Missionary

Carissa Smith

The More You Know

Hi, my name is Carissa! I’ve been in missions for seven years. Back in Fall of 2015 I felt that giving my yes to God meant doing DTS In Orlando. In this season my yes looks like being on staff with YWAM Lancaster. The Lord often speaks to me about adoption and being a mother to the nations, and I’m expectant for the journey and fulfillment of this promise. Although I don’t have kids of my own yet, there are many people in need of a spiritual mother or father. Sometimes that looks like me being a voice of encouragement, wisdom and comfort. What a joy it is to live a surrendered life and give Him my yes in every season. Thank you for your prayers and support!

Honestly I don’t know if I can pick a favorite. Different books of the Bible hold a special place in my heart and a particular significance in different seasons of my life. I love the Gospel’s and discovering who Jesus is as fully God and fully man. I also heard a message on song of songs and it left me undone. It gave me perspective on moments in my life where it felt like God had left me. In reality what He was doing was calling out saying “come away with me.” He revealed how He longs for my affection and wholehearted devotion.

My little travel Bible is what I use the most and that is NLT. I also enjoy reading from the Message Translation.

My favorite mission trip of all time was to the Himalayas. I loved the people. The beauty of Himalayas took my breath away, it was so stunning. What the Lord was doing in that season of my life was also very significant. My identity in the Lord was being restored. I grew in my confidence that I am God’s daughter. I learned how to do ministry from this place of knowing my identity in Him and not from a place of striving or being afraid that God was disappointed in me. I had been living from this place of trying to be enough and earn His love, but now I live from knowing who I am in Him and that I am His daughter.

My senior year of Highschool I deciding what I wanted to pursue after graduating. God began to stir this desire in me to travel and tell people about Jesus. I was sharing that with somebody and they mentioned an organization called YWAM. I went home and looked at the YWAM website and as I read testimonies and stories I felt so much peace and began to wonder if this is what I was called to. The Lord ended up calling me to leave the plan I had for my life and give Him my yes and full surrender. It started with simply doing a DTS not knowing what I would do afterwards, but eventually led to me being a full time missionary.

I did my DTS fall of 2015. This season of my life the Lord grew my confidence in hearing His voice. Beforehand I was super insecure and doubted that the Lord spoke to me. I learned that it’s about listening to His voice and being obedient. So even if I don’t have my whole life figured out and it often feels like a risk following His voice, what He asks of me is that I seek Him with my whole heart and give Him my yes.

YWAM Orlando and YWAM Lancaster is where I have done most of my missionary training and have been full time staff. I also went to YWAM Chatel and did their Foundations of Counseling Ministry School.

Like I shared above for a lot of my time in ministry I was doing it from a place of striving. At the end of my trip to the Himalayas our team was getting ready to say goodbye to some of our friends that we had met. I wept. In this moment I realized that when I live from the place of knowing I am a daughter of God it is full of life. I am then able to give a deep love that is both genuine and authentic.

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Carissa Smith

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About YWAM Lancaster

YWAM Lancaster is dedicated to fulfilling the Great Commission by empowering and equipping individuals to share the gospel with people in hard to reach places. Our mission is to help you live your life boldly and catalyze movement across the face of the earth. We aim to be a catalyst, an instigation, and a spark to ignite your way into living your life on mission, while being radically in love with Jesus.

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1932 W Main Street
Ephrata, PA 17522
info@ywamlancaster.com
(717) 721-6724

Missionary

Carissa Smith

The More You Know

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Carissa Smith

Seek God. Get Sent

About YWAM Lancaster

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