- International YWAMer

By Lara Palmer (15 years and under age category winner)

I was born into a YWAM family. For several years, I lived at the YWAM training centre in Harpenden, England. Some of the staff were running a youth group called “Wildfire” that I was a part of, and in 2009 we decided it was time to have an outreach! Many months of praying and preparation took place before we decided we would go to Spain, along with the Discipleship Training School, which was running that summer.

Everyone on our team was looking forward to the outreach. Months before departure we were learning dances, planning our daily schedule and making lists of things we needed to take, do and see while we were there. It really was a lot of fun.

Soon we were all set and ready to go. Off we went to Spain with heads held high and hearts pumping fast with excitement at what the future held. We travelled by plane and then by bus and very quickly we were there. It was late at night and so we all headed straight off to bed so we were ready to face the people of Spain the next day.

The first night was thrilling! There were a lot of people and we were right where they would be able to see us so we could get our message across. We performed a number of different dances and we shared some messages, all about God’s love. We used parachutes, juggling balls, face paints and other activities that made it easier to interact with the kids and get the adults involved. We would stay out past midnight and then we would have a chance to swim in the ocean, which was wonderful to cool off after a night of dancing!

After about a week in Malaga we went off to Motril where we performed one night in the city centre. Before we got there we prayed and asked for God to give us a message for someone who would be there that evening. God spoke to me clearly and said that I needed to speak to a mother who was wearing a pair of black trousers and a white t-shirt.

About half way through the night I saw the lady God was talking about. I asked someone who spoke Spanish to come with me so that I could tell her the message God had given me for her, which was that God loved her and was watching over her and was looking after her. Half way through telling her these things tears started forming in her eyes. She told me thank you and went on her way.

I often pray for that lady. I pray that through me something was started and that I was able to portray some of God’s love and mercy. This was a big moment for me because I often doubt that I can hear from God, but this was a time where I know God spoke to me and told me that I heard from Him and I had done the right thing in responding.

I loved my YWAM summer outreach in Spain and all that happened there. I really grew from this experience and I’m grateful to all those who made it possible.