Ryan Ellis
Laura Straessle
Last year during tour I had to deal with my knees going out on me and I learned how to let the Lord pull me into him and use his strength. This year going into tour I had 12 pinched nerves spread throughout my spine. I couldn’t understand why the Lord was letting this happen to me again right before tour. But through all the confusion and hurt, I once again relied on the Lord. His grace knows no bounds and I believe he took me to a different level of relying upon him. There is no way I did any amount of dancing or relating of my own accord. Every move I made happened because of Christ living in me and having grace on my body. Through the pain and tears I was able to see the Lord’s hand in everything. Lives were touched through the dances and I can’t take any of the credit which is how it should be. Because of this, ALL of the Glory had to go to the Lord. There was no saving any of it for myself, I couldn’t claim anything. It was cool to see that people were responding to the God in me, instead of just a cool move I’d learned to do. And because of the grace he poured on me, I had an easier time than I imagined focusing on other people instead of just my pain. The Lord is good and his mercy really endures everything.
Costa Rica was a different experience than tour in drastically different ways and I cannot really compare the two and still do justice to either. I still had pain but had learned to push past it with the Grace of God. There was more grace to dance freely and not be afraid of the pain. It was easier to allow myself to be swallowed by His Grace in order to move which left me able to focus more on what he wanted to tell others. And they were desperate. The people of Costa Rica left such an impression on me that I felt convicted. Here these people were, running to the Lord for any type of prayer they could get. Several people on several occasions had no complaint or purpose for asking for prayer other than the soul reason of seeking an encounter with God. Do we do that here in America? I know I don’t. Normally it takes a moving of the Lord to get me to go up for prayer…or for that matter, it takes someone coming and getting me! How I want to be that desperate! To be a sponge that will soak up any drop of water someone decides to let drip. They were truly precious and I know the Lord had encounters with those people. How do I know? Because they were desperate for one and kept seeking until they got it.
Melissa Camenisch
On tour one of the most awesome and incredible things for me this year was getting to minister in schools at every stop, minus one. It was so awesome getting to talk with the kids and pray with them and just be an example to them of someone that is choosing to live their life for the Lord. I was able to encourage and love on so many kids it was amazing. I was so grateful for the time and experience. It was obvious the Lord sent us to each school at the perfect time because of the amount of pain and hurt we felt upon entering into each school. I was able to pray and speak identity into several young girls and help them hear the Lord for themselves. It was such a humble and unforgettable experience. I really want to Thank all of you for all you're prayers for me and the team as we went. We couldn't have done what we did without your faithfulness in prayer and your love for us. We truly are a blessed people. Thank you again.
The Lord asked me, "Do you practice what you preach?" I have said to other people, "What the enemy intends for bad, God intends for good," but the Lord wanted me realize that I needed to find him in every situation. I lost three valuable items in Costa Rica. A door was opened for me. I had the choice to have a bad attitude, or I could find the Lord in this situation and have a good attitude. I am so thankful for the Lord's grace upon me because he showed me that I need to put into practice what I say. Did I use my own strength and positive attitude, NO. I used the Lord's strength and positive attitude because his is what lasts, not me.
Melissa Wygant
Our time was truly blessed on our trip to Costa Rica. The Lord really met us every step of the way, especially in the schools. We could really see and feel the Lord work in our favor as we were welcomed to each school through the teachers, the principals and the performances. I truly believe that many lives were touched through the play, our testimony’s as well as the rhythms. So many people that we encountered were thirsty for the Lord. I had many people just come up and ask us for prayer, nothing specific just prayer. I know one instance that really touched my heart was when we were in Cartago visiting Ariana’s church. After our performance on Sunday morning my host mom came up to me and asked for prayer on her throat, among other things. As I began to pray I put my hand to her neck, however I didn’t fully touch her due to my hands being cold. I began to pray in the spirit and within a minute or so I felt my hand get warmed so I put my hand against her throat and continued to pray in the spirit. That was a moment and an experience that I will never forget. Feeling the holy spirit move through me to heal her was awesome, but it really touched me that I was able to do that for my host mom, it added an extra special touch to our visit. Thank you Lord for the momentous experience, its something I can carry with me always.
Tim Cunkle
The trip to Costa Rica was absolutely incredible from the very beginning. It almost makes it difficult to share because you just don’t know where to begin, but a good place to start is to share what God did. We received several words about God meeting us in our lack, which is something that thematically stood out to me on tour, but this was on a completely new level. We were going into a country not really being able to speak their language, and performing a dramatic piece of material that was primarily in English. Not to mention we hardly performed perfectly. How were we going to communicate the message in the first place, and if it was communicated, how were we going to pray for people who were touched? Well, God provided the response, and he didn’t just provide it, I am willing to bet he shocked almost every single one of us. People were incredibly receptive, and then to reach those people, God provided us with Costa Rican voices. I know for me personally, it was in Costa Rica that I experienced my deepest ministry times not just this year but of my life so far, and more than one of those was through a translator. The entire trip was definitely a lesson in dependence on God, but it was only encouraging because he gave us strength where we had none to begin with instead of having to show us our lack.
Hannah Hall
On tour the Lord taught me more about trusting him. Often I would find myself having to look for people to pray for which led me more and more to trusting father that he was leading me to the right people. Through that I got to pray for many people who otherwise might not have gotten prayed for. I saw this continue in Costa Rica in a different way. Though I rarely had to look for people to pray for because they were so hungry, the Lord still led me to people he wanted to touch. At one place I prayed for this 6 year old girl who wanted her family to be happy again and her mom (also a teacher at the school) happened to be one translating for me and through that, I was able to then talk to the mother who had been divorced and hurt and felt the Lord wanted to do something in her. The Lord gave her some encouraging words about restoring to her joy and peace and giving her new dreams. Through this experience and many others, the Lord is teaching me again and again to just trust him and follow where he leads me.
Levi Lamy
For this year's Tour Father told me He would re-enforce to me being a son. In ministry, the theme I saw was guiding people into hearing God for themselves. It was so exciting to see people come up, expecting to receive a prophetic word, and instead, they were introduced to Father and were able to receive directly!
One of the many times this happened was in NY, and I was brought over to a lady who had just gone through divorce, was weeping, and worried about how it would affect her kids. She was very distraught, and could list off many terrible things, and the ladies there were doing a good job of comforting her. But I felt like Father wanted to do more. So I talked to her about how God wants to talk to us, and how He loves us, desires us, and then asked her to ask the Lord what He wanted to say to her. So, she asked, and she heard Him! He told her that she didn't have to worry, that He has a plan, and that He is giving her peace. It was so encouraging to see her realize that she could hear God, and it was encouraging to me to be able to guide her to that!
The concept of asking God for something and expecting a reply is something that I can take for granted, but to most is not very common. I think it should be, and I think that we were able to plant the seed and idea that it is something that God wants to do. Father used me as a son, as I was led by Him, to help others be led by Him too!
