Practical Update

Hello loved ones!

I have so many thoughts stirring up in my heart and have a running blog document trying to gather it all, but I also want to give a practical update of what my life has looked like on a daily basis.

The daily schedule isn’t strictly as follows, but here’s a general example of what my week practically looks like: ("BCC" is the Biblical Core Course running here on base and "PD" is Personal Development time where we work on our craft/instrument.) For my upkeep, I’ve been tasked with the Media/Communication development. This includes social media, website blogs, website design, advertising, branding, etc. It’s amazing how my minimal background, but wild passion, for graphic design is able to grow and flourish here! I’ve never quite understood how people could wake up excited to go to work every day, but I understand it now! I get so much life from working in media and communications. If you have an Instagram, follow “cdmtoz” to see frequent posts of the daily life here! I post them and would love for you to share in that.

A few highlights:

Every month we put on a base-wide meeting for the whole worship team where we share vision, where we think God’s leading us as worshipers, and also teach skills. For the month of June, I taught! I’ve never prepared an hour-long teaching so I was pretty nervous and definitely over-prepared, but I know that teaching is going to be a part of my life so it was an amazing platform for my first experience. I taught on the Nashville Number System, which is an improvisational musical structure where the bandmates communicate using numbers to indicate what chords they want to play during times where they want to go “off book.” We decided that this will be extremely useful because (as many worship leaders will be able to agree) much of worship includes empty space and times where the Spirit leads us off the chord chart. As worship leaders here, we want to expand our technical ability and diligently grow in our crafts so that we can keep up with where the Spirit leads. The lesson went incredibly and everyone (as it seemed) was very excited to grab onto this system, which was very relieving for me as the first-time teacher.

This month we have also been going through the studio and the media center doing inventory and deep cleaning. This has been a massive job! There’s a lot of great equipment and an incredible space though, so we have been sifting through what’s broken and what’s usable so that we can utilize the gold and see what we need to replace. We also have moved into the sound engineering department and are starting to learn how to do sound and be rostered on to be sound people, which I’m really excited about! It is a huge job as well, (I think the sound guy is just as important of a worship leader as the “main worship leader”), so I’m super pumped to jump on and learn.

Another ministry we put on weekly is called The Dwelling Place, which is actually very similar to The Living Room (the young adults community at Vision of Glory back home). The heart for The Dwelling Place is very much in it’s name; we want it to be a place where staff can come every Friday night to simply dwell and rest. Typically we may share testimonies, pray for one another, speak out His Word, share pictures or revelations we have, but we always have an open space for worship with music. Last week was incredible where we mostly just sang out spontaneous songs that God put on our hearts in the moment. Personally, those are my favorite times: the places that are made up of open space to express in freedom what’s on our heart and what’s on His in that moment.

Another exciting front on the horizon is that we (the CDMT) want to make an album! We are working on writing songs together and performing as we create so that we can have solid material to record sometime in the beginning of next year! We are very excited for that, although it’s definitely a learning experience. It’s going to be a worship album and we might even have it recorded live with an audience singing along, so we’ll see how plausible that is when it gets closer to the time to record.

Personally, I have been visiting different churches to find one to call home and I think I’ve found it! The church is called Glory City and man… It’s a glorious place. I’ve already met some young adults there (who go to BSSM in Redding, Cali), and find the church an incredibly refreshing and genuine place. They’re a pretty crazy bunch, but each time I’ve gone, I’ve felt such a purity in the hearts of the people; they are simply seeking God with their whole hearts and desiring to love Him and know Him. If I could reference it to any place, I would say it reminds me of Bethel Church in Redding.

That’s all for now, but if you have any more specific questions about my life here, I would love to share. Email me at buhlface@gmail.com

Love, Lyss

He Is Who He Says He Is//He'll Do What He Says He'll Do

This past week has been very busy and many big boulders have been moved in our creating process. I’m so thankful I get to do what I do with two of the most amazing women I now! (Pictured: Hannah Lenz middle, Lana Hollands right). Since we’re pioneering this ministry from pretty much ground zero, we’ve had to really dive deep into what we think and feel the Lord wants to do and how He wants to build this. Reflecting on the week, I really believe we began building the foundation and grasped ahold of the core values and facets of this ministry. So this week consisted of many meetings, brainstorming, and vision casting. From all of the “ground-up” progress this week, I learned a lot about myself and realized that I really love new beginnings and starting from scratch. I love the creating process and don’t really get discouraged when I don’t see “results” right away because I’m very focused on the here and now. I love getting lost in inspiration and dreaming up the important cores and then developing them little by little. It’s such a natural partnership for me to operate in my natural “developer” gift and personality while hearing the voice and direction of God.

