Writer on the Side

GAC's own Carly Diede is about to leave for the mission field.

Reading Carly Diede’s latest blog post, you can’t help but get goosebumps.
The 21-year-old Glendive native, just a week away from leaving all that is familiar to pursue God’s call to missions, writes this:
“So, last night as the clock ticked over 5 am, I was wide awake and my thoughts were racing … I close my eyes and try to doze back off to sleep … I had the most amazing vision. It was me. Standing on the edge of the beach where the ocean meets the sand. I looked out into the abyss and everywhere around me and as far as I could see there was no one. Not a soul. Just me, the water, the sand, and next to me were my two suitcases. Even in my sleep I could feel the intenseness of the emotions I had in this moment. I was captivated by the beauty of God’s creation, overwhelmed by His glory, and scared of being alone, fearful of the openness and everything and anything that could possibly happen to me.”

Led to get up and open her Bible, Carly types that she found herself in these verses:

“I will put my spirit in you and you will live, and I will settle you in your own land. Then you will know that I the Lord have spoken and I have done it declares the Lord.” –Ezekiel 37:14

“But as for me, I am filled with power, with the spirit of the Lord, and with justice and might, to declare to Jacob his transgressions, to Israel his sin.”  –Micah 3:8

“I sought the Lord and he answered me, he delivered me from all my fears.” –Psalm 34:4

I know, right?
Goosebumps.
Carly is a familiar face to the Glendive Alliance Church Saturday night service, along with youth and young adult groups in the church. She leaves Wednesday for Hawaii, where she will participate in a 24-week mission school under Youth With a Mission (YMAM), a non-profit Christian organization that focuses on discipleship and showing the love of Jesus. The GAC family should be somewhat familiar with the program; their worship leader, Joel Bath, is just one YWAM alum in their midst.
The first 12 weeks are dedicated to lecture and classroom style learning, but the second 12 weeks are committed to outreach.
“We will go out into the nations and be working with the poor and needy, people struggling with life addictions and women and children that are enslaved or sex trafficked,” Carly explained.
Outreach locations include places like Cambodia and Rwanda, and Carly said she won’t know where she is going until October.
That said, Carly’s heart yearns for a specific spot on the globe.
“I’ve really developed a heart for Africa, their culture and the people,” she said. “It would be my dream to be the hands and feet of Jesus there.”

Carly and friends recently held a pancake breakfast to help raise funds for her trip.

YWAM has been on her heart for several years, and Carly said she was influenced by friends who have attended and shared their own first-had experiences.
“That made me want to go even more,” she said.
“I’ve always had a heart for people and I desire to operate more in my spiritual gifts of compassion and mercy. I am so excited to see what God has in store for my life and for the people I’m going to encounter and work with.”
Carly was born and raised in Glendive, but graduated from Carter County High School in 2009. She has since graduated from Dawson Community College with an associate degree in science, and plans to go back to school to become a registered nurse. Long term, she said, she looks forward to a career in health care or counseling either in the U.S. or abroad.
“I definitely have a heart for people and the nations and am open to where ever the Lord is going to lead me,” she said. “Jesus just said ‘go,’ so that’s what I’m doing, and everything else is in His hands.”
To track Carly’s journey, you can follow her on her blog at www.carlyjdiede.blogspot.com.

More on YWAM can be found at http://www.ywam.org. 

Writers note: This is the first in a series of articles for the Glendive Alliance Church missions team highlighting people with a heart for missions. Follow my blog to see who’s next!