Aliya C update
Hi Family + Friends,
Hope you guys are doing well! Here's what the last couple of months have looked like. Enjoy the read!
In this update you will find:
- Local Ministry here in Perth ️
- Malaysia Outreach
- What's Coming up
Click here to access my newsletter: Journey 03
Here is a video recap of our time in malaysia: Video recap
Ways to Give:
- Tax deduction:Equipnet link
- Venmo:@Aliya-Calderon
- Bank details: Send me a message and I can send you bank details.
I would love to hear from you, so please feel free to send me a message!
With much love,
Aliya Calderon
Karina Seaborn Update
Thank you to my current monthly supporters and those who have given gifts to help me while I am giving my all to be obedient to God in serving Him and the people of Cambodia. You are a blessing and your generosity has been making an impact here. Thank you!
If you would like be a part of what God is doing here in Cambodia by working alongside me, please first pray for this beautiful country and its amazing people.
If you would like to help financially, I would like to ask that you prayerfully consider helping monthly as I am about to transition into being a staff member who has to pay monthly fees and have a reliable amount of support coming in consistently to stay in Cambodia long term.
By clicking the button above you have the option to donate monthly, bi-monthly or just once. Plus it’s tax-deductible.
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria,
and to the end of the earth.”
Acts 1:8
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Praise Report!
Because of the generosity of most of the people who read this newsletter, my first 5 months of being in Cambodia are fully covered! This includes my school tuition for leadership training and Khmer lessons, housing, food, and health insurance.
Thank you for helping me get started in joining God’s ongoing story in bringing more Cambodians to His family that we personally know ourselves. There’s so many here who have never even heard of Jesus before (or in Khmer “Pray Su”).
Thank you for being apart of what is happening here.
If you would like to see more personal thoughts and everyday things that I am experiencing, I often share pictures and video clips in my stories section on Facebook and Instagram.😁
Missions update - Team Lagang
In January of 2022, five families answered the call for a short-term mission’s experience with YWAM Kona’s Family Discipleship Training School (DTS). We had the privilege of discipling these families and their children through a six-month journey. There were 10 adults and 12 kids ranging from age 2 through 13. The adults spent 11 weeks on varying topics such as Hearing God’s Voice, Nature and Character of God, and Spiritual Warfare, just to name a few. The children attended their own classes that complemented the parents’ courses. These courses prepared the children and parents for a 2-month outreach to a country God placed on the hearts of the leaders to minister at.
During the third week, the outreach location was revealed: Jinja, Uganda
How would it be to navigate five families and their children through airports, public transportation, and to guide them in the transition of life in a third world country? We spent many days in prayer for wisdom and strength. Result, the families were troopers! The children adapted, lives were changed. Their experience was a memorable one.
Upon arrival in Uganda, our accommodations were cinder block homes. They were quite nice! Our beds were covered in mosquito netting and we had no hot water. Tap water was undrinkable and had to be treated or filtered. We also had the option of purchasing 5 gallon jugs of purified water. Diet consisted of rice, potatoes, beans, cabbage, and watermelon. Once a week we would have meat included in our meals. Some families (including ourselves) packed 1 or 2 suitcases full of Costco snacks and proteins to supplement our meals. It was quite a challenge, but these things did not hinder the reason we were there.
Each week, our ministries consisted of house visits in villages, prison ministry, visiting orphanages, public market evangelism, open air evangelism, Sunday church services, and children’s ministry opportunities in various places. We assigned Sunday speakers and took turns planning and leading children’s ministry programs.
While in YWAM Kona, the kids were taught how to share the gospel, prophesy, and pray for people. They were taught skits and dances, so they were also included in our ministry planning. That’s exactly what they did on outreach in Uganda. They had quite an experience when called on. Some shared testimony and gave a word from the Lord on the spot.
When the kids did their skits and dances, it drew crowds. When crowds gathered, it allowed our team to go through and share the gospel and pray over those open to it.
There was a time we did an open air at an outdoor marketplace and when we closed with an altar call and ministry, we were caught off guard as how many came forward for prayer and wanted to receive Jesus. Some were Muslims, some rededicated their lives, and some wanted bibles and discipleship.
