country roads take me home

Where exactly is my home these days?

I grew up in Virginia, lived in Florida for two years during college, desire to move to Japan to do missions work, but eventually I'll end up in heaven with Jesus. After my birthday trip this weekend to Orlando, I returned to my homesponsors' house in Bradenton, but after graduation of this year, I'll return to my parents' house in Virginia; I have no clue about the rest.

This week has been crazy and ordinary at the same time. In Twenty-Four Seven it’s so easy to get caught in the routine and lose yourself to the excitement until it becomes normal life. God never ceases to stir me, though; He has rocked my world during my time in ministry school, but He shook my boat right at the end. Even before moving to Florida and leaving everything I knew and loved, He proved to me that I can never predict all of the incredible things to come. His plan for my life is so much better than what I can imagine for myself, even when I can’t quite see that yet. On Thursday I realized I was right about my condition earlier in the year, but people brushed off my thoughts when I brought them up. Then at the end of the year, nothing had changed except for the worse. Going forward I’ll grow and learn even more. When I met with staff on Friday, I found out that I officially will not return for a third year. Now I have to trust God to guide me to my future; I just hope I’ll learn how to better hear and obey Him.

I had a fantastic birthday after serving all but one of the awesome Easter services this weekend. Bayside had eight weekend services, and the one I got to attend was a fantastic service with great music and an incredible message about what we think can keep us from God’s unconditional love. Being in the Green Room is always fun, and I got to make lots of fun crafts and watch lots of Disney movies during the seven services that I served. Directly after serving at church on Sunday, Alex and I drove to Orlando to meet my parents and some of my mom’s family. While there my sister called me from Guam to sing happy birthday right when my mom was bringing out the birthday cake a day early. We enjoyed our pieces of toasted butter pecan after eating hamburgers for dinner, which was a mini-adventure all on its own. Then we went and watched Jungle Book after dancing with little kids and Chip and Dale. On Monday morning we left for magic kingdom and did pretty everything there that’s worth doing, so I had a blast; my presents are pretty great too. Tuesday was nice and relaxing for a spring day; I enjoyed Heaven is For Real once we found a theater that worked. After dinner at Chipotle, we went our separate ways. The rest of the week was alright too. 

ARC Conference

(Matt Keller giving an incredible message at All Access '14.)

Last week Twenty-Four Seven got to drive up to Celebration Church in Jacksonville and be a part of ARC (Association of Related Churches) All Access Conference for almost the whole week. This conference is just a time for leaders, church planters, pastors, etc. to get filled up and poured into by awesome speakers and fantastic worship sessions. Those who attend have access to great resources and opportunities for relationships that can help build their ministries or just encourage them. Each year various ministry schools from ARC churches, like Twenty-Four Seven at Bayside, have the privilege of serving these world changers. We, the students or interns, pretty much run the whole event, while attendees just get to enjoy their time so that God can bring them rest. Long, filled days make for a lot of work, but last year and this year have both been great experiences full of wonderful memories. During All Access 2014, I got to work in the food preparation tent almost the whole time, and I loved it! I got to apply some of my experience from Chick-fil-A and helping my mom cook to make food for the pastors and leaders in the Lounge area for meetings. Miss Renee, the woman basically in charge of the tent the first day, taught me a lot too through her example and leadership, so that was cool too; she and another woman even prayed over me and Alex one night during the conference! After helping in the food tent during our “two hour break” I ended up gaining some authority in the food tent through those above me and led the food prep team for almost every meal after the first day, except when I needed some direction to administrate. This experience taught me so much about servant leadership and initiative, so I loved it.

