March Newsletter

This is my March newsletter written a couple of weeks ago. Sorry for the delay in posting it on my blog. Enjoy!

The past month and a half has been very busy, hence the delay in a newsletter, sorry! Amongst all the business, I’ve been doing great. So far, we’ve had 4 weeks of Mission Adventures teams where we’ve trained 105 students to be world changers. Starting next week we have 2 more weeks of teams coming where we’ll be training about 50 more students. We’ve had a mixture of teams come through from Arizona, Nevada, Ohio and Kansas from Christian schools and college groups.

With all the fun and training of the students, comes long days. We usually start around 7:30am where we meet as staff before breakfast starts. Our days usually end around 11:30pm after the students are all in their rooms for bed. Doing this for 3 weeks straight starts to take a toll on you in every way; physically, spiritually and emotionally.

Having no team this week has been a nice time to recuperate and just reconnect with God. I’m excited about all that God has been doing in our students, and how He’s been using them to change the city of Las Vegas. It’s always encouraging to hear from our students after they’ve been home for a couple of weeks, and hear how they’re applying the things they learned with us in their own cities! God’s even been using me to reach His people in Las Vegas.

Recently during one of our outreaches at a mall on the strip, I got to pray with 2 salesmen at a kiosk that sells Shammys. When I asked them what they wanted prayer for, they both asked me to pray for them to receive the Holy Spirit! It was humbling that they didn’t ask for more customers, money, or earthly things. They just wanted to encounter God in a new way! My focus right now is to develop relationships with the people that work at the places that we do outreaches at. Since I am here long term, I’m able to continue to meet with the same people again and pray for them and watch them grow.

After all the busyness of the teams dies down in mid April, I will hopefully be going to Alberta to visit my sister Megan and meet my niece Mya. It’ll be a nice break from everything going on here, and I can’t wait to see them. Please pray that it all works out so I can visit them soon! May will be a month of planning and travelling for us Mission Adventures staff. We’ll be busy getting things ready for the summer as we have 5 weeks of teams and summer staff arriving June 1st that we have to train. Also in May we’ll be going to San Francisco for a conference with other Mission Adventures staff across North America for a few days.

Praise Points
-We’ve trained 105 students to change the world
-The city of Las Vegas is being reached
-God has provided for me thus far!

Prayer Points:
-Energy during the MA weeks
-For God to use us to minister to the students
-Abundance of patience and grace with eachother as staff

Thank you all for your continued prayers and support. I’m excited to have you partner with me and be a part of what God is doing to change Las Vegas and reach the nations! ♥Beth

•Beth Konrath•Youth With A Mission Las Vegas•
•PO Box 36606•Las Vegas, NV•89133•USA•
•(702)658-5450•bethk@ywamlasvegas.org•

January 2010 Newsletter (2009 break down below)

Hello all! First newsletter of 2010, woo!
2009 ended with an unsuspected stay in Las Vegas. As I mentioned in my last newsletter, I was planning on going to Calgary, Canada for Christmas with my sister Megan. The day before I was to leave, I found out from our attorney that I should not leave the country while I have a Visa pending. I won’t bore you with all the details, but if I was to leave the states I would have to start part of the Visa application over again, which would mean I would have to stay in Canada for upwards to 4 months. So my first Christmas away from home was spent in Las Vegas. It was a hard but a good two weeks off with lots of rest. Thankfully this will be the last time of me mentioning Visa issues because … I recently received my 2 & ½ year Visa!!!! I felt so relieved and excited when it came in the mail! Praise Jesus!Mya Christine Stevens
December 30^th, 2009 7 lbs. 6oz.
As excited as I was to hear that she was born, it was also difficult because I knew that I was supposed to be there for the birth. I’m now an auntie! Hopefully I’ll be able to go to Calgary sometime in the spring to meet her.

2010 is already off to a busy start. We have our first Mission Adventures team coming in mid February from a local high school. Sam, Brett and I are doing all that we can to get ready for what looks like the busiest year for MA at our base. There’s lots of preparation, program planning and praying to do in what seams like such a short time.

March is going to be a busy month with 3 out of the 4 weeks will be spent leading teams! Things are also starting to get busy at the base with the DTS having just started with 5 students and 2 short term staff. In a short time I went from living with 5 other people to now 14!!

Lately, as staff we’ve been doing various types of outreaches in the city. Recently we went to the Las Vegas Rescue Mission, a homeless shelter a couple streets away. We helped with the dinner feeding, where over 350 people were served!