Matthew 9:37, which talks about the harvest being ready hits differently in third world countries. There is so much opportunity for discipleship.
I had the opportunity to share the gospel with a Muslim teenager. As I was sharing, he was asking alot of questions. He wanted to know more about Jesus. After speaking with him, I felt he needed to attend a Discipleship Training Course at YWAM Hope Land in Jinja, Uganda, but where would he get the money to pay for lecture and outreach fees? Many struggle to even have a decent meal. Suddenly, I heard the Lord say to pay for his DTS. So my wife and I prayed and we were in agreement. When I told the teen what the Lord wanted to do, he sent me a voicemail in tears. He was crying with joy at what the Lord told us to do. We told him God saw him. He saw his heart. He shared the news with his mother and she allowed him to attend. He shared that it was a dream come true and kept thanking us. Our relationship still stands as we’ve departed from Uganda. We keep in touch and he updates me in his studies in DTS. He only lives a few blocks away, but has not been home since the start of his school because he loves the atmosphere he is in living on campus.
God is not looking for how many you’ve led to the Lord. He’s looking for obedient hearts to where, who, and what He’s called you to. Sometimes it’s too hard places. Sometimes it’s to people who are difficult. But how many know that it is no longer us who live, but Christ who lives in us.
Of the families who went through DTS, one stayed behind to be on volunteer staff for a few years with YWAM Tanzania, and another will return back to Uganda in a couple of months to do a 2nd level school called School of Biblical Studies (SBS).
The lives of these families have been changed and they will be impacting their communities back home as they did on outreach. As for us, we will return back to YWAM Kona to prepare for the next quarter of new student families.
Missions update - Aliya C
We have finished the lecture phase of the DTS (Discipleship Training School) and now we are currently in the 4th week of outreach. We are now in Bali Indonesia where we able to help with local church’s here, kids’ ministry, prison ministry, help with soccer ministry, help teaching English to kids here in the city. We have seen God move in amazing ways here! We have been able to come and support the locals here in Bali with different ministry opportunities and have encouraged them to keep up with things God has spoken for them.
We walked to help with the kid’s ministry, and I was asked to speak to the moms that attend to drop off their kids. I was able to chat with them and share a word God placed on my heart for them, God told me Aliya I want my daughters to know ‘how I am so proud of them!’ I encouraged them and also started to share with them a bit of what Gods been showing me in this season of my life. Sharing with them that they don’t have to act and be tough, but that God sees them even when no one thanks them for the things they do God sees it and says thank you for serving even when you are tired! The woman started to tear up and nodded as I shared this encouragement. After I asked if they ever heard of Jesus? They said we don’t know this Jesus that encourages us, I shared the gospel with them and invited an opportunity for them to accept Jesus in their life. They looked at me with some reservations but then they said, “This Jesus, He wants us”? And I said “of course”! They asked for prayer and accepted Jesus in their lives! 3 women that day said yes and was impacted by the Holy Spirit, also they heard God’s voice for the first time and said This God speaks to me no other God has! Women were lining up wanting to hear God’s voice and receive prayer. One of the ladies there has been Muslim for most of her life and the team that has been helping with the kid’s ministry have been trusting for her salvation, and she responded and said I need Jesus!
God is moving here in Bali, yes Bali is a well-known tourist spot but with Covid there hasn’t been a lot of traveling so with us as a team being the first wave of foreigners coming to Bali. We have prayed that we would bring Jesus to the people here and that we can redeem the locals’ experiences with foreigners. Since foreigners are known to just party.
We have 5 more weeks of outreach to go, we are excited to see what else God wants to go through us as a team! Also I’m very proud of the 4 students that are on the DTS and how they have yielded themselves to God. They have taken bold steps out to share their story with people and have seen God use their obedience and impact peoples lives!
Prayer Request
Pray for our health as a team
Pray for team unity
Pray for God to keep opening doors for more ministry
- Aliya C - YWAM Missions Partner
Missions update - Alyssa Lagang
3 Helpful keys for Missionaries
When I decided to do discipleship training school (DTS) with Youth with a Mission (YWAM) after finishing high school in 2015, little did I know how much it would turn out to impact my life. This 6-month training school in Australia actually led me into doing full-time missions. However, the discipleship and training didn’t stop after those 6 months, and I feel like I’m regularly learning new things, practically and in character. I’ve been learning things such as, how to cultivate a deep relationship with God, the ways of godly leadership, how to relate and work well in teams, and that no matter how many teachings on evangelism you sit through or how many times you do it, there will always be some level of awkwardness in it.
