YWAM Canada- An Elder's Musings

For this week I want to tackle some of the Pioneering Questions that emphasize both calling and vision. The Vision questions include: How do you create vison in a large team context?   How do you form a team around a vision?   If one has a   good idea, how do you find the funding to pursue the idea?   Does vision morph over time?   Is vision and passion the same? To begin to answer some of these questions requires defining what is meant by a vision.   Usually in the Christian context, we use the word vision when we are initiating something and it is linked to God’s approval/ His Word/His Will.     Vision is not normally used to describe normal Christian behavior; rather vision is more applied to pioneering something, although it need not be an innovation.   I would not say that I have vision to care for the poor and the needy, since all Christian are admonished to somehow be involved with that specific activity.   However, I might say that the Lord has given me the vision

This is question from Pinawa Rendezvous that did not make the published list, but since it showed up on my desk this morning, I might as well start blogging with this question: How does YWAM foresee that teaching on Pioneering will actually make a difference in new pioneering efforts?   Is there any way to help staff or students commit to long-term goals as a beneficial strategy for pioneering new works? In YWAM the term “pioneering” is used in several ways depending on the context.   The first definition would involve starting a YWAM ministry in a location where YWAM has never been, going to where YWAM is NOT.   This would mean starting a ministry in one of the Omega zones where there is no YWAM presence such as pioneering a new location to run a DTS.   So, what is being pioneered is a new location, not so much a new program. There might be some variations on this theme of starting something new as when Frontier Ministries might use pioneering to mean engaging an unreached pe

Oh, Canada Publicly presented, at YWAM/JEM Canada’s 2014 Rendezvous in Pinawa, Manitoba Sea-crossing Euro-powers, pawns of principalities Colonial outposts of warring Christendom Immigrant alliances misaligned in forgotten treaties Clans and tribes, wanderers, adventures and scoundrels Deafly resistant to Creators’ visionary myth Straining to co-exist without nerves of compassion In peril, but oblivious to mystic rescue If “We stand on guard for Thee” No longer will patriotic passion hold our gaze, Nor global affection for being fair, If “We stand on guard for Thee” Neither our multi-cultural mosaic without a gardener’s care, Nor cosmic favour in abundant natural resources Naked reality -we worship Thee from Here A northern/western land, not eastern, nor southern Land-locked forests. mountains and prairies Divinely bounded from Sea to Sea to Sea Dominion decreed by a distant Crown’s Law, A-drift today in a tide of globalized currents A

Last week at the YWAM/JEM Canada Rendezvous in Pinawa, Manitoba we had a significant time processing many of the current challenges in Youth With A Mission..  We solicited questions from staff to answer regarding the topic of pioneering.  Since we were only able to answer of few of the list I have duplicated them in this Blog Post.  Hopefully, I will attempt to blog on 1 question a week and get through the list by Christmas.  Here is the complete list: ·         At an established base, what elements are important for the freedom of new initiatives to happen? ·         In the context of first "do and then teach" is it possible to be supportive of pioneering initiatives at our base when I have never had a pioneering experience myself? ·         How do you create a vision in a large team context? ·         What do you do when no one else shares your vision? ·         How do you create a team around a vision since most things cannot be done by yourself? ·         Is i