autumn 2012

Our Vision“The vision is to revive and encourage people to fulfil the God-gifted destiny for their lives”.

London is one of the most important and relevant cities in the world and we will resonate way beyond this island’s shores. When we think about reaching the comes to mind are countries in Asia or Central Asia, or even further afield. don, you’ll find one of the most cosmopolitan cities in the world. More than 300 ever increasing number of sub-cultures and communities laying host to

From East to West and North to South, it seems that But it is not just many languages that have taken You can easily find temples of all kinds built nation. This is no longer obvious.

The London 2012 Olympics, through. We see the City and society with huge influence

know that whatever happens here, unreached, often the first thing that However, taking a close look at Lonlanguages are spoken here with anmulti-ethnicities.

the nations are right here, in London, just like a scene from the tower of Babel. ground in this City; it is also one of the most tolerant cities to different religions. throughout the capital and the nation. England was once classed as a Christian

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The London 2012 Olympics, through. We see the City and society with huge influence

As Jesus said, “come and see”...

know that whatever happens here, unreached, often the first thing that However, taking a close look at Lonlanguages are spoken here with anmulti-ethnicities.

the nations are right here, in London, just like a scene from the tower of Babel. ground in this City; it is also one of the most tolerant cities to different religions. throughout the capital and the nation. England was once classed as a Christian

was a great rallying cry to the Church, opening up more possibilities to see a breakEngland just as a starting point. West Europe is one of the pillars of post-modern world-wide! We dream, pray, hope and believe for a Pentecost style revival.

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Contributors

Contents

pg 6 on the radarpg7 New Staff

pg9 European Connections

pg11 United Kingdom Outreach

3Peri Carlson -

writerMarta Serrão -

editorDeborah Stevenson -

photographer

pg13 Reaching her own peoplepg15 God in Glasgow

pg19 Western Europe Outreach

pg17 Basic Leadership School Explained

pg23 King’s Kidspg26 Dry bones

pg27 Arts Internship Anticipation

pg28 Cross Country Connections

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Welcome Welcome to the Urban Key family! We are an inner-city YWAM base made up of two houses with several different ministries. In one house, we concentrate on training, govern-ment & children’s ministry. We run a DTS school in April, July, and October, and a BLS school in March and October. Within the schools, the students join the Salvation Army every Wednesday night, serving food and sharing a message or testimony with the people. Weekly they also have evangelism in the Harlesden & the Notting Hill com-munities. The staff team consists of 9 people and 7 different nationalities. There is also a focus and participation in key prayer & youth events in Parliament, supporting our leader who has a pastoral role there. And every Satur-day, we open the door to the budding Kings Kids children ministry.

to

LondonAt the other house, we have the Taboo Arts ministry. Working with base direc-tors Jose Maria and Rosana, the Taboo Arts team is a ministry that focuses on all areas of the arts. We have 9 people and 7 nationalities as well. We run a 4 month Arts internship in January and May, a summer outreach to the Notting Hill Carni-val and the Internship Arts Gathering every year. Two key foundations of our houses are discipleship and unity. These elements are not always easy main-tain and commonly need to be fought for, but their importance in the health and growth of the team are unparalleled. Much can be said about the activity of teams and ministries, but one thing sticks out... “they will know you are mine by your love for each other”.

On

We still have several exciting things coming up! Just in Janu-ary, the October DTS is leaving on outreach to the US, Spain, and Cyprus; we pioneer the Biblical Core Course; and the next Arts Internship begins. We are ex-pecting 6 interns, from 3 different nations who will be creating with us for the next few months.Preparations are also being made for plenty more students, and quite a few new staff members to join us in the spring so, with all this, we are almost overflowing! We need more space pronto! Please pray with us as we look for a new house to rent, within the vicinity of our current two houses, and with a rent that is manageable for the whole team and has enough room for everyone.

the

Radar

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Meet OurMartin first joined us here at Urban Key in April of this year to do his DTS. Nineteen years old from Argentina, he loves to work in drama and visual arts. After the summer outreaches and graduating from his DTS, he came to join the Taboo Arts team in September. He has a heart to work in theatre, and to share Christ through innovative dramas and short films.

