What to do now?

Well here I am sitting in South Africa with only one day left here in Africa! Tomorrow I board a plane back to the states.  This is such a stretching time in my life. I've had the most amazing summer of my life. I think I've grown more in the last three months than I have in my entire life. I am truly going from Glory to Glory in the Spirit. God is taking me to an all so greater Glory. But it involves Faith. What is Faith to you? I want some feedback on this topic so if you would please leave some comments at the end of this blog!  Jesus is calling me to LIVE BY FAITH, to WALK BY FAITH DAILY. What does this look like? He actually calls all of us to do this but like most of my life has been, we rely on the things of the world (ex. worldly income, family, friends, jobs and other people) instead of actually walking out FAITH. I've never had to rely on Jesus for daily bread. I've put my faith in my job and my ability to make money to provide my bread, and before I worked I relied on my parents to provide my food. I've done the same thing with my transportation, clothes and shelter. I've always relied on the "natural" or what my culture tells me is the "correct" way to live.  Jesus is taking me to a new Glory. It's a life laid down for His Glory, a life where I don't know where the next dollar or the next bread will come from. I'm truly giving it all to Him because I want to make His name known among the nations, among the "least of these."  So here I am thinking about coming back to the states in a few days. I have hardly any money to my name, student loan debt from college and the payments are to be made. I'm coming back with no job and I'm not sure if the Lord wants me to get one when I get home! This is whats so scary! I want to live in ministry, daily sharing His name and the testimony of His amazing works. I don't want to work in the world anymore...I really hunger to talk about my Daddy in Heaven and to share His goodness with everyone I meet! I want to be a world changer! I want God to change people's life through His testimony in mine. I want Him to daily be glorified in my life. God is asking me if I can truly "live by faith alone" and that faith in HIM ALONE. Not in man or in the things of this world, for they are passing away. Psalm 39:5-"Indeed you have made my days as handbreadths, And my age is nothing before you; Certainly every man at his best state is but a vapor."  This summer as the Lord has revealed my identity in Him, I see that my life is merely a vapor.  I don't have much time left and neither do you! He is coming like a thief in the night and we are to BE READY and ALERT.  What does this look like? What does it look like to be ready and alert? What do you want to be doing when Christ himself comes back for His bride?  For me this looks like WHOLEHEARTED SURRENDER. Surrender to HIS WILL and HIS TIME. Total dedication to making His great name known to everyone...to the richest of the rich and the poorest of the poor!  I know it sounds absolutely crazy to come home with debt and payments to be made and not go straight to work! It even sounds absolutely crazy to me!! But I serve a JESUS who is BIGGER than my debt! He is bigger than any bank account and any bondage of the world! The last 3 months I have seen so so many amazing miracles its almost surreal. I've seen more miracles in 3 months than most will see in a lifetime because of their lack of FAITH.  So why shouldn't I have the FAITH that Jesus will provide for my every need? Not just part of it or some of it, but that He can truly provide for every single need I have! This is childlike faith! Faith is a gift from the ONE who created it. Faith is not of the world, it's supernatural. It doesn't exist in the natural realm of life. FAITH ONLY EXIST IN THE SUPERNATURAL!! IF YOU DON'T BELIEVE IN THE SUPERNATURAL THEN YOU DON'T BELIEVE IN FAITH!!  Faith is UNSEEN. It's not something we can grab or smell or talk to or hear. Faith is believing in something that's not of this world...its believing that there is a man named Jesus who came to earth over 2000 years ago and took my shame, my sin and my guilt to a wooden cross and HE DIED FOR MY DEBT. Every bit of it, not just some...HE DIED FOR ALL MY DEBTS, the spiritual and the physical. Now to Him I owe everything! My only debt is to serve Him with my whole heart. This is the new life that I want to live! I choose to serve God with my whole heart and everything that's in me. If this means totally relying on Him in EVERY aspect of my life including my daily bread then I'm ALL IN! I can't find any greater joy than to surrender my little life for the Glory of my Jesus! He gave it all for me and I want to give my all for Him in return. No matter the cost, no matter the suffering or persecution! Romans 8:35-37 "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written: "For Your sake we are killed all day long; We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter." Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us."  There is nothing in this world, no principality, no darkness, no man that can separate me from the love of Christ. He died just for me and He died just for you.  So, am I going to live by FAITH? Or do I return home and turn to the things of this world, to the comforts of the ordinary christian life?  NOPE. I'm not...  God is calling me back here to Africa in a very short time to live as a missionary. And to do this I have to learn to live by FAITH alone in HIM! I think this time begins now, not tomorrow.

