Hello, my name is Nathan Sinclair! to contact me, send email to sinclair.nathan@gmail.com
Overview
YWAM is an organisation started by Loren Cunningham, which has recently celebrated 50 years of sending young people into the mission field. They have values to allow young people to lead, to endorse servant leadership, to be dependent on churches for raising support, extending hospitality, advocating pioneering, respecting cultural diversity, and community living among many more. You can find out about YWAM at their website, http://www.ywam.org
I will endeavour to share my experience of YWAM with you, including all that God has done, and being conscious that there are parts that need to be said, so that you understand how significant my time at YWAM has been. God give me grace to be able to share the whole story.
This is a conscientious effort to present the facts of what has happened since I came to YWAM, and including the facts of what has happened so far as I have pursued a career in using my talents to convey the gospel and glorify God in the place of the internet sphere.
Youth With A Mission - Oxford
As it would have it, I spent roughly three years involved at a Ywam Community in North Canterbury, New Zealand in a town called Oxford (not to be mistaken for the town of the same name in England, nor Canterbury in England) The things that struck me about this community, when I first met them, were that "I want to come back here" such a genuinely inviting and unassuming, yet attentive group of people, that made me feel welcome as soon as I came.
I guess this was significant because I had yet to really meet any of them, or to know anything of what God would do which would lead me to make a vow that I would come back to staff here, or of what was going on in my heart while I considered what life was going to be like - first impressions count I think.
I started at Youth With a Mission in Oxford, at the Earthcare DTS (Discipleship Training School) led by Rob and Jennie Blakeley, and there children, as well as a Canadian lady named Laura Yemen. The focus of the school is on building communities in developing countries, assisting in developing water storage and irrigation techniques that enable them to grow gardens and eat vegetables. Some of the countries that we learned about were Cambodia - where a man by the name of Seang Ly came from who was also staffing the earth care school.
If you want to learn more about the discipleship training school, which is a 6 month school run through Youth With a Mission, then goto their website. You will also find places that you can do a school. Who knows, maybe you'll end up at Oxford and I'll see you!
While learning at YWAM, and being a part of the community there, God made it clear that He had a unique task for me to do, which was made clear by dreams and prophetic prayers and all manner of other things that people received for me and with me, by hearing God's voice. It's quite remarkable the way these were used, both in peoples prayers for me, and also in dreams at night (some of which started when I was in Bali, before I left to come back to New Zealand)
For example, one of the people prayed that I would pray to Him three times a day. At the time it didn't make much sense, but when I came to be at Waiora, I found out that there was more than enough time for me to spend time with Him, both in the morning, at lunch time (while I was at wai ora) and then at night time. My intention was to make my family, my church, and my outreach team (that had left to goto Cambodia) know what was going on, and do my best, to communicate my heart in as much as what He was doing was enabling me to share with my church, my family and my outreach team that I was very much in the center of God's will. This was confirmed when we arrived back from outreach together, and felt a very near presence with these young ladies and Mark that I was so grateful, because I felt loved.
So, one such dream was related while I was in Bali. I looked at the end of my bed, and saw an angel. I looked further back and saw tomato bushes, and angels at each bush. I woke up, and knew that it had something to do with my future. When I came to Waiora, I understood it perfectly, because alot of my work was removing weeds from bushes (some of them tomato bushes) Just like when I had been at Oxford, I felt God being near to me, and that there was a lesson in harvest that He wanted to teach me. He later shared with me that there would be a harvest in this land.
I came back to staff at YWAM largely because of sharing the ideas that I had about what God had placed on my heart. It was because I wanted to "give myself to God and remain here until He said to go on" actually it was more of a challenge from God - that He wanted me to stay there and invest into the base. I took it that I would come back to YWAM in earnest of going there.
So while I was at YWAM, my duties largely were concerned with garden work (watering and weeding shrubs and herb gardens), mowing lawns, raking leaves etc, and spending time in the prayer room. I like to think that it was because I pioneered the way in receiving what God had for me, that they built a prayer room, because it was not built until after I got there. Up till this point I prayed in all sorts of places and got in the habit of recording my prayers.
Even then I had the desire, that I would be using them someday. This is in keeping with my desire to use technology and enable people also to share in that technology.
