a new season

a new season

Hi Friends! What an awesome God we serve. This month has flown by, and I'm excited for what's to come in spring. One of the things I'm most thankful for is that I was raised in a "missions-oriented" family. We have always done ministry together, whether it was at a church, a school event, a homeless shelter... or even a prison. ;) A week and a half ago, I was able to go home and be with my family to celebrate 20 years of prison ministry! We had a celebration at our church, where we had dinner, great fellowship with friends and supporters, and former inmates shared testimonies of what God has done in their lives. It honestly turned out to be one of the best nights of my life! And, we were then able to do worship at North Coast Calvary Chapel that weekend. Our Pastor, Mark Foreman, praying for my family at our celebration Here in Denver, we have sent out 5 outreach teams in the past few days! Their destinations are Colombia, Latvia/Romania, Thailand, Turkey/Romania, and Mexico. Please keep them in your prayers as they minister in those nations for the next 7 weeks. Tomorrow, we begin our spring quarter! We will be starting our Awaken Discipleship Training School, Around the World Discipleship Training School, School of Worship, andPhase II/School of Ministry Development. A couple students already came in over the weekend, and we will be welcoming the majority of them tomorrow morning! It's going to be a great quarter. I am also thrilled to announce that I will be directing the Creative Ministry department here at YWAM Denver! This means that I will teach dramas to the outreach teams and help prepare them for their ministry times overseas. I had the privilege of assisting in this department while I was in my last school, and I've been training for the last month to begin directing it, starting tomorrow. :) I couldn't be any more excited! Please keep me in your prayers as this new quarter begins, for wisdom in my teaching and discipling, relationships, provision with finances, and personal growth in Christ. Also pray for our students, that they would see incredible growth in their walks with the Lord! Thank you so much for your love and support. Blessings, Lynelle Christine ----------------------------------------------------------- My mailing address is: Lynelle Orndorff 12750 W. 63rd Ave Arvada, CO 80004 If you would like to partner with me, click here to read about how you can do so.

Now in Denver

Denver, Colorado

I’ve been here about two and a half weeks now, and life is beautifully full. :)

My Dad drove me out here to Denver and helped me get settled into my home. He’s such a good dad and takes such good care of me!

We did prison ministry together at FCI Englewood on February 16th. I loved spending that time with him, and we had two awesome services with the guys there! Our hearts were SO full of compassion for those men, and they were so appreciative of us coming. As we were packing up our gear in the chapel from our last service that evening, I looked over and my Dad was weeping. He looked at me with huge tears in his eyes and said, “I just love those guys. This is why I do this.”

God keeps reminding me that that’s exactly why we live like we do. We are in the business of loving people. That’s what we are called to.

I’m about to start my third week on staff here at YWAM Denver. We had a three-day staff conference this past week, where we worshipped together, had a couple speakers, played get-to-know-you games, and prayed about what we can do better as staff. It was a great time, and it was a joy to get to know Peter and Linda Warren, the directors of the base here, personally. I’m incredibly thankful for their Godly leadership, transparency, and heart for community. It makes me all the more excited to be part of their vision for YWAM Denver to be a bridge to the nations.

A theme this past week has been how our vision is not to DO something—our vision is Jesus. When we fix our eyes on the Father, everything is simplified. We love people. We build relationships. We show others the love of Christ. And when trials and tribulations come our way, we remind ourselves that we are not of those who shrink back (Hebrews 10:39).

I live a life where I don’t receive a steady paycheck, but I get to see God supernaturally provide, day in and day out. I get to say goodbye to people my heart has grown to love, all too often. How blessed am I to know such amazing people? I get to walk to and from work and thank God for the ability to do so and enjoy His creation around me. I get to build relationships with people from all sorts of backgrounds. I know former drug addicts, legalistic church kids, and atheists, who have had radical encounters with God since then. I get to see people healed, emotionally and physically. My Father is SO good. He brings freedom to anyone who is willing to receive it, just because He loves us. This is why I do what I do.

Please keep our staff and students in your prayers, as we prepare to send teams to Thailand, Colombia, Turkey, Romania, Mexico, and other nations this month!

