Mountains, Mishaps, and Miracles

Hello all! Sorry for the lack of posting for the last couple of weeks. It's been incredibly busy for me!

The week before this last one (July 13-18), we actually moved locations for a week, spending time up at YWAM Denver's mountain campus, called Eagle Rock. There, we hiked, played disc, golf, and grew closer in a lot of fellowship, and in class, we learned about the fear of the Lord. Here's a couple pictures that I took from the top of Eagle Rock, the mountain the camp is named for and that we hiked quite often.

The first view from the top, looking off into the mountainous Colorado distance.

Another view from the top, with our retreat center visible in the middle-left of the shot, with the road leading up to it.

 A panorama shot from the top. Click to view!

The week's teaching was truly incredible. I learned a lot about God, and realized that the "fear of the Lord" isn't actually terror, but is being more concerned with what God thinks and perceives about your actions and behaviors than what man thinks. Awesome re-defintion! The highlight (kind of?) of the week was my injury. We had just finished up a round of disc golf and were heading back inside. Walking down a ridge, I tripped and when I tried to recover, I rolled my ankle. After going briefly into shock (not good with this kind of stuff), I was helped inside. Below is what it looked like immediately after the incident:

Not pretty by any stretch of the word, eh? Anyways, a couple of friends drove me back into Denver, where we went to an urgent care. Once there, x-rays were performed, and the doctor informed me that there was NO BREAK, just a bad sprain. He gave me an ankle boot and crutches and told me to stay off it for at least a week, after which I needed to go get a follow-up to make sure there were no ligament tears or anything. So I've been walking around with a boot and crutches for the last two weeks. Fun stuff! 

Having stayed off it for a week, this last Wednesday I went to an orthopaedic specialist doctor, who confirmed the previous diagnosis: no tears, no breaks, just a very bad ankle sprain. I have been okay'd to walk with just the boot now, so no crutches, just an awkward gait. Here's what it looks like currently.

Don't worry! The bruising is just from me wearing my boot too tightly at night. Rookie mistake... Swelling is way down though, and I'm making noticeable improvements every day. I should be off the boot and totally healthy by the time I leave for outreach on August 19th! Praise the Lord!

Speaking of praising Him, as some of you may know, I'VE COMPLETELY PAID FOR MY OUTREACH!!!! WOOOO!!!! Here's the story: as of last Friday, just 8 hours before the deadline, I had a total of  $7,400 in support! Incredible, eh? God has really blessed me with some generous people (Here's looking at each of you, my dear readers! Thank you so much for getting me that far!) However, since this was a $9,800 trip, I still had $2,400 to go, and almost no time to get it! God came through in a downright incredible way... At 3pm, just two hours before the deadline, two of my Around the World teammates approached me, and collectively, offered to pay the rest of my costs with extra support they had raised! They gave me $2,400!!!!!! WE SERVE SUCH A GOOD GOD!!!! Oh, my gosh. I still cannot even comprehend this.... Anyway, I am so grateful to all of you for your support along the way, whether it was finances, prayer, or some other means. You have brought me to this incredible place, and I cannot adequately describe with words how thankful I am for that. Be blessed, everyone, and look forward to more updates next week!

God is GOOD!

Chris

Picture Tour- The Base at YWAM-Denver

I figured I'd show you around where I'm living and learning for the next few months.

First, though, let's clear another common misunderstanding up. YWAM-Denver is not in the mountains. It's not in the foothills. It's smack in the middle of a suburban community about ten minutes northwest of downtown Denver. Mountains are visible, but are partly obscured by trees and homes. In my opinion, this is an ideal location, putting us in a position where we can easily access both the mountains and downtown Denver.

The star just northwest of Denver is where the base is.

Lookup the following address in Google Maps to see our actual location for yourself:

12750 W 63rd Avenue

Arvada, CO 80004

Let's now go ahead and clear up another misperception. Our "base" is not a sprawling military-esque complex, a massive collegiate campus, or anything like that. It's a two-building compound, with a small parking lot, a volleyball court, and a few outdoor gathering places, like patio areas, our contemplation pond, and our picnic pavilion. The size of the buildings is quite small; the Admin building is just a converted suburban home, and the main building has the square footage of around three suburban homes put together. That's it! But I won't try to just tell you about it; let's do a tour.

This is a panorama picture of campus take with my iPhone. 

From left to right: the pond/city park just outside the base, the smaller Admin building, the parking lot, the larger main building, the contemplation garden, and our beloved volleyball court.

The main building, seen from W 63rd Avenue. This building has all student living quarters, the kitchen and dining areas, several classrooms and study areas, a student lounge, and the childcare area

The other side of the main building, showing the contemplation garden and the main doors.

