To live the incredible lives that God desires for each of us, we need to ‘get out of the boat.’ Getting out of the boat takes courage and faith. It requires laying down fear and complacency at the feet of Jesus. It requires us to act, to take steps of faith, holding tightly to the confidence we have in Christ.

Recently, Jordan Genzink chose to get out of the boat. Jordan decided to join Youth With A Mission (YWAM). Volunteers with YWAM spend 12 weeks taking part in Discipleship Training School (DTS) and then 12 weeks doing evangelism work.

“I am currently in Perth, Australia doing my DTS,” Jordan said. “DTS is a 12 week lecture phase with different topics and speakers each week where we get ready for our mission. Our mission, after the 12 weeks are done, is to go to Mexico City, Mexico and do evangelism.”

Life during DTS is packed with worship, personal devotions, small group sessions and going out into the community to share the gospel.

Times of greatest personal growth and maturity are often sparked by challenges or difficult experiences. Near the beginning of DTS, the 54 volunteers took part in Forgiveness and Repentance week. “At the beginning of the week we were asked to make a list of every sin that we have committed that we feel is keeping us from forming a closer, more intimate relationship with God,” Jordan shared. “We went from 8:30 am to 2 am praying, repenting and forgiving. There was not one dry eye in the room the entire time. We felt clean of all our sins and felt like a brand new person.”

With his eyes fixed on the Creator, Jordan is choosing each day to step out of the boat. Getting out of the boat is frightening and difficult, but when we change our focus from our own inability to His incomparable ability, only God knows what amazing adventures are in store.

If you’d like to follow along on Jordan’s adventure, please visit his blog at Jordangenzink.blogspot.com

Dr. Terry Teykl will be holding a prayer seminar on March 27 from 8:45 am to 3:30 pm. The seminar, Divine Strongholds, will take place at Calvary Christian Reformed Church in Wyoming. To view the brochure with complete information click here.

Pastor Stan Scripps | On January 21, Rev. Jim Osterhouse was granted his request to retire from the ministry after many years of faithful service both in congregational and denomination-wide settings. He left us with a few short thoughts, which he called, "musings", which are presented here. I have already heard a couple of them repeated and affirmed by some of our younger pastors in Classis Holland. So here is the list for your thoughtful perusal.

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