2022 Ministry Report

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2022 was an interesting year for our YWAM ministry. The podcasts that I produce have been downloaded over 50,000 times in the last year, and there have also been many views of the various video versions.

We have continued to distribute the YWAM Global Prayer guide every month to around 30,000+ subscribers, in up to 8 different languages. We have covered many different topics as a mission, including:

  • Creation Care
  • Survivors of Human Trafficking
  • The Ukraine Conflict
  • Migrants and Refugees

It’s always encouraging to hear feedback from the prayer day, with how some the different locations around the world prayed.

November 2022 YWAM News Show

In the middle of they year I tried to restart the YWAM News Show as a live video production. I was able to put a few together, but as I’m operating on my own I found that I had bitten off far more than I could chew. I understand why most of the shows you see on YouTube have an entire crew working on it.

This year I am continuing to work on my own, but will be trying to put together a video news show without the live aspect. That will hopefully make production easier as I will be able to do it in post-production, instead of doing a lot of pre-production and live producing.

Finances and Support

Like many at the moment, our finances are very tight. Our expenses have increased, and at the same time we have lost significant financial support over the last two years, including from my original sending church in Canada.

To help make up the difference I have had to take on other work, which at the moment is repairing, rebuilding, and selling used PCs. It’s a bit of a throw back to my first full-time job out of high-school, but it is helping us make ends meet.

Everyone in Youth With A Mission, from the newest student to the International Founders, are all volunteers, and are responsible for raising our own support and finances to do the ministry that God has called us to. We are currently supported by family and friends like you, and would like to ask if you would prayerfully considering joining our ministry support team.

If you want to know about how to partner with us, or would like to donate directly, you can find out more on our web-site.

Family Update

2023 has Caleb entering his third year of university, studying Computer Science. And yes, he is taller than me now!

Jessica will be entering year 11 this year. She is excited to be able to choose more of her own subjects this year, and is looking forward to woodworking, photography, outdoor education, childcare, and fashion design subjects.

Elijah is going into year 6, his last year of primary school. His favourite subjects are still lunch time, recess, and physical education. He’s hoping for there to be a soccer team this year, which Caleb and I helped coach last year. Hopefully there will be enough players again.

Happy New Year 2022

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I hope that you had a good Christmas and had some special times with friends and family during this festive season. We had a relatively quiet one at home on Christmas Day, and were able to catch up with Tamara’s family on Boxing Day at a local park. I think Elijah set a record though for our family by waking at 3:30 am to see if his stocking was filled!

New Years looks to also be a quiet one as household gatherings are limited, and many public fireworks and festivities have been canceled because of the government response to Covid. As the New Year rings in there will no doubt be a lot to contemplate about the year past, and what 2022 has in store for us all.

Ministry

Looking back at 2021 it’s exciting to see that the YWAM Podcasts that I produce have been watched or listened to 77,000 times. Since launch they have been consumed over 582,000 times, which is kind of mind boggling!

In addition, the YWAM newsletters and e-mails that I am responsible for have been sent out almost 900,00 recipients in 2021.

Moving forward we hope to reach even more people, and help them to engage further in what God is doing through Youth With A Mission around the world.

New Car

As I mentioned last week, we have raised what we needed to replace our car that was totaled when we were rear-ended earlier this year. We managed to find a decent deal on a 4-year old 5-Seat, 2WD, Nissan X-Trail (known as the Nissan Rogue in North America). The X-Trail fits us all comfortably and is in excellent condition, so we feel very blessed with it.

Monthly Support

Coming into 2022 we are finding ourselves short with our monthly budget. Many who have supported us in 2020 and 2021 have seen changes in their circumstances, or are moving on to new phases in their lives. As such they are no longer able to continue their support as they have in the past.

As you budget for 2022 would you please prayerfully consider if God would want you to invest in the work that we are doing in Youth With A Mission?

Everyone in Youth With A Mission, from the newest student to the International Founders, are all full-time volunteers and are responsible for raising their own support and finance to do the ministry that God has called them to. We are currently supported by churches, family, and friends like you, and would like to ask if you would prayerfully considering joining our ministry support team.

May God bless you now, and into the new year …

Merry Christmas – 2021

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We want to wish you all a Very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Right now all our gifts are under the tree, the kids are in bed, and I’m hoping that our home’s “Mummy” will be caught kissing this “Santa Clause” …

This is a special time to spend with family where we are able to and also to remember “The Reason For The Season”, and celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ.

