Momentous news ……YWAM York is now the proud owner of what was previously a  Church Hall  but will shortly be transformed in to the Barnabas Community Center on Salisbury Avenue, Leeman Road, York!!!
The solicitors signed off on it this week and we now have the keys……..WOW!

We have a building contractor in place and the structural work should be finished by the end of December.   We are now planning and designing the space, renovations etc it is all very exciting.

On top of this we have recruited a family of 4 to come and join us.  The husband will be helping Carl with national communications and PR and his wife will be working with children, youth, families in the area as well as work amongst the poor.  We are very excited and this is a major answer to prayer for us!

 We are currently fundraising the £100 to pay off the loan and for the building works so we can be debt free!

The structural work will be about 40,000 and the remaining 10,000 will be put towards renovations such as a new kitchen, smoke alarms etc.    So the goal is to raise 100,000  over the next 6 months, please continue to stand with us in prayer to see this come in.

Just thought you would be encouraged by all this.  It has been a long road to buy it.  But praise God we got there!

So we are now on the final day of our three day training camp in Nuneaton. Our team of 14 have been united at last from across the UK and we have such an amazing bunch of young adults with such great gifts and talents coming to Romania.

Scottish dancing, musicians, lots of us love to work with children, we have had workshops over the past few days on face painting, balloon modelling, evangelism, bubble making, arts and crafts, circus and magic skills! All very exciting.

So tomorrow we fly out to Romania for two weeks to help with childrens programs, work among the gypsy community and with the churches. So watch this space for news on how it all goes!

What did you enjoy the most about the staff gathering?

Catching up with old friends and making new friends. I also really enjoyed running the cafe and getting to meet lots of people. There was one evening where people dressed up in 70’s and 80’s gear and told YWAM stories from back in the day.

How were the talks?

It was interesting to hear Carmelita talk about central Europe and really sad to hear how few Christians and ywamers in central Europe.  We have no YWAMers in Greece currently and it was really great to hear how they had sent an outreach team there and that they had been really well received. It was inspiring to hear the vision to reach 5 cities over two years starting new YWAM teams.

How was the food and accommodation?

We were camping which was fun, the showers were delightful and the food was exquisite!  We’d definitely go again.

The YWAM York 2011 DTS is going well, we’re seeing a lot of growth in the staff and trainees alike.

The DTS house is becoming a bit hub for the local children (6-11) – they’re bored most of the time so we bake, play football, paint, garden, listen etc. They keep coming a-knockin so we must be doing something right, they actually called us ‘the sunshine house, because it’s always sunny here’ – which obviously means they see Jesus here, which is awesome!

It’s just great that this is a lifestyle thing, they’re our neighbours and we do life with them, out of a genuine love for them as people.

We’ll be going on outreach in a few months but we hope to include the neighbourhood in that by telling them where we’re going, maybe practicing some games and dramas with them, baking cookies to raise support etc, so hopefully they won’t feel we’ve just left them and hopefully they’ll get exited with us!

Angharad 

We at long last find ourselves in the final stages of purchasing St Barnabas Church hall the property that will provide offices, training space (upstairs hall) and a community/cafe area (downstairs) for YWAM York. Our passion is to see communities changed by the love of God and so the property will also create a hub for the local area providing coffee mornings, drop ins, youth and family programs along with opportunities to explore and to discover Christianity.

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We have started to build relationships with the local primary and pre school, the local pub, the government run children’s center and have established a good relationship with St Barnabas church. The community have been very positive about us coming and we are looking forward to seeing the center become a blessing to the people in this area. It has been over five years since we fist viewed the building and to finally be at the point where the solicitors are making the final arrangements is very exciting.

I have been greatly encouraged over the last year by seeing Gods provision of resourses for both the Next Wave ship and for  GyG, the house in Wrexham and we are standing in faith to see God provide the £50,000 we need to complete the purchase and the £50,000 to complete all the building work and renovations.

Prayer points – For Carl and myself (Jennifer) as we navigate the logistics of purchasing and renovating property for the first time.

- For the process that is under way with the solicitors drawing up and tailoring the contract with the Diocese of York.

