Business

God is in the business of freeing His people from strongholds so that they can live a life worthy of His calling. Burdens, worries, shame, and condemnation are falling to the wayside and the enemy will no longer have a hold on the Lord's children. We have victory in Jesus, even in the midst of failure and falling. Jesus has given us a calling that we can't escape, but it is our choice, and in the midst of this calling, there is purity, strength, wisdom, and freedom!

This past week was the first week of the Awaken DTS (Discipleship Training School) that I am staffing! We jumped in to all of the staff sharing their personal testimonies. Each testimony is a glorification of Jesus and the way He has set each and everyone of us free, and it was encouraging for the students to see a goal so easily obtainable; a goal of freedom and relationship with Jesus.

We have watched as these 40+ students have abandoned all other things just to simply seek out Jesus! Just in this first week we have seen these students being set free from shame of their past. They are so hungry and ready to give it all up for the simplicity of a life with Jesus! He is that worthy!

I have staffed 2 other schools aside from this one, and the Lord continues to make revival a reality in our hearts. I have never seen a school of students so hungry within the first week for Jesus and the call He has on their lives! These students are ready to share the gospel, ready to give themselves up to a life set apart for Him and Him alone, and ready for any freedom they know they can walk through!

As the school continues, I will share more specific testimonies of what Jesus is doing, but for now, I just want to say thank you to those who read these updates and support me through prayer! I would not be able to be apart of this radical school and transformation in the lives of these students if it wasn't for you! I am so honored and blessed!

The students find out outreach locations soon, and when that time comes, I will write another update of where I am taking a team later on this year! But until then, thank you again for the prayers and support in this time!

-Daniel
--York

Deepening

When I was around 4, I gave my life to the Lord strictly out of fear of going to hell, even though I didn't have any idea of what hell really was. Throughout my life, I constantly gave my life to the Lord over and over out of fear that I didn't do it right the first time. I grew up a christian, with a christian lifestyle, christian morals, and christian habits. I went to church and was always involved. But up until about 3 years ago, my christian walk was simply not as vivid as it could have been. I loved Jesus and I knew that He was my Savior. But man, I had no idea who He really was. I thought that since I "loved" Him, that I automatically would get to heaven, and that I was safe. But I had no idea that a life lived for Jesus could be as exciting as it seems to me now.

Three years ago, I came out to do a Discipleship Training School here in Kona, HI. The night that I arrived, I was prayed for by one of my staff of the school. The Lord then began to speak to me, asking, "How deep will you let me go?"

All I remember is crying out, "Deep, Jesus, go so deep!"

That night, I had a dream. In this dream, I was standing on the side walk with chains around my feet. Next to me were stores called "Rejection", "Self Hatred", and "Depression". I remember being happy, and not even really realizing that I was trapped. I saw Jesus in the sky looking at me saying, "Daniel, come join me!" I remember looking at Him and saying, "That is okay, Jesus, I can see you from down here!" He then replied to me saying, "Daniel, I have so much more for you, come here!" And then I looked at my feet, realizing I was trapped. I looked back up and said, "Jesus, I can't. I am stuck." Instantly, He looked at me and my chains snapped off! I then began flying up towards Jesus, feeling so exhilarated.

I woke up from this dream crying, running to the shower and turning it on so none of my roommates could hear me. I had realized that my whole life, I could look at Jesus and see who He was, but I was never walking with Him.

Now, 3 years later, I have dedicated my life to walking with Jesus, loving Him as He loves me and as we love His children. I am a missionary, spreading Jesus' love through relationship and the power of Jesus. It is the best thing I could ever imagine of doing. And I am still finding out today that there is still so much more to Jesus than I will ever know, and that is the journey I am on!

The Awaken DTS starts this thursday. We have 50+ students coming in, hungry for Jesus, and I have the absolute honor of ushering them into the place of knowing Jesus even more!

Thanks for all your prayers and support for everything I have been doing! I am so excited to start this next season and I need people to share in this amazing opportunity! Although you may not be out here in Kona, you can be apart of these student's life and transformation simply by prayer and partnering with me and my wife! As you do, you will reap the rewards of heaven, as Jesus says in scripture!

