Video Update From South Korea

Click the video above to watch a short update about my time in South Korea!

If you'd like to read more about my time in South Korea, feel free to click here! Below are some photos of the Korea Vision Tour.

       

If you want to receive my newsletters about what I'm up to, you can sign up here!

Greetings from Seoul, South Korea

Greetings from Seoul, South Korea!

As my fever was raging wild and my head feeling like it was going to explode, I laid in bed extremely sick with the flu last Friday. I got a message from my Base Director asking me how I was feeling and also asking me to pray about something. That something was going to South Korea…in less than one week!

Loren Cunningham who founded Youth With A Mission (YWAM) back in 1960 is going on a speaking tour around South Korea. He will be speaking about missions and sharing the vision of YWAM. Loren called our Base Director a few weeks ago and asked if YWAM Lausanne would like to send a small team to Korea to join him on the tour. That’s the long story short on why I’m here.

Our Team

Our team of four landed in Seoul, South Korea about 5 hours ago after a lonnnngggg flight (that I didn’t sleep on – going on 30 hours of being awake..!) God blessed me with a free flight and all of the in-country costs are taken care of! It’s an incredible blessing! I believe God has me here in Korea for a purpose. That purpose is to share my story with other young Korean’s on how God has transformed my life and how He’s using an ordinary guy like me to reach people who have never heard the Gospel before. I’m excited to see how God works in these next two weeks! You can click here to read a little more about the trip!

Please Pray

Please keep our team of four in your prayers these next two weeks while we travel to different cities and churches everyday to speak. Each one of us on the team has been sick leading up to this trip, so pray for protection over sickness, for travel mercies and for God to reveal Himself greatly to the youth of Korea!

God Bless,

Tyler Dean

Merry Christmas

Over the loud speaker at the Minneapolis International Airport, I heard the boarding call for my flight. This was the beginning of my new adventure. 2012 got off to a very quick start. I traveled across the globe to do a Leadership Training School at YWAM Lausanne in Switzerland, where I am now living and continuing my work as a missionary with YWAM. As I've reflected on 2012, I am so thankful for what God has done in my life in the past year and am excited to see where He leads me in 2013!

A few highlights from 2012

• Successfully completing a "Leadership Training School" (click here to read about this amazing school) through the University of the Nations (YWAM's Global University)
• Preaching in my home church in Minnesota on finding our hope in Christ.
• Sharing the Gospel with over 5,000 people in June during our "Regeneration Outreach" (click here to watch the video) during the Montreux Jazz Festival in Montreux, Switzerland.
• Successfully completing a "French Intensive Seminar" (click here to see photos) through the University of the Nations. At 8 hours a day for 4 weeks straight, it sure was intense!
• Leading the campus operations at YWAM Lausanne and learning from amazing leaders.

Thank you to those of you who faithfully pray for me and partner with me financially. It is such a privilege to work with our Father to raise up hundreds of people each year to carry the Light of the Gospel to the Nations of the earth, to share His hope and love! Thank you for being a part of the adventure!

I pray this Christmas season is filled with much joy, hope and love as we celebrate the birth of our Savior.

Merry Christmas,

Tyler Dean

A New Season

From Learning French to Leading Operations

In my last update, I shared how I was participating in a "French Intensive Seminar" here at YWAM Lausanne. Well, I sucessfully completed the course - whew!  It was intense to say the least. I'm glad I took on the challenge to do the seminar to get a basic foundation in French. This photo on the left is the students/staff who were involved with the French Seminar.

Just a few days after the French Seminar ended, I took on the role of leading the operations here at YWAM Lausanne. It's been going really well so far and I have been learning a lot. I feel like this is very equipping for the future as I continue in ministry. It's fun to be able to work with so many different people and to see how God is always working in peoples' lives.