Triathlon

This past Saturday, Twenty-Four Seven finally completed the peak of our physical training. For the past several months, since October, students have done nothing during workouts except swim, bike, or run. Even on Saturdays, we trained with an experienced biking group to have on-the-road practice to prepare. Beginning at noon most first, second, and some third years raced in a triathlon. All who participated finished an 800 meter swim, a 20 mile bike ride, and a 10k run before 4:30. Although most times were tracked inaccurately, I tracked mine on my own clock and completed the event within my goal time. Since swimming is my best sport, I had the best swim time out of the girls, and was the first person out of the pool from the first of three groups. The biking was a good time of refreshing from the swim and preparing from the race since my partner and I kept an even pace and I made sure to eat and drink a lot to recover and strengthen. Running was the hardest part for me, but I kept a slow, steady pace and ran almost the entire way while listening to music by Queen. Those who competed also got a cool car sticker to commemorate the day.

Peer level leading

In Twenty-Four Seven second and third years are considered Cadre, a tightly knit group of highly trained individuals working together for a common goal. At the beginning of the year, returning students undergo a week or two of mentally and physically strenuous work in order to prepare for their new roles as leaders. As cadre these people communicate between staff and first years, plan school trips and events, lead different aspects of the school, and mentor first-year students. 

Because the growth and health of this leadership group directly impacts that of our underlings, we must prioritize each other and our collective team. We meet together each month to receive vision, encouragement, and challenges from staff, discuss our condition as a group of leadership, and worship God. During event preparation, we work together and spread delegation to create powerful experiences for the first-years. Also, we make sure to check on each other indidually, to pray for, pour into, encourage, teach, and help each other in many ways. To make sure we properly care for the first years, we have to take care of each other.

Interning with Reach

In Twenty-Four Seven each student gets to serve in an area of ministry in which they possess high passion. Although I love missions and outreach, last year I got to explore other fields of interest. For the first semester I learned about graphic design under Bayside’s creative department. Then during the second half of the year, I served in the office of the church’s middle school ministry. Both gave me great opportunities to learn, serve, and have fun!

During the summer I finally got to start working in Reach with a few other young adult interns from Bayside. Under our leadership and his guidance, we began restructuring the procedures, mission manuals, roles, etc. of Bayside missions to improve what was already in place. Because Bayside has so much growth, especially with the building expansion, and so many people want to spread the gospel through domestic and international missions, we wanted to create a more organized, enjoyable, and effective experience for everyone who participates in any kind of trip through Bayside.

Now that I’m in my second semester of my second year and still with Reach I get to learn more about the role and work of my “boss.” This means I get to help plan trips by reaching out to contacts to coordinate details, proofreading inter-ministry Reach materials, learning how to handle financial reimbursement requests, sitting in on creative meetings, going on domestic trips, serving in local outreaches, and more! I love what I get to do and I learn so much.

Just a couple of weeks ago, God opened an incredible door for me and the other Reach interns to go on a one-night mission trip to Ybor City in Tampa. After attending church service that Saturday night, all of the Reach Administrative team (the interns and “boss man”) loaded into a van, picked up water bottles from Wal-Mart, and drove about an hour north. At first I was shocked because I’ve never seen such conditions in reality, but then my heart broke. We walked up and down a street with a lot of clubs on it praying for the area. Then we picked a corner to stay at until we left. There we handed out water bottles and told people that Jesus loves them; some were really excited to get free water, others questioned what we were doing, and many ignored us. However, in the end the night was a great success! We were able to encourage some locals with God’s love, and provide non-alcoholic drinks. Even though we only stayed for a couple of hours, people began to recognize, and I think with a more consistent visiting basis, we could have a huge impact on that area. Next time this trip will be even better.

Taking the message of the risen Son to the landing of the rising sun

Many people know from previous blog posts that I am passionate for Japan and feel called by God to do missions work there. However, I have yet to share much about how my heart was positioned in this way. 

Previously I have mentioned about how I didn't have many friends growing up, but by nature I am an introvert. I remember when I was little that I read a lot of books and watched a lot of TV. I preferred animated shows and the ones that appealed to me most were anime like Pokemon or Yu-Gi-Oh. As I continued maturing and aging, I grew in love for people and learned more about Japan. This led me to branch out my interests from just Japanese cartoons and comics.