Thank you for your love and support!
You are dear to me.

Blessings,

Lynelle Christine

PS: I would LOVE to receive mail from you and keep in touch that way. I WILL respond. :)
My mailing address is:
Lynelle Orndorff
12750 W. 63rd Ave
Arvada, CO 80004

If you would like to partner with me, click here to read about how you can do so.

Here's where I live! I rent a room from the wonderful people who directed my Discipleship Training School, which was my first experience with YWAM. It's about a ten minute walk from work. Such a blessing. :) 

How to Help!

First, please watch this video narrated by Loren Cunningham (founder of YWAM). It's just a couple minutes and so worth it to give you an idea of why I do what I do!

As you probably know, I'm on staff at YWAM Denver, and I love it!

The first question I always get is, "Do you get paid?" The answer is that I fundraise, and there are ways you can help!

First, PRAYER. I need your prayers. Pray that I will be sensitive to the Holy Spirit and always be teachable. And pray for my finances, as I live by faith day to day.

As far as fundraising, I need to raise $9,000 for the whole time I'm here, which breaks down to $750 per month. This includes all my housing, groceries, phone bill, etc. If I have 30 families donating $25 per month, my needs would be met.
I know that for some people giving a one-time donation is easier, and others would rather do monthly gifts. Either is great!

How can you give? There are two ways.

1. Send your donation here:

Lynelle Orndorff
12750 W. 63rd Ave
Arvada, CO 80004

**If you would like a tax deductible receipt, make your check payable to "YWAM Denver." If you don’t care to receive a receipt, you can make checks payable to Lynelle Orndorff.

2. You can donate online here. Enter the amount, choose to make it a monthly recurring payment if you wish to do so. Click "Staff Support," and enter my first and last name in the following boxes.

If you have any questions and/or want to consider supporting me regularly, I have a support packet that I would love to send you. It answers basic questions and explains why YWAMers don't receive a "salary."

To receive my monthly newsletter, click here: Lynelle's Newsletter Sign-Up

Thank you so much for your love and prayers.
Blessings to you and your families!
Lynelle Christine

So, What's Next?

First, please watch this video narrated by Loren Cunningham (founder of YWAM). It's just a couple minutes and so worth it!

That video gets me every time. That's my heart right there.

So, what's next for me?

I'll be going back to YWAM Denver next month to join staff! I am so, so excited. :) I have my living arrangements worked out, which is a huge blessing alone! The people who directed my DTS in 2012 offered me a room in their basement for a reasonable price, and it's just about a 10 minute walk from the base. It's really ideal for where I'm at right now!

As far as fundraising, I need to raise $9,000 for the whole time I'm there, which breaks down to $750 per month. This includes all my housing, groceries, phone bill, etc. I know that for some people giving a one-time donation is easier, and others would rather do monthly gifts. Either is great!

How can you give?

For a tax deductible gift, send your donation here:

Lynelle Orndorff
12750 W. 63rd Ave
Arvada, CO 80004

Make checks payable to “YWAM Denver.” Just attach a post-it note with my name on it.

**For all funds donated to YWAM Denver you will receive a tax deductible receipt. If you don’t care to receive a receipt, you can make checks payable to Lynelle Orndorff.

Also, send me an email. I have a support packet that I would love to send you. It answers basic questions, explains why YWAMers don't receive a "salary," and it will also walk you through setting up monthly withdrawals if you want to do that.

This next year will be a stretching time, but I'm ready for it. I am confident in being there, I'm confident in Christ who lives in me, and I am thrilled to be part of YWAM Denver in discipling people to send them out to the nations! :)

Feel free to email me if you have any comments, questions, or concerns.
To receive my newsletter, click here: Lynelle's Newsletter Sign-Up

Thank you! Blessings to you and your families!

Week Eleven & Twelve -- Spiritual Authority // Home at Last!!!

Dave Gustaveson, our last speaker, spoke on the topic of Spiritual Authority.

