YWAM – Who is the Most Popular

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The Big Keep Getting Bigger

After reading this article about Google being sued for their search engine autocomplete results it got me thinking about who has the advantage in YWAM because of Google autocomplete. Although the results didn’t surprise me, I am disappointed as it’s another example of how the big keep getting bigger, to the disadvantage of the small Youth With a Mission Centres.

If I type “YWAM ” into Google here in Canada the autocomplete results that come up are:

  1. YWAM Kona
  2. YWAM Canada
  3. YWAM DTS
  4. YWAM Perth
  5. YWAM New Zealand

Google autocomplete clearly gives an advantage to two of YWAM’s largest missions Centres, YWAM Kona and YWAM Perth. Although there is nothing that can be done to counter this, it’s another frustrating development for the smaller YWAM Centres around the world who are forced to compete with larger, better known locations.

What can we do to help alleviate the disparity between the larger Youth With A Mission locations and the smaller locations around the world?

Update

Well, if the autocomplete wasn’t enough, now there is Instant Pages.

Update 2 – Thanks to Daniel K

This video given at TED Talk by Eli Pariser called Beware online “filter bubbles” brilliantly displays that I am talking about in the above article. It takes it a step above what I’m talking about though as it talks more about how the filtering works and how it can change the lens that we view the world through.

Debt and Missions – A Toxic Mix

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Making Life Hard One Card at a TimeOne thing that I have seen again and again remove people from the mission field, or prevent them from entering the mission field, is personal debt…

Personal debt can take many forms, including, but certainly not limited to:

  • Credit Card Debt
  • Student Loan Debt
  • Vehicle Loan Debt or Lease
  • Mortgage*

I have seen numerous message on twitter from people along the lines of wanting to join missions, but can’t because of debt. I have also seen people leave the missions field because of debt they had at home from before they joined or even because of debt they have incurred while on the missions field.

A friend of mine, Creagon Muldoon, who also works with Youth With A Mission (YWAM) to mobilise people into missions recently posted this on Twitter:

Creagon – Creagon Muldoon

Praying for God to mobilizes the next of student movement. Wondering how He will overcome the 2009 average student debt load of $24,000.

Debt is very debilitating to someone wanting to follow the Will of God of their life.

There is not one positive mention of debt in the Bible. Debt is always presented in a negative light. It is not a “salvation” issue, but there is not one time mentioned in the bible that debt is used to bless His people.

Here are a few Bible versus about this topic taken from Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University site.

1. Proverbs 13:22  "A good man leaves an inheritance to his childrens’ children" indicating that God wants us to make a difference, financially, in our family tree.

2. Proverbs 21:20  "In the house of the wise are stores of choice food and oil, but a foolish man devours all he has."  This gives us an idea of how God wants us to save for a rainy day, to set something back for safekeeping.

3. Proverbs 22:7 states that "The rich rule over the poor, And the borrower is servant to the lender."  Really?  The Bible discourages debt?  Does God really want me to pay my debts off and avoid debt?

4. Luke 14:28 "For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it."  Does Jesus really want me to save up and pay for the things I buy?

The final one should be very challenging for us. I can’t tell you how many times have I been in a meeting and heard people “stepping out in faith” to go on a trip that they can’t afford? It’s one thing to be planning for a trip without knowing where the money is coming from, but to actually go on the trip before it’s paid for seems to go against what Jesus is telling us in Luke 14:28.

What is Our Responsibility?

As a missions organisation we need to ask ourselves about what our responsibility is to our staff and students in regards to debt. Are we enabling our staff and students to go into debt, or are we helping them to avoid it.

Here are a few questions that I think we need to ask:

  • Do we let our staff and / or students go to into debt?
  • How do we handle it when our staff falls behind on their staff fees?
  • Do we ask questions about peoples personal debt in our application process?
  • Is there teaching or plans in place to assist people get out of debt?

Are we teaching our staff and students wisdom in regards to their finances or are we teaching them to be reckless with their finances? Do we confuse “faith” with “foolishness”?

