Time Flies...

Wow, how time just flies by!

Being back in New York with family and friends brings me such happiness. I love seeing how people's lives have changed since I've been on my journey and to see the testimony of God's faithfulness here.

As many of you know, my hometown was hit pretty hard by Hurricane Sandy back in October 2012. Well, it's almost a year now and I am thrilled to see the efforts and progress made by my family and those from all over the nation. People have come to my home church, Full Gospel Church of Island Park, to volunteer with Samaritan's Purse. It has been an incredible faith filled journey all around but New Yorkers have come out stronger by the grace of God alone. My mom has been blessed by a local church who has repaired our backyard fencing and will be completing the final stages of our basement- previously filled with 4 feet of water, as well as, our church who has done more for us and our community than I could say. I have a tremendous heart of gratitude for everyone who has helped and prayed. It is all good news!

I have had the privilege to share my stories with many friends and want to take the time to fill you in! This summer I was able to be a part of School of the Circuit Riders (www.thecircuitrider.com) in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. I knew going in that my faith, beliefs, and attitude would be challenged to grow. Sometimes we fear growth because it is not known what it will look like or feel like on the other side. However, when you have experienced and seen the goodness of God and know that you can only get better from here...you take that chance. You better believe it was one of the most challenging weeks of my life! We covered topics such as selfishness, self-hatred, what true love looks like, breaking off fear, clean break-ups with bad habits, and many more things that shake you to your core. God is love, right? So, it's pretty hard when you say you want to be like Him and yet you have been living your life in love with yourself... When Jesus came to this earth, he wasn't here to fall in love with himself and he most certainly did not have an "every man for himself" type of attitude. So, why should we? "Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins." 1 Peter 4:8 The way the speakers presented the simple Gospel and truth was so inspiring. We had small groups and met people who encouraged each other and knew the reason we came together was to "Revive the saved. Save the Lost. Train them all." And that's what we did that week.

We hit the streets of Lancaster sharing the good news- Hey, Jesus loves you and he has a plan for your life (John 3:16, Jeremiah 29:11). We weren't there to condemn anybody, but to love people because that's what He would have done with us walking next to Him. I just have to say this-- when I was living my life one way and feeling pretty confused and hopeless, like there just has to be more than this, I am pretty ecstatic that God came into my life and it's never been the same since. I have trouble explaining the true joy I have and the adventures God has taken me on, and how I am just HAPPY. Life is exciting with God. How do you convey the best thing that has ever happened to you? When you find people who understand because they also have been through it, all you want to do is tell others. Why wouldn't you share joy and love? We are not to be selfish with those things. God is all those things and more, so we want to share him.

We met up with so many people over two days and 320+ people came to know Jesus and wanted to know him more and invited him into their hearts and lives. 60+ people were touched by God and healed immediately on the streets from broken bones, arthritis, and different physical ailments. Two more babies have a hope and a future because their mom's decided to cancel their abortion appointments. Come on, God is incredibly good.

This is just the beginning.
I cannot wait to continue the journey this fall as I continue as a full time missionary in YWAM... "However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me- the task of testifying to the good news of God's grace." Acts 20:24
And boy it's so sweet...no matter how fast it goes by. Because there's always more.

It's Almost Time

Well, are you ever really ready?

I'd like to know who can actually define the point when someone is ready to do something. I am a huge believer in taking that first step to find out if there is support under you. That's faith my friends. Faith. 

I am so grateful that God has allowed me the opportunity to co-lead a team to France. Things happen in life that you never imagine or expect. It's an adventure and I thank you all for being part of the process. So yea, we head out next week all in the name of Jesus. God = Love so...all in the name of Love! We have spent three months preparing for this. So much has happened. What has happened in your life in the past three months? Are you still the same person? Has life burdened you? Has hope filtered into your soul? May this bring light into your bright days and turn dark nights into dawn. 

When I was little, I remember going on a field trip with my Girl Scout troop. We went to New York City to visit Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty. I remember I could not wait! Thoughts would run through my head about going to the city without my parents and how I must be growing up. One of my favorite things about going on field trips was that my mom would take me to go get a bagged lunch at Blimpie's. Oh my goodness. I loved Blimpie's. "What do you mean I get to pick out whatever I want to put on my sandwich?! And chips?!" Yes ma'am... So I had my bag lunch ready to go, kissed my Momma goodbye, and had fun with my friends on the ride into the city. Camera? Check. Spending money? Check. (Thanks Mom.) An unusual amount of adrenaline? Check. Field trips are awesome and you know it. 