Something Dave said that really struck me was, "Most issues are simply due to a lack of love." I thought about issues I see today in society, and I think about all the broken families, and I find this to be true. In my Discipleship Training School last year, Dean Sherman said, "Any political system would work if it was loving." This call to love, which Christ gave us in Mark 12, seems so simple, yet we struggle with it more than anything else, as shown by the church's reputation for being "judgmental." We can love without compromising conviction.

I was so impressed with all our speakers during Phase Two. They each had their own style of teaching, highly anointed for what they do, and they were so open and ready to share with us hard lessons they've had to learn on their own.

After our last week of lectures, we had one more week together as a school. We shared our Vision Project (a project we did at the beginning of the school, cultivating a vision God has put in our hearts and examining what needs to take place to bring it to pass), our Outreach Project (the two-month, overseas mock outreach we had to plan), and we just spent time together as a school, doing things like watching Home Alone together. :) Something that I love about YWAM Denver is their heart for community. They are all about building relationships, and they are intentional about creating an atmosphere that encourages exactly that.

So, I'm back in sunny San Diego! I flew in late on Friday, December 20th and jumped right back into the swing of things as we did worship that weekend at North Coast Calvary Chapel. We had a blast, and I've been able to catch up with some friends I hadn't seen in a while. :) It was so sweet to be home for Christmas, since last year I was on outreach in Costa Rica. Being home, back with my family, going to my home church, and soaking up all the great teaching, has been nothing short of wonderful. I am so blessed by the people in my life, and it's been an enriching couple of weeks.

I would like to ask for your prayers, as I prepare to join staff at YWAM Denver beginning in February. It's a year-long commitment, and I will need monthly supporters, in prayer and finances! I'm so confident that this is what God has for me right now, and I know that His bank account is unlimited. :) Please consider partnering with me as I go to serve, learn, teach, and send people out into the world to tell about the GREAT NEWS of Jesus Christ!

Week Ten -- Spiritual Leadership

Our speaker this past week was Dan Thoemke from Hillside Community Church, who taught on Spiritual Leadership. It was a really cool week, where we looked at the lives of Moses, King Saul, King David, and Jesus. We talked about what leadership looks like, what the struggles are, and how to be someone who leads while glorifying the Lord.

Dan Thoemke

One thing Dan asked us was who has had the greatest influence on our lives. We went around the room and shared who it was. Most people said their parents, a few said siblings, aunts, etc. But it was really sweet to see that the people who have the greatest influence are common people.

Leadership really isn't skill-based. It's about being faithful and consistent.

"In every age, there comes a time when a leader must come forward to meet the needs of the hour. Therefore, there is no potential leader, who does not have an opportunity to make a positive difference in society. Tragically, there are times when a leader does not arise to the hour."

~Winston Churchill

We were reminded that Biblical leadership is not limited to the Christian community. We have opportunities to lead all the time. It's just a matter of recognizing them.

"The enemies we do not destroy in our strongest moments, will be the same enemies that will destroy us in our weakest moment."

~Tommy Tenney

A huge focus of this school has been cutting stuff off at the root--dealing with our junk now so that we don't get down the road in ministry and 40 years from now realize we fell prey to the same thing that the enemy used against us in our youth. This place, the environment I'm in, is the perfect place to deal with that stuff. It's easy to deal with it here because people are wanting to help us be accountable. But in other places and most scenarios, you have to make yourself accountable to people. It's a lot harder when you're outside of a discipleship bubble. I encourage you to ask people to speak into your life more often. No, it's not very fun. :) But we should have relationships with people we respect and know have our best interest in mind, where we can receive the hard truth. I want to create a culture where I can receive correction and then bring it before God so He can really deal with my heart.

Another theme God really highlighted to me this week was literally loving your neighbor. What do we think Jesus actually meant when He said, "Love your neighbor"? I've grown up in a house where we honestly haven't done that effectively. We are cordial to neighbors and have light conversations, but now I want to be intentional about building relationships with them. Real relationships. This earth is as close to heaven as some people will ever get, and I don't want to take that lightly.

