India and Nepal Updates and Photos!

Here is a copy of my updates that I wrote on Facebook during my time in India and Nepal:

January 2cnd, 2015:

Safe and sound in beautiful, crowded, loud, colourful, Kolkatta India. smile emoticon We spent New Year's Eve racing through the city crammed in a taxi. Our first day was busy already as we were already helping with a church service and exploring our neighbourhood. We are stayin at a church compound in the city, and will working along side he pastor's family here to do different things in the community . I probably won't have wifi access for a while now, but I will give updates as I can. Love to you all, and Happy New year!

January 21, 2015:

Hi friends! Peace and love to you all from the beautiful and busy city of Kolkata. I don't have as much time to write to you as I would like, but wanted to send my thoughts and prayers your way. Our team has been busy each week working alongside the churches in our area of the city, doing hospital visits. This past week we held a community dinner for some of the families in the slums near our home, played some cricket games in the local field, spent a lot of time out around he markets and slums getting to know people and share with them. He people here are incredibly friendly and hospitable. They are also really hungry for kindness and for hope. It has really been a privilege to live alongside the people here and share stories and encourage them. God has really been moving all across the city, we've had many opportunities to share the gospel with them and tell them about Jesus. Thank you everyone for your encouragement and support as I am getting to be on this missions trip with YWAM. I love you all and look forward to when I can meet with you again and share stories and life together.

January 26, 2015:

We have 2 more weeks left in Kolkatta, then our team will be taking a train to Nepal. We will be volunteering with churches in Kathmandu and trekking to mountain villages to work with churches there and do some community work. We hope to hold some eye clinics in he villages and will be distributing glasses and sun glasses. Love and prayers to you all from Kolkatta.

February 9, 2015:

Hey my friends! Just a quick update.. We have completed our time in Kolkata and have just finished a 12 hour train ride 2 hour jeep ride and a 12 hour bus into Kathmandu! A new ministry starting for the next 4 weeks! Thank you so much for your prayers and support!

February 11, 2015:

So far enjoying the beauty and culture of the Nepalese people here in the Kathmandu valley. Our team started our ministry today by teaching seminars at a local church. We will be leading the seminars for a 3 day conference. Next week we will be packing up and hiking/camping in a nearby village where we will stay for a week. We hope to be teaching and working there with the community to help practically as well as pray with and share the message of Jesus with the people there. After that week we hope to go back to Kathmandu to do more ministry in the area, then we head to Pohkara, Nepal to do some trekking around to the villages near there for ministry. We are expecting and praying to see God move, to open doors for us to really partner with the local Christians here, to encourage them and help them wih their work in the villages, and that our team can do the most in the time we have to bring hope and encouragement to the people we are privileged to encounter.

Thank you for your prayers and support. Grace and peace to you from our Lord, Jesus Christ. The author and perfecter of our faith. My prayer is that you would all know how much God loves you and desires to be in relationship with you. God has a purpose for your life, and has made you with incredible value. I can honestly say that my life and my heart has changed radically after choosing to follow Jesus and learn more about him. I know that life won't ever be easy, I can be assured that there will be ups and downs. But I have been so set free and have found light in life. There is so much more to life than filling our instinctual needs. Love, truth, joy, peace, patience, integrity... The list could go on... That is what really matters. Living life through that filter will make all the difference. I can honestly say I have found that in Jesus, and keep finding that in Jesus. And my heart longs that I could share that hope and peace with as many people as I can.

Wherever you go, whatever you do, wherever you stay, I hope you find his amazing truth and joy.

March 2, 2015:

Had a great and busy last 2 weeks in Nepal. We spent one week hiking around the mountain village of Timel, a few hours outside Kathmandu, where we worked/lived with a family on their farm. Each day we would travel to different homes to share the Good News and see how we could help them. This past week we spent in the Boctipur region of Kathmandu doing ministry. We did some street evangelism, went to a brick factory and a house orphanage. We have just arrived in Pokhara, where we will leave from to trek this week through some of the Annapurna mountain region to visit villages on the way for ministry! We will be trekking for 5 days in snowy regions, along with 2 local guides that are apart of ministry in Pokhara and area.

