Former YWAMer Launches Christian and Missions News Service

The International Faith Telegraph: World Christian News and Missions News was launched earlier this year by a former YWAMer.

The new Christian On-line News Service collects news from all over the world that relates to Christian Missions and about “how God’s people are fulfilling the Great Commission worldwide”.

I’ve found it to be a great source of stories to inspire my own faith and prayer life. It’s good to hear some of the good news from around the world about what God’s doing, rather than the “doom and gloom” and we hear about on the regular news services.

You can read about how and why the site was created here, and then check out The International Faith Telegraph here.

Catamaran Runs Aground in Belize with YWAMers Onboard

Two catamarans with 18 members of Youth With A Mission (YWAM) on board as passengers broke free of their moorings during a storm and ran aground on the Belize Barrier Reef.

The two vessels involved are registered to the United States Coast Guard and are used for tours in the area. No one was injured in the incident, but the Port Authority is investigating the incident because of the damaged caused by the vessels.

The two boats involved are the Imagine and the Dreamer, both double-hulled sailing catamarans that are 46 feet long, 24 feet wide and draw 3.5 feet of water.

You can read more about the incident here.

Girl Rescued from Brothel by YWAM Team in India

An eleven year old orphan girl was recently rescued by a YWAM DTS outreach team in Pune, India. The girls mother had been a prostitute and had died, leaving the girl at the brothel with the other women.

The girl, Monica, is now living at a children’s home in Pune. At the same time as Monica was rescued from the brothel a 3-year old boy also left the brothel with the team to live in the children’s home.

Usually if a child is left alone at a brothel they are sold for the day or for the rest of their lives. For these two children to be rescued from the brothel is a real miracle and will give the children a much better chance at life.

You can read the full story here.

Build a House in Mexico with YWAM

YWAM San Diego / Baja is opening up their house building projects for individuals to join, as well as groups. Traditionally they have only accepted groups of 15 – 20 people to build a house, but right now they are putting together an outreach for individuals to join them to build houses for poor families in Ensenada, Mexico.

The house building outreach will be run from August 14 – 16 and is open to anyone who wants to help, you do not have to have done anything with YWAM in the past to be a part of this outreach with Homes for Hope.

You can find out more about the house building outreach to Ensenada, Mexico here.

More Debate over Hakani Documentary About Infanticide

Debate is still raging about the documentary depicting a re-enactment of infanticide that is practised by some Amazon Tribes in Brazil. There seems to be a few thoughts on the documentary and the idea of infanticide being practiced:

  1. We should ignore it and leave it alone since it isn’t too widely spread among the tribes and it’s their tradition to kill unwanted babies, so we shouldn’t interfere (Survivor International, Brazil’s National Foundation for Indians (FUNAI)
  2. It should be stopped, as many tribes have already done, and the killing of babies should be made illegal, even among the Indigenous Brazilian Amazonian tribes (Hakani Organization, various law makers in Brazil, United Nations Human Rights, etc.)

The documentary was filmed and edited by members or Youth With A Mission (YWAM).

You can read a bit more about the debate here.