The deeper I dug into Japanese media and history, the more I realized how much the nation needs Jesus. We all need Him, but I've never burned for another people group the way that I burn for the Japanese. A history of isolation and traditionalism has led them to a place of near spiritual depravity. Much like the shallow Christianity of America today, many Japanese adhere to Budhism and Shintoism out of culture or tradition, with no real connection to the idols. A lot of Japanese culture, style, holidays, etc. stem from these primary religions, but nothing is solved by their lack of heart change. Thus many fall away from a fulfilling life and turn to workaholism or materialism, or the social problems that exist there like gang warfare, prostitution, shut-ins, etc. Jesus came that we might have life to the full, not just survive and suffer. These people, fearfully and wonderfully made in God's image, just like you and me, need to know how incredibly valued they are by God, what He has done for them, and the identity they have in Him. Although the need is so great, few missionaries go or have success there, but I am determined to set the nation on fire for God. Some day I hope to use my testimony and gifts to share God's love with the people there in every, town, village, and city. God bless America and God bless Japan.

Join me!

Hello to all of my beloved friends and family! I hope this letter finds you well, and that God would continue to bless you with joy, peace, wisdom, and provision in every situation. To share an update about myself and 24/7, I write to you in this letter.

(In Lima, Peru some orphanage staff and my Twenty-Four Seven missions team poses for a picture)

Ever since God placed a passion for Japan in my heart, I have pursued His call to missions, and Twenty-Four Seven School of Ministry (24/7) has been the perfect place to prepare myself. To equip young men and women with a healthy Christian lifestyle is the school's main focus. The program facilitates rapid growth physically, socially, spiritually, and mentally to prepare for any type of ministry or leadership to which God may call someone and equips him or her for a healthy Christian lifestyle. Through classes, leadership training, church interning, mission trips, team building, serving, and workouts, 24/7 has allowed me to grow toward my highest potential. God has also blessed me with additional opportunities through 24/7 to serve in the area of missions and outreach in an administrative capacity. Last spring I also had the privilege to go to Peru, my first international mission trip. The Peru trip blessed not only those to whom we ministered, but also the whole team, myself included. For all of the support given to make my Peru trip a reality and to prepare myself for missions in Japan through Twenty-Four Seven, I am eternally grateful!  I love that I get to put into practice what God teaches me and want to extend a big THANK YOU to all of you who have given support both financially and through your prayers.

Many Twenty-Four Seven alumni move on build up the church through their own missions’ ministries after graduation. One such student, A.C. Black turned her desire for helping harmed women into an organization, called I AM MORE THAN (I AM >). This passionate woman of God desires to share God's love and truth, as well as practical rehabilitation, education, and housing with abused girls that had been victims of the sex trafficking that runs rampant in Uganda, Africa. These abused young women have lost sight of their true value and beauty. It is Miss Black’s mission to cleanse the world of slavery and “restore hope, freedom, and faith” to these victims. In May 24/7 will launch a team to serve for two weeks to help support her organization. I eagerly anticipate what God has in store as we plant seeds for salvation and offer love and support to Miss Black and those she serves.

I so look forward to pursuing my passion for missions through my upcoming trip to Uganda! Through partners like you, I trust God will provide the prayer and financial support that I need to make this calling a reality. The spiritual atmosphere is very dark there, so please lift up the nation and pray for God’s light to pierce the locals’ hearts. Pray for this ministry, for the individuals susceptible to human trafficking, and for God’s protection over us in our travels. We hope to help spread His hope in their nation and empower I AM > for greater ministry in the future. Please join with me, as I go "into all the world to preach the gospel" (Matt. 28:19-20) and offer help to the people of Uganda. Before I can go, I must raise $2000 and would appreciate your support. All donations are tax-deductible. To make donating easy, I have provided a quick link to follow with simple instructions.

http://247.baysidecommunity.org /get-involved/donate Next to “To donate to 24/7 …” click “click here” Create an account (verify through e-mail); Enter basic personal information Click the green “Select” next to your name Select “Catherine Leivonen” as the student; Choose an amount from the dropdown menu Submit your billing information; Click “Submit Form(s)” Verify that you have received an e-mail receipt for your tax-deductible donation!

