Praying For YWAM Foundational Values (16 – 18)

Join YWAMers around the globe in praying and hearing from God. He is inviting you!
In January of last year we began praying for YWAM’s Foundational Values, three at a time, once per quarter. This issue of The Invitation marks the completion of this prayer campaign. Please join us in praying for ourselves and for the whole YWAM family to live out these final three values: to depend on God, to practice hospitality, and to communicate with integrity.
According to Rita Pretorius, who provided input to The Invitation, “Be Hospitable” was one of YWAM’s first values, along with our motto “To know God and to make Him known.” Rita believes that “hospitality helped us, as YWAM, to stay a loving community and not to become an institution. Being hospitable is part of our DNA because it is not about programs or a method, it is all about relationships.”
Terry Sherman also noted that the biblical examples of Value 16, Practice Dependence on God, “are about God connecting people to make mutual provision – it’s never one-sided, but both parties are blessed in some way. It’s all about partnership and interdependence.”

YWAM Foundational Values 16 – 18
Photo credits (left to right): YWAM Nuremberg, YWAM Asheville, YWAM Perth Africa DTS

Value 16: Practice dependence on God – YWAM is called to practice a life of dependence upon God for financial provision. For individuals and YWAM corporately this comes primarily through His people. As God has been generous toward us, so we desire to be generous. YWAMers give themselves, their time and talents to God through the mission with no expectation of remuneration (Gen 22:12-14; Exo 36:2-7; Num 18:25-29; Mal 3:8-12; Mat 6:25-33; Luk 19:8-9; 2Co 8:1-9:15; Php 4:10-20; Tit 3:14; 3Jo 5-8).
Value 17: Practice hospitality – YWAM affirms the ministry of hospitality as an expression of God’s character and the value of people. We believe it is important to open our hearts, homes, campuses and ministry centers to serve and honor one another, our guests and the poor and needy, not as acts of social protocol, but as expressions of generosity (Gen 18:1-8; 2Sa 9:1-11; Psa 68:5-6; Pro 22:9; Isa 58:7; Mat 25:31 46; Acts 28:7-8; Rom 12:13; Heb 13:1-3; 1Pe 4:9).
Value 18: Communicate with integrity – YWAM affirms that everything exists because God communicates. Therefore, YWAM is committed to truthful, accurate, timely and relevant communication. We believe good communication is essential for strong relationships, healthy families and communities, and effective ministry (Gen 1:3-5; Num 23:19; Pro 10:19; Pro 25:9-14; Zec 8:16-17; Mat 5:33-37; Luke 4:16-22; Joh 1:1 5; Col 4:6; Jam 3:1-18).

Please join with The Invitation during the month of April to pray with us about these three values. You are particularly invited to pray during our prayer day, April 11. If you only have a few moments to pray we would ask you to pray for yourself and our YWAM family that God would help us live out dependence on God, hospitality, and good communication. As you pray and contemplate these foundational values, we would love to receive stories from you regarding how these values have shaped your ministry or your life. You can email us at [email protected].

Prepare to Pray:

As you gather to pray, have a conversation about the different ways of greeting people you have encountered in different cultures. In what ways have different greetings made you feel welcome, or perhaps not welcome? Perhaps you have experienced moments of confusion, when you were not sure whether to hug or not hug? Or you thought two kisses were normal, when really it was three? How did these moments of confusion make you feel? What are some of the ways you have gone out of your way to greet those from other cultures in ways that would make them feel welcome and at ease?
Henri Nouwen reminds us that every good relationship between two or more people, whether it is friendship, marriage, or community, creates space where strangers can enter and become friends. Good communication and good relationships are both hospitable in nature.
When we enter into a home and feel warmly welcomed, we will soon realize that the love among those who live in that home is what makes possible the welcome that is communicated. Discuss together, what would your communication look like or sound like as an expression of love between you and God, offered to others? What would your behavior be like? How might you approach your prayer and funding partners differently as you bear in mind the values of hospitality and honoring communication?

