Youth With A Mission Oxford, New Zealand
Although we do not put our trust in bricks and mortar, we are aware that without physical buildings in which to carry on our activities, the work we are called to perform would simply not happen.
We are very thankful for what we have; the land and main buildings having been donated to us in 1992. What was adequate ten and fifteen years ago, no longer is. We have wrestled with the options before us: find a second location or build where we are. The decision has been the latter. We have the space, the location here in Oxford is fantastic, our relationship with the local churches and community one of mutual support.
As of May 2008, the plans are finalised! It has been a long preparatory process of surveyors, architects, local authorities, contractor and sub-contractor quotes, trust board meetings, leadership meetings, prayer meetings, and so on! That behind us, we are ready to break ground!
The pictures here show that we are building in two phases. Phase one is our service area and includes a kitchen, dining room for 120, a classroom and a substantial office wing. Phase two is the construction of two rectangular accommodation blocks.
The buildings of both phases have been designed for practicality as well as aesthetic appeal. Our existing buildings are wooden: colonial and post colonial design, hence the new buildings reflect that same look.
Finance is our biggest hurdle at this stage. Each phase will cost approximately $NZ750,000 For both, a total of $1.5 million ($US1.2 million). We are not keen to borrow money. The business of discipleship, leadership and mission training is profitable in terms of the Kingdom, but our courses are not priced for the purpose of financial gain or profit.
We have initiated what we are calling Project 80/20/80. We are praying for 80 people (or groups) to donate $20,000 each, and so providing 80 new placements at YWAM Oxford. This doubles our current capacity!
Would you like to adopt one (or more!) of these placements? It could be an individual’s donation or a group that raises the $20,000 by way of a banquet or some other fund-raising activity.
Any donation may be sent to us via post or bank transfer or online from this website.
80 new placements relates to 80 more students per quarter, resulting in 160 per year, trained up in the ways of God and sent out to be “salt” and “light” in the world. Over the 100 year life of the building, this potentially calculates as 160,000 young people, sent out in teams around the world, with the good news of Jesus Christ.
I’m sure you will agree. This is a very good investment of $1.5 million.
Honestly, coming into DTS I thought that the ‘missionary lifestyle’, if you will, was only something that can be seen in third world countries when you’re working with the poor, the destitute, and the dying. God showed me that He speaks to us always, that we can share Him with people in the way we live and the words we speak. I learned how to incorporate my relationship with God into my everyday life. Now I see that God can use me just as much in school or as a nurse as He can working in an orphanage in India. He’s that Big…
I have always enjoyed the outdoors, but this DTS revealed to me how much I truly love it!
I have been allergic to all dairy products my entire life. God completely healed me!
This DTS has renewed my love for life and has given me understanding about our Creator that I can build on throughout this journey of faith.
Hello Everyone!
We just finished our second week of outreach, and it has been incredible! We are doing a backpacker’s outreach, which basically entails doing what the backpackers do, and sharing the love of Jesus with them in the meantime!
We kicked off outreach by spending New Year’s Eve in the Blue Backpackers hostel, and invited everyone in the hostel to share cheese, crackers, fruit kabobs with caramel sauce, and sparkling apple cider with us. 2 backpackers from Holland (Silvia and Preska), a couple from Germany (Anna Marie & Ricka), and a few guys from South Korea joined us for the evening. We had a lot of fun with them, and had the opportunity to share with them why we are in New Zealand traveling around, and tell them more about the school that we’re at. By the time that we left 2 days later, we all exchanged email addresses, and are planning to keep in touch!
After New Years in Kaikora, we headed up to the Nelson area, and did one of New Zealands Great Walks, the Abel Tasman. We spent 8 days hiking, first in the rain forest, and then along the coast of the top of the south island. It was absolutely beautiful, with crystal clear water and isolated beaches with seals and penguins! The first day of our trip, we met our new friends, Shela and Joe. We ended up staying at the same camp grounds with them almost every single night. Through dinner, cards, and laughing, we were able to show them the love of Jesus, which led to some cool conversations about their beliefs,and our beliefs. Shela used to go to church, but said she didn’t believe in going any more after they rejected her during her painful divorce. We invited them to join us for our team devotions and worship, and they said that they felt so at home with us, and loved seeing how much we loved each other! Keep them in your prayers, as we know that God used us to plant a seed in their hearts. We also saw our friends that we met in Kaikora again, and Dave had the opportunity to share Christ with them! We also met another couple from Germany, Steffan and Cena, along with many others that we hopefully planted seeds in!
This week, we rented a house, and our desire was to use it to bless anyone in need! We realized that a lot of backpackers, especially those traveling alone, are very lonely, running low on money, and are very open. We decided to start out our time at the house with a big barbecue, and go into town and invite as many different backpackers as we could! We had a houseful, and about 8 of them have been hanging out with us every day, and about 5 of them have been living with us, sharing our meals with us, and worshiping God with us in the mornings! Only one of them, Tim, is a Christian, and the rest of them either don’t (didn’t) believe in God, or don’t believe in one God. I get goosebumps as I think about the conversations we’ve been having with them throughout the week. One of the guys, Simon from Sweden, didn’t believe in God a couple of days ago, and after many many conversations about God, along with different things, worship sessions, and team devotions, he prayed to God for the first time in 4 years! He’s going to be spending the next 2 weeks with us as well, so be praying for his salvation! He is an amazing guy, and I want to see him again in heaven!