Having done her DTS in Kenya in October of 2011, Peri, eighteen years old, found the Urban Key team on YWAM’s

global database. She came in May and joined the Taboo Arts team for their first internship. Afterwards she spent

a month back at home in the U.S. then returned to the Taboo team as staff in October this year. Her arts focus is

visual arts and writing.

Martin Etchart

Peri Carlson

Cris, Helen, Joshua, and Hannah Barrios

Joining the team are

Helen & Cris are originally from the UK and Argentina. They have two lively children, Joshua and Hannah. Since 1997, Helen and Cris have worked in YWAM Argentina moving to England three years ago, where they have been working with the local church. They are both passionate about exploring new places, cultures and communications, and are often found in front of a laptop or with a camera around their neck. They have recently moved to Wembley and are joining the Urban Key family. “We hope to spend lots of time with you all and develop new friendships, whilst enjoying several good coffees!”

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Meet Our New Staff!

Deborah, 22 from the U.S. came for the first July DTS here in London. After completing her outreach around the UK, she has come to stay with the Taboo team until the next in-ternship starts in January. She focuses on theatre and pho-tography, and is already helping out as we prepare for the rest of the students.

Laura is 30 years old from Argentina. She completed her DTS and BLS with the Urban

Key team, doing both the summer outreaches and the outreach around the UK. She is now

joins us as full time DTS staff.

Kat from south of Manchester and Niko from Argentina have been married for three years and have recently joined us from YWAM Argentina. Asking Kat why they chose to move, she said simply because God asked them to. Being here as a part of Urban Key, they are continuing to be faithful and obedient to God. Right now they are working as co-staff, doing all sorts of practical and hands-on work at the base.

Not technically a newbie but yet to be introduced, Jonathan completed the October 2011 DTS here in London, and stayed on to do the BLS (Basic Leadership School) in April 2012. Jonathan is 26 years old and comes from Germany. Having finished both schools, God called him to make a commitment and be part of

the DTS staff. Welcome on board!

Deborah Stevenson

Laura D’Amico

Kat and Niko Barrios

Jonathan

Joining the team are these fresh faced missionaries!

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Connecting the dots...

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having a world-wide familyAt a recent YWAM England gathering, one word was receive and confirmed, over and over again. Unity. An urging of the Holy Spirit to do the one key thing, which He requires, for such a time as this. have no. The UK and Western Europe have no shortage of churches and yet, this area of the world is commonly labelled as the missions ‘graveyard’. The unreached mission field is becoming less and less undeveloped lands and third – world continents, but is right here, in the ‘civilized’ West.

“Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are Mine.” John 13:35

These are just a few example of our reality showing an obvi-ous decline in Kingdom values and principles, and a domi-nation of humanism and the stronghold of the ‘I’ generation (where it’s all about ‘me’). In view of this battleground, is it any surprise that the whisper of the Holy Spirit would say ‘unite’? With this fresh conviction, the team have renewed

France has declared itself as an ‘atheist’ nation. Thanks to ‘political correctness’, Christmas, in many places, can no longer be called Christmas for fear of causing offence...instead, it is just a festive ‘holiday’.The theory of evolution is taught and taken as fact with the exclu-sion of other potential explana-School assemblies opening with prayer restricted to ‘church’ schools. Any attempt to maintain deep Christ-like convictions within the workplace are seen as in-tolerant and violate the ‘equal opportunities’ policy.

their commitment to invest in the UK and Western Europe. Recent outreaches have seen the team connect with local churches, local believers and fellow YWAMers. What we have found is not a ‘graveyard’ but people who are open to the gospel, acknowledging they have lost their way and longing for something that will satisfy the deep thirst within them. Mission is no longer sending a scattering of people to far off lands. Mission is right here, where your feet are planted. It is to stand shoulder to shoulder, arms linked with your neighbour on both side and the steady sound of collective feet pounding on the concrete tarmac, stepping to the beat of the King.

Here’s to brothers uniting in the tearing down of strongholds and reclaiming our lands for the rightful King!

INTERNATIONAL ARTS GATHERING 2013

IN LONDON

12th -15th JUNE 2013 The AG is a platform for networking and inputting into artists and art oriented groups from Western Europe and all around the world. It seeks to pro-vide a place for ministries from all over to connect with like-hearted minis-tries’ agendas.