Prayer Day

We recently had a "Prayer Day" (click here to read more about it) here at YWAM Lausanne on the 26th of October.  Four times per year the staff, students, guest speakers and visitors here at YWAM Lausanne all gather for a full day of prayer, worship and fasting.  We pray for various things that are happening around the world, our outreach teams that are in multiple countries, our city we live in and whatever else God puts on our hearts to pray for. It's amazing to focus an entire day to prayer. This photo above is from a prayer day. We have a gigantic world map that we walk over and pray for nations that God puts on our hearts.

One thing that I know is true:  Prayer changes things!!

~ THANK YOU ~

I'm very grateful for those of you who have partnered with me prayerfully and financially in ministry. It's amazing to see people being ignited with the Gospel, being equipped to share the Word of God and seeing young men and women who are passionately taking the Gospel to the Nations. You help to make this possible. Thank you!

God Bless,

Tyler Dean

"Intense" August/September

Two weeks ago, I started a French Intensive Seminar here at YWAM Lausanne. The seminar is 4 weeks, 5 days a week, and 8+ hours a day. That's why it's called "intensive"! I'm excited to be learning French. It gets old quick when you go to the grocery store and don't know what the cashier is saying to you. Or when you feel lead to talk to someone about the Lord in the Lausanne city square and come to find out that you cannot communicate with them because you don't know their language - French.

Roughly 170 million people in the world speak French either as a first or second language. That's a lot of people! 30 contries in the world have French as their official language with several other countries speaking French as a secondary language.

Knowing French will open up many more doors for ministry, not only here in Switzerland, but around the world!

~ PRAYER REQUEST ~

Would you take a few minutes right now to pray for me that I would understand as much as possible during the French course and that I would be able to retain what I've learned. Also pray that I do not become discouraged and impatient if I understand it right away. I am starting from scratch with French so I need to be patient with myself.

Thank you for faithfully praying for me. It's much appreciated and very encouraging.

God Bless,

Tyler 

A Big Week

A Big Week!

I've had an amazing time so far since being back in Minnesota and California seeing my family and catching up with friends and also preaching! It's quickly coming to and end, though. Wednesday was a big day for me - I received my visa for Switzerland! Thank you for your prayers!! I fly back to Switzerland on June 5th to begin my work there.

Financial Update

Before going back to Switzerland, I need to raise an additional $900 (God has already provided $2,100!!). I am also trusting God to provide an additional $700 in monthly support as well. If you would like to partner with me financially and be a part of what God is doing around the world, that would be a huge blessing! Below are ways you can donate, either a special gift or monthly financial support.

A Big Switch

I am currently in the process of switching all of my financial donations from YWAM Pismo Beach to the YWAM base in Tyler, Texas. It'll be really easy to remember where to donate to me now (Tyler, TX)! So from now on, ALL donations, whether it's monthly support or a special gift, goes to YWAM Tyler in Texas. They process donations for thousands of YWAM missionaries who are overseas, so they do it very well. There are various ways to donate. Below I've explained how to go about donating, whether you want to make a special donation or monthly donation.



 

Donating By Check

Make Check Payable To:  YWAM

**DO NOT write my name ANYWHERE on the check.

Please enclose a note indicating the donation is for Tyler Dean.

Mail Check To:

YWAM Tyler

c/o Accounting Department

P.O. Box 3,000

Garden Valley, TX 75771-3000

Donating by Automatic Withdrawal, Credit Card or Bill Pay

If you would like to donate with one of these easy options, just let me know and I can let you know how to do so!

Thank you for your continued prayers and generosity! Together we can impact many people all over the world with the Gospel! Thank you!

-Tyler

Life After Pismo

Life after Pismo

Just over three years ago, I came on staff here at YWAM Pismo Beach in California. Throughout the last 3+ years, I've grown so much in my walk with the Lord. I've been able to learn from so many awesome people, and the Lord has let me do so many amazing things and serve and share the Gospel with many amazing people here in America and around the world!

Well, my time in Pismo is coming to a close. The Lord is leading me on a new adventure, one I'm very excited for!

My Next Step

As you probably know, I'm going to Switzerland in January to do a Leadership Training School (LTS) at YWAM Lausanne for three months (if you haven't read about the Leadership Training School, CLICK HERE). After the LTS, I won't be going back to Pismo Beach (well, I hope to visit of course!).

