As you may remember, we sent our Discipleship Training School students to Montenegro and Albania for their outreach. There are DTS schools all around the world sending their students to different locations for their outreaches. We recently had the honor of hosting one team from Montana for their outreach!

A team of 11 people came for two weeks. We got to set up a little schedule for them to experience different ministries and activities that we are normally a part of.

They had students go to the public school and help in an English class as well as other English courses and our English Club. The shared testimonies and did dramas in our coffeehouse ministry as well as in the parks. They went to another city and helped with evangelism and shared in church on Sunday.

It is always an encouragement and blessing to have teams with us. Yes it is a lot of work to set things up and help them around the city but it is worth it. It is like get a shot of energy and excitement for what you do. Teams draw attention and bring more people to us.

Anyone thinking about coming, you are more than welcome to come!!

Every year, we plan to have a Discipleship Training School in the fall. It began this last year September 14th with 9 students from Ukraine and England. I will give you a pictorial review of our time.

School always starts with lectures and some classroom training. Normally, we don’t have our practicum until after we have finished the 12 week lecture time but this year we decided to do a small 2 week mini outreach in the middle. We went to nearby town of Chortkiv and did all sorts of activities. Here are some pictures form that time.

After our outreach in Chortkiv, it was back to lectures. Students had a variety of teachers who spoke on a variety of topics. Here is a glimpse of what that time looked like:

Besides lectures, we did have some fun activities and special events.

It was a long and tiring 3 months but everyone did it and we succeeded in learning lots. Students grew together as a team, grew closer to God, and the people they served.

No, it is not pronounced heed-e-beak, its pronounced hide-eh-bake. It is a small village in Holland, on the outskirts of Apeldoorn, which is about an hour train ride from Amsterdam. Lance and I have not spent much time in Holland in the past. Lane has actually never been outside the airport and I only spent a day and a half over ten years ago. This was a new experience for us and we are always up for adventures!

Our reason for traveling to Holland was to attend a European YWAM leaders gathering. We were invited to go and we both felt that it was important for us to go and build relationships with other leaders as well as to hear what is happening in YWAM Europe overall.

There were about 70 leaders in attendance from many different countries through out Europe. We had devotions together in the mornings, we were able to pray together for Europe and for each other. Lance and I were happy to be able to tell people that Ukraine is a safe place and teams are welcome to come to Ukraine. We left Heidebeek happy and with a sense of accomplishment.

A second blessing in coming to Holland was that Lance and I got to visit our dear friends Dave and Astrid! For those that don’t know them, they are friends from Washington that moved to Holland last year. It was so much fun to see them both again. We enjoyed spending lots of time together just talking and seeing a bit of the Dutch countryside. We can’t express how full our hearts were when we left the Swadberg family!

Winter Staff Days has come and gone but we are still working through what God has shown us during our time together.

All Ternopil staff gathered for three days to pray and hear form God concerning the future of the Ternopil YWAM base. We wanted clarity in the future planning, we wanted new ideas, nations to target, and a vision for the future. Of course outside of all this, we wanted to just be together and to have fun as a family.

One of the things we did was study the church in Antioch. We have had several people give a word for the Ternopil YWAM base that they should be like Antioch. Sounds cool, but what does that mean? We really did not know. What I would like to do is to share our Bible study so that you can better understand what we hope to achieve.

 

Timeline

40- Missionaries come to Antioch and preach to Gentiles (Acts 11:20)

42- Barnabas sent from Jerusalem to visit Antioch (Acts 11:22)

43- Barnabas leaves Antioch to look for Saul in Tarsus and brings Saul to teach (Acts 11:25-26) They remain in Antioch for one year.

44- Prophet Agabus visits Antioch (Acts 11:27-28), prophesied a famine in Roman empire.

44- Antioch church sends Paul and Barnabas to Jerusalem with offering to help with famine (Acts 11:29-30)

45- Paul and Barnabas return to Antioch with John Mark (Acts 12:25)

46- Paul and Barnabas sent out on 1^st journey (Acts 13:2-3)

47- Peter comes to Antioch (Galatians 2:11, 12)

47- Confusion comes from Judaizers (say believers must be circumcised)

48- Paul returns to Antioch (Acts 14:26-28) and opposes Peter (Galatians 2:14)

48- Jerusalem council held (Acts 15 & Galatians 2:1-10)

??- Judas & Silas go to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas (Acts 15:22)

49- Paul teaches in Antioch (Acts 15:35)

49- Paul leaves for 2^nd journey

52- Paul returns to Antioch (Acts 18:23)

53- Paul leaves for 3^rd journey

270- First Bible School is founded

Main themes

#1 Learning– Acts 11:25-26, 42-43AD

~Barnabas brings Paul to Antioch to teach and they remain there teaching for one year.

-Spent time teaching and studying God’s Word

#2 Concern for others– Acts 11:29-30, 44AD

~A famine is prophesied and the Antioch church takes an offering to send to the church in Jerusalem

-They were not inwardly focused

-They did something for people outside of their bounds

#3 Discipleship– Acts 12:25 & 15:22, 45 & 48 AD

~Paul & Barnabas return from giving the Antioch gift in Jerusalem and bring John Mark with them. Later brought Judas and Silas with them.

-Bring people into what you are doing

-Recruit, train, mentor

#4a Send– Acts 13:1-4, 46AD

~Antioch church commissions Paul & Barnabas on their first missionary journey.

-They sent some of their best teachers

-They didn’t worry about what would happen without their best teachers.

4b Diversity

-The body of believers varied in nationality, economy and religious background

Barnabas- from Cyprus

Niger- from Africa

Lucius- from Africa

Mamaen- Roman nobleman

Saul- Pharisee

4c Time for Holy Spirit

-Believers were praying and fasting together

-They heard the Spirit speak and they obeyed

#5 Accountability– Acts 14:26-28 & 15:35, 48 & 52 AD

~Returning from their missionary journey to the place that they were sent from

-Shared a report after their journey

-Spent time with the church after their return

#6 Interdependence– Acts 11:22, 29, 15:30

-Churches worked together

-Shared resources and helped each other

Our base has joined forces with the other YWAM bases in Ukraine to help relief efforts in the east. Our base has been at the forefront of the work by hosting families from the east as well as sending supplies and people to help and encourage those there.

We have hosted a number of families to come for a respite at our base. These families are not looking for a new home in the west, but are wanting to remain in the east to help others left behind with out any way to leave. They continue to help others, encourage people, and give aid where aid is needed. We felt it was important to be able to give them a break and fill them up as they have been pouring out to others.

Most recently, we prepared 100 gift bags to give to soldiers. We wanted to send some Christmas cheer to those away from families and loved ones. Each bag was filled with chocolates, candy, a flashlight, a pair of socks, a card, razors, gum, and coffee. Some of our staff went to the east to deliver the gifts and to also give extra warm clothes, Bibles, books, sausages, nuts, oranges and homemade goods. They also brought a coffee maker and plan on making fresh coffee for the men.

The relief work that we have been organizing and participating in was featured on the main YWAM website, you can read about the last trip HERE. If you would like to help financially with the work, you can click HERE and choose Ukraine relief from the drop down menu.