I’m not actually sure when the spring officially ends and summer begins, but judging by an increase in the occurrence of sunlight, I’m going to assume that summer is about to start (or has started). The time between the start of my second term in February and now has slipped by suddenly, possibly because of some busy-ness at university and with my university Amnesty group. My other activities have not been entirely interesting (unless you think things like backing up a database and writing an email about pesky technical issues is interesting). However, I was happy to spend a little bit of time in the past couple weeks with some friends staffing with YWAM in Rostrevor, continuing to pass on whatever team-leadership advice and help they can desire. I went and talked to the staff who are taking teams to South Africa and Israel & Palestine next month about budgeting, finances and all that exciting stuff, as well as advice about planning and executing an outreach in South Africa. It’s good to put Renee and I’s years of previous experience into some use. We want to continue to be available for that.

The picture: Just after Easter, I drove down to Rostrevor and hung out with Nathanael (pictured), who is one of the South Africa outreach team leaders as well as current staff on their DTS. He was on the team we took to South Africa last year. I snapped this photo with an awful camera as we took a couple of their kayaks out on Carlingford Lough (the An Cuan centre is in the background on the right).

Last week I had the opportunity to spend a few days with YWAM in Rostrevor training their staff team for the upcoming DTS. It was a great privilege and the first time I had done so since leaving YWAM last year. My contribution to YWAM in the last few months has mostly been limited to web maintenance stuff, so this was a welcome break. It was also nice to be able to give input instead of just receive it (like I do at university).

I covered a few foundational topics for the YWAM team, including:

• History and origins of the DTS programme (plus curricular requirements).
• Leadership.
• Roles of trainees, staff and the school leader.
• Confrontation.
• Strategic planning.

I will be returning in the next few weeks to continue with the training, especially to cover how to plan and lead overseas, cross-cultural outreach teams.

I have just finished my first semester’s exams, and Renee is in her third month of work as a senior care assistant in a residential facility. We are busy but not over-exerted. We miss friends and family but continue to find real friendship in our own marriage.

This week, I am at the YWAM centre in Rostrevor for a few days, training their staff for the upcoming DTS in March. It’s nice to be giving some input instead of receiving.

• Work. That we may work well and build good relationships in what we do. Specifically, Renee has started her work a couple weeks back, and there’s a lot to learn and a lot to do.
• For YWAM Ireland’s progress in the UK visa areas: they have recently undergone an inspection by the Home Office so they can get approval to give their staff 2 year renewable visas. This will mean a whole lot to people who want to work with YWAM long-term, as it costs a lot to renew more frequently (if it’s possible at all), and it allows them to work towards residency in the UK. This has been a struggle for the last two years, since the immigration laws changed in 2008. Though we’re not YWAM staff anymore, this will mean a lot to people who we are close to and are doing work we continue to support.

So what does this mean?

We are no longer YWAM staff, though Mikael will continue to work for YWAM in Northern Ireland on a limited part-time basis. Both of us want to pursue developing our gifts in new ways over the next few years. Mikael is entering a three year undergraduate degree programme at Queen’s University in Belfast, and Renee is looking for work – hopefully in caring for adults with special needs, a field where she has prior experience.

We will appreciate your prayers for this new season. We continue to remain committed to seeing justice and mercy for the downtrodden and outcast through living the values of the Kingdom of Christ. Our life in missions isn’t over; this is simply a new chapter.

We returned to Belfast on Friday after six weeks in South Africa leading a Discipleship Training School (DTS) outreach, making about 9 weeks total away with the prior three weeks with the team in Cork. Our team continues their work in South Africa for another two weeks without us, then they will be back in Northern Ireland for their final debriefing at YWAM’s new base in Rostrevor during the last ten days of this month.

Our time in South Africa went really well. We had the opportunity to work alongside a few partner organizations in kwaZulu-Natal (Durban area, mostly), and our team was involved in quite a few different types of ministry: leading worship, home visits with the sick, youth discipleship, running ‘Bible camp’ and kids’ programs, practical work, prayer ministry, giving teaching and testimonies. We (Mikael & Renee) were active as well in trying to facilitate spiritual growth and leadership abilities in our team members. As usual, we tried to open up opportunities for them to be active in their particular gifts and talents, as well as help them take more and more responsibility in every aspect of the outreach. Thus, we’re confident in them and their progress while we are away. Each team member has clear responsibilities (from organizing team times, to doing the accounts and organizing grocery shopping), and we turned the overall leadership over to two of them.

South Africa is a beautiful country of many contrasts. It has one of the largest income inequalities in the world, with some of the poorest and richest people within its borders. In some places, we felt as if we could easily be in an opulent Southern California suburb. Out of town and down the road are the offspring of informal settlements, with open sewers, ramshackle dwellings and no indoor plumbing, where the inhabitants (almost always exclusively black) live on less than $2 a day. With 11 official languages, South Africa is layered with different cultures. The kwaZulu-Natal province, though, is 80% Zulu, with English and Afrikaaner whites fitting into the remaining percentage alongside the other people groups. Durban has also the largest Indian population outside of India.

