French
Dear LTC Nigeria friends….
Aloha! It may be Thursday on your side of the world when you receive this communication, but it is still Wednesday, March 5th in Kona, Hawaii—the last time zone in the world. J
Thank you for your prayers over the past few days, as we have been seeking to know God’s will regarding the timing of the Nigeria Leadership Training Course.
One passage the Lord led us to was in 1 Timothy 6:20 where Paul is teaching Timothy regarding leadership issues. He tells him, “Guard what has been entrusted to you.” In the context, Paul was referring to the message that had been entrusted to him, but in the context of the LTC, we felt God was saying three specific things to us through this phrase: 1) Guard the PEOPLE I have entrusted to you. Protect them. (YOU are our greatest treasure!); 2) Guard the influence that I have given to you as leaders and the trust that people have placed in you to lead them into safe paths; 3) Guard the instruction opportunity that I have given you to be a model, even in the way you prayerfully walk through this decision and the way that you communicate about it.
We believe that we have heard quite clearly from the Lord, confirmed by an abundance of godly counselors, that we are to POSTPONE the Nigeria LTC until a later time. We are disappointed to have to delay; at the same time, we are quite confident that this word is from the Lord, so we trust that it will end up being the highest and best for all.
There are several dimensions to the decision-making process we have been working through. One is the security situation we mentioned in our February 26th email. Thank you for your prayers for greater security to come to Nigeria—and please DO keep on praying. Though the court’s decision to uphold the elections of last year has brought some hope of future stability, there has been continuing violence and kidnappings in Port Harcourt since we last wrote to you. This information is readily accessible on the Internet, so of course we have had participants, parents and others bringing it to our attention.
Our decision is in no way based on fear. God is able to protect us in any situation! But there is wisdom in listening to godly counsel. Though Loren and Darlene are the founders of YWAM, they asked for input from Team3 who happen to be meeting in Kona at this time. We have also received counsel from Kobus Van Niekerk, who is South African and part of field leadership over Africa. ALL of them love Africa, and have encouraged us to go and do this leadership course in Nigeria—but all have concurred with our decision that NOW is not the right timing (see David’s attachment on God’s ways in timing).
Another important factor in our decision to postpone the Nigeria LTC has to do with the Call2All. We believe that the LTC and the Call2All are to remain connected, to the mutual benefit of the participants of both events. The Call2All leadership has felt that they are to delay the Congress planned for Nigeria. This guidance came not only because of the security situation, but also because a delay will better serve God’s purposes. C2A President Mark Anderson just wrote to the leaders of the body of Christ in Nigeria “there has been a huge global groundswell among Christian leaders who want to be a part of this innovative, unity-building initiative. Countless leaders and networks are hearing about it and are wanting to be included in the upcoming event in Nigeria and beyond. We have had numerous requests from leaders around the African continent and beyond that we delay the Congress so that they can have sufficient time to mobilize their networks of leaders to engage and participate….”
We trust that the same Holy Spirit who has guided us to postpone the Nigeria LTC will confirm in your heart that it is a right and wise decision. A personal word from Darlene: “In the light of who God is, we are confident that He has each and every person in mind with a decision like this…participants, their children, our staff and leaders, as well as the families of us all. On a personal basis, this change in plans was very disappointing for me. I have been so looking forward to this time together. As many of you know, doing leadership training—especially in Africa—is my greatest joy! Being with a wonderful team of leaders, listening to the Lord together, looking for new ministries and initiatives to be birthed. I have to believe that with this postponement, God will do even greater things than would have happened if we had gone ahead with the course this year. As I was praying for you, in preparation for sharing this news, I had a sense that we are all to be very careful in how we fill these weeks that are now being given back to us. It is like a sacred trust of time that God is giving. He has special plans for you, so don’t just fill the time, but LOOK for His plan… He wants to use this time to create something new. And regarding the plans that you may have made for the time prior to or following the LTC, God will give new thoughts and ways to accomplish those things that are from Him.”
As soon as we have new dates to communicate for the Nigeria LTC, we will send those to you. Applications that have been received for the 2008 course will be automatically forwarded to the next course. But even when we project the new dates, we will need to continue to keep prayerful watch over the security situation to be sure that things remain stable.
We want to express our heartfelt thanks to Paul Dangtoumda, the YWAM Nigeria national director, Ann Isesele, and others at the Port Harcourt campus who have been working diligent in their preparation to receive the LTC. We are so grateful for their labor of love. We pray special blessings and grace upon them and look forward to bringing the LTC to Port Harcourt in God’s right time.
Most of all, we want to thank the Lord Jesus, who is ever faithful to watch over us and to guide us with His eye.
Grace and peace,
Darlene Cunningham, David Hamilton & Dawn Gauslin
Click here to read about Hearing God’s Voice and Understanding His Timing
by David Joel Hamilton