And It Begins...

Well, folks! The adventure begins with.... 

SUPPORT RAISING! My DTS (Discipleship Training School) in Ireland starts July 14th and ends January 17th! Woohoo! 

To sum it up for those of you who don't know...

A DTS is a 6 month school run by the organization YWAM ( http://ywam.org/index.php/en/About-YWAM )  that consists of a Lecture Phase and an Outreach Phase. The Lecture phase is 3.5 months long, and is where we are taught about discipleship, leadership, relationship with God, and other teachings that will strengthen us in our walks with God while in missions. During this particular DTS, we will be traveling all around Ireland to different places to hear from different speakers and immediately going out and applying what we’ve learned through local outreach each week during the Lecture Phase. The Outreach Phase is about 2/2.5 months long, and is where we take everything we’ve learned in the Lecture Phase and apply it in the missions field abroad in 1 or 2 other countries; walking in signs and wonders, doing street and relational ministry, helping the poor, and fighting injustice. The countries to which we will be traveling have yet to be determined, but I will let you know when I know.
The particular DTS that I am doing is called a Fire & Fragrance DTS...

I didn’t even know what Fire & Fragrance was until October 2012, and then 3 months later, I learn that they are having a Fire & Fragrance DTS in Ireland, starting in July. Fire & Fragrance’s vision is “to join with what God is already doing all over the world in calling His bride to a fiery devotion to Jesus married to becoming the very fragrance of Christ to the lost.” It is basically the House of Prayer and Missions in one whammy. This is so totally me, and even though I knew that, I was very thrown off when I found out about this DTS. The Lord settled it in my heart a few days later nonetheless, and now I know that this is what I’m supposed to do.

I am so excited about this new adventure speeding toward me! I had been planning to start support raising in January, as I have quite a bit of money to raise by July 1st, but now, here I am, heading into March, and just now starting to fund raise! haha! Craziness. It's wonderful, though. One of the things I am MOST excited about this DTS is learning. I think that the Lord is going to teach me so much while I am doing this school. I feel like the last 5 years of my life have been crash course pre-learning for this new season I'm entering and it's going to be fantastic. 

I sealed 25 letters into envelopes last night, and am finishing up the other 25 today! Hopefully, I'll have these babies out by Monday or Tuesday to kick this off! I've already received first fruits ($80!!), though, and that is VERY exciting!

This school is going to cost around $10,000 including tuition, airfare, and other things such as getting a Visa and buying things for the trip. I have a job, so I will be saving for about half of it. What I need to raise is about $6000. Also, if any of you have AIRMILES that you would like to donate for my flight to Ireland, that would be absolutely amazing. I will be sending updates to my partners as I get more information. 

All checks can be made payable to YWAM. Please DO NOT put my name in the memo section. Please send all checks to my address, so I can send them together, in bulk. Donations can also be made to my GOFUNDME account, please go to this link to donate: www.gofundme.com/IEDTS or go to my Facebook page, and click on the link there. To recieve my address, please email me at Illuminatetheworld@hotmail.com

You guys have no idea how much of a fulfillment of a dream this is for me. You guys are storing up such treasures in heaven by partnering with me in what I know the Lord is telling me to do. PRAYER is also very, very greatly appreciated! It is so vital for me to have intercessors backing me through this process. There is often opposition when it comes to these things, and knowing that there are people behind me, holding me up with prayer, is a wonderful feeling! THANK YOUUUU! :)

Love you guys!
Rachelle

November/December Newsletter 2012

Hello, Dear Friends and Family!