- For more staff to join YWAM York:

Project manager and administrator particularly over the next 12 months while we get the building renovated and all the health and safety etc implemented.

People with a passion to start new ministries in the community or to work as part of a team that is doing that.

DTS staff for the Community Development DTS in September 2012 – For continued favour on existing and potential relationships with individuals, businesses and organizations in the area.

- For God’s provision of the £100,000

We are really excited about the trip to Medias in Romania this summer, we had a team go last year and they absolutely loved it!

The cost is £300 plus flights and travel insurance and airport transfers (approx £250) dates are 23rd July to 10th August the first three days are a camp at the Kings Lodge in Nuneaton with worship teaching and workshops to help us prepare to go on mission. Our group is staying in rooms at the Lodge and our meals will be provided. Then on the Wednesday we fly to Medias in Romania for two weeks. We will stay at the YWAM base there and they will host us for our time with them.

Here are some of the things we expect to be doing!

- church planting in Dumbraveni (we just started a church in a small
town close to Medias). There you can have testimonies, preaching,
dramas, songs and activities for children in the park
- children ministry (songs, facepainting, dramas, games…etc)
- help gipsy ministry in literacy
- sharing testimonies and  songs in different churches

- practical work

If you are aged over 14 and would like to come along then get in touch!

Application forms are available on the soul survivor website and you can email romania@ywamyork.com

So, before we left, we were talking about the woman who was going to be the speaker for the week, Mariette Louw. We were sitting in the living room and Rob said “She brushes her teeth with demons!” While hilarious, this was also intimidating. So, we loaded up the and set off with me, at least, not knowing what to expect!

We arrived at the YWAM base in Wrexham, Wales, and were immediately welcomed by the wonderful staff and DTS students! For that week, it really felt like we were one big DTS, not two separate. The Wales students, Shelby, Leah, Chad, and Mike, had all been on the DTS since September, but they weren’t exclusive at all, which was such a blessing.

Man, I learned so much that I’m having a hard time focusing and knowing where to start! Our topic for the week was Spiritual Warfare. Because the York DTS hadn’t had the week on the Holy Spirit yet, Mariette took time out to have a special “Intro to the Holy Spirit” session with us, which was really awesome. One of my favorite things about the week was definitely her reference to the Holy Spirit within us as our “Spirit Man”!

How refreshing to know that our spirits can never be separated from God’s. How silly of me to sometimes try to separate it! 1 Corinthians 6:17 says “But the person who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with him.” We have a living, active connection with God. All the time.

Rachael Harvey DTS Trainee 2011

“Prayer is where the action is.”  John Wesley

The practice of intercessory prayer is a value that has been at the very heart and foundation of YWAM and many visions have been birthed during those times.  The school emphasizes hearing God’s voice and praying his will.  The school’s goal is to serve every YWAMer that has a desire to grow in their understanding of prayer, worship, intercession and spiritual warfare, to improve their prayer life and to become the man or woman that God has called them to be.  Growing in intimacy with Jesus is foundational to whatever ministry God may call an individual to.

So that principles learnt during lectures can be integrated into a ministry context there will be 6 weeks of outreach running throughout the school.  The school will mainly be held in England but two of the weeks will be in Europe for teaching and prayer in a few European cities.

For those that can’t make the whole school many of the weeks of teaching will be open to weekly guests.

More information about the school can be found by clicking on the image below.

We’ve had a great start to this years 10 month DTS spending our first few days together visiting YWAM Derby to do some outreach in to the city and to spend time getting to know one another. Friday afternoon before heading back up to York we headed to the beautiful Peak District National Park for a hike one one of the windiest days of the year so far!

This week is the orientation with teaching on intimacy with God, hearing Gods voice, intercession along with introductions to the local outreaches in the city with the homeless, pubbers and clubbers, childrens and youth work.

On Friday we said farewell to the 15 DTS Trainees from Nashville, USA. What an awesome group of young people, they served in so many ways with St Barnabas church kids clubs, assemblies at St Barnabas primary school, promotional stands for Street Angels York such a blessing! We were particularly thankful for the three days they spent cleaning and painting the new DTS House, check out the photos to see the transformation.

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