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| The Sunset View from the Library at the University |
It's been a bit of a lesson in patience and in giving my future over to God over the last month as I awaited word on my application with YWAM Oxford (NZ). I'd be lying if I said I didn't question once or twice if I had heard God's voice right with applying there, but now that I finally have confirmation I see that He definitely has put this together better than I ever thought it was possible.
When I had first contacted the base about staffing their Biblical Core Course (BCC), I asked if they needed staff and they said that they were looking for a new leader, which I basically just shrugged off as just them giving me as much information as they could and figured I'd pray for them that they would find a leader. Well, apparently God didn't just shrug it off because when I was praying about whether or not to apply for Titus, God basically said to me that I never looked into the opportunity of leading the school. This was something that seemed absolutely insane to me since I had never staffed a school and didn't feel anywhere near ready to lead a school, and didn't even think it would be possible for me to lead without staffing first. A big reason that I was applying to Titus was that I felt that God wanted me to trust Him and do things that intimidate me, which teaching the bible does, and while I was praying about it He showed me that I had got the message correctly, but the application wasn't for Titus, it was for leading the BCC. After wrestling with Him for a little I finally agreed to send an email to the Oxford base telling them what I thought God was telling me to do, while telling them I may be crazy at the same time because I thought I was crazy and that they'd just kinda laugh at me, a guy with no staffing experience, inquiring about leading a school. Well, it turned out that I wasn't as crazy as I thought because after sending a number of emails back and forth and after some waiting I got an email from them offering me the BCC school position.
So the details are that I will be going to Perth, Australia at the beginning of January to train during their BCC so that I can see how the BCC is run and also to be trained how to lead the school. After that finishes at the end of March I will probably come home for about a month so that I can see my family a little and relax a little since I'll only have about a 2 week break at Christmas between SBS and going to Perth. Then I will head to Oxford, NZ to meet my new YWAM family and get settled in at the base that I plan to be at for most likely at least the next 3 years. Then I'll have about a month and a half or so to prepare for the school and our BCC will start at the end of June and run until the beginning of September.
It's been amazing how God has pieced this whole process together in a way that only He could, and He has really set me up for success better than I ever thought He could. The former leaders of the BCC will be staying on staff at the base and have said that they would be willing to help me out where needed, and there are a couple current BCC leaders at other bases that said that they are willing to help me out over skype or phone when needed. So although I am still a little intimidated by the idea of leading, God has done a great job of putting people around me to support me in leading, and I know that He will definitely help me in leading the school.
I hope to also staff the Backpackers Discipleship Training School, which starts at the end of September and was what originally led me to their base, but I will have to see if that is still possible or not. God's made it pretty clear that He wants me at their base and wants me to lead the BCC, so I'm gonna start there and see what else He has for me there as I go. Either way, I am super stoked to head out there. I don't know what it is about New Zealand, but since I first got there last year for my DTS, it just felt like home and I had a feeling that God would bring me back there, just never thought it would be this soon. I'm also really excited to get a real start on my "YWAM career" and get settled into one place for a little while.
As with all YWAM positions, I need to raise all of my own support to pay base fees, as well as for any outreaches that I go on, so please be praying and asking God if you are supposed to support me in this, any support is helpful, even if it's just a little. The nice thing is that because I will be full time staff, I should be able to start getting people tax receipts through a YWAM base in Canada soon, but I still have to look in to how it works.
As for SBS, things have been going steadily and we only have 3 weeks now. We just finished the book of Daniel, which was an amazing book, and prior to that we had what may be the most exciting books of the Old Testament in Ezra and Nehemiah. At first glance, Ezra and Nehemiah may not seem like the most exciting books, but when you think about the fact that the Jews had gone through their exile and were finally seeing the restoration that God had been promising them through the prophets and really try to get into the head of the original hearers who took part in the returns to Jerusalem, it's really exciting. They are also books that give amazing examples of leadership as you look at Ezra's and Nehemiah's examples, and God's sovereignty has been very evident in all three of those books, as well as Esther.
We've now just started Ezekiel and only have Zechariah, Haggai, Malachi and Matthew left. It's been an amazing last 8 months and I can't wait to see what God has in store for us over the next 3 weeks, but I'm definitely looking forward to being done. It's hands down been one of the best if not the best thing I've ever done, but it's also been one of the hardest things I've ever done. I'm really looking forward to having some time to relax and enjoy the holidays with my family and not have another book looming over my head.
Hope you are all doing well, and I'll definitely send out another update before I leave Taiwan.
God bless
