What's up in DC?

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Feb 27th, our amazing 5 students graduated from the ASL DTS! 

It was a great night with many who came and celebrated with us! A night of laughs, testimonies, growth stories and gratefulness of what God has done over the last 5 months! Congrats to each one! 

So when the team was in the Philippines, what was team in DC doing?

 

 We have a simple weekly schedule, which includes team meetings daily, serving the YWAM base in different areas and individual ministry.  Below is our team schedule and areas where we serve on the base and GOOD NEWS with pictures. 

The Team (Liza, Josiah, Kari, Carole and Dan) 

Monday-ASL Team Meeting
We come together on Monday mornings for a time of worship and sharing testimonies of what God did during the week, encouraging and challenging each other!

Tuesday-YWAM Family Night 
This is an all YWAM Base event, that happens on Tuesdays nights where the community of DC is invited.  It is a time of worship and having a speaker share with our community.  Dan is on the rotation to led worship. They scheduled him early in the schedule, giving him a longer break for allotting time for baby to come. 

Wednesday-ASL Bible Study
Dan is leading a bible study, based on how we learned to study the bible in our bible school in Costa Rica, digging really deep.  We are studying 1 Peter, going through observation, interpretation and application.  Observation is what is in the text, interpretation is putting ourselves in the original readers/hearers shoes and application is what it means to us individually and how we can apply it to our lives. 

Thursday-YWAM Staff Meeting 
A weekly base meeting, where Jason Hershey leads a time where we share about what God is doing in each of our lives and ministries as well as prayer for each other.  In the picture below, Dan is interpreting and the empty seat is mine as I am taking the picture. :)

Friday-ASL Worship and Prayer set 
A 2 hour time slot that is completely devoted to worship and prayer.  We have been praying for the Philippines team, each other's ministries, events that are happening in the Deaf community and around the world.

  

Serving the Base
Each one of us serves the base in different areas, which helps the base continue to run!

 

So for about 10 hours a week each, you will see our team serving around the base.
Dan and I clean up everyday after dinner, Liza is our hospitality person and does laundry for our visitors and general base towels.  Kari does all the food shopping for the base and Josiah cooks lunch (which he is a pretty good chef!) and takes care of the base vehicles.

Individual Ministry
For about 20 hours a week, each of us has time for our individual ministry.  Something that God has placed on our hearts that we want to partner with him to see happen in DC or a way to bless other people and share the gospel and love of Jesus with others. Dan meets weekly with each staff to process how their individual ministry is going.

Dan's Ministry-Video and Editing 
Currently he is editing a professional DVD for the our Summer Burning Embers Tour Performance for the Deaf community to use in youth groups and churches as well as individuals sharing Jesus in a creative way with friends.  He has completed the first phase of the editing and showed it to our team for feedback.  Currently, he is working on the captions for people who do not know ASL and then will burn it on to a DVD to give out! 

  

Carole's Ministry-Championing Others Around the World

My heart is to connect and support other YWAMers and pastors/people (both Deaf and hearing) who have the heart for the Deaf like us.  Dan and I have learned a lot pioneering the ASL DTS and starting ministry for the Deaf in DC and desire to share with others so they can start further and go farther then us! I have the opportunity to encourage and champion dreams God has for the Deaf in other people. In January and early Feb, I had the opportunity to VideoPhone/Skype/Call at least 2 times a week with a new person from outside DC and spur them on in what God is calling them to do.

Parenthood-Olive is a month today, March 19th! 

Since Olive has been born, my time has been occupied with the joys of motherhood! Changing a lot of diapers, breastfeeding, sleeping when I can, midwives and pediatrician appointments and trying to take a shower everyday (which does not always happen :) I have been learning so much everyday.  

It is such a joy to be partnering with God and seeing His dreams and our dreams becoming a reality! 

GOOD NEWS

Last but probably the most exciting news around here is that Josiah and Liza are engaged! 

Josiah Smith and Liza Brandow were both students in the ASL DTS where they met and became friends, both served on the second ASL DTS this fall and are current staff here in DC! They are officially the first ASL YWAMers to fall in love!

 On February 2nd, Liza's birthday, Josiah got her a red velvet cake and we celebrated as a YWAM base at dinner.  Afterwards, Josiah took her out on a date to an ice skating rink (Liza's favorite activity).  The night was so cold and windy that they were the only ones on the rink!

