The trainees were a varied group, and the projects they are now working on are just as diverse.

One couple are in Armenia, working on relationships between Armenia and Azerbaijan. Two students have an interest in working in the Niger Delta, focusing on oil companies’ misuse of land and the rise of militancy against the oil companies.

Three more are in northern Nigeria with a desire to build community between Christians and Muslims. Another trainee from Brazil is working in London to see how she can help those in extreme poverty in her home country of Brazil. And a couple from Sri Lanka have a desire to integrate the Dalit class and ex-prisoners back into society.

“We had such a great group. I look forward to seeing what comes of their work,” Cathy said.

This past month on the DTS has been busy and fun, and everyone is getting excited as outreach quickly approaches. After two weeks away, returning to Harpenden was a welcome break for our nearly 40 trainees and staff. Most of us hadn’t showered for over a week! We enjoyed a relaxing long weekend, but on the Tuesday after our return, it was back to the classroom.

Since that first week back, we’ve had over a dozen speakers come and share with the DTS, including international YWAM leader Lynn Green, who spoke on spiritual discipline and maintaining a teachable attitude, and YWAM England & Wales National Director Carl Tinnion, who spoke on dreams and vision.

In the weeks leading up to outreach, classes often become more practical, and we had several workshops on the school aimed at equipping the trainees for a successful and fun outreach experience. Paul Baker, leader of the upcoming January 2013 Sports DTS, came to class for a day and facilitated a workshop on how to use sports in ministry. This was a lively day, packed with football matches, tennis contests, and even a cricket activity. We learned as a school how to incorporate important messages from the Bible into fun sports games, and using those games and messages to reach youth. Andy Kennedy, coordinator of popular children’s ministry King’s Kids, came and did a day-long workshop on children’s ministry, with a special focus on circus skills and magic tricks. Both of these workshops were a delightful combination of function and fun, and the school really benefited from seeing the countless contexts in which a person can share the gospel.

Now our school is preparing split off into three different teams for a two-month outreach in Olympic locations around the United Kingdom. One team is going to Newcastle and Manchester, another is off to Weymouth & Portland and Coventry, and one is heading to Cardiff, Glasgow, and Belfast. These past few days have been full of packing, cleaning, and last-minute laundry. It’s hard to believe that the four-month mark has come and gone, but everyone feels ready and excited for a change of pace and scenery. UK, here we come!

Dodgeball takes over The Factory on Thursday nights.

That’s right. The game that you played in primary school is now making a hit with adults and children alike, and YWAM Harpenden has caught the bug.

Derek Hermann, who works with Oval Sports United and organizes dodgeball on Thursday nights in The Factory, said the appeal of dodgeball is its simplicity.

“It’s a fun, universal sport,” he said. “It doesn’t take much equipment to play, and if you are reasonably athletic, you can get good quite quickly.”

Dodgeball creates an open door to reach out to the local community, and teaches the importance of being active, fair play and community. And it brings out the competitive side in all age groups.

“There’s a group called Harpenden Roundtable, which is an over-40 men’s group. The other night we had them all in The Factory throwing dodgeballs at each other,” Derek said laughing. “They thought it was great. They said they normally would just sit around at the pub drinking beer.”

Oval Sports has also found an open door teaching dodgeball in schools and with Scout groups.

“Dodgeball has really become popular in schools because it is cost-effective and inclusive,” Derek said. “It’s great for kids who might not be involved in the major school sports.”

Every game of dodgeball starts with both teams running to compete over balls.

As for Derek, “The Hertfordshire Sports Partnership was offering a week of discounted coaching in February. The Level 2 dodgeball course was £100.

“My wife Angela said if the money was provided, I could take the course. That was Monday. On Thursday night, Angela’s sister sent us an e-mail saying she got some extra money and she wanted to send us £100.”

Derek thought he would use his new dodgeball skills for outreach, but as Oval Sports United, the YWAM Harpenden sports team, started to develop, it was natural to start using his newly acquired skills to run the dodgeball club.

But the club is not just reaching Scout groups and men’s clubs. As they got more involved, the Oval Sports team came across a new level: competitive dodgeball.

“It’s incredibly popular with a pocket of people,” Derek said. “Usually the people who find it are already competitive in another sport, and they try it out to stay active out of season.”

Dodge Factory is ranked second among Division 2 club teams in the UK.

