Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed
Youth With A Mission teams are responding to the recent deaths and destruction in Fiji wrought by Cyclone Winston, the new YWAM Ship’s helicopter has already been credited with saving lives in Papua New Guinea, Homes of Hope have built over 5000 homes around the world, and more on this episode of the YWAM News Show.
Stories:
Responding to Cyclone Winston in Fiji
Fiji was recently devastated by Cyclone Winston, which has left thousands of people homeless and nearly 50 people dead…
One of our YWAM staff based out of Townsville, Australia is from the village of Nasau on Koro Island, one of the hardest hit areas in Fiji. Six days after the cyclone hit he finally heard from his family, and this is part of the story that they told …
“My parents, brothers, sisters and nieces and nephews were bunkering down in our family home when the cyclone hit. They were prepared for strong winds, but they weren’t prepared for the tidal waves that plummeted the village and demolished everything in their path.
“As the first wave hit, my brother cried out to the family, ‘if we don’t leave now, we’re going to die!’ at that moment my father was holding my four year-old sister, he dropped her as one of the walls of our home fell on him. My father made it out from under the rubble and picked up my sister before they all fled what was left of our home – the water was up to their waists.
“In the rain and the wind with the kids on their backs, my parents and siblings swam in the water toward higher ground. Before they made it, the second wave hit; my 9-year-old sister was swept off my Mother’s back, taken by the force of the water. She managed to hang on to a tree and held on for dear life as she called out for help. Thankfully, my mother and father found her and rescued her from the tree.
“After swimming and wading in the water for about a kilometre, they finally made it to a tree on a hill. They huddled around the tree for seven hours; shivering, exhausted, afraid and in shock. The only food and water they had was one coconut between them that my Dad was able to find.
“In the midst of the devastation, my mother shared that she had a confidence that they would be okay – she spoke re-assuring, hope-filled words over my family as the children sought warmth under her clothes.
YWAM Townsville will be sending an outreach to help rebuild Fiji, and Australian Mercy, a ministry of Youth With A Mission, is partnering with Island Breeze Australia to help provide:
- Immediate food and water
- Shelter
- Sanitation and medical aid
- Other emergency relief for families
Rebuilding Fiji One Family at a time: Saranuku Family’s Story
YWAM Ships Helicopter Extraction
Helicopter to the Rescue | Man Transported to Daru in Serious Condition
Homes of Hope – Sean Lambert
During the week of Christmas, 2015, People Magazine named Sean Lambert, the founder of YWAM’s Homes of Hope ministry, its Hero of the Week. This year Homes of Hope International celebrated 25 years and over 5,000 homes built for impoverished families across the globe.
Home of Hope
Bridges – to the Least, the Last, and the Lost
Bridges is a service of Youth With A Mission composed of expert coaches, mobilizers, and front-line missionaries committed to help see ministries and individuals successfully reach out and make an impact among the unreached.
Visit their web-site to find out more.
Rugby Plus
Rugby Plus is a ministry of Youth With A Mission, Island Breeze Australia. The mission is to bridge professionals to grass roots rugby with the purpose of developing the individual holistically…
Visit the Island Breeze web-site to find out more about the program and the impact that they are having on
5 Things No One Tells You About Community
YWAM Harpenden has put out some good advice for anyone in YWAM about living in community. The five things that they want to tell you are:
- Everyone is different
- You get what you give
- There will be good times and bad
- People leave, and that’s okay
- It makes you a better human being
Check out the YWAM Harpenden blog to read more …
Amy’s Story – I Found the Bible Boring
The Rise Campaign is a ministry of Youth With A Mission with a focus on mobilizing people into missions. A part of this ministry includes the Bridges initiative that shared about earlier. In addition to that, they have also collected a number of stories from people around the world, including this one …
You can hear more stories, and find out more about what the Rise Campaign is doing, at www.risecampaign.com.
QBLAH – Outreach App
In relation to connecting with the Bible, and answering questions about it, I have found an app called “QBLA” from the Bible Society here in Australia…
The Bible Society is currently in the midst of redeveloping to app to include even more engagement and involvement, but you can still download the original version for iOS and Android, and you can sign up to receive updates for the new version at qbla.biblesociety.org.au.
Thank you:
- YWAM England
- YWAM England Alumni
- YWAM Frontier Missions Europe
- YWAM Bristol
- YWAM Grand Forks, BC, Canada
- Nathan Nielsen on Twitter
Subscribe
If you liked the program, tell a friend. If you didn’t like it, tell a friend anyway …