Take this opportunity to be involved in worship and receive rich teaching in a prophetic, empowering, and challenging environment, with a practi-cal, “hands on” approach towards the arts. We will be providing a variety of materials as well as insight into: pioneering art ministries in urban settings, influencing the government and community through the arts, how to develop relevant artistic events, and what it looks like to move in prophetic art.

Become afresh in vision and form networks with others, with the same passions.

Please email us for the application form at: art.in.london@live.com

Reaching Outto make the United Kingdom

his KingdomWith the Discipleship Training Schools (DTSs) firmly estab-lished, the team felt it was time to add another one to the year’s calendar. Make way for the July 2012 DTS! A pioneer course, a key summer and mission focus on the UK accompanied our 7 seeking students. Two of them give us a sneaky peek into their DTS experience

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“...we already had a heart for the people of the nation that we had lived in for three months.”

Our outreach took us to Cardiff, Wales; Glasgow, Scotland; Rostrevor, Northern Ireland; Cork, Ireland; and Newcastle-upon-Tyne, England. Over the two months of our UK travels, we knocked on doors in the Welsh Valleys, worked with students in Cardiff, helped a homeless shelter in Glasgow, spoke and performed dramas at a Scottish Ethiopian church, cleaned up the streets of Rostrevor, painted and held an event in Cork, and worked with the God Story (an evangelism event for young people) in Newcastle.

We learned a lot about how various churches and ministries come to-gether to reach the people in their cities. We also learned how to use both acts of mercy and evan-gelism to touch people’s hearts for Christ.

Two hundred years ago, the United Kingdom was on fire for God. Mis-sionaries were being sent from the UK to places all over the world. While in Glasgow, we even saw statues of David Living-stone around the city. But on our outreach, the majority of the churches that we visited had less than fifty people in atten-dance on Sunday morn-ings. The UK is a gateway to Europe, and we believe that God has great plans in store for this nation.

What we learned about the most, though, was the heart that God has for the United Kingdom.

In Newcastle, most of the pastors, regardless of de-nomination, meet together regularly to discuss the spiri-tual state of affairs. The Fire and Fragrance team at the Rostrevor YWAM base, An Cuan, pray for the people of their town daily. In Glasgow, there are several churches who fight for their streets nightly. God’s people are not silent; they are fighting. Spiri-tual awakening is starting in pockets around this na-tion, and we were immensely blessed to get to be a part of it on our outreach.

We were the first July DTS at YWAM London Urban Key, and especially be-cause it was during the summer that the Olympics came to London, we had the privilege of doing a lot of evangelism before we ever made it to outreach. By the time we got onto the bus ready to embark on an outreach around the UK, we already had a heart for the people of the nation that we had lived in for three months.

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a prophet in her own town

Planning for outreach in your own country can sometimes be a harder job than somewhere abroad. I think for me, I had to overcome a lot of preconceived ideas of the kind of people we would meet and how we would be received by the British public. I imag-ined that the majority of people we would meet, would have already heard about God and would have made their minds up to disassociate themselves from Christianity. I also thought people would not want to talk about their views or hear about mine. I discovered that to the contrary the Brit-ish were extremely open to conversations and we even found people sharing their deepest hurts and struggles on the streets!

a testimony of doing outreach in her own nation by Beth Langham,

July DTS

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I was surprised however to see that for a country that is considered to be wealthy, we experienced a huge amount of need, not only in terms of money, but also a spiritual need. I experienced a lot of people who were search-ing for something to fulfill and complete their lives. The most important thing I have learnt during outreach in the UK is that there is plenty of work to be done here,

but there are also plenty of people searching for something, and we know that that something is Jesus. From our work we saw much fruit in just 2 months, I can only imagine how much more there is to come from extended periods of time building relationships and supporting people with the help of our Lord Jesus Christ. - Beth Langham, Worthing, England

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“I never liked street evangelism. It felt rude and invasive and uncomfortable, and so when I went up to a young woman on a busy street in Glasgow I approached her expecting just one more denial. I began the conversation the same as any, asking her if she minded if I asked her what she believed. She told me she was an atheist, and this spi-raled into a conversation about the powerful love of God. Five minutes later, she was cry-ing and asked me for prayer.

