Our Heart
Dear Friends,
Earlier this month, 4,500 YWAMers from 110 nations gathered in Manila, Philippines, for a powerful time of seeking God together. It was an incredible moment to, like the men Issachar (1 Chron. 12:32), discern what season we are in. As we entered into the year it is clear that we are in a season of a generational expansion. At YWAM Together, we were called to rise as a Joshua generation—a generation consecrated to obey God's word and remain faithful to His vision and covenants. Hearing stories of God's movement across the nations and of new global initiatives birthed from His heart, we left deeply impacted and encouraged.
The season in which the global YWAM Family is, finds a reflection on the ground at YWAM Lausanne. At the start of this quarter, we commissioned Daniel and Luzanne Esmeraldo, two of our long-term leaders in Lausanne, into a new assignment for this season with their sending church. Younger leaders have stepped into new roles, and we feel a fresh excitement for the assignments and inheritance of God's people in the nations. You can see a unique recap of our season of expansion in the video below.
May God bless you as you journey with him through the seasons of life.
Markus, Anita, Emeline, and Jordan
Outreach
Throughout August we ran our North Africa Outreach, for which our long term team in North Africa, alumni and others gathered together to serve predominantly the Sudanese community. For 4 weeks we ran a worldview workshop and also, for the first time since 2019, skills workshops for sewing, computer and electricity.
During the worldview workshop we learn from the books of Ezra and Nehemiah simple principles to overcome the challenges of the community and put things into practice through a project at the end of the workshop. We challenged the students to think what they have in their hands, whether material things or skills, with which they can bless their community. In one of the workshop locations this process took some time but the outcome was a great diversity of skills and passions that were discovered in the group. With projects focused on cooking, children, electricity, cleaning, teaching how to live in the community and hair styling and henna there was a great variety of projects that served the community.
What especially stood out was the electricity group. They were able to fix things, such as lights, outlets and different devices in a home of a lady who for 7 months had been looking for someone to help her but couldn't afford to get things fixed. They committed to continue offering help in this way after the workshop, giving their contact to others in the class. Furthermore, they decided to start an electricity class at our R3 center in that area to pass on their skills. This is a great joy and will have a lasting impact on the community.
The group of hair stylists also will offer their services at the R3 center, not only to do hair but also to connect with people and encourage and pray with them. This is at our second center, in which we are still developing more regular courses. God is so faithful to send the right people for this season and this workshop and we want to rejoice in the small beginnings (Zech. 4:10), which will continue to bless and develop the Sudanese community.
Forging the Future
In Closing
Your prayers and contributions are an incredible source of encouragement to us. In this season of increased local ministries directly touching the lives of people in our city, we would love to invite you to donate our local ministry fund for evangelistic events like Kingdom Come or mercy ministries like outreaches among local refugees. You can make a donation here.