We had the opportunity to close our week of teaching with a Q&A time with a panel of really awesome men and women of God who are leaders in the area. We had a couple pastors, a detective/chaplain from the police department, and a man who just stepped down from an official "pastor position" to go into real estate. We asked them hard questions like, "What's something you wish you'd have known 25 years ago?" and "How do you deal with failure as a leader?" We finished out the week with really asking ourselves, "Am I okay not doing formal ministry?" We should be! I think the answer to this last question shows who we're actually doing ministry for.

The panel during class time

Saturday was our third and last of what we call, "Service Saturday." Service Saturday is simply a day where the students and staff at YWAM Denver disperse across the city to different organizations and just serve whatever needs they have. My small group along with two others went to do four hours of children's ministry with Burmese refugee kids. We taught about the fruits of the Spirit and how much God loves us. We also sang songs, played games like musical chairs, and decorated Christmas cookies. :)

The precious kids decorating cookies

This day reminded me of outreach in Costa Rica. It made me miss it!

Our fun group!

Two weeks to go! Please keep me in your prayers as I wrap up my school and have a few final projects to finish. Thank you!

~LC

Week Nine -- Comparative Religions

Brenda Lewis was our teacher this past week on "Comparative Religions." It was a lot of review for me because I took philosophy and worldview in high school, but it was a fantastic week nonetheless! Brenda is a YWAMer who lives in Colorado but spends several months in India each year, where she has safe houses for kids who are taken out of human trafficking. Her passion for India was absolutely contagious, and I think most of my school was ready to go with her by the end of the week! ;)

In this picture, we were listing off all kinds of adjectives and aspects of Jesus' character and nature. It didn't take long to fill the white board.

The focus of the week was the importance of knowing what we believe and why we believe it, while also learning what other people believe so we can understand where they are coming from and therefore reach them with the Gospel.

We spent a lot of time looking at and discussing pantheistic worldviews, such as Hinduism and Buddhism (which was born out of Hinduism).

What I think is so interesting in different worldviews, is at some point, they are all inconsistent with what they say they believe. For example, Buddhism says that people have no value. However, it also acknowledges suffering as a problem and wants to eliminate it, but why would that matter if we have no value? Also, I've heard people ask, "If God is real, then why do the innocent suffer?" But if there is no God, what makes them innocent, and who cares if they suffer? Christianity alone says that we are significant and have value!
The list of inconsistencies goes on and on...

The conclusion that we came to is that all people want to know two things:
1. Is God good?
2. Does He love me?

We went on to analyze monotheism, specifically Islam, Judaism, and Christianity.
It's interesting to see that other worldviews are also SO motivated by works. In others, you work to be accepted by God. But for Christians, we work for Him because we are accepted! It's out of love.

Some great points from the week are:
-We only believe that which motivates us to action.
-To know what someone believes, look at their life.
-Thoughts-->Choices-->Actions-->Habits-->Character-->Destiny
-Every emotion is the slave of what you think.
-Christianity is the only worldview that will satisfy the belief that we are significant and have value.
-Love is unconditional, but relationship is conditional because it is always reciprocated. 
-Law protects value! This is easy to see simply by asking people, "Why do we have laws?" They would say, "For safety." But to protect what? The answer is obviously people, because people have tremendous value.
-The first 4 commandments protect God's value (love God), and 5-10 protect our value (love others).

Wednesday evening was the start of our 4-day Thanksgiving break. Heather Miller, one of our school staff, invited a bunch of us girls over to her place for the holiday! She is wonderful, and we had a great time cooking all day and feasting later. :)

Heather is the angel in the middle :)

This weekend was also our final weekend to work on our Outreach Project. One of the requirements of this school is to set up a mock outreach, where you budget all your needs and get contacts overseas to set up ministry times for the standard two-month outreach off of a Discipleship Training School. The outreach I set up is to Hong Kong for the majority of the time, with the last two weeks spent in Newcastle, Australia. It was really cool to contact YWAM bases all over the world, ask about the ministries that go on there, and get more of an idea of what it looks like to plan/lead an outreach!

I have less than three weeks here in Denver until graduation day... It's been an incredibly enriching couple of months, and I'm excited for what the next few weeks have in store :) 

Thank you for all your prayers and love!