To Know God and Make Him Known
“The wicked run when no one is chasing them, but the Godly are as bold as lions.” Proverbs 28:1
Aloha {{first_name|McCalls on Mission Community}}!
Summer is in full swing!
This July has been filled with many highs and as usual a few lows. Sometimes it can be so easy to focus on the lows and forget how amazing God has been to us through it all. Particularly, I have been pondering the idea of success. It’s easy to think that if we obey God, He will lead us to great success! While it’s true that God has great plans for us, what if His great ‘end purpose’ is for us to learn to depend on Him and on His power now and always? What if what He wants is for us to know that everything is alright because He is with us; to be unperplexed even in the middle of chaos? My prayer is becoming, “enable me, God, to see you clearly so that I can be sufficiently present for the here and now. Allow each moment to be seen as precious; the way that you do.”
May we not be so in a hurry to get to an end goal that we miss God’s purposes for us in the immediate present.
Be Decentralized
YWAM Value #7 is: Be Decentralized
YWAM is a Christ-centered, faith-based global volunteer movement, united by shared vision, core beliefs, foundational values and relationships. We do not have a centralized structure. Every YWAM ministry has the privilege and spiritual responsibility to develop and maintain healthy relationships with appropriate authorities and circles of elders.
“We have always believed - and still do - in as much governance as needed and as little governance as possible.”
When some people hear the term “decentralized,” they picture everyone doing what they want, in a chaotic and unconnected way all over the world. That’s not the reality of our YWAM movement.
God has called us to be decentralized, but it is under the orchestration and leading of the Holy Spirit. We are united together primarily by these four things:
1) Our shared vision, 2) Our Core Beliefs, 3) Our Foundational Values, 4) Our relationships and mutual submission to one another.
If you take away even one of these elements, over time YWAM will stop bearing fruit. Our true headquarters is in heaven, and we want no other king than Jesus to lead us.
Vietnam
Hanoi
A few weeks ago I had the privilege to speak in a newly pioneered School of Worship in Hanoi, Vietnam. My contacts, a husband and wife with two kids, have pioneered two SOW’s in Vietnam and plan for a third one in another area by next year. I am continually amazed by their faith in God.
It was a special week of teaching leadership principles, principles of communication, how to prepare set lists, work in teams, and prepare them for outreach. I especially had the privilege of commissioning these students to their outreach in Myanmar.
What most impressed me, was the hunger that these students had to learn and grow even on Week 12 of their lecture phase (the last week). Each person had teachable hearts, humility, and incredible willingness to obey God however He would lead.
One highlight was having the opportunity to partner with the students in ministry. They led worship at an underground Church for a midweek service and I was asked to preach a sermon. What an honor it is to pour into the underground Church of Vietnam. While much has changed, there is still need for Christian Church gatherings to happen in secret places.
One other highlight was having the opportunity to speak at another mid week gathering on missions. Groups of Christians from other parts of Asia such as Mongolia and China joined this midweek gathering via Zoom.
God is doing amazing things in Asia! Let us particularly, continue to pray for the work being done in public and underground in these hungry, yet difficult, places.
Unexpected Opportunity
An unexpected opportunity
An unexpected opportunity fell into our laps on July 11th and we’ve been given the chance to purchase one of the exclusive YWAM staff condos that is sold at half its market value through a land lease. It’s within walking distance of campus, and while we’ve never really had any desire to buy one of these condos before, after prayerful consideration, we feel like God is opening this door and inviting us to step through it.
In all honesty, this isn’t the home we’ve spent years praying for, but, instead of seeing it as settling for less, we see it as the next step of obedience. We’re still believing God has that ministry home for us someday, but this feels like a really wise next step in the meantime. This will allow our family to move out of our two room campus dorm and free up campus housing for students. If this all goes through, it will be exciting to have a kitchen again, three actual bedrooms, and another bathroom.
Our hope is to raise the full purchase price of $420,000 through private loans. We already have $100,000 committed, so we only need to raise the remaining $320,000 by September.
This could be the beginning to the answer of our prayer for a new housing situation by September that each of you have been praying fervently for. Thank you for your prayers! We are filled with much hope and expectation for what God is up to.
If you feel led to be a part of funding this opportunity, please reach out by replying to this email for more information. More importantly, pray for God’s will to be done in all of this! We simply want what He wants for us!
Mahalo 🙌🏼
As we reflect on all that God is doing, we're continually reminded that none of it happens alone. We are deeply thankful for every one of you who faithfully stands with us through your prayers, encouragement, and financial support.
Your partnership makes it possible for us to continue serving around the world, and we're honored to labor together for the sake of God's Kingdom.
Thank you for believing in what God has called us to and for being such an important part of the journey. We also count it a privilege to pray for you, so if there's ever a way we can be interceding on your behalf, please let us know.
Lastly, if there are opportunities for us to serve alongside you in your ministry or community, we'd love to explore them. It's a joy to partner together as the body of Christ, each of us contributing to His purposes in the world.
“Immediately he made his disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, to Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd.”
Blessing
May the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make his face shine upon you, and be gracious to you. May the Lord lift up his countenance upon you, and may the Lord give you peace. Amen. 🙏
Grace and Peace be with you in Abundance,
-Chris, Lizzi, Kai, Laila, Rhema, Moses, and Zion ♥️-
