By LeAnn Hjelmeland
If 2015 Lynnville-Sully alum Katy Sevcik had followed her original plans after high school, she’d just be starting her sophomore year of college. Get a “normal” education and then become involved with missions, she thought. Plans changed, however, when the Searsboro native felt God telling her to do something different. She decided to apply for a Youth With A Mission (YWAM) Discipleship Training School (DTS) in Uganda and received an “enormous confirmation” about pursuing that path.
“A lot of doors had to open for it to happen as quickly as it did, and it was clear that God's hand was in it. Everything from fundraising to passport application happened incredibly smoothly,” said Sevcik, the daughter of Scott and Jean Coffin.
A man removes jiggers from a boy's foot in the Ugandan village of Lia. Jiggers are small insects that burrow into skin (normally under toenails or fingernails), lay eggs, and become incredibly painful. When left untreated, they can start to destroy soft tissue and cause many health issues. Removing jiggers was one of the tasks Sevcik and her team helped with as part of their mission work in Africa. They saw a lot of people who had lost toenails, toes, or had severe infections, among other problems. Unfortunately, the jiggers are very common in some areas, so it has just become a way of life for many, according to Sevcik.
One month later, in July 2015, she was on her way to East Africa, where she lived for the next six months while completing her DTS. Her journey started with three months in Soroti, Uganda, where classes focused on evangelism. She then spent a couple months doing outreach in Moroto, Uganda; Loa, South Sudan; and Moliandru, South Sudan.
“Our focus was evangelism, so we did some door-to-door ministry, some children's ministry, preaching or leading worship and presenting skits on Sundays, and a little bit of medical mission (removing jiggers from feet and shaving heads to remove lice, specifically for children),” Sevcik said. “We also helped build a church, planted a few new churches in villages that locals from the main town are now running, and stayed mostly at orphanages so we had opportunities to minister to and have fellowship with the children.”
After her first six-month stint with YWAM, Sevcik turned her focus more toward counseling mission work, and she recently finished her FCM (Foundations for Counseling Ministry) school. She began the training for it back in April in Kona, HI, learning basic counseling skills, such as active listening, heart chart (a tool used for renewing beliefs or thoughts, which is the root of feelings and actions), and Immanuel process (another tool used for dealing with traumas or "broken shalom" – moments when someone doesn't feel peace).
Katy Sevcik (fourth from left) and her team based out of Singapore have fun posing with the Fruits of the Spirit.
The outreach portion of her FCM took Sevcik to Singapore, where she and a team ministered in Yangon and Taungoo in Myanmar and Ho Chi Minh and Da Lat in Vietnam.
“We mostly ran counseling seminars to both teach and minister to nursing students, teachers, and YWAM staff,” Sevcik said. “This included a few days of teaching each week and a few days of prayer ministry. We also did prayer walks, spoke at a few services, and had times of fellowship with the people we were ministering to.”
Another part of their assignment was to build a "helping relationship" with someone. For this case study, team members used the tools and skills they were taught to learn about and counsel a "seeker" as well as pray for them regularly.
Sevcik returned home to Iowa this month and took time to reflect on the ways she’s grown since starting with YWAM in July 2015.
“Each place I have been has had an entirely different culture and opportunities to learn,” she noted.
Back in Africa, God taught her about patience and provided her with the setting she needed to grow. “With some of the difficult conditions we were living in, I think I became a much stronger person,” Sevcik said. “The conditions weren't big challenges for me, but they really removed all distractions along with comforts. Since everything was sort of stripped away and we learned to live with basics, I learned the basics of my relationship with God and with who I am. Without the distractions and familiarity, I really got to the core of who I am and my faith.”
More recently with her FCM, Sevcik said she has received a lot of healing and learned how to deal with emotions healthily. “A really impressive thing with the counseling program in University of the Nations, or YWAM, is everything is applied to ourselves before we bring that to others,” she explained. “One of YWAM's mottos is ‘do first, then teach.’ In these counseling schools, we learn about the tools by using them ourselves first.”
Acknowledging that emotions are not bad and learning how to healthily deal with them has been an enormous part of her personal growth, she continued. “Being at a place of peace with myself enables me to bring that peace to others.”
Throughout the entire YWAM journey, she has learned about community living and how to function well in a team. “Part of that includes communicating well and also bringing individual giftings to a team setting,” Sevcik said. “Overall, my walk with God and my faith have grown and changed in enormous ways that wouldn't fit in one newspaper article!”
Hearing daily testimonies of what God has done in other people’s lives has been one of her favorite parts about being with YWAM. She personally has seen God work in enormous ways with physical healings, spiritual break-throughs, emotional healing and restoration, communities coming together, and other ways of His love being poured out on His children.
Other highlights for her include not just seeing but actually experiencing beautiful cultures and delicious food throughout the countries she has visited.
Sevcik has also appreciated the people she has been able to work with. “I have had the privilege of being part of some incredible teams and have met many inspiring people,” she said.
On the other hand, living constantly in community has been a challenge for Sevcik.
“As much as I love the people I'm with and my team, it can be difficult to never have time alone,” she said, adding, “Communication is also a common issue. Working in international settings means there are language barriers and cultural communication differences. I have had to learn to speak slowly, change sentence structure for translation, even use different nonverbal signs and facial expressions. It can be frustrating to only communicate through translators or even within an English-speaking team to have miscommunication.”
Sevcik plans to continue with YWAM and take a few upper-level counseling schools. Through University of the Nations with YWAM, she is working toward getting either an associate’s or bachelor’s degree in counseling.
“Once I've received that, I may transfer to another university to continue education, but have no plans yet,” she said. “Wherever God takes me, I am confident that my calling is in missions, at least for these next few years.”
Sevcik continues to raise support for her upcoming YWAM training/outreach. Those interested in donating can deposit into her mission account at 1st State Bank in Lynnville or may contact Sevcik at katysev_12@hotmail.com.
