In the middle of the second day of YWAM’s 2011 Global Leadership Forum, Kobus Van Neikerk, the coordinator of YWAM’s Africa leadership team, told a story about his wife, Rika. Kobus and Rika have been laboring for decades to serve YWAM’s staff all over the African continent. They have driven over rough roads to visit teams in remote parts of Angola, have gone into conflict areas in spite of warnings, and have comforted families in Nigeria in the aftermath of a tragic accident. Now Rika had developed vascular issues with her heart, and had not recovered her normal energy after surgery. As she was recuperating, Kobus said Rika had received a call in their Pretoria, South Africa home. A YWAMer in an African country wanted help with a difficult situation. As she tried to respond to this request, Rika’s strength gave way, and she fainted.

It’s been around seven years since Sophon was sent to the Ratchaburi prison in Central Thailand. He has almost completed the allotted punishment for the crime he committed so many years ago. His release is due at the end of this year. While he is excited, apprehension also clouds his outlook, as he is no longer certain what life looks like outside of his prison walls.

What Sophon does know, however, is that being in prison has truly changed him. For the better. A number of years ago, soon after he entered the prison, Sophon took a decision to follow the ways of Jesus. His journey of faith in Christ has brought him hope and a new understanding of what his life should be like. Sophon has been so swept away by the love of God that he has decided to serve God even after his upcoming release. “I want to serve God and have God help me in areas in my life that are not right yet,” Sophon says.

Of all the festivals celebrated in Thailand, Songkran is considered the most significant. It is a time to celebrate Thai New Year with family ceremonies and “blessing” one another with water. In Chiang Mai, this tradition has turned into the country's biggest city-wide water fight, attracting visitors from around the world. This super wet shindig takes place around the city's moat and lasts for 3 days! Create International, a ministry of Youth With A Mission, joined in the fun this year.

At the tender age of 12 years, Diaw picked up his first guitar. Naturally inclined to music, he taught himself how to play within three months. To Diaw it seemed like this was what he was born to do. He dreamed of working as a musician, travelling with a band, writing his own songs. Diaw couldn’t imagine doing anything else with his future.

As hundreds of young men and women arrived in Harpenden, England, this week for YWAM’s Olympic outreach, some of them had the chance to meet James Swabey. James, a 22-year-old YWAM worker from Sussex, England, had the opportunity to run with the Olympic Torch on its journey to London.
James was one of 8,000 people chosen by the London 2012 Organising Committee to carry the Olympic flame as it traveled around the United Kingdom. The torchbearers were selected for their inspirational stories or for influential work in their community.

No country in Africa captures the extremes of the continent like the Democratic Republic of Congo. A massive nation with vast natural resources, it ought be one of the wealthiest countries on earth, and yet today, it is ranked as one of the poorest. Stunningly beautiful, it has been scarred by ugly deeds — 5 million people dead as a result of the years of simmering warfare over the last two decades.

The eastern Democratic Republic of Congo has been hit hard by the war. The region has thick, often impenetrable rainforest, with few tarred roads. Travel there is painfully slow. One Congolese family had a grueling struggle to attend a DTS at Arua in Uganda. Their 1000km journey from Isiro took an incredible 14 days. The couple travelled with their toddler by bicycle, motorbike, foot and car. On the way they got lost, were separated from each other for several days, were robbed, and suffered severe exhaustion. They survived on a meager diet of rice alone. They arrived in Arua not knowing the language, yet convinced that God wanted them there, and that they needed to do the DTS: perseverance, tenacity, and faith!

Maewyn Succat was born to a well-to-do British Roman family in roughly 400 AD in Kilpatrick, Scotland. He enjoyed the status of middle class wealth, and the prestige of having a preacher grandfather and a deacon father in the young Christian church. Maewyn, however, while reveling in the comfortable position of his family, rejected anything to do with their faith. However, everything changed for the young Briton when he was kidnapped by Irish pirates at the age of 16, and dragged to the neighbouring country where he was forced into slavery.

I am glad I was born in a slum.”

When Suchada Nantavong speaks the claim, her smile stretches from ear to ear — and those around her are shocked. She continues, “...and through that God has given me understanding to be able to work in the slums in Phnom Penh.”

Most people who are in slums are desperate get out, and Suchada was one who succeeded in doing just that. However, she chose to go back. This time with Jesus’s heart, hands, and love. She pours all these characteristics out in the biggest slum in Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia.

The Initiative is an apt name for the independent film company birthed from YWAM Brisbane’s School of Digital Filmmaking in Australia. After winning a parade of awards for one of their many short films, the young film company has decided to step out into something bigger: the challenge of a feature film. Their first full-length project, The Umbrella, aims to promote a message of reconciliation, redemption, and restoration.

The Umbrella was originally the brainchild of director, producer, and founder of The Initiative, Jason Solari. After years of development, writer and producer, Josh Potthoff, was brought alongside the project to breathe life into the writing and give flesh to the story. Both are passionate about their production, aiming to engage hearts and minds. “Film is the most influential medium of our day,” says Jason. “And it’s our goal to tell good stories.”

Lynn Green, previously International Chairman of YWAM and member of the global eldership, looks back 40 years to the first Olympic outreach, and wonders what God will do this time...

I have been in YWAM for over 40 years now. I have been involved with some remarkable projects, and have seen God do some amazing things in and through YWAM. The Olympic outreach in Munich in 1972 is one of those memorable events!