I Say Yes Again

One week has flown. It's insane that the first phase of our strike outreach is almost complete!

Our last 7 days have consisted of prayer and worship every morning as well as serving this base with whatever need is to be filled. Our purpose was to come and be Aaron's and Hur's for this base:




Exodus 17:11-13
As long as Moses held up his hands, the Israelites were winning, but whenever he lowered his hands, the Amalekites were winning. When Moses’ hands grew tired, they took a stone and put it under him and he sat on it. Aaron and Hur held his hands up—one on one side, one on the other—so that his hands remained steady till sunset. So Joshua overcame the Amalekite army with the sword.

We came to encourage them to press on. Because Jesus loves them and wants them to know they're running the race well.

Not only have we gotten to serve the base, but we were asked to go sing Christmas carols at a nursing home.

I talked with a woman who was an advocate for "The rights of the disabled" and I shared with her my heart for anti-human trafficking. She explained how she is becoming more open to Jesus, even though she came from a hindu and muslim background.

On Sunday our team is going to take the floor at a church in Ede, Holland. We'll do worship and I'm also going to be giving a word from the Lord to the congregation. Please, please pray for me in this. I'm going to be speaking to about 900 to 1000 people! I want it to be totally Holy Spirit lead and not my own words!

Next week we will be doing the Christmas of Service. I will be updating you all on how this goes :)


As we encourage this base to run the race well, I'm beginning to feel the Lord press upon my heart to do so too. To run the race well in Amsterdam.

Sometimes in these final stretches of outreach, we get so tempted to loose the vision, or the purpose. We check out early.We start moving through the motions of just going and not stopping to realize why we're doing it.

I have decided to say yes again.

To put the yes in my heart of doing it all from a place of love and devotion to the Lord.

A choice to go up from here and not downhill.

To agree that the last part of this journey will be even better than the beginning.

More photos!

the girls

christmas decorating

                                                             kitchen serving duty

                  me speaking about our teams heart for our time in Amsterdam at the corporate gathering.

Back to Amsterdam

Friend on Facebook Follow on Twitter Forward to a Friend Do Justice. Love Mercy. Walk Humbly With Your God.  YWAMsterdam "The people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do." - Apple's "Think Different" commercial, 1997 I used to be that person that would look at a problem in the world and think to myself "I hate that this is going on. I can't wait till something it done about it". Never once did I stop and think that I should be the one to do something about it. Where did this whole "someone else will do it" mindset come from? (I bet I can take a wild guess on where it comes from, and I know his main purpose is to steal, kill and destroy) For a while now I've been burdened and heavily pressed with this whole issue of human trafficking. Females and males both, of all ages, tricked into an industry that forces them to be violated and stripped of their dignity. They are enslaved not only by trade, but by mentality as well. So I've started dreaming. Dreaming of a day that my grandchildren can live in a world where the sex trade doesn't exist. A day when every person who's currently being trafficked know's the love of Jesus and the freedom that He brings. A day when Amsterdam's Red Light District (and all red light districts) is shut down. As I was dreaming, I began to wonder how this would even happen. Why would I ever think that I could pull it off? And then revelation hit: why NOT me? If  God used the unlikely in the Bible, then why would He stop doing so now? Isn't being crazy and thinking crazy basically how most of the stories in the bible played out? Abraham started a journey to a land by faith and his own family thought he was nuts. Young, ruddy David volunteered to kill a giant, with a stone at that, and succeeded. The list goes on. When I got back to Kona in September I began talking to my leader Shay about Amsterdam and how I wanted to go back. She presented the opportunity for me to lead a missions team over to Amsterdam in December with the Awakening Leadership Track. When I asked the Lord whether I should do it or not, He specifically told me to read Jonah 1. When I read it I was hit with the revelation that this man was running away from his calling. Running away from the task the Lord has presented to him. Then through the still, quiet presence of the God, I heard Him softly tell me: "Don't be like Jonah". So here I am, not being like Jonah, and leading a team of 30 or so people to Amsterdam to pray, intercede and worship over the city. Not only that, but we have also been asked to be a part of a ministry that will happen from the 20th to the 23rd of December in the Red Light District. We are going to be able to go from window to window caroling and bringing the real-time, Jesus style Christmas to the prostitutes. We're not talking Jingle Bell carols. We're talking Silent Night and Away In A Manger style carols. The leaders in Amsterdam informed us that this is a big deal. Due to the vulnerability of the Christmas season, this is going to enable us to have one-on-one conversation and relationship with the prostitutes, that we would not have had if we were to have gone any other time of the year! With all of this to say, I told Jesus "Yes" and I know He will handle the big details. However, living by faith is not easy, considering I live on next to nothing each day! I know I cannot just sit back and do nothing about getting there. This trip will cost be $2000.00 all together. The multi-city plane ticket cost's about $1000.00 and is going up. Room, board, food, transportation and extra costs will be the extra $1000.00. Because the Bible says to ask, and we will receive, I am going to ask you for your partnership in this mission. That you would please join with me in seeing freedom released in Amsterdam through worship and prayer. I can't do it alone. I need your help. Through both prayer and finance. If any of this creates a stirring in your heart to give, let me know! I am more than happy to answer anyone's questions as well if you would like to contact me via phone (772-631-3045) or via email at: myoungstrom@yahoo.com! I will leave you with this, if this letter was nothing but to encourage you who are reading, then for that I am so grateful, because The Lord used me that He might be glorified. And just so you know,  I am so thankful for all of you reading this. I am way too blessed. God is so generous to His children. Keep dreaming, friends. -Molly Youngstrom  How to Give There's this really efficient and easy way to give money now days called paypal! This is an online donating system that sends money over cyberspace directly into my personalized account. If you're interested in giving to my cause, you can simply click on the "DONATE LINK!" below that will send you to a page that enables you to type in an amount and send! It's that easy! However, if you are super adamant and want to give by that good old fashioned check, we can set that up too. Just ask me where to send it to :) DONATE LINK!

