Fashion Week LA! PART 2 - The Models

"Please come back and do more shows. Before you walked into the room everything was so stressful, everything was tense, but then as soon as you walked in there was immediate peace. It felt like everything was going to be okay." -a model to us after the show.

"Nobody in this industry cares about anyone else. They are all out to get things for themselves and become successful. Nobody cares about anyone... Except you. You are different. There is this sweet spirit about you..." -a model to me while talking backstage

The models have stolen my heart. Really. I feel overwhelmed with love for them. Their lives are so precious, yet many of them don't even know.

Each show we worked we were able to invite our models to be a part of Models For Christ (MFC). MFC is a family of fashion professionals in NYC, LA and Miami that is designed to be a family of support and encouragement for fashion professionals. Many of them appeared quite interested in getting involved. One male model we met said that he was really struggling to make friends in LA, and he was feeling the pressure of constantly having to change his appearance to please the agency he was working for. He was a young caucasian guy from Oregon, who had dyed his hair and tanned his skin because he needed to be able to work as a Latin American model. This young guy was so grateful that we cared about him that he stayed with our group most of the night, just so he could finally have the joy of being with friends. It was great. He assured us he would come to MFC because he was desperate for interaction with people who would really love him.

One night after the shows we were about to leave the parking lot when a model in her car asked if we would want to go eat with her and her friend, so we invited them to hop in our big YWAM van and we went to a restaurant together. It turns out that they were Christians too and the model had even done a YWAM program in Nashville. We were able to pray with them and encourage her friend who was struggling because of rejection he experienced with other Christians. I actually ran into the model yesterday on the street in Huntington Beach, she recognized me and invited us to attend a party with her next weekend. God is so fun.

I met a model backstage who was here working because she was a contestant on Russia's Next Top Model. She had never been in America and was only going to be here for the one day, so it was fun to be the first American to really welcome her. I invited her to MFC and was able to give some input on a decision she was making in her modeling career. She was a sweetheart and it was obvious that our time together really meant something to her.

The last model I dressed was difficult because she appeared completely uninterested in relating to me at all. I was even a bit confused as to why God would have me working with her, because I had prayed so much I was sure that God would put me with someone who had been fully prepared in her heart to receive some loving! But no, I was with a model who didn't want me there! Haha but actually that wasn't true. After about twenty minutes of me helping to hold her gown and attempting to converse with her, she finally turned around and said, "I'm sorry this is my first show and I am really nervous." After that we were finally friends! (I am laughing as I write this because it really was an exciting moment for me) After that my sweet new friend allowed me to speak with her and take care of her, because it turned out she was sick too. At one point I asked if I could pray for her and she quickly grabbed my hand and bowed her head so that we could pray. It was amazing! When I finished praying I opened my eyes to see another of my YWAM girls praying for her model. After the show my model ran to me to hug me, thank me, take photos with me, and ask me if I thought she did well. It was a total turnaround from the beginning of the show.

One model had to carry a dress that weighed 45 pounds and she was literally bending because of the weight of it. In her desperation she let three of us pray for her to have strength to carry the dress.

My last night I was SO blessed because one of the models that arrived was actually one of my close friends from Models For Christ. We didn't know we would both be there, and it had been a while since we spent time together, so it was a HUGE gift to sit and talk with her before the show. She had actually been going through a uniquely difficult situation that I was able to speak into, so the timing was really perfect.

God so adores these models. He is completely passionate about pursuing their hearts and revealing His love to them. It is always an honor to be a part of that process.

Updates from LA's Fashion Week! PART 1- FAVOR

Backstage again, under-qualified again, fearful but faithful... again. God is too good.

Another Fashion Week outreach, only this time it was here in Los Angeles instead of New York. The opportunity came unexpectedly, and our decision to volunteer happened quickly. Before we had much time to think, 16 of us young YWAM missionaries piled into vans and headed to downtown LA. We were hired to dress the models, simply because of my one week of experience dressing models in New York City this past September. We were all honored and excited to serve, recognizing that this was a rare opportunity to reach a group of people that may not otherwise be reached by the love of Christ.

One of the most amazing testimonies of the week was simply the great favor we received from our supervisors. In the beginning of the week they were stressed and slightly guarded, yelling directions and bluntly advising us not to steal or leave early. (Not that any of this was wrong, they were bearing a large amount of responsibility in making sure the whole week went as it should.) But by the end of the first night my YWAM girls had done such an excellent job dressing the models that our supervisors were praising our work and insisting that we return the next day to do it all again.

