We had an amazing evening spending time at the Grace City/YWAM Block Party. Kids had fun…food was abundant…connections were made….people were prayed for…the gospel was presented and most important of all…several people made decisions for the Lord!! 
Monday was quite a full day. We started off at the House of Prayer where Pastor Dave led us in a prayer and worship session focused on Thansksgiving. We spent 90 minutes praising, thanking and encountering the Lord and I must say, it was a very powerful 90 minutes! This prepared us for the ministry opportunities that followed.
The Cascade and Kings teams split into two groups: One team headed to Fremont street and offered free prayers to the passers by. It was a joy to see the students, who started out quite apprehensive, quickly realize that praying is the easy part! They showed boldness as they asked tourists, homeless and Las Vegas ciizens if they could pray for people and many times, the passers by said yes.
The other group headed to several locations in the area where homeless groups were gathered. In groups of 4 or more they met with, listened, and prayed for homeless women and men. The plan was to sit and eat alongside them, but upon seeing the need, the students gave up their food and were nourished by sharing the Word. Their conversations were very meaningful and while most of the stories the homeless shared were quite heartbreaking, they were so grateful for the opportunity to pray with these beautiful people.
In the afternoon we had our 2nd session of Evangelism training and then many headed off for naps!
The evening culminated in groups handing out flyers (to local motels, stores, and gas stations) of girls who may have been swept up in the Sex/Human Trafficking Industry. The clerks in these facilities are front line and they could potentially see one of these girls in their area. Our hearts were full as we prayed for the girls in this situation and for the pimps, johns and traffickers.
Tuesday will be more of the same as the groups switch up.
Las Vegas is a world unto itself of very hurting, misguided, and forgotten people. The YWAM staff have helped us focus outside of ourselves and onto this group of people who need God so desperately. As you can imagine, we are relying on our Lord to bring us through the fear and anxiety we sometimes feel as we continue to step outside of our comfort zones to work in areas of the city that desperately need Jesus. The YWAM staff have been very understanding and accommodating as we have worked with them to share Jesus with the hurting while ensuring that we are working smartly and safely. We covet your prayers as we continue serving this week.
Today has been a roller coaster of emotions for our team. First there was excitement as we all gathered at the airport this morning. Then there was a bit of apprehension as we realized that we were on our way to do something totally outside of our comfort zones – being witnesses for Jesus. Then reality set in as we landed in this beautiful, yet hurting city….were we up for the challenge, could God really use me? Those were two statements I heard from students. The answer of course, is YES, God can use us and WILL use us to impact Las Vegas for the Lord.
We arrived at the YWAM base, settled in and learned a bit about this city. We were challenged to have faith, to take risks, to be missionaries, to be encouraging and to pray like never before. But that wasn’t the highlight of our day…actually there were two highlights that I must mention. The first was when one of our students became totally vulnerable and shared her testimony with the rest of us (including the Kings High School students that are here with us). She rocked our world as she shared from her heart how much she is growing yet wants to rely on Jesus more and more. Then all the students spent time working on their testimonies….preparing for the rest of the weeks ministry opportunities.
The second highlight took place after dark as we headed to Sunrise Mountain, which overlooked the city. The distant lights shown bright as we sang praise songs and prayed for the city. Jesus’ presence was felt in a very powerful way.
Our trip begins Saturday….no wait….it actually began in October when we began to pray for this trip and when our team began to form. From the very beginning we prayed for direction and for service opportunities and the Lord answered us by providing a partnership with YWAM Las Vegas. We can’t wait to serve with them in Las Vegas.
Our Trip Purpose Statement, deveoped by the team states, “we want to represent the character and nature of God by using our strenghts, capabililities, talents and gifts to show God’s hope to the lost and lonely.” Our students are totally committed to sharing the good news of the gospel through their actions and words. They want to step out of their comfort zones, putting others before themselves and being Jesus’ hands and feet to those they come into contact with.
I can’t wait to see how the Lord uses us. Thank you for praying for us!
Good evening, blog readers!
We are having an awesome time experiencing different ministries and being servants this week.
Yesterday we went to an awesome church/ministry called Casa de Luz (House of Light). While we were there we helped out with their food pantry in giving out groceries to the neighborhood. We also were ministered to by Pastor Ray and Pastor Dan, who are amazing men of God! Our students had an awesome time working and being prayed over there.
Last night we had a bit of fun and visited Fremont (sometimes called “Old Vegas”). We all had a fun time seeing the sites and shopping.
Today we did what we call DC101- which means serving the church on their grounds in whatever way we need. We helped with moving things, cleaning, organizing, and setting up for evening service.
Our students are so awesome! 4 of our teammates stepped out in boldness at service tonight. We are so proud of the way they spoke and sang tonight!
Another full day is ahead of us tomorrow. We will be loving on kids and playing with them all day!
Love in Christ.
-Vegas Team
Hi friends! Our students are hard at work this week serving the people of Las Vegas.
We are off to a great start! Yesterday (Sunday) we attended morning service at Dream Center, fun BBQ pool time, and an awesome Easter play at the International Church of Las Vegas.
Today we focused our hearts on the Lord and asking Him to show us all how to love the hurting people in this world. Our awesome DC (Dream Center) leader Troielle and her team led our students in creating bags with lunch items and toiletries for the homeless. We took to the streets and handed out bags like crazy! Around 100 homeless were blessed by these awesome high school students today.
We are loving working together as a team and seeing God move in this city and in our hearts.
We are so grateful for the support from parents, friends, and cascade staff. Thank you for supporting your students in their desire to serve this week!
Photos to come.
Also, we would love to thank our dear chaperone/chef Carmie O’Malley for providing our meals!
Love in Christ.
-Vegas Team
Hey guys! I hope your packed, we are going to have such a blast. I can’t wait to make memories with our group and make many new friends! I’ll see you at the airport! 😁✈️🌅💗 -Erin #caringforacommunity
Having some fun after an amazing day with metro Kidz mrs Lidyard took us on a fun little journey after an exciting filled day.
CCS ITerm Las Vegas 