     Well, these past 2 months have been packed full and super, super busy, so I thought I would put the 2 months together, since I haven’t had time to write a newsletter until now. God has been MOVING like crazy in my heart, in the hearts of people I’ve been speaking to, and in the church in general. I have very high hopes for this new year, 2013. I think it is going to be a year of breakthrough. That seems very cliche’ but this year has been a year of both trials and new beginnings, and the only thing I can think of that can come out of that is breakthrough. It’s the draw back before the shot, like a sling-shot. I am soooo excited for what this year is going to bring! God is being very faithful to providing something for me to talk about every month for you all (whether it’s an enjoyable lesson or not for me. haha! :P) These past 2 months, the Lord has really been highlighting loving people unconditionally to me. I have had a really hard time with fear of rejection since 4th grade, due to bullying. Since then, I have not been able to truly love those around me, except for the ones whom had been tested and tried for multiple years, and I knew I could trust. These past 2 months (really since October) the Lord has really broken me free of the fear of rejection. I’m learning that it is okay to be rejected, Jesus was rejected HUGELY, but he still loved us anyways. He kept loving us. He didn’t just say, “Well, then, forget you. I’m not going to be friends with you because you hurt my feelings.” He not only “hung out with us”, he DIED for us. That is crazy. Just thought I’d give that little nugget for thought. :)
     Everything is going really great for me, right now. The Lord is doing so much, my job is still great, and my family is doing relatively well, despite the crazy business (which is finally starting to slow down after this week). Thanksgiving was great, and our outreach was so amazing (more on that in a bit)! Christmas was delightful.

     Ministry: As you all know, in November we were preparing for our Thanksgiving Outreach. OH boy. Seriously, it was so amazing. I felt the Lord so intensely through the people who helped us, went with us, and in Round Valley. That Reservation was so impacted by the Lord on November 2oth. We had multiple volunteers who helped us pack all 130 (yes, 130) boxes  of food on our back patio, make fun gift baggies for kids, make bookmarks, put packages together, load the trailers with pies, salad, food boxes, and turkeys, etc the weekend before we left for Round Valley Indian Reservation. We had 27 people who went with us and eventually split us into 5 teams, going to 25 homes each. We touched so many lives in that short amount of time, getting to pray for each of them, and give them the gift of love, friendship, food, and JESUS. We have heard multiple testimonies coming out of that time that have brought us to tears in the wonder of what God is doing in this hidden valley in Mendocino County, CA. He sees the things that we don’t see, and He cares for even the seemingly insignificant. We were blown away by the provision of the Lord and the response we got. Thank you, to all those who were involved! You’re wonderful! In December, before Christmas, we also took some presents that Sanctuary Church in Concord donated to our main contacts in the valley, Julian and Lupe Medel to give to families that are in need. This was a fun time, and something that we will most likely do on a larger scale next year.
     Upcoming: We will be going to Round Valley in February  for a few days to just really spend some time with our friends that we’ve made there. We’ve been feeling the Lord pressing it on our hearts to do this for a while now, and we want to be able to pour some quality time into the new friends that we’ve made there, especially in the past year or so. We also are tentatively looking at having another BURN in Round Valley in August (more information to come soon). And, of course, as I’ve mentioned in all my newsletters, my DTS (Discipleship Training School)!! There have been some new developments on my DTS, and I am now going to be going in July!  I’m going to be taking part in the Fire & Fragrance DTS which is like BURN 24/7 and YWAM put together in one DTS. We will be traveling all around Ireland during the Lecture phase (first 3 months) and doing local outreach in Ireland, along with the lectures. I will then be going abroad to 1 or 2 other countries (locations have yet to be determined) during the Outreach phase (last 3 months). I am going to start officially fund-raising at the end of January/beginning of February. While I am doing my DTS, which will be July 14th- January 17th, I would like to have support coming in monthly. Please pray and ask the Lord if he would like you to be one of those that will support me monthly financially while I am in Ireland, or even leading up to my DTS, as well. I need about $6000 by the first week of July. I am so excited, and I know that this is what the Lord wants me to do! Support letters will be sent out soon! I’d also like to say, that the newsletters will probably be slowing down while I’m support raising, but I’ll try to get them out as much as possible. I will be posting short updates on my blog “Velvetclimbingivy.blogspot.com”. If you have any questions, you can e-mail me at illuminatetheworld@hotmail.com! 

