Editorial: Mums, Dads and Missions

By Tamara Neely

Since we are all getting excited about the 50th anniversary celebrations in 2010, the IY is reflecting on growing up! (Some would say, it’s about time!)

Thousands of parents are raising kids in our unique YWAM lifestyle which comes with enormous privileges and incredible challenges. In this issue we hope to reassure those of you raising kids in YWAM that they might just turn out ok. We also highlight a resource that you’ll find useful.

But it’s not just the kids that are growing! We are following up the reports from the latest Global Leadership Team (GLT) meeting which were posted on old.ywam.org and getting more insight from participants about the important issues being discussed regarding the future structure and expansion of YWAM and how it will affect you. More insight into this important question will be circulated in upcoming leaders letters and prayer days and all of it will be highlighted on YWAM’s facebook fan page: www.facebook.com/youthwithamission where International Chairman, Lynn Green, recently participated in a live question-and-answer session! Read the transcript at our page and join the next one!

Finally, it’s been a season of tragedy as natural disasters in Indonesia, Samoa, American Samoa and the Philippines have wreaked extensive damage and taken many lives. We thank God that none of our YWAM family members in these locations were injured in these disasters, but they are all contributing to relief efforts. Find out more and help with donations at:ywam.org/articles/article.asp?AID=748

An Abnormal, Extraordinary Life —

The Perks and Perils of Raising Kids in YWAM

By Jill Martin

Anyone who’s brought up children on the mission field will tell you it’s not easy. The truth is that anyone who has raised children in any environment will say the same. Still, there is no denying that raising kids in YWAM carries its own set of challenges—but can there be blessings as well?

The IY interviewed two families who have raised their children in YWAM. Indians, Simon and Anima Martins have been with the mission for over 25 years, serving in India apart from two years with YWAM Australia. Their three teenage sons, Abhishek, Vijay and Roshan, have lived their entire lives in the mission.

“The biggest challenge for me was learning to balance home and ministry,” said Anima. “If I stayed at home with my children I felt like I wasn’t doing enough ministry, and if I was involved with the ministry I felt like I was neglecting my children.” Anima found equilibrium in following a strict schedule, and eventually learned to balance motherhood and ministry.

Simon believes the travel, cross-cultural experiences and homeschooling involved in raising their kids in YWAM was a real benefit for their boys. “Our kids had more opportunities to be with their families, travel, and interact with a variety of people.” The downside, he says, was being unable to provide certain basics for their kids during seasons when finances were tight. The positive side, says Simon, is that, “Our kids saw and experienced God’s faithfulness as they saw over the years how the Lord provided for us in our difficulties.”

Surprisingly, 15-year-old Vijay remembers it differently. “I never really felt deprived of material things. Sometimes the shifting and being away from friends was difficult, but still now when I look back on it I see it was not that bad.”

The Martin family traveled a lot, shifted locations and was frequently involved in outreach, but being homeschooled gave Vijay stability. “I could move to another city without bothering to think about having school friends or how the school would be and if I would adjust, plus homeschooling has helped me develop my other talents like writing, painting, photography and skateboarding. And I get to be around my family 24/7.”

15-year-old British YWAMer Naomi Bishop grew up in Costa Rica and Argentina and moved back to YWAM England’s Harpenden base two years ago. Soon after arriving in Costa Rica at the age of four, Naomi was thrown into a Spanish-speaking kindergarten where she learned the language quickly. Although there were challenges, she is positive about her family’s YWAM lifestyle. “I saw so many examples of miracles and blessings that made it really obvious that God existed. And it was great being able to experience a different culture and learn another language.”

Not all of it was easy, though. “In Argentina, my non-YWAM friends would date and go to clubs, but we couldn’t because the YWAM culture was very strict about that. I think my parents would have been more open to us doing that if they weren’t in YWAM.”

Moving back to England was tough, too. “I was so used to Argentina and I couldn’t remember anything but that, so moving to England was really hard. Since coming back I’ve had to make new friends. Also, I don’t know what people are talking about—famous songs, TV shows, that kind of cultural thing. It’s not important, but when people talk about those things I don’t have the shared memories that everyone else has.”

But when all is said and done, these two YWAM teens wouldn’t change a thing. “Growing up in YWAM is a blast,” says Vijay Simons. “The people you live around, the miracles you see happening around you, meeting people from different places, traveling to villages, towns, big cities, and living in rooms which range from comfortable to literally a wooden hut in the middle of nowhere.” His advice to other YWAM kids? “You will never regret growing up in YWAM; it’s a once in a lifetime experience.”