Hebrews 11:1 "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen."

My prayer is that the Lord stretches your faith just the way He is mine! I pray that you have to rely on Him more and more everyday. Sheesh, we must rely on Him for our daily breath for He is the Giver of Life!  Hopefully your faith is stretched and God is calling you to rely on Him in greater measure. I see it as pure JOY to rely in my Daddy in every aspect of my life and this life is a true blessing!

Please leave me some feedback on your view of Faith and what it looks like...I want to hear how God is calling you to live by FAITH and how He is stretching you in your Faith!!

From GLORY TO GLORY...

SO....I have now graduated from the Harvest School of Missions! wow...I can't believe 10 weeks have already gone by here in Africa. Seems like just yesterday I was sitting at home in the states wishing I was here! Time has flown by!  Jesus is so so good. Alot has happened in the last two weeks...but the worst has been in the last 48 hours! ha.  I really hate the enemy! He has tried to still my joy the last few days but I praise Jesus while saying HE HASN'T and HE WON'T!  Two days ago I found out that I had used my debit card at a restaurant one night here in Africa and somehow someone hacked into my bank account and started taking money out! Yesterday I found out that they've pulled $500 out of my acccount!! Pretty much everything I have to my name..HA! Now I'm left with about $100 in my account and payments to be made before I even return to the states! Its ok though...JESUS is gonna MULTIPLY it! Shakanana! The bank for the credit card machine is going to start an investigation on Monday and I'm praying that Jesus will sort it all out.  Lots of companies and  are very corrupt here so I'm praying for Jesus to use this to change lives!! YES JESUS, use this to bring yourself Glory, let this be a testimony of your faithfulness! Hallelujah! I say this to say that Im not worried AT ALL! Jesus is still on the throne He is in control! It feels so good to be walking in His will and totally relying on Him. Its amazing....when situations like this arise and normally anyone would panic and worry, I have total PEACE! HA! Some of you might even think I'm crazy but Papa is really that good. My life and everything I have is in His hands and I know he knows my every need. I am His son, chosen and marked by Him for eternal Glory!  I pray that this peace be poured out on you as you read this blog. Any situation, any circumstance, it doesn't matter Jesus is the giver of Peace and Joy. Give it to HIM! He loves honoring our faith by providing every need. He is the giver of life itself! When we rest in the fullness of faith in Him we don't have to worry.  He is the best Dad in the whole world!  I pray you get wrecked in the Glory with an outpuring of His peace and joy! Jesus is amazing. Thank you Papa, you are the best in the whole world. I feel like a little kid...It's fun...never having to worry about anything! Childlike faith is the best. Just like when a little child falls down and scrapes his knee, he cries and he doesn't ask his Daddy to pick him up, hold him and kiss it and make it better...He has FAITH in his Daddy, he knows that his Daddy will pick him up and even kiss it and MAKE IT BETTER! Ha! I think this is a prophetic statement...not only will Papa pick us up and provide and love us, He will go beyond that and MAKE IT BETTER than it was before. Thats the kind of faith Jesus wants us to live in. Not only relying on Him to fix our problems or our trials but to know that HE is GOOD ENOUGH to MAKE IT EVEN BETTER! I love knowing that not only will Jesus replace what the enemy has stolen from me but He will MAKE IT EVEN BETTER! Sheesh we have a good Daddy. I pray right now in Jesus name that if you have any worry, any pain, any hurt, any trial or tribulation that you give it to Him and BE A CHILD. Trust Papa that He will pick you up and love on you and make you all better. He's that good.  If you don't know it...just read the word. The word is PROOF that He is always good. His love has never failed and it never will.  Well, Im off in the morning to Tete! We leave base here in Pemba at 6 in the morning on a 3 day drive to Tete...Tete is on the south west border of Mozambique near Zimbabwe and Malawi. We will be living in the bush for 18 days showing Jesus films, leading people to Jesus, praying for the sick, training young pastors, and working on renovating what was once a former brothel..now its our base and home to one of our amazing missionaries Marlene! Im really excited to see what all Jesus is going to do! I probably won't have any internet access for almost 3 weeks so I hope this blog will bless you for a while! Ha. I look forward to returning to the states for a little while to see many of your beautiful faces and hug your necks! I pray you are blessed in the fullness of HIS JOY, LOVE and PEACE! Blessings in Jesus amazing mighty name!                                                                                                                                                                  