 

Donations by check can be made payable to Bayside Community Church and sent to the church address (15800 SR 64 $, Bradenton, FL 34212), with Catherine Leivonen 24/7 on the memo line. I greatly appreciate your support for this trip. If you would like additional information about A.C. Black’s ministry, her website, www.IAMMORETHAN.com provides some testimonies, trafficking statistics, and more. For those of you interested in learning more about my school, Twenty Four Seven School of Ministry in Bradenton, FL, go to: 247.baysidecommunity.org.

Thank you so much for your love, prayer, and support!

Catherine Leivonen Sincerely,

Preview weekend

This past Friday and Saturday, Twenty-Four Seven held its first Preview Weekend of this year. About 10 students came locally and from out-of-state to experience a sampling of what Twenty-Four Seven is all about. Those who attended had the opportunity to catch a sneak peek of some of the programs main elements like classes, chapels, team building, and home-sponsors.

For the small registration fee of $50 students got to experience a lot, and the money was well worth it for them. Upon arrival, each attendee received a specially designed T-shirt, a personalized nametag, a sample rule book, and more. Plus Twenty-Four Seven provided every meal for the weekend and a place to stay for out-of-towners. Should any prospective students decide to join Twenty-Four seven and apply by the end of the following week, the $50 goes toward their tuition, and they receive a $500 discount.

(my team with our special visitors next to our huge bonfire at Chris's dad's!)

During their time with Twenty-Four Seven, all of the participants get divided and place onto one of the existing four Twenty-Four teams with current students for team time, team prayer, and other team building activities. Thus they can build relationships while sampling the program. On Friday night, we had team time, which was a huge blast! After free bowling, we all carpooled for a bonfire and wing night at a Cadre’s local parent’s house. Everyone had a lot of fun, and I loved talking with our guests about their hopes, dreams, and interests.

Because I visited my cousin's snapshot weekend and his ministry school, and joined Twenty-Four Seven, I can personally testify to how life-changing and amazing is this kind of experience. I can’t wait for the next one in April! If you’re interested in visiting me or just want to come learn more about Twenty-Four Seven, please sign up online. We hope to meet a lot more people at the next Preview Weekend.

247.baysidecommunity.org/prospective/preview-weekend

A declaration of love

At the beginning of each month, Bayside Community Church holds a special week night service specifically for believers, with communion and extended worship. This month the First Wednesday service contained an open full-immersion water baptism. Twenty-Four Seven students got to help set up the pools, and on the night of, almost 30 people got baptized. It was such an awesome night!

Water baptism is a great public declaration of one's devotion to Christ. When I was young, I got baptized without knowing the depth of its meaning. Luckily, last year I had the opportunity to get baptized again at Bayside as a first year after growing in my faith and love for Jesus. Even though I didn't get to watch the baptism service this year, several other students from Twenty-Four Seven got baptized and I heard several amazing stories about other Bayside members. I am so glad that God blessed me with the wonderful chance to open doors for so many to have such a memorable night.

This is my reaction

This past weekend, most of the second and third years of Twenty-Four Seven, including myself, had the amazing opportunity to help launch a new ARC (Association of Related Churches) church. Because so many students have an interest in church planting and love serving, staff decided to take the cadre up north by a couple of hours for a few days. During our time there we helped promote the church’s first service by mostly handing out fliers everywhere and talking with people.

Besides the radio announcements and mail announcements provided by ARC, we put hundreds of door-hanger invitations on home doors, passed out thousands of fliers in shopping areas and at college campuses, and put many invitations on car windshields. Many people to whom we talked had heard about Action already and couldn’t wait to attend. One of my cousins and his wife also looked forward to helping with childcare at the church; I loved seeing them and a mutual cousin with them. Saturday night before the first service on the 26^th, we got to help clean up the school where the church holds its service by washing windows, weeding tree beds, and picking up trash around the campus. Then the morning of the launch we all set up different areas of the church and served in various ministries at the church. I had so much fun playing with kids, leading them in worship, and discussing the Bible lesson with them!