We arrived at Lady Liberty, tickets in hand, and made our way up the tiny stair case. Ok, one thing I have to say is that this woman is MASSIVE. Her big toe alone was larger than life. So, i'm taking each step with great enthusiasm. Until I start to think about how high I must actually be getting. With each step up this statue seems less and less interesting to me. After all, who comes to this thing to see the inside of it. All I see are people's feet and tons of metal and iron and copper. NOT interested. The stairs are the winding type which doesn't help anything. I think there has to be a million stairs up. Which my child mind begins to realize...I think this means I have to do all of this again. Except downward. I start to reconsider why I decided to come on this trip anyway. Who actually enjoys Girl Scouts? This is awful and all I want is my Blimpie sandwich. 

I finally get to the top after who knows how long. Everyone stops and is looking out of the windows of the top of Lady Liberty's Crown. I am not impressed. There is nothing in all of creation that is going to make me enjoy taking a look at how far I would have to fall before I die. I am not a bird. I don't belong up here in this confined space to look at clouds and all the tiny ant sized people who are safe and SANE on the ground. It was time to go back down. You know I did it because I'm sitting here at this computer, alive to tell about it years later. However, the fun part was just ahead of me......yeah right. I tried my best to walk down those stairs but they were SO steep! Who makes these things?! I could not take it anymore. I turned myself around in this narrow and steep stair-- STEP, and put my hands on the steps and started crawling down those stairs like nobodies business. And it wasn't. I was making sure Nickie was getting down to the bottom of this New York icon safe and sound and if that required crawling, so be it. 

Some people laughed and so did I, eating my Blimpie's and chips and waiting to see my Momma and tell her I owned that statue and ain't nobody got nothin' on me. Not height, nor depth, nor width could hold me down. I went all the way to the top and all the way to the bottom and I WAS ALIVE! I was clearly not ready and I am glad that no one told me that. I needed that experience. Fear was overcome!

Years later I arrived here in Hawaii and we went to the southernmost point in the United States. A 45-65 foot drop to the water, depending on the swell. You know I stared at that cliff for a good 20 minutes...then took off running. That cliff jump was the best, most freeing, exciting field trip of my life. So far. 

I'm heading off to France in 6 days. I'm staring at this field trip. I may or may not be ready in people's eyes but guess what? I've climbed to the top and bottom of the Statue of Liberty, jumped off crazy cliffs, and I will be landing in France, hitting the ground running. All with the help and grace of God. Because, "I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." Vive la France! Thank you God!

By the way, before writing this, I asked the Holy Spirit to help me write. I wanted to write about my upcoming outreach mission to France. He led me to write about that Girl Scout trip. I had no idea why or where it was going. A gentle nudge came about half way through and I hear a question, "Who gave the Statue of Liberty to America?" FRANCE. 

Only God.  

Can You Feel It In Your Bones?

I feel like doing this as a journal entry. So if you're a bit nosey, I think you'll like it.

I have been really blessed with where I am in life. Sometimes I think, "What have I done to deserve this?" And I remember that I haven't done anything to do it. It's all been Jesus and his goodness towards me. How God do you love me so much? It's crazy. 
This past weekend we had a huge celebration party. But let me build up why I had my mind blown by a group of 35 radical people. 

Coming to staff YWAM was an easy choice to make. I knew that seeing lives changed and helping communities in dire need is a no brainer. Who wouldn't want to help others? Thank you God for making me realize that it is not just about me. I've definitely learned to love more than I ever have before. My eyes see things in a different way and I never want to go back. I take the things I have as valuable but somehow always seem to want to give my stuff away. Which can honestly be annoying, haha. It's a good problem to have ;) 

I met our new students on January 3rd and my life has never been the same. I miss and will always love our Ohana (extended family) from All Nations All Generations DTS 2012 that I did last January and God, I pray that you would let me be with them once again. Those friendships are so real to me. They are attached to memories of finding out Your goodness through and with those people. So, thanks for that too. But, this new group holds a different place which I guess happens with every person you meet. Some blaze trails through your heart and others just footsteps that are eventually washed out with the rain. I think...I know this group is leaving it's lasting impression on my life. 

How can someone be changed so much and yet the day to day seems so ordinary? I guess my prayers of "God, have your way in my life today" are answered by You. 

