If I showed you a before and after photo of my study at Wiler, on the outside I would look much the same (except for longer hair). What happened on the inside only God can measure if He does measure. Being a God of grace I picture Him cheering me on more then measuring anything except for my desire for Him to be closer in my daily life. A shout out to the 50+ leadership team and their helpers. Ruth, Margrit, and David orchestrated some amazing teachers and influencers. Many were multi-lingual as Europe is smaller then you think.
All students were asked to rank the value of the instruction and that was a doozy. I was not mad nor did I consider I was wasting my time for a single moment. I did not always “get” or agree with all Bible teachers but they all offered their best inspiration from many years of living the life of a believer in Jesus as the only true Son of God and our only Redeemer.
I’m beginning a review of my notes in chronological order without ranking or professor names. I hope, in future, to order how my thinking has improved. Thank you to all who saw the value in planting seeds in this soil which can feel older than dirt! Thank you to all of my friends who believed that it is possible for me to change in some better ways regarding service. You instructors gave the same teaching to 18-year-olds but with an understanding that there is depth in someone who has lived longer than you. Again, I am not looking at a schedule of the teaching but just some notes I took during the three plus months. I’m not separating this summary by specific topic and the following start of many entries will be a monster paragraph.
YWAM Core Beliefs – To Know God and To Make Him Known. 62 years and counting, this focus on evangelism has been changing lives. There are also 18 Foundational Values that YWAM founder, Loren Cunningham, and his wife Darlene, promote with that view of evangelism. They are currently battling Loren’s stage 4 lung cancer so please be praying as the Lord leads you. We are all image bearers of a good God. After the fall we are renewed and restored to that original design by God’s grace and our belief in Jesus. There will be a second coming and eternal life. There were many, many teachings on the unique and powerful only Lord’s Prayer. The YWAM experience has three phases: good, bad, embrace knowledge and variety of people (very true). I went from the honeymoon – I’m studying the Bible in Switzerland with cool people, to stop snoring or I will go crazy on you, to using the grocery-store approach, which is to take what is of value and leave the rest. One of our class members often said we are in a bubble and will need to leave the bubble and we certainly had to. My goal was to be “unoffendable” which was not perfectly executed but worked for the benefit of the whole. Remember that we all offend God and He still loves us. We looked at steps to effective praying remembering that God created communication and desires we communicate with Him. So that was the introduction in addition to teaching on the value of serving in community. Then began my service which, initially, was not suitable to my age but was, kindly, adjusted to include (my favorite) mending – but the older sewing machines made my work look inferior to my skills – cleaning bathrooms, and washing windows. It was not too much and I will, forever, have a cleaner home! Look out tile! Well – this is how the journey began. Much more will follow!