When we came back the next day everything went even better than it did the day before. There were two groups of us sitting on either sides of the room backstage. One side was packed with students from FIDM, (The Fashion Institute here in LA), then we were sitting on the other side of the room.. our anxious group of untrained missionaries. Each time the stylist would come grab a student from FIDM to dress, our supervisor would step in and say, "NO, those are NOT our dressers, (then she would point to us) THESE are our dressers!" Then one-by-one our girls went and greeted the model that they would be dressing for the night. After the show was over we praised God because literally NOTHING went wrong. They were brilliant! Everybody involved appeared pleased with how the show happened! At the end of the evening one of my girls took a bold step of faith and asked if she could pray for our head supervisor, then after what felt like an eternity of a pause, she responded, “Yes! But first let me grab my friends!” So within minutes our entire group circled around our bosses and my friend Dorothea prayed a beautiful prayer over them. Afterwards one of them was crying, Dorothea encouraged her by reminding her of God’s love for her as His daughter. She received the encouragement wholeheartedly and told us that she was a Christian too.

The following night we were unable to go but when we arrived on Friday our bosses were all too excited to see us. They filled us in right away that things had been stolen the night we weren’t there, they actually said, “We really felt it when you weren’t here last night!” I even overheard one supervisor telling another woman, “You don’t need to worry about these girls stealing anything, they are Christians, they wouldn’t do that.” This final night of working happened to be the most intense. It was couture night, so it was the biggest show and had the most fragile, elaborate dresses. They told us before we arrived that they probably weren't going to have anyone but me do the dressing because they needed "the best". So instead of choosing us they were going to choose the trained students from the Fashion Institute to do the dressing. However, things changed, and when we showed up they decided that we were "the best", and that my inexperienced girls were going to be dressing the show- instead of the fashion institute students! So we called our friends back at the YWAM campus and got as many people praying for us as possible. Then we gathered in a back room and prayed intensely that God would move in us and through us. We also asked Him to lift the nervousness and replace it with courage! He did!

The show went incredibly well (I will share details in the next post!) that afterwards I was approached by the designer's assistant, (who was originally a very intimidating woman with a Satanic tattoo on her neck), she said, "We were asked to do this show again so that it could be put on television, and I would like you and your girls to come back and dress our models again because they did such an amazing job." So amazing!

Our supervisors were deeply grateful for our presence there. Acknowledging the peace, joy, and positivity that happened when we arrived. There was real trust and safety that happened because they could feel God in us. It was completely beautiful. They have already asked us to return in February for their next season of shows!

Update from Shaun- September 2011

DTS (Discipleship Training School)

We currently have 50 students from all over the world to starting their 6 month Jesus journey called DTS (Discipleship Training School). It starts tomorrow!

Jessica and I are are not directing the entire program this time.

In this school we will be working much more directly with the students in discipleship and mentoring. Part of Jess’ and my role is also to help provide pastoral care for our fellow staff.

We are also overseeing six local ministry tracks that the DTS students will be joining with in their school, including the two ministries that we are personally leading; the Skate track and the Create track.

We will also be planning and leading a three month overseas outreach at the end of the year!

Did you know that there are YWAM DTS’s running in 125 nations and in 95 languages?

Brief update from this summer:

Colorado
-We spent two weeks in Colorado Springs (where Jess is from) to spend time with friends and family

-I spoke on The Great Commission at a skate church in Denver, Worked with a skate church in Colorado Springs and judged a skateboarding competition with Victory Outreach

-We taught in a cell group of about 30 college aged people on Commitment and Intimacy in Relationships.


Infusion
-Infusion is a summer program at YWAM LA. It’s basically a two week DTS. Jessica and I taught on Relationships and Purity and I also taught on The Great Commission. It’s amazing to see how much growth and transformation God can work in a person in just two weeks! A couple of my skatepark disciples did the program and they have never been the same since(in a good way)!

-I had the honor of baptizing 15 of these wonderful young people who were changed by God in Infusion. This includes two dudes from the skatepark!


GROW
-Jessica and I spoke on a Friday and Saturday at the GROW youth conference at Valley Park Church in the San Fernando Valley. On the fist night I spoke about Purpose and the second day we spoke about Missions.


YWAM University of the Nations Conference
-YWAM LA invited eight staff to a major YWAM conference in Kona, Hawaii.

They covered our conference fees and I got my flight with frequent flyer miles, so the whole trip was totally covered! It was so good to connect with and learn from YWAM leaders from all over the globe, including Loren Cunningham, the man who founded YWAM 50 years ago! (this is what I was doing while Jess was in New York...not a bad deal eh?).


I'M PUTTING TOGETHER A SHORT VIDEO FROM MY EAST ASIA SKATE OUTREACH. YOU DON'T WANT TO MISS IT!

I cannot post it on the internet for security purposes but I want to send all of you a DVD. If you have never given us your mailing address, please send it to me so that I can send you this video when it is complete.


Praise the Lord! Thank you so much for your partnership with us! Let us know how we can be praying for you.


God bless you,

Shaun Hover