exalt His Name...: 2016

Monday, 6 June 2016

Pike's Newsletter, June 2016

Mentoring the Missionaries of Tomorrow

As spring rolls around toward summer,

my (Joel) heart begins to turn toward Pine Ridge reservation.
To the vast rolling grasslands,

the dusty, beer-can littered streets of White Clay and its not-yet “Risen Warriors”,

to the drums and regalia and the beauty of the Oglala Lakota people.

This summer our family is leading two youth groups on Mission Adventures (MA) trips to Pine Ridge, the 3^rd and 4^th weeks of July. As MA staff, we recently took 3 days to plan the summer’s training weekends and pray for the students. I know God will do a transforming work in their hearts as they allow Him to. But even more so it’s the Oglala people I long to see changed, set free and restored to the image of their Creator.

With these things in my heart I found myself last Friday in Peavey Park in Minneapolis with Joshua, a couple van-loads of YWAMers, and members of ICCM’s (Inner City Church of Minneapolis) Street Team. We passed out some food and clothing, but mostly prayer and conversations. The very first person I approached was a Lakota man from Porcupine on the Pine Ridge reservation! We talked for some time about living conditions, traditional music, and mostly, what a van-load of church kids could possibly do to serve his people on a five-day outreach. I can’t say I walked away with concrete answers, but one Lakota man was blessed that night to know that Jesus loved his people. Also, his wife received some healing in her hip as we prayed for her and was able to get out of her wheelchair and walk around for a while.

So we ask for your prayer as we seek God on how to lead these trips well, for the sake of the youth and for the precious people of Pine Ridge.

Support Level Report: Committed monthly giving has dropped $450/mo since January. Including one-time donations our monthly support is approximately $2500/mo after administrative fees, or 75% of our goal.

SOMD staff ladies!

We are also coming quickly to the end of our three different spring schools here at the base. As staff for the School of Ministry Development (SOMD), Renée has been attending classes, grading journals, meeting with students for discipleship and helping with their practicums, as well as working in Accounting one morning a week. I continue to lead worship once or twice a week, but also have two SOMD students who I’m mentoring as worship leaders, a weekly class on worship with the EDE (ie. Spanish Discipleship Training School).

Worship leading in our context means making a way

for musicians and dancers, families and singles,

English and Spanish speakers, all coming to the

throne of Jesus together.

At home, we’ve been splitting the homeschool teaching, but Summer Break has now arrived! This week we’re celebrating Emily’s 8^th and Madelynn’s 7^th birthdays! Hudson has left his training wheels in the dust and now we can ride the whole 5-mile loop at a nearby park together. We feel like we’ve finally graduated!

Direction: The Lord has given us a little more insight into His direction for our lives. He’s renewed Renée’s desire to homeschool, given her a freedom to pursue her Naturopathy education, learn German, and to not feel bad if she does nothing more than these few things well! For me, there is still a longing to be living amongst an unreached people group. Still I’m finding it a joy each day to give young people the opportunity to find their purpose as Jesus-worshipping, nations-loving disciples. For now the next step will be this Fall’s Compassion and Worship DTS with a focus on refugees, locally and in Europe!

Mark 6:34 When he went ashore he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd.

Joshua’s corner: “I really enjoy going to ICCM for outreach on Friday nights, and going to Youth Group at Maple Hill on Wednesday nights. On outreach we give out food (like hot dogs), drinks (like lemonade), and clothes. Last week one person was saved. My Dad and I got to talk to a Somalian Muslim about Jesus. I felt like I was really making an impact in the hearts of the people. At Youth Group, I played soccer, and learned about prayer. There I felt like I was the light of God shining onto the other kids.”

Thank-you for your friendship, partnership and prayers!

Joel and Renée, Joshua, Rachel, Madelynn and Hudson

Sunday, 1 May 2016

YWAM DNA Conference (by Joel)

Nobody ever told me Missouri was beautiful.

All I knew about the state is that I should be able to get some good BBQ ribs. For my 37^th birthday I did just that – along with an apple pie made by some lady named Barbie. But did you know Missouri is also a beautiful place? I didn’t!

