God has called all of His disciples to go and make disciples among all ta ethne. That doesn't exclude those who have already gone!
These last few months have been packed full of new opportunities, and new things. Even though we are still in our Language and Culture phase, God has made it clear that a part of this season has been given to establishing our base culture, Kingdom of God culture, as well as our Mission Methods, and Values. You can read more about these values at ywamtrang.org. In this post, I want to talk more about our Mission Methods.
Mobilizing
In January we had the opportunity to host a DTS team from Japan. During that time, we got to practice and learn how to host a foreign team coming to Thailand. We also had the opportunity to mobilize that team to continue going after their DTS. God has shown us that our Outreach Teams Ministry (OTM) will be a huge part of accomplishing the mission God has called us to.
As I mentioned briefly in the beginning, God has given YWAM methods to complete the mission, hence the name, Mission Methods. These are: mobilizing, discipling, and going. Whatever ministries God will lead us to start will fall into these categories.
OTM is a great way we will be able to mobilize people to go to the unreached. While they are here in Trang they will of course be serving this community. Evangelism, teaching, and service projects are naturally a part of the ministries they'll be partnering with. However, while they are here we will be teaching them about God's global purpose, and how important it is for us to go to the ends of the earth. While the team from Japan was here, we got to teach them about the unreached, and saw a dramatic change in the students lives, even over just a five day period. A few of them decided to go back to Japan and try to be staff with YWAM. Some, weren't yet sure of where God would be asking them to go, but knew that it had to be among the unreached.
Discipling
We also got a new staff! In March, Jasper came to Thailand to visit us after sending in his application. After praying about his application, he was quickly accepted to join us here. One thing we are incredibly excited about is specifically where our staff are from. Our desire is to mobilize believers from the unreached to the unreached. This new staff, as well as our Thai staff, and one staff who will come in the future, are all from unreached, or surrounded by, unreached nations. In our community of discipleship we really want to see these staff equipped to follow God wherever he may call them. All that being said, we are so excited for yet another staff joining us, and I think it's just the beginning of many more to come.
Going
I also wanted to update you on another one of our mission methods we are establishing. This year God has asked the staff to go on staff outreaches to scout out different regions in the Neediest Red. As YWAM Trang we have split the remaining task into three regions. Asia, the Middle East, and North Africa. To make things clear, these are our own definitions of these places. We recognize that the Asia region and the Middle East region are very large, and sometimes overlap. So we are labeling the Middle East as what is traditionally considered Middle Eastern as well as all of the "'stans" (For example, Pakistan and Tajikistan are usually considered Asia, but we will be including it into the Middle East.) We are going to consider everything east of the "'stans" to be Asia. The reason for this is to break up the regions as evenly as possible, as Asia is quite large and the Middle East is smaller by comparison.
I am so excited to announce that God has called me to TWO of these regions this year! I will be going to both Asia and the Middle East! Due to security reasons, I will not be listing the countries publicly. However, if you have any questions regarding our outreaches, I would happy to talk more personally. I will be leaving for the Asia outreach with 4 others at the end of May, and will be back in the middle of June. I am fully funded for this trip, however please prayerfully consider giving to support the Thai couple that will be coming with us! They have a lot of their support already but are still in need of around $1,000 USD.
In early fall myself and two others will be heading to the Middle East. We are still in the middle of planning, learning, and reaching out for contacts, so I don't have very much information to give yet. However, please be praying for both trips as we prepare and are led by the Lord to make connections for future outreaches.
Important Information
Due to the security restrictions of the countries I will be traveling to this year, I will be unpublishing my website while traveling in these places. Additionally, I will not be posting any pictures of ministry here or on my social media. The most would be pictures featuring the touristy side of the trip. I don't want you to be confused, these are in fact scouting trips with the intent of partnering in ministry in the future. However, we are going as "tourists" on a tourist visa. It is incredibly important to me that I do not compromise our ministry hosts, as well as my ability to get into these countries in the future. Thank you for understanding, and please reach out to me personally if you have any questions regarding these outreaches!
Practical Updates
We are just a few short months away from being in Thailand for two years! At that time, we will begin preparing for OTM and DTS. I will still be learning Thai, but I am not going to spend as much time on it. Instead my focus will go towards the ministries God is calling me to.
Like I mentioned, I am fully funded for the trip to Asia. However our Thai staff are still in the process of support raising. Please prayerfully consider partnering with our amazing staff!!
Prayer Requests
- Continued language learning for our whole team.
- That we would all grow in humility and unity. That in this remaining few months of preparation, God would have us grow to be exactly where he desires, and we wouldn't miss out on anything.
- That God will open doors in our outreach locations, and build long term relationships for future partnering.
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