I feel like the Lord has said to me that He is going to open up a door through the LTS in Switzerland for where and what He wants me to do next. Secretly, I hope the Lord leads me to move overseas to a third world country. I feel at home and love being overseas and absolutely come alive.

It would be really easy for me to just decide to go and live in a country and I'm sure it'd be amazing and the Lord would use me greatly but I don't want to jump the gun. God is in control. I'm pretty sure He knows what He's doing.  :-)  I feel like He has something very special for me at the leadership school and that some puzzle pieces will fall into place as I obey Him one step at a time.

My personality wants to make plans for after the school, to take control and organize everything but the Lord continues to remind me that He's pretty good at making things work. I'm continually giving everything up to Him and just asking Him to send me wherever He wants me and to use me however He wants to use me.

One word that keeps coming to mind as I pray about things is "pioneer". I would absolutely love to pioneer a ministry/YWAM base overseas. I often times catch myself vision casting, day dreaming and imagining what we could do to further the Gospel to people who don't know Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.

I could go on and on about what I would love to do, what I'm passionate about, etc. But for now, I just wanted to let you know what's going on so we're on the same page.

Although I'm leaving YWAM Pismo, I am still a missionary with YWAM, but am just taking these three months to do a Leadership Training School at YWAM Lausanne to develop my giftings and leadership abilities. Therefore, this doesn't change the need for monthly financial support and special financial gifts for my ministry.

For those of you who donate financially towrads my ministry already, please continue to send your checks to YWAM Pismo Beach as you always have. They are going to continue to process and send me my support. If you have any questions regarding finances, please give me a call or shoot me an email.

With that being said, feel free to be praying for me as I am transitioning out of California to head over to Switzerland and wherever the Lord leads me after my three months in Switzerland, whether it's to Madagascar or Mississippi or anywhere in-between!

I would love to hear from you, whether you have a question, a comment or maybe you just want to chat about life. Give me a call or shoot me an email!

I love you all and am so thankful for you all. I am buckling up for the upcoming journey. I feel like God is going to take me for a fun ride!

In Christ,



Tyler Dean

Back To Mexico I Go

Next week, I will be going to Mexico for about six days. I will be attending a training course with Grassroots News International on journalism, field skills, camera work, mobile video editing and more at the YWAM base in Tijuana. Grassroots News International is a ministry within YWAM. It is a network of news gatherers around the world, who are committed to reporting the news as it happens, from where it happens. Content comes from the people on the ground where the news is happening. The course is designed to equip participants to gather news, and share it with the world. If you want to know more about Grassroots News International, click here!

 

I want to ask you to be praying for me throughout my time in Tijuana. Please pray that I can retain everything that is taught, for new friendships to be built, for the Lord to be glorified in all that we do and for save travels. Thank you in advanced for your prayers!

In Christ,



-Tyler Dean

A Man Of God

Last week, I felt like the Lord was nudging me to write a few blog posts this week. My first thought was, "a few posts in ONE week?!" I thought that was crazy. It's hard enough for me to write a few posts in a months time. So this morning, I still had no idea what to write about but then the Lord put something on my heart to share. I want to tell you about a man of God, how he's shaped my life and how you can pray for him!

Tim Ramey is the father of one of my best friends. In October of 1998, he received a call as a first responder and volunteer firefighter to a house fire. Just as the crew was finishing up and getting ready to leave, the chimney of the house collapsed. It fell on Tim. He should have died that night, and multiple times in the following weeks.

I remember waking up from the sound of an ambulance late that night, or should I say, early that morning. This was weird for me because I rarely woke up during the night and I am still like that to this day. I remember laying in my bed that night, at 10 years old, praying for whoever was in that ambulance. I later fell back asleep and woke up later that morning around 8:00. I walked downstairs to see my father sitting on the couch. I knew something wasn't right. My dad told me what had happened. Tim was the person in that ambulance who I was praying for. I was devastated. I couldn't imagine what my best friend, Jonathan, and his family was going through.

