Advance 117

No. 117 | Jan – Apr 20 13

Going Beyond Pushing Borders Where faith becomes reality

Editorial|carl tinnion 2

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elcome to this edition of YWAM England’s Advance news magazine.

In this edition we will be looking at some new team plants in England as well as hearing about vision and new initiatives around Europe and beyond.

After nearly 20 years of working in YWAM I am still passionately consumed with trying to find fresh ways to describe God and what He is like.

You know that feared scenario, a friend of yours asks you out of the blue, ‘Who is God to you?’ and you stutter your way through some kind of answer.

We teach people to describe their faith in just two minutes and it’s pretty tough to do God justice without rushing through the good bits. I do find this a good exercise however, because it forces you to think about the most important aspect of who God is and what being a Christian is about.

Our faith is a message of reconciliation and hope.

It is Jesus dying on the cross for the forgiveness of our sins so that we can enjoy friendship with the God of the universe for all of time. We know this off by heart and often when you try to say all that in two minutes it sounds a bit manufactured and rehearsed. I am still not sure that people are really impacted by rehearsed truth.

One of my favourite scriptures is Romans 2:4 – that the richness of God’s kindness and his patience leads us to true and lasting repentance.

I suppose I love any language in the bible that describes the kindness of God; this is such a radical approach for the world today. He is not a God of anger or disappointment, but of constant patience and loving kindness. He is the Father of lights and He loves to give good gifts to His kids — even those kids that choose not to acknowledge his love.

This is the great challenge to us all. How do you personally describe the kindness of God? How do you reflect the Father heart of God in all that you do and say? I believe the world is desperately longing to know God in the way we intimately know him, not as a distant father but one who is intimately involved in our lives, gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast loving kindness. If we can just talk more about this in our daily missional lives, I firmly believe that a new generation of Christians will emerge from this nation again. Our world needs a fresh revelation of the Father heart of God and part of that revelation starts with us.

Carl Tinnion YWAM England National Leader

Advance | Jan – Apr 2013

02 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Editorial News from our national leader Carl Tinnion 03 . . . . . . . . Ways to get involved How could you engage with missions?

04 . . . Taunton, rooted in missions A new team for the South West 06 . . . Africa – have we forgotten?

One English woman’s efforts to bring hope 09 . . . . . . . . . . Upcoming training What’s on where - are you ready to GO? 10. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Carlisle Serving the Community 11. . . . . . . . . . . English for Missions A new school giving English as a tool for missions 12 . . . . . . . . . . . . Western Europe A new leader for the region 13. . Youth and Children’s Network Workers gather to share and support 14 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Staff Story Profiling the Henderson-Beggs 15 . . . . . . . Devotional and Prayer Faith as a mustard seed, and prayer points

The Advance Team: Natalie Edwards, Terry Elphick, Carl Tinnion Contributors: Helen Barrios, Jacki Case, Rossie Henderson-Begg, Helena Kittle, Becky Mehaffey, Kate Muammar, Yan Nicholls, Emma Wagner, Keith Whittaker.

Advance is published by YWAM England. © Copyright exists on all material in Advance and nothing within it may be reproduced wholly or in part without written permission.

Youth With A Mission England & Wales is a registered charity number 264078.

Act | get involved

Contents|in this issue

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WAM England cannot do the work alone. We need you! There are many ways to be involved in YWAM England:

Go! — Take six months to dive in deeper with God, knowing Him intimately and making Him known throughout the world with a Discipleship Training School! There are also opportunities to join us on short-term activities during the year with TESOL, English for Missions, Circuit Riders, Just Go and Wildfire outreaches. For more information on DTS or any of these activities, visit our website www.ywamengland.org or contact us at the address below.

Give! — We need your help to make an impact in the nations. If you could support us just £10 a month it would make a huge difference.

You can give to YWAM online at www.ywamengland.org/donate where a Gift Aid form can also be downloaded, or send a cheque to the address below.

Pray! — Use the prayer points given in this magazine to assist you in praying for the work of YWAM. If you are not already on our mailing list, please send us your contact details by e-mail to enquiries@ywamengland.org or to the National Support Team at the address below.

