MA is Over!!!

Thinking of how to start this update, I just let out a huge sigh… Mission Adventures (MA) is now officially over for the summer and I have been stretched, changed, pushed, used and blessed in so many ways. I’m exhausted, but I’m also completely jazzed on what God did this summer. I was a witness to the theory/formula of exponential growth and effect. For all you number nerds out there (including myself) this is what I mean-
One leader, Kevin, comes in to start, not sure how he’s going to get any staff and none of his attempts to recruit them really work. His effort was soon doubled into two when Frauke, a base-staff YWAMer decided to come on board and help. Then, from the corners of the world came us five summer staff… Richard (England), JD (Oklahoma), Laura (Colorado), and Sam (Idaho/CA), and Me! We were all unexpected staff in that we hadn’t really planned on doing MA, but God led us to. Then, the teams came, and this is where the exponential growth goes sky-high!! Thirteen Church teams came through Vegas to do Mission Adventures this summer. That adds up to Two-Hundred and one people!
The last number can’t really be figured out or pin-pointed… you see, it’s still growing- it’s the number of people’s lives that were affected by us. And it all started with one guy- Kevin… This summer, God has totally given me a glimpse into what people talk about when they challenge me to be the one to start something. So many times in church growing up, I’ve been told how this generation can be turned around if a few of us will stand up- be accounted for in the ranks of God’s army. To go into battle everyday with our hearts open to talk to people about Him. I’m still not all the way there…As MA is over now, I’m going to be tested. Will I continue this life or give into fear? With God’s grace and strength, I want to be one of those generation changers. A world changer.
So many things could be said about what God did this summer. So many more could be said about how I felt about all those things :) But for the sake of your attention span and because I know how hard it can be to read those mega-long updates, I want to take the last little bit of space and tell you about my next step.
After much prayer about the next step (a ridiculously over-used phrase in my life… lol) I really feel led to stay on as staff here in Las Vegas. It’s not at all something that I would have expected to do, and I never thought I would live in Las Vegas!! But God is bigger than my conventions and my thoughts. As I’ve surrendered to Him, this way has become something that I want to do and feel I should do.
I will be helping Sam (who’s leading MA next year) plan and re-vamp the program a bit. I’ll be helping teams that want to come next year and keeping in contact with them. Also, I’ve been approached about being the administrator or the accountant for the Las Vegas YWAM base. Please pray for me about this!! I’m nervous about such a big responsibility, but I know that God has given me talents that I need to use.
So right now, I’m in the application process. I will know if I’m officially accepted in the next few weeks! My plan is to stay here for about another year- until MA is over next summer at least.
So much is happening, and I know that your prayers are what have kept me sane! Thank you! Thank You! Thank You! There’s one more important number of the summer, and that’s one you’re a part of… the hundreds of people praying for me and others here. You have been a big part of what happened here this summer. Thank you for partnering with me!

Prayer Points:
- Wisdom for the base leadership team on my application
- Rest after an exhausting summer
- God would fill my loneliness after missing my family, friends, and will soon become the only girl living on base.
- Self-discipline in so many areas.
- Finances. Being base staff means that I will need monthly supporters- something that honestly scares the dickens out of me right now! :)
- Peace for my family. It’s hard for them to think of me being gone longer.

Thank you so much~ God bless you with his joy and peace!
~LeAnna Rae

Update the first few weeks~

Hey Everyone!
It’s been awhile since my last update, so I thought I’d write and tell y’all what’s up (that’s a bit of the Texan accent I picked up from the last team!)
So far, we’ve had two weeks full of teenagers! The first week, there were three churches- Idaho, Wyoming, and California. We started the second week with lots of good memories of the last week- including crazy stunt-performing kids and people putting their faith into practice. I was stretched in HUGE ways… God really blessed us with an easy starter team, and I’m so thankful because not only did I get over my apprehensions about the summer, but I was able to deal with so many other things happening inside of me.
The second week started out a bit rough. My first impression of the team and it’s leaders scared me… I didn’t want to have to use the confrontation knowledge I gained over my DTS, but I gave it to God that first night. It was difficult, and the group wasn’t as “polished” as the first, but these kids and adults (from Arizona, Texas, and Oregon) came away changed and impacted. On the last night, we have a commitment service, where we give a challenge to the kids, and then just tell them to go pray on their own and turn on music. It’s mind-blowing how God uses that time!! When we first did it, I was thinking, “shouldn’t we be doing or saying something more?! These kids aren’t going to get anything out of this time…” But how wrong I was! God spoke powerfully to so many of them. He even used us leaders to speak into their lives through prayer and prophetic words. One girl came running up to me and Sam (fellow MA staff) saying, “Guys, you’ll never believe what God just said to me!!” Then she went on to tell how God was calling her into dance ministry and how God wanted to use her passion to glorify Him! I was beaming- so filled with thankfulness and in awe of the power of God. She was buzzing and couldn’t stand still she was so excited, so our conversation ended in me praying for her and then her running off to go dance :)
There were two girls who met there, from two of the different churches. During the commitment service, they came up to Sam and I crying and laughing at the same time. God had told them both individually at the same time that they would be doing missions together. They were overwhelmed with God and what he’d told them. Sam and I were completely ecstatic too, I really felt this wasn’t just a fluke thing, but could see that it was definitely God that was speaking to them!
So many stories come to mind of what God has accomplished in our first two weeks of Mission Adventures. I’ve learned and grown a lot. God’s really been affirming many things He did in me and taught me on DTS, and I’m becoming more aware of what I need to do and where I need more growth. Praise God for His great Grace!!!!
Over the past week, we’ve been on break from MA. I had the amazing opportunity to go to Minnesota with Kevin (MA leader), Kati (from Finland), and Richard (from Great Britain). For those that don’t know, I was born in Minnesota and lived there for about eight years… so I kept having flash backs there! :) It was a good rejuvenating time. Admittedly, I didn’t get too much sleep, but we spent many hours just relaxing and many more hours at a Christian retreat camp listening to teaching and worshipping. I had lots of fun and my relationships with the three who also went were strengthened.
So, in a few days the next batch of kids comes. Kati leaves to go home to Finland today. I already miss her… and one of our team has yet to rejoin us here in Vegas. But I am gearing up for the next crew with great expectation of what God will do!!