March 10, 2015:

Had a crazy, amazing, intense, beautiful week in the mountains! Just arrived back in Kathmandu for our last few days for debrief, then on to Australia for our final week of DTS! Time flies! Thank you to everyone for your prayers and support. Love to you all.

Christmas Greetings from the Sunny WA!

Hello Friends! Merry Christmas!

I wish you all well during this holiday season. I know the holidays can bring mixed emotions, or bring up different memories and feelings. But my hope is that you may all find some joy and encouragement from loved ones, near and far. Know that you are loved and cherished!

Things are busy here as I'm finishing up the lecture phase at YWAM Perth. My school team has been busy learning more about the outreach locations we are soon leaving for. Christmas events have been piling up, and all of us are scrambling to finish the book reports and last minute travel details we need to accomplish before the end of the month! Last weekend our base hosted a free community event in the park called, "Carols By Candlelight".  It was a blessing to be a part of the choir singing carols with the community, and to see all of the people there enjoying time together and being blessed by the music and refreshments. There were over 400 people that came out to the park for the event, and all of them were able to hear about Jesus and the message of hope he brings.

The sun is getting hotter (as I can attest to from a series of unfortunate sunburns.. all really my fault as I did not put on sunscreen!...  Lesson learned!) I'm reminded lately of how blessed I am to have such incredible family and friends in my life that have made all the difference. Especially as the holidays are here, I am reminded of how much of a blessing it has been to grow up with the support and friendship from all of you. For that I say, "thank you!" You are in my thoughts now, especially!

As for Christmas in the sun, it has been quite funny to me to see different people walking around the city, in the sun, in the heat, wearing mix-matched attires of Christmas sweaters, shorts, santa hats, and flip-flops! There are festive decorations among the palm trees, and Christmas music playing in the stores as they have bathing suits and sunscreen on sale. It will be a Christmas of firsts: 1st Christmas away from family, 1st Christmas on the sunny side of the world, and 1st Christmas celebrating with a BBQ on the beach! I am excited for a new experience, although I admit to missing that cold white stuff that falls from the sky back home by the foot. And although I miss being close to family and friends that I love back home, I am thankful for the new family I have gained here in Perth. I've learned to really appreciate the heart of this season, regardless of what the cultural norm is for how it is celebrated. Christmas is about family. It's about giving. It's about peace. And it's about sharing love with one another, just as we have been shown the most incredible love by our "heavenly" Father.

Grace and Peace to you all as you are celebrating this season in your own favourite traditions! My hope is that you will be blessed with time together with your families and loved ones. May you be blessed with a new or renewed understanding of real love, real hope, and real joy.

Love from, 
Melody



 - Here are the teams from my program that will be heading out the week after Christmas for missions!

 - These photos were from our "commissioning night", where we gathered together as a whole school with the other DTS teams who are leaving soon for their missions trips. We had a time of presenting and sharing about the past 3 months of lectures, as well as about what we will be doing on our outreach coming up. The base leaders prayed over us as a school to send us off officially with their blessing.

-We will all be going first to Kolkata, India for 6 weeks, then each team will head to a different location to serve for 5 weeks.

The "Great Commission":
"Go into all the world and share the Good News!" (From Mark 16:15, and Matthew 28:19-20 in the Bible)



Christmas Tea and "It's a Wonderful Life" with the school:

Indonesia Team:

 Northern India Team:

 Nepal Team:

"There Is Some Good In This World... And It's Worth Fighting For."

Frodo: I can't do this, Sam.

Sam: I know. It's all wrong. By rights we shouldn't even be here. But we are. It's like in the great stories, Mr. Frodo. The ones that really mattered. Full of darkness and danger, they were. And sometimes you didn't want to know the end. Because how could the end be happy? How could the world go back to the way it was when so much bad had happened? But in the end, it's only a passing thing, this shadow. Even darkness must pass. A new day will come. And when the sun shines it will shine out the clearer. Those were the stories that stayed with you. That meant something, even if you were too small to understand why. But I think, Mr. Frodo, I do understand. I know now. Folk in those stories had lots of chances of turning back, only they didn't. They kept going. Because they were holding on to something.

Frodo: What are we holding onto, Sam?

Sam: That there's some good in this world, Mr. Frodo... and it's worth fighting for.

