Growing AfriCom in East Africa

This week Miranda has been in Tanzania, East Africa. She's been enjoying the buzz of attending a YWAM regional staff conference, always a great opportunity to meet a lot of YWAMers from a number of countries without having to go to each location! Meeting together in Arusha at the foot of Mount Meru were staff from Ethiopia, Chad, DR Congo, Sudan, Uganda, Kenya, and Rwanda, not to mention those from Tanzania itself. There was a wonderful atmosphere of celebration as the crowd of around 300 recounted the faithfulness of God in all their myriad activities around the region.

But Miranda was not just there to enjoy the inevitable vibe of a YWAM gathering. She had an ulterior motive! This was an opportunity to follow up on the progress made at CRIT towards forming a regional Com Team, an AfriCom East if you will :-) Attending this conference was well-worth it ... together with the regional leaders and the staff with a interest in communication, Miranda helped to form both a structure and an immediate concrete goal for the team. She is hoping that this will help both those who are already keen to be involved and those who may be mobilized around the practical project that was decided on.

This project is one that could be adopted by other regions in the continent, or even by other parts of the world. It centers around gathering stories and historical information in preparation for YWAM's 50th anniversary celebrations next year. Communication teams globally have planned to produce a celebratory magazine to be made available at all the 50th anniversary events, an opportunity for YWAM International to tell their stories. So communicators (and others who don't yet know they are communicators!) in East Africa are all set to unearth a treasure trove of stories and to share them with the world ... what better way to launch a regional Com Team?!

Com Teams and Training

Those of you who have been following the journey of our YWAM Communication Team know that in the first quarter of this year we ran a School of Field Journalism through YWAM's University of the Nations. This was a new experience for us, having focused up until that point on production projects as part of our communication service to the organization.

This morning we spent some time evaluating how well we felt the school had contributed to AfriCom's overall vision and purpose: was it worth the effort and resources required to run a 3 month residential course such as this? If so, is the School of Field Journalism the most appropriate school for a Com Team such as ourselves, or would a Communicating for Missions school be more appropriate?

The SOFJ had some great outcomes. In several ways running the school clearly benefited our coverall vision, which is to connect YWAM in Africa to one another, to YWAM internationally and to other interested parties. We recruited a communicator for the East Africa region and one for the core team in South Africa. We also had a number of YWAM-related stories published and saw graduates go on to get involved in helping to strengthen other YWAM ministries in the area of communication. By partnering our field assignment phase with a Basic Communication Workshop and a Communication Consultation we were able to maximize the impact of the school and help the students get a taste for strengthening the mission using their communication skills.

In addition to this, there were some outcomes that were beneficial to our broader goal of acting as champions of YWAM in Africa and of the continent itself. By running a journalism course we were able to introduce students to the African context and worldview, to develop connections with others who are experts in this area and to promote an engagement with the issues facing this continent in particular. One of our longer term visions is to become part of establishing a resource center for Africa and perhaps the School of Field Journalism could play a role in this?

When we think about training we believe that shorter, field-based training opportunities best serve the needs of this continent. Indeed we had a number of students who struggled to pay their fees throughout the School of Field Journalism; many others inquired about attending the school but were unable to do so because of a lack of finances. Running the Basic Communication Workshop in Uganda showed us, if any further proof were necessary, that taking training to the staff reduces overall costs to them and makes the training more accessible to a greater number of people.

So perhaps a training strategy that creates space for both longer and shorter training opportunities is called for? We are potentially looking towards running a residential school, such as the SOFJ,somewhere in Africa once every 24 months, in addition to running a shorter 6 week communication workshop in another location 12 months later. This would develop into a 24 month cycle, enabling us to invest in as many people as possible with the limited staff team we have available.

Our thoughts turn to other YWAM Com Teams around the world and we wonder whether some of the lessons we are learning could benefit them too. Perhaps in future we'll see more of a strategic partnership growing between YWAM's College of Communication and the field-based Com Teams such as ourselves? There is both a need and an opportunity to work together to see people equipped with communication skills and YWAM served through the use of those same skills.

