The emptiness and hunger that Saint Augustine speaks of whispers through every human heart. I am grateful for this divine gift that drives us to seek a deeper relationship with God. Among the resources that God has used in my own life to bring me to a deeper and more meaningful relationship with Him is involvement with a missions organization called Youth With A Mission. This summer I was privileged to be accepted as a staff member with YWAM Madison for a one year term.
YWAM is a global missions organization that celebrated its 50th birthday party this year. YWAM’s mission is “to know God and make Him known.” It focuses on meeting this goal through evangelistic outreach, various care ministries, and discipleship training.
The YWAM base that I will be working with is located in Madison, Wisconsin. My involvement with this base goes back more than ten years to 1998 when I took part in an outreach for youth called King’s Kids. Sitting nervously in my family’s car as I headed off to the unknowns of a missions trip, I had no idea of the life-changing experience that I was in for. The environment, experiences, and discipleship offered during the trip slowly transformed me. My fear of the inner city turned to a heart for seeing the broken made beautiful. The presence of God during the performance of a worship song in a small and almost empty church in rural Oklahoma gave me a glimpse of His holiness. When I followed God’s prompting to pray for an elderly woman and found that the prayer ministered to her, I received a taste of the joy found in serving in partnership with Him. During a time of individual worship in a cool church basement I delighted in enjoying His love for me. I went home from King’s Kids with an understanding of God and the intimacy that He desired with me that was far greater than I had ever imagined before. Years later the memories of this time prompted me to return to Madison during a rocky season in my relationship with God, and I spent significant time there the next three summers. The thought of serving in a place that has been so foundation to my spiritual growth is truly exciting to me.
So, what will I be doing in Madison? Eating cheese? (To which the answer is probably some, but not as much as you might think in WisconsinJ) Initially, I will be serving as a staff member of the Children at Risk Discipleship Training School (DTS). The students who attend this school will be immersed in intensive and practical Christian living training. They will also be learning about the needs of children around the world—children affected by AIDS, human trafficking, and violence. The students will receive training to help them reach out to these children and their communities. After three months of training, we will head overseas for about six weeks to minister to the children we have been learning about. The Children at Risk Discipleship Training School is offered every fall at YWAM Madison, and the last two years have seen an explosion of interest—it’s exciting see God at work!
As the saying goes, “no man is an island” and serving in missions is no exception. We build the kingdom of God together. Would you consider joining me in building with YWAM Madison? There are many ways to be involved.
One way to be involved is through financial support. YWAM does not provide living expenses for those who serve with them, so I will depend on the support of individuals and churches that want to partner in this work. Donations can be regular or one-time. You can give online at http://www.ywammadison.org/donate/ or arrange with the YWAM accounting department to have the money withdrawn automatically from your paycheck. Donations can also be mailed to YWAM Madison, PO Box 8503, Madison, WI 53708. If you are writing a check, for tax-deductable purposes please make the check out to YWAM Madison and indicate on a separate sheet of paper that you would like it to be credited to me.
Another important way to be involved is through prayer. I know that God moves through the prayers of his people, and I deeply desire yours in support of the ministry in Madison and my service there. I am praying for a prayer team of thirty-one people to regularly pray for me. I am also looking for a prayer team of people that will commit to pray daily for our ministry—a sort of first response team that I could send “help! We are having a difficult week in DTS and need prayer for...” emails. Would you be interested in joining either of these teams?
I truly look forward to sharing the joy of God’s work with my partners. I will send out a newsletter on a regular basis, and will also blog here at http://ej-pilgrim.blogspot.com/.
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