Outreach to the wonderful nation of Oman!
So I got the distinct privilege of going to Oman, I co-led a team of 10 with 2 other people; Chris Dirks and Margaret Rich! We left for Oman in the middle of September and returned on December 8th 2013. There were 5 girls and 5 guys on the team. We lived together, worked together, learned to love each other, and got to share Jesus Christ with Omanis on a day to day basis! Now I want to express my gratitude to all who supported me with prayer and finances to go, you have no idea how much it meant to me!
It was August 31st 2012 and I had come out to Kona on July 5th to do my DTS with AWAKEN, at this point I was supposed to go to Oman as a student, but during my 3 months in Kona I had a lot I needed to work through. So about a week before we were supposed to leave for outreach, I was told I wouldn't be going. My leaders had asked me to pray and consider staying to do another DTS because God was working in me but as it stood it wasn't the best for me to travel into a foreign nation with so many things weighing me down. I was hurt. I was angry, and I was confused. In my opinion I had left everything to come to YWAM. I remember telling my parents the night before I left that I wasn't running from my problems but I was running towards the solution. So you can imagine all the emotions racing through me. I began to contemplate writing letters to the base leadership depicting the flaws in their programs and demanding grace and understanding. When out of no where god spoke to me saying this "Ryan, you can prove everyone right about them saying you aren't ready and may be a loose cannon unable to submit to authority. Go home and fall back in to old habbits. Or you can prove everyone wrong. Show them that you are ready, you do have what it takes, and that your desire is to follow Me. To do this you need to submit now, humble yourself, and do another DTS."
So I did, I let my dreams of going to Oman fall to the back of my mind. I stayed for another 3 months and did DTS over in Kona where in the end I got to go to India in December through March 2012/2013. It was amazing. Upon my return the very leaders that asked me to step away from AWAKEN asked me to staff in their July school of 2013. I was blown away and very excited! So of course I said yes. To my dismay I was asked to pray about leading a team to Oman of all places. I didn't skip a beat, I looked to my leader and asked her if she was only asking me to pray about going there because I was told I couldn't go the year prior. She said no. She really believed that God wanted me to lead there. I contained my excitement as I told her I would take a day to pray about it.
Needless to say I felt good about it and gave my approval to go. So next thing I know, I am on a plane headed to the Middle East. Baffled at all that had happened the year prior. During the 3 months of July through September we as leaders had asked our students to pray and get direction for how our outreach might look. As in what are some things we could try and get involved with. We believed we would be serving the poor, maybe working with prostitutes, traveling a lot, and getting to evangelize. We were definitely dreaming big. At the same time we all had our own little side dreams too. I believed that going to Sohar, a city near the UAE was something we needed to do and I really wanted to go golfing. My one co-leader Chris wanted to go to this island called Masirah right off the coast of Oman. Margaret, she had hopes to ride horses. Some of our students wanted to ride camels, others wanted to get into the International Football Stadium. So like I said, we were dreaming big.
We all stayed in the same house. In a place right outside of Muscat called Dolphin Village. It was incredible, a true blessing. We got plugged in with the locals. Us guys began to play soccer with the men on the beach. Soccer is one of the biggest things in Oman. Every day before evening prayer all the guys go and play soccer. Young and old, everyone does it! The girls had a little bit of a hard time meeting local females because the culture is very closed for women. As time went on though, our girls met local girls and got to build friendships. We taught in elementary schools teaching english, math, and science. We traveled the country and the team split up getting to do different ministry opportunities.
We even connected with traveling churches. Getting to worship pray and teach with them. All in all Oman was one blessing after another. We for sure saw one Omani receive salvation. We held a bible study for two Omanis towards the end of our trip. We prayed everywhere we went. All the while we were seeing all of our dreams come true. I got to go golfing twice. We rode camels. Margaret got to be with a horse. The girls did get to minister to some prostitutes, and all of us grew in our personal relationship with God!