Naomi is equally positive. “I have a strong Christian foundation. It’s made me realize that whatever I do has purpose. When I go to live away from home that’ll be quite an adjustment, but I’ve always attended non-Christian schools so I know more about what to expect. But I can’t imagine myself not being in YWAM!” She has a piece of advice for YWAM parents as well: “Make sure your kids know what your purpose is and why you’re there; communicate with them about what you do and why and encourage them to be part of the YWAM ministry you’re in. Involve them in the decisions you make about what to do and where to go.”

Perhaps Simon Martins sums it up best. “I would say in the end, that even though it was difficult at times over the years raising our kids in the mission field, I would not trade it for anything. What better way to teach one’s child the ways of God than by walking along with them?”

Want to talk more about raising kids in YWAM? Start a discussion on YWAM’s facebook page – www.facebook.com/youthwithamission

Book Review: “Families in Ministry – How to Thrive, Not Just Survive”

Finally! A book has been released for YWAMers that addresses the issue of balancing family and ministry.

“Families in Ministry-How to Thrive, Not just Survive” by Andreas and Angela Fresz, European directors of YWAM Family Ministries, can be used as a personal resource or group study.

Topics covered in the eight chapters include:

• My vision, your vision, our vision – who has priority?
• Dealing with community life
• The challenges of pioneering situations
• Living in an international community.

Testimonies between the chapters bring the teaching to life and each chapter comes with practical suggestions for spouse or group dialogue, as well as ideas on how to implement the ideas in your own family.

The regular price for this book is €14,95. But if you order 3 or more copies by October 31st you pay only €11,95 per book, plus receive free shipping anywhere in the world.

Order from YWAM Publishing in Europe sales@ywampublishing.eu or in the USA: sales@ywampublishing.com

The Physics of YWAM

by Michael Green

Michael Green is on staff at YWAM Harpenden. He is the son of International Chairman, Lynn Green, and he reports here from the Youth Track of the GLT.

I’m writing this on the 40th Anniversary of YWAM in Lausanne, Switzerland – at the base which also happens to be the place where my parents, Lynn and Marti Green, first met, fell in love, and with a little helpful pressure from Loren Cunningham, got engaged. YWAM back then was a little known, mainly American missionary organisation with the then crazy idea that young people could go into all the world and make disciples. With only a handful of students and staff, there wasn’t much formal structure and YWAM depended upon each person hearing from God and obeying.

Forty years on and a few things have changed. We’re not so small anymore and we are also getting to be fairly well known. But some things haven’t changed. We still have some crazy ideas and we still depend upon each person hearing the voice of God and obeying. There is some formal structure, although people outside of YWAM grapple with exactly how an organisation could be so big and yet so decentralized. And incredibly, YWAM seems to be on the threshold of dramatic growth and it is how we prepare for and structure ourselves in preparation for this growth that was the main agenda item for the Global Leadership Team (GLT) this last week.

As part of the group of young leaders that were invited to attend this time, I was able to sit in on a number of the GLT sessions and share informal conversations over coffee breaks and meal times.

One of my most interesting conversations was inspired by Tom Hallas explaining Quantum Entanglement to the GLT! For those of you who haven’t studied physics, it is possible to link together two quantum particles (atoms, for example) in a special way that makes them effectively two parts of the same entity. You can then separate them as far as you like, and a change in one is instantly reflected in the other. That is quantum entanglement.

The famous physicist, Albert Einstein, called this “spooky action at a distance.” He didn’t understand it and truth be told, I don’t think Tom does either. Nevertheless, at the very core of our universe, when you break it down into its smallest sub-atomic particles, is the foundation of relationship.

Quantum Entanglement sounds a little like the incredible stories of faith that YWAM is famous for. We have heard many stories of recent miracles over the week, but this afternoon, at the 40th celebration, Loren and Darlene told the story of how God provided for the purchase of the Lausanne campus. On the day they were to purchase the property, YWAM was still ten thousand dollars short on the down payment and were facing losing the substantial deposit they had put down. Nevertheless, Loren went to the meeting that was pre-arranged at the bank. On the way, he dropped by the post office and discovered a number of cheques (posted days and even weeks previously) that totaled the missing ten thousand dollars – “spooky action at a distance”.

At the other end of the scale, as chemists and physicists study more, they conclude that the beginning of our universe can only be described as a miracle (which isn’t a surprise to most of us). Nobel laureate and high energy physicist Steven Weinberg writes, “Life as we know it would be impossible if any one of several physical quantities had slightly different values.” For example, as Weinberg calculates, the energy of the Big Bang (which cannot yet be explained) is tuned to one part in 10 to the 120th power. Meaning, if the energy of the big bang were different by more than one part out of a 10, with a 120 zeros behind it (this is a pretty big number), there would be no life anywhere in the universe. In the beginning, God. In the beginning, relationship.

