ForthcomingDiscipleship Training School (DTS) Gatherings• Coventry, 17–24

March 2012• Glasgow, 27

October–3 November 2012

All DTSs, YWAM staff, YWAM associates and friends welcome, for a day or more, or for the week! For more information, contact Rossie at Rossie@forever2012.com.

Earhart ExperimentsForever Arts weekends• 6–8 April 2012• 2–5 June 2012For more information, Rebecca at Rebecca@forever2012.com.

Go 4 GloryYWAM Arts and Sports Festival• 20–25 July 2012www.go4glory.org

in this issueCrouch End p1

Crouch End cont. p2Megacit ies p3

The Earhart Exper iments p4The Earhart Exper iments cont. p5

Circuit Riders p6Circuit Riders cont. p7

Newsletter

The YWAM Olympic OutreachIssue 15 February 2012

continued on page 2

Forever has planted its second team in London. It’s a story of two visions coming together to help each other out.

www.forever2012.com • info@forever2012.com • +44 (0)1582 463322 Forever is a ministry of YWAM England & Wales and YWAM International. Reg Charity No 264078. Forever is a partner with More Than Gold.

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Double actForever has established another team in London! Following the planting of Esther’s House in Stratford, now Forever has planted its second team in the nation’s capital. Helena Kittle, Forever’s youth and children coordinator and from the UK, and Rebecka Larsson, a member of the Forever sports team and from Sweden, have formed a Youth With A Mission (YWAM) team in Crouch End (North London).

The Forever vision is about short-term teams coming during this Olympic season of outreach, but it’s also about establishing new, long-term YWAM teams in London and the other Olympic host cities. So this new YWAM team ticks that box. But it also fulfils another part of the Forever vision: the team will be partnering with an Ichthus church-plant that is keen to invest in

their few youth and reach out to the local community. It’s a perfect blend of YWAM and local church working together for common purposes.

Double vision The heart behind this new team plant is that this year has a lasting impact.

Sofa, so good ... the new team moves into their new church and home

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Editorial“See, the former things have taken place,and new things I declare; before they spring into being I announce them to you.”(Isaiah 42:7–8)

God is always doing new things, and one of the dreams of the Forever project is to do new things in new ways as the Lord leads. So it’s exciting to focus on some of those new things in this edition of the Forever Newsletter.

A new team established in London, a new YWAM school in the UK just before the Games, and two new Arts events pre-Olympics – God is moving and preparing the ground for what’s ahead.

There’s a real sense of momentum, strengthened by Megacities having started its year of outreach in London. Join with us as we play our part in bringing Jesus back to the heart of this nation, and reach out to the world as it descends on the UK for the Olympic Games. Host a team, organise an outreach, or pray! This is the time for London and the UK.

To see that happen, the team will organise local outreaches, such as football events in the park, prayer walks, children’s events and seasonal outreaches (eg a hot cross bun give-away at Easter). Forever’s vision to use the Olympics to make a lasting impact fits perfectly. Crouch End offers the team numerous opportunities to serve and feed into something that is already established and hungry for growth.

As Rebecka says, “I want to see God reach out and bless people in Crouch End with His great love by using sports and other creative ways to connect with the young people.”

Neighbourhood watchCrouch End has many coffee shops and Alexandra Palace Park only a five-minute walk away. Within walking distance are several other parks and open spaces with good resources for children’s and sports events. Two of the team’s nearest neighbours are a secondary school and a leisure centre, with amazing possibilities to engage with people walking by or queuing for the outdoor swimming pool.

Both Helena and Rebecka are looking forward to seizing these opportunities for outreach, both as YWAM and as advocates for their Ichthus congregation. “We want

to see young people get to know God and get His heart for their community and friends,” says Helena. “Also to see the church grow as they reach out to their community.”

As well as focusing locally the team is also recruiting outreach teams and partnering with churches across London and the UK. They will continue to

do this through Forever, but now they will also be able to use links within the Ichthus network to prepare for the Olympic outreach.

The life and soulThe opportunity has all the marks of God about it. It all started when Forever’s communications director Jeremy was chatting with his good friend Jeremy (confusing, huh?), who told him about the need for help with youth work in their church and a potential flat two

doors away from the church. After further discussions everyone agreed on the idea of Helena and Rebecka having

the flat as their home and base during this time of local outreach combined with preparing for the Olympic outreach and the hosting of outreach teams.