June 14, 2007

Today I ate lunch with a homeless man named Edward. I found him in a park. He was really cool- alcoholic, retired Army sargent, and country western singer! Richard and I teamed up to talk to him about God and just life. It was really fun, and at the same time incredibly sad. It's hard to release people like that into God's hands sometimes.
After chatting it up with Edward and Richard (such classy names!), we all had a water fight... well, sort of. Actually, the guys grabbed Kati and Laura and carried them across the park to the water fountain/play area and dunked them in... next they came after me, but I fought them off until we were all completely exhausted... and I was absolutely dirty from flailing on the ground and fighting them off with my teeth (not quite, but that sounds good. lol)... after aslight period of recovery, they grabbed Laura again, and I followed them over to the fountain- laughing... but then, Kevin came at me again I held onto a metal fence around the play area- Kevin tried prying my fingers off, but it only worked when he got a little kid to throw this huge thing of water at me from the other side of the fence... then, blind with rage (lol...), they managed to get me completely wet. Later on, Sam threw a bunch of water at me, and I got this really mean expression on my face and took off at him screaming. LOL- boy was he scared!!! And I totally would have gotten him, too... if I hadn't been barefoot. :) Anyways, it was a pretty fun time, but I was verrrrryy dirty and wet afterwards!

June 13, 07

Today we did evangelism on the strip- starting conversations with a "belief survey," and with a really big wooden cross that we took turns carrying. It was cool, but sometimes sad. I talked to a lady that said that if God was reall and loving, she didn't want him to be her best friend because it would be "Too close" and she didn't want to face all her faults. So hopeless....

Anyways, sorry for that slightly sad note ending.... I asked some of the guys in the office for some “happy things”, and this is what they came up with: "a child blowing bubbles in a forest." Yeah- and this is what I get to deal with on a daily basis!! Lol…

Oh another happy note: I spent three hours tonight in the hot outside heat, catching up on my journaling and talking to God. I was really hot and wiped when I was done, but it was totally worth it! :)

June 10, 07

uummm.... I can't really think of anything to say. My hand hurts- my blister's still there... and I used my hand (including that burned fingertip) to play the guitar for over 4 hours today! Kevin and I had to practice for worship, and it took FOREVER because he's ADD and has a hard time focusing on the task... Thank you for grace, Lord- I need all of it I can get!!
So basically, my hand hurts and I've been fighting off bad moods today... but God is GOOOD

Sorry this is such a boring update!

Watch out! LeAnna's in Vegas!

Hello Familia!
HOOORAYYY!!! I'm in Vegas now, and I've survived the first week! The spiritual climate here is really heavy- but it's not just a "heavy" heavy- it's a heaviness that sticks to you- that tries to infiltrate every fiber of your being... I don't usually have the gift of discernment, but when I flew into the airport here, it was all I could do to keep my prayers under my breath and not start shouting prayers of intercession for myself and this city that the enemy has such a hold on. Definitely an interesting "welcome"! Inside the airport, I got a friendlier one, though... and I'm not talking about all the porn (soft and non) shouting at me pictorally. Three of my fellow Mission Adventure leadership team members were there to meet me. Kevin- the main leader (who's absolutely cooky and has sweet taste in music), Kati - who's from Finland, and a TON of fun, and then Richard- from Sussex, England. He's an interesting guy- lots of tattooes, smokes, gambles- pretty sweet, actually. Later on, Laura from Colorado joined us- spunky and reallllly goofy... she adds a lot of spice to the group... then JD arrived- self-proclaimed "spiritual person" with an amazingly awesome moustachio :) He's from Oklahoma!So with all our group together, we've done a few bonding things over the past few days- pool time, walking around, movie, morning meetings, "get to know you" games, and shopping! I'm excited for the summer... things aren't crazy yet because kids haven't arrived... but when they do, I'm hoping I don't go mad!!! :)

Love you all - thank you sooooo much for your prayers! God Bless!
-LeAnna

ps. if you want to mail me something, I would LOVE to get it!!! My mailing address here is:

LeAnna Kaiser

1348 Pawnee Drive

Las Vegas, NV 89169

Laura, Kati, and I goofing off! :)

June 8, 07

Today it's been hot. Me and the other girls went up to the roof to "tan" lol... we got bored, but had a nice time laughing and talking about body fat together!! Definitely good female bonding time.

I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned it before, but there’s a huge shopping mall just straight across the parking lot. In fact, a guy got shot and killed just a few years ago…. It’s super-ghettolicios!! lol

Anyhow, the DTS is having their official graduation tonight- we are going to it tonight at some friends' house where they have a pool! Yippee!! It will be fun to hang out and swim in a place where I know everyone instead of a weirdo pool with weirdo people :)

Today I was cooking again... and we had a accident... I burned my hand taking cookies out of the oven, and now I have a big blister on my finger :(((((