You probably see where I am going with this. As you break down YWAM into it’s smallest parts, you find that it is relationship that holds it together and that it is relationship that holds YWAM together at a global level. Every YWAMer has freedom in the Spirit to hear and obey the word of the Lord, under the covering of spiritual eldership all operating under the word and the will of the Lord. At every level there is relationship. Which is how we can arrive at a GLT, a representation of the eldership of YWAM, to discover that God has been speaking the same message to so many people at the same time all around the world.

Just as scientists have been unable to find a unifying theory between quantum physics and cosmology, exactly how YWAM works will still tend to be a bit of a mystery. In the end, it all comes back to relationship and love, which neatly brings us right back to where we started and I suppose, without going into too much detail, to where I started . . .

YWAM’s Global Leadership Team : In Their Own Words

The International YWAMer asked some of this years’ GLT representatives what they thought was significant about their September meeting in Lausanne. Here is what they had to say…

What do you think was the most important outcome of this GLT meeting?

Method Kamanze (East Africa): Seeking the Lord together, hearing, processing and praying together. All these make it very real that we are part of one big family of God.

Alan Lim (SouthEast Asia and Australia): Our future! How we see ourselves now, how we make necessary changes and move towards what we see from God in the future will determine if we finish well or if we plateau and potentially decline.

Ricardo Ignacio Rodriguez (North South America): That we, as a mission, are moving towards a different leadership structure, not yet known. The role of our fathers in the faith – our elders – will define much of our future leadership in all levels of the mission.

Jean-Patrick Perrin (West Africa): That we were able to decide together that we have to rethink the leadership of YWAM…on the one side to recognize the good leadership we have had until now, and on the other side to say we need to make room for more.

Joshua Tanaami (West/Central South Asia): I believe that one of the most important outcomes of this meeting was the renewal of our commitment and trust in God and in Team 3+ * through times of open dialogue and seeking the Word of the Lord, for this transition phase in our history.

* Team 3 is YWAM’s most senior leadership trio. This team convenes the Global Leadership Team and consists of Lynn Green (chairman), Iain Muir (director) and John Dawson (president). ‘Team 3 plus’ adds founders, Loren and Darlene Cunningham; senior field leader, Tom Hallas; and former chairman, Jim Stier to form a global leadership executive.

How will local ministry leaders be affected by what happened at this meeting?

Joshua: God is emphasizing the need to provide true eldership throughout the mission rather than building the organization. Structures and guidelines will continue to exist as we comply ourselves to local laws, but I believe local leaders will be positively affected by a growing network of elders who will provide them with spiritual covering, pastoral care and wisdom.

Alan: If base and local leaders see their place of leadership as a point of control, territory or jurisdiction, it will only be a matter of time before they will diminish. More and more we are not looking at geographical empowerment but more a calling and anointing empowerment.

Jean Patrick: The challenge is to build up the deep trust like we have in the GLT – its takes time and humility…we have to grow in those areas locally.

What will you be doing differently as a result of this meeting?

Method: Giving more encouragement to younger, emerging leaders, talking and spending intentional time with them.

Ricardo: I will embrace with greater strength this call to prepare ourselves for the greater things God has stored for us in the future and to invest myself in the new generation of leaders.

Joshua: I was challenged to strengthen the prophetic ministry in our regional leadership team.

Jean Patrick: I have to grow in the area of humility and lead others in this way too, as demonstrated by Lynn and John.

Any other comments about this GLT?

Method: For me, the GLT is very important – it helps me feel less isolated, and encouraged by what God is doing around the world.

Alan: One of the best GLT meetings I have been to. It was great to have the younger leaders among us – we should encourage more of their participation

Ricardo: It was great to see people like Joshua Tanaami involved in facilitating the GLT meeting and I think this is the way to go in the future. I hope to see YWAM become more and more truly international in their scope, even in the GLT meetings.

Joshua: It was a wonderful mix of senior GLT members, young leaders and prayer warriors : a wonderful representation of who we are – possibly the most diverse and decentralized worldwide organization that ever existed? There were difficult issues to address, particularly related to where we are heading to as a mission movement, but God met with us!

Jean Patrick: It is a great team and I’m proud to be part of it, great unity and tremendous love. I think it is a foretaste of the Kingdom!

Watch for more discussion on YWAM’s future structure in upcoming IY editions and leadership letters. Join the discussions on YWAM’s facebook page : www.facebook.com/youthwithamission

A moment in YWAM

YWAM staff in the Philippines pause to pray as they pass out essential supplies to victims of Typhoon Ondoy which hit the Philippines on September 26, causing widespread flooding and mudslides.

Information on YWAM’s response to the disasters in Philippines, Samoa and Indonesia and how you can help are available on: old.ywam.org