Through our many meetings/prayer times, a big theme that kept surfacing was getting a heart for the lost and the poor. We felt it is very much on the heart of God that we develop a big heart for this city and for the homeless who live here. As we explored how we can do this, the idea grew bigger into being compelled to love the nations. What we do here on the YWAM base isn’t meant to stay here… it’s meant to get us out there with the people. That’s the basis for YWAM as a worldwide organization: to know God and to make Him known. So it’s very natural for our us to take this specific heart for worship and spread it across the city of Brisbane and then out into the nations. We don’t know what that will exactly look like yet, but we know that it’s an important core to this ministry.

Logistically we also had a few big changes this week, one being we officially chose a name for this ministry! We are now the “Creative Development Ministry Team” (CDMT). It’s a mouthful, but it encompasses who we are without restricting us in the music sect as the ministry develops and expands. We broke the ministry down into three specific facets: Worship Development, Community Development, and Communications. I have been delegated to be in charge of Communications for the base, so that is exciting! Communications includes (if not now, eventually): social media, website, blog, advertisement, branding, promotion, etc. It’s amazing how my little graphic design experience has come in handy and I’m able to put that passion to use as well as my passion for music and worship. It is a big role, but I’m charged with energy to take it on.

As for the rest of the week, we had our normal duties. I led worship for multiple ministries, including Open Worship, which is every first Wednesday of the month. Open worship is a full two hours of worship time where we invite the community to come and then spend some time in the café fellowshipping. The passion that Hannah got for the night was 2 Cor. 7-18, which is absolutely incredible: “Now if the ministry of death, carved in letters on stone, came with such glory that the Israelites could not gaze at Moses' face because of its glory, which was being brought to an end, will not the ministry of the Spirit have even more glory? For if there was glory in the ministry of condemnation, the ministry of righteousness must far exceed it in glory. Indeed, in this case, what once had glory has come to have no glory at all, because of the glory that surpasses it. For if what was being brought to an end came with glory, much more will what is permanent have glory. Since we have such a hope, we are very bold, not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face so that the Israelites might not gaze at the outcome of what was being brought to an end. But their minds were hardened. For to this day, when they read the old covenant, that same veil remains unlifted, because only through Christ is it taken away. Yes, to this day whenever Moses is read a veil lies over their hearts. But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.” Overall, it was an amazing time of communal declarations of who God is and opening our hearts and minds to the mysteries of Him, the One True Living God who has chosen to come close.

With that, I have been at a loss for words, in many ways, for how to even come before God… that I even have the opportunity to come before God as a daughter. Before every prayer, before every time of intentional worship, before every conscious thought of Him, I am amazed and in awe that I am even allowed to speak to the God who created the whole Universe. My mind can’t quite wrap around that concept… that He invited us to draw near and had communion (def.: the sharing or exchanging of intimate thoughts and feelings, especially on a mental or spiritual level) with Him as the goal, from the garden to the cross. I just don’t even understand how that is His heart and His desire: to draw near. That in itself has brought me continuous joy throughout every day. When I think about it, my eyes get wide and a laugh creeps up my throat because I am allowed to be near to God. I am sought after by Him and I get to hear His voice and live my life accordingly (in obedience). That is incredible!

I have been learning so much and it’s hard to restrict what I share for the sake of not making this too long, but I’ll share one more thing. I have been thinking a lot about faith and belief and seeing how central it is to the Gospel and to Kingdom lifestyle. I’ve also been noticing how breaking fear seems to be a huge theme for the Church at large. It seems to be an anthem for people to declare that they don’t want to live in bondage anymore or live in fear. Fear is a huge hindrance to intimacy and creates that veil between us and God. Whether it’s one’s insecurities, misconceptions, lies that have been spoken over them, false humility, or inadequacies, many people don’t experience the fullness of God because it’s too scary to step out of their current mindset and be embraced in all vulnerability by Love Himself. Hate is not the opposite of love, fear is. As I’ve been thinking about that, Mark 5:36 jumped out to me: “Do not fear, only believe.” Jesus didn’t say, “Do not fear, only be brave,” He commanded us to believe. If we believe He who promised is faithful (Heb. 10:23), we have faith in who He is, rather than who our circumstance says He is. He is who He says He is and He’ll do what He says He’ll do. Do we believe that? Because if we do, then fear is put to death and we receive the tools (courage, peace, strength) to overcome that fear.

