December 2019
How do I summarize 6 months where God moved, changed lives,
and showed that He is eternally faithful?
and showed that He is eternally faithful?
I guess you don’t, really.
13 students came to get to know God on a deeper level, and God met 13 students where they were.
But the story doesn’t stop there, because God didn’t just meet us where we were, He took us farther than we thought possible. He helped us discover new wonders about Him, He helped us grow and heal, and He filled us with an undeniable fire and passion to share our experience and proclaim His love to others. That’s what these last 6 months have been about.
But the story doesn’t stop there, because God didn’t just meet us where we were, He took us farther than we thought possible. He helped us discover new wonders about Him, He helped us grow and heal, and He filled us with an undeniable fire and passion to share our experience and proclaim His love to others. That’s what these last 6 months have been about.
(prophetic and kind notes that I received from my teammates during DTS)
And for me personally?
These last 6 months have been learning how to trust God with literally everything. From finances to relationships, to stepping out in faith with where I believe He is leading me to next. There was a moment during the 'Lecture Phase where I had to break it all the way down to the basics and ask God to show me what was one thing I could trust Him with for that day. I did that for about a week and a half, and it honestly was a really sweet and precious time learning to trust God with everything in my life.
And for me personally?
These last 6 months have been learning how to trust God with literally everything. From finances to relationships, to stepping out in faith with where I believe He is leading me to next. There was a moment during the 'Lecture Phase where I had to break it all the way down to the basics and ask God to show me what was one thing I could trust Him with for that day. I did that for about a week and a half, and it honestly was a really sweet and precious time learning to trust God with everything in my life.
The 3 months spent in Salem, 1 month spent in Greece, and 1 month spent in Albania changed my life forever. I don’t look at life, at people, at what I do each day in the same way. I'm the type of person that it brings me immense joy to love on people, and now that I’m back somehow loving on people brings me even more joy than before. I’m just so eager for everyone to know the love that God wants to show them.
W h a t ’ s n e x t ?
I’ve been home from Salem for about 3 weeks now, and it's been so good reconnecting with all my friends and my family. Lord willing at the end of the month I will be moving down to Salem to the YWAM base where I did my Discipleship Training School (DTS) to partner with them for at least the next 2 years. I will be working alongside likeminded people to help the base run smoothly so that we can continue to train and send missionaries out overseas.
I am intentionally spending the month of December to connect with all my people, and I am also working on raising support. In order to be able to go into full-time ministry with YWAM Salem, I have to raise a minimum of $500 in monthly support, but for all my monthly expenses I will need $850 each month. Here's a link to follow if you want to support me in what I'm doing. Will you please specify if you are wanting to give a one-time donation, or if you would like to support me each month.
Support Alexis
I don’t believe every person is called to support missionaries, and I don’t put my expectations in people; my trust and expectations are in God. I know He will direct the people that He wants to support me. If God has placed it on your heart to support me financially in what He is doing, then for sure reach out to me and we can work out the details. I can tell you right now I will be so thoroughly blessed and honored!
I will be moving to Salem once I have raised enough support. I’m preparing as if that will be the end of the month, but it could very well be in the new year, and ultimately God is good and I trust His perfect timing. I’m eager to move, but I’m more eager to follow God's timeframe.
Support Alexis
I don’t believe every person is called to support missionaries, and I don’t put my expectations in people; my trust and expectations are in God. I know He will direct the people that He wants to support me. If God has placed it on your heart to support me financially in what He is doing, then for sure reach out to me and we can work out the details. I can tell you right now I will be so thoroughly blessed and honored!
I will be moving to Salem once I have raised enough support. I’m preparing as if that will be the end of the month, but it could very well be in the new year, and ultimately God is good and I trust His perfect timing. I’m eager to move, but I’m more eager to follow God's timeframe.
I would like to just pause my update here for a second.
Obedience is a scary thing. What if God asks me to do something I'm not confident in? But then obedience with finances is even scarier. What if God asks me to give my money away to someone? Doesn't He know things are tight and I'm struggling with this or that? This might not be you, or it might be. I know I've asked God this before, but each time I have stepped out in faith, God provides in more ways than I thought possible. And honestly, I'm not some super famous person of faith, I'm just a simple 22 year old girl from Washington. So I know without a doubt that if God can provide for me, He can and will provide for you.
