankful that I was given the opportunity to go.

We flew out of Newwark, NJ on January 28, 2013. We had spent time previously doing in-depth studies of the culture, the people, the main belief, educate, language, and much much more. My team and I were really excited to start our new experience. From the time we left the air port to the time we returned we all felt that this trip was a divine appointment from God. The enemy tried all he could to cause trouble from loosing one of my team member's passport somewhere in the mail, to some of us trying to come up with finances, to causing sickness spread through my group, but through it all, even up to the very night before we left God was so good and so faithful and provided for us all.

We had a pretty good idea of what we would be doing while we were in Shanghai, but really it was up to God. We went to China with hands wide open ready to do whatever God put on our plate. When we first arrived we met a group of people very eager to show us around the city and get us connected and involved. After a three day orientation we started our work time.

Are week started bright and early monday morning. We met in the foyer of our temporary home and the staff split us up into small groups of 4-5 members. That was our assigned group for the remaining duration of our stay. In our groups we spent much time getting to know people around town and building relationships with the chinese people. We worked with many different organizations all the way from small children to the homeless community.

I was so thankful for all that God had done on this trip. My perspective of China had completely changed. God did so much and it was so powerful.

We did most of our travel through taxes and the Shanghai metro. The food was so good. I did finally by the end of the trip learn how to eat with chop sticks, it was great. The language was at times difficult to understand but I was able to learn a little bit. The weather was pretty overcast and warm on some days. However, we did experience a little bit of snow and some rain. But all in all it was good.

Chinese New Year was incredible. I have never seen such a festive time. Between lights, decorations, dancing, singing, fire works, LOTS OF FIREWORKS, and family traditions the Chinese culture spends over a month for the New Year celebration. I loved every minute of it.

We flew back to Newwark, NJ on March 2, 2013

People have often asked me since I have been home, "Would you ever go back?" and with out question my answer is yes. Living in China for a little over a month was such a great experience and someday I would love to go back. But in the mean time, I am focusing on where God is taking me as of now.

Thank you all so much for all you have done. All your support has seriously been such a blessing!

Love you all!
<>< Shelby ><>

Washington DC

Hello Everyone,

I just wanted to give you all an update on my life as of now, living in Washington DC, on outreach. 

God has been so wonderful. Our first week here we had a lot of prayer, intercession, worship and outreach. 

 One outreach we have really hit hard here is called a Life Siege. Its where we go to the Supreme Court steps and stand their with red tape over our mouths with the word 'LIFE' on it and pray for our leaders as they make decisions concerning life and the abortion issue. We do this for a couple of reason. One being, we believe in the power of prayer and that God hears us when we pray. Two, just the fact that babies in the womb to not have a voice. Therefore they need someone to fight for them. The Supreme Courts make alot of the final decisions concerning laws and so we feel that is where we need to interceded for these children.  

Another outreach we do alot is prayer and evangelism. Every Tuesday and Friday night we meet in our house/church and have a worship night. We open our doors and welcome people from right off the streets to come in and worship God with us. It is so powerful and I love having that privilege to bring Glory to God. Then during the day we take out guitars and our worship out to the streets and sing and praise God with people on the side walk. That is probably my most favorite because we evangelize, pray, and worship all at the same time. Just today we took our worship out to the streets and a man by the name of Charles walked by and told us that he was a believer and knows how to play the drums. So he sat there along with all of his friends and the people waiting at the bus stop and we sang, and danced for the Lord. It touched my heart. 

Yesterday, there was a rally at the Lincoln Memorial standing and praying for Human Trafficking Victims. We had a lot of people show up and listen to the prayers and testimonies of victims themselves. It was very powerful and I was so glad I was there to be apart of it. 

This week our normal schedule is Breakfast, quiet time/intercession, outreach on the streets along with worship, life siege, lunch, more prayer and quiet time, then dinner. 