It’s always fun to serve at the LVRM and get to know some of the residents there. One man asked me if I was always so cheery and began to tell me how he is the current president of the United States. It’s great to see so many people get fed who would have gone without food otherwise. We plan to do more work with the LVRM with our Mission Adventures teams as we have in the past year.
I still find it hard to believe that a year ago all this started; my journey with missions. 2009 was a great and busy year for me, with lots of ups and down, travelling, and transitions. For a breakdown of what 2009 looked like, check out my blog (bethkonrath.blogspot.com). This time last year I would have never guessed that I would be in full time missions, but God’s known to do the unexpected!
Thanks for reading!! Hope all is well with you! ♥Beth

Prayer Points
-For the MA teams that are coming this spring
-Energy during MA weeks
Praise Points
-My visa came!!
-Baby Mya is healthy
-2010 is off to a great start! :)

A look at 2009

2009 was one of the best years of my life (maybe because I wasn't in school??). Here's where God took me this past year!

January: (Nova Scotia, Las Vegas)

What a long month January felt like! The end of the month couldn’t have come any faster. The day after I had my last day of high school I got onto a plane to head to Las Vegas to join Youth With A Mission (YWAM) to do a 5 month school; Discipleship Training School (DTS).

February: (Las Vegas)

My first full month in Las Vegas! As most of my friends were back home in high school, I was studying missions and God, getting ready to leave for Turkey for 2 months. This month I really got to know my DTS mates and develop friendships that would go beyond the school.

March: (Las Vegas)

The beginning of March, my DTS helped lead a Mission Adventures week for Scottsdale Christian Academy. This was my first hands on experience with MA, aside from March 2008 when I was a MA student for a week. I would have never guessed that I would be on full time staff later with the MA program.

April: (Las Vegas, Turkey)

Half of April was spent in Las Vegas, gearing up for 2 months in Turkey. I still don’t think it really hit any of us that we were going to be in Turkey for 2 months until we landed in Istanbul. The Turkish culture was a shock to most of us, something that we were going to have to adapt to.

May: (Turkey)

A full month of being in Turkey. For most of the month, each week we travelled to different towns/cities. We got to see tons of different places, and God used us in amazing ways. I can't wait to go back to Turkey and explore even more!

June: (Turkey, Las Vegas)

The first half of the month was spent in Turkey, getting ready to head back to Las Vegas for our last week together as a DTS. I stayed in Las Vegas for the summer as short term staff for Mission Adventures. It was hard to see all my DTS mates leave; the people who I had spent the last 5 months growing and learning with were all of a sudden gone.

July: (Las Vegas)

A full month of being on Mission Adventures summer staff, leading teams. It was during this time that I realized that God wanted me to be in Las Vegas, full time, with the MA program. July was VERY hot out!!

August: (Las Vegas, Nova Scotia)

I arrived home for the first time since January. Most of the month was spent resting (a lot of this!) and catching up with family and friends. It was a great break from the business of the past 6-7 months; a much needed break!

September: (Nova Scotia, Las Vegas)

My last month at home. I spent more of the month working at my old job at the drug store, and getting things ready for going back to Las Vegas on full time staff. At the end of the month, I returned back to Las Vegas … later than I had planned (Visa issues … no surprise there).

October: (Las Vegas)

It was a good but difficult month. It was great to be back in Las Vegas and get things started for Mission Adventures. But also hard because most of our time was spent in promotion, making tons of phone calls to churches which tends to be discouraging.

November: (Las Vegas)

Birthday month, I turned 19! I got to spend Thanksgiving in San Francisco with my friend Peter and his family, who went to Turkey with me. It was a much needed break and it was great to see him and my DTS mate Kristen. Most of November was spent doing promotion, and some program planning.

December: (Las Vegas)

Things started to pick up with the Mission Adventures program. Teams began to start the application process, and as staff we started to look at the schedule and plan things out for the teams that are going to be coming to Las Vegas in 2010. The later half of the month, I was on vacation for 2 weeks. What a relaxing and great break it was. Although I was not in Calgary as planned, it was a much needed break ... again. And Mya was born, I'm an auntie! :)

november newsletter

Another month has flown by! November has been very busy but good! I also turned 19 which is exciting!
This month our base had 2 major events. On November 14^th we had “Fully Launching The Pier” event, The Pier being our community resource center at our YWAM base. It was a grand opening type event, although we’ve been open for about a year now. Around 150-200 people showed up. We had bounce castles, live DJ, free raffle draw with prizes, vendors, and tons of other things. It was great to have an event that attracted our community so we could tell them about what we do in the area to serve and help them!
Also, on November 22^nd we had an art day called “Art in Motion” (or AIM) which Brett headed up. It was an afternoon where we used art to reach out to the kids in our community and allow them to express themselves through art! It was a fun day with tons of creative art projects to do with the kids. It was a huge success with about 25 kids and tons of volunteers. We hope to do it on more of a regular basis.

