Micah to the Nations

Above: Oscar Amaya's YWAM team poses on one of Amsterdam's many bridges!

Above: Oscar in Amsterdam.

Above: Oscar takes on the role of Jesus in an evangelistic skit in Amsterdam.

Oscar Amaya is one of our young men that graduated from high school in November of last year. He was orphaned when he was a little boy, and made his living shining shoes on the streets until he was rescued by an orphanage. When Oscar entered his teenage years, he had to leave his orphanage and wandered down to Tegucigalpa where he found temporary residence with an aunt. That is when he found the Micah Project, and his story began to change from that of the hopeless orphan to that of a child of God waiting to be used in His kingdom. Last year, Oscar was baptized as he continued to strive for a deeper relationship with his Heavenly Father (see May 1, 2008 blog).

In January, Oscar went to Switzerland to complete a Discipleship Training School through Youth with a Mission. He has been sending wonderful letters home of all that God is teaching him in Switzerland. I have published his latest letter below so that you can share in his joy with him!

For ten years now, we have been talking about this crazy notion of transforming street kids into Christian leaders. Now, you get to hear that dream come true in Oscar's own words!

Oscar's March letter:

Dear Friends,

I hope the grace and joy that the Father gives to His Son is with you today and always. First of all I praise our God the Lord, for He is Great and His power is beyond any understanding -- our God who loves justice and hates injustice. I also want to share some of my new adventures, discoveries, friends, and new life here in Switzerland with you.

YWAM (Youth With A Mission) is an amazing organization! It’s a source of priceless knowledge. I’ve learned so much and these last weeks God has talked to me a lot of times. He has been with me all my life but I just found out that I was not relying totally on Him even when He was taking care of me and my brothers. I am living at the YWAM base in Wiler, Switzerland. I share my room with a German guy and a Dutch guy (that’s a funny mix), and my housemates are from all over the world -- Israel, Ethiopia, Germany, Spain, Canada, China, Holland, Madagascar (“I like to move it, move it” - somebody named that the representing song from Madagascar...haha), Switzerland (of course), and from United States (these people are everywhere, which is a blessing!). Hey, wait I’m forgetting one nation…Honduras (haha). In total we are 21 people: 12 DTS (Disciple training School) students (I know it’s like the twelve disciples), 3 SBS (School of Biblical Studies) students, and 4 leaders.

Here we have already studied many topics, such as the real meaning and power of God’s existence, and something that struck me was this question: “If God exists, why do I mess around, and why do I wander?" We’ve talked about the challenge of asking questions when you don’t know the answers. We’ve even learned how to be better at starting and building relationships (that was really interesting). My schedule is okay. We have classes every morning and very often for part of the afternoon too. We have local outreaches and every week we go out to pray for the city, yes just like it sounds, we go out to the city and pray while we are walking (great isn’t it?). We write a type of journal every week answering some questions about what we’ve learned -- it can be from classes, quiet times, book reading times, or from our own prayers, and doing this journal is something very special for me.

God has taught me new things and new way of living according to His will while being here, and I’ve thought about things like how to know that He is the one talking, and how to share the gospel directly (which I learned when we did a one-week outreach in Amsterdam). Well, He has already taught me a lot, but sometimes I cannot explain it very well -- it’s like something that I understand but do not know how to express it.

I hope you are having great and new experiences with God like I am. Thank you very much for all your prayers and support while I study in this school. It has been a great time since the beginning, and I look forward to what God has for me in the remaining four months!

I’m leaving to do my outreach in two weeks that is going to take place in northern Africa. Please pray for me that I have the strength to do what God requires of me in these moments.
Here some pictures to meet some of my friends and me (if you don’t know me yet).

Oscar Amaya