So day in and day out, I pour my love, my strength, my friendship, and everything else that You have given to me, into our students. I hope I do that with everyone I am friends with. But there are challenges and days I fail miserably. Those days stink. A lot. But there's always grace! Thank God. The people I'm surrounded with are also very gracious. and FUN! Oh, I definitely haven't had this much fun all at once since who knows when. I'm always smiling, if not on the outside then definitely on the inside. I tend to think too much but looking at it now...processing in this very moment...I think of all the good things that take place in my day. I love it most when I burst out laughing because of how blown away I am by God or by something hilarious one of my new family members have said. I love that. I love smiling. Smiling's my favorite. 

So long story short, in the month of February I was absolutely overwhelmed by love. Valentine's Day is my favorite. I love red. I love hearts. I love celebrations. I love LOVE. Loving, being loved. It's too good not to have a reason to show people how much they mean to you besides at their funeral (you know?!). I woke up on Valentine's Day to a HUGE red heart pillow with red balloons strung up across the room and at least 100 hearts strung up on my bed with different reasons why I am loved (a few cheesy pick-up lines were in there too, haha) and a beautiful card with a little eiffel tower, beret wearing baguette, saying he loves me. J'adore my roommates. Thennnn I got a huge box of amazing goodiessssssss!!! Including but not limited to dark chocolate covered marshmallows, an iphone case, makeup, granola (w/chocolate), a handmade bracelet, a journal made by a precious girl rescued out of human trafficking, and SO much more. I love my pastor's wife: Lilly Conforti and my beautiful friends Emily Conforti and Maggie Conforti! Then of course my momma and Broseph sent me a package from home filled with things to share with my roommates and classmates! My mom loves to share too ;) Well, that was just the beginning. I had the world's best angel (secret valentine) who made me a banner that I will put pictures up later. Everyday for a whole week I was blessed beyond measure by Kristin Bakke. 

Ok enough of the lovin, haha. So, after our early mornings and late nights for this school, our students surprised us with an honoring party. They washed our feet (like Jesus!) and prayed blessings over us. I was so surprised and impressed and overall really touched by the immense love I felt. I think I realized then that they've been hard at work at blazing a trail in my heart to a place that they will never leave. And i've loved every minute. I thank you God for my life...and my heart. May I never get tired of Your surprises. May I always have your way done in my life. I feel it in my bones...

So Here We Are...

Just as You said it should be...

It's absolutely amazing to look back and see where God has taken my life. Who would have ever thought that life in missions would start from an (intense) heart tug. AHHH God is so good.

I arrived here in Kona on September 26th, 2012 and I thought that I would have had time to settle in and that I would be eased into this huge change in my life. Yes, I have physically been here before but, I just haven't been here before. I came here wrapping up as much as I could in New York. With the help of my beautiful Mom, I was able to have my car sold. I packed my things and here I am. Giving it my all. It was hard leaving New York because I knew it was different this time... Saying goodbye was harder. So, when I arrived in HI all I wanted to do was rest for a week or two and then "allow" God to do his transforming work. Yea, right.....

I was looking for a breath of life and it felt like He just dropped me in a tub filled with ice. It definitely woke me up. It was time to get to work. It's only the end of week 3 and if you took a look at my personal journal you would wipe the sweat off your brow and realize your heart was beating through your chest. In sports therapy, an ice bath is a training regimen usually following a period of intense exercise. It's only so you can continue your training even after a time that you were put through indescribable strain! Even though it hasn't been easy, leaving family, friends, church, home, etc...I wouldn't change it at all. There's a faith, a blessed assurance that comes when you know you're doing exactly what you were created to be doing in this moment in time. No matter how difficult it was to get there. So here I am, just as He said I would be.

Hawaii is beautiful and most importantly, the people are precious. I have had the privilege of getting to know many of my Leadership Track (LT) classmates. I think there are about 60 of us altogether! Many of them have staffed other schools like Community Transformation, Fire & Fragrance, Engage, and All Nations;AllGenerations.  We went away on a retreat this weekend and I feel so much closer. It's a blessing to see us becoming one big family out of many. E pluribus unum, right?! So in we all went; straight into this massive teaching right off the bat. Selflessness, servant hearts, loving grace, unoffendable hearts, and it continues...

Flipping through my notebook, these lines exhibit the atmosphere thats been created over the past 3 weeks...

[If you're offended, just read 3 lines up again :)]

• If God's called you, He's qualified you. He wouldn't call you to something you could not do but, He would call you to something you could not do without Him.

•  Moses grew up surrounded by darkness. He had the option to become great in Pharaoh's house but, he chose to be a son of God.

• God is not slow; He is patient

• Your corporate revival experience is sustained by your personal revival experience

• "A heart for" is killing us...

• How deep of a friendship do you have with someone you never talk to?!

    
****Family is not based on function but covenant...They belong.****

• Encouragement is putting courage in each other's house.