So Maybe I'm Crazy

I've come to the conclusion that I'm okay with being called crazy. Or even being thought of as crazy. 

I could so easily drop it all. I could go to University and then maybe end up with a "stable" job somewhere. And believe me, the thought has come to my mind.

But then I think about Him. I think about His promises to me. I think about all He's done so that I could live out the destiny He designed just for me. Then suddenly I can no longer see my life any other way than how it is right now, and where it's going.

I begin to realize, it just doesn't matter to me anymore, the life that the world expects of me. The life that would categorize me as "normal". 

(I will be adding my photo's in here to "grip" you)

And the best part is that as soon as I said yes to Him, so many wonderful things have happened.

Because of my yes, I've been to Hawaii, The UK, France and Amsterdam, all in less than a year. 

Because of my yes, I have met such an amazing community of people from all across the globe that I hardly believe I have the pleasure of knowing. 

Because of my yes, the Lord has given me uncontainable joy in all circumstances. Even the crappy one's. 

Especially the crappy ones.

I was reading the story in Mark 14 recently about the woman with the alabaster jar. Just to refresh all of us, this woman basically dumped a bunch of expensive perfume, which was pretty much everything she had, on Jesus' feet and the disciples got all mad. Typical.

Then it dawned on me: I'm the woman with the alabaster jar. I mean, not literally, but dude, I've poured out a lot. My time, my energy, my money. Lots. All for Him. And though the world calls it wasteful, He calls it beautiful.

All He had to say to me was, "Hey, I got something in store for you. Give up your job, sell your clothes (true story), and move to Hawaii (As paradisal as that last part sounds, you gotta know me. I don't even like heat or the beach)". And like that, I was sold. Without even having the clarity of what He had in store. All I knew was that I wanted to be a part of His story.

Then Jesus was all like:

"She has done a beautiful thing to Me. The poor you will always have with you, and you can have them any time you want. But you will not always have Me." (Mark 14:6-7)

And as much as I have poured out to Him, I still desire to pour out even more. Every last drop of obedience. 

Who knows, the Lord could so easily call me back to college. Back to a job. But I think He really enjoy's having me here in this place of total dependency on Him, because it causes me to have no other option but to lean into Him. To spend extra time thinking about Him and what He does. To focus on how big He is.

I heard someone say: "it's far safer to be out on the water with Jesus than to be in the boat without Him".

And how true that is.

But the point of all this isn't that there's only one right lifestyle, and missions is that way. Not at all. The point is that His way is the right way, and that's what ever He decides for our lives to be. Wherever He's called us, that's where we should be heading. Not sacrifice, but obedience. That's what He desires. Whether it's being called to love on gypsies in Romania, or to love on students at your university.