On a more personal level I received so much from God by getting to go to Oman. I saw that I desperately need mentorship. I got to even deliver a sermon in one of the churches we were apart of. I absolutely love to get up and deliver a message. Usually it has something to do with what God is trying to teach me personally. Things are being released in me that I didn't know I could do or knew that I enjoyed. All the more reason why I need guidance, accountability, structure, and discipline. That is what this next year is all about!
It was August 31st 2012 and I had come out to Kona on July 5th to do my DTS with AWAKEN, at this point I was supposed to go to Oman as a student, but during my 3 months in Kona I had a lot I needed to work through. So about a week before we were supposed to leave for outreach, I was told I wouldn't be going. My leaders had asked me to pray and consider staying to do another DTS because God was working in me but as it stood it wasn't the best for me to travel into a foreign nation with so many things weighing me down. I was hurt. I was angry, and I was confused. In my opinion I had left everything to come to YWAM. I remember telling my parents the night before I left that I wasn't running from my problems but I was running towards the solution. So you can imagine all the emotions racing through me. I began to contemplate writing letters to the base leadership depicting the flaws in their programs and demanding grace and understanding. When out of no where god spoke to me saying this "Ryan, you can prove everyone right about them saying you aren't ready and may be a loose cannon unable to submit to authority. Go home and fall back in to old habbits. Or you can prove everyone wrong. Show them that you are ready, you do have what it takes, and that your desire is to follow Me. To do this you need to submit now, humble yourself, and do another DTS."
So I did, I let my dreams of going to Oman fall to the back of my mind. I stayed for another 3 months and did DTS over in Kona where in the end I got to go to India in December through March 2012/2013. It was amazing. Upon my return the very leaders that asked me to step away from AWAKEN asked me to staff in their July school of 2013. I was blown away and very excited! So of course I said yes. To my dismay I was asked to pray about leading a team to Oman of all places. I didn't skip a beat, I looked to my leader and asked her if she was only asking me to pray about going there because I was told I couldn't go the year prior. She said no. She really believed that God wanted me to lead there. I contained my excitement as I told her I would take a day to pray about it.
Needless to say I felt good about it and gave my approval to go. So next thing I know, I am on a plane headed to the Middle East. Baffled at all that had happened the year prior. During the 3 months of July through September we as leaders had asked our students to pray and get direction for how our outreach might look. As in what are some things we could try and get involved with. We believed we would be serving the poor, maybe working with prostitutes, traveling a lot, and getting to evangelize. We were definitely dreaming big. At the same time we all had our own little side dreams too. I believed that going to Sohar, a city near the UAE was something we needed to do and I really wanted to go golfing. My one co-leader Chris wanted to go to this island called Masirah right off the coast of Oman. Margaret, she had hopes to ride horses. Some of our students wanted to ride camels, others wanted to get into the International Football Stadium. So like I said, we were dreaming big.
We all stayed in the same house. In a place right outside of Muscat called Dolphin Village. It was incredible, a true blessing. We got plugged in with the locals. Us guys began to play soccer with the men on the beach. Soccer is one of the biggest things in Oman. Every day before evening prayer all the guys go and play soccer. Young and old, everyone does it! The girls had a little bit of a hard time meeting local females because the culture is very closed for women. As time went on though, our girls met local girls and got to build friendships. We taught in elementary schools teaching english, math, and science. We traveled the country and the team split up getting to do different ministry opportunities.
We even connected with traveling churches. Getting to worship pray and teach with them. All in all Oman was one blessing after another. We for sure saw one Omani receive salvation. We held a bible study for two Omanis towards the end of our trip. We prayed everywhere we went. All the while we were seeing all of our dreams come true. I got to go golfing twice. We rode camels. Margaret got to be with a horse. The girls did get to minister to some prostitutes, and all of us grew in our personal relationship with God!
On a more personal level I received so much from God by getting to go to Oman. I saw that I desperately need mentorship. I got to even deliver a sermon in one of the churches we were apart of. I absolutely love to get up and deliver a message. Usually it has something to do with what God is trying to teach me personally. Things are being released in me that I didn't know I could do or knew that I enjoyed. All the more reason why I need guidance, accountability, structure, and discipline. That is what this next year is all about!