Moments ago, an anonymous tipster sent these three screen shots. This tipster (or tipsters) alleges (or allege) that he/she/they had access to the top secret Mission Adventures workshop where the MA Gnomes™ are hard at work on the 2019 MA Gear. While we can’t say for certain, these images do seem authentic! Could a pigment-dyed ombre garment be in our near future?! Stay tuned for more information coming your way soon!
Not One, Not Two, but THREE Themes for 2019!
You guys! I’m super excite to share with you that we have three different themes for Mission Adventures in 2019! Okay, you may not have noticed, but we’ve been having two themes for a while now. Our partners in Europe and our partners in North America have been developing separate themes for the last several years. And this year, I’m excited to tell you that we’ve got a third region making their own theme! So say a big hello and welcome to our partners in Brasil! Check these out:
Paradoxo
Isaias 55 1 a 6
Our Brasilian brothers and sisters have called their first theme, Paradoxo, (paradox, in English), and they are excited to illustrate how God brings hope through crazy ideas that don’t seem to make sense at first. Check out the Paradoxo page for more info including a super awesome theme statement!
Kintsukuroi
Ephesians 2:8-10
Our European friends are playing off the craftsmanship concept in Ephesians 2 and using the amazing Japanese artform of Kintsukuroi to help students visualize how God is repairing their lives and the world around them. Check out the Kintsukuroi page for more!
I Am
Isaiah 43:10
Our North American partners are using God’s identity as the big idea that is changing the world. Who we are can only be truly understood through who He Is, and it’s this journey of discovery that makes all the difference. Check out the I Am page for more, including a theme statement.
I just love that God is so creative and inventive that he’s given us three themes for 2019. I love that we get to use these themes to help students experience who he is, what he’s like, and what he is doing in the world. As more resources are developed, we’ll make them available on the theme pages… so stay tuned for even more theme-y goodness!
Mission Adventures in Mozambique!
Wahoo! African students are participating in Mission Adventures!
We just got a message from our partners Paulo and Rossana about their outreach in Mozambique. Paulo and Rossana are YWAMers from Brasil, and they sent photos and a testimony from YWAM Maputo:
"With joy-fullness we write to share something very special with you and Mission Adventures!
My wife Rossana and I have worked with Mission Adventures since 2014 in Porto Velho. But lately we share our time with DTS, which I am co-director with her. We were in the last waves in Thailand, maybe you remember us.
Today we are in Maputo, Mozambique, and at the YWAM base here there is a beautiful project with youth of low social class. And we just felt right to run a Mission Adventures outreach here, we felt peace. Leaders from YWAM Maputo and Porto Velho encouraged us and supported us in everything. And that’s how the first Mission Adventures campaign happened in Africa, here in Maputo! It was simply beautiful, we saw God at work, he prepared every detail.
The most amazing thing was to have Francisco, the leader of YWAM Mozambique as our preacher about passion on the first day. He showed us that no matter our origin, God is determines our futures, as we let Him. Francisco belongs to the most underestimated tribe in Mozambique, but today he’s a reference for Mozambican.
It was a week rich and significant for each young man, and as for YWAM Maputo it’s a start, and we believe it is the beginning of Mission Adventures in Africa.
All the participants are hopeful about this week! We intend to go for another Mission Adventures campaign this year! We together with YWAM Maputo are determined to germinate this seed! We are preparing to be at the next WAVES. A seed is already planted!"*
*Testimony is lightly edited for length and clarity
Another Story Telling Resource: You!
YWAM Maringá, Brasil is offering a 12 week Word By Heart course that might be just what you're looking for when it comes to learning how to train your Mission Adventures students to tell gospel stories. Our friend and partner Euduardo (Du for short) writes:
Imagine yourself being able to memorize the scriptures and narrate them as if you had been an eye witness of the fantastic events that changed the history of humanity? It may seem to be a big challenge, but Word By Heart has a methodology that has been enabling its students to become walking Bibles, story tellers that are able to report the biblical events, word by word, with truth and reality involving the audience for about 90 minutes.
During three months the students will go deep into the book of Luke, the reality of facts, the historical background the relationship between characters and the teachings involved in each scene, the focus is not on theological study, we seek to appropriate the stories to be so real that it is possible tell them as eye witnesses. It's a fact that emerging into the scriptures results in a profound transformation in people's lives, and the Word By Heart students also taste such impact. Impacted by this living word they will have the opportunity to reach many people while proclaiming it.
Word by heart is a second level YWAM school, inscribed to the University of Nations, so it has as a basic requirement the DTS, (Discipleship Training School). It is a full inscription school. In case you want to attend the course but you still haven't done the DTS you can take part in seminars during the first 6 weeks. Classes in the mornings and afternoons not having the obligation of living in the YWAM base although there is this possibility.
Investment (full course)
Subscription $ 150 + 3 x $450 ($1.500 total in cash)
www.jocummaringa.com.br
For more info, contact Du!
YWAM Vancouver Documents and Manuals
So check this out! Brittni at YWAM Vancouver has taken on the huge task of documenting the systems and processes that they're using for their wonderful Mission Adventures ministry in the city. And in the spirit of working together, she's sharing the fruit of her hard work! Here are some links to some key documents that you're gonnu wanna learn from! And the best part is, she actually wants you to copy her work and use what's useful to you in your ministry. So have at it! and send a big thank you to Brittni in Vancouver!
"From Seed to Sequoia"
Seasons by Hillsong is a great song that fits perfectly with our Thrive theme!
Here's the lyric video:
I encourage you to use this song to bring the Thrive theme to life for your students!
Use an Urban Scavenger Hunt to Help Your Teams Fall in Love with Your Ministry
I came across this article by Alec Appelbaum about his family's tradition of an annual Christmas Eve scavenger hunt.
“The hunts began four years ago, on Christmas Eve, when our kids were seven and three… we could task the kids with a scavenger hunt for things we sometimes forget to notice. I wrote a list of such things—a cat in a store window, a takeout coffee cup—and then realized that they would remember the whole episode more proudly if they also had to talk to people who keep the city running. So I added autographs they had to get, via questions that pose no tricks or teases. The scavenger hunt is a mission to look more deeply and talk more openly.”
This got me to thinking that this is a fantastic idea for you to use with your teams. You can send your students out to talk to the people in your outreach location. Give them a list of things to find that will help them to experience the place and the people.
Appelbaum includes these tips:
Here are some suggestions for starting your own:
- Use a list that mixes conversation with observation and orientation. I like to include a few gimmes—things like a bank branch or a vacant lot—along with storefronts or parks with unusual spellings or striking scenery. Mix these with autographs from people you’ll likely actually meet (public servants, baristas, dog walkers, whatever) and the hunt picks up its rhythm.
- Go where people aren’t driving. Walk around. Cross zones or borders. Go over a bridge, through a tunnel, from one side of an eight-lane to another.
- Talk to people. And listen to them as well. If they ask why you want to know something, explain. Say please and thank you. Don’t treat them as props or ask them to fuss over you. Ban consulting screens, but accept help from people who themselves talk to Siri.
- Gather facts from diverse people. Opinions and styles will come out anyway. You might find racism. I hope you wouldn’t, but you might. And you might find a way to zap it when you do.
- It’s all a matter of looking in layers—the horse could be on a Budweiser truck or the awning of a bar, or a cop could be riding it. Keep looking for answers, and for input. You may end up helping someone feel appreciated, or at least helping someone engage with the day.
If you're already doing something similar in your location, please comment below and tell us about how you do.