YWAM Townsville moves to the city

{The new YWAM Townsville campus right in the heart of the city and
only a 10-15 minute walk to the beach. It includes five buildings
surrounding a large courtyard and common area.}

We have been painting, gardening, cleaning, and preparing the new city campus for move-in during December. Our new campus is literally a dream come true – big enough to house multiple training schools, the YWAM Ships Australia office, Youth Street and our various other youth ministries, Island Breeze, and so much more. We have the capacity for our operations to triple in size (at least) and so the dreaming has only just begun.

{Ryan painting and installing signage at the city campus.}

Leaders are now in process of getting the campus approved to fit out some of the buildings with housing – student dorms, staff accommodation and apartments – and soon it will be a hub of life and ministry like we’ve never known before! Ryan (and Adriel to a lesser extent!) has been enjoying dividing his time between his normal leadership responsibilities and getting his hands dirty with painting, designing and installing new signage, and a million other hands-on renovation projects. The property acquisition is a miracle and we are thanking God for this incredible provision that will take YWAM Townsville well into the future.

Another year of amazing outreaches in PNG

{The M/V Pacific Link pulling in to port in Townsville.}

The YWAM Medical Ship has just returned to Townsville after another incredible year of outreaches in the Western and Gulf Provinces of PNG where we delivered a total of 63,548 medical, training, and development services during 2013.

{Adriel ‘models’ a necklace and headdress given to her during a
welcoming ceremony in one of the villages.}

Adriel has written several accounts from her most recent trip to PNG where her focus was to serve as the media liaison (writing stories and taking photographs to be used in promotional materials). It was a rich time – stretching, heartbreaking, and rewarding – and is always laden with gratitude and revelation about the work we’re called to do and how much the world needs Jesus and his ways. You can find links to her stories and photos of the Bamu River region of the Western Province PNG here.

 

Island Breeze joins YWAM Townsville

{Celebrating the arrival of Island Breeze in the courtyard of the new base.}

The family at YWAM Townsville has become a little larger. With dancing, singing, traditional protocols from several nations, great celebration, and feasting (including a pig on a spit), we are thrilled to welcome 22 of our friends who have moved from Island Breeze in Brisbane to YWAM Townsville!

{YWAM Townsville just got a whole lot more colorful, musical, and groovable.}

This talented group of people bring a unique flair to our centre and spur us on in our vision to Australia, Papua New Guinea and beyond. Joining with our family from the Pacific, we are both able to extend our hand to people in new ways, and exponentially expand our reach. We are excited to see our family grow, and we are eager to discover what we can do together.

A new ship on the horizon

It’s hard to believe that less than four years ago we were pioneering YWAM Ships Australia. God has taken us on such a learning curve and has opened up doors that we never imagined possible. So much so that we have recently entered into a contract for the purchase of a new ship – the M/V Ipipiri – to replace our current ship, the 34-year-old M/V Pacific Link, which is set to be retired in 2015.

{The catamaran-style M/V Ipipiri is currently a small luxury cruise ship.
After acquisition it will be custom outfitted to suit our purposes.}

The government of PNG has become one of our strongest supporters and biggest advocates since the inception of our involvement there over the last several years, and just last month gave us $1.7 million AUD toward the purchase of the new ship. The Ipipiri will allow us to extend our services immediately to the 1.3 million people in the southern region of PNG and we plan to have it in operation by 2015 after outfitting it with clinics, training facilities, a medical testing lab, and volunteer accommodation.

PRAYER & PRAISE

Thanking God for:

Our new YWAM base in the city, our new influx of staff, a new quarter with over 50 new students ready to be trained up for missions, and a new YWAM ship on the horizon.

A greater commitment and involvement in our ministry from Westside Church (Bend, Oregon) after Pastors Steve and Mike visited in July. We are so blessed and encouraged to increase our partnership with them.

Celebrating two wonderful years with this cutie:

{Our little Judahsaurus turns two.}

Please pray for:

Our current YWAM facilities to be sold – training campus, office building, a four-plex, a block of eight apartments, and two houses plus a workshop.

Speedy approval of plans to renovate the new base with housing and for wisdom to know how to transition our accommodation from the West End to the city center.

Grace for staff as everything surrounding the ministry is in flux and transition. This is an exciting time but also a very vulnerable time and we need wisdom to know how to best support staff in the midst of it.

Remaining finances needed to complete the purchase of our new ship by the end of the year.

Wisdom and discernment for us personally as we consider what this next season will look like for our family as so much transition in ministry takes place. Pray that we hear clearly from the Lord about timing, decision-making, planning and dreaming.

{Most recent family photo – celebrating Judah’s birthday a few weeks ago.}