Moving To Work with YWAM Salem, OR
For a lot of you this update is a long time coming, because admittedly I’m not the best communicator when it comes to long distance. We do have a family blog that has mostly been used for work related updates for our friends, family and supporters. Facebook has been the main way I’ve been able to keep in touch with many of you, which I’m so grateful for, especially when there has literally been an ocean between us!
For a quick recap, my wife Bora and I have been working with Youth With A Mission (YWAM) for about 10 years. We both have a strong calling on our lives for discipleship and for equipping young people with the tools they need to go into all nations and make disciples and worshipers of Jesus. As a family we have adopted YWAM’s mission statement, to know God and to make Him known. We believe that discipleship is the calling of every Christian, regardless of the many cultural or theological differences that exist today in the global church. Youth With A Mission is a global movement of Christians from many cultures, age groups, and Christian traditions dedicated to serving Jesus throughout the world. YWAM is made up of 18,000 full-time volunteer staff and has over 1,100 global operations in 180 countries.
19 [a]Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you [b]always, even to the end of the age.” Matthew 28:19-20 NASB
An oldie but a goodie, I think Jesus said it best, making the Father’s desire for deeper relationship through discipleship training clear, and further equipping His church just days later when He sent His Spirit at Pentecost.
YWAM’s University of the Nations is unique in that its learning structure is modular and community centered, with its core course being the Discipleship Training School.(DTS) Rather than take several different courses at once, a typical 12 credit course runs for three months with a three month outreach following. Students live in community as they study a single subject each week, and immediately put into practice what they’ve learned on outreach.
So why discipleship schools? Paul wrote to the church in Ephesus about the importance of discipleship as a role that all believer’s shared.
“11 And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the [d]saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ;” Ephesians 4:11-12 NASB
Notice that Paul didn’t say that it was the pastor’s job to equip the saints, or the missionary, but he listed several different gifts at work today in the church, we are all included in verse eleven. Verse twelve also mentions equipping saints(that’s the church)…for service. No one is excluded. Disciples make disciples, and the way we live our lives, the way we interact with our coworkers, lead our families, we are making disciples. Our calling is to make disciples in the likeness of Jesus, disciples who will make disciples.
Our family has been living by faith for about 10 years in the area of finances. One of YWAM’s core values is faith for finances. Of their 18,000 staff there are no salaries paid, not even for their founders Loren and Darlene Cunningham. We live off of the gracious and sacrificial gifts of our friends and family. We have a decade of awesome testimonies of God’s faithfulness for our finances, and in this season we’re needing to increase our monthly support.
One HUGE praise report is that we’ve just this month reached our target is a minimum of $1700 a month! Our minimum was raised from $1500 to $1700 when we were informed that we needed to find off campus housing. All of our essentials are now covered, our lodging, food, utilities, and vehicle expenses. We are hoping to reach $2000 monthly so that we can afford to accompany teams on regular outreaches as budgeting our eventual trip to Korea which is overdue.(Bora hasn’t been home in 3 years, and little Jinha has never met his Grandparents there!) We are extending an invitation to our friends and family to partner with us on a monthly basis tohelp us raise the remaining $300 to meet this goal.
Our second and more urgent need is for one time gifts over the next couple of weeks as we are finalizing our moving plans. We’ll be driving cross country all the way from Maine to Oregon, visiting many YWAM bases, friends and family along the way to keep costs down. We have about $1000 saved for this move, my projected budget looks to be around $2000. In addition to this big moving expense we're going to have to furnish a new apartment and also pay a security deposit that is generally one full months rent. These are the specific needs that we're asking for help with this summer as we transition or family to YWAM Salem.
Would you prayerfully consider supporting our family financially? Would you consider taking our needs to your church, your home groups and your prayer networks? We welcome any and all questions you might have regarding our work and our needs. Please connect with us on Facebook if we aren’t already linked, and don’t forget to follow us on our journey at thewillsontribe.blogspot.com.
If you’ve made it this far, thank you for reading! We are preparing for a long, 60+ hour drive from coast to coast in just 12 days! There's a lot still to organize and all of the "good byes" will be difficult as we've really laid down our roots deep in Maine this last trip. We're in the process of updating our family prayer card. If you would like one for your fridge or your Bible please send me your information and we’ll send you one!
