3 Reasons I'm Called To The Nations

I've heard asked before, Why would you go and serve another nation when your own nation and community is so in need?" After many years of thinking about this question, I feel like I have a personal understanding of "Why go?".  God has placed the nations on my heart, all of them to be exact.  He aches for me to serve His people all over the world and to experience His love in radical new ways. YWAM's mission statement is "To know God and to make Him known". This is something I 100% agree with. I want to know God more and I want to make Him known, and I want to see every nation reached with the the gospel and the love that comes along with it. 

Mark 16:15 – “He said to them, ‘Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation.”

Here are some of the reasons I found of why God calls us, His children and His disciples, to the Nations.

1)  To Spread Love And Spread Light

• Every Nation is different, no two countries are exactly the same. They have their own culture, passions, and past oppression. No matter what country you step into you will see how hungry people are for truth, joy, and genuine, pure love. Where is the one place you will find all of these things wrapped up in a nice little package? The Bible. People are so completely hungry for the gospel, no matter what country you go to. Denying them of the truth we already have is selfish, giving them the opportunity to experience Jesus is why we are here on this earth. 

2) He Wants To Show Himself To You In New Ways

• In every situations there is something new we can learn and it's mostly when we are taken out of our comfort zones that we are able to see outside of ourselves. There are so many things you learn in traveling to new countries, such as behavioral customs, manners, and dress codes. Through these things you also see Gods beauty in a new way. These can be radically different than how you were raised growing up. In learning how other cultures respect their elders or how they appreciate nature and the things God has created, you learn another side of God as a creator and as a father. He wants to continue to reveal Himself to you in new ways. He wants you to see him as King, Bride, Provider, Father and so many other new and exciting ways. We just need to be open to it.

Exodus 9:16 - “But I have raised you up for this very purpose, that I might show you my power and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.”

3) You are a walking testimony

• God has done amazing works in your life. Some of the ways God has worked in your life you are aware of and some have not yet been revealed. We are called to share these stories with others to encourage their lives and relationship with Jesus. The thing I've learned most in YWAM is to not hide from your testimony. It shows a beautiful and not so beautiful part of how you got to be who you are today, and how God has shaped you in that process. You never know how your testimony can inspire someone else in the season of their life that they are in.

Daniel 4:2 – “It has seemed good to me to show the signs and wonders that the Most High God has done for me.”

As I get ready to head to New Zealand in a week I felt strongly on my heart to explain my view of missions. I hope that this blog brings greater clarity to my heart for world. I love you all so much. Thank you again for all of your support throughout this journey.  

New Places on the Horizon

Man time is absolutely flying by. I cant believe i'm already in week 7 of lectures. As most of you know i'm very forgetful when it comes to taking pictures. So... Here's a picture of my walk to school every morning and a beach I went too

In the last 3 weeks we've had lectures on Creativity, Worldview and Calling. All have been spectacular and inspiring in different ways. Outside of the classroom, every thursday night we go to a place in down town Newcastle where they have outdoor amps that we can plug all our equipment into. We play outside there for 2-3 hours and just bring live music to Newcastle. It's amazing and so much fun!

It's been really cool, since being here i've been learning the bass guitar. This week was big for me because it was the first time i played in front of people. In fact, I played it in front of 70 people. I have started to play on the worship team every week, singing and playing bass. Not going to lie to you, it is definitely a challenge but I love it none the less.

This week we also found out our outreach location!! YES!! Drum roll please...... I'm going to....

New Zealand!

I'm beyond excited for the things we get to do in New Zealand. We will be traveling both the North and South Island for 10 weeks. During this time we will be touring and playing as a band formed from our school in coffee shops, high schools, and clubs. We will also be volunteering at Festival One (a huge christian music festival in NZ) as well as recording a school album during this time. IM SO EXCITED!

Want to support my mission?! Here's some of the ways you can support me in Australia and New Zealand:

• Be apart of my prayer warrior team
• Send me mail! (I love mail! And i'll even write you back!)
• Support me financially: https://www.youcaring.com/christasmission

For more questions email me! christa.colburn@gmail.com 

4 cities, 2 weeks. I ain't even mad!

Guys! Hi! I'm alive and well and so excited to be going into my 3rd week of school. Sorry it's been a while since I updated y'all, so let's catch up now!

My time in toowoomba was excellent! So good to reconnect with close friends and jump back in to Aussie culture.

Here's a picture from picnic point in toowoomba. That's table top mountain on the right.

After 4 days in toowoomba my friend Austin and I made the 14hr trek via train to new castle. It was a long trip but beautiful to see Australia that way. 

The first week at ywam new castle was a lot of orientations, just like any school. But that weekend we went camping as an entire ywam base. Staff, students, and families all loaded up and headed an hour into the bush. To get an idea of how many people here's a picture. Spoiler alert: there was over 200 people.

It was a blast to be camping and reminded me of many trips growing up. During the day we had lectures around the theme perspective and at night worship and camp fires. Such a great way to start out living in community again.

Week 2 of school was jam packed. We started training in the cafe as baristas, preparing covers for open mics, and writing more originals. It helped that we had an awesome speaker who totally inspired all of us to write songs filled of passion. Here are some highlights:

- music is not less than any other mission field

- the things you ache for + your influence = your inspiration

- write music for the audience you desire or makes you ache

This weekend we went to Sydney. We had an open mic, a night of worship, and multiple church services one of which the venue was a burlesque bar. Our God is cool. It was absolutely spectacular the way we got to see The Lord work. We spent a lot of time in a suburb of Sydney called Newtown and it completely stole my heart. I'm excited to see what else God has in store for that city. Here's some fun pictures from the adventure this weekend!

