The last month has been much more behind the scenes. We are in the process of preparing for many things coming up later on in the year. It has also given me a good opportunity to adjust and settle more to my new role as head of the department. To aid in this process, I have been doing lots of reading about team development, leadership, and related topics. Over the next couple of weeks, there are a couple of people who will be stepping in to join us for different lengths of time. I am already thinking about how to start the environment and dynamic the very best I can.
One of the more behind-the-scenes projects I have been working on is promoting our upcoming open outreaches happening later this year. We send numerous outreach teams out from our various courses and programs every year all over the world, but we also organize outreaches where just about anyone can join in for a couple of weeks. These open outreaches take place primarily around our community development center in North Africa and the Montreaux Jazz Festival. These are really exciting and fun opportunities that have been severely hampered over the last couple of years due to travel and gathering restrictions. With the pandemic receding, this year we are in the process of “re-launching” them bigger and better than ever. To prepare for this I and my team have been working on a whole slew of items to get the word out. While this is not the most exciting work at the moment, I know that we are laying vital groundwork for what is to come. In situations like this, we are paving the way and supporting the mobilization of many others into these incredible initiatives.
The importance of this kind of support that my team and I provide to the other ministries was impressed upon me through a situation recently. As you might recall, last year I got the opportunity to do a design and marketing project for the 3-month Oral Bible Translation (OBT) course that was being launched around the world. The course ran for the first time quite successfully here and some of our staff received the training to start translation projects for Bible-less languages.
We also discovered that the community of refugees we have been working with in North Africa through our community development center has speakers of 3 Bible-less languages! The languages are Dagik, Tulishi, and Kanga (all 3 are from Sudan). Together all 3 have less than 100k speakers and less than 2% are believers. As a base, we have adopted these 3 and will be starting the translation processes later this year. I am so overjoyed about this! When the word of God enters a new language for the first time, it is a catalyst sparking transformation and revival. Even though I won’t be the one on the ground doing the translation, I am so thankful that I could play even a small part in helping to get the gospel brought to people who have never before heard it.
On another exciting note, at the end of this month, we are hosting another week-long Create & Communicate Seminar. These seminars are designed to help other YWAM locations and missionaries develop their media skills. Unlike the first one we put on last summer which was photography-focused, this one will center around video production. We have people coming from as far away as Kentucky coming to attend! There is still lots to do in preparation. Also, in addition to carrying much of the organization and logistics, I am stepping in to teach a couple of sessions as well which I am looking forward to. I trust that we will be able to impart lots of value to the participants and be wind in their sails just like we did last time.
Also following up on my last update, I want to say thank you so much to each of you who reached out with encouragement. It means so much to me to know I am in your prayers. Not everything has been easy, but this change is truly for the best and an exciting next step into the assignment the Lord has set before me. I am so grateful to each one of you who is coming along on this adventure with me.
As always, thank you for coming along with me in this adventure of faith,
Ben