God is doing so much this past week and only to think this is just the beginning of outreach. The one thing that God has really showed me is that the power of his love is incredible. And that we need to be very aware of the Holy Spirit with us at all times. I have really pressed into God's heart for His people and It overwhelms me every time. 

 Finances however I am still in need. I have about $2,200 dollars left to go for the remainder of my outreach. Would you prayerfully consider sponsoring me? I am not able to do what I do with out all of you and I am so thankful for you all and everyone that has helped me already. If you are interested just send me a message and I will walk you through it all. 

Thank you again for all your help and support. 

God bless,

<>< Shelby ><>

Experiencing Gods Faithfulness

Hello My Wonderful Friends, 

I hope all is well with you and your families. 

I just wanted to give you all a little update on my life as of December. God has been so good in so many ways and has shown me things beyond my imagination. I am so excited for what God has in store for the future. 

Hurricane Sandy relief has been going good. In November we did a lot of outreaches helping families who were effected by Sandy. Things such as racking up leaves for the elderly, cutting down trees that had fallen, packing Bags of Hope full of food and a warm blanket for those who had lost their house. We also spent time making goodies and cards for our neighbors in this time of distress. New York is just barely getting back on its feet again and I have to say its doing well at it. When the hurricane hit my team and I happened to be in Ohio at the time but we were eager to go back to our home base and get working to help in the recovery process. By the grace of God we were one of the few homesteads that were not as effected as the others and we praised God for that. 

The past couple of weeks we have learned alot in our lecture classes. We had Jeff Pratt come and speak on the Father Heart of God. Then Dan Snead came and spoke on The Holy Spirit. Then the following week we had our directer Nick Savoca come and speak on Evangelism. It was just one great week after another. Our hearts were broken before the Lord and then quickly filled back up with God and the work He has planned for us to do. Many tears were shed and many smiles came as a result. I got a word from one of our speakers that I would be going to an “out of the box” mission field. A place where most missionaries don’t go. He said that I will show up and people will be effected by my smile and kind spirit in the midst of those dark places. He said that I have a light, like a candle, over my head that just keeps getting brighter the more I dig into the word and the heart of God. So given what he told me. I have been praying about where exactly I am called to go. Where exactly is this “unreached” place I have been called to. I thought at first I would be scared of the fact of going somewhere “unknown” but actually I am quite excited.. to know that God would choose me to do this kinda work to further His kingdom. 

We finished up our last couple of weeks of Lecture with an outreach called a “Prayer Station” where we went into the city (The Bronx and Brooklyn) set up a table and a sign and prayed with people as they were walking to and from work, here and there, last minute christmas shopping etc.. I absolutely LOVE Prayer Stations. It is probably one of my favorite outreaches. I got a chance to pray with a woman who just wanted God. She was diagnosed with cancer and she was desperate for a relationship with someone who could give her comfort in her time of need. So.. she came straight to me and begged for prayer and asked how she could know this God. I prayed with her right there that day on the street, and that moment she gave her life to the Lord. I was so filled with joy that yet another one of God’s people came to know Him. I had another incident of a woman who was walking and her and I actually walked right past each other on the sidewalk. Right when I passed her I had a stirring in me that I needed to go back and pray with her. So I turned myself right around and ran after this woman. I approached her and said, “Ma’am I have a feeling that you need some prayer and I was wondering if I could pray with you today?” she turned and looked at me. With tears in her eyes she said “I am actually on my way right now to go into surgery to get a partial hysterectomy and I walked by you thinking to myself I should stop for prayer but I didn’t and just kept walking. But now you are here, you chased after me and I think God was trying to tell me something.” My heart felt for her and with tears in both of our eyes, we stop and prayed. I do not know to this day any information about her walk with the Lord, but what I do know, is that God is revealing Himself to her in a way she has never known. And in that, I pray that God will blossom her. 