Would you prefer to receive communication from YWAM in electronic format?

If so, get in touch with your email address and we will add you to the email list.

Contacts|stay in touch Write YWAM, Highfield Oval, Harpenden Herts, AL5 4BX, UK Tel 01582 463216 E-mail enquiries@ywamengland.org Web www.ywamengland.org Facebook facebook.com/ywamengland

Twitter twitter.com/ywamengland

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“YWAM Taunton has taken four years to develop, but in those four years God has taught us many things about Him, about ourselves, serving, leadership and what it means to be homeless and relying on Him for our provision,” Keith said.

The Whittakers, who were in Quebec until September 2011, said that their relocation to England came as a surprise, but they were drawn here after seeing a map of the United Kingdom.

“Having been shown a map of the YWAM locations in the UK during 2008, we were struck by the absence of a location in the southwest and felt God moving us to do something about it,” Keith said.

“Upon our return we quickly saw that God was moving in amazing ways throughout England and the rest of Europe. Something is changing and it is so real you can taste it.”

The first six months after arriving back in England were especially testing and the Whittakers found themselves living out the re-entry training they had just given to their DTS students in Canada. It wasn’t easy, but as they said, “God is faithful in all things.” As they waited through housing issues and prayed for the new season ahead, the Whittakers found support from the local Church.

“Since arriving in Taunton, we have been welcomed by local churches, even though we held back from launching until we were ready,” Keith said.

“There is an open door for YWAM, maybe because Taunton was a centre for missions in the

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Taunton|rooted in missions 4

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WAM England now has a presence in the Southwest. Keith and Melanie Whittaker, who hail from England and Quebec, Canada respectively, have planted a new YWAM location in Taunton, which sits on the peninsula between the Bristol and English Channels.

Advance | Jan – Apr 2013

For more information contact: Keith and Melanie Whittaker Tel +44 (0) 1823 413 057 E-mail reception@ywamtaunton.org Web www.ywamtaunton.org

Taunton Castle 10th Century or because it has a YWAM history in the southwest, especially Plymouth, Torquay and Weymouth. We are grateful for the work people have done before us. This will help us to develop lasting relationships.”

YWAM Taunton opened in January and Keith and Melanie are looking for staff (especially two people to join them on the leadership team), volunteers, interns and outreach teams to join them in their vision “to know God and make Him known in Taunton, the southwest of England and the Frenchspeaking world,” That includes countries such as Algeria, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Niger, Senegal and Tunisia, but also France and Quebec.

“God is faithful in all things.”

Melanie said “I hear you asking, ‘Why has God put them in Taunton to achieve this aim?’ We’re not sure yet. We are just being faithful in His calling on our lives and saying …

“Yes, Lord”

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Africa|have we forgotten?

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our years ago I met British YWAMer Kate at with it that people deny being ill and do not seek a retreat centre in South Africa. Soft spoken the help that is available. Or they may be exposed and petite, she amazed me with what to ‘positive faith building’ religious programmes the Lord had put on her heart to do. She travels on television or in some churches, causing them to throughout the African continent teaching YWAM feel it is wrong to seek medical help. teams, local churches, and youth about HIV/AIDS — its prevention and treatment, and the spiritual and “I honestly struggle to social needs of the infected and their carers. answer these questions, but I hope and pray It was as a young missionary in the Philippines that I may offer a word around 1983 that I first learned about the of encouragement.” mysterious disease that was wiping out people all over Africa and elsewhere in the world, including Elsewhere, refugee situations, political instability in the city where I had gone to university, or corruption may cause people to have to wait San Francisco. For many years it featured in long periods for treatment, or medical facilities newspapers, documentaries, and all expressions of and supplies may not be sufficient to fill the the arts. Yet although its advance in the western need. Taking the newly formed country of South world slowed, regions such as North Africa are Sudan as an example, large numbers of displaced seeing increases in new infections. Sub-Saharan persons can lead to outbreaks of HIV with no Africa has a decline in new cases but still accounts access to information on the risk of AIDS, much less for 69% of all people living with HIV. medical help. In this case, Kate seeks to equip the In some countries such as Zambia even children local Ugandan YWAM team to bring teaching on have been taught well about AIDS in school. In prevention and treatment, and help those who many others there is so much shame associated will care for widows and children.