So, I've let go of any "plan B" that I might have had coming into this. I've burned every bridge that would help me to fall back into stability. Because it's so much more rewarding to know I'm living for eternity and not putting my hope into this earth, which will eventually fade away with everything else.

 

He is the only thing that remains. He is the one whom I choose to live for daily. He's all I've got left.

I would truly do anything, if at the end of this life I could hear God say "Well done, my good and faithful servant".

Even if that labels me as "crazy" for the rest of this life. 

He's so worth it. So incredibly worth it.

Summer Ministry Plans

Hello my friends! Summer draws near, as well as the end of the quarter. Can someone please call up father time and tell him to slow down a bit?


Unless he looks like this guy. He's someone I wouldn't want to upset.

Well (judging you can all wipe that horrific image out of your mind), it's hard to believe I've already been through two quarters of the Leadership Track so far. The year is half-way over!

I have been praying and asking the Lord about my next step and what to do this summer. I felt it was important to steward my gifting's and figure out how the heck I was to use them!

So without further ado, it is my privilege to tell you all my jumbled summer plans!

I have joined in staffing a ministry called "Infusion Youth Camp" for the summer! Which is great because I love youth and I love camps. I'm not really sure how I feel about "infusion", but science is pretty cool I suppose....  (that's a joke guys).

So, if I haven't lost you yet with creepy pictures and bad jokes, this youth camp will take place in Kona, LA and Virginia Beach. However I will not be staffing LA because I plan on going to Circuit Riders in Pennsylvania!

Here's more information about Infusion Youth Camp!: http://www.uofnkona.edu/training/infusion

Here's more info about Circuit Riders Pennsylvania: http://thecircuitrider.com/school-of-the-circuit-rider/lancaster/

It's crazy exciting to be a part of this youth ministry because it gives me the opportunity to apply what I've been learning in leadership and getting to pour out all the love that's been poured into me these past few months.

The funds are somewhat discouraging considering I will be needing to raise $2,000 for plane tickets and ground fees. But I know that's pocket change for the Lord. Not even pocket change. It's mere dimes and nickels. No wait, pennies! (no one likes keeping pennies anyway so I'm sure the Lord is happy to give away 200,000 of them).

I would love if you anyone reading this could please partner in praying for me in this journey as well as all the young men and women that I get to serve. I desire to go into this with humility and servant leadership and cannot do that without God's grace.

If you are interested in partnering with me financially on my missions endeavors, I would be more than grateful for that as well!

I have a missons account set up here at YWAM that offers a tax deduction (can someone say BONUS?!!). You can find my missions account and donate online here!: http://www.uofnkona.edu/support/missionaries/5919

For more info or answers to questions, please contact me via email: myoungstrom@yahoo.com

Also, if you want to keep updated on everything I'm doing, please comment with your email address, OR email me with your email address and I'll add you on my monthly newsletter list!

Thanks so much for taking the the time to read this, I hope you're all having an amazing start to your summer, and I pray you'll go the whole season without experiencing this:

I'm going for cheap laughs now I guess. Sorry guys.

Amsterdam Recap

Faith. Intimacy. Love.

That's how I would describe my time in Amsterdam.

There's really no way that you to plan for these things, can you? These appointed journey's that you trek on by simple obedience.

You begin it and you automatically assume that you need to be constantly doing something ministry wise. Evangelizing in the Red Light District, worshiping in the Dam Square, helping at a soup kitchen, etc..

But then we recognized our task at hand: to pray over the city of Amsterdam.

Now people would probably call us crazy, why would we fly all the way to the other side of the world simply to pray in a little prayer tower each day?

Maybe we do seem crazy by a worldly standard, but I kid you not, from this place of intimacy with Jesus (praying, worshiping and partnering with Him in secret), we were presented with opportunities to meet with the base leaders as well as other YWAM leaders working with some amazing ministries in Amsterdam.

Our first meeting was with a beautiful woman named Carolyn Ros. She invited the whole team over to her cozy apartment to have tea and desserts. She began telling us her testimony. It was hardly five minutes in and already every heart was drawn in and invested into the tales that came from this woman's mouth. It was astounding. After she finished, there were hardly any dry faces left in the room due to tears. "Beautiful" is the best way to sum up her story. The Lord used her so intricately according to His purpose. And the love she had for Jesus as well as the love that He had for her was absolutely undeniable. Lucky for you, she wrote a whole book about it and it's selling on Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/Broken-Dreams-Fulfilled-Promises-Carolyn/dp/1576584577/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1365103334&sr=8-1&keywords=broken+dreams%2C+fulfilled+promises

Carolyn's table of assorted goodies. Photo by Sarah Gehman.