Strengthening YWAM Communication

One of the ways the AfriCom team works to strengthen YWAM communication is through contributing content to websites and blogs that promote YWAM ministries in different parts of Africa and the world. This week, some of our writing has found its way onto the blog for the YWAM center in Arua, northern Uganda. In fact, this was part of the work produced while our School of Field Journalism students were in East Africa.

Take a look - let's be part of increased traffic to another great YWAM Africa site!

Zambia, Zimbabwe & the UN Millennium Development Goals

I’ve just returned from a 7000km round trip to Lusaka, via Bulawayo and Livingstone. As always it was wonderful to travel in Zimbabwe and Zambia and to be with other YWAM missionaries. This was a mixed trip – teaching on two DTSs, spending time with other team members from the Africa Field Service Team, and travelling with Kobus van Niekerk, our YWAM Africa Director.

The Lusaka YWAM base is running a Community Development focused DTS, and I had the chance to team-teach on the fascinating subject of Worldview. A frequently used analogy compares society to a tree, where the roots determine the fruit. The tree’s hidden root system is the complex belief system and worldview that determines society’s values and behaviour. The tree’s fruit – the natural consequences of behaviour within society – are therefore a product of the ways that society views the world.

We’ve begun a working discussion within the FST about the UN Millennium Development Goals, and it was interesting to spend some time in Zambia considering these from the context of Worldview and belief systems. The MDGs address some of the bad fruits of society. The eight goals are worthy aspirations, aiming by 2015 to:
1) Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger
2) Achieve universal primary education
3) Promote gender equality and empower women
4) Reduce child mortality
5) Improve maternal health
6) Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases
7) Ensure environmental sustainability
8) Develop a global partnership for development

These issues are a result of numerous conflicting causes, including Worldview. It is not enough to simply promote gender equality, the root belief systems that assume male superiority have to be challenged and replaced with a truly biblical perspective on gender. Only when the roots of the tree change will the fruit naturally improve.

I’ve returned from Zambia with a desire to champion YWAM ministries which tackle the needs raised by the MDGs – for example pre-school education and initiatives to provide clean water. But I also see the need to be part of the study and dialogue which questions ‘what are the belief systems in society that lead to these issues?’ The UN goals are excellent, and biblical, but if there is anything to learn from 50 years of international aid, it is that aid does not work. Throwing money at these 8 specific goals will not change Africa, changing the belief systems that cause the problems will.

Tim Heathcote

Getting Shipshape

What's the first thing you have to do when your entire team has been 'on location' for 2 months? Clean, obviously!

Next you have to follow up all those outstanding emails, put all your notes into some sort of order, list all action points ... and get your head down!

And that's where we're up to right now in the AfriCom South Africa office. But at least we have clean windows ;-)

Being Team in Uganda

As we sat in the room commonly called the “blue room” here on Hopeland, we laughed at how as a Com Team we don't have a single cent to our name, yet we have so much to do. We began to think of how we could be useful on the base and what we could do to help improve communication here without necessarily needing money for it. We agreed to go and clean up the office and the administrative block on Friday the 12th of June at 5pm.
After all, we thought, when guests come to YWAM Hopeland they make all their enquiries at the office and all sorts of meetings are held there; so the office must always look neat and welcoming, and at the same time represent YWAM properly.
So we began making plans and getting excited about doing that, at least we would be able to do something that didn't require money immediately. We could just clean the windows, sweep and mop the floors for now; then think about re-painting it later.
On June 12th, a text message was sent to all Com Team members here asking them to remember our work duty at the office that evening. Yes we would get things done and assist the base in that way!
I was typing away a formal report that had to be completed within a week, when I decided to take a break and check out my Facebook page :). I saw my friend, Jeanine's, status and it said something like “I am very happy because we members of the Com Team here on Hopeland are going to clean up the office now”. The status had been updated over 45mins ago, then it suddenly hit me “Sarah, you are supposed to be cleaning up the office now!!!” I flew off my bed and ran to the office, by then it was 6pm and they were already done sweeping and mopping! I felt so silly!
“Miss communicator” as they call me, who sends messages reminding others to be punctual and remember that we are working ‘as unto God’ had forgotten to show up for work duty! The others just laughed at me and took it all in good faith but I learnt one thing from that experience; you cannot do it alone, you always need others.
Even though I didn't show up, my team-mates were there and they faithfully did the work we were all supposed to do as a team. That's what it's all about isn't it? Working together as a team and not trying to do it all alone because one person cannot!
T-Together, E-Everyone, A-Achieves, M-More!