Love you guys

October 2012 Newsletter

Dear Friends and Family, 

    

   I’d like to say right off the bat, sorry that this newsletter is late. I’ve been ridiculously busy. With that said, the Lord is doing a lot right now (isn’t He always?). He’s doing a lot of things in my heart, that’s for sure. Over the past year and a half or so, the Lord has been really speaking to me about the “Renewing of the Mind”. Basically, He’s been really stressing the importance of making sure that my thought life is positive and encouraging towards myself and towards others. This has mainly been strengthened in the area of finance for me. I feel no fear in this area of life because I KNOW that if God wants it to happen, it’ll happen. End of story. But, I’ve been finding that in other areas of my life (the more trivial things) I’m having a really hard time keeping my thoughts positive and trusting towards the Lord. For instance, I have been absolutely terrified about driving. I’ve gotten over that initial “freak out” stage and I’m doing well, but even thinking about doing anything new in driving scares me. I didn’t even think about it until a few days ago that the Lord is King over even the seemingly small things in my life. He is not going to let me die or kill anyone else while I’m driving, as long as I’m listening to Him, and not doing anything stupid, because He’s good and He’s God!  I’ve also been, not stressing, but slightly worried about my school schedule, now that I have a job, and I realize now that as long as I’m being diligent with my time, He’ll make a way, because I know He wanted me to get a job, and I KNOW that He wants me to finish school (with good grades, too!). It’s cool because the there have been 2 men of God that I highly respect, David Sliker and Graham Cooke, who both talked about “Renewing of the Mind” this year! Totally confirming and encouraging. And, of course, I’m missing Ireland like crazy. Every time it’s cloudy and chilly (although the cold there is not so sharp), I just want to go to Ireland right then and there, but alas, I must wait a year, but only a year! Craziness!

     So, onward to other news; my job is LOVELY! I love it so much. The kids are so fun and I’m falling in love with them more and more each time I’m with them. I had been saving up all month for a Macbook Pro and finally ordered it on Friday, but it was coming from New York, so I’m not sure if Hurricane Sandy has delayed it or not, I’ll know if it doesn’t come today. Please continue to pray for the victims of this tragedy and for the volunteer teams going to help! Getting a Macbook was a good investment to me because it’s a reliable computer (I’ve never had a Mac before, always has been PC), and it will be nice to have a reliable computer while I’m doing my DTS (which I’ve mentioned in past newsletters). 

     In Ministry: Our official fund raising for our Thanksgiving Outreach to Round Valley Indian Reservation has begun and we only have 1 more week before our outreach! We will be going to drop off full Thanksgiving meals for 100 families on November 20th, the Tuesday before Thanksgiving. Any donations of nonperishable food items, especially canned vegetables (corn, green beans, peas, etc), boxed mashed potatoes, canned cranberry sauce, boxed stuffing, and bottled apple cider can be dropped off at Blazing Fire Church in Livermore, Sanctuary Church in Concord, or East Bay Foursquare Church in Danville. We also need to raise about $1000 still for all the perishable food items such as; pies, salad, turkeys, and bread rolls for 100 families of 10-15 people! Please contact us at Singingfeatherministries@gmail.com  or visit our website: Singingfeatherministries.org for more information. Please continue to pray for us while we’re fund raising for this outreach. We usually have a lot of spiritual warfare coming at us while we get ready for this. We will be making a run up to Round Valley before the Thanksgiving outreach to give clothes that we’ve accumulated over the months, as well. Also, as I’ve mentioned before, I am going to be doing my DTS in Rostrevor, Northern Ireland starting approximately in September 2013. This DTS is going to be around $10,000 but since I have a job now, I’ll be able to save about half of that. The other half I will begin to officially support raise for in January. Right now, all I know is that our outreach phase may possibly be in Palestine (if World War III hasn’t broken out, that is. :P). I will let you guys know if any other ministry opportunities come up before or after these 3 things!  I would LOVE to hear from you! Any questions or responses to this newsletter you may have. You can contact me at Illuminatetheworld@hotmail.com. 

Thanks again!!

September 2012 Newsletter

Hello, Dear Friends and Family!

     As this is my 2^nd newsletter, I will try to keep it much shorter than my last one (which I’ve included with this one for some of you, who maybe didn’t get it in my last send-out). My newsletter will typically be less than a page long, but I like to write, so forgive me if it’s long. I’ll get straight to the point…