I prayed for her, moved to tears myself. I left her that day, with the hope of Christ in both of our hearts. For her, it was a changed vision of a God who loves her dearly, and for me, it was the glory of being used so powerfully by my Creator when I least ex-pected it.”-Amy Lucas, California

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5 Cities 2 Nations 7 Churches 8 Weeks 12 team members 16 buses1 exhausting, exhilarating outreach

Outreach Stats

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Basic Leadership School

I did my DTS in April of this year, and am now doing the BLS that began in October. For me, my DTS was a time to receive. The attention was on us students, and we only needed to worry about few things. But now in the BLS, it is time to change this vi-sion from “I receive” to “I give”. Now I can not think just about me, I need to think about others and how they can receive more. We have BLS teaching time ev-ery Thursday with Rosanna, and during the other days we are al-ways with the DTS, sitting in the teachings or working with them.

ExplainedIsabele EberleWe help to lead different tasks and ministry times for the DTS as well. My main practical responsibility is work duties. Its interesting be-cause I can see the intention in the students’ hearts when they clean. For me to be leader now is a huge learning process! God is breaking false concepts that I had about lead-ership and authority. Even though this process is hard, I have joy in my heart to serve people now. I’m still learning how to do it in God’s way. For now, I think the most important things that I’m learning is: to correct people with love, to be patient no matter what, and how to live under God’s authority.

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April 2013 DTSdts@ywamlondon.com

Taboo Arts Outreach TO WESTERN EUROPE Getting to experience Europe as a team was a dream come true for us, and a dream that we are praying will continue. God enabled us to spend three weeks on the continent, traveling through different countries and making connections with people who share our heart for the arts. We vis-ited Amsterdam, Paris, Lyon, and Barcelona in the short time we had, and we made it a point to absorb the flavor and truly experience each city. In each, we were looking specifically for places to perform, whether it be theatres, squares, street corners, etcet-era. We walked and prayed for dozens of hours and kilometres, and God was faithful with his response.

In Amsterdam, we had the opportu-nity to spend time with some friends we made during the summer Arts Gathering. They work with YWAM Amsterdam and have a passion to see the arts open up in the base there. We shared with them how we have been working together as a family and a ministry. We spent the rest of our time scouting the streets of the city to find performing possi-bilities, and meeting different people who work in the arts that we could partner with on future outreaches. One day we went to Julie’s city of Utrecht, a small university town full of great cafes and lots of history. We spent the evening at her parents’ home, enjoying blending our two families with an amazing traditional Dutch meal.

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After 7 hours overnight on a bus, we arrived in Paris. We were hosted by the YWAM Paris director and his wife, who graciously gave us the keys to the cafe that they own! Cur-rently, no one was renting at, so we had the run of the place; to cook, to have our meetings, and to chill out in the middle of running around the city. Paris is beautiful, but the op-pression is even more outstanding.

We aimed to walk through as much of the city and to visit as many key places as we could. We walked up Montmar-tre, in the cathedral, through the arts quarter, the old opera house, the Lou-vre, the Eiffel Tower, Arc du Triumph, and many other areas of Paris. We can see the city in need, and are so excited that this ispart of our inheritance.Another long bus ride to Lyon brought us to the YWAM team that runs a DTS and an arts ministry. Sunday they in-vited their Christian artist friends to an all-day workshop that they handed over to us. Chris gave a word after a time of creative worship, Johy taught salsa, and we talked about what each one does and goals they have for their ministries. There were hip-hop dancers, rappers, graffiti artists, and musicians. It was a great time to meet and connect with the artists there. The rest of the week we shared with each other different strate-gies for artistic evangelism in cities, learned about the history of Lyon, and spent some time out in the streets with music, stilts, dancing, and painting. We really felt like we found people of our own heart in the team there. They re-ignited our fire and challenged us, just a we challenged them to go deeper in their ministry and with God.

“...we really made a point to absorb the

flavor and truly experience

each city.”

