YWAM Nanaimo had a milestone moment that is humbling and exciting: we got to send out our very first outreach teams! What made this so special for us was having many different people representing other denominations and ministries come alongside us and join us in praying over the teams, getting words for them, and sending them out to fulfill the Great Commission!
Here is our first update of the 12 people we sent out:
In the first week, most of the school had arrived into Kyrgyzstan without an issue. However, four people were unable to board their flights out of Vancouver due to not having the required transit visas through the US. They got to stay with YWAM Vancouver and start their outreach in the city working alongside an urban ministry that serves refugees. After getting their flights rebooked, they were able to rejoin their teammates in Kyrgyzstan a week later!
Meanwhile, the rest of the team was greeted and given an orientation by some amazing contacts in the capital city named Bishkek. As part of their orientation, everyone was split into two groups and participated in a scavenger hunt around the city that familiarized them with the language and transport system of the city.
After a few days together in Bishkek, the teams branched off. Sarah and Chase remained in Bishkek leading a team with 4 students while Blaise and Glory will lead their team of 4 students in a rural town called Naryn that is 4 hours away. The drive was very scenic between Bishkek and Naryn.
Both teams have reliable contacts that they are working with for the duration of their outreach. It had already been arranged for the Bishkek Team to volunteer in teaching English classes but for the Naryn Team there “happened” to be an opportunity for them to teach English at a local library. Blaise and Glory stopped by the library on a whim and found out that the library's English teachers were scheduled to be away for 2 weeks, and now their team will be giving lessons 3-4 nights a week over that time. This is something they were eager to do before arriving to Kyrgyzstan, and apparently, an assignment God was eager to give them! Knowing the people on these teams, they will always seek to share the message and love of God in whatever they are doing!
The teams are continuing to learn and explore the language, customs and areas they are in. The language barrier is big and there are things that they will need to learn that can only be conveyed through their social interactions with people. This is an area that prayer is needed from our Christian community! Also keep the leaders in prayer and that the teams can get into a groove as they learn to rely on and trust each other in new ways!