Debt in YWAM

Another great article that I found after I had written most of this article is on the YWAM Associates web-site entitled “The Curse of Debt”. You can read the article here. There is some great information about debt in YWAM in that article including:

  • Between 5 – 80% of staff at any given YWAM location are in debt
  • Most YWAM Centres have lost staff because of debt
  • Some YWAM staff have to take outside jobs to pay off debt

Have a look at the full article to read more.

Tools to Get out of Debt

There are some great tools out there to help you get out of debt. Someone who I have been listening to for a while is Dave Ramsey, the source of those quotes above. Here is a link to some of the tools that he offers for free on his web-site:

photo credit: Josh Kenzer

Are We Making Disciples, or Are We Entertaining People?

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It’s too easy to get wrapped up on the "show" or the "production".

We can see it in our worship, we can see it in our flashy videos, we can see it in our web-sites and we can see it on our vehicles and buildings…

This video asks us, “What would happen if we put all that "entertainment" or extra energy into actually going out and making disciples? “.

Where is your energy going?

Are you too busy doing “ministry” to actually make disciples…

The Local Churches Role in World Missions

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You sometimes hear the debate about the role of the local church versus the mobile or para-church. Some will say that the local church has it’s role serving local needs, but that the mobile church is to go out as missionaries. Other see the mobile church as a dividing factor, taking people out of the local church and decreasing it’s effectiveness is fulfilling the role that God has for it in the world.

The Traveling Team has an interesting article about the role of the local church in world missions entitled “Local Church – Friend, Foe or Failure in the Great Commission”. The article points out four “truths” about the primacy of the local church in the Great Commission:

  1. The Local Church is Primary in World Missions Because Jesus Said it is
  2. The Local Church is Primary Because the Body of Christ is there
  3. The Local Church is Primary Because it Affords Us Training and Care
  4. The Local Church is Primary Because it is Both the Beginning and the End of Missions

There are some great points made in the article and it is well worth reading it here.

Although I work with a mobile church organisation in Youth With A Mission (YWAM) I have been extremely blessed to a part of a local church in Calgary that is very missions minded. I found out about YWAM through another member who had been sent out from the church. The local church has been a huge blessing and support for me and my family ever since I joined Youth With A Mission in 1998.

For me it is the combination of both the local church, South Calgary Community Church, and the missions agency, Youth With A Mission, that has created the environment where I am able to serve God full time as a Missions Communicator.

* Photo provided by YWAM Harpenden

Should You Have A Hospitality Ministry Area or Department?

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Café con leche - MilchkaffeeThe last YWAM Centre that I was on seemed to be a constant state of debate about whether their should be a separate hospitality department or ministry area. The arguments about it seemed to follow the same lines about if it should be something assigned to specific people, or if everyone should be scheduled to do it, or if everyone should just do it, regardless of what they are “scheduled” to do.

One of The YWAM Foundational Values is to “Practice Hospitality” and it is written out like this:

PRACTICE HOSPITALITY

YWAM affirms the ministry of hospitality as an expression of God’s character and the value of people. We believe it is important to open our hearts, homes and campuses to serve and honour one another, our guests and the poor and needy, not as acts of social protocol, but as expressions of generosity.

While I agree entirely that hospitality should be a way of life for everyone in YWAM, and something that we all engage in, I also think that there is definitely a place for specific people to be actively engaged in the “ministry” of hospitality.

When we read Acts 6:1-7 we read about the apostles setting aside seven men to handle the distribution of food to the Hellenistic Jews. Their job is to provide hospitality for the women and help care for their needs.

The men that they choose were not just any slouches in the group. They were directed to choose “seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom”. The men were selected by the group, presented to the apostles, prayed for and released into this ministry.

Unfortunately I have seen hospitality looked at as a “secondary” ministry, a place where people go to serve while they wait for a school to staff or an outreach to lead.

Wow, what a waste!

This ministry is one that is set in high esteem by the apostles, and one where quality people were set aside to do it. The people selected were done so for the gifts that they had so that others in the group of disciples could also move into the areas of ministry that best used their gifts.

So how does your ministry do hospitality? Is it something that is forced or does it come naturally?

photo credit: marfis75