Along the journey, difficulties have come and somewhat forced growth for the sake of well-being longevity as a missionary. These are areas that I recognize, at least for myself, to be so important to develop and continually grow in, in order for individuals to go far and last long in the line of work of being a missionary!
Adaptability – the ability to adjust to different conditions and circumstances. Being in missions usually means meeting many different people and encountering various different cultures. It’s exciting and eye-opening to learn different ways of life around the world! It’s important to remember that when we face different cultures, we should proceed in humility and adapt well. As missionaries, and the body of Christ, we represent Jesus, and the last thing we’d want to do is look down on other cultures or ways of life and judge our differences. Culture shock is a very real thing! And we must learn how to adjust with grace, kindness, and awareness. I’ve traveled to a few countries in Asia where tattoos are often not well accepted in Christian communities. So, in the high humid heat, I wore long sleeves every time we went out for ministry to cover the tattoos on my arms. Why? I wouldn’t have had much impact if I had ignored their preferences and presented myself in a culturally inappropriate way. Also, I came to share the love and good news of Jesus and not with a direct message to change their cultural views. Therefore, in being adaptable we meet people where they’re at in order to show them that Jesus does the same.
We remain humble before others so that God and his love would shine bright
and transform people’s hearts.
1 Corinthians 9:22-23, ‘To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some. I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.’ Paul talks here about being adaptable.
Perseverance – steady persistence in a course of action, a purpose, a state, etc., especially in spite of difficulties, obstacles, or discouragement. It’s always amazing to see God move in people’s lives! It happens that people receive healing when we pray in the name of Jesus. It happens that people encounter God and are touched by his perfect love. It happens that people receive the revelation of Jesus and decide to follow Him!
It’s all by the power of God! Believe it or not, there is a battle in the spiritual world. As we advance God’s kingdom the enemy is against this and the people actively furthering that kingdom. Therefore, miracles, transformation, and breakthroughs often don’t come without a fight. Let’s not forget that our struggle is not without reason nor is it alone. Jesus’ encouragement is to take heart in light of the troubles of this world because he has already overcome! (John 16:33). We fight for the plans and purposes of God to be released on earth and we do that by standing with Jesus, praying our faces off, and walking in obedience to whatever he says to do. In the context of missions, for me, much perseverance has been needed in fighting for things such as: financial support, open doors for ministry, embracing cross-cultural life, transformation in the lives of others, and change in my own heart and life.
Romans 5:3-5 We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.
Vulnerability – willing to show emotion or allowing one’s weakness to be seen and known. We all have weakness and maybe even seasons of feeling weak, whether it be emotional, physical, or spiritual. From what I learned growing up, weakness and emotions weren't supposed to be shown or shared with others. However, this isn’t Jesus’ example to us. He never kept his sadness only to himself nor did he hide his weakness. In fact, he did the opposite and he cried with people in his sorrow (John 11:33-35) and invited people to bear with him in his weakness (Matthew 26:36-38). Jesus found it necessary to allow himself to not only be fully seen and known in these times, but he also involved others into it. I found that having community and being fully known in community actually provides a greater level of strength, encouragement, and necessary support working in missions. As mentioned earlier, perseverance is necessary because there is hardship and discouragement that comes. Certainly, we have the Lord with us, but we can rely on others too!
I was once leading a mission trip team alone and halfway through the outreach I felt myself hitting a wall and I became so emotionally overwhelmed that I was having a hard time to continue leading. I felt God tell me to share my struggle with the team and have them pray for me. It felt defeating at first to confess my weakness, but through their prayers and encouragement, a new strength came. I felt a greater wave of grace come over me to finish that outreach well and lead well. This really showed me that vulnerability breathes grace.
In missions, your environment can often change and even the people you have around you. Always make it a point to find community - people that you can make yourself known to, can rely on for prayer, and can lean on in distress. This will take you far as you journey with the Lord.
- Alyssa Lagang YWAM, Paris
