Who we are and why we are here

Who we are:

Most of the people who will come across this via me linking on facebook and social networks of that nature will already have knowledge of my testimony and story.. so I will keep it short here. My name is Katrina Schissler... 2.5 years ago I found myself as a newly single mom who was working and going to school full-time,on the search for a relationship with God but no idea how to obtain it. I was led to a wonderful church community and connected with a loving, compassionate godly woman as a mentor. I was terrified to join a church community, and even more terrified to begin to dig at the depths of my heart with God by my side- because I knew that a lot of pain, fear, anxiety and a variety of other emotions would have to be dealt with.

Fast forward to present day. I have been on this journey of seeking God out- getting to know his character, his promises, his will for my life, and also getting to know myself as he intended me to be- and it has been everything BUT easy. I am a baby in my faith, still crawling but beginning to pull up on the objects around me to test my leg strength for the big task of walking fully upright with the Lord. 

Meet Isabella (Bella, Belle):

My vivacious 4 year old daughter who completely turned my world upside down. It was through her that God so strongly spoke to me about relinquishing control of my life (and hers) and instead give it away to him. She is intelligent, loving, incredibly independent, and has the ability to understand things in a wisdom that seems to go well beyond her four years of age. 

Why YWAM?

For about a year now I have felt God calling me out of my comfort zone. Even as a single family unit, Bella and I have had many blessings of comfort. I hid out in it, and because of the crazy balance that is life have felt distracted and unable to focus on growing in my faith and getting to know God more. I had heard about Youth With a Mission, a place where people of all denominations and life experience can go  for a DTS (Discipleship Training School) and apply the teachings from DTS on an outreach to those in need. I thought it sounded like a great organization, but not one for me. For some reason or another I deemed doing a DTS impossible for a single mother to do... the time aspect, the financial aspect, the community aspect- I fully believed there was no way I could do something like that, even though it sounded like just what I was looking for. 6 months ago I began to hear a whisper in my ear that I could do a DTS with YWAM.. and in fact.. God wanted me to be there. Instead of continuing to doubt, I decided to really pray about it.. and sure enough it was confirmed. I began to plan and do the footwork that I needed to with continued prayer and before I knew it June was arriving and it was time for us to move onto the YWAM Salem base. 

This part of my journey is to focus on growth. I've gone through the healing and forgiven stages that have needed to be released instead of creating roadblock. I want to go outside of myself. I want to be stretched, and most of all... I want to share this incredible love I have come to know with others. I want to tell them that they are worthy. I want to tell them they are uniquely and wonderfully made. I want to tell them there is hope and the gospel is real. For Bella, my hope is that the word of life is spoken into her little soul in this community, that she grow upon truth, love, and identity. 

My DTS is a lecture phase where each week we have a speaker that shares their testimony and a specific topic.. such as Hearing the voice of God. There is so much more that goes into this phase that I will expand upon later, but I need to get caught up! Bella is in a school called Children of Destiny- where she will learn about God and his word- have fun with her peers, and the speakers that speak to the adults also speak to the children. She has amazing teachers- I am SO excited for her in this time.

So... there is a little glimpse into how we got here. I want to use this space to share my heart in this journey- and to feed some of the curiosity that my family and friends have in us doing this. 

We still need financial support- I would love for you to pray and ask God on whether or not giving financially to Bella's and my mission is something that is on your heart to do. If that answer is yes you can do so via the paypal link at the very bottom of this page- or write us at:

 Trina/Bella Schissler
YWAM Salem
7085 Batttlecreek Rd SE
Salem, OR 97317

We definitely need prayer support- we are in a bit of culture shock right now- and prayers for strength, patience, rest, trust, unity and guidance are MUCH appreciated. We love you all so much even if we don't get to talk/see you often during this time.

I will be posting the info on our outreach-where we are going, what we will be doing, in the coming weeks. 

Please feel free to share this with anyone and everyone you feel inclined to. Until the whole world hears!