Oval sports formed Dodge Factory, a team of YWAMers and locals who host and play in tournaments across England, with the help of an ex-national dodgeball coach. The team is currently ranked second in the Division 2 club league. They even helped start a team at the University of Hertfordshire last autumn which competes in university league with more than 20 schools across the United Kingdom.

Dodge Factory has their eye on a championship as the season nears its close.

“We have the South tournament coming up soon, a tournament on May 5th, and playoffs in June before the end of the season,” Derek said. “This is only our first year, but it’s been great. We are hoping as we keep playing together, we will get even better.”

Interested in playing dodgeball with YWAM Harpenden? The Factory is open for play on Thursday nights from 7:30 to 9 p.m. The cost is £1.

We would like to invite you to YWAM Harpenden for week long seminars on some foundational design topics which are taught on the School of Design.

Each week we will give you fundamental instruction on a specific subject which will help you develop skills in graphic design and other creative disciplines. There will be plenty of opportunity during the week to practice what you have learnt in class. We have excellent staff to help coach you through your chosen week.

See below for details of each week and costs. Please note we have limited spaces for each week. Once you have filled in a simple registration form and paid, you will have secured your place for the week.

Please email our registrar for a registration form: registrar@ywamharpenden.org

or call Amanda in the registration office: +44 (0) 1582 643344

Introduction to Adobe Illustrator: 30/4/12 – 2/5/12 and Photoshop: 3/5/12 – 4/5/12*

This week will be an introduction to these two programmes because they are so vast in their capabilities. Both Illustrator and Photoshop are key tools in any designers arsenal. They can also be fun to explore for any creative discipline, for example designing a logo or improving your photography.

Typography: 7/5/12 – 11/5/12*

This week will introduce the foundations of how to use type effectively and professionally. We will teach a few simple practices that will help you layout beautiful type and could change the way you think. We will also look at typographic hierarchy and grid, which are two helpful and invaluable tools when producing any document with type.

Elements and Principles of Design: 14/5/12 – 18/5/12

Elements are the things we use to design with: line, shape, colour etc. Principles are how we use those Elements: alignment, contrast, repetition etc. With a good understanding of Elements and Principles of design our communication can be much more effective and pleasing to the eye.

Introduction to Adobe Flash Animation: 25/6/12 – 29/6/12*

Although Adobe Flash is now primarily used for creating websites and embedding video into webpages, it can also be used for animation. We will learn how to animate simple shapes and text and be shown the tools to go on and create our own animations.

Cost:

£200 including food and accommodation, materials and all classes. (Monday-Friday)

* These weeks will require the use of Adobe programmes and Mac computers. We have a limited number of these for use, again this will be a first come first serve basis.

It’s short notice, but if you are up for an adventure, the Next Wave would love to have you along! The cost is £20 per day to help cover the cost of food and fuel. There is a discount for YWAMers; ask about it when you apply.

For more information, contact us on 07534014636 or e-mail nextwave@marinereach.com

I have been in YWAM for over 40 years. I’ve been involved in some remarkable projects, and seen God do amazing things in and through YWAM. Highlights include March for Jesus, the Reconciliation Walk, the purchase of Holmsted Manor, The King’s Lodge and Highfield Oval … and the 1972 Olympic outreach in Munich.

Thousands of Christians marched through the streets during the '72 Munich Olympics bringing a message of peace.

Munich ’72 is remembered by most people for the horrors surrounding the murder of 11 members of the Israeli Olympic team. But in the midst of that tragedy, God was working. Although the world was on edge, watching the unfolding drama of the terrorist attack, God was drawing His people together as one, to bring His message of peace and reconciliation to the watching world.

I will never forget walking down the main streets of Munich, banners in hand, one of thousands proclaiming the name of Jesus. In our hands were flowers provided by the city authorities to give out to the stunned public, which opened many opportunities for deep conversations. Despite the tragedy at Munich 1972, God was still glorified: indeed, perhaps because of the tragedy He received even greater glory as people looked for some comfort, some good, some source of real peace.

Munich was YWAM’s first Olympic outreach. A call went out to YWAM worldwide (not so easy then as it is now, as there was no such thing as e-mail or the Internet – just telephones and the postal service). In those days YWAM was small (about 100 full-time staff), yet over 1,000 YWAM volunteers came from all over the globe. We all slept in a castle (Schloss Hurlach) that YWAM had miraculously been able to purchase. We ate together, ministered together, prayed and worshipped together, and saw God do great things – together.