MARKED BY HEAVEN

Today my heart is torn...I only have one week left here at our base in Pemba. I graduate from the "mission school" next thursday and I wish it wasn't over.  Next saturday I leave for Tete for my extended outreach. We will leave here and drive for 3 days to get to Tete. Once there we will be training up new Mozambican Pastors to do bush outreaches, we will spend about 12 days in the bush sharing Jesus and praying for people. I will be looking at our new Tete base to plan out building a boys house for the orphan boys! This will be a great project for me when I get back here to Africa if we can get the money to build it! Pray for Jesus to send the funds! We have one missionary, Marlene there on the Tete base who is beyond excited about building this new home for the precious boys. The only building on the base as of now is what was once a brothel where young girls were sold for sex and now they have been saved by Jesus! Marlene actually lives in this building now and is using it to bring Glory to God every day! I'm looking forward to this journey deeper into Papa's heart! Amen.

Im so blessed. This season here at Harvest Mission School has forever changed my life. I have been marked by Heaven, marked for the Glory of God, marked to share the name of Jesus with the poorest of the poor and the richest of the rich, I've been marked as a son of God, marked to go from Glory to Glory forever. I'm a Pioneer...marked to pave the way for others to follow! Hallelujah. Marked to shake nations and change the world for Papa's Glory! I'm so excited to move into this new season of life, walking by faith everyday for daily bread and provision. Papa always has more than enough. He has more than enough for you. He can and will provide every single need. I pray that your faith is increased.  We should never underestimate God and His love for us. His love is ABUNDANT and UNFAILING. It never changes. Doubt is of the enemy. Papa loves to provide for us. He loves to give us the things we need.  It brings Him great joy. I can't wait to be able to share the amazing testimonies of how God gets me back here to Africa! He has spoken and His word never fails. Isiaiah 55:10,11 - "For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven, And do not return there, But water the earth and make it bring forth and bud, That it may give seed to the sower and bread to the eater, So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, But it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it."

His word will PROSPER, His word will NEVER return to Him void, it will ALWAYS accomplish what He pleases. Amen

Jehovah Jireh

Papa has given me a huge vision and I am totally relying on Him for the provision to get me back here.  Jesus is so good to me! I feel like I have the greatest privilege to be able to share His abundant love with these precious Makua people.  There are so many needs that I am trusting Papa to provide for me to accomplish this amazing vision. There is a new act of faith that Jesus is pushing me into… I feel like He doesn’t ever want me to ask for the things that I need. He wants me to share with people what he is calling me to do and share what things that are needed and to rely on Him to provide them. I’ve come to realize that walking by faith is pretty easy while you have a steady income coming in, but when you don’t have a job with a salary walking by faith takes on a whole new meaning.   Walking by faith is fun and stretching at the same time.  So I’m gonna go ahead and share some of the things that I will need to start acting out the vision that God has given me. I will need a 4 wheel drive truck to haul materials and to go to the bush bush to share the gospel with the lost. It’s very muddy and wet here during the rainy season so 4 wheel drive is a necessity.   I will need financial support to live, ha…Jesus will provide my daily bread to live because He is the bread of life!! I will need tools here for construction to build! It’s very very hard to find tools here and the ones that you find are cheap and they break so easy! I’m praying for God to provide the funds to have a cargo container shipped here full of tools that I will need to build. In Africa it takes so much more time to do anything! Everything moves slower and it’s hard to find things that you need to build. Needless to say Papa is teaching me PATIENCE! You have to be patient to live in this part of Africa.  I’m trusting Jesus with these things so the one thing that I will ask is for you to join me in prayer for Jesus to start supernaturally sending these things! These are the main things I will need to get started and I am trusting Papa for more than enough. He really enjoys giving us more than what we need…it brings Him great joy. Matthew 6:26 “Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?” I love each and every one of you and bless you in Papas gracious love. Thank you for the prayers and love! He is always more than enough. He is Jehovah Jireh (My Provider) Amen.