Although Action had a bigger launch than most church plants probably have, I enjoyed seeing the small beginnings of something God will use to do great things in that area and around the world. Many of the staff and launch team also came from Twenty-Four Seven, so learning about the opportunities that alumni can have was cool too. Pastor Justin Dailey, the former Twenty-Four Seven director and current lead pastor of Action, has a great attitude about how God builds the church instead of him, and he trusts God throughout the birthing and development of the church. This mindset helped him to have such a successful launch with nearly 700 attendees at the very first service. God opened doors, provided funding, and helped him build a great lead team; He will continue to help His church all over the world too.

Leading to where I am now

GOD ALWAYS DIRECTS OUR PATHS.

Before I joined Twenty-Four Seven all that I really knew about myself was that I could do virtually anything with hard work and God, and that I wanted to share the love of Christ with others through ministry like missions. Throughout my life I have always known that the typical college and career life did not suit me, so in high school the military life really appealed me. I have family members that have served in some military branches and/or attended service academies, but I had no real understanding of the military. Despite that I convinced myself of the possible benefits of attending a service academy and pursued this throughout high school. Not only could I reach soldiers and internationals with the gospel, but I could also get paid to protect my country and learn a valuable and interesting trade. Between tenth grade and graduation I pushed myself to have the best possible student resume and worked hard on the application, which required a lot of time, effort, and ability. While interviewing with liaisons,  taking medical tests, training physically, and much more, I excelled in classes, played sports, participated in theater, volunteered in my school, church, and community, and did a lot of other stuff to look good on paper, which I did not mind since I love trying new things and working hard. In my mind serving in the military and earning an engineering degree were worth the work. Despite excelling in many areas, I could not get a nomination from a state or national representative. Slowly realizing that God was closing that door for me, I remembered visiting my cousins in Arkansas at their ministry school called [Ca]dre Academy.

In the midst of my military pursuit, my mother sent me to Little Rock to check out this ministry school and internship program and to see some of my cousins. Since I had little interest in ministry school and was planning to attend Video Games Live with a friend, I mostly went to see my cousins, but did not really even want to fly out. However, once I arrived, friendly faces greeted me and the director talked about all of the amazing growth that took place in students’ lives. God transformed the young people who came through events, classes, and training that facilitated accelerated physical, social, mental, and spiritual growth. All of this sounded so exciting and appealing, and I knew God wanted something like it for me. Once I returned to Virginia, though, I forgot my trip to New Life Church and resumed my business.

After things started to look bad for me and the military, my aunt called my mother to talk about some changes happening to Cadre. God showed me again that He did not intend for me to enter the military. My aunt also told my mom about a similar school in Florida called Twenty-Four Seven that did things the way that I saw and liked during my Arkansas visit. Next I began to reach out to this ministry school and apply. Every detail worked out perfectly for me to come to school in Florida, and my life has forever changed for the better.

A broadened perspective

THERE ARE A LOT OF GIRLS.

On my team right now, girls outnumber guys eight to six. Before Thanksgiving break one of the five teams in Twenty-Four Seven this year dissolved. All of the ladies from that team, except one cadre, joined my team; all of the men from that team joined another team. Staff decided that this difficult move would have the greatest benefit for all of the students, and I agree. During this sudden change, I had mixed feelings of excitement and nervousness, sprinkled with disappointment and anticipation. Initially the idea of five first-year females under my care overwhelmed me. Later, though, I realized that God broadened my perspective on all of the first-year ladies in the whole school, not just on my team. Every woman in Twenty-Four Seven needs loving on, pouring into, and hanging out with; whether or not a certain girl is on my team should not determine the amount I invest in her. Also, after finally becoming comfortable with not having other cadre ladies on the team, I had to readjust my way of thinking and operating. Now that there are both more cadre and first-year females on my team I can see the bigger picture of how everyone works together to help with the growth of everyone. Since the addition of new members, I have grown closer to more girls in the school and seen how so much good can come from something that seems negative at first.