In Barcelona, we were hosted by a member of the Kings Kids team. She arranged connections for us, showed us around different parts of the city, and made sure that our time there was very comfortable. They connected us with a few young girls who are in university, but also really want to reach their city through their arts. They talked with us about their ideas for short films, theatre productions, and art exhibits. It was so good to find so many people who have the same heart and pas-sion as us. It confirmed in all of us that we are going in the right direction, and it stirred us up. God really blessed us so much and gave us many opportunities.

In the city, we encountered such a heavy spirit of death. Even the streets on the map made the shape of a coffin! We went to a few different cathedrals and in each we felt oppression. They all had Jesus dying on the cross and Mary and the disciples weeping. There was no joy, only death and punishment with no hope of redemption. We as a ministry, as a family, want to shine the light and life and hope of a resurrected Christ into all of these cities and cul-tures. We feel that Europe is our in-heritance, the land that God has given us to take and transform for His king-dom. God opened up so many doors for us and connected us with a lot of great people.

We are anxious to join with them on our future outreaches. On one of the bus rides in between cities, Chris received a huge revelation from God that we are like the Levites. We are a family set apart by God, artists and musicians and inter-cessors, who go in front of the battle, spy out the land, and open the doors for the army. We are praying for a new, fresh wave of Christian artists to rise up and join together across the nations, to open doors and lead God’s army into battle.

Right now we are back in London working on contacting theatres, re-searching performing permits, keeping in contact with the people we met, and preparing for the internship to come in January. God has spoken in many ways to us that we are in the Kairos time, the perfect moment; in that time that can’t be measured or scheduled, but the time that calls for complete trust in God and dependence on His word.

He is calling us as individuals and as a team to go deeper with Him. If we don’t know Him in a personal way, how can we expect to share Him with others? God is preparing us for a prop-er fight. He is stripping us and clear-ing us out, making more space for His presence to fill our lives and reminding us of His simplicity. We are definitely in for it. One of our mentors in Argen-tina gave us a word the other day about the spirit of Daniel, how he never com-promised his relationship

with God even in the face of death. Daniel stood strong, did not even eat the king’s food, maintained his prayers and fasting, and continued walking with God even against the law. This is how we want to walk in this time God has prepared for us.

“...We are a family set apart by God, artists

and musicians and intercessors...”

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King’s KidsOur DTS students regularly form part of the Kings Kids volunteers. Sebastian, who has been volunteer-ing for a few months, shares about his experience:Kings Kids, which is made up of kids from the community and volunteers from the Urban Key base, meets at Notting Hill Com-munity Church on Saturdays. Each Wednesday we have a Kings Kids staff meeting where we pray for the weekend, have a time of worship and intercession for the kids.

Want to get involved? Where: Notting Hill Community ChurchWhen: every Saturday, 10:30am-2:30pmWhat do I bring? any 3-10 yrs and a packed lunch.For more info or to register your child(ren) give us a call at 020 8965 6387

We usually have between twelve and twenty kids, from four to ten years old. Our goal is that the kids can learn from a young age to be close to God and have a relationship with him. It has grown a lot since we started and we can see how much the kids have changed already. As leaders, we are always learning how to make it better and more fun for the kids.

The Breakdown:

Want to get involved?

We’ve seen the kids grow a lot specifically in showing respect and good friendships, and little by little they are understanding the point of Kings Kids and really grasping the teachings. They are really open to the wor-ship times. They love it and it is really easy for them to participate. The kids like the teachings, but sometimes it is hard for them to pay attention. As staff we are always looking for better ways to present the teachings so that they can understand and want to learn. We love work-ing with the kids. It is such a blessing to see them learn and grow with God as well as develop in character.”