Our Lecture Phase portion of the DTS is over now. I am on my way home this very moment for Christmas Break. Which I am more than thankful for. God is soo good. When we return, we will begin our portion of the Outreach Phase. We will have a week of outreach prep, then we will be heading to Washington DC in January for a silent protest called Walk for Life, standing against abortion right there in the heart of the city. We will be there for close to 2 weeks and then return to New York for a day to repack and do laundry, before we fly out for our over seas experience. I am so excited about outreach because I feel like I have taken the past 3 months to learn about God and who He is in my life and now I can take it out into the world to people who need Him most. We will be heading back to America in March 2013. 

I am in desperate need however for finances to pay for outreach. I need close to $1,900.00 before January to help pay for airfare, housing, transportation, food, and other expenses. I do not know where exactly this money will be coming from or how I will get it. But would you help me pray for this area of my ministry? This is probably the biggest place I am in need at the moment, at I am trusting in God that He will provide somehow, someway. 

God is doing great work here in New York and I am so beyond happy that I get to be apart of it. 

Thank you all for keeping in touch and walking with me along this path of ministry. I will keep you all updated very soon. 

Blesings, 

<>< Shelby ><> 

Experiencing God's Goodness

Hello, 

       I can not begin to explain to you how thankful I am for all your prayers and financial support. God has shown me so much these past couple of months and has definitely stretched my understanding of Him and His character far beyond what I knew.

      We had just recently got back from two conferences in Pittsburg and Ohio. The first one was at Refreshing Mountain Camp and our speaker Paul Hawkins spoke on the Character and Nature of God. This retreat definitely reformed my mind and heart on what I thought about my creator. It broke me and took me to a whole different level in my relationship with God. The next conference was The Finish the Task Conference and our two speakers Danny Lehmann and Dan Baumann spoke on the call that we as christians have in the 10/40 window where millions of people are unreached with the gospel. 

I asked God constantly, through this time, that He would put a passion on my heart for what is a passion on His heart. I asked for clarity in the direction He wants me to go. He definitely re-sparked the call in my life for over seize missions and I am looking into different directions I could go but ultimately my future is in His hands and I am totally ok with that. 

       I am sure as you all have heard the East Coast got hit pretty hard with Hurricane Sandy, especially down town New York and the coast lines of the state. We just happened to be at the conferences those weeks, by the grace of God, but our home and neighbors were definitely on our hearts and minds and in our prayers during these times. Our power did go out for around 4 days and so did all cell service and internet. Our specific town didn't get hit as bad as other places, praise the Lord, but the rest of New York did. By the time we got back the power was back on, and within a couple of hours cell service and internet was back up and running. The only damage that our base received was the roof to our carriage house pretty torn up, a whole side of our fence was blown completely apart, a tree fell, and lots of leaves everywhere. We were blessed by what God had done for us. The rest of Long Island however, received much more. Gas is very hard to come by here and all the grocery stores are pretty bare. But we are recovering. Slowly, but surely. =) 

      We have about 2 weeks left of lecture before Thanksgiving break. I am so proud to say God has answered my prayers. I prayed a lot that God would either provide somewhere for me to stay here in New York or a plane ticket home for the holiday. God chose stay in New York. A friend and her husband live just a few towns away and have been gracious to let me borrow their couch for a couple of days over Thanksgiving. I was so blessed. And a little more than a month away is Christmas break. I brought that to God once again and asked Him again for either a place to stay or a plane ticket, and this time He spoiled me with a plane ticket home. So I will get to see all my wonderful friends and family this Christmas. I am so grateful. 

I am absolutely loving it here in YWAM and in New York. This is definitely where I am suppose to be for sure.  I love the people, I love the city, and I love the program. 

Thank you all again so much for your prayers and support. I couldn’t be doing this with out you. 

<>< Shelby ><>

Time For Take Off

I just wanted to take a minute and thank everyone for all the prayer and financial support! I would not be here if it wasn't for all of you. And I am so blessed and honored to have his opportunity. 