This is absolutely in no way, shape, or form, me trying to guilt you into supporting me. Look at it from more of a general stance. One thing that I have learned over the last 6 months is that God is faithful and He is not going to guide you to do something without having a plan and providing for you. If God is truly asking you to do something, He will take care of you, no questions asked. We are so quick to thank God for providing for us financially, but then we close our hands and often don't trust Him with our money after that.
Our God is so good and provides for everything that we need, all He's asking from us is that we trust Him. Whether or not you support me, is beside the point, God will honor you when you obey His directing. He will catch you when you fall and provide a way through life for you. If He provided for you once, I know for a fact that He can and will do it again. Maybe God is asking you to give to a local charity this Christmas? Maybe He is asking you to donate to the local mission house? Maybe He is asking you to support your home church or a missionary. Maybe He is asking you to support me. Whatever the case may be, God is faithful and He wants you to trust Him with literally everything.
This is absolutely in no way, shape, or form, me trying to guilt you into supporting me. Look at it from more of a general stance. One thing that I have learned over the last 6 months is that God is faithful and He is not going to guide you to do something without having a plan and providing for you. If God is truly asking you to do something, He will take care of you, no questions asked. We are so quick to thank God for providing for us financially, but then we close our hands and often don't trust Him with our money after that.
Our God is so good and provides for everything that we need, all He's asking from us is that we trust Him. Whether or not you support me, is beside the point, God will honor you when you obey His directing. He will catch you when you fall and provide a way through life for you. If He provided for you once, I know for a fact that He can and will do it again. Maybe God is asking you to give to a local charity this Christmas? Maybe He is asking you to donate to the local mission house? Maybe He is asking you to support your home church or a missionary. Maybe He is asking you to support me. Whatever the case may be, God is faithful and He wants you to trust Him with literally everything.
Hopefully, that isn't too abrupt, but encourages you! God is working and powerful and wants to work through you. You don't have to be overseas for God to use you to further His kingdom! Like I said, obedience is scary. It's even scary for me to write this and send it out. But I feel like God wants me to say this and to encourage all y'all to trust Him.
He promises that He will take care of you.
"Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life..."
- Jesus, Matthew 6:25
"And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus."
-Paul, Phillippians 4:19
Okay, stepping down from my soapbox now. Continuing on from where I left off...
This spring I will be taking a secondary school called Foundations of Counseling Ministry (FCM). The FCM will be focused on learning tools for helping others be able to process things they have gone through, but it will also be focused on myself doing the same. I first heard about this school in the beginning weeks of DTS, and I have wanted to take it ever since. I've always had a heart that loves to help and love on people. I deeply love doing so, and so I'm excited to be taking a school that's focused on that!
After the FCM? I'm not entirely sure. God has a lot in store for me during my time with YWAM Salem and I'm so excited to see all that that is. I know someday in the future, after the 2 years with Salem, I will be moving overseas with a focus on the Middle East. I'm not sure if that will be right after the 2 years in Salem, or if God will have me stay in the states longer then that. Even though I am so eager to move overseas, I know that the time God has me spending here is preparing me for such a big transition. I trust and know that each step is just as valuable as the next one, and I absolutely don't want to go unprepared or prematurely. So I'm taking the verse where Paul says "for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content" (phil. 4:11) and applying it to where God has me in this season.
Why do I want to live my life in missions? Why do I want to give up everything from my home, move to a different state, and eventually a different country? Why would I choose to be in a constant state of change and transition?
I want to tell you a little story.
This happened during my time in Athens, and in an instant, my life was changed forever.
But before I do that, I want to paint you a picture. Imagine I give you six pieces of paper. Those papers are blank, and I want you to write on them. On two of the pieces, I want you to write down two people that you love, one person on each piece of paper. You now have four papers remaining blank.
Next, I want you to write down two things you love to do, again on two different pieces of paper. With the remaining two blank papers, I want you to write down two things that you love. It could be two objects, a pet, even a place.
Now each of the six pieces of papers has something written on them. Things and people that you love; people and even objects that are dear to you.