Yes.. I recently watched the Lord of The Rings.. The Two Towers, to be exact. On our saturday last week we had a school-wide showing of the Lord Of The Rings trilogy after a long week of classes. I find it funny that my mind keeps playing back to this scene from the movie. But I think it rings true, in so many ways. (Heh heh.. "rings" true...)

"There is some good in this world.. and it's worth fighting for."

We are in week 9 already of the lecture phase of this DTS ("discipleship training school"). The whole school is gearing up to leave for their different mission locations. We have classes up until the week of Christmas, then will be flying out from Perth in our teams around the 27th or 28th of December.

My school, "Frontline", has a vision to support the "hard to reach" places. We are split up into 3 different teams, all of us spending time in Kolkata, India for 6 weeks, then splitting off to go to 3 different locations for 5 weeks. One team is going to Northern India, one to the "Spice Islands" in Indonesia, and my team, who is going to Nepal.

In Kolkata, we will get the opportunity to work with YWAM's ministry called, "Megacities". The YWAM Megacities team has been working in Kolkata alongside the local churches to make a long-term investment in the city.  I'm really excited to get to partner with what people are already doing in the city of Kolkata. Here is some more information about Megacities if you are interested in what I will be apart of for the first 6 weeks of my mission:
http://www.ywamperth.org.au/missions/megacities/


After serving in Kolkata I will be on "Team Nepal" for the second half of my missions trip. In Nepal, my team of 8 will be trekking into different Nepali villages to share the message of Jesus, parter with local churches, volunteer with different community projects, and do some basic health care and training. This will be more of the "frontline" part of my trip. I am looking forward to the opportunities we will have to bless the people of Nepal, especially those in hard to reach villages that may not have much access to outside help. Our speaker this week is a missionary from Nepal, who has been working with YWAM for over 20 years. Hearing his story and seeing his passion to serve the Nepali people has been incredibly inspiring.

India will also be an incredible opportunity to encourage and bless people tangibly and spiritually. We will be partnering with the local churches in Kolkata, and will be working in the main city areas, as well as in the slums. We have been spending some of our week each week learning about the history of Kolkata, and praying for different issues that are currently taking place there.



Through my time here in Perth, learning about different areas of need in the world, I feel like I've had a re-kindling of a desire to do something about it. I am reminded more and more of how privileged, and how blessed I am to be living the life I am, to come from the places and family I come from. It could be very easy for me just to go home and forget about this chapter in my life, this "travelling the world" phase. But I think this is just the beginning.

Like Sam wisely says in the Lord Of The Rings film, "There is some good in this world.. and it's worth fighting for." I can't shake how strongly I believe this to be true. I have been so greatly blessed in my life, in innumerable ways, by so many. And I can't shake the desire in my heart to use this life I have to bring some good into the world, however I can! - Because it's worth it. There is enough negativity, there are enough terrible things happening in the world.. why not be some good? Why not bring some hope? People are worth it. People are worth fighting for.

Peace be with you, and thank you for following my adventure, for your support and encouragement. May you and your loved ones be blessed! I encourage you to look for how you can bring some good into the life you are living - to be the good for others - whether in big ways or small. It's worth it!

November Update

Dear friends,

Another month has gone by already! I feel like time is really blowing by.. What a crazy thing - time - sometimes it feels like it just drags on, and others it zooms past with the blink of an eye. I am reminded more of the importance in living each day to the fullest. To learning how to "be" and enjoy the little things, those things that make you smile. It's worth it! Let us learn to plan for our futures, learn from our pasts, but LIVE for today. 

This month started out with an epic camping trip with my team in the Margaret River area in WA, about 5 hours south of Perth. It was such an incredible week of community and learning, and just simply taking in the crazy beauty of the ocean coastline. I will have many memories from that week for a long time, and I hope to never forget the amazing sites we were able to see. The lecture topic that week was, "Lordship", or "Making Jesus Lord of Your Life". I thought is was cool to tie in the beauty and vastness of the nature we were seeing, with the idea of our Creator. Each day we would get up and have breakfast together at our campsite, then head out on a hike from our site to the coastline, then along the ocean until we found a good spot to stop and have lectures. One day we stopped under a rock cave, another day we sat next to a rock pool with the ocean roaring around us. We spent in-between time at the ocean, eating great food together, hiking and exploring, or just siting around the campfire sharing stories. It was a really cool time of learning and bonding and just sharing life together with our team. 