*making art with the kids*
For Thanksgiving break I went to California for a week. One of my YWAM friends who I went to Turkey with, Peter, and his family opened their home to me for the week. They blessed me with a plane ticket to San Francisco; otherwise I would have had to stay in Las Vegas. It was a great week and a much needed break. It was also my first American Thanksgiving. Not much different than Canadian, but Americans go all out and it’s a bigger deal here. I also got to see one of my best friends Kristen who did the 5 month school with me in Las Vegas and Turkey. I missed being able to hang out with Peter and Kristen all the time. It was awesome to see them again as it had been 5 months since I’d seen them last.As I mentioned in my last newsletter, I am still waiting for my Visa to come in. Since it hasn’t come yet, I’m leaving the country for Christmas since my current Visa expires soon. I’ll be going to Calgary, Alberta on the 18^th to spend the holidays with my oldest sister Megan. I’m excited to see her again and I’m going to be an auntie! She’s due shortly after the New Year so I’m hoping she’ll have the baby before I have to go back to Las Vegas. Please continue to pray that my Visa will come in the near future so that I can return after my Christmas vacation.
Everything has been going well with Mission Adventures and recruiting teams for next year. As our 2010 schedule of teams starts to fill, I continue to get more excited about the students that will come and get excited about missions! We have a very busy year ahead of us!
Thank you for your continued support and prayers. My next newsletter will be in the New Year, so I hope you have a great Christmas surrounded by family, friends, eggnog and cookies. J

Prayer points:
-For my Visa!!!
-Safety as I travel during Christmas
-For our YWAM base as we face challenges

Praise points:
-I had a great and refreshing Thanksgiving break!
-Mission Adventures continues to have more teams interested for 2010
-I get to go to Calgary!

October Newsletter

Here's my most recent newsletter if you haven't already received it! :) (Sorry if the formatting is weird; it didn't transfer well).

Hello from Las Vegas! Time has flown by and I’ve been back in Vegas for a little over a month now. I ended up leaving for Vegas at the end of September, rather than the beginning like originally planned. There were some complications with me getting a Visa; which one to get, when to get it, etc. but everything has worked itself out (for now at least) and I’m here on a 3 month Visa. Since arriving, I have applied for my “Religious Worker Visa” which will allow me to stay in the states for 2 years. It’s still in the works of being processed, so please pray that I will be able to get the Visa before my other Visa runs out in December.

I live on base with 5 other people; four boys and one girl. This is Andrea (my roommate) and I.

It’s nice to be able to wake up and walk down the hall to your office to work (this comes in handy when you wake up minutes before your suppose to be there!)

I’ve been keeping myself busy with tons of things to do around the base to get the Mission Adventures (MA) program ready for next year. Currently, we are focusing on recruiting; trying to get more teams (youth groups) for next year. Recruiting for us means phone calls, mail outs, emails, and more phone calls. This is the first time that the MA program here in Vegas has had more than one staff member running the program, so we’re far ahead in recruiting compared to where they usually would be. I work alongside 2 other people who are also passionate about seeing youth equipped to go to the nations; Sam (who has been running the program for the past 2 years), and Brett (who also just joined staff). Recently, we prayed about how many students we should aim for next year and we felt like God wanted us to try and get 600 students. This past year, MA saw about 300 students come through. So with 2 extra staff, 600 is totally do-able!

In September, a few of us at the base took part in a child trafficking walk our friend Joe headed up. Aside from the fact we walked for over 45 minutes just to get to the meeting place for the walk because we got lost, it was great to be part of a movement here in Vegas.

As we walked, people held signs that said things like “Real men don’t buy sex”, “Our girls are not for sale”, and “Over 400 child sex slaves sold in Las Vegas in 1 month”. It’s scary to think that a thing like child trafficking happens right down the street (literally!).

I’m still in the search for a local church to get connected with. Currently I’ve been going to “Church of the Way” which is a smaller church with mainly younger people. Recently Sam and I went to hang out with some of them at a going away party for a friend. Afterwards, five of us went 4 wheeling in a jeep in the desert. As the sun was setting we got ‘stuck’ on the side of a mountain and decided it wasn’t safe to drive any further in fear of rolling. We ended up waiting for about 3 hours for someone to bring us tools to release the sway bar (what that is, I’m not sure but it worked). As we stood waiting, we began to share our testimonies. It was so encouraging to hear where everyone was coming from and the things that God had brought them through. Aside from the fact that I was wearing a dress, I was thankful for this time to grow and share God’s glory in our lives as we shivered and looked over the city of Las Vegas.
Thank you for your continued support and prayers! Hope to hear from you soon!

