The Beginning When we began in 1990, YWAM Cymru/Wales always had at its heart the desire to train, equip and release young people both into and from this great nation of Wales. Combined with this has been a constant partnership with local churches, movements and organisations who work right here, on the ground, in the nation. One of the things that has always remained outstanding, however, is a permanent home for YWAM in Wales—somewhere we could truly call home. We did once own a small church down in South Wales, only to have it firebombed and later demolished by the local council! Each time training space was needed we were forced to rent a property, which meant it had to be returned—with all the effort of setting up and taking down, storage and the maintenance of all the “stuff” needed to run training in between. It has been many years in the making—but November 2009 saw a wonderful breakthrough moment for YWAM’s ministry here in Wales regarding a property. The Waiting Game Mark & Sue Vening, moved to Wales in 2002 and immediately joined others in this long established effort to see a breakthrough for a permanent home for YWAM in Wales. Every year since then YWAM Wales has diligently sought the Lord as to whether that year would be the year of release—but every year the Lord gently, but firmly, said ‘No. Not yet’. We viewed several different buildings but nothing was right. Nonetheless, ministry continued with two Discipleship Training Schools (DTS) being run in Wrexham. In addition there were other works that YWAM assisted with or pioneered which created great new relationships and the opportunity to work with others for the benefit of Wales. Over the next few years the team grew and then shrank and eventually only our family was full-time with YWAM in the nation. Start of A New Season As 2009 began, we felt a strong sense from the Lord that this year would be different. Taking Him at His word we began to pray with renewed expectancy. Within days we were approached by a YWAM couple, Bob & Sarah Opper, who asked about coming to join us in ministry and lead the DTS programme. This approach from the Oppers was an enormous encouragement and added to our sense of impending blessing. As Bob & Sarah joined us in September 2009, we began to pray, asking the Lord where in Wrexham Wales’ next DTS would be held. As our new team prayed, a property that we had seen over a year earlier came to our minds. As a former guest house it had all the makings of a YWAM centre! The location was great—close to town, the rooms were spacious, the cooker large and the space plentiful. In our mind’s eye we could clearly see a community living and ministering there. Continuing in prayer, the Lord began to speak incredibly clearly saying ‘Ask Me for this property’. What a great thing to hear! For so long, the Lord had said “not yet,” and now He was saying “ask.”  Not only were we to ask but we were to trust God to provide—the faith, the physical building and the finances to purchase it. It was an exciting moment, we can tell you!
The Story Until Now
Making Enquiries Although Mark & Sue had seen the interior, Bob & Sarah wanted to check things out too, as they would be living at the house. Our team made an appointment to go to the property, make some enquiries and meet the owners, Stephen & Sheila. After being inside the house we were sure this was the property for YWAM. We suggested to the owners that we rent the property for a year to give us a chance to fund raise and then purchase at the end of that year. The owners quickly realized that would mean them moving out, renting their own place and negotiating a purchase price up front with no guarantees. Amazingly, within days they were back, fully embracing the idea and having already looked at one place themselves! They took it one step further by offering to leave a great deal of furniture and supplies in the house for us to use. Making it Official Things moved quickly after that. Having received God’s word to ask Him, we began all the legal work creating leases, contacting YWAM’s board and our regional leader for their advice and wisdom. With their generous blessing we were also asking the Lord to confirm His word to us so our faith could be ‘locked in’. On one occasion we asked the Lord to stir the heart of someone to encourage us as we negotiated the various deals. That evening, we got a call from someone who mentioned that their ‘heart had been stirred’. It got our attention! Within minutes they had generously agreed to gift us the rent for the first three months and offer a long-term interest free loan on the next nine. At that point our faith locked in and we knew that God had generously confirmed His word to us—and at the same time doubled our bank account! In the Property November 14 marked moving day—moving the owners to their new place and Bob & Sarah’s six suitcases into GyG. Since that day we have all been busy fixing up the few things that needed doing, moving in furniture, clearing out all the “stuff” left behind by the owners, cleaning carpets, building wardrobes, hanging pictures and more. We’ve seen God’s specific plan begin to unfold as we’ve received donations of furniture that fit perfectly or finding incredible deals for the items we need to purchase. We’ve already hosted a few people and one team since then and had a taste of what the community here will look like. We are full of anticipation to have a group of people living life here together, impacting this community and giving all the glory to God. A lovely taste of things to come! Launch Time God reminded us of a picture He gave us some years ago in that it would be obvious when His process to provide a permanent home for YWAM had begun—as it would feel like we had gone over a ski jump! This picture is especially poignant having recently watched the ski jumping at the Vancouver 2010 Olympics. Well, we are well and truly on our way and can feel the exhilaration! We are also taking the first steps into the next leg of the journey...to see how God will provide the £320,000 we now need to buy this property in November 2010.320,000.html320,000.html320,000.html320,000.htmlshapeimage_12_link_0shapeimage_12_link_1shapeimage_12_link_2shapeimage_12_link_3
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