&....The Gospel of Jesus is like water. No man made it + no man can live without it. Water companies do not make water relevant, no man can live without it. 

That's it for now. That's my life. Our lives here on this campus, and then across the globe. 

Just as He said it should be. 

Just...thanks!

Thank you...thank you to all my friends and family who support me all the time. Especially throughout my journey with YWAM. I love you so much.

Life is good, transitioning back home was rough but it's been nice to see a lot of old friends & missed family :) If I haven't seen you, let's make plans.

I miss my kids in Africa. Family in Kona. Loved ones from all our journeys. Man...the way God has just changed me, changed my heart. I wish I could sit with all of you one by one and just talk about this love that's so real. Who thought life could be so amazing by giving it all up for benefitting the world?! There are people dying out there and I know God has called me to be at least one of the ones to help in some way, any way at all. I love this.

God has been really faithful to say the least :)

I will update soon with more details but, here I am just sitting and thinking of you guys and all God has done in my life and how you all have been a part of my life. Somehow you have helped me get to where I am now. And I couldn't be happier to thank you.

Goodnight & talk to you soon.

Love, Nickie

Ahh The Wonder of It All...

Where do I even begin...my God how I have realized how little I knew about who God is. But the amazing way I have come to know Him this year. Wow. Just wow, oh wow.
Life is amazing getting to know how God is working all over the world. How much bigger than myself is all of this I have been blessed with many opportunities to be stretched in doing so much for God. Since my last update our team has had the opportunity to minister at Maputo's(the Capitol city of Mozambique) largest church of 3,000 members. I cannot even begin to describe how the power of Holy Spirit came in that place. People were truly wrecked by God's calling on their lives. I was in awe of the way people felt so loved and just hearing story after story of God's goodness!
We went to 2 different Iris Ministry bases one was quite large, haha. And I got many braids and even more hair pulled out of my head, haha. Honestly, I just truly enjoyed spending time with the children...I think I would've done anything they wanted. They're so innocent and just receive love and give love so beautifully. I love to even think about them. God has really made some gorgeous kids! Lol. The other base was small, family style, with 40 children most of whom have AIDS. Actually one girl was suffering from seizures from malaria the day before we left.
I've come to realize how real the need is here...it's heart breaking and I am glad that I am at least one doing whatever I can through the strength of God! He's opened so many doors.
One of the doors has been to a helicopter!!!!! For Mercy Air (google them! It's such a wonderful ministry!) we bring out a medical team and pray and heal physically and spiritually! The best, huh?! Ahhh I LOVE IT!
I must go...Internet time is up. I love you all..I love Africa and Hawaii and missions! And New York haha

Greetings from Africa!

Hi everyone!! I've got a few precious moments to share about my amazing time in Africa. Internet here is a RARE commodity and I'm visiting a missionary couple's home for a break in between teaching classes here.

So the 50 hours travel time was intense but that includes some really nice time in Dubai :) I miss everyone back at home and my OHANA from YWAM Kona. I pray everyone is having a great outreach and wonderful times at home in NY.

Since the moment we've arrived in Mozambique, there has never been a dull moment!!! Running out of water almost everyday in our 3 bedroom home for 16 people means showers, flushing toilets, and washing dishes is playing Russian roulette, hahaha! On days we wash our clothes is even worse!!! Some tough decisions have to be made lol. But I am SO HAPPY!!!!

God is doing so much here and I love Africa! We are constantly stared at and the people are very curious but we use that to God's advantage because we get to love on them! Our first assignment has been to help this missionary couple here in the bush. They have a one room school house for 35 children and another large outdoor building for church and music lessons they give. Everything they do is part of their ministry. We have a 25 minute walk to their property everyday from our base.
I am the official teacher for these children using my English, Spanish, and Portuguese! It's so fun, I LOVE them all and it's been amazing just having the opportunity to hug and teach and love these little ones. Actually, one of the "mommas" from the community joined the class as well. Many don't know how to read or write and if they do, it's not proper.
Poverty is a huge blanket on this country even though we are in it's capital.
We have gone into the city and ministered having some make decisions to make Jesus, Lord of their lives. We are here to serve the YWAM team and missionaries here who are really working hard and have brought devotion to a whole other level for me.
Thank you to everyone who supported me in getting here! I pray for each one of you and thank God ALL THE TIME for you all!
I must go, it's time for our second session: while I teach, the boys are building a bathroom(septic tank and all) outdoor sink area, the girls are painting the church, all while we play with the hundreds of kids that come out from the neighborhood.

With love,
Nickie!!!