Identity in Christ

Papa has been speaking to me about laying down my life to become a long term missionary here in Africa. There’s nothing else I want to live for...I want to live to make Jesus name known to all the lost unreached people.  I want to share Jesus love with every person I meet. I want to stop for the ONE. I want to stop and take the time to listen to the poor, to hear their heart and to encourage them and push them into their destiny in God.   It’s not like the west here…most people in the west have at least heard of the name of Jesus, they may not profess His name or believe but at least most have heard it. Here most people have never heard the name of Jesus and my heart breaks for each of them.  When I left the states I never imagined I would have the favor that Papa has given me.  It’s unreal. My Daddy really really does love me and I know it. He so desires the very very best for me and nothing less. For the first time in my life I am starting to see my identity in Christ.  He is revealing my spiritual son ship.  He is pushing me into my destiny and my calling.  My life is becoming more and more adventurous! Hallelujah! Jesus died for our lives to be full of adventure and LIFE.  Until now I’ve missed out on the simplicity of living life. I used to think that I was living life but now I know I wasn’t…the busyness in the west makes it hard to actually stop and live life. Its work work work and live to work and work to live. That’s not the way Papa intended life to be for us. He created life for us to enjoy it. He created life so that every single day we could stop breath and enjoy Him.  He created life so we could enjoy walking, eating and breathing His presence.  I can’t imagine living another day without eating, drinking and breathing the presence of God.  Communion with God should be constant and not something we just do on special occasions. Papa is teaching me how to live in communion with Him every minute of every day.  This is life, fulfilling abundant life! The very breath of His presence is fulfilling and joyful.  2 Corinthians 10:5 says, “…bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.”  This blows my mind… to actually take every single thought captive to the obedience of Christ?? I want live in that kind of communion with God. 

I actually had my first interview yesterday with the Iris long-term missionary committee.  I was able to share the vision and passion that the Lord has given me and what He wants me to do here in Africa and around the world.  Papa has given me a REALLY BIG VISION.  He has given me a REALLY BIG HEART...HALLELUJAH!!  We have a prophet here this week teaching our school...his name is David Wagner. I’ve never met the man in my life.  After He finished speaking last night He invited people to the stage to be prophesied over. I didn’t go. I stayed in the very back of the church talking with a friend…as I’m sitting there talking David calls me out of the crowd and says, “hey guy in the white hat I have a word for you come up here.” And the whole school shouts, NICK BOYD NICK BOYD COME ON!!!  So I go up to the stage eager to hear what this man has heard from the Lord. I close my eyes and he begins to prophesy over me. He says, “I feel like you’ve been asking for more confirmation.  I heard the Lord say that you are called here to be a long term missionary with Iris here at this base in Pemba…You are a builder and God is going to use you to build…you are planning on going home after the school to get some things in order and to sell some things…you have debt and you are trusting God to take care of it so you can get back here, You have nothing to worry about because HE IS TAKING CARE OF YOUR DEBT NOW….It will be taken care of even before you get back…You have nothing to worry about…I see you going into the prisons to set the captives free…you’re not gonna re-decorate the cells, you are GOING TO EMPTY THEM, you are going to SET THE CAPTIVES FREE! Your office here is already furnished; everything you will need here is going to be provided.  Everyone in the church erupted with praise and shouting rejoicing in gladness with me! And then the Holy Spirit hit me so hard I fell out on the floor!  This man heard from God...Haha! It was one of the most amazing encounters I’ve ever had!  Hallelujah! Jesus loves me. He chose me and pursued me. All we have to do is say yes. God wants a yes.  Not a maybe or a but, He is looking for someone to say YES. I say YES. Lord whatever YOU want, wherever you want me to go I will go, whoever you want me to stop for I will stop.  Amen.