I love reading the Amplified Bible because it puts in brackets a more extensive definition of the Hebrew/Greek words being used. After taking a couple semesters of Hebrew at the U of M, I learned how rich the language is and how the English language doesn’t quite do justice to the Word of God:

Believe: (Heb. 4:3) adhere to, trust in, and rely on God

Faith: (Heb. 6:12) the leaning of your entire personality on God in Christ in absolute trust and confidence in His power, wisdom, and goodness

I often think of the day I’ll be able to see Jesus face to face and what will matter when I’m looking Him in the eyes, in the flesh. When I get to hug Him and see the Man I’ve spent my life knowing and learning to love with my whole heart. When I imagine that moment, all of the worries and the anxiety and the complications of life sort of fade away and all that stands is the question: Will He call me faithful? Will He be able to reflect on my whole life and testify that I lived my life on earth faithfully to Him? Did I live life with a heart to know Him and please Him and did my actions reflect that heart, despite my mess-ups and wrongdoings? Because at the end of all of this, that is all that matters. Do I believe? Do I adhere to, trust in, and rely on God in every moment? The point is intimacy; the purpose is nearness. And that is the most restful plumb line to have in life.

With love,

Lyss

The Jesus Hotel

Hello loved ones!

WEEKLY UPDATE: This past weekend my team went to the Jesus Hotel, which is a home owned by a beautiful couple Laurie and David (pictured). They’ve opened up their home to missionaries, Christians, and people who are in need of a home. We took that time to brainstorm and really form a concrete foundation for what we think God wants this ministry to be. Our hearts and minds dipped a few years into the future as we dreamed of the “could be”s and the essentials. It was a wonderful weekend of refreshment and family, as well as brought our small team closer and honed in on direction.

This upcoming weekend, the whole base is participating in G.O.D. (Global Outreach Day). This is actually a worldwide event (videos links below).  The base will be involved in many different activities and ministries amidst the community, but I will be specifically involved in the music vein, which includes worship at the YWAM G.O.D. dinner and at Mount Cootha, as well as serving at The Meeting Place Café. The Meeting Place Café is the café that was built on the YWAM base as a ministry to help develop more relationships within the local community. My team will be praying, taking photos, and playing music in the café. We actually wrote a song for G.O.D. so we will be performing that as well. Hopefully we will get a quality recording or video so I can share that with you next week.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vwY6Q4zWr0o (worldwide)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iDr0Lgw_Ouc (Brisbane)

PERSONAL UPDATE: My time here has consistently been an amazing experience and I have been learning more and more about what this year will look like for me personally. There are so many opportunities here to perform and share music; everyone is so crazy talented and creative, there’s always an opportunity to share new music and collaborate with others. Every Sunday night, the café has open mic, which I know that I need to utilize; it is a chance to step out of my comfort zone and perform music for a smaller audience. There’s no better place to step out than this. However, it is definitely not natural for me to perform and I’ve needed so much courage to get up on stage. And I know that in this time I need to really work on my craft and let myself journey through this process of creating and failing and learning and growing.

Overall, I’m so thankful to be here and feel so fulfilled each and every day. I don’t think I’ve ever had an opportunity like this one where I get to work and serve full-time doing my biggest passion: worship and music. At the end of each day, I find myself tired as I fall into bed, but with such rest in my heart because I know I’m in a place of obedience.

Also, something really fun to share: I recorded on Nate Sabin’s new album and it just came out! The song is called Come Down, written by Nate Sabin. Here’s the link if you’d like to purchase it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vwY6Q4zWr0o

With love,

Lyss

The First Week

Hello loved ones! It has been almost one week since my arrival to Brisbane and wow, what a flurry it has been. Thank you so much to all who have donated and prayed for me to be sent into this beautiful place called YWAM Brisbane. From the moment I met with Hannah and Lana (the other two ladies leading and pioneering this ministry), my spirit has burned within me; I’ve never felt so specifically picked by God to do anything like I have with this Worship and Music Ministry. It’s an amazing and humbling experience to create a vision with two other people who are on the same page with the same heart and desires from God. What a ridiculous dreamlike reality – to be called by God. Wow. Before I go too far, I’ll give you a layout of set details about what we’ll be doing:

THE HEART: The heart of this ministry is to create a worshipful community/a community of worshippers. This doesn’t restrict everyone to musical worship, but has a heart to thread worship into every facet of one’s daily life: work duties, meals, prayer time, evangelism, conversation, management, etc. We are called to worship with our lives and we have a heart to know the Presence of God so intimately in everything we do and be a part of creating a community who is immersed in the Presence.