Some more highlights of this month have been getting to be apart of the Christmas choir that is starting to practice, getting to know people on my team better, and just exploring more of Perth City, and learning more of what it looks like to intentionally follow Jesus. 

Jesus really is awesome, you guys! I can't share enough how at peace and how blessed I am to know that I can live a life with Jesus. I am amazed by the truth I am experiencing and learning as I look deeper into who this person is that Christians claim to follow - and I really think that is the key. There is so much "religion" or "religious" stereotypes that come to mind when you think "church", "Christian", or whatever it may be. But I think the key is to actually study and look at the person of Jesus. I have seen the undeniable evidence of truth and change in people that have decided to follow this Jesus, and have decided to give their life to seeking truth and living a life of love for others. I'm convinced it is totally worth it, and totally beautiful. I am amazed at how my life has changed and is changing as I seek to understand more about who Jesus was and how I can try to be like Him. And I am blessed by the breath of life I am absorbing as I do this. My hope is to keep digging deeper into what it means to know this Jesus, what it means to live out the truths I am seeing and understanding, and what it means to really, truly live a life that is whole-hearted and intentional - a life that blesses and serves others above myself, and seeks to know truth and live it out. 

My friends, life is worth living. Life is worth loving. Joy is worth embracing. People are worth loving. And YOU are valuable and worth the life you have. Whatever your circumstance or current situation, I encourage you to look for those things that make you smile. I encourage you to ask hard questions. I encourage you to search out, "what is truth?", and embrace the truth you do find. I encourage you to think positively. I encourage you to step outside the box and dream big. What would you do if you could really do anything? What is at the core of who you are? It's worth searching out, and to keep searching out. Even if your situation is really difficult, the thing we have in common is that we are living. We have a life, and it's worth fighting for. And not just for ourselves, but to bring life to others. There is enough negativity in the world, it's worth being some good in it. So, I encourage you to learn from your past, dream and plan for your future, but learn to LIVE for today, because right now is all we really have. 

DTS Update, Numero Uno..

Hello All! - 

A LOT has happened since I first arrived here at YWAM Perth! It has been a great time of growing and building into relationships, and pressing into questions about God and life, and how we can live out those things we are learning. We've had lots of times of team building and adventuring together as a school (Frontline DTS), and as a base (YWAM Perth on a whole). 

Some of the highlights for me so far have been getting to build into relationships with the people here, going on our day-hike to Bibbulmun Track, exploring the beaches and the city itself, and getting to be in a community of like-minded people who are excited to grow and learn to better impact others. I've also really enjoyed getting to know the staff and leaders here, to hear their heart for people as missionaries. The lectures have been great reminders of the truth of God's word, and challenges to live out that truth and remember it. I've also really appreciated the music we have together as a base, or individually as a school. Over all there is a really cool sense of community and intentional living. 

I really have enjoyed living in the city of Perth as well, not just being involved with YWAM. There is a real sense of community in the city as well as at the base. Every time I go into the city there is something happening in the city square. Everything from street performers, musicians, community concerts, children's events, or street food, something is always happening. I'm excited for the opportunity to keep getting to know this city, and hopefully to know God's heart for this city. I hope to not just stay in my YWAM "bubble", but to get to know people in the community and ask what their stories are, and hopefully encourage them in where they are at in their stories.

For anyone wondering.. a day in the life of a YWAM student looks something like this:

6am - 6:30am: Morning work-out and training with our Frontline school

- This has included various activities such as track running, hill sprints, ultimate frisbee tournaments, planks, carrying each other up hills, planks, core work-outs.. oh, and did I mention planks? lol. It's been intense and super early, but I can honestly say I feel so much better during the day after morning exercise! (crazy, I know..) And I'm thankful for the endurance training it is implementing for when we go trekking on our outreach phase. 

6:30am-8am: Free time/Quiet time/ Breaky

- At the base, it's really encouraged that we take time to be "still and know". It's important that we take time throughout the days, either during free-time or during this morning time, just to take some alone time to meditate on what we've been learning, read, and pray. It's really made a difference for a lot of us to have this encouragement to make intentional habits to have these quiet times. It is really refreshing to have time set aside to reflect and rejuvenate and refresh. 