First of all, I (and everyone around me, it seems) am going through a huge transition phase at the moment. Soon after my August Newsletter, I began to look for a job, as I felt like it was something that the Lord was telling me to do. I have been at the International House of Prayer East Bay since January 2011, and I wasn’t raising enough funds to support myself, or at least to take some of the financial burdens off of my parents. I wanted to be able to do that, but I trusted the Lord to see where He led me. Now, slightly ironically, I feel that my season of being on staff at the International House of Prayer East Bay is coming to a close, and my time to be a working class citizen is coming up. However, I plan to continue to send these letters to those who have supported me in the past and labored with me in prayer for my many endeavors. As I began looking for a job, I knew that I wanted to do something that was personal, and something that I would love. So, I signed up on a babysitting website, and went to 3 or 4 interviews, one of which was a 22 hour nannying position. The other 2 or 3 (I can’t remember, at the moment), were occasional babysitting jobs that were on an “as needed” basis, which is really good. I got 2 of the jobs, as well as the part-time nannying position. I started last week, and I absolutely LOVE it. I babysit for 1.5 year old twins (a boy and a girl) on Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays. It’s wonderful. One thing that IS a real bummer is that I will be going off of staff at The House of Prayer while I have this job (God can do A LOT in a month), I just can’t do both, and I feel the Lord releasing me to do so.  I will, however, still be totally involved at EGS (Encounter God Service on Thursday nights) and on Wednesday and Thursday mornings from 10am-12pm. To all my amazing supporters through the House of Prayer, thank you SO MUCH! Please consider supporting me as an individual missionary, as I transition into this new time in my life. The amazing thing about this new job is that it allows me to save for more than half of the cost of my DTS! So that brings me to…

     Upcoming things in ministry: As I mentioned in my previous letter, we (my family and a few others) were asking Jesus about whether or not he wanted us to do a reservation tour in Arizona in October. We feel that it is not the right time for it. It may be something that we do in the next year or so, but not in October. ALSO, we have now started to fundraise for the THANKSGIVING OUTREACH IN ROUND VALLEY INDIAN RESERVATION, CA. This is a yearly thing that we, Singing Feather Ministries, do, and we will be feeding 100 families (of approx. 10-15 people) in the Valley. That’s HALF of the residents in Round Valley. They will be getting a full Thanksgiving meal with a 20lb turkey, stuffing, canned cranberry sauce, pantry items, rolls, salad, and pie. Then, of course, my DTS (Discipleship Training School with YWAM), which is coming up in exactly a year! In September 2013, I will be going to Ireland to do a DTS. The total cost of the DTS will be around $6,000 (price has lowered, since I’m now working, and am able to save). Please continue to pray about supporting me for this school, as I will begin officially fundraising in January.
     I’m still working on my website, but once it’s up, you’ll be able to see all my past and upcoming ministry opportunities, and much more!  If you would like to still support me as an individual missionary, please write the check to RACHELLE BUTOW. Thank you for taking the time to read my newsletter! If you would like more information about my DTS or if you have any questions at all, please contact me at Illuminatetheworld@hotmail.com, I would love to talk with you! If you would like more information about the Thanksgiving Outreach, please contact Cindy Butow at singingfeatherministries@gmail.com. If you would like to write a check to this organization and/or outreach, please write it to SINGING FEATHER MINISTRIES. We’d be happy to answer any questions you may have. Thank you and God bless!

Happy Autumn! 

August 2012 Newsletter

This is from my August 2012 Newsletter that I send out to all of my supporters. I know I haven't been doing very wel at this whole blogging thing lately, but I hope to get back on here more frequently in the future!  I'll Post the September Newsletter, as well. Enjoy! :)


Hello, Lovely Friends and Family!

This is my first time sending out an official update about the goings-ons of my life, but there will be more to come. I will try to send them out monthly. It seems that there is always something interesting going on that I’m involved with, so the possibility of hearing something new every month is highly likely. This is where I will tell you about the things that the Lord has been speaking to my heart about, upcoming ministry opportunities, prayer requests, etc. If I send you an update and you don’t want me too, please contact me and let me know. I have a list of people that have supported me, and/or have said that they want to hear updates from me, so I send stuff to them when I do my mass send-outs. Also, if you have a friend that is interested or you think would be interested in supporting me financially, in prayer, or just receiving updates, please let me know!