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BONES CAMPCome and influnce the Notting Hill area during the second largest car-nival in the world, held right in our

backyard!

art.in.london@live.com

16 August 2013

Bones. Dry bones. Weary bones. Heavy bones. Dead bones. Son of Man, can these bones live? Breath was given to dust and it became man. Ashes and dust, rise. Befilledwiththebreathoflife. The Word of the Lord is life, so speak. Speak life.Speak truth. Awake. Rise. Dance. As life comes to these dry bones, so hope will come to the desolate soul. Lift up your head, Oh you gate. Be watching for the return. The bridegroom is coming. Dead bones. Heavy bones. Weary bones. Dry bones. Live Ezekiel 37 26

The arts internship with Taboo Arts is just the kind of thing that I dreamt about doing when, in the theatre courses at university, the professors asked me what I wanted to do

when I graduated. In the arts internship that begins in late January, we will combine visual arts, music, drama, and dance to create a production that is bigger and more chal-

lenging than Taboo Arts has created before. It is a perfect opportunity for Christian artists to come together, work as a team, and use their talents to open hearts to the love

of God. The production will tell the story of the relationship between the Creator and the created, and it will feature aerial movement, but that is about as far as we have gotten so far. I am so excited to work with all of the artists to create a production that both glori-

fies God and shares God’s love with Western Europe. -Deborah Stevenson

Looking Forward to being Taboo

The internship begins on January 25th, and the next one in the middle

of May. For more information or application forms, please email

art.in.london@live.com27

Cross CountryConnections

a Leeds-to-London friendship

Thursday the 12th, the Taboo Arts team had the opportunity to go to Leeds and support our YWAM family at an art exhibition they were holding. For a few months now they have been partnering with the community centre and working with at-risk youth (kids who have been kicked out of school, have rough pasts or family situations, etc). The Leeds team brought different art projects into one-hour sessions spread over the weeks focusing on the theme of self-portrait. Going to see the exhibi-tion opening was a great time of fellowship and support. We could really see the identity of the kids in each of the concepts, from ink printing to painting on rocks to plastic bobble-heads. Each piece was very individual and we could even point out which student in the room it belonged too. Chatting with Dave, one of the YWAMers, about how the project went he said that it really blessed him and he could see the kids continue to open up more and more and become more confident in their skills.

Kids who wouldn’t usually believe they are good at something, or who are very shy or cold, became superstars as people kept coming in off the street to see their handiwork. After being at the exhibition for a few hours mingling and playing some music outside, we went back to the Leeds team house and were blessed with dinner and a good time spent with them. We talked about each team and their re-spective projects coming up, had a good laugh, and ended the night with hugs and a long drive home to London. Being there to support our extended YWAM family is very important to us, always wanting to keep those connections strong and be an encouragement to one another.

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INVESTING IN MISSION

Youth With A Mission is an international mis-sion’s movement. It is also non-profit. Our full time missionaries give up their lives, their careers, and

often their homes to the greater cause of discipling nations and expanding the Kingdom.

Just like the Levites in the Old Testament, YWAM missionaries do not have a material inheritance of their own but are dependent on receiving provision from others.

We invite you to be part of the miraculous provision.

Here are three key ways you can help...

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1) Prayer Warrior – Bending the Father’s earFront line missions, whether on the dirty streets of urban cities, in world theatres or in mud huts, carry with it a heavy spiritual atmosphere. Sick-ness, family issues, lack of finances and the weight of the task ahead are just some of the common occurrences in the missional lifestyle. You may not be able to be physical present beside us, but you are equally part of His great work. We need you, and your prayers.

- Make sure you sign up to receive updates and / or news- Action: Check updates and news for potential prayer points and needs- Gather a group of people with a heart for mission and pray together- Encourage us by letting us know you are praying and share any Words you received.

2) Financial investor – The poor widow’s blessingWhether rich in spirit and money or counting your blessing as you count your pennies, commit to releasing financial provision into mission. Too many deci-sions often hinge on a question of resources! Of all the challenges and ups and downs of mission, the lack of provision cannot have a part in it. Your action is part of releasing that provision.

- Find out about specific financial and resource needs.- Give one-off donations – for specific projects, missions, needs...- Give a regular sum to a missionary or the overall mission/outreach- Source equipment and resources for specific missions and needs- Source potential finances available (e.g. funding pots...)

3) Champion Mission – Shout about it! Relate and re-count stories from the field, champion your local, national and in-ternational missionary and rally people to see the vision and support it.

- Sign up to receive updates and news- Look at the people around you and pray about who to share with- Pray about approaching your pastor to share to the congregation- Distribute the magazine / news to interested people- Approach specific people about investing in prayer and finances- Make sure you know where to direct people and encourage them to share with others also

ywamurbankeylondon.com