Advance | Jan – Apr 2013

info Those who are not sufferers themselves need help supporting loved ones or colleagues who are infected. Kate says, “Such situations really bring home the reality of death, suffering and questions such as: “What do I say to this person?”, “How do I pray for someone who is dying?” or “Should I have faith that medical treatment or prayer will prolong their life, or is it time to accept that the person’s life on earth will soon end?”.

“I honestly struggle to answer these questions, but I hope and pray that I may offer a word of encouragement to the young missionary I know who has AIDS, or help another young man to come to terms with the likelihood that he is HIV positive, and may not be able to fully pursue his dreams.

If only medical care and good nutritious food was affordable for all, it would certainly give some of the people I know more hope — but I have to accept that their situation is difficult and they have to do what they can with what they have.”

Kate’s hope is to see regional YWAM teams throughout the continent, comprised mainly of African nationals, who can offer help to YWAM

For more information contact: Kate Muammar E-mail ywamlusaka@gmail.com

bases, churches, and sufferers. Many of these helpers would be women, helping other women who often feel powerless to protect themselves and their families. Kate has travelled to these regions herself, using every form of transport from helicopter to public buses, complete with onboard preachers who take up a collection!

“God constantly amazes me when I meet people living with HIV in seemingly impossible situations, who continue to not only survive but even reach out to others who are suffering. I’m convinced that God is a healer even if he doesn’t always answer prayer the way we want Him to. What wonderful comfort to know that the Lord Almighty ‘will swallow up death for ever … He will wipe away tears from all faces … ’ (Isaiah 25:8) and ‘There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain … ’ (Revelation 21:4).

Kate has not forgotten those living with HIV/ AIDS in Africa, and neither has God. Ask Him to help Kate and others to equip new YWAM teams throughout the vast continent of Africa to minister to those affected, and even slow the spread of HIV.

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www.ywamengland.org/training 6 month missionary training for all ages

Discipleship Training School. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . September 2013 (9 months) January 2014 (6 months) Basic Leadership School . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . January & September 2013 (18 months)

Derby www.ywamderby.com Urban Missions Discipleship Training School. . . . . . . . . September 2013 (9 months)

Harpenden www.ywamharpenden.com Discipleship Training School. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . July, Septmber 2013, Jan 2014 (6 months) Teaching English as a Second Language . . . . . . . . . . . . April 2013 (6 weeks) Documentary Film School. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . July 2013 (3 months) School of Web Design and Communication. . . . . . . . . . July 2013 (3 months) Humanities and International Studies. . . . . . . . . . . . . . September 2013 (3 months) Foundations in Community Development . . . . . . . . . . September 2013 (3 months)

Holmsted Manor www.ywamholmsted.org Discipleship Training School . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . March, Sept 2013, Jan, Apr and Sept 2014 (6 months) Year For God . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . August 2013 Feb and Aug 2014 (12 months)

The King’s Lodge www.thekingslodge.com Discipleship Training School. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . April and September 2013, Jan 2014 (6 months) School of Biblical Studies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . September 2013 (9 months) Directed Reading in Biblical Studies. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . April and September 2013, Jan 2014 (3 months)

Leeds www.ywamleeds.com Arts and Justice Discipleship Training School. . . . . . . . September 2013 (12 months)

London www.ywamlondon.com

Discipleship Training School. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . September 2013 (6 months)

York www.ywamyork.com Urban Transformations Discipleship Training School..January 2014 (9 months) Basic Leadership School. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . January 2014 (9 months) Photography Discipleship Training School. . . . . . . . . . . April 2013 (6 months)

Wales www.ywamwales.org Discipleship Training School. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . September 2013 (10 months)

