The Future of Evangelism in Mission Adventures

Remember dramas? Yeah, good times…

We've done dramas. We've done dances and puppets. We've used Evangecubes and, The Four Spiritual Laws tracts. We've even done gospel illusions.And frankly I think all these things have gotten a bit stale. We are overdue at taking our next steps in evangelism. It's time we develop something fresh.

I'm convinced it's time we learn to teach our students how to tell Bible stories.

Here's why:

Telling Stories is Better for Those Who Listen

• Stories put our brains to work
• Stories connect us with experience
• Two-thirds of the world's population live in oral cultures
• Three-quarters of the Bible is in narrative story form
• Everyone responds to a good story

Telling Stories is Better for Those Who Tell Them

• Telling stories is versatile; we can do it in any context
• Telling stories is effective, even across language and culture barriers
• Telling stories creates useful skills in our students
• Telling stories can be done back home after outreach is over.

Want to know more? Here's a white paper filled with ideas and resources that can help you get started!

4.7 MB PDF File

Epic Faith for Your Students!

Marty Meyer of YWAM Idaho is offering his book, Epic Faith to us at a tremendous discount. Marty writes,

“During my “Ted Talk” with Kelly I mentioned that I would like to make my Epic Faith books available to MA programs for only $5. That’s like the cheapest I’m giving anyone. I would just love to invest in our MA programs and there are MA stories and references in the book. They could use the book as part of staff training or use it with their students. I’m about 2 weeks away from having a 60 page discussion guide on my site that will be available as a FREE download. That could be another great MA resource.”

Use this exclusive coupon code to order copies of Epic Faith for your students: MAONLY5

WAVES in Thailand Slideshow

Here's a one minute video of a few of the photos I took at our WAVES Gathering in Thailand. Enjoy!

Two Travel Resources that Can Save You Money!

I'm a YWAMer so that means I travel. And it seems like that means the travel budget is always a bit tight! So I'm constantly on the lookout for travel resources that can help me save some money. Here are two things I've found in the last few months that have helped me out:

Scott Keyes Cheap Flights

Scott's Cheap Flights

This is an email list, (I know, right?! How 90's!). Every couple of days Scott sends me an email with some insane cheap fares to random places around the world.

Here are a few things you should know:

• Scott focuses on international flights from the USA.
• There's a premium list that gets the info earlier… for $15/quarter or $39/year.
• You gotta act fast because the fares Scott finds don't last long!

If you're in the US, you can't lose by signing up for the free one and if you find it working for you, upgrade!

The Points Guy

The Points Guy

This is a site (that also has an email list) that focuses on how to compare and maximize all those frequent flier programs.

Here are a few things you should know:

• TPG tends to focus more on the premium end of the points world and not so much on the budget end.
• There's also a lot of good info about different airlines and even their planes
• Again, pretty US focused, but still lots of info that would be useful if you live outside North America.

Again, you can't go wrong by signing up for the Deal Alert email list and seeing if it's helpful to you.

Sneak Peak of the Retro and the Green Diamond Tees

The fine folks at our Secret Northwest Production Facilities™ just press checked two of our tee shirt designs. And a bold operative got a couple pics and took great risk to get them to us! Aren't they gorgeous?

Soon finished shirts will be winging their way to our partners who are running Spring Break programs. Please join us in prayer for the students who will receive these great tees and for the wonderful people they will meet on their adventures!

Cinch Sacks Are Under Construction in Nepal

The employees at Purnaa are hard at work on our Mission Adventures Drawstring Backpacks

I just got a bunch of photos from our friends at Purnaa! It's so cool to see our backpacks in process—and to know that this partnership makes a difference in the lives of the folks in the photos is exciting. As you know this isn't just about a financial transaction, this is all about transformation!

The Backpacks Are Awesome & On Sale!

These Mission Adventures Cinch Sacks are made of 100% Nepali heavyweight cotton canvas. I love that these are grown and sewn in Nepal, that means the price we pay for these bags benefits more people in Nepal as they rebuild their nation.

To celebrate our partnership with Purnaa, we've got these bags on sale for just $10 USD. I encourage you to purchase one for each of the students that participates in your MA ministry this year. That way, their outreach extends all the way to Nepal. The Spring Break Sale ends Friday, January 13, so head on over to the MA Gear store

Tee Story

Part Four (Scroll down for Parts One through Three)

What if we make a premium tee—three colors of ink on the best garment we can afford?

All this was happening while I was designing the stickers. (That's another long story). And when the wolf sticker came together, I was all <hearts for eyes emoji> but my initial reaction was, awwwwww... too cheesy and literal for the Rockhound theme. (Rock-HOUND, get it?!) But it wouldn't go away. I showed it to a few theme teamers and they were all <hearts for eyes emoji> too. I took that as a sign, and I said to myself, "What if we make a premium tee—three colors on the best garment we can afford?"