We also had an amazing discussion with a ton of backpackers that we invited back to dinner 2 nights ago. One of them, Mattias, asked why the Bible is split up in to the Old Testament and the New Testament, and we were able to tell them all (including and Israeli,) about how the Old Testament is based on laws, and sacrifices as means to atone for sin, and have a relationship with God, and then the New Testament is about how Jesus came and fulfilled the law, so now we can have a relationship with God through Christ! That led to many more discussions about other topics like evolution/creation, etc. Wow! it was amazing, because it didn’t turn into an argument, but instead, we all talked about some really deep stuff, and everyone was genuinely interested. God is doing some amazing things here, and the coolest part is, we’re just living life here in Nelson, loving each other, and loving others. Our hope and desire is that through this, our team will learn that life and missions aren’t two separate things, our lives should be so completely holistic with our love for God, that He just pours over into other people’s lives, and we can’t help but love the lost, feed the poor, visit those in prison, because through loving God, He gives us His heart for people, and our life isn’t complete if we aren’t loving others!
Right now, we’re praying about what God wants us to do next. We have been hearing a lot about this backpackers hostel that is in the center of Nelson that we might spend some time in. Some of the guys that we’ve met have been telling us we probably wouldn’t enjoy it because the people aren’t good people there and drink a lot…and we’ve been thinking that that’s exactly where Jesus would’ve gone if He was walking on earth now, because those are the people that need Him! Pray for wisdom for us!
Also, a few more prayer requests:
Saskia’s (one of the backpackers who’s living with us) mom has cancer in her back, and we’ve been praying for a miracle!
More boldness for our team to share Jesus’ love with people outside of our comfort zone
That God brings the people along that He wants us to meet!
That’s all for now. We love you all so much, and would love to hear back from you!
Love,
Katrina and Dave
In addition to the school fees, there is a required activity fee of nz$1200 per student. This fee covers all lift passes, 4×4 transportation to and from the mountain, organized weekend activities, plus trips into Christchurch on Friday nights. On Wednesdays, we hit the slopes at Porters, and on Saturdays we head up to Mt Hutt. If we are unable to head up the mountain, we give alternative opportunities to explore this beautiful island, including activities such as:
Mt. Hutt
Porter Heights
Temple Basin
Craigieburn
BrokenRiver
Mt. Cheeseman
Mt. Olympus
Snow NZ
Snowpark
Cardrona
Treble Cone
Coronet Peak
The Remarkables
Invincible
This is just a list of mountains close to us and down around Wanaka/Queenstown. This does not mean that we will ride on all of them!
Far East Asia by Christina
Middle East Outreach by Geoff
Africa Outreach by Jeremy
Southeast Asia by Julie Anna
South America by Adam
Eastern Europe by Lauren
Before doing this school, I was looking for more out of life. My passions for travel and adventure led me to this “Around the World” DTS. I desperately wanted to know God more and knew I needed to get out of my current environment in order to do so. What better place than New Zealand! My lecture phase was a slow and steady renovation of the heart. Through the teaching and God’s guidance, my foundation was made new and SOLID. Instead of the roller coaster faith I had lived for years, I learned how to step into maturity as a follower of Christ. In outreach I was challenged in more ways that I had imagined. Being exposed to such a variety of missions in different countries opened my eyes to what the hands and feet of Jesus working in our world look like. I discovered something I had lost - compassion. When we graduated in Israel I will still processing all I had recently been through, but I knew I was changed. Long story short - this experience was so life changing that I returned to Oxford to staff the next year’s school!
Applying to do my DTS in Oxford was one of the best decisions I have ever made! YWAM changed my life in so many different ways, and I am incredibly grateful that I had the opportunity to be part of the ATW80 school. I learned so much about myself over those six months, and where I can fit into the BIG picture if I allow myself. This has significantly impacted my entire outlook on day-to-day events and decisions. I am slowly learning to allow God to have more control over the decisions I make and to trust that He has a plan and I must be obedient to his calling. DTS gave me the opportunity to explore many things which I had never considered and I have met some life-long friends in the process which is a small bonus…!
I’d have to say that my DTS, outreach in specific, fulfilled it’s purpose. I loved getting a full view of a specific region. For my outreach I went to the Middle East and I left my heart there. A lot of the emotions of what I saw and did have impacted me even months after. In the moment, my outreach was challenging…but worth every minute! It was truly a bit of a taste of the culture and people. The Lord has continued to use what I was exposed to to grow my heart for the region and people. My mind and heart were forever changed by the Middle East. The school’s vision is to expose those who are interested in long term missions to what workers are already doing with the hopes that they will be inspired to go back. For me it worked! The ultimate goal for me is now the Middle East.
BCC Activities