Courses where DTS is not a pre-requisite: London Urban Key www.ywamlondonnottinghill.com Arts Internship, May and November 2013 and 2014 (3 months) London Earls Court Community Project www.eccp-ywam.org.uk Various Counselling courses, Sept 2013, Jan and Sept 2014 Harpenden www.ywamharpenden.org Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages Apr 2013 (6 weeks)

www.ywam.org

s/y Next Wave www.sy-nextwave.com

www.ywamengland.org

Discipleship Training School. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . April, July and Oct 2013, Jan 2014(6 months) Basic Leadership School. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . March and Sept 2013 (6 months) Foundations for Counselling Ministry. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . July 2013 (3 months)

Things change all the time in YWAM so this list might not be complete.

Check out the individual Websites for more information, or

Upcoming|training courses

Carlisle www.ywamcarlisle.com

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Carlisle|serving the community

YWAM Carlisle Tel +44 (0) 1228 319 058 E-mail info@ywamcarlisle.com Web www.ywamcarlisle .com

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WAM in Carlisle hopes to see more Discipleship Training School (DTS) trainees join long term by offering an insight into what it’s like to be staff during the school. Over the past few years God has led the team to run schools that are more reflective of what it looks like to work in YWAM. This September saw the launch of a 9–month school, allowing more time for trainees to be involved with different kinds of evangelism in the city than during a usual six month school.

This gives a taste of what it would be like if they were to join YWAM long term, joining in different kinds of youth work, street evangelism, serving coffee to clubbers on Saturday nights and running a ministry reaching out to the student community in Carlisle

“Being a part of a nine month DTS is such a fantastic opportunity for me. I feel really blessed to not only be able to learn about who God is and of His heart for His children, but also get to put those things into practice. Already, I have seen God do some amazing things, and bring some incredible opportunities our way!” Rebecca Groh

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Every Wednesday night the trainees serve the student community in Carlisle with wholesome

Advance | Jan – Apr 2013

dinners for just £1. God has challenged the team to share His heart of hospitality and generosity with the students.

It didn’t have an auspicious start though. After promoting the dinners to begin at the end of September, and a good number of students saying they would come, imagine the team’s surprise when not a single student showed up!

With 20kg of mashed potato, 8kg of peas and hundreds of Cumberland sausages left over, they were disappointed but also determined to make it work. After adjusting expectations and cooking for fewer people the next time, they had about ten students show up, and have seen a steady growth since, sometimes up to 45 students. Alongside the dinners they are running events for the students and plan to run Student Alpha in partnership with a local church in January 2013. Please pray for the students; that many would come to the meals, events and Alpha course and experience God’s love, start asking questions and find Christ.

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Equipping|missionaries

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ne of the biggest needs of missionaries across the world today is to learn English. Within the YWAM community it is crucial for training schools, outreaches, global communication and working together with our international colleagues. Even in countries where English is not the primary language, it is often the key to ministry, evangelism and relationships.

What better place to equip missionaries with this important tool than here in England, the birthplace of the English language?

At The King’s Lodge in the Midlands a new school is being pioneered, English for Missions, a three month school that not only teaches trainees to speak, read, write and understand English, but aims to equip them with the English they need for their ministry. Trainees will have opportunities to worship, pray, lead, give a testimony, read the Bible and evangelize in English. The hope is to welcome trainees from Brazil, Korea, Egypt and many other nations, and offer them a safe place where they can study this new language and put it into use every day.

The vision is to create a time of training and preparation that helps trainees to break the

English for Mission Tel +44 (0) 2476 348 128 E-mail english@thekingslodge.com Web www.thekingslodge.com

language barrier and go on to live out their Godgiven dreams with greater effectiveness. Classes are fun and interactive, use music, newspapers, role plays, video clips, photos and games as well as text books, and trainees can interact daily with staff during worship, work duties, meal times and social events. Trips to places of interest like Warwick Castle, Stratford-on-Avon and London will give trainees a flavour of the history and culture of the country.

“One of the biggest needs of missionaries across the world today is to learn English.”