Let me tell you about these garments. First off they're the lightest garments we've ever done, 4.2 ounces. Now it's not so light as to be sheer, so we're safe there. (And we've chosen darker colors too, because the design works better on darks, and well, safety). The fabric is even softer than the Retro Tees. It has something to do with the cotton being combed, (which I can sort of wrap my brain around), and "ringspun", (my brain can't really seem to imagine what that might mean). All I really know is that combed, ringspun cotton is really soft.

The fit is a fashion fit, so it's just a little more snug, and definitely on-trend. And it has features—things like side-seaming, set-in neck, and retail sleeves that don't wing. These garments are crafted.

And did I mention that these are heathered? I know, right?! It seems like heathered colors are everywhere! This is that extra bit that really puts these tees over the top. These garments are precisely 52% cotton and 48% polyester. The heather texture visually softens the tones and sets the design off so nicely! And the heather feel is oh so soft and smooth!

And I figured, hey, if there are three colors of ink, why not offer three colors of garments?! Seriously, doesn't that design just fit these garments?

I know these are a little more expensive. But these are the best tees we've ever offered. They make perfect staff shirts, and maybe you could honor the team leaders by giving them one of these instead of the others. Or maybe you want to pick a couple up for the leadership team on your base to get them excited about your ministry. You won't regret giving these tee shirts to your people.

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Part Two

What If We Made A Tee that was Super High Quality but less expensive than last year?

Part One

They say that the first step towards wholeness is to admit you have a problem:

My problem is that I like options more than I like decisions! This screenshot shows pretty much my whole process in designing this year’s Rockhound Tees. Over the next few days, I’m going to give you a special sneak peek behind the scenes to show you how we ended up with three different tee shirt designs this year!

My process is pretty iterative. If you zoom in, you’ll see that I tend to tweak and explore multiple versions of nearly the same thing. I go until I either see that the design works or it doesn’t. Then sometimes I go some more, haha!

Tomorrow I’ll share with you how the Green Diamond Tee came about! Stay tuned!

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Part Three

The design that became the Retro tee was gonnu be a sticker… But then this happened:

While the Green Diamond tee was coming together, I explored this widened pentagon shape. I arced the top, and it just seemed to evoke national parks. I added some stripes and tried 17* different variations of the word, ROCKHOUND in it... And it seemed to reflect a cool, outdoorsy, 1970's retro vibe. I originally did it in five colors, thinking it would be a sticker. But then I slapped it on a tee shirt mockup. And I liked it. So I showed it to a couple of the Theme Teamers to get their take. The reaction was nearly instant: OoOooOooouu! Which I took to be positive.

I admit, part of the charm of this design was that there were so many colors. (Check out some of the early iterations in the screenshot in Part One below) So I decided to see if it could look as good with just two. And I was beginning to think that maybe I could offer two shirts, the Green Diamond tee, and this Retro tee.

The garment I chose for this tee is a little bit softer and quite a bit lighter than the Green Diamond shirt. (4.5 ounce... yes that .8 ounce really does make a difference!) And the fit is more fashion-oriented, much closer to a tee you'd find at the mall. It's very comparable to tees we've used in the past. And it's a bit more expensive, but I think it's worth it.

You'll note that there's more than one garment with this one. I couldn't decide which color. Then I thought, "Why decide? The same ink colors look amazing on both!" So now you can choose! This way you can give that cool kiwi green to your students and the sand tees to your staff and volunteers! (Or the other way around—whichever feels better for you!) Or maybe you don't like green. (2017 is gonnu be a bummer for you—sorry! It's the Color of the Year.) Good news, go with sand!

*This is an exaggeration, but not by much.

I still wasn't done. Tomorrow I'll tell you all about the three-ink, three color Wolf Tee!

From the beginning, I knew we needed a one-color design. And that meant that the art needed to be solid—something with a lot of texture, that captured the Rockhound vibe... Those crossed rock hammers were the first graphic device I made. And the faceted gem just begged for radiant lines to come out of it—you know what I mean? And the repeating arcs of Mission Adventures and Youth With A Mission echo the gem-sun. Plus, the mono-weight lines are so right now and contemporary and fresh.

A tee is more than solid art. I needed a high-quality garment that would show off the design, and at the same time, be a bargain. Pencils were sharpened. Math was done. Spreadsheets were employed. Samples were sent in multiple colors. Most were rejected, but we had one stand out. Not only was it a great color—that eye-catching green that is the Color of the Year for 2017, but it was relatively inexpensive. It's not cheap, mind you. I don't go for that. Value is my jam—highest quality for reasonable price.

And that's why I'm pleased to offer the Green Diamond Tee. This is a high-quality 100% cotton garment. It's a little bit heavier weight than the others. (The really heavy tees are 5.5-6.0 ounces; this one is only 5.3 ounce). The cut of the garment is a classic fit, so it's a little bit roomier. The bright green shirt really sets off the cream colored ink. I know your students are gonnu love this tee! And it's less expensive than last year!

Up Next: The Inside Story on Our Brand New Rockhound Retro Tees!