 

So you're in Australia, now what?

Well I made it to Australia. It was a long very interesting journey but I am now safe and sound at my first stop, YWAM Toowoomba. It’s nice to sit and catch up with great friends and prepare my heart for this new season at YWAM New Castle. I’m in Toowoomba for a couple more days and then will take a train 12 hours down the coast with a friend to start school on Monday. 

I'm not going to lie to you guys this is a really weird season to be in and not fully understanding why it is that God wants me serving in Australia right now. But I know that my God is good and he walks before me and that there is a lot to learn in this coming time in New Castle. Matthew 17:20 “Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you."

I just want to give a quick shout out to my awesome family! These crazies are so awesome and i’m so happy we got to have a lot of time together in the last few weeks I was in Oregon. With faces like these how could you not love them!

Want to support my mission?! Here's some of the ways you can support me in Australia:

• Be apart of my prayer warrior team
• Send me mail! (I love mail! And i'll even write you back!)
• Support me financially: https://www.youcaring.com/christasmission

For more questions email me! christa.colburn@gmail.com

3 Songs to My Heart

It's crazy time has flown by and I leave to head back to Australia in 37 days! Woah. I can't wait for this new adventure in Newcastle and i'm especially excited to be getting back to school. Over the past six months I have realized my passion for music and missions and i'm excited to be diving deeper into that passion over the next year.

During my time home in Bend these past 2 months I've been able to work with two different recording studios to record some originals. These 3 songs that we recorded are the songs to my heart and show my journey through my DTS. In these next few weeks I will have these for sale. The funds raised from these will go to help fund my mission in Australia. Thank you to these two amazing guys who have turned my dreams into a reality!

Keep your eyes out over these next few weeks for updates on sales of music and shirts! Also i'm collecting recycling right now to help fund my trip. Let me know if there is any I can help take off your hands. Thank you so much for all the support so far!!

For any questions please feel free to email me at christa.colburn@gmail.com
http://www.youcaring.com/christasmission

You're Going Where?!

How have I been home for 3 weeks already? Man, time is absolutely flying. It's been so interesting transitioning back into American life and my new life since being home. It's been difficult getting back into american culture but also trying to relearn certain things I would have handled differently 6 months earlier. For example: I no longer have Fibromyalgia. Which makes it so I am no longer restricted on how much work my body can handle or have to worry about the next time my body will shut down. In these times since being home I have started running again and working 40 +hrs a week. Which never could have happened before being healed. TO GOD BE THE GLORY! During this time in Oregon I have been blessed to have some awesome time with my family and to see my nieces who I missed so terribly. They're adorable!

Since being home I've had the opportunity to start recording some originals I wrote while in Australia. If you would have told me a year ago that I would be writing songs and recording them it's highly likely I would have rolled on the floor laughing with how ridiculous that sounded. But as of today I have recorded 2 different originals in 2 different countries all by the doors that God has opened.

How amazing is our God?! It's been amazing to see His hands in action as i've been in Oregon and the doors he has opened for me. I have been blessed with 2 jobs that are keeping me very as I prepare for my next adventure!!

Drum roll pleaseeeeee...........

I'm going back to Australia!

This October I will be going to New Castle, Australia for a secondary YWAM school called Music as Missions. I will be studying there for the next 6 months taking classes such as Songwriting/Arranging and Producing, Evangelism, Music Administration and Promotion, History of Christian Music and the Arts and many others. I am so so excited to take this next step into my journey of worship and missions. "Our heart behind this school is to see musicians trained and mobilized in missions and to see them express their music for the glory of God." Can I get an Amen?!

"Christa! What are you doing between now and October?"

Funny you should ask! I am sharing my story! I want to get together with YOU and share with you my heart for missions and worship and the calling the lord has placed on my life. And I have some exciting news about some of my music that could be yours coming very soon. AHH!! More info to come in a few weeks! There's many ways to support me through this process and prayer is huge! Prayer for continual guidance and a listening ear during this process, peace as I prepare for this new season, and lastly financially. I'd ask that you prayerfully consider coming along side me on this journey as a one time or monthly financial supporter. 

For any questions please feel free to email me at christa.colburn@gmail.com
http://www.youcaring.com/christasmission


Love you all!
Glory to God!

You make me come alive!

I'm honesty flabbergasted right now that I'm sitting on a plane home to Oregon. The last 3 weeks in Australia seem like a complete blur. We had a week of lectures about the inner workings of music in reguards to touring and all the different pieces an roles that go into that. Which was super fascinating and really opened our eyes as a school the different music opportunities that are out there.

The week after that was a complete whirlwind! We were completely blessed by the city of toowoomba this week. Everyday we hit the city by storm volunteering and loving on people. We busked on street corners, worked in schools and church's, served in soup kitchens, played shows in cafés and so much more. It was amazing! The city truly came alive. Also during this time we were able to go into a recording studio! Each student had the opportunity to go and record an original song that would be put onto an album for our school. I recorded a song called Lights that was inspired by the redlight district and the injustice I saw there while in Cambodia. I'm so so excited to get these recordings that my fellow students worked so hard on and be able to have a piece of them with me.

The last week on base we talked about reintegrating back into our homes and how to apply the things we had learned as a school. One of my favorite things we did as a school was morning worship!

Where did the last 5.5months go? How did these 50 strangers suddenly become my closest friends and family? My heart has been changed by each and everyone of these people and I'll never be the same. I'm in love with the unknown and listening to Gods voice for direction. I'm ruined for the ordinary and I'm not going back to the girl who left. Guys I'm so excited for the new adventures that are coming! I will do an update in a few weeks once things are more finalized. It's a new season ❤️

Thank you so much to everyone who has supported me this far!!