The school is designed to prepare people with a heart for missions to go on to DTS or further training schools, or straight into ministry in England and throughout the world.

Please share about this new school with friends and pray for God to bring trainees with a heart for missions from around the world. Pray for God to build a team with long term vision to effectively train these missionaries, and if you would like to be involved, get in touch.

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Top left is Carl Tinnion, Mike Oman, Ina Steyn and Stephe Mayers, members of the Western Europe leadership team. Bottom right: Carl is appointed as Western European leader

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Over the next few issues of Advance we will highlight some of the work of YWAM in the region of Western Europe. There are currently about 95 operating locations within the region.

YWAM is working in every nation except some of the really small nations such as Lichtenstein and Monaco. It will not be possible to profile all of them here but if you would like to know more about the work in a specific nation you can find out more at the website given below.

Advance | Jan – Apr 2013

As YWAM England, we are increasingly aware that we have a calling that goes beyond the shores of our Island. We are not separate from Europe, our prayers are for Europe to grow in the revelation of God and for the church to grow. YWAM is, and can be, a catalyst in making this happen over the next 25 years. Will you stand with us and pray for this to become reality?

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YWAM|Western Europe

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n September 2012, Carl Tinnion became the regional leader for YWAM in Western Europe in addition to his national role. This region spans from Portugal in the South West across to Austria in the East, and as far North as Scotland. Carl has been part of the leadership team for the region for nine years so in many ways it is not a shock appointment. It is unusual in the fact that it signifies a generational shift in YWAM as a whole. At 36 years of age, Carl is still quite young and it is a risky thing to do. Carl has been slightly overwhelmed but trusts it is the Lord’s leading. This appointment says a lot about the upper leadership culture of YWAM internationally. YWAM was pioneered by young men and women in the 60’s and 70’s and the true test of any organisation is its ability to reinvent and enable the baton to be passed onto the next generation and the one after. We all know that this is never a smooth process but it is obvious by this appointment that YWAM is still making room for younger leaders in its midst. It’s risky and possibly chaotic at times, but it is healthy and ensures intergenerational leadership, the ability to change in the face of a changing culture, and most importantly, continued Kingdom growth for the future.

Carl said “I have the privilege of connecting with and visiting a number of YWAMers in the region.

I was recently with YWAM Lyon, France. Led by Laurence and Lucas Munoz, a young French couple with a vision to build the Kingdom of God through the arts, this small, urban team are running DTS but are also involved in street based initiatives in hip hop dance, rap crew, art and much more. I was so encouraged to see what they are doing and to hear their vision. Their dreams include buying a property to turn into a Christian pub, dance community and recording studio, and to see more French people coming into relationship with God.”

For more information contact: Web www.ywam.org/geonavigation/list www.jem-lyon.com

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Youth|Children’s Network

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he youth and children’s network is exactly that — a network of YWAMers across England who are in any way, or would like to be, doing mission with and to young people and children. We meet together once a quarter to catch up, share stories and ideas, invite each other to join us on various projects, and just be reminded that even though we may occasionally feel alone in our ministries , there are others out there with the same passion, same dreams, who are facing the same challenges; and we specialise in doing it all with amazing food, particularly cake!

People who are part of the network are involved in all sorts of ministry including schools work assemblies, lessons and lunch clubs; KKi (King’s Kids International) missions and ministries; church based discipleship and youth DTS, youth groups, detached youth work, using the arts with youth and children’s outreach. Some people come along to be inspired, others to connect.

For more information contact: Email ywamn8@gmail.com

“People come along to be inspired, others to connect.”

It’s open to anyone who is interested in what is going on nationally, or involved in it. We are also beginning to think strategically about growth, and how we not only recruit more YWAMers to engage in youth and children’s ministry here in England, but also how we feed in those young people and children to DTS. We also want to resource each other, and those in the wider family of YWAM England, through quality training and opportunities to learn from some very experienced and qualified people that we have access to through the network, both in and out of YWAM. For more information about joining our online groups, and finding out the dates for the next gatherings, do get in touch.