So for one year the pair (and others who join) are committed to the life of the church and the soul of the community. At the same time, they will pursue their Forever roles, such as coordination of youth and children’s outreach and prayer projects, sports projects and general missions. It perfectly combines local and global, short-term and long-term, in this significant year for the capital and nation.

For more information, contact Rebecka on Rebecka@forever2012.com.

In your arms ... Rebecka and Helena

“Crouch End offers the team numerous

opportunities to serve”

Website statisticsWith 2011 ended, we can share a few statistics from our website, for the period 9 May–31 December 2011 (we only started collecting statistics on 9 May):

• 10,363 visits• 33,124 page views• 3.2 pages per visit• 6,876 visitors• visitors came from 131 countries/territories• countries with most visits (top 15, in order):

• USA• UK• Brazil• Canada• Sweden• Germany• Norway• France• Australia• South Africa• Mexico• Netherlands• Switzerland• Taiwan• Indonesia

• most-viewed pages:• home• prayer-support• outreaches-need-to-know• during-the-games• do• about• application-forms

– all pages to do with getting actively involved!Perhaps most encouraging of all: the lines on the graph are all going in the right direction!

Up and running

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2012 is here, and Megacities has started its year of outreach in London. We catch up with the first month.

Megacities, the YWAM ministry that targets a city for a year and is focused on London in 2012, has begun! Already, there are teams from YWAM Ozarks (USA), YWAM Nashville (USA), YWAM Perth (Australia) and YWAM Skien (Norway) in the city, working with local churches to reach the communities of London.

By the end of January, 14 of the 32 boroughs and the City of London will have hosted a Megacities outreach team doing outreach.

The word is out: the people of London are hearing the good news, lives are being changed, the city is being transformed. It will be exciting to see what God will do in the remaining 11 months of 2012!

Invitation to comeOne of the things to emerge from these first Megacities outreaches is that many churches in London are keen to host teams before and after the actual Olympic period.

Rod Lobaugh, who is overseeing the whole Megacities effort in

London in 2012, commented: “Many people are thinking of coming for the Olympic period, but we are getting lots of requests from local churches for teams to come before and after the Olympics. Just today, a pastor in Bromley wrote to me, saying, ‘I think that the Megacities teams will actually be even more effective outside the Olympic period since many agencies will be sending missionaries to London in July/August. And the full year is a much better period of time for a build up of God’s presence.’”

Rod continues: “Megacities has churches in ten boroughs right now asking about when we will be able to send them their first team. There are so many opportunities to do outreach, so many churches asking for teams.” For any YWAM teams or schools looking for an outreach, London is waiting!

For more information, or to find out more about how you can be involved, visit www.megacities.org.au or contact info@megacities.org.au.

One Megacities outreach story from Hillingdon“Jason and I (Jill) were waiting for our 11:00 meeting with a pastor and while we were sitting, we both spotted a dude using hand crutches limping along who decided to sit right beside us. Jason and I looked at each other and were in agreement to pray for healing. A casual ‘How are you doing brother?’ broke the ice and we asked the condition of his knee. He said it was very painful and dislocated, but is on its way to recovery. We asked right away if we could pray for him and he boldly said yes!

“We laid hands on his knee, and as we prayed and commanded healing in Jesus’ name, Jason felt a click movement in the knee-cap area! After we were done praying, we asked him how he felt and with a big smile he said that the pain was gone. We told him to stand up and try it out. He did a little squat position and said it felt so much better.”

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Quotable quotesAthletes who participate in the Olympic Games can be a rich source of inspiration. Here are a few quotations from down the years:

“It is the inspiration of the Olympic Games that drives people not only to compete but to improve and to bring lasting spiritual and moral benefits to the athlete and inspiration to those luck enough to witness the athletic dedication.”Herb Elliott

“If I’ve learned nothing else, it’s that time and practice equal achievement.”Andre Agassi

“Never underestimate the power of dreams and the influence of the human spirit. We are all the same in this notion. The potential for greatness lives within each of us.”Wilma Rudolph

“Ingenuity plus courage plus work equals miracles.”Bob Richards

“Be very strong and be very methodical in your life if you want to be a champion.”Alberto Juantorena

“Racing teaches us to challenge ourselves. It teaches us to push beyond where we thought we could go. It helps us to find out what we are made of. This is what we do. This is what it’s all about.”PattiSue Plumer

The Earhart Experiments

continued on page 5

Art crosses boundaries. Art speaks to people from all cultures and all traditions. Art challenges. Art is accessible by every generation. Art can impact a much larger audience than we may ever become aware of. Just some of the reasons why we believe art outreaches are particularly significant.