Lot’s of Love,
Noah, Bora, Jubilee (3 ½) and Jin Ha (11 months)
For a quick recap, my wife Bora and I have been working with Youth With A Mission (YWAM) for about 10 years. We both have a strong calling on our lives for discipleship and for equipping young people with the tools they need to go into all nations and make disciples and worshipers of Jesus. As a family we have adopted YWAM’s mission statement, to know God and to make Him known. We believe that discipleship is the calling of every Christian, regardless of the many cultural or theological differences that exist today in the global church. Youth With A Mission is a global movement of Christians from many cultures, age groups, and Christian traditions dedicated to serving Jesus throughout the world. YWAM is made up of 18,000 full-time volunteer staff and has over 1,100 global operations in 180 countries.
19 [a]Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you [b]always, even to the end of the age.” Matthew 28:19-20 NASB
An oldie but a goodie, I think Jesus said it best, making the Father’s desire for deeper relationship through discipleship training clear, and further equipping His church just days later when He sent His Spirit at Pentecost.
YWAM’s University of the Nations is unique in that its learning structure is modular and community centered, with its core course being the Discipleship Training School.(DTS) Rather than take several different courses at once, a typical 12 credit course runs for three months with a three month outreach following. Students live in community as they study a single subject each week, and immediately put into practice what they’ve learned on outreach.
So why discipleship schools? Paul wrote to the church in Ephesus about the importance of discipleship as a role that all believer’s shared.
“11 And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the [d]saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ;” Ephesians 4:11-12 NASB
Notice that Paul didn’t say that it was the pastor’s job to equip the saints, or the missionary, but he listed several different gifts at work today in the church, we are all included in verse eleven. Verse twelve also mentions equipping saints(that’s the church)…for service. No one is excluded. Disciples make disciples, and the way we live our lives, the way we interact with our coworkers, lead our families, we are making disciples. Our calling is to make disciples in the likeness of Jesus, disciples who will make disciples.
Our family has been living by faith for about 10 years in the area of finances. One of YWAM’s core values is faith for finances. Of their 18,000 staff there are no salaries paid, not even for their founders Loren and Darlene Cunningham. We live off of the gracious and sacrificial gifts of our friends and family. We have a decade of awesome testimonies of God’s faithfulness for our finances, and in this season we’re needing to increase our monthly support.
One HUGE praise report is that we’ve just this month reached our target is a minimum of $1700 a month! Our minimum was raised from $1500 to $1700 when we were informed that we needed to find off campus housing. All of our essentials are now covered, our lodging, food, utilities, and vehicle expenses. We are hoping to reach $2000 monthly so that we can afford to accompany teams on regular outreaches as budgeting our eventual trip to Korea which is overdue.(Bora hasn’t been home in 3 years, and little Jinha has never met his Grandparents there!) We are extending an invitation to our friends and family to partner with us on a monthly basis tohelp us raise the remaining $300 to meet this goal.
Our second and more urgent need is for one time gifts over the next couple of weeks as we are finalizing our moving plans. We’ll be driving cross country all the way from Maine to Oregon, visiting many YWAM bases, friends and family along the way to keep costs down. We have about $1000 saved for this move, my projected budget looks to be around $2000. In addition to this big moving expense we're going to have to furnish a new apartment and also pay a security deposit that is generally one full months rent. These are the specific needs that we're asking for help with this summer as we transition or family to YWAM Salem.
Would you prayerfully consider supporting our family financially? Would you consider taking our needs to your church, your home groups and your prayer networks? We welcome any and all questions you might have regarding our work and our needs. Please connect with us on Facebook if we aren’t already linked, and don’t forget to follow us on our journey at thewillsontribe.blogspot.com.
If you’ve made it this far, thank you for reading! We are preparing for a long, 60+ hour drive from coast to coast in just 12 days! There's a lot still to organize and all of the "good byes" will be difficult as we've really laid down our roots deep in Maine this last trip. We're in the process of updating our family prayer card. If you would like one for your fridge or your Bible please send me your information and we’ll send you one!
Lot’s of Love,
Noah, Bora, Jubilee (3 ½) and Jin Ha (11 months)