AM I HUNGRY?

AM I HUNGRY....?


This morning when I woke up I reflected on the things Papa has been teaching me for the last two weeks.  As I laid in bed I began to yearn for MORE and MORE. I yearned for more of the revelation of Papas Love. All He has been teaching me the last two weeks is LOVE. As I thought about all of the miracles that have happened the last two weeks I yearned for more. Then Papa asked me, "ARE YOU HUNGRY?"  The words AM I HUNGRY rang thru my head over and over and over all morning. I want to see more miracles. I want to watch blind eyes open. I want to see the crippled get up and walk. I want to see deaf ears open. I want to see the DEAD RAISED. As I yearn for more revelation of Papa's Power and Love all I hear is "ARE YOU HUNGRY?" Am I really hungry? Am I hungry enough to cry out to God EVERYDAY for more revelation of His extravagant Love? Am I hungry enough to give up other things to see His Power revealed?  Am I hungry enough to make sacrifices or even suffer for the sake of His Love?  Am I hungry enough to fast more to see creative miracles?  I want Papa to create a deeper hunger within my heart. Am I hungry enough to go to the darkest places of the earth when He ask's?  Am I hungry enough to pray daily for Heaven to come to Earth?  Im hungry Papa but I need you to create a starving hunger in my heart. 
I think we all want to see miracles and signs and wonders but I don't believe we are HUNGRY ENOUGH.  The believers here in Africa see miracles and signs and wonders so much more because they are TRULY HUNGRY.  They won't settle for less. Im gonna press in. Im not going to settle for less. Amen.

FORGOT ABOUT THIS ONE...

HA! I totally forgot to share this story...Ok in a previous post I mentioned that my carry on got stolen with my laptop, my camera, my bible, my phones and all my other stuff....Well I also mentioned that my prayer was for the person who stole it to read my bible and come to know Jesus! WELL IT HAPPENED... I went back to the Pemba airport 3 days in a row asking the workers and the police if they had found my bag and everyday they said no. I talked to one girl specifically everyday and she would tell me that it must of been stolen. Well on the fourth day on of the Harvest staff asked me if I wanted to go back and check one more time...at first I said no because I had pretty much given up on it and wasn't worried about it since the things were mere items and Papa could replace them! But I felt like the Holy Spirit was telling me to go so we did. When we got to the airport the same Mozambican girl I had talked to the previous 3 days said, "Hey are you Nicholas?" I said yes and she asked me to come closer. When I got up to her she said, "I have your bag at my house!" So I said, "WHAT?? Why is it at your house?" She said, "I am the one who took it! I was going through all of your stuff and I found your Bible. I started reading it and in the front you had a blue sticky... It said Job 10:12 "in your mercy you showed me kindness and in your providence you watched over my spirit." She said, "When I read that I knew God showed you kindness and He wanted me to show you kindess and return all of your stuff!!" HALLELUJAH!!!  So she took me to her house and gave me ALL of my stuff back! She said that she now knows Jesus is real and she believes in Him!! HAHA SHABA! Thank you Papa! She said she felt blessed to return my stuff to me! I loved on her and blessed her In Jesus! Papa was so good to me to work the miracle He did! Amen! When I got back to the base everyone REJOICED and DANCED in awe of Papa! Everyone had been praying that angels were watching over my stuff and that it would be returned! Halleujah! Papa is so good!!