If you want to know the best ways to partner with me on this amazing journey, you can first and foremost pray for:
1. Strength and wisdom as I lead these students effectively into knowing Jesus more!

2. Transportation! I now live off campus (involuntary) and need a way to get from home to base every day! So I definitely need some form of transportation!

3. Financial support! I know this is always a killer, but I promise that as you sow into me, we are able to sow into these students, meaning that your partnership is making a difference and raising up missionaries for Jesus!

I am still in need of $1,000 of monthly support! If you pray and feel led to help support me, that'd be a tremendous blessing! You can email me at the.daniel.york@gmail.com for any questions and how to support in a way to get a tax write off! Otherwise, you can always mail checks to the address below or just click the PayPal link below. If the link doesn't work, you can always make a donation to my email address through PayPal.com!

Thanks again for everything! I cannot wait to tell you more! And next week, I will let you know where I am leading an outreach team! Woohoo!

-Daniel
--York

75-5851 Kuakini Hwy. #104
Kailua-Kona, HI 96740

Tracking

It's not very rare to be found in a season of stretching and growing. We as believers obviously long to hear the voice of God, especially when it comes to what we are called to do and why we are called to do it. But Jesus is constantly in the process of increasing our faith, as frustrating as it may be sometimes.  This process always seems to test our flesh as well. Will we trust and lean into the grace of Jesus, or are we going to let our flesh win and try to figure everything out ourselves just because we can seem to make certain sense of things in our worldly mind?

Since I have been out here in Kona, the past month has provided me with many challenges and breakthroughs. I thought I knew exactly what I would be doing, but things quickly took a turn and I found myself trying to find my ground. I felt isolated and suddenly unsure about why the Lord even called me out here anyways. 

I then had a choice:

Would I try and figure it out myself, or would I fall into the word of the Lord that I am supposed to be out here, even if I didn't understand?

I clung to Jesus, crying out that He would speak and present me with opportunities both short and long term. I go through times of testing, but in the end, Jesus is ALWAYS proven to be faithful, and it is something we forget too easily. 

With all that said, I have slowly transitioned my role from staffing the Fire and Fragrance DTS to jumping into the Leadership Track full time.

The leadership track is an open ended track designed to raise up disciples before the Lord who have learned to prioritize His presence, live for His glory, and be led by His Spirit through a lifestyle of corporate and individual worship and intercession centered around the Word of God. It inspires to create mature and effective leaders who walk in great integrity and godly character that could staff a DTS, lead outreaches and pioneer schools and communities in any setting and circumstance. It desires to release evangelists, preachers, teachers and worship leaders who could effectively teach and impart into any setting with great anointing and profound impact.

I have the amazing opportunity to take this and to grow as a leaders as well as serve the base! I am so excited that the Lord brought me to do this and I know it is what I am supposed to do by the grace He has already given me. 

In joining this track, I am in desperate need of the provision of Jesus. I want to ask you to first and foremost pray for me! I am in a season of hearing the Lord's voice and am asking you to join me in prayer for clarity, provision, and wisdom as I enter into this season! I also ask that you would pray about partnering with me, even financially! I am still looking for the Lord to provide faithful monthly supporters to help support us $1,000 a month. If you would, please pray about if you are to partner with me in this way! You can email me at the.daniel.york@gmail if you have any questions on the easiest way to donate or support monthly. Or if you want to do a one time donation, click the link below! 

I am so expectant and am excited for you to be apart of our journey! I will write again soon to keep you updated on near future plans and visions that the Lord has already been giving me!

Thanks again!

-Daniel

--York

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LovEmotion

I have been on quite the journey the past week of really trying to understand what it means to love. It has been one of the most spiritually frustrating, emotionally draining, and most humbling journey so far, and I am still on it. But it is oh so good, because I get to learn from the Master, whose name is Love.

Instead of writing a long blog about the journey, I decided to express my revelation through a poem. The poem type is called a Rondeau. I wrote the first stanza is from the viewpoint of Satan. The next stanza is from my viewpoint. Then the last stanza is from Jesus' point of view. Let me know what you think! Thanks.