We are running two intentionally chosen weekends in 2012 to explore and discover how art is still influential in bringing others to recognise God’s magnificence in today’s society. We’ll be drawing our inspiration from the likes of British

street artist Banksy: remaining minimalistic while targeting big social issues.

The vision is to see how several different media of art can be brought together to make

Forever’s Arts team is offering two long weekends of Arts networking and outreach in the run-up to the Games. Rebecca Vargas explains.

Why The Earhart Experiments?Amelia Earhart was an extremely talented aviator in the first half of the 20th century. She was the first woman to fly across the Atlantic Ocean and the first person to fly from Hawaii to California. Though not remembered for being an artist, she will always be remembered as a woman who took great risks and achieved much. Her accomplishments left the world in awe and inspired many to pursue big dreams. The Earhart Experiments are attempting to capture the spirit of Amelia Earhart. We won’t be flying planes but we will be defying the odds as we try to create art that grabs the public’s attention and speaks of hope.

Amelia Earhart disappeared in 1937 while attempting to fly around the world. Before her departure she said, “Please know that I am aware of the hazards. I

want to do it because I want to do it. Women must try to do things as men have tried. When they fail, their failure must be a challenge to others.”

So, as The Earhart Experiments we are taking that challenge. We will start where she left off, not by flying around the world but by

courageously believing that you can do what you set your mind to.

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something significantly captivating.Anybody interested in using art

for outreach, or who is already using it, or who simply wants to find out more, is welcome. Whether you are a team or an individual, come. Join us for a long weekend, and spend two days preparing for one or two days of outreach in different parts of London.

There are three tracks to choose from: • dance• music • art campaigns*

With each, we will see what it takes to prepare a creative arts outreach. All three tracks will begin preparation individually but then be brought together at the end to have one collaborative piece for outreach. Each day will include worship, teaching, and outreach preparation.

Dates• 6–8 April (registration on the night of Thursday 5 April) • 2–5 June (registration on the night of Friday 1 June)

Costs• April (three days): £43• June (four days): £60All food, accommodation and travel are covered in one price. Bring your pillow and sleeping bag as everyone will be sleeping on floors.

ApplicationDownloadable application forms are available on the Forever website, at www.forever2012.com/do/events/earhart/.For more, contact Rebecca Vargas on rebecca@forever2012.com.

Why these weekends?• April Earhart Experiments (Easter) – 6–8 AprilApril’s Earhart Experiments will take place over the Easter weekend holiday. It will last three days, with the one-day outreach on Easter Sunday. What a significant day to proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ!

• June Earhart Experiments (Queen’s Diamond Jubilee) – 2–5 JuneIn June, The Earhart Experiments will take place over the Spring Bank Holiday, with the two-day outreach on the Queen’s official birthday and the Diamond Jubilee (both 4 and 5 June are bank (public) holidays).

Praise • Forever has a new team

plant in Crouch End!• brick by brick, our

online prayer calendar for 2012, is fully booked through February.

• We are getting more and more hits on our website: interest is growing!

• Enquiries about sending teams to the Olympic outreach are increasing.

• Megacities is already having a big mpact across London.

• The Forever project continues to receive financial donations.

Prayer• That as the Games gets

closer, the Church in the UK would fully engage with the opportunities offered.

• That many would get a heart for prayer in 2012 and help to lay the prayer foundations for all God wants to do this year.

• Financial, networking and accommodation breakthroughs for our next two YWAM and Forever team plants in Manchester (March) and Wimbledon (April).

• For God to raise the faith level of those bringing and participating in outreach teams.

• For God’s provision for the Forever project throughout 2012.

• For a breakthrough in the costs for outreach teams travelling into London.

* Art campaigns: using creative and intellectual tactics (urban knitting, street art, clever word games, flash mob, mime) to catch attention and bring awareness to specific issues.

“Never interrupt someone doing what you said couldn’t be done.”

– Amelia Earhart

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Circuit rider factsA “circuit” was a geographic area that encompassed two or more local churches. In rural and frontier USA, because of the distance between communities, preachers would ride on horseback, and hence became known as circuit riders or saddlebag preachers.