Prayer Points:
-For my Visa to come in on time!
-For continued finances as I live a "faith based lifestyle"
-For the MA program; unity as a staff, more teams, energy

Praise Points:
-I was blessed with a plane ticket to California in November for Thanksgiving with friends
-We've had a great start to the recruiting season with teams already interested for 2010

im back!

I made it back to Las Vegas after a long day of flying (halifax to toronto to denver to las vegas). It seams to be cheaper with the more stops you have, which i dont mind too much. i flew in on tuesday the 22nd in the evening, greeted by all the other YWAM staff that live on base with me. it was great to see their lovely faces again. i was grateful for not having any problems getting a 3 month visa while in immigration in to. suuuch an answer to prayer; ever since i missed my flight in january to las vegas, i always get extremely nervous and shaky when going through immigration.
on wednesday, most of my day was spent sitting in an empty bunk room with brett and sam (my co-staff for Mission Adventures) while sam talked .. and talked some more, about what we'll be doing the next while, and within the next 2 years .. expectations, the whole 9 yards. sam left on thursday for the weekend to go to LA for a youth specialities conference where theres a YWAM MA booth and tons of other ministries booths for youth pastors to look at for missions trips. hopefully he'll get to meet some youth pastors/leaders to come to vegas for a week. while sam was gone, myself and brett called, and called, and emailed and called youth pastors/leaders to tell them about the MA program, trying to get more teams. and reading as well .. im going to be the main registrar for teams so i have a lot of info to read up on, and just other general things for the MA program to read about.
this weekend is when the DTS students for the next DTS are arriving!!! it starts on monday .. the dts only has 3 students .. all girls! just waiting on one last one to arrive in a couple of hours. it'll be nice to have some other girls living at the base .. me and andrea are out numbered by the male staff that live on base .. 4 to 2.
OHHH. how could i forget to mention.
yesterday, andrea and I bought a new member to our YWAM family. his name is puddles and is a fat big gold fish .. with one funky black eye. because of his size, i think we need to buy him a new bowl. the one we bought him is a 3$ glass bowl for a kitchen, but seams to be a little bit to small for him. hopefully he doesnt die sooon .. im hoping that if he plans on dying soon, that he dies within the next 48 hours so that we can get a full refund at walmart.
other than that, not a whole lot else is new! got moved back into my room with andrea .. its nice to have such a large room, and only have to share it with one other person! the other day we also moved around one of the offices in order to put myself and brett by sams desk so its a bit easier to work that way. alllsssoo, recently ive been learning how to drive the 15 passenger vans, which is quite fun!! not as hard as i thought it was going to be .. i have yet to try parking, so i bet that'll be a treat in itself. it'll be great to be able to drive instead of having to depend on other people to drive me places when i need to get something, go somewhere, etc.. paying for gas for such a large boat sucks tho.
one last thing; yesterday afternoon/evening, 5 of us went to fremont street (usually about a 20 min walk) to join up with our friend who was leading a 'las vegas stop child trafficking now' walk. we thought that since it wasnt very far, we could walk to the walk. turns out, we got lost (understandably) and walked for 45 min .. to far. aventually we found the cross street (n. 8th) we were looking for, and as we walked up, they were all just leaving to start the walk. great 'protest' to be able to be a part of!!
i'll try my best to keep this thing updated .. maybe some pictures too !
:)
blessings !
beth!

update on my life .. whats next!

HELLO. Another post from Beth!! This is a long one, but there's some pictures to keep you entertained! Please take some time to read this important blog if you haven't already received this via letter/email. It's basically what I've been doing for the past year with some stories, and what I'm going to be up to for the next while! Love to hear what you think, so shoot me a email! :)

PAST(Jan.-April)
After graduating from high school a semester early, I left for Las Vegas to do a Discipleship Training School (DTS) with Youth With A Mission (YWAM). YWAM is an international interdenominational Christian organization that equips youth to share the gospel all over the world with the goal of “knowing God and making Him known”. For 3 months of my DTS myself, 6 other students and 3 leaders (from 5 different countries) stayed in Vegas for “lecture phase”. Lecture phase is the first half of DTS devoted to hearing from different speakers every week on various topics.

This was a great time for me to take a season of my life away to focus on God and learn more about the person that I am and becoming.