 

 Then he took her to National Harbor and they went on the Ferris Wheel.  On the top of the Ferris Wheel on the third turn around, Josiah got down on one knee and asked Liza to marry him.  And filled with so much joy, Liza said yes with laughter! 

 

Olive Brave: What's in the name?

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Olive Brave McClelland 

It was so fun asking God to reveal the identity of his daughter. He was the one that formed her and knit her together in her mothers womb (Psm 139). He knows who she is and her every move. We believe in a God that desires relationship with us and who speaks to us, so we just had to ask him who this daughter of HIS was. That is how we picked her name, based on the identity pieces that God revealed to us.

OLIVE

Psm 128: 1-4

Blessed are all who fear the Lord, who walk in obedience to Him.

You will eat the fruit of your labor; blessing and prosperity will be yours.

Your wife will be like a fruitful vine within your house,

your children will be like OLIVE shoots around your table.

Yes, this will be the blessing for the man who fears the Lord.

As I read this Psm one day the word OLIVE jumped out at me. I believe and know that my husband is one who fears the Lord and because of his honor of God, I have become a fruitful vine and I believe that our children will also be blessed and that blessing is they will be like OLIVE shoots. But I did not know what OLIVE shoot were and how they were a blessing so I researched OLIVE trees during a time with God one morning! And it was soooooo sweet! I did not want to stop.

I learned that OLIVE trees are trees that can thrive in great heat and minimal water, they are virtually indestructible, and will live and produce fruit no matter what the conditions. OLIVE trees are a tree that can not be destroyed . . . if the tree is cut or burned down, new shoots will emerge from its roots.

As I praised God for OLIVE trees, the name OLIVE rested in my spirit as a identity piece of who this daughter of God is. As many of you know and walked through with me, I struggled with Candida about 3 years ago. During that time, my reproductive system, as well as many other systems in my body, were basically dead. I lost my period for over 9 months. And here 2 years later, OLIVE, comes from that virtually dead reproductive system. She is one that brought life in a place that was dead.

I shared with Dan the name and he asked that he just hold onto it for a little bit. It was a little later that God spoke to Dan about the name OLIVE but a completely different way! God spoke to him through the story of the flood. 

 Gen. 8:11 “When the dove returned to him in the evening, there in its beak was a freshly plucked OLIVE leaf! Then Noah knew that the water had receded from the earth.” 

Again, the world was dead and seemed like there was no hope, but an OLIVE tree emerged and the dove returned to Noah with an OLIVE branch, symbolizing hope of a new world and that the earth would be full of life again!

OLIVE is a bringer of hope, is full of life, brings life to dead places

 and will thrive in all circumstances! 

BRAVE

Throughout my pregnancy, we received many identity piece from God through our times of prayer for her as well as others praying for her. One piece that Dan continued to get over and over was that she was going to be one who is BOLD and FEARLESS. We kept this word as well as others and wanted for confirmation. It was not very long when others started to share that she would be BOLD and FEARLESS, using these same words.

As the pregnancy progressed, I recognized that I was overcoming many fears that have held me for years and I was becoming more BOLD and FEARLESS. I believe it was because of the life in my womb that I was stepping out in this way. As we were looking at names that mean courage or fearless or bold, nothing really stood out. Until a synonym popped up; BRAVE. Again, we held it for a while. Throughout the labor and birth, she was BRAVE and made mommy BRAVE too! 

She is one that is BRAVE and will bring BRAVERY to others around her.  

Just a few of the words spoken over Baby McClelland:

Precious, Spirit of Joy, Faith, Blessing, Promised One, Radiant, Know God (hearing his voice at a young age), Daughter of Nations (one that brings people together from different nations), Bringer of Peace, Bold and Fearless, Worshiper and Full of Life


Leaving the hospital and driving home! It was snowing!

 

She is so alert and attentive, making eye contact directly already! She is ready for ASL! Do you see the T and the I in the picture above? It was just how she was moving her hands but we know she will pick up sign in our community and Mommy and Daddy have been having signing time with her!

Olive loves posing when she is sleeping! Mommy decided to join in the pose this time! And mommy sleeps when Olive sleeps! When I breastfeed, Olive always crosses her legs! It is the cutest thing!

Olive loves Daddy! His presence calms her!