LovEmotion

[Satan]

Come follow me, where you are king

Of everything you ever dreamed. 

Love is submitted to your rule

Where all other thoughts come from fools

And from your lips, everyone sings. 

Where all wisdom from you can ring;

Do not worry about one thing. 

Everyone's hearts are your own tool.

Come follow me...

You do not have one single need. 

Lost lovers and childrens hearts bleed.

But do not let them take your jewel. 

There is no emotion to bring.

Come follow me.

[Me]

I don't understand how I lose

Everytime that I light the fuse

In my own heart and my own mind. 

Love is patient and it is kind,

My thoughts of love I have abused. 

My own perception gets confused

And He who is Love I accuse,

When really I have just been blind.

I don't understand...

When I overthink, I excuse

All of the truth that I should choose.

No longer will the enemy bind

Truth, because I realize it's fine

I don't understand. 

[Jesus]

Come follow me, where I am king

Of everything you ever dreamed. 

Love is submitted to my rule

Where I welcome all, even fools

To lift their voices and to sing.

Where all wisdom from me can ring;

Do not worry about a thing. 

Use your burdens as your own stool.

Come follow me...

I care to every single need.

Lost lovers and childrens hearts bleed. 

And yet, they are my very jewel.

Emotions of love are not cruel. 

Come follow me. 

The End.

Disguises

It blows my mind how faithful the Lord is to His children, especially when His children are wrapped up in their own flesh and insecurities. The Lord never gives up. For me, this past week has been a battle of hearing the Lord, but believing the enemy and his lies over me. Yet, the thing that amazes me is that the Lord continues to war over me in His pursuit for me to believe truth and love over lies and deceit. I act out in my flesh and my own worldy thinking, yet the Lord never gives up, even when it seems like I create for myself a lost cause.

The Lord delights in giving mercy. He loves to do His job. He created us as humans, knowing that we would be wrapped up in flesh and warred over spiritually all of our lives. But I personally believe that it just makes the Lord that much more impacted and excited when we truly do choose to look to Him...because it requires a choice for us to make, and when we choose the Lord, He is notbaly held in higher significance than any rival over our heart. And when the Lord is chosen over any other lie or attack disguised as momentary satisfaction, it becomes more natural for us to place Him on the throne of our hearts where He belongs.

We are called to be children of God; ones who walk out in radical authority, unhindered joy, undeniable love, and a capturing hope. If we go about our days and let the enemy get to us with his lies, we end up giving him too much credit, and then we naturally let our joy sink with our confidence. When we are depressed, something is wrong, because being a child of the Lord should cause us to be overwhelmed with a joy and love unspeakable...but it is our choice if we want to receive it or not.

I am not saying that our lives should be a joyous explosion of laughter and a constant goody-two-shoe type of feeling, but our lives should hold eternal perspective; that even in the midst of hardship and trial, we realize who we are in the Lord's eyes, and we begin to believe it enough to gain the confidence and strength for every moment. With the joy set before Him, He endured excrutiating suffering. With the joy set before us, we can live our lives as He intended us to.

Just to Feel Alive

When I First came to Kona to do my DTS, the Lord notably did a great deal of work on my heart as He was in the process of transforming me. I underwent incredible change as I began to realize not only who I am in the Lord's eyes, but began to realize who others were in the Lord's eyes as well.

I have never really been in a serious relationship with anyone. I know it was partially because the Lord had immense protection over my life. It was hard for me to trust and to be real vulnerable with any girl. After the third week of my DTS, I prayed and committed to a year of consecration (being set apart only for the Lord) before Jesus. No girls, just Jesus. I had such a fear of the Lord that after my year of consecration, the next girl I begin to pursue was going to be the one I would commit to. This wasn't what the Lord exactly said, but I just remembered that I wanted to take relationships seriously from here on out. I wasn't going to allow something shallow; I wanted the Lord's hand in it all.

