‘Redemption & Reconciliation: Heart of Christian Worldview’ Peter Adams from YWAM Ireland on Vimeo.

We were about twenty five people that week, meeting in a couple different locations on the Shankill in Belfast. Usually, this annual conference is held in the summer, so our group was perhaps not as diverse as normal, since most people would be busy during the weekdays in November. However, we were a nice combination of YWAM Belfast staff and volunteers, YWAM Harpenden School of Humanities, and Sword of the Sprit gap-year volunteers. In all, we represented the nations of England, New Zealand, USA, Rwanda, Cameroon, Turkmenistan, Norway, Central African Republic, Lebanon, the Netherlands, and Ireland. A good mix, anyways.

Jonny Clark (Director, YWAM Ireland & YWAM Belfast) led us through a brief but meaningful examination of Irish history to set a practical context for our surroundings and the teaching we would have. Our primary guest speaker was Peter Adams (http://www.reconciliationtalk.com), who is involved in reconciliation work in England and overseas. He spoke at length about peacemaking as part of the Christian mission, as well as God’s plan for the reconciliation of all things, and how we participate in that – in relating to people and in speaking about Jesus. He used many stories about his work in Luton (England) with the Muslim community and his work in places like China and the Middle East.

In the afternoons, there were field-trips to community projects around Belfast to see how various groups engaged with the needs of this city. The purpose of these outings were to inspire and spark ideas, as well as connect the teaching with practical application.

[The video at the top was taken at the conference, and I pieced it together from a 75-min talk Peter Adams presented on God's plan of ultimate redemption for all of creation and our call to participate in it (Vimeo - about 30 min.).]

Peter’s blog: reconciliationtalk.com

I met up with Renee after a few days of separation at YWAM Amsterdam on Saturday the 29th of March. She had spent the past week with a group of others from various parts of YWAM Europe praying for YWAM, the leaders, and for the upcoming Western European Leadership Consultation (or WELC – I think this is the fi). That Monday, we traveled with a few friends from YWAM Northern Ireland two hours east by train to a small village called Delden near the Germany-Netherlands border. We were arriving for the WELC, unsure of what to expect (my previous experiences with YWAM gatherings outside of Northern Ireland, although very limited, is that they tend to be very enthusiastic and “Pentecostal-ish”; I’m not opposed to these adjectives, but I prefer them in small, evenly spaced doses).

I was very pleasantly surprised with the ‘consultation.’ Although the schedule was full, it wasn’t overwhelming according to YWAM conference tradition; although over 200 people were there from all over Western Europe, it felt somewhat more intimate (and 200 isn’t necessarily a whole lot either). Through the four days of the WELC, we had some lectures, talks, discussions, worship, interaction, prayer, and working groups (sort of like seminars with small group discussion and think-tanking). In our free-time, I enjoyed catching up with old YWAM acquaintances from other parts and hearing what was going on with them, as well as meeting new folks.

Most constructive, however, were the specific points we tried to cover during the consultation, either in lecture, discussion or our working groups. A lot of ideas were traded, and new thoughts voiced. Here’s an idea of some of what we discussed throughout the week:

• Update on what is happening with YWAM globally, YWAM in Western Europe
• Working together as a multi-generational YWAM (the Abraham, Isaac and Jacob generations), now that YWAM is 40+ years old with three generations of leaders.
• YWAM and the ancient traditions – exploring how YWAM can be a greater part of traditional denominations (especially the Catholic world in Western Europe)
• YWAM & the emerging church.
• Defining the word ‘base’ – What is a base? I highly recommend the wiki over at the YWAM Knowledge Base on the subject.
• Homosexuals in YWAM
• Pioneering new YWAM teams.
• Immigrants and asylum seekers, opportunities for YWAM to work in those communities.
• Do big bigger bases suck too many resources away from smaller bases?
• The church in exile – The role of missions in a post-Christian Europe. (Transcript/summary of Jonny Clark’s talk at the YWAM Knowledge Base)
• Risk taking.
• The 4k project, Omega Zones, and world evangelization (more at ywam4k.org).

And a lot more. -Mikael

Relevant links:

• The YWAM Knowledge Base Wiki has a category with summaries of all of the main talks and devotions given at the WELC ‘08. A lot of the points listed above are further explained at this link. A great resource.
• Sixteen photos are available from our time in the Netherlands and at the WELC in our photo galleries.
• Donovan Palmer’s blog – Donovan is the national director for YWAM England. He had a couple sweet posts on his blog regarding the WELC ‘08, the first one a great post about the WELC in general (here), and secondly a nice video blog interview with Stephe Mayers, YWAM’s regional leader for western Europe (here), which I highly recommend.

We’ll be attending with a team of several others from YWAM NI, mostly others from the Belfast and Closkelt Leadership Teams. We hope that we can share the vision God has given for reaching our island and our outreach locations, and we hope as well to be able to glean some wisdom off of other wisened colleagues and do a fair share of recruiting to our cause!

We’re quite excited because, although there is a programme and seminars, the Consultation is geared to create space for brainstorming and constructive dialogue. So, unlike a typical YWAM conference, the WELC will not be packed full of crowds and event after event after meeting after event (and so on!).

Renee will be leaving this coming Tuesday, however, (a few days before Mikael) in order to meet up with a collection of other YWAM intercessors in Amsterdam for a time of prayer for YWAM and the WELC (I think). The event is called Prayer Shield, and is an idea to cover a town or a people or an event in such fervent prayer as to create, in a sense, a shield of prayers regarding the subject. In any case, it is also meant to be a time where some of the older generation of YWAM’s prayer warriors pass the mantle to another generation, and we hope this can be an opportunity to learn and grow for Renee as well.

The trip:

• Renee flies to Amsterdam on Tuesday the 25th of March with Ros Oman for the Prayer Shield
• Mikael flies to the Netherlands on Saturday the 29th with some colleagues and meets up with Renee for the WELC.
• We fly back together to Belfast after the WELC finishes on the 4th of April.

Links:
WELC ‘08 Netherlands website
WELC ‘08 Facebook group