So, I grew up in a Christian family but I did not have a personal relationship with Jesus nor did I pursue it. I lived simply knowing that God was real and I believed in Jesus, but it never went beyond that.
Not to say that God wasn't present because I would encounter Him, but, because I didn't know how to further my relationship, my encounter would simply be an experience that happened with nothing further as follow up.
As I went through high school my interactions with God in an obvious way were limited to camps and summer mission trips, then I would come home and get caught back up in "life" and school and God would seemingly fade into the background.
Starting in middle school I began to have a love of japanese manga and then, through that, I began to fall in love with the culture. It came to a point where I began to have a desire to one day go to Japan.
During all four years of high school I was in a NJROTC program and as I reached the end of senior year I began to think about joining the military. I had no desire to go to college but I did have a strong desire to go to Japan and I thought, through the military, I could definitely get there.
See, I had chosen to become a linguistic and due to that choice the Navy would want me to learn Arabic, Mandarin, and Cantonese, not Japanese. They would also most likely station me in Afghanistan or Iraq, which I had no desire to be in.
I began to wonder about my choice to join the Navy but, seeing no other option, continued the process. A friend of mine had joined the army successfully and I decided to ask him how he came to the decision to join. He told me that he had prayed and asked God and had felt peace about joining.
Encouraged by this I began to pray and ask God if I was supposed to join the Navy. Every time I prayed I felt more and more anxious, peace would not come.
I had been planning on going on one last mission trip before heading out to boot camp and the time for it was drawing close. My recruiter pushed me to complete everything and officially join before heading out for the mission trip but I felt like I was supposed to wait until after. So, I told her as much and headed out to Mexico to a YWAM base.
While I was in Mexico the base had a dedication night where I encountered God again in an amazing way and it set me to thinking. I started to wonder if there was a way to have a lasting encounter, if there was a way to encounter Him not only on mission trips. I wondered if there was more and if there could be more every day, not just once in a while.
I explained this to a YWAM staff on base whom I had been hanging out with while I was there. She thought for a bit and then asked me if I had considered doing a Discipleship Training School. I had heard of it but didn't know much about it and asked for more information.
It had just so happened that they were having a luncheon the next day for volunteer staff explaining DTS should they desire to do one. I was invited to go and I felt that I was supposed to. When I was there I asked them if there was one in Japan and they told me yes and put me into contact with the base leader.
Then, in 2011, I came back as staff with YWAM Japan and thus began the journey! My encounters with God increased and I avidly pursue relationship with Him.