(April-June)
At the end of April we left for 2 months of “outreach” to Turkey where we traveled around from city to city. This was time for us to apply things that we had learned previously and experiencing life on the mission field. While in Turkey we ...
· Passed out Bibles (NT)
· Childcare at a YWAM conference
· Shared our testimonies with non-believers
· Taught English
· Helped during services at international churches
· Met English speaking students on university campuses and built relationships with them
· Building work for a small church
· Working with the fulltime missionaries
· & many other fun and exciting things!

*At Zeus’s Temple. We got to see tons of ruins and famous sites (Like the Blue Mosque, Ephesus, and Ayo Sophia)*

While in Turkey, God opened my eyes to another part of the world. Being in a country that is so influenced by Islamic ways (which we were reminded by every morning at 5am and four other times during the day) was something that we had to adjust to. At the beginning of the trip, I doubted the effectiveness that we could have because of our lack of Turkish. Throughout the trip I was reminded again and again that God is bigger than any language barrier, and He was still able to use us in unimaginable ways. I saw this through our campus ministries where God seemed to lead us directly towards English speaking students. Near the end of our trip, two of my team mates and I were able to share the gospel with a man who didn’t speak English. Using a Turkish Bible, we were able to show him verses and further explain the gospel. As the man’s eyes started to fill up with tears, I couldn’t help but be reminded of how BIG of a God we serve. These types of experiences get me excited about taking the gospel to new and unreached areas of the world.

(June)
We then returned to Vegas for one last week of debriefing. We had our graduation as we finished DTS.

I said goodbye to my DTS mates the same day I started another season in my life.

(June-August)
I then started a season of discipling youth. My summer consisted of staying in Vegas at our base on staff with Mission Adventures (MA). MA is a program that disciples and equips teenagers to do missions; within their city and around the world. Every week a team (usually a youth group) came in from all over North America. We fed and housed them at our base and taught them about evangelism and how to do it effectively. We took them out on the streets of Las Vegas to apply it all; to share Christ through different types of evangelism.
Last year I was an MA student in Las Vegas. It’s the program that got me into doing missions and a DTS. My goal for the summer was to do the same thing for other youth; getting them excited about missions.

*MA Summer Staff 2009*

FUTURE
Recently, God has put it on my heart to make a commitment to the Mission Adventures program. My heart is to show youth the calling on their lives; to teach them to do their part to fulfill the Great Commission (Matt. 28:19) and show them how to live it out.
What will I be doing as MA staff for the next 2 years?
· Hands on work; planning outreaches, lessons, preparing the base for teams, and discipling students to walk out evangelism and fulfill the Great Commission
· Mobile tours; travelling to churches in North America to promote MA and recruit future teams
· Helping plan and organize local outreaches for short term teams that will pass through our base

CURRENTLY
I’m home in Nova Scotia to visit family and friends and recuperate from the last 7 months. I’m also home to inform everyone about the next big step in my life, and invite people to get on board with what God’s doing in my life. In September, I’ll be returning to Las Vegas to start my commitment.

LASTLY
Thank you all for your support; through prayers and finances. I know that I wouldn’t have been able to do my DTS without all your help. So thank you, from the bottom of my heart!! If you’re interested in continuing to receive my newsletters once I return to Vegas, I’d be more than willing to send it to you either by mail or email.

Prayer Points
· Safety as I return to Las Vegas and live in “Sin City”
· For the Mission Adventures program to reach its full potential
· God’s guidance as I start support raising
· To use my talents and abilities to glorify God

Want to help? Well, here's how & why!

As I mentioned, I am making a 2 year commitment at YWAM Las Vegas to the Mission Adventures program. YWAM is a non-profit organization; all its full time workers are responsible for raising their own support/funds for living. We all live a faith based life style, which is only possible through people who partner with us. Everyone is called to reaching the world (Matt.28:19); “Go into all the world” is a command for all of us. However, some of us go physically, some go in prayer, and some also partner with those going physically with the gift of giving. In order for me to effectively join staff and complete my tasks as a Mission Adventures Staff member, I will need around $900 a month. (If you would like to see a copy of budget to see where these funds are going, feel free to contact me!)

My goal is to have:
· two supporters at $100 monthly
· two supporters at $75 monthly
· three supporters at $50 monthly
· eight supporters at $35 monthly
· five supporters at $25 monthly

(for a total of $905/month)

Would you please pray about partnering with me through prayer, partnering with taking on part of the financial burden monthly, or just a onetime gift? I am new at this and at the moment without any supporters, but I trust that God will put it on people’s heart to agree with what I’m doing and want to get on board!

If you are interested in helping me out in ANY way, PLEASE contact me! (tax deductible receipts are available for all donations). Anything is greatly appreciated and needed. Thanks again! :)

email: konrathbeth@gmail.com