Tim was in the hospital for roughly the next two years.

Ti has had to battle a lot since the accident but the Lord has used him to impact so many peoples lives. He has most definitely impacted mine.

I'm sure Tim began to impact my life before I can even remember. All I know is that it started at a young age, whether it was him paying Nerf Basketball with Jonathan and I in the living room at age seven or teaching us how to be kind to others. As I got older, I could see more and more of a person striving to be Christ-like.

During Tim's recovery from his horrific accident, I could even see it then. That is amazing!

When Tim was finally able to leave the hospital after about two years, his brother-in-law (also known as Uncle Joe to Jonathan and I) drove him from Minneapolis to our hometown of Grand Marais, Minnesota, in an ambulance with Nancy (Tim's amazing wife) in the back with Tim. When they arrived to Grand Marais, hundreds of people were lining the street, clapping, cheering and holding signs, welcoming Tim, Nancy and the rest of the Ramey family home. How cool! Do you think Tim is an inspirational man of God? I think so!

I remember the first time Tim went to Sierra Leone, Africa. All I can say is wow! Tim, a paraplegic, going to one of the poorest, if not the poorest countries in the entire world! He didn't just go to Sierra Leone once either. He went multiple times. That truly inspired me. Even though I was young, I really wanted to go. I wanted to be like that...sold out for Heavenly Father!

Tim has and continues to play a big role in my life. When I was younger, I believe Tim was one of the people who planted that seed in me to be a missionary, even if I didn't realize it at that time. I thank you, Tim, for planing that seed then later watering it and encouraging me to be a full-time missionary. I wouldn't trade what I do for anything!

Currently, Tim is in the hospital. He had to go in for a few surgeries to try to take out an infection that is basically trying to take over his body. There have been a few complications with blood clots, which isn't good but overall, I think it's going alright. He's hoping to be home in a weeks time.

Here is where you and I come into play. Here is our role in this situation. We pray! We can pray for a quick and safe recover and that all of the infection would be gone. We can be praying that Tim would be encouraged and to find joy in this difficult situation. We can also be praying for Nancy and the rest of the family. The power of prayer is incredible - I have seen it first hand in my own life. Let's partner in prayer together and pray for this man of God and our brother in Christ.

Thank you, Tim, for planting those seeds in me and watering them. Thank you!

My Medical Update and More

I have no idea where to start this update. A lot has happened. Good stuff. Not such good stuff. If I’m being completely honest with you, I’ve been having a difficult time lately. I’ve been trying to write this update for about a month and a half now but every time I finish it, I delete it because I don’t like it. I wrote about awesome things that the Lord did while I was in Haiti and other cool stories the Lord is doing in my life and the lives around me.

A lot of times as a full-time missionary, there is a big pressure to always act like everything is ok – like we have everything together. I’m going to let you in on a little secret. We don’t. We are normal people and we aren’t always perfect.
A lot has happened lately. I led a team back to Haiti to partner with YWAM St. Marc in their earthquake relief efforts. I visited my family & friends in Minnesota and I also found out I had skin cancer. Most recently, I broke up with my girlfriend, Jacque. It’s definitely been an interesting ride lately.

So, what do I talk about from here…?

Food Distribution in the Refugee Tent Cities in Port-au-Prince, Haiti

Haiti was good. It was a difficult outreach but an amazing one at the same time. We did various different things, including: food distribution, tent city/refugee camp ministry, English lessons with refugees, a house build and more. Most importantly though, we saw the Lord transform lives around us. One of the students that went with us is now planning to go into full-time missions to Haiti. It’s so cool to see the Lord grab someone’s heart and also so encouraging when that person is willing to go and follow the Lord!