First of all, I’d like to say that, if you had not heard, I did not end up going to London with YWAM on a missions trip this summer. Last year, I felt like I was supposed to go on that trip, but then I went to Ireland in April, and it was absolutely amazing! One of the things that I did was visit the YWAM base where I will be doing my DTS (I’ll talk about that a little later), and while I was there I just felt so at home and like I may be there for a while after I do my DTS. I felt the Lord give me an option. He said that I could go to London this summer, OR I could stay home and really make an effort to focus on connecting with my family for the next two summers before I leave to Ireland next September(ish). So I didn’t end up going. I really felt at peace about the decision, but I can’t say that I didn’t regret it a little bit when I watched the opening ceremonies for the Olympics. It was okay, though, I felt like I was doing what the Lord wanted me to. Also, I wanted to say that going to Ireland was the most amazing thing ever, but if I talk about every detail of that trip, it will be 5 pages long. If you want to ask me about it, please feel free to e-mail me! J

Now, for the really good stuff! So I have a few ministry opportunities coming up for the near and far future. First, coming up in October, my family (and maybe some other interested peoples) is going to Arizona to do a reservation tour. There are a few Christian Native events that we will be participating in, and we will also be doing ministry on reservations there, but we’re still hammering out the details. Right now, the amount that each of us will have to raise is about $530 for 10 days. Not too bad, right? Next, is our Round Valley Thanksgiving outreach. This outreach is going to be huge! I, personally, do not need to raise money for this particular ministry, but our family’s ministry Singing Feather Ministries, does. Please email Singingfeatherministries@gmail.com for more information.

Then, in January, I will officially start raising support for my DTS (Discipleship Training School) with YWAM Rostrevor in Northern Ireland. A DTS is a 6 month long school. The first 3 months are called the “Lecture Phase”, where we will be taught about deepening our relationship with God, missions strategies and leadership, and other things pertaining to being a missionary, leadership skills, and relationship with Jesus Christ. The next 3 months are called the “Outreach Phase”. This is where we will take everything that we’ve learned in the Lecture Phase and put it into practice in the missions field. This Phase typically consists of doing ministry in the country where you are originally doing your DTS and 1-2 other outreach locations abroad. The estimated cost is about $10,000 (taking into consideration outreach phase plane ticket costs, the ticket to get to Ireland, cost of the school itself, spending money, a visa, and the exchange rate between dollars and pounds). Lodging and food are included in the cost of the school.

If you would like to make a financial contribution to any of these ministry opportunities (excluding Thanksgiving Outreach), please make all check out to Rachelle Butow. If you are supporting me as a missionary in the House of Prayer, please follow the instructions on my support letter that accompanies this update. All ministry funds and House of Prayer missionary funds must be separate.

We just finished our two-week teen intensive at the International House of Prayer East Bay called “Captivated”. I have been a participant of every Captivated since the beginning (this was our 6th one), as well as every Consumed (our 3-day intensive that leads up to New Years' Eve). This year, I got to be on staff for Captivated! It was really exciting because it finally really felt like I was REALLY on staff at the House of Prayer. I've been on staff at the International House of Prayer East Bay since January 2011, but I hadn't had any real responsibilities like this before. I really enjoyed helping out with getting everything ready and being part of the planning and decision making. This Captivated was really good! We had about 20 kids and we had a lot of fun, and a lot of really great Jesus time! Each participant had at least 4 hours in the prayer room and a teaching by one of our staff members every day! Even though I was staffing this internship, I still was able to spend a lot of time with Jesus. It was so refreshing to just sit in the Prayer Room and spend time with Him. About a month ago, I felt the Lord leading me to read the story of David. I made my way through the whole book of 1 Samuel during those 2 weeks and was absolutely blown away at the little details that you don’t really hear about when people are telling you about the story of Samuel, Saul, and David. It was so great!  David Sliker and Isaac Bennett both came out for the last weekend of Captivated and that was just so refreshing for our House. They both delivered amazing sermons about having a right view of where God belongs in your life. It was soooo good! J

The past 2 weeks, I have really been trying to get on a better schedule, making sure that I go to sleep at a good time, get up early, spend at least 30 minutes with God each day, and even eating healthier. I’m starting my senior year in a week, and I really want to be intentional about finishing High School with excellence and having a focused life, that is not just full of frivolous things. So please pray for me that I am able to get to this goal, as it has been pretty hard to break out of my crazy night-owl sleeping schedule that I’ve had all summer. Also, please pray for me that at least $300 a month comes in for me to support myself through the House of Prayer, and that all the money that I need to do these things in ministry comes in, as well. Thank you so much for partnering with me in the Lord. It seriously means so much! I love what the Lord is doing through His Body in this hour. He is drawing His Bride together and to Him, like a bunch of little children. It’s beautiful! J Your prayer and your financial support makes it possible for me to take my place in His Bride and fulfill my assignment that Christ has given me. 