Our work was mostly in Zulu communities. When not with YWAM Durban, we had the opportunity to stay in the tribal areas, once at a community centre, and the next with one of team member’s (Spha) family. We traded indoor plumbing, showers and privacy for the beautiful views of valleys and red earth, spotted with brightly-colored traditional round houses. Alongside our official ministry, it became apparent that our presence as a team of mostly white people in areas where white people don’t often come was a ministry of reconciliation in and of itself. People were delighted to see us fetching water, crammed into the noisy minibus taxis, and trying out our lackluster Zulu language skills. We often heard the phrase, ‘You’ve made us feel human.’ Our words about Christ came more alive in these experiences.

There is much more to say about our time in South Africa – about the beautiful and inspirational people we met, the challenges they face, and what we’ve learned – but we will save it for another time.

You can see photos from our trip in our photo gallery, or by following the link below:

	South Africa: Outreach 2010 Pictures from the DTS outreach we lead around Durban area May – July 2010. The last two weeks are student-lead, and we are back early. 54 photos

Also, we encourage you to check out some of the amazing groups we’ve been blessed to work with in South Africa. Here is a summary (they’re all Christian organizations, by the way):

• YWAM Durban – They do a whole host of stuff, but we have been (and the team will be again before they leave) primarily involved in outreach in a local township called Burlington.
• Maskhane – A community organization in kwaNzimakwe tribal area (South Coast) where we did story telling, discipleship, and kids programmes, as well as some home visits. They do counseling, home care for HIV and AIDS patients, and many other things.
• Light Providers – A organization in kwaNyuswa in the Valley of 1000 Hills that seeks to empower youth with vision for their life. It was started by Vusi, who did his DTS in Closkelt, and a couple of their staff have done DTSs now in Belfast.
• Sethani – A community organization working in kwaNgcolosi, Spha’s community, offering life skills, counseling, and youth programs. We ran a program for kids and youth there.
• World Changers Academy – Offering life skills and leadership training in various communities around kwaZulu-Natal. It was started by a YWAMer about a decade ago. Several of its staff have done DTSs in Belfast, including our current trainee, Spha, who works for them. Our team is working with WCA this week, helping with life skills courses.

You can check out photos from our recent outreach to South Africa here.

We’ve also added some thumbnail links to other videos we’ve created in the video section.

We’ll fly from Dublin to London to Johannesburg, then to Durban. Our ministry will be in Durban and surrounding villages.

We’ll have very limited internet access until July, so if you need to get in touch with us, be patient! As always, keep an eye on Facebook and Twitter, and we’ll see if we can get updates going this way.

I took a van full of boys and bags from Belfast on Wednesday morning while the girls took the train, and we’re now in Cork. In the next couple weeks, we’ll be helping with a couple local ministries, including the Haven – an interdenominational ministry of a coffee shop, bookstore, and prayer room. We’ll also be on the streets busking for money for homeless ministries, praying for people, and leading worship and services in churches.

We’re back in Belfast for a few days mid-May, then we’re off to South Africa for the remainder of the outreach.

Our team will be working with a variety of ministries in the Durban area, primarily helping with discipleship and helping empower people in practical skills. I’ll tell you more about these ministries later…

We certainly appreciate your prayers. We’ll be leading nine trainees from this DTS – four guys and five females; five Americans, one English, one South African Zulu, and one Israeli Arab. They’re a great group with lots of talent.

Well, we’re nearly through this DTS’s lecture phase. We’ve got just a few weeks left before outreach begins at the very end of April. In summary, what’s happened:

• Mike Oman teaching on the Father Heart of God. (also a nice group shot photo here)
• Derek & Trich Dodd teaching on relationships and forgiveness.
• Jonny Clark and Davy Kidd teaching on the Holy Spirit
• Local outreach in Belfast (my small group hosts an evening for elderly people on the Shankill every Monday at Feed Cafe)
• Patricia Green (founder of Rahab ministries) teaching on human trafficking.
• Jon Hatch teaching on the Kingdom of God, and why Jesus is more than just personal salvation.
• The DTS serving at the Western European Leadership Consultation (WELC) in Dublin.
• A week of prayer, outreach during St Patrick’s Day, and learning about how to work in the Catholic world as an ecumenical mission (taught by Rob Clarke, of YWAM’s Kerygma Teams)
• Jonny Clark teaching on reconciliation.
• Alec Cartwright teaching on ‘discipling nations,’ and why missions is something every Christian is called to, no matter what profession.
• Emmanuel Entee, filling in gaps of our curriculum, and teaching on freedom in Christ.
• Next weeks: a week of outreach in Belfast and workshops, then story telling and evangelism, then a week on worship. (Then outreach)

(A heads up: all the photos linked in the bullet points above are taken with a phone camera, and the quality isn’t great)