Annual Report 2012/2013

ANNUAL REPORT 2012/2013
YWAM MONTANA-LAKESIDE
We invited some very special guests from South Africa to run a six week course called Leading By the Spirit
(LBSC) in our spring quarter as well. The LBSC is designed to equip Youth With A Mission staff to spiritually
carry and lead in ministry settings, while fostering a lifestyle of living by the Spirit. We love our new friends from
the South and we are grateful for the growth and increasing effectiveness they brought to this ministry.
We also sent out our first touring bands in over four years! This was a very exciting time for us, as one of
our callings is to be an Arts and Music focused ministry. It was so good to hear the bands practicing all over
campus and to pray for their tours around the northwest and midwest United States.
Spring was an especially busy season for our leaders. After a lot of preparing, our leadership team spent four
days off-campus completing our Annual Planning time. This is a time where we evaluate the last year and look
towards the next one, so that as a ministry we may be as fruitful as possible for the Kingdom.
FROM THE
DIRECTORS
LOOKING BACK AT 2012/2013 WE SEE THE FAITHFUL HAND OF GOD AS WE CAME
TOGETHER AROUND THE VISION OF “WHATEVER IT TAKES TO KNOW GOD AND MAKE
HIM KNOWN TOGETHER.”
2012 started with the roll out of a newly expressed and clarified vision and values. We also presented a new
structure for the ministry in order to position ourselves for the growth we are experiencing and the expansion
of vision we are believing for. Our Fall students (DTS, SBS, Titus Project, School of Worship) were different
than any others I can remember. Rarely have we experienced the zeal and initiative we did with these young
learners and they set the pace for a very exciting and fruitful year.
This year we were especially proud of our Titus Project. Titus is a program that trains our SBS graduates to
teach the Bible to pastors and leaders that might not have access to other training resources. We ran our first
Titus Project in Chile and our goal of having a Titus project on every continent was accomplished.
We were blessed with a bigger than normal (50 students + staff) Winter Discipleship Training School. Their
outreach was very unique as the whole school went to Brazil together. Upon their return we were told of our
inheritance in that nation as lives were changed and Jesus’ name was proclaimed wherever they went. I pray
we never get so used to this that it does not move us to gratefulness at what we get to be a part of.
We also returned from our Christmas break to our wonderful School of Biblical Studies (SBS) students who
had finished one quarter and had two more quarters of intense, inductive bible study to go. Their diligence
and commitment was an inspiration to all of us to continue to press on towards the goal.
Our Spring Quarter started with quite a surprise – three inches of snow! While we weren’t expecting the snow,
we were very expectant of all that God would do. During this quarter we ran a Discipleship Training School,
Foundations in Community Development school, Old Testament and Church History seminars, as well as a
new program called Launch. Launch was pioneered by our Fall DTS school leaders, running for some of the
graduated Fall 2012 DTS students. The purpose was to continue leadership development and to “Launch”
these lovers of Christ in to missions and ministry.
God has been highlighting our testimony in the community and opened a door at the public elementary school
to run a Christian club on Fridays, called Club 3:16. This is an encouraging outreach to our young neighbors
and we were super excited to share Jesus in this place. Launching this was a great success with as many as
50+ kids attending each week. A salvation message was shared on the second to last week, and at least six
kids gave their lives to Christ! We look forward to see how God continues to use us to impact the community of
Lakeside.
Summer brought us sunshine and with it came our third Endurance DTS. More than half of our students for
this school were international which added a great flavor to the campus. The Endurance DTS focuses on the
outdoor community of hikers, campers, backpackers and has been a new and effective place to meet people
who are often unchurched. The testimonies coming out of this school have been very encouraging.
We also ran Summer Programs for dancers and musicians and we love seeing these energetic young people
use their gifts to communicate a message of hope. At the same time we ran a TESOL course, which is an
acronym for Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages. TESOL is a fantastic tool in missions and is
more and more in demand worldwide.
Summer proved to be a busy season on our campus, as we also ran the DTS Equip seminar, which we
continue to run every year. This program brought leaders from around the globe together to our beautiful valley
for six weeks to be trained in leadership and discipleship, all the while reminding the participants that we are
the disciples of Christ first. We were able to have several leaders from Target Nations join us and that is always
a very special honor for us.
With a growing ministry comes growing need for space. Since the weather is not conducive for building in the
winter we try to get a lot of our projects done in the summer with the help of our VWAP teams (Vacation With
A Purpose). We had over 170 volunteers (church teams from all over the US) join us this summer, and we saw
so many projects completed and lives changed! It is always humbling to have so many people pay to come out
here, and take their vacation time to work. In the midst of swinging hammers and paint brushes, many special
friendships and memories were made.
“Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power
that works within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever.
Amen.” Ephesians 3.20-21
Keith & Mariska Buzzard
YWAM Montana-Lakeside Campus Directors
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