I am currently in Smithtown, NY and absolutely loving it! My plane travels over here were good. No complications... Praise the Lord! And everything is settling in quite nicely. =) I am rooming in a room full of 9 girls all my age and we are having a blast. Its such a wonderful experience getting to know each of them and their personalities. I couldn't have asked for a better group to room with. 

We have started our Lecture Phase which is the first part of the DTS (Discipleship Training School) program and so far we have learned a lot about the core values of YWAM, when and were it was founded, past history, expectations, and how to have quiet time with the Lord. This week will mostly be an orientation week full of learning about each other and expectation of this school, work duties, etc... but next week we will start on everything else. I am super duper excited because they told us that at the end of this week, after going through a somewhat stressful orientation week, they would take us in to the city (Manhattan). So we will be catching the train which is located right by our base and will take us right into the heart of the city. 

Also, one of the expectations of YWAM is that you get involved in a local church off campus for the remainder of the 3 months here. So each sunday we will be attending a church of our choice located around the area and they will be giving us 3 weeks to decide and settle in one. So I am very excited to see the direction God will be leading us all in this area. 

Prayer Need: I ask for prayer over the hearts of everyone here. That we would be completely penatrated by the presence of God. Also, for safety where ever we go and that God would use us to reach lost hearts. 

Financial Need: I am still in need of financial support for the second part of DTS. The outreach phase is close to $4,000.00 not including airfare prices. Would you be whiling to pray about sponsoring me? We will be going to Asia working with organizations involved with Human Trafficking and Adults and Kids with special needs come this January. If sponsoring me is something you would like to bless me with contact me via Facebook or email and I will give you all that information you need. (shelbymace12@yahoo.com)

Thank you again everyone for everything. May God bless you just as much as you have blessed me! 

Sincerely,

<>< Shelby Mace ><>

The First Step

Well Hello,

I have been so amazed at the way God is putting things together right before my eyes. Just the way everything is going so smoothly gives me a sense of direction that everything is right where God wants it to be. At the beginning of March I sent in my YWAM application that I downloaded from online. I filled it out and off it went. It took about a week for the actual YWAM base to get it but they eventually did and called me shortly after that. Meredith Standberg, the lady that has been helping me get involved, told me that they had spent the past week praying together as staff of the Smithtown Metro NY YWAM base and they have felt clear clarification that I need to be there. So they sent me my acceptance package and there it be! Its official! I am off to NY. =) I have been checking out plane tickets and from the sounds of it I will most likely be in NY September 15, 2012. Classes start September 16th.

I have been trying to budget my schedule to meet all the financial requirements and the first payment of $500.00 is due to them asap. I have been believing and having faith that God will provide.. and guess what.. He did! All of you that have sent me gifts of money in my graduation cards  have helped in that! I have put all of it together and so far I have received exactly $950.00. Just enough to put down the first payment. I am so blessed! God shines again! I have also received a check from the hospital (Peacehealth St. Johns Medical Center) that I have earned and that also comes up to around $4,000.00. So I am half way there!! 

I don't know exactly where I will be going when I get to China. I probably won't know any of that until  November-December. So in the mean time, please join me in praying for God to direct my steps along with the steps of the base leaders and staff.

I am very exciting to see what God has done however quite nervous at the same time. Traveling for the first time by myself, being away from the people I love, safety and hope. All of that is things I have been giving to God, asking for Him to take and bring peace to it. I found out just the other day that in some parts of China if not all of it, it is illegal to be a christian. I thought I would be afraid, but honestly that gives me more of a passion to use my actions to spread the Love of Jesus Christ. I know beyond a shadow of a doubt He will take good care of me and I pray that in every way He will use me to further His Kingdom!

Well this is just the beginning and the first step in the right direction. I will keep you all posted about the next stepping stone in this amazing adventure that is about to embark.

Thank you all so much for the prayer and financial support! You all are so wonderful and close to my heart! May God bless you!

Sincerely,

<>< Shelby Mace ><>