By Sarah Adeyinka, YWAM Hopeland, Jinja, Uganda.

AfriCom set to grow

If you had visited Hope Land base in Jinja, Uganda, over the past few weeks you would have noticed a buzz about the base, a cheerful intermingling of people from all over the world as old friends greeted one another and new friendships were formed. You might have noticed two guys huddled over a computer as one taught the other how to use Photoshop, or groups doing interviews to camera, as nearby someone clutched the new/old laptop they had just been given, hoping they could figure out how to use it!

It’s not a catchy name (Communication, Research & Information Technology) but for the past 6 years CRIT has been helping people to catch the vision for effective communication; communication that builds relationships in such a way as to help YWAM become stronger all over the world.

There is a tendency for us to think about communication as the things we do in order to communicate – the articles we write, the websites we run, the logos we design or the footage we capture. Of course, it is all those things, but at root it’s about building understanding among us, getting us connected to one another. It’s about who we are and what we value.

This reality was foremost in our minds as we converged on Hope Land base at the end of April. On the technical side, we had no idea if there would be power cuts during the showing of our video or Powerpoint presentations; we wondered if the speed of Internet access would allow any of us to stay in touch with loved ones or keep up with our emails. But most of all, we knew that we were to be a very multi-cultural group and in that context we were desperate to focus on connecting people to one another, not just to the Web.

CRIT has always been a very interactive event. It’s not a conference or a training time but a time for discussing together some of the communication challenges we face as a mission and together seeking creative solutions. There is a wonderful dynamic when people with less-developed communication skills, but lots of experience of the challenges, sit down with people who have been working in communication for a while. To walk around and observe CRIT working groups is to see a beautiful picture of our incredibly varied and diverse missionaries standing alongside one another, of being harnessed together with a common purpose. At the end of this year’s event Larry Wright, a pillar of YWAM’s International Communication Network, commented “We’ve taken some real practical steps to build the communication highways in YWAM, and we’ve done that together.” It was a highlight this year that there was a marked flow between our times of praise, prayer and devotion and the practical outcomes of the working groups. As Tim Heathcote, a member of AfriCom, enthused “We’ve talked about healing the nervous system, but here we’ve really seen that happening and it’s beautiful.”

For some participants the healing was also very personal. Jeanine is a Burundian YWAMer who works at the primary school on Hope Land base. Along with around 30 local and regional staff members, she took part in the week-long Basic Communication Workshop that preceded CRIT. Having been impacted by both the practical and values-based components of the workshop she decided to also attend CRIT, where she played a key role in the working group focused on developing Communication Teams. Jeanine’s comment touched us all: “I have received more healing over these 2 weeks than at any time in my life, even during my DTS.” When we value communication we value people, we respect them, we say, ‘I care about you, your contribution is important.’

Agnes Ichodu is one Ugandan YWAMer for whom CRIT will lead to some very real changes. She worked in the same working group as Jeanine, discussing with several others the communication challenges faced by YWAM in the region of East Africa. Together they decided that this region needs its own communication team and that they – with their newly acquired skills – could help get things started. Agnes, previously a primary school teacher, did her DTS last year in the north of Uganda and more recently completed the School of Field Journalism in South Africa. She says, “CRIT meant a lot to me because through it I came to know so many people who are working in communication, or who want to. In East Africa so many programs have failed because of poor communication and there are so many good things happening that we don’t hear about, for the same reason. A Communication Team brings hope to the region because so much more can be done when we communicate well.”

Communicating well is the overall goal of CRIT – whether on our bases, across regions or as a global missionary movement. And this year we all took another small step towards making that a reality.

By Miranda Heathcote