Matthew 22:37-39 English Standard Version (ESV)

³⁷ And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. ³⁸ This is the great and first commandment. ³⁹ And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

YWAM Foundational Value #16 – Practice Dependence on God
Photo credit: Terry Sherman

Pray for YWAM Foundational Values 16 – 18:

• Praise God for giving wisdom to our leaders regarding our foundational values and ask Him how you can model and teach our values more effectively.

Practice Dependence on God:

• “You are workers, worthy to be supported” (Matthew 10:10 and Luke 10:7).  Jesus so clearly taught the disciples their identity involved doing real work which was worthy to be supported through housing and food. Pray for biblical understanding to spread which will give confidence to gospel spreaders to do their legitimate work and have freedom to invite partnership.
• Pray that churches, pastors and elders will gain understanding of their role as “senders” of gospel spreaders; of their role in the Great Commission.

Practice Hospitality:

• Pray for a greater revelation of hospitality in our mission and how it effects our ministries. Pray for a deeper understanding for God’s heart for people. Hospitality is not a method – it is a relationship with God first and then people. According to Christine D Pohl, “Faithful hospitality usually involves laying our lives down in little pieces, in small acts of sacrificial love and service. Part of the mystery is that while such concrete acts of love are costly, they nourish and heal both giver and recipient.”
• Pray for an outpouring of honor, beauty and generosity in our YWAM communities.
• Pray for all leaders to understand this value and put it into practice in their own lives and model it to the communities.
• Pray for a fresh wave of hospitality hosts and hostesses in our mission.

Hospitality is the golden thread that connects us as YWAMers internationally, and also the hearts of the local communities where we serve.

Rita Pretorius

• Pray for revelation and understanding on how we can best walk in hospitality as a lifestyle. Pray for a fresh understanding to realize that hospitality is not just practical, but indeed very spiritual.
• Pray that God would show us ways to welcome the broken and the stranger into our homes and communities. Pray that we would create welcome places for ourselves, but also safe spaces where we welcome our guests, staff and trainees.
• Pray for school leaders to embrace this value and practice it during the duration of the training program and not only during the initial welcome.
• Thank the Lord for all the hosts and hostesses who have worked in YWAM’s hospitality departments over the years. This is sometimes a thankless job.
• Ask the Lord to enlarge our hearts … to receive all people. He is faithful and will do that if we ask.

YWAM Foundational Value 17 – Practice Hospitality (left to right): Hospitality Cookie, A Father’s Table For Us to Enjoy; Stranger Dinner
Photo credits (left to right): Rita Pretorius, Rita Pretorius, YWAM Nuremberg

Communicate With Integrity:

• Pray for YWAMers to be good communicators.
• Pray for clear communication within YWAM.
• Pray for the launch of YWAM TV.
• Pray for Two-Thirds World YWAMers to know how to use gadgets of communication that will improve their ministry.
• Pray for networking of communicators. Some of them work alone and need a team.
• Pray for Lynn Green, who provides eldership oversight for YWAM’s global communication. Pray also for Circle 18, the team that works with Lynn on communication projects.
• Pray for YWAM’s communication ministries: that they would inspire many people to get involved in serving God’s purposes for the world; that they would help YWAM grow in fruitfulness; and that they would encourage an environment of spiritual vitality in YWAM.
• Pray for Create International (createinternational.com), and their ministry of producing evangelistic audio visuals for unreached people groups.
• Pray for the University of the Nations’ College of Communication, that they would train people well to communicate with integrity.
• Pray for The Invitation, which is one of YWAM’s communication ministries. Pray for the translators and editors. Pray for YWAMers to continue to submit prayer ideas. And pray for prayer coordinators in YWAM to have the leading of God as they invite people to pray. 

Take Action

• For more information: Please refer to /about-us/values/ to see YWAM’s purpose, beliefs and Foundational Values.