Some circuits were so large it would take 5–6 weeks to cover.

The activity of the circuit riders was a key factor in making Methodism the largest Protestant denomination of the period.

In 1784, Methodism in the USA had 14,986 members and 83 circuit riders. By 1839, those figures were 749,216 members and 3,557 circuit riders.

Probably the most successful circuit rider was an Englishman called Francis Asbury.

Circuit ridersA two-week YWAM school in England shortly before the Olympics will prepare and cultivate the ground in more ways than one. The invitation is out: come and join the circuit riders!

Radical message ... Circuit riders in outreach action in the USA

Around 250 years ago in the USA, a host of preachers and teachers took to horseback to carry the gospel of Jesus to homes across the nation. Born out of the Methodist movement in England, and inspired by the likes of John Wesley and George Whitefield, these preachers may not have had material wealth, they may have died young (half died before the age of 33), but they were instrumental in seeing Americans turn to Jesus in their hundreds of thousands. They were radical, selfless and sold out for Jesus. They were forerunners, and they were the “circuit riders”.

Now, the call is out for those who will be forerunners in this generation, who will give it all up to make Jesus known. The mode and methods have changed, but the circuit rider’s mandate, message and

continued on page 7

Circuit Riders SchoolWhere: YWAM Harpenden (less than an hour’s travel from the

Olympic stadium)

When: 1–14 July, followed by a two-week outreach in partnership with Forever

Cost: £35 registration fee, plus £250 accommodation fee (airfares and outreach costs are not included)

This school is open to all, not just to those who have completed a YWAM Discipleship Training School (DTS).

For more: Visit www.ywamharpenden.org or Email circuitriders@ywamharpenden.org

Photo: Jessica Ramsay

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www.forever2012.com • info@forever2012.com • +44 (0)1582 463322 Forever is a ministry of YWAM England & Wales and YWAM International. Reg Charity No 264078. Forever is a partner with More Than Gold.

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Stories from our Olympic outreach pastFrom the Athens Olympic outreach in 2004:

“During the outreach one of our participants led an Iranian man to the Lord. The Iranian then met one of our staff and went to church with him the following Sunday. Our new Iranian convert said, ‘The church was exciting and I want my friends to come.’ The next Sunday he brought four of his friends to church! They all enjoyed the service and discovering what church is all about. The Iranian man then scheduled a follow-up meeting with one of our staff for an ongoing Bible study.”

cost remain the same. The nations are crying out in darkness. Who will go and gather the lost all over the Earth? Who will go and awaken the Church to the joy of living fully alive in Jesus?

The School of Circuit Riders has run in the USA for several years, and now it is coming to the UK, just in time to give a short, sharp shock before and during the Olympics.

School of Circuit RidersYWAM Harpenden is holding the School of Circuit Riders to cultivate leaders who have the courage, dedication and initiative to awaken their generation to the freedom and power of the Gospel.

Our aim is to see leaders who will Save, Revive, and Multiply:

• Save: by bringing the lost into salvation;

Hands up! ... Circuit riders need commitment

• Revive: by igniting Christians with a new passion for Jesus;

• Multiply: by carrying out the dream of God to go into all the world, preach His gospel and make disciples.

Our desire is that each trainee will carry out the simple tenets of Jesus’ ministry: preach the gospel, teach biblical truth, pray for the sick, move in the supernatural, and call others to join us in helping to fulfil the Great Commission.

There will be short organised outreaches following the school, run in partnership with the Forever project. We encourage each trainee to participate in these outreaches before they return to their university, home church, workplace, or YWAM centre to teach and live out what they received during the school.

Translation service

Forever videoThe new Forever video is now available with subtitles in Spanish and French.

You can view the Spanish version at:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gzLdIbNNQk4&feature=youtu.be

You can view the French version at:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X3FS-L_DVNM

And remember, the Portuguese version is available at:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h7AKsC9NAI4&list=UUIrPom4KNnNCUaORj5tyiCQ&index=2&feature=plcp

and the Swedish version at:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9CMlidNK5I

The Korean version will be available on YouTube next week: type “Forever Korean” into the YouTube search engine.

Photo: Jessica Ramsay

Sign up to pray for the UK in 2012 now at www.forever2012.com/brickbybrick/