July 2004 newsletter  

 
The Joys of Diversity
What do Ghana, Canada, Korea, USA, Zimbabwe and England have in common? These are the six nations represented by the ten students in the Foundations in Community Development school (FCD) that both Debbie and I are staffing this quarter. What a privilege to serve these eager enthused students!

What is Community Development?
Community Development is not about a social gospel or a human driven response to a physical or social need. It is not a one time project (that is an act of grace/compassion & may be good start for development). It is an expression of God's love, a process that leads to the transformation of individuals, churches and nations. It's not man driven, but is God driven. Community Development is about bringing the Kingdom of God into a Community!

As one student put it so well “ I've learned ... that I am not going overseas to solve other people's problems, but to help them recognize their identity as people immensely loved; as people God desires to know and set free into the destiny He longs to give them, not only after this life, but during this life...”

A Few of the Students
Hak Hyun & Seung Won Cho are veteran missionaries from Korea. This delightful couple have served with OMF in Cambodia as Church Planters and have learned that community development has everything to do church planting.

Jenny Barnes is a 20 year old English gal who is getting ready to go into full time missions in South Africa working with HIV/Aids children. She has found the school life-changing.

Sam & Milly Lufiyele are a wonderful couple from Zimbabwe here with their two young children Hannah, age 4 and Benjie age 2.Their heart and vision is to return to their nation in Africa to see the church bring about God's transformation in this desperate, hurting country.


South African Outreach
Debbie and I along with Mia will be leading a small team from the Community Development school to South Africa for the second half of the outreach. We will be gone from the end of July to the end of August and will be with YWAM Worcester serving alongside their community development ministries. This is the base that we served at 1999 for four months. It will be a privilege to reconnect and invest in this ministry once more.

Landmark Week
A few weeks ago we attended two special graduations. Nathan, age 14, graduated from Middle school (grade 8). Next year he will be going to the big High School in Kalispell, quite a switch from the little school he has been in for four years.

Mia our 6 year old, had an amazing Kindergarten graduation. She has been in a Christian school; it was wonderful to hear all the kids recite Psalm 100 and hear about the highlights of their year.

Daniella is now 13! We had a wonderful time of celebrations marking this special age. She is such a wonderful young lady.

Equipping Seminars
A key ministry of our YWAM base is what we call equipping seminars. In the last years we have started to offer a diversity of seminars from Inductive Bible Study to Worship for the local church. Recently Debbie organized a Hospitality seminar and then taught on this subject. There was an enthused response by the participants. Already she has people asking when the next seminar will be!

Prayer Requests
1.We are responsible to cover our own travel costs and ground fees for the outreach to South Africa, YWAM Worcester. We have about 1/3rd of the finances and would like to ask you to prayerfully consider if God would have you contribute in some way to this trip. We need another $3100 as of July 13.

2.Grace as our family will be separated for a month. While we are on outreach in Africa, Nathan and Daniella will be with their grandparents in Lynden, WA.

Lots of love and blessings,

Arnold, Debbie, Nathan, Daniella & Mia