“But your calling is not what you DO in your life, your calling is to be a lover of God. Your ASSIGNMENT is what He wants you to do from that place; your ministry”- Isaac Bennett

Recent Happenings

Well, I haven't written a blog in quite a while...
After I went to Ireland and blogging SO. MUCH. I kinda got blogged-out. Sorry about that, folks. Anyways, I will pick up blogging again, as I know my supporters and friends will be wanting to know the goings-ons of my life.
Right now, I'm almost at the end of summer vacation and will be starting my Senior year of high school at the end of the month. I am so excited for this school year because 1) It's my last year of school!! and 2) I don't only have summer vacation to look forward to... but the END OF HIGH SCHOOL!! And then, my DTS! If you haven't read my past blogs and you don't know what a DTS is, I shall inform you. A DTS is a 6 month Discipleship Training School run by Youth With a Mission (YWAM). Approximately, the first 3 months of the school is called the Lecture Phase, where we learn about deepening our relationship with God, and missions. The next 3 months (approx.) is called the Outreach Phase. This part of the school takes place in the country of the DTS and/or abroad. There are about 200 YWAM bases all around the world, and most offer a DTS. My heart has been, and always will be for Ireland. I am going to be doing my DTS in Rostrevor, Northern Ireland in Fall 2013. As you can read in past blogs, I went to the YWAM Base in Ireland for 2 days and had an AMAZING time. I absolutely loved everyone I met there, missionaries and locals. Anyways, this summer has been absolutely amazing! It's the first relatively empty summer I've had in the past 2 years, and I've had a bunch of fun adventures with my family. I've also had a bunch of things happen that have either never happened and/or haven't happened in a long time. I was here for the 4th of July for the first time in 2 years, I went camping for the first time in 4 years, and I was Staff for our Captivated Internship for the first time! There are a few other things that I can't think of at the moment. The past two years I've had barely any summer because I've been on missions trips and my summers had just been packed in general. This year, I did not end up going to London, as I thought I was going to, so I had a lot of free time. It was God's plan that I didn't go, but it has still been hard (especially when I watched the Olympics opening ceremonies).
This summer has been great and I'm really looking forward to this new chapter in my life after I graduate. I'm going to be starting to raise support for my DTS in January (hopefully I'll have the exact date for that by then). I am going to need to raise $10,000 (including school fee, airfare [to an from outreach locations, as well], and extra expenses) for my  DTS, so please (even though this is unofficial) pray about supporting me in January. There are also upcoming ministry opportunities coming up in October that I will be updating you guys about soon! Love you all!! :)

Island of Destiny (Inisfail)

Dear Inisfail (Ireland),
Green hills, white shores
You do not know how My heart burns for you
Although you've been through so many struggles
and have fought to the death, through many troubles
I hear you, I am with you
Though I may seem distant and far away
I tell you, even in those days, where you were ruled
and pushed and pulled in so many different ways
I was there, I knew you
You say, "There is no god" and you've hidden you heart
but I open it up and say "Look what's in my palm, I hold you,
I know your dreams, your desires, and I want to give them to you"
You mean everything, you're my creation
Oh, my praying people
You don't know how much I danced and sang over you
when you talked to me in Bangor, you knew how your prayers
were incense! Please, don't forget. Don't forget your first love.
I am not a god who is distant or heavy-handed with rules and regulations
I am full of grace and my blood covers your transgressions, yes,
but that blood was not just given so that I could be followed mechanically
and without true LOVE. I want to KNOW you. When that day comes,
when you'll be sitting before My throne, I want to look at you and say
with a Father's heart, "I love you, I know you, and you were faithful"
I want to look at you, and see you as one who was devoted
to seeing My Bride unified and unprejudiced against itself.
You are loved, YOU have a destiny
I have called you to be priests in a holy, pure way
that glorifies only Me. I am calling you, arise, take your place
it is pivotal and it is necessary, you have a purpose! So be free!

Love, Jesus