A group from YWAM Canada visited the prison in Suva, Fiji to assist and speak with the prisoners there. Team from the YWAM base in Canada have visited the prison before, and this was their third year there.
The YWAM group made about 40 litres of soup to feel 3200 people there, and also brought school packs for 500 students. They were given a tour of the prison facility and visited a prisoner art museum that has been set-up there.
You can read a bit more about the visit if you scroll down a bit on the news article here.
The Tamar Center in Pattaya Thailand, a ministry birthed out of Youth With a Mission (YWAM), is providing women caught up in the Thailand Prostitution a way out.
Many women in Thailand enter into prostitution not by choice, but by being sold into it, forced into it or because they can’t see another way to survive. The Tamara Center provides these women with another way to survive through a three-month program that focuses on:
Christian Teachings
Learning English
Learning new skills (baking, hairdressing, etc)
About 80% of the women who go through the program offered by the centre manage to avoid returning to prostitution.
You can read more about one woman’s journey from a prostitute to running the training at the Tamara Center here.
YWAM is becoming a common destination among Christians wanting to embark on a Gap Year. Whether it is the year between high school and college, or college / university and a career, short term missions work is a fantastic option that I reckon any Christian should look at doing.
Although the effectiveness of short term missions work has been debated, and will continue to be debated, probably until Christ’s return, I believe that it is an important part of God’s plan for the Church. Short Term Missions not only reach out to people in the outreach locations, it also opens the eyes and hearts of the people taking part in the short term outreach.
Jesus commanded us to go into all the world and make disciples of nations. The more people that get doing this, long term or short term, the closer we are getting to doing what God has called us to do.
You can read about one man’s plan for his Gap Year after university here.
With cases of the swine flu being discovered all over the world YWAM and Church Outreach locations are being reconsidered. Cases of Swine Flu are continuing to be found in all areas of the world.
Various church outreaches around the world have been cancelled or redirected to other areas that are not as affected by the disease. As more cases are discovered we will probably be seeing more changes to outreach and possibly see outreach teams staying closer to home.
So far I have not heard of any cases of YWAM Missionaries catching swine flu. With the spread of the disease, and the amount that YWAMers travel though we will keep an eye on it.
You can read about a few outreaches that have been changed because of the swine flu here.
A team of 6 skaters from Red Deer, Alberta, Canada and 18 from Edmonton, Canada headed down to Mazzatlan, Mexico to join a YWAM Outreach in Mazatlan, Mexico.
The team managed to pack 10 suitcases full of skateboard gear that was donated to the local Mexican skaters when they were down in Mexico. They helped to assemble portable skateboarding equipment and run different events in the area.
The outreach was organized by Skatelife and you can read more about it here.