Practice Dependence on God:

• Conduct a Bible study on how God provides. Available here: http://bit.ly/EnglishHomework2018
• Meditate on key Scripture: Matthew 10:10, Luke 10:37, Philippians 4:15-17, and 1 Corinthians 9:14.
• Spread the Kairos course into churches so they get revelation/understanding on their role as “senders”: http://www.kairoscourse.org/ 

YWAM Foundational Value #16 – Practice Dependence on God
Photo credit: Terry Sherman

Practice Hospitality:

• Romans 12:13 says “Practice hospitality.” If we don’t practice it, it is difficult to pull off at the moment when we need it. Be intentional to practice hospitality. Begin with your own family.
• Organize a workshop at your location that addresses: “How can we as YWAMers practice hospitality to the marginalized and the communities around us?” Incorporate the results into your ministries and practices and share with others within YWAM.
• Attend or host hospitality training seminars. There is one in Harpenden, England in May: https://ywamharpenden.org/hospitality-seminar/
• Take time to study God’s word on Hospitality: Genesis 18:1-10; 1 Peter 4:9-10; Hebrews 6:10, 10:24, 13:2; Isaiah 58:7-9; Acts 2:44-46; Mark 9:41, 10:43-45; Philippians 2:3-4; Galatians 6:9-10; 1 Timothy 3:2; Proverbs 3:27, 11:25; Romans 15:32, 16:2, 12:9-13, 12:16, 12:20; Luke 14:12-13; John 13:14-16; Matthew 25:37-40; Colossians 4:5.
• Reach out to people who are not your friends.

Communicate With Integrity:

• Join the YWAM Communicators’ Circle Facebook group. If you are involved in YWAM communication ministry and you want to connect with other YWAM communicators, you can ask to join this group.
• Go to uofn.edu and search for communication courses in YWAM’s University of the Nations.
• Enroll in the podcasting course. If you would like to learn to create podcasts, go to ywampodcast.com.
• If you are interested in prayer and communication, ask how you can be part of The Invitation: [email protected]. We need an administrator/coordinator, photographers/videographers, researchers, and translators for French, Indonesian and Korean.
• Share stories on Facebook and send email to [email protected] regarding how YWAM foundational values have impacted your walk with Christ, your family, your ministry or other aspects of your life.
• Share on facebook.com/youthwithamission, post a picture and add a comment about how you prayed.
• Go to twitter.com; search for #praywithywam and tweet about your prayer time/post a picture. You can also post a photo on Instagram and use the same hashtag, #praywithywam.
• Send an email to [email protected] letting us know how you prayed and what God revealed to you. 

How We Prayed

March 2019 – The Mobilization of Two-Thirds-World Senders

• We received emails from missionaries in developing countries requesting prayer for provision and emails from several people around the world committing to pray for senders of Two-Thirds World missionaries.
  • A former DTS Student in Cameroon requested prayer for God to provide in accordance with the calling of him and his fiancée.
  • A missionary from India requested prayer for financial support of basic needs for ministering to Hindus.

Future Topics:

• May 9, 2019: Uyghurs People Group
• June 13, 2019: Central Europe
• July 11, 2019: Redeeming Cultures

Don’t Miss The Invitation:

• Sign up for prayer updates. Go to ywam.org, find the “Stay Connected” box on the home page, put in your email address and click “Sign Up.”
• Download prayer updates in a specific language. Go to ywam.org/theinvitation. (Currently available in Spanish, Portuguese, French, Indonesian, Korean or request other languages.)
• Join the conversation about how God is leading in these prayer times. Comment on the Facebook page on the second Thursday at facebook.com/youthwithamission or on Twitter @ywam, hashtag #praywithywam. You can also post a photo on Instagram and use the same hashtag, #praywithywam.
• You can now listen to The Invitation as a podcast. To sign up or listen to past episodes, go to: ywampodcast.net/prayer.
• If you sense God giving you a word or a direction for YWAM’s prayer, please contact us: [email protected].