That being said, music is a beautiful tool we have to overtly express our hearts to Jesus and as it pertains to me, worship will have a lot to do with music.

“Worship through music is a diving board into the Presence.” –Jonathan David Helser

We believe that we have been called as leaders to steward this heart vision by seeking the Lord together, worshipping and praying together, and ultimately pursuing Him and showering our love on Him. I never want to manipulate God by “loving on Him” with an agenda or to “get” from Him. He is the all-consuming, all-powerful, most gracious Creator of everything. We wouldn’t even be without Him, let alone this ministry. If worship is to be the foundation of this base, then we believe it’s natural to start there. Freely He gives to us, freely we give back.

THE SCHEDULE: Each day is pretty full from 8:30-17:30. I’m involved in base duties (cleaning, painting, helping building the new buildings, meal prep, etc.), assisting and leading at and preparing for different ministries on base and at community worship, personally developing musical skills, co-creating (writing songs) with our team, studying with WorshipU (an online school put on by Bethel in Redding, CA), managing the website and social media, etc. In general, we are in charge of rostering and organizing everything pertaining to worship on base.

THE PRAISE REPORT: This week, one of my friends here gave me her Canon Rebel DSLR camera… WHAT in the world. I am completely blown away by this and hardly have words for how much excitement I have for this gift! I can’t wait to use it for this ministry and also for my own personal use!

THE PRAYER “NEED”: Honestly, this is a hard one for me because I’m the kind of person who only wants prayer to receive more of God’s Presence! But logistically, I am still in need of $150 in monthly support, or $1,800 in total. There is also an opportunity for me to go to New Zealand with our team in September for a three-day worship conference, which I would really love to go to. They haven’t posted the cost of that yet, but airfare runs at about $500. The conference might be free and we might also be able to get free accommodation, so prayer for that would be so great. If I receive the monthly amount, then I can use the money that I have saved up to go towards this conference.

THE EXTRAS: We will be going on a retreat this weekend to Radcliffe to stay at The Jesus Hotel J. It’s also free accommodation. I forgot how much free stuff is in YWAM! I may not have WiFi there; if so, I will not be able to be reached.

Last week I was spending time with God (still can’t say that without freaking out… how do we even get to spend time with GOD!? Blows my mind.). I was reading John 14:1-4 where Jesus is speaking to the disciples. He says, “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for You? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to Myself, that where I am you may be also. And you know the way to where I am going.” And the passage then goes on to talk about some really amazing things like the promise of having the Holy Spirit and the promise of Oneness with Jesus and the Father. Here Jesus describes a room in Heaven that is prepared for me and for you. He says that He has personally prepared this place for us, not for us to be alone, but to be with Him. “I will come again and will take you to Myself.” If we are to bring Heaven to earth, I believe that we can reside and live in this prepared place every day by walking in obedience and following His leading the best we can. This means that anywhere we go, we won’t be alone. He promises that He will be not only present, but go with us to the place He has prepared. To me, this is such an intimate promise because it’s interlaced with the promise of receiving the Holy Spirit. In this space between life and death, Jesus describes to the disciples that He will give His living Presence to live inside of us and be there to help and guide us in every day life. “The world cannot accept Him [the Holy Spirit], because it neither sees Him nor knows Him. But you know Him, for He lives with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you.” John 14:15-20.

In all of that, I think of confidence: we can be confident in our place in Heaven knowing that wherever God calls us or whatever He asks us to do, we can go boldly because the Spirit of Jesus, the person of Jesus, resides inside of us (who we call Holy Spirit). We are seated in Heavenly places because Jesus is seated there and He has offered the opportunity to become One with Him.

Overall, thank you so much for your love and support. I miss you all so much and love you so dearly.

With love,

Lyss