January of 2011 came around, and I began to staff the Fire and Fragrance DTS. On February 14th of that year, I met a girl. This was so scary for me because I remembered that the next girl I fall for, I wanted to truly have the fear of the Lord over it and walk it out with complete integrity and honor to myself, the Lord, and the girl. I remember that night, on the 14th, I started to realize I had feelings for this girl. I went to the prayer room and prayed what I felt was a dangerous prayer, but it might have not been. Either way, I said to Jesus, "If this is the girl for me, I commit myself to Your timing and I commit myself to pursue her with all that I have, but You have to open the doors."

Long story short, on March 28th, I embarked on my adventure to Iceland and she went to Mozambique for the next two and a half months. We both agreed to not talk during this time so that we can truly give this whole thing up to the Lord and we believed if this was from Him, He would give it back to us.

Needless to say, on July 5th, 2011, I began to pursue and date my best friend. It was so surreal and amazing! And I continued to have the fear of the Lord over my first ever relationship because I knew that I needed the Lord to be in the center and I knew I needed to cherish this and honor it. We went on many adventures in Kona and Ireland, and the Lord continued to knit our hearts together.

Last sunday, Februay 19th, 2012, I took my best friend out to hang in Portland all day. We shopped, had lunch, and just enjoyed each other's company. After our filled day in Portland, I wanted to surprise her by going to a place neither of us have ever been to. It was the Hoyt Arbetorum (a giant wonderland forest). After walking for a long time and getting lost, I finally saw in the distance a red balloon. I then knew our destination. Below a giant fig tree, there was a blanket with candles, food, roses, a teddy bear (that my best friend and I made together) holding a poem. We walked over and my best friend started to cry. She grabbed the poem and read it. The last line of the poem said, "...just answer one question." I then went on my knee and asked my best friend to marry me. She said, "Yes!"

Our journey has contained a lot more than what is written, but I hope this gives an idea of how ridiculously faithful the Lord has been in this all and how exciting of a time this is!
I am so blessed that later this year, I will be marrying my best friend,
Anna
Katherine
Seistrup!

Thank you Jesus, I am the most blessed man in the world!

[Thanks to Anna's parents, they helped set up the picnic for us, it was awesome!]

Opportune

It is snowing today...the fire is on and I have a coffee sitting next to me. What a perfect day to kick start my blog once again. It has been a while. I guess you could say I have just been having writer's block. Either way, I am back and ready to write all about the new adventures this year holds for me.

As most of you know, I got back from Ireland a few months ago and have been planting myself at home. It has been a sweet time of reuniting with family and friends, but for some reason, this time at home has felt much different from the other times. Since everything with the timing of Ireland sort of fell through, I thought that maybe this were to be a season of being at home. But as of a few days ago, I realized that wasn't the case.

On saturday, I felt the Lord prompt me to watch the Jesus Culutre: Encounter LIve Stream all day...so I did. It is crazy how the Lord uses technology to reach out to people, because I can say that in watching the live stream, I was deeply impacted. The Lord reminded me of a Thursday Night Meeting back in February in Kona, Hawaii, when He softly spoke to me that my time at home was finished. It was a hard reality to be hit by, but my life of missions was truly unfolding.

Since being home, I have loved being with family and friends, but I haven't felt the heavenly peace or any rest since being here. I have felt withdrawn, isolated, and confused. I wanted so desperately for the Lord to speak something...but I got nothing. I cried out that the Lord would make this time clear every day. Then last saturday...He finally did. He is a faithful God that works all things according to our good. In the midst of all of this...the Lord continued to tug on my heart strings of Social Injustice. I have always had a heart for the broken, but this time, the Lord made it clear that most of my ministry will be involved in this sphere. Praise Him!

With that said, next tuesday, I am heading out. There are many open doors leading to opportunity in Oregon, where I will be living for the next few months, praying and planning for what the Lord has for me. If you could, please partner with me in prayer as I seek the Lord in everything He has. Please pray for favor with a job, a place to stay, and all that good stuff. I still feel Ireland is on the horizon, so please pray with me in timing with that as well!

Thank you all for your support and prayer...it means so much to me!

-Daniel
--York