We found out Missouri was beautiful while spending two weeks at a YWAM conference held at the Windemere Baptist Conference center on the Lake of the Ozarks.

Back in February we’d felt God prompting us to attend this conference, a ‘DNA Infusion’ for the Americas, held April 10-22. The founders, Loren and Darlene Cunningham, as well as David Hamilton and other long-term YWAM leaders would be spending two weeks passing on the values and calling of the mission to the next generation of leaders. I’d like to share a little about this conference so that you can get a better feel for this tribe called YWAM.

{At the time we registered for this conference, the cost for the children’s food, housing and program had not been worked out. When we heard the total cost for our whole family we really had to go back to what God had told us to do, even if it meant emptying the savings account and still not having enough! So we did, and just before the fees were due some good friends, without knowing our need, made a donation that covered the rest!}

Early on in the conference we found that even the Cunningham’s had been unsure of how they would pay for their flights to come to the conference! These are the leaders of an organization with 20,000+ staff, plus 30,000+ students/year with a presence in every country in the whole world! But that is the way they live, and the lifestyle they model for YWAM because that is specifically how God called YWAM to live.

YWAM Value #16 says: “YWAM is called to practice a life of dependence on God for financial provision. For individuals and YWAM corporately this comes primarily through His people. As God has been generous toward us, so we desire to be generous. YWAMers give themselves, their time and talents to God through the Mission with no expectation of remuneration.”

The conference was attended by roughly 300 people from 45 different bases representing 32 nations. YWAM Minneapolis showed up with 27 staff and students. We spent roughly 8 hours a day in worship, intercession, teachings, workshops and simply hearing the stories that have defined who YWAM is.

I sometimes forget that YWAM teaches most often not by lecture and instruction but by story-telling and modeling. We were more ‘infused’ than taught the nature of the mission. Essentially it’s the way a family stays together – being together doing things they love and telling stories. It's easy in YWAM to feel you are in a family when international leaders who’ve been so influential in the world, happily give you a hug, pray for you, then help you stack chairs and vacuum the floor when it’s time to clean up!

Speaking of family, the kids had their very own DNA conference learning about and praying for the nations, learning to hear the voice of God, writing their own worship song, doing lots and lots of crafts and playing outside in the Missouri spring-time. The staff at YWAM Madison did an incredible job and we are grateful for the way they served the families.

Here are a few highlights of the conference:

>>>Workshops on Families in Mission, conversations with long-term missionary moms, and families just starting new bases.

>>>Fellowship, processing, praying, hanging out at the Funky Buffalo coffee shop, hiking and eating apple pie with our MN staff friends.

>>> Hearing about the YWAM method of decision making at every level: Hear God. Obey God. Don’t Give Up.

>>>Truly seeing that YWAM is not all about YWAM. It’s all about King Jesus, His church, His mission. We’ll partner with anybody who wants to see Jesus worshiped by every nation, tribe and tongue:

One night we prayed for the President of CRU (formerly Campus Crusade for Christ) and he was healed of a heart condition.

On the same day, YWAM made a historic intellectual property agreement with Tyndale Publishing so that the SphereView Bible App can be released for free. Learn more here: http://beta.scripturesys.com/

>>>On that note, Ending Bible Poverty is not only one of YWAM’s goals for 2020, it’s been a core part of the mission since the 1970’s. Here's Loren speaking to the Azuza Now Gathering earlier this month:

>>>YWAM’s calling: Young people from everywhere, going everywhere, taking the Gospel to the ‘Alls’ and the ‘Everys’ through Evangelism, Mercy and Training. Time and time again we heard stories of crazy, new, innovative ways YWAMers are doing this, or being the “boots on the ground” for other Christian agencies. The scope is getting the whole Gospel to the whole world. Kinda ambitious! But it fits the verse God gave us as a motto when we first came into YWAM: Matt 24:14 “And this Gospel of the Kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.”

>>>YWAM’s leadership comes through influence, not authority. The international and national leaders have laid down their titles. Direction comes not from the next level of seniority, but through circles of relationship convening to seek God together. Relationships built around geographic proximity, or target people groups, or target spheres (such as the Cities conference held in San Francisco last week for YWAM bases wanting to saturate the different spheres of culture within a metropolis.)