The Admin building, shown from across our parking lot. This building contains the base offices, and more importantly, our worship center, where we have worship every morning on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. DTS also uses this space as our classroom, so we spend a lot of time in this building.

The lobby of the main building.

The dining room and patio.

Our serving area and extra dining space, with the kitchen off to the right.

The kitchen, where I spend every other weekend preparing meals for my work duty.

Down in the main building's basement now, this is the student lounge. Lots of pool playing, talks about God, and research on that computer bank over in the back. Just to the left of the computers is the hall that leads to my room.

My bunk and personal space in my dorm room. I don't have anyone above me, so I have been able to set up the space to fit my tastes. The towel hanging in the middle and the blanket at the end of the bed are light-blocks. No blanket while sleeping; it's pretty hot in our room, but we have fans going and the windows open, so that cools it off at night for sleeping.

A panorama of our room. It's capable of sleeping twenty, but we have twelve. So much empty space!

So, that's an overview of the base. See you next post!

Chris

And so it begins...

Hello all! This is Chris Van Sickle, reporting in. First things first, let’s get everyone up to speed on what exactly I’m doing with my life, starting with the big picture.

I am currently doing a Discipleship Training School (DTS) through Youth With A Mission (YWAM) at their base in Denver, CO. A DTS has two parts: lecture phase and outreach. In lecture phase, we learn about and prepare for missions at our base, and in outreach, we actually go and practice missions out in the world. Keeping up so far? Excellent! My DTS began on June 24^th and will end on November 8^th, which means it lasts roughly five months. Lecture phase takes up the first two months (8 weeks), while outreach occupies the remaining three (12 weeks).

It’s worth noting that my particular DTS is called “Around the World.” Given our outreach plans, I think the name makes good sense. Here’s our itinerary for outreach, starting on August 19th:

Costa Rica (2 ½  weeks)

England (1 week)

South Africa (2 ½ weeks)

Thailand (2 ½ weeks)

The Philippines (2 ½ weeks)

Following our time in the Philippines, we will fly back to Denver for one week of debriefing, decompression, and graduation from the DTS program.

I know, right?! IT’S GOING TO BE INCREDIBLE.

So, now I think we’ve covered most of the big picture things (Correct me if I’m wrong through the comments section; questions are always welcome!). Now, let’s go into the small picture briefly.

Every day I’m here is truly a blessing, and already I can tell you that I’ve grown in some remarkable ways. A typical day consists of some mix of teaching, worship, practical application sessions, and tons of fellowship. I have an incredible group of people striving for God’s heart right along side me, and I can tell you for a certainty that I am developing some life long friendships. I’ll be going more in-depth on my living situation and my fellow students, including my outreach team, in later posts.

Let me now give you a taste of some of the incredible things God has been doing with me in these past few weeks.

            -For the first time in my life, I can hear and understand the voice of God.

-My ideas about how God thinks about me have been completely transformed.

-I have become a more effective intercessor, opening myself in completely new ways to the Spirit’s promptings and speaking into situations with impossible precision.

-Jesus is making my teaching gift more evident by the day, perhaps guiding me closer to some clear idea of what He would have me do in life.

I assure you, this is barely scratching the surface. God is moving in incredible ways in my life, and in YWAM, and in this world. I count myself unbelievably privileged to be in such a good position to witness this.

So that’s that. My first real post! More will be coming. Thanks for coming along with me on this journey!

There is one more thing I need to mention before I go. YWAM, unfortunately, is not free. Any program one does through them costs a substantial sum of money, and mine is no exception. I am utterly convinced (and even more so every day) that the cost of my DTS experience is well worth the incredible gains I am already experiencing in my life. However, even with incredible generosity of support on the part of my family and friends, I am still $3,000 short of the total cost of my DTS program. The deadline for this $3000 is next Friday, July 19^th. Now, my natural reaction instinct in this situation would be to try and fix this myself. God, however, is assuring me that He is a faithful God, and He will somehow provide. Honestly, I have no idea where I will get this money. None whatsoever. I am choosing to trust God. If you would please pray for my finances, I cannot describe how much I would appreciate it. Something tells me that prayer and intercession are the only way this money will come through, so I need your help to do just that! Please, please pray! Also, if you are feeling led to give whatever amount, I would be indescribably grateful. If you would like to send financial support, please make checks payable to YWAM Denver and send to the following address:

Chris Van Sickle

c/o Youth With A Mission Denver

12750 W 63rd Ave

Arvada, CO 80004

You can also pay online:

Go to www.ywamdenver.org.

Click Donate.

On that page, go to School Payments.

Enter the following details:

Name: Chris Van Sickle School: ATW DTS and Date: Summer 2013

Friends and family, thank you again for your prayers and support as I continue on this adventure.

Until next time,

Chris