I also recently had the opportunity to go back to my hometown. It’s always fun to go back to Grand Marais to spend time with my amazing family and friends. While I was in Grand Marais, I had a doctor appointment to check out a dark spot on my finger that I’ve had for about a year. The doctor did a biopsy of it and the pathology report came back saying that it is a piece of skin cancer (don’t worry, it isn’t serious). The hardest part about this isn’t having the skin cancer. That can easily be treated. I could care less about that. The difficult part is that I want health insurance but am not able to get it. Even though it’s been a burden, the Lord has connected me to a few doctors willing to help so it will be taken care of sooner than later. Praise the Lord!

A few days ago, I broke up with my girlfriend, Jacque. It has been a very rough time since then but the Lord is teaching me a lot. I’m not going to go into a two page detailed reason of why we broke up but I will briefly explain it. Basically, I felt the Lord was saying to me that I was going to her for comfort, healing, acceptance, etc. It was almost like I was replacing God with Jacque. God was telling me that I needed to come to Him for healing and for comfort, etc. He wanted me to fully surrender to Him. I fought with this for a few days and tried to do this on my own and make our relationship work even better under my own strength. After the Lord convicted me again of it, I had to talk to her about it. It was one of the most difficult things I’ve ever had to do in my life, but I wanted to be obedient to the Lord. We’ll see what happens in the future. Even though it has been extremely difficult and I didn’t want to do it, the Lord has been teaching me a lot. One of the things He is teaching me is to simply cling to Him and rely on Him for everything. He has been giving me such a desire and hunger to search after Him at every chance I can get, whether I have 15 minutes before a meeting to dig into the Word or waking up earlier than I would like to, to spend time with Him in the morning. I’m not saying that this is always easy though. He is teaching me a lot about discipline, which has been challenging but awesome at the same time.

Isn’t it interesting that when we are at a low point in our lives, also known as “in the valley”, we get to know the Lord more than when we’re “on the top of the mountain”? It’s in those hard times when we encounter Him the most. I think that is because we need comfort and the only place we can turn is to God.

I would really appreciate if you continued to pray for me through this season, that the Lord would continue to reveal Himself in such a strong way. Thank you for your continual prayers and financial support. Without people like you, I could not do what I am able to do. You are such an encouragement to me so, thank you!

God Bless,



Tyler E. Dean
tyleredean@yahoo.com

Medical Need

Hello!

While I was in Minnesota visiting family and friends recently, I had a biopsy on this weird thing that's been on my finger for about a year and it's been getting bigger. The doctor called me a few days ago to tell me the test results and they found some cancer. DON'T WORRY! It won't kill me and cannot spread throughout my whole body. It can just spread more on my finger if I don't take care of it. Anyways, I just wanted to share that with you and I also want to share my next predicament.

I don't have health insurance but I NEED to get the skin removed somewhat soon so it doesn't get worse. This will require a minor surgery with a dermatologist specialist. Insurance companies will not accept me since now my records says that I had a biopsy and they found the cancer.

So basically, I need to find a dermatologist surgeon that could bless me and do it for free (or very cheap). I am going to call and ask around to various different places and just ask...it's worth a try! That's my biggest prayer request right now that all of the logistics get worked out with finding a way to get it removed.

So...I am looking for a dermatologist that can do surgeries pro bono or for a very cheap rate. I would be willing to fly to a different state (than California) because it would be cheaper than paying the full rate for the surgery. So if you know anyone who would be willing to do this, please let me know.

I will keep you up to date as things unfold. Thank you in advance for your prayer support. I appreciate it.

Blessings,

Tyler Dean
(218).370.2078
tyleredean@yahoo.com

My Prayer....

Dear God,
Thank you for this new day! Father, I ask that you lead me through this day, speak to me, lead me to people You want me to talk to. God, let Your will be done today. Lord, help me be bold in my faith! Help me not sugar coat Your Word, the Gospel, or what You can do. Help me to share Your love! God, I ask that You teach me how to love just like You love! Thank you, Father!
God, I pray that you wake up this world! Help us, Father! Lord, help us...lead us...direct us to make disciples of all Your nations! Help us love all Your nations! God, we thank You and praise You! We give You all the glory, Lord!
It's in your name we pray, Jesus...Amen!