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local churches, wanting to help more Christians be trained and equipped to impact their areas of influence, and to run DTS and reach out into the rest of the southwest of England. They also hope to start a pregnancy advice centre with counselling and support groups for different family planning issues — ­­ i.e. miscarriage, post abortion counselling etc.

Since September 2009 they have been working on YWAM England’s Olympic outreach, Forever, where they filled the roles of team coordinators. As part of the Forever leadership team they helped to facilitate outreach around the Games in the seven Olympic cities.

Now, Kyle and Rossie are moving to Bristol in June of 2013 to plant a new YWAM ministry in the city. Their hope is to establish a ministry that will see lasting transformation as they partner with

Advance | Jan – Apr 2013

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Staff|stories

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yle & Rossie Henderson-Begg have been serving with YWAM for the past nine years since doing their DTS in Australia before serving at the Darwin base for five years.

There they were part of the base leadership team, staffed and led DTS, and served in the backbone base ministries. They also led youth ministries in local high schools and summer missions programmes taking high school kids into the Australian outback to reach out and love the indigenous peoples.

For more information contact:

facebook YWAM Bristol

Devotional Pray

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rowing up, I heard many sermons on faith as a mustard seed (Matt 17:20) — if you have faith as a mustard seed, it will grow into a really big tree. A couple of years ago, I felt God speaking to me about this, and I decided to buy a pack of mustard seeds. To my amazement, the picture on the packet of seeds was a bush.

Mustard seeds, in fact, don’t grow into trees; they grow into bushes. And they spread very quickly.

As far as this particular parable goes, I’m not sure God is trying to teach us that if we have faith, we will be a big tall tree. Instead, I think he’s trying to show us that we become a wild, untameable bush, which spreads and covers the land. Faith as a mustard seed is easily multipliable, grows rapidly, and makes a difference to the landscape.

I wonder how many times God wants us to have a paradigm shift; where we’ve heard a particular view and adopted it without testing it, weighing

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it, to one where we actually hear what God wants to say to us. God has spoken to me more through this understanding than what actually happens to mustard seeds. In fact, the mountain that God moved in my life was one of understanding that God desires to multiply small things, and that he is a God of abundance.

We are in a season of preparing for growth as an organisation, and I believe that this scripture speaks to the heart of that growth — that it will come at grassroots level and spread very quickly.

It’s a great time to be alive and to deal with our own personal mountains. Perhaps the next time you find yourself in need of a mountain moved in your life, take a moment and reflect on how a small word of the Lord can uproot that mulberry tree and put it in the sea (Luke 17:6). And be prepared to listen to God; there may be a paradigm shift required in your view of that mountain.

Yan Nicholls — National Evangelist

For those working in Africa, that they would have hope. For Kate Muammar in her work with those living with HIV/Aids, and for new teams to be established throughout the continent.

For the preparation and planning of the Easter Wildfire outreach to Tanzania.

For Jacki Case and staff running the first English for Missions school.

For trainees with a heart for missions from around the world.

For the building of a long-term team to effectively train these missionaries.

For Keith and Melanie Whittaker as they put down roots in Taunton and for Kyle and Rossie Henderson-Begg as they prepare to move to Bristol. For furthering of good relationships with Christians in the South West and for wisdom in establishing the teams there.

For the work of YWAM Carlisle reaching out to the community around them, especially the University students. For strengthening of relationship with local churches and for the proposed Alpha courses and other events, that students would be drawn to Christ.

For Carl Tinnion in his new role as leader for YWAM in Western Europe. For YWAM to be a catalyst in seeing the church grow in the region. For YWAM Lyon in their street evangelism, the purchase of a property and for more French people to come into relationship with God For the staff of YWAM England that are engaging with Children and Youth around the nation.

For more to be added to the number who have a passion to reach out to this generation.

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Cost: £350 approx tbc (plus flight, insurance etc) Family reductions available on request Wildfire is a ministry of King’s Kids England (KKi england)

To apply and for more info visit www.kkiengland.com or email Andy Kennedy at andykcircus@mac.com

For more info go to — www.justgoywam.com