All of us left feeling the deep love of the Father, as well as total encouragement for the "tough times".

The next opportunity presented to us was meeting with the leaders of "The Tabernacle", a prayer house located within the Red-Light District. Since this prayer house has started, women have walked out of their windows and away from the life of prostitution forever. A specific testimony includes a sex show house that was right down the road from the house of prayer. A man who worked there came up to the leaders of The Tabernacle one day asking if they had been doing a lot of prayer lately. They responded yes and the man said: "Thought so. We're getting shut down". The building is now being used as a sandwich shop. Prayer works, friends. It really works. And it makes sense, doesn't it? Ephesians 6:12 states: "Our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, and against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms". Since this is the case, our greatest weapon is prayer.

So what did we do after hearing this?

We prayed.

(Photo by Ekkerhart Hoenen)

And Prayed. 

(Photo by Lizzie Stien) 

And prayed. 

(Photo by Sarah Gehman)

And prayed some more.

(Photo by Mocha Brown)

We prayed till it came to the point that we just decided to do it for 24 hours straight one weekend. That's right. A prayer and worship burn over the city of Amsterdam. We thought of everything possible to pray for.

The Red Light District.
The people of Amsterdam.
Hope for the city.
Life for the city.
Encouragement for the city,
you name it!

After it was over with, none of us doubted that everything we had prayed had actually shifted something. We all knew that what we prayed for was not only heard, but it was also going to be answered.

The next meeting was with a ministry called "The Lighthouse". A more hands-on approach to the Red Light District where woman actually go up to the windows and try to talk with the girls. Whether it be serving them tea or serving them soup, they are becoming more and more successful with just being there and talking with the woman. The beautiful thing is that it's all about relationship and just hanging out with the women. They need that. We all do. Women need other women to talk with. Whether it's about what they're going through emotionally, or something as mundane as their hair. That's how we were made! This simple gesture of relationship building gives the women more normalcy than they've experienced in years. From this, they've seen woman dedicate their lives to Jesus, come out of prostitution and brought into jobs at cafes. The point is that it works. It takes time, patience and grace, but it works. God uses the simple to confound the wise.

Our last meetings were with the leaders of the YWAM Amsterdam base, Reinier and Rianne. They shared with us their heart for the city and how God brought them so specifically to this location. What really blew me away most about this power couple was not just their obedience, but their pure heart posture of joy. Though they had expected God to take them to a bunch of different nations, He ended up calling them both back to their hometown, inviting them to be His light for the city. Instead of complaining and wishing they were some place else, they accepted the invitation and have diligently served it.

Amsterdam is one of those things that I will most likely not see all the fruit from until I enter eternity. That's living by faith though. "Being sure of what we hope for, and certain of what we do not see". And I'm so at rest in that. I'm so at peace knowing that God knows even if I don't know.

But God being as kind as He is, allowed me to see some of His goodness in the land of the living. One day while in Amsterdam we all helped out with an Organization called "Serve The City". A lot of us split up to do various serving within the city of Amsterdam. I went with a group of three others to help paint an office space in an Autism Center. The journey there was perhaps a story in itself, one which will need to be saved for another time, but when we finally got there it was about two hours later than when we were supposed to show up. We were just in time to meet with a lovely woman named Peggy whom was in charge. She bought us all lunch and talked to us for a good while about faith. After we finished painting, we all wanted to pray a blessing over her. Once we said amen, tears rolled down her face. "I have lost a lot of family members in the past few years and it has been really rough. So, this was much needed. Thank you.". Simple as that, Jesus encountered her through a group of four, goofy, twenty-somethings. Not even by the help we gave her by painting the office spaces, but by a prayer. Funny how He works. I love it.

Here are some more photo's of my time in Amsterdam.

 At the Corrie Ten Boom museum; Jews were hidden in this wall during WWII.

 "Jesus is Victorious"

 Stitched by Corrie Ten Boom herself!

Thank you to all who supported me financially or by prayer! It means the world to me that you all care that much. Your investments were so important and I'm just in awe of how much love I have received. Blessings and peace be with you.