There is something very powerful about gathering missionaries together and hearing stories of what is happening all around Africa. In May we invited ministry leaders from all over the continent to join us in Johannesburg. Our intention was to encourage each other, share resources and make connections. We did all those things but it’s fair to say that hearing stories of changed lives and transformed communities were a real highlight. We heard about how the Dignity Campaign http://www.dignity.org.za is changing the lives of girls and women. In Uganda an initiative to plant millions of trees, equip schools and place orphans in families is bringing transformation in amazing ways. In Mali, market gardens are giving families new hope along with extraordinary stories from Madagascar and Zimbabwe where hundreds are responding to the gospel and bringing changed attitudes to downtrodden communities. It was a powerful time and many expressed an enthusiasm to do the same thing in different regions in the continent so many more workers can benefit and be encouraged.
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We have just returned from running workshops for 2 churches in Mauritius. Although most people only know about the beautiful beach resorts and tourist industry, Mauritius has many social and economic challenges. It was encouraging for us to meet two large churches who are excited about engaging with the community around them. Together we looked at the issues they were facing such as drugs, ethnic differences and education. We concentrated on the beliefs and world-view behind these challenges and then responses that could make a long term difference. Those who attended the workshops began to see new possibilities and the difference local church can bring. We hope to hear stories of change and hope coming from these churches in the near future. Children benefitting from extra education classes provided by the church
As in many places, the church in Egypt faces some serious challenges. The country has experienced political and economic turmoil, a huge influx of refugees and continued persecution of believers. What a time to be part of a gathering to bring together more than 150 church and missions leaders! It was encouraging to see leaders from diverse denominations and backgrounds grappling together with issues; facing the challenge of how to reach out and love their neighbour. We met some amazing people working in difficult circumstances who are asking for encouragement, input and teaching. We are hoping to go back to see how we can help. We have been invited back in September to start training the YWAM team and local church leaders. This is a new region for us and would require a steep learning curve. However, with two invitations now connected to this region, we sense an open door and an opportunity to bring other trainers to serve this region in the future. Pray for wisdom as we consider this possibility. Please pray for the YWAM team in Egypt who are, among other activities, reaching out to Syrian refugees and sending short term teams into neighbouring countries. For more information see Call2Compassion We started the year by being part of the Asian Leaders Learning Community (http://allc.asia) Summit in Chiang Mai, Thailand. The name is a bit of a mouthful but the concept is brilliant. It’s a relatively new ministry that provides teaching, coaching and mentoring to young and emerging leaders from across Asia by linking them with elders. Over the 4 intense days we were part of a team of YWAM elders who spent quality time with 60 Asian leaders. We absolutely loved it! We spent the days hanging out, eating together, listening, discussing and running workshops for these eager young leaders. We ran 2 workshops on ‘building effective teams’ and had 2 ‘FaceTime’ sessions. FaceTime is where we sit with 6 young leaders for 2 hours and they can ask questions on any topic. It was a rich time of investing and speaking directly into their lives. The feedback was really encouraging and many talked about how they would be able to implement the things they learned from the workshops. What a privilege to invest in so many amazing people! We were in Togo, West Africa recently where we met a remarkable team who are planning for the next 30 years! We were there to run workshops for local pastors, missionaries and members of the local community. ,As part of our trip we went to see some teak forests planted by YWAM missionaries, which will secure an income for the work in the long term. They have a whole system where there are short term benefits, such as producing charcoal and fencing posts from thinning the forest. In the long term there will be top quality wood to sell and sustainable replanting. This may not sound a big deal but it is rare to find such long term thinking in developing situations. We teach a lot about planning and long term change so we came away really encouraged to see it in action! We took some fun roads to get there as well :)
We recently had a skype chat with Gideon, our team leader, in Zimbabwe. Despite the many challenges people face in everyday life, the team are inspiring hope in the communities . We want to continue to stand with them during these difficult days. Please pray for: Gideon’s health – he has a suspected ulcer and is waiting for an appointment with a specialist Shortage of cash - people have to queue at the bank every time they need cash, sometimes to be told there is no cash left. This puts tremendous pressure on the team as so much time is regularly spent queuing. Drought – the communities have experienced drought for the last two years. They only had 2 weeks of rain during the whole of last year. Rain is not expected until the end of November but there are already serious water shortages and some animals will have to be slaughtered.
Earlier this year we had the privilege of teaching a group of international students in Lausanne, Switzerland. There were participants from Europe, Australia, Korea, Mexico, Singapore and USA. Ali led a week on how to work cross culturally and Dave taught on project planning and management.
We were really thrilled with the outcome. We had some wonderful feedback from the students who have all returned to work in various types of ministry and work situations. Here is a short clip from the one of the students who attended the training school. Lausanne CDS from Dave Swann on Vimeo. |