8am-8:30am: "Family chores"

- Since there are so many people that are involved at the base here (I think close to 200 with all the students, staff, and volunteers..), everyone that lives at the base takes part in different cleaning jobs around the buildings and homes that we utilize. For example, I meet in the morning with the people in my building that I live with, and we each have different tasks that we do daily to help keep things clean. (I'm actually quite thankful.. otherwise the bathroom I share with about 14 other girls would quite quickly become nasty!)

8:30am - 9:30am: Worship or specific class time

- On mondays we come together as a whole base for a time of music and worship. I have especially enjoyed these times. It has been such a blessing to see when we all come together to celebrate and praise God together. It is so cool to be in this type of place, and to be reminded of so many other people that are in a similar period in life is really cool. Also, just hearing a sea of voices singing together is really amazing. There is something so awesome and powerful in music, and when people come together through music, especially for the cause of our awesome God. 

- Other days we spend just with music together as a school, or we will take time to talk about and pray about specific issues or places. Some of these topics have been praying for missionaries in other countries, or learning about different countries that we may be involved in during our outreach phase. 

10:15am-12:30pm: Lectures

- Each week we have a different lecture topic and speaker. So far our topics have been: "Hearing God's Voice", "The Nature and Character of God", "Repentance and Forgiveness", and this week, "Worship and Intercession". 

- Each week we've heard from different missionaries around the world that are connected to YWAM Perth specifically. We get to hear their life story and learn biblical teaching behind each topic. Each week has some kind of practical application and assignments related to the topic, where we are encouraged to see how what we have learned can apply to our own lives and what we think about what has been talked about. I really like that the lectures have been interactive and based in the word of God. We are also very encouraged to search out answers to our questions ourselves by going back to the bible and talking about it together after class. There are definitely elements of teaching that are more geared towards evangelism (missionaries, you know ;) ) But I really like that there is an emphasis on encouraging us to really figure out what we think and believe about things individually, and to live out what we learn intentionally and practically. 

12:30pm: Lunch

- Self explanatory.. The base provides meals for us daily, including weekends. It has definitely been strange for me not being behind the scenes like I normally would be in the kitchen, but it has been a blessing just to receive. Another cool thing about the base is that a lot of the food they serve has been donated, so it may sometimes be strange things or mis-matched, but it is cool to see how they are being supported by the community. The other night we had SHARK for dinner! That was fun. :)

1:30pm-3:30pm: Work duties

- We each get split up into teams for a couple hours to help with some of the work needed to be done to keep the base running. That includes things like dishes, kitchen prep, maintenance, out-door care, and my job: media and promo. I have a unique job which is to help promote our school, mainly through means of the Frontline social media sites. I started up an Instagram page for the school and have been updating their Facebook and twitter accounts, as well as writing articles for the YWAM Perth website, and currently I am working on some video-updates as well. This has been a cool way to help show not only my supporters, but other people interested in the school what we have been up to, and what it is like to be apart of YWAM Perth, specifically on the Frontline DTS. 

After 3:30 we have free time, and dinner is served around 5:30pm each night. Some nights we have events planned with either our small groups or as a whole base. On thursday nights we have a community service that the city is invited to, which is pretty cool. It makes for a long day, but it is neat to be able to meet people from the community and hear their stories. 

Well, this has been a LONG update so far - thanks for reading! I am excited to see what the next weeks will bring. Next week we are going on a week-long camping trip outside of Perth. I am looking forward to that change of scenery and to be able to just spend time together as a school, without other distractions. 

Some things you could pray for or remember would be:

- Energy and rest for the staff and students as we get into our routines

- Encouragement for myself and others as we are learning more about God's heart for our lives and for others

- That myself and the other people here short-term would have an understanding of God's heart for the city of Perth, and that we could have and make opportunities to make a difference in the city here. 

- Further encouragement for rest and peace of mind as many of us are working through different heart-issues as we are here together. Last week's topic, "Repentance and Forgiveness", brought up a lot of situations and questions. There has been a lot of awesome response from that week, but a continual level of clarity and wisdom in how to keep working through those issues for myself and others. 

- And finally, that we would continue to be challenged in how we are living our lives and how we want to live our lives. That there would even be clarity in steps for the future or understanding of God's direction for each of us personally. 