Now I want you to select two of those things to give up. It can be any two things. But you have to give them up and you don't get them back.
Now, still imagining that you have four of the papers left, I come by and without knowing what is written on your papers,
I take two.
Any two at random.
I take two, and you don't get them back.
You have no choice over what I took, and you have no choice
but to accept what has been taken away from you.
Now, even though that is imaginary, and hasn't actually happened to you, that has really happened to these families that have been forced to flee their homes. Parents separated from their children, homes obliterated to the ground, and families running for their lives with oftentimes nothing but the clothes on their backs.
These are human beings; people that God created and loves deeply. I had the honor of loving on just a few of these people while I was in Athens.
Now back to my story.
When walking the streets of Athens, it's normal to walk pasts dozens, even hundreds of refugee families. They've come to Athens seeking asylum. One evening one of my outreach leaders and I were walking back to our Airbnb. We passed by this little park area, and there was a refugee family living in a tent with a clothesline strung up. The mom and dad were talking as their children were playing; two boys who were about 8 and 5, and then a little girl who couldn't be more than 2. My leader and I decided to stop and talk for a bit as this family's culture is very relationship-oriented. Even though there was a strong language barrier, they warmly welcomed us to sit on their cardboard with them and they even shared some of their very few sunflower seeds with us. We hung out and talked for a few minutes before a friend of theirs arrived, and we learned that he could speak some English!
We stayed and talked with them for over an hour, and we got to know them and learn a bit about their story. We learned that the wife was my age, 22, and she was 9 months pregnant. Asking if she had what she needed was pointless, as it was blatantly obvious she didn't. We also discovered that the little 2 year old girl wasn't actually their daughter. She was their neighbor, but her home had been bombed, and her family killed. She was the only survivor, and she had lost her hearing because of the bomb. She was completely deaf. So this family took her in as their own and took care of her. We continued talking for a little while, and then we needed to go home. Before we left, we gave them the contact info of some people we knew that might be able to help them, and then we said goodbye.
you guys
That was just one of the families that I encountered during outreach.
That's why I want to leave the comfortable. That's why I want to leave my familiar. Not because I want to leave, but because I want to go and help a crisis. I want to make a change, however small that it is. I want to bring hope to these hurting families, and I want to show them how much God loves them. That is why I make myself uncomfortable in asking for your financial support. I really don't like talking about money with people, I really actually hate it. It's uncomfortable, it's awkward.
But I don't care. Because I want to go and bring hope to the hopeless.
So forgive me when I ask for you to pray about supporting me because it isn't about me. Not in the slightest. I'm incredibly honored that God wants to use me in this way. I don't see it as supporting me as much as I see it supporting God's kingdom, and it happens to be through me.
God has put a fire in me that I can't, nor will I, ignore. The longer I have this fire, the hotter and more passionate it becomes. The more passionate I become. If God asks me to remain silent about my needs, which He has before, I will do so and I know He will provide. But right now He wants me to speak about my passion to anyone and everyone. And my passion involves me raising a certain amount of money each month so I can still eat, put gas in my car, and have insurance, but so that I can put my time and passion to serving the YWAM Salem base, and so that someday I can go back overseas and love on people who so desperately need it.
So when you support me, or any missionary for that matter,
you really are supporting God's kingdom.
that's why I'm willing to ask people to support me.
that's why I'm willing to move away from my home, my friends, and my family.
that's why I want to live my life in missions.
W h y ?
Why do I want to live my life in missions? Why do I want to give up everything from my home, move to a different state, and eventually a different country? Why would I choose to be in a constant state of change and transition?
I want to tell you a little story.
This happened during my time in Athens, and in an instant, my life was changed forever.
But before I do that, I want to paint you a picture. Imagine I give you six pieces of paper. Those papers are blank, and I want you to write on them. On two of the pieces, I want you to write down two people that you love, one person on each piece of paper. You now have four papers remaining blank.
Next, I want you to write down two things you love to do, again on two different pieces of paper. With the remaining two blank papers, I want you to write down two things that you love. It could be two objects, a pet, even a place.
Now each of the six pieces of papers has something written on them. Things and people that you love; people and even objects that are dear to you.
Now I want you to select two of those things to give up. It can be any two things. But you have to give them up and you don't get them back.