Out of that unity, God did more than just touch thousands with His good news. Such was the inspiration, such the Spirit-filled experience, that many of those YWAM volunteers returned home to start something new. Others in a sense never went back home, but lost their heart to another country.
Among the nations that can definitely count Munich 1972 as the starting point for their YWAM work are the Netherlands, Finland, Norway, Germany, and Austria. There are no doubt others, and of course, in terms of YWAM, many other nations look to these listed nations as their spiritual parents or grandparents. Munich 1972 really was the start of start something.

Lynn Green believes the spirit of the '72 Games is part of this year's Olympics. Are we ready for a move of God?

Of course it will be different – Jesus never does things the same way twice. But 40 years on from Munich 1972, there is real excitement within YWAM that He is going to use this Olympic outreach to bring big expansion to the mission force. Not for YWAM’s sake, but for the glory of His name; to raise up a whole new generation of young people who will go – unreservedly, wholly, with no care for themselves – to establish the Kingdom in places and circumstances where it isn’t, and to preach the gospel among peoples that have never heard it.

I’ll be there. The question is, can you afford not to be?

Want to be a part of this once-in-a-lifetime event? Go to www.forever2012.com and check out the opportunities!

How may I help you? Maureen waits to serve you at the new counter.

Never fear. Gnomes have not invaded in the night and started moving things around. These are just some of the latest improvements made to serve customers at the Oval Café.

“We noticed we were getting stretched during busy times,” said Gareth Cater, who runs the café. “We made some changes so that we can provide better service to our customers.”

Recently, the café opened a second room for more vistors. It offers a spot for those who want to have conversation without the whir of the coffee grinder and the blender!

Fair trade, the practice of paying a fair price to workers involved in the production of things like coffee and chocolate, is an important concern to the Oval Café. To further that cause, the team have switched coffee companies. They now use Kingdom Coffee, which has a range of fair trade beans to choose from, making every cup of coffee from Oval Café the best it can be.

“We want to be as ethical and fair trade minded as we can,” Gareth said. “The coffee was just one step. We also added some light snacks that are fair trade, and we also use local business like Harpenden Sandwich Company for our sandwiches.”

Then over the Easter holiday, a more noticeable change was made to the main café. The coffee counter was extended, giving workers more room to make drinks without bumping into each other.

Gareth said he was excited about the new space, and the possibilities it brings. “It gives us so much more room, which in turn allows us to do more for our customers.”

There are lots of prayer resources to help you pray during this Olympic outreach season. Whether you will be in the United Kingdom during the Olympics, or far away, we would love to invite you to join us in praying. Here are some ways to get involved:

• Pray for the UK via Brick by Brick.
• Pray for our team and the outreaches: sign up for our monthly prayer sheets.
• During the Games, join the daily guided prayer walks in London. Details coming soon!
• Download a prayer walk map for an Olympic host city from our website and hit the streets.
• Ride the London Tube for a morning and pray using our Underground prayer map.

Not sure how to go about praying, or want some creative ideas? Visit the resource page for suggested reading, ways of praying, and other resources.

Teaching English as a Second Language, a six-week course that trains people to teach English, started this week at YWAM Harpenden, and Jan Warren has joined us on campus to teach the course. She says that TESOL is an invaluable skill for missionaries everywhere.

“There is not one place in the whole world that you cannot use this training,” she said. “In non-English speaking countries, there is a definite place for it. And in English-speaking countries, you can use it to teach refugees and migrants who need these language skills. It really does go everywhere. It’s the key to discovering nations.”

As if to underscore the universal need for English-language teaching, the school at Harpenden has 10 nations represented among their students and staff, and every continent is represented.

The seminar covers speaking, listening, reading, writing, grammar and pronunciation, but there is much more to the TESOL curriculum.

“We teach trainees how to pioneer new ministries using TESOL, how to write a syllabus for a course, how to teach with a Biblical worldview, and even how to use the Bible to teach English for evangelism and discipleship,” Jan said.

In addition to time in class, the students will go to Luton each week to teach English at a local church.

“One of our foundational values is to do first, then teach,” Jan said. “It’s key for trainees to practice, not just gain head knowledge. It’s very practical.”

We look forward to seeing what God does in the future with the trainees who are gaining these TESOL skills at YWAM Harpenden.