Peace be with you! And love to you! I miss you and wish you well, and look forward to when I can see all of you again. Thank you for being apart of my life and caring about where I am. I would love to hear about what you are up to and where you are going! Fill me in!

Here are some pictures of my time so far in Perth, and a link to the article I wrote that is on the YWAM Perth website: 

http://www.ywamperth.org.au/stories/counterfeit-nutella-bibbulmun-track/

http://www.ywamperth.org.au/stories/counterfeit-nutella-bibbulmun-track/

Home is Where the Heart Is

Oct. 5

7am

Perth, Australia

Home is a funny concept.

 We spend so much time trying to create this place called, "home", trying to find it, or save it, or to keep it together. However, I've come to the conclusion that home is not a place. That cheesy line we know is so true, "home is where the heart is."

36 hours of constant travel and you'd think a person would be wiped and cranky!  (Haha.. well maybe that is the truth, but I'm am just blind to it.) Last night I was tired, but everything already has been quite beautiful. After going through my last (painstakingly long..) line up and customs and security and the Perth airport, I was greeted by two of my school leaders. We hopped into their old bus and headed to the YWAM base, about 20 minutes away. It was so great to finally start putting faces to names. After getting to my apartment I was finally able to unload, shower, and put on clothing that didn't smell like airplane. (P.s… a shower, even a cold one, after a 36 hour travel experience, is a glorious thing.)

A girl from Germany noticed the obvious look of jet lag on my face and offered me an energy drink. We started talking and realized we had both just arrived that day, and weren't quite sure what to expect from this YWAM adventure. Afterwards we all gathered at the school cafeteria to eat supper together with everyone at the school and get to know one another. (It was strange to just join in and eat with everyone, instead of being the cook behind the scenes. That will take some getting used to.)

After supper I met up with some of the other girls from my program at their house, just to say hello and put more faces to names. Instead of dorm rooms, YWAM rents houses near by the base for the students to live in. There is a girl's house and a guy's house for my DTS, but I am in an "overflow" house, which is actually closer to the base. I'm thankful that I get to stay in the house that I am in because it is a mixture of other students from different programs, and some of the staff. That way I will have the chance to get to know other people at the school as well, and not always be with the select few from my program. And I think I will also be able to be a bit more independent as well. 

I fell asleep last night soon after 8pm, Aussie time. Then this morning I woke up to warm drizzling rain outside - quiet - and a finally rested sleep. (Praise the Lord for everyone else being asleep! It was really refreshing to have that alone time.) I decided to get ready and went for a walk around the neighbourhood around the base. It was so nice to just be outside, and to simply just, well, "be". 

I'm so thankful for this beautiful place, these people, and this opportunity to reflect and grow in new ways. "God, may you bless this crazy adventure, and the other people crazy enough to be here!" I'm thankful for the home feeling I have already, and am thankful for the many homes I have encountered in life. 

To my family and my B.C. homebodies: I miss you, and I love you, and I am thinking of you. 

Peace be with you, 

Melody Kostamo, 

Perth, Australia 

I'm Leavin' On a Jet Plane

"I'm leaving on a jet plane, don't know when I'll be back again.." 

This tune has been stuck in my head for over a month now.. and today it hit me.. "Yes, I really am leaving!"

Less than 3 weeks now until my flight to Australia, and the next chapter. I feel excited, nervous, overwhelmed, at peace, curious.. you name it. Ultimately, I am so thankful for the opportunity to go and spend the next part of my life on a new adventure.

Life is funny, isn't it? Or as a good friend of mine puts it, "life is a pickle!" One minute you think it will go in a certain direction, or you have plans for something to happen, and in a blink it can change, twist and turn. Or maybe it goes the way you hoped, but it doesn't feel like you envisioned. Life is funny like that. But who am I to tell you this? We've all experienced our own roller coasters, our own happy endings, our own sorrows. But that's the beauty of it - we're not alone in this. Sometimes I think we forget to stop and think about that very fact; "we're all in this together." (Another tune for you there.) That's the beauty of this funny pickle called, "life".

.. But then I have to wonder, is it a crunchy pickle? Is it juicy? Is it sour? Sweet? Dill?.. Maybe I'll just enjoy it. :)