Now, still imagining that you have four of the papers left, I come by and without knowing what is written on your papers,
I take two.
Any two at random.
I take two, and you don't get them back.
You have no choice over what I took, and you have no choice
but to accept what has been taken away from you.
Now, even though that is imaginary, and hasn't actually happened to you, that has really happened to these families that have been forced to flee their homes. Parents separated from their children, homes obliterated to the ground, and families running for their lives with oftentimes nothing but the clothes on their backs.
These are human beings; people that God created and loves deeply. I had the honor of loving on just a few of these people while I was in Athens.
Now back to my story.
When walking the streets of Athens, it's normal to walk pasts dozens, even hundreds of refugee families. They've come to Athens seeking asylum. One evening one of my outreach leaders and I were walking back to our Airbnb. We passed by this little park area, and there was a refugee family living in a tent with a clothesline strung up. The mom and dad were talking as their children were playing; two boys who were about 8 and 5, and then a little girl who couldn't be more than 2. My leader and I decided to stop and talk for a bit as this family's culture is very relationship-oriented. Even though there was a strong language barrier, they warmly welcomed us to sit on their cardboard with them and they even shared some of their very few sunflower seeds with us. We hung out and talked for a few minutes before a friend of theirs arrived, and we learned that he could speak some English!
We stayed and talked with them for over an hour, and we got to know them and learn a bit about their story. We learned that the wife was my age, 22, and she was 9 months pregnant. Asking if she had what she needed was pointless, as it was blatantly obvious she didn't. We also discovered that the little 2 year old girl wasn't actually their daughter. She was their neighbor, but her home had been bombed, and her family killed. She was the only survivor, and she had lost her hearing because of the bomb. She was completely deaf. So this family took her in as their own and took care of her. We continued talking for a little while, and then we needed to go home. Before we left, we gave them the contact info of some people we knew that might be able to help them, and then we said goodbye.
you guys
That was just one of the families that I encountered during outreach.
That's why I want to leave the comfortable. That's why I want to leave my familiar. Not because I want to leave, but because I want to go and help a crisis. I want to make a change, however small that it is. I want to bring hope to these hurting families, and I want to show them how much God loves them. That is why I make myself uncomfortable in asking for your financial support. I really don't like talking about money with people, I really actually hate it. It's uncomfortable, it's awkward.
But I don't care. Because I want to go and bring hope to the hopeless.
So forgive me when I ask for you to pray about supporting me because it isn't about me. Not in the slightest. I'm incredibly honored that God wants to use me in this way. I don't see it as supporting me as much as I see it supporting God's kingdom, and it happens to be through me.
God has put a fire in me that I can't, nor will I, ignore. The longer I have this fire, the hotter and more passionate it becomes. The more passionate I become. If God asks me to remain silent about my needs, which He has before, I will do so and I know He will provide. But right now He wants me to speak about my passion to anyone and everyone. And my passion involves me raising a certain amount of money each month so I can still eat, put gas in my car, and have insurance, but so that I can put my time and passion to serving the YWAM Salem base, and so that someday I can go back overseas and love on people who so desperately need it.
So when you support me, or any missionary for that matter,
you really are supporting God's kingdom.
that's why I'm willing to ask people to support me.
that's why I'm willing to move away from my home, my friends, and my family.
that's why I want to live my life in missions.
a little refugee boy I got to hang out and play playdough with while I was in Athens!
His mom said I could share this photo
His mom said I could share this photo
o n a d i f f e r e n t n o t e . . .
From the bottom of my heart, I want to thank everyone who has supported me these last few months, but even more so this whole last year. A lot has happened, and God has gotten me through it all, but I also couldn't have done it without your prayers and support. I'm honestly so thankful for the challenges and the pain that I've gone through as it has taught me in a very deep way to fully surrender and trust God.
and besides
you can't see the beauty without the pain
you can't see the beauty without the pain
xx,
Alexis
I'm printing out these postcards for people who want to continue to pray for me, so let me know if you would like one and be sure to send me your address, and I will mail you one! Or if we go to church together, I will give you one in person!
ways to support me:
Paypal: paypal.me/alexisbento
CashApp: $AlexisBento
Venmo: @AlexisBento
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