Many things happened to me while being at YWAM, which largely started as a result of hearing the beloved heart of God for me. I started to love Him. I also started sharing prophetic words, engaging in intercession, as well as various pursuits related to being a witness for Jesus return. If you want to talk more about this, I can. It really is a work of grace.
I only want to magnify Him. It's not like I can do this on my own anyway.
So while at YWAM i was also leading a prayer group, that would pray for Israel once a week. As part of intercession, I would go up into the prayer room and ask the Father what He wanted me to pray for. I got into the routine of this, which became more enjoyable than anything else I've ever encountered. I guess it's for this reason, that I believed that God was going to bring peace in the middle east, after a time of intercession at our meetings!
Each year after that I tried to get as many people as possible to pray for Israel over a 21 day period, from the 10th of June, to the 31st of June. Somehow I got those days in my mind. (it may very well have been the day that the sign I was looking for was achieved)
I view my time at YWAM with utmost elation and endearment.
During my time at YWAM I also went to Israel (in 2011) this was really in response to fervant prayer, and hearing from God.
Regretfully it's become a mark of contention that never seems to go away. I don't have the same passion for Israel as I used to, and if people ask me about it, I just remind them of the good things that happened while I was there.
Originally I intended to staff an Around the World in 80 days school, originally intended, to do this in 2012. But through my praying, and also regretfully because of a variety of reasons, It was never submitted, and still held hope that I would come back to Israel in 2012. This didn't happen.
I guess in keeping with what happened I also need to share how I happened to leave Youth With a Mission in Oxford.
Going to
Hospital
On the 5th of August,
2012, I, Nathan Sinclair became a patient at Hillmorton Hospital. This is
because I was in need of help from some people including my doctors, nurses and
friends. I cannot put to words the humility that I have regarding the time that I spent in Hospital. I
will continue with sharing what I believe God has taught me during this time.
You know how you sometimes think that something is not right with
the world? I somehow found out that the issue was not with the world but with
me. I remember asking God so much that I would be counted worthy of the calling
with which He called me - because I knew that He had such monumental and great
plans for me. How do you go with emotions? do you see them as a hinderance?
Like me, did you inwardly scoff at the notion that someone would live for love?
and in doing so you were guilty with the rest of them that crucified and heaped
insults upon Him. If it were that simple I think we would all be righteous and
none of us would be worse off. Man have I learned alot by being humbled.
The humbling that makes you wonder at what happens to you, the kind of process that needs to happen by you walking through it. But I didn't just walk through, I came through with abundance. I didn't just reserve myself to what had happened, I flourished. Can that really come from people? Can such an inner and beautiful change occur in my heart that I'm no longer living according to what I think is important (Heaven forbid, that I would deny what has taken place)
As I right this, it occurs to me to tell you that all that God has told me would happen has come to pass. Everyone remarkable, yet, unsafe, anticipatory, turning my heart to what is important, and living like my heart is so connected with God. I could not go on without Him. This is why the world is going to see what comes from my heart, I will not be ashamed because it is the life of me. In being God, He has won my heart for the sake of counting Him more precious and valuable than life.
The humbling that makes you wonder at what happens to you, the kind of process that needs to happen by you walking through it. But I didn't just walk through, I came through with abundance. I didn't just reserve myself to what had happened, I flourished. Can that really come from people? Can such an inner and beautiful change occur in my heart that I'm no longer living according to what I think is important (Heaven forbid, that I would deny what has taken place)
As I right this, it occurs to me to tell you that all that God has told me would happen has come to pass. Everyone remarkable, yet, unsafe, anticipatory, turning my heart to what is important, and living like my heart is so connected with God. I could not go on without Him. This is why the world is going to see what comes from my heart, I will not be ashamed because it is the life of me. In being God, He has won my heart for the sake of counting Him more precious and valuable than life.
Last Remarks
Any questions, you are pleased to keep in contact. My Prayer in you reading this, is that you would have some sense of your blessedness, and that peace comes from God. My heart felt desire is that many would come to recognize the blessedness that they have in their lives, that they would pursue it.
It's often enough that I just come back to Him, and allow Him to make something of my life. I think that's the mark of a true friend, and something that leaves an indelible mark on the human heart. It comes because we willingly give ourselves to Him. I tried my best not to preach, but i guess that i can't express it any other way.