In between Christmas and New Years I will be sending out an update about the YWAM ministry that I have continued to work with, and also an update on the car that we have been raising money for. The teaser is that we have raised what we needed to cover the balance we needed for the car, but you will need to read the next email to find out what our replacement car is!

I am off to bed to rest for the big day tomorrow with our family. As we celebrate, I pray that you will also have a blessed and exciting day.

(Trying to avoid that 4th stage at the moment!)

Car and Ministry Update – November 2021

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Earlier this year I transitioned the YWAM News Show from an audio podcast to a video show as well as an audio podcast. It’s actually been quite a challenge to make the change as I’ve needed to substantially change my workflow, upgrade a lot my equipment, and start working with video editing and production. This has meant fewer episodes as I have made the transition, but as I do more episodes I should be able to get to a more regular and stable production schedule.

Below is one of the latest episode which included stories from Afghanistan, Mozambique, Haiti, and South Africa, and we also looked at some of the ministry that YWAM is doing to help feed the poor, build homes, and provide support for those who are affected by Covid…

As you can see if you watched that, there is plenty of room for improvement, but it has added a whole new audience to connect with.

In addition to the YWAM News Show I have also been distributing The Invitation, one of YWAM’s Global Prayer initiatives, and producing the audio version every month. This includes recording and publishing the audio version, publishing the letter on ywam.org, and emailing it out to all of the leaders and locations, as well as anyone who has connected with us on the primary ywam.org web-site.

In the last 12-months the podcasts have been viewed or downloaded about 85,000 times, and the letters go out each month to about 34,000 subscribers each month. The amount of people we have been in touch with has been continually increasing, and it if exciting to hear back from people who are impacted and inspired by these

The last 12-months have also seen a revamp of the Global YWAM web-site, ywam.org. I’ve been part of a great team working on that project, and we have worked hard to make it easier for people to connect with missions projects around the world, and find out what opportunities are available.

Car Update

Tamara and I have felt extremely blessed by the support that we have received since the car accident. Since we first put out our appeal for $11,000 for the balance we needed to replace our totaled car we have received just over $9000!

As I said in my last update, everyone in Youth With A Mission, from the newest student to the International Founders, are all full-time volunteers and are responsible for raising their own support and finance to do the ministry that God has called them to. We are supported by churches, family, and friends like you who want to partner with us in this ministry.

If you would like to donate towards the last $2000 we need for our “new to us” vehicle please check out our donation page, or contact me to ask me any questions, and find out how you can help.

Urgent Need

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Last week while traveling home on the highway, Caleb had to brake quickly to avoid hitting a Kangaroo. Tamara and Jessica were also in the vehicle. Caleb did a fantastic job at stopping and managed to barely hit the kangaroo, which jumped up and hopped away. While still in the vehicle and at a complete stop, they were then hit from behind by a large 4×4 ute (‘pickup truck’ for North Americans), travelling at 90 km/h.

The ute hit with so much force that it crushed in the back of our car and propelled Tamara, Caleb, and Jessica about 75 metres down the road. The damage to our one and only car was significant, and it has been assessed as a write off. Tamara, Caleb, and Jessica were pretty banged up with all three having whiplash, and Tamara having significantly increased head and neck pain with some accompanying post-concussion symptoms. An impact at 90 km/h can cause a lot of injury, so although all three of them are needing follow up medical and physiotherapy appointments, we feel blessed that it wasn’t worse.

We have received a payout for our car, but now only have another week to find a replacement. Unfortunately, the payout for our car is less than half of what we need to replace it when looking for a car of comparable size and specs. Prices for used cars have gone up A LOT in the last few years with Covid and supply issues around the world. We are a one car family and need something that is reliable, large enough to fit all five of us in and is safe. Finding one is proving to be a challenge …

Everyone in Youth With A Mission, from the newest student to the International Founders, are all full-time volunteers and are responsible for raising their own support and finance to do the ministry that God has called them to. We are supported by churches, family, and friends like you who want to partner with us in this ministry. It has been a long time since we have made a major financial appeal, but the urgency of this need has prompted us to reach out and ask for your financial support.

With the payout for our old car along with some of our savings, we are needing to raise another $11,000 for a replacement car. This car would be about 4-years old, have under 100,000km, and be large enough to fit us all in the vehicle for short or medium length drives.

If you would like to donate towards our new vehicle please check out our donation page, or contact me to ask me any questions, and find out how you can help.

Thank you for your prayers and consideration.