Faith Day: A Chat with Amir

One day on our Newcastle outreach, four trainees were taken into Newcastle on a 'faith day' -- they had no idea about it until they got into town. It was there, in city centre, that they learned for the next 12 hours, they were to trust and rely on God to provide not only food and/or shelter, but ministry opportunities and chances to step out in faith. With this in mind, I'm honoured to introduce Amir to you -- one of our team members from Egypt who has blessed England with his obedience and passion for all things involving God, love and football. 

Amir began: "My experience in Newcastle was so good! I wish we could've spent more time there. My main highlight was the faith day... the staff didn't tell us about the faith day, we were just told about it that morning. It was cold, but good. It's a day that you don't have money or food for 12 hours - you just trust that God will provide. But the day is not about finding food or a place to sleep, it's about listening to God and blessing people. My group prayed and went over the river and while praying, I felt like God was asking me to go talk to the manager of the Hilton hotel. So I did. We were all so encouraged by our conversation there and they were encouraged as well. I explained all about our faith and YWAM -- talked about how we were people who simply heard the word of God and wanted to obey! The manager loved that it was about our obedience to God and understood we weren't simply searching for food -- we were offered tea and coffee!"

We spread out later in the town to have certain conversations. I sat on a bench with a guy and talked about God and church with him -- he asked me what I was doing in Newcastle and I explained to him my faith and he was so impressed by what we were doing and how serious we were about our faith. In the end, he asked if he could give us money at the end of the conversation but he was so encouraged and was interested in visiting church. Our main conclusion was that when we tried to find food, we could not, but when we focused on what God wanted us to do, God provided for us. We were reminded that our main goal was not about providing for ourselves, our focus was to bless and listen to God in all circumstances."

In the evening, we had a city-centre wide prayer walk and Mitch ended up in the Grainger market while we were watching a football match in town centre. In the market, Mitch had some conversations and got to talk about his faith to some of the vendors there -- Mitch came out of the market with £4 worth of curry out to feed the team for dinner. We thought it was incredible, so we decided to go back and thank the man in the market for the food but when we did, the man said, 'Wait, wait - let me give you more, let me give you more!' We got three more boxes of curry! It was so good! God provided all day and we were so blessed by taking steps of faith. We're here for more than food and water - we're here to bless. Jesus focused on his ministry and on God in all situations... so yeah, I think it was such a good day. It stretched my faith."

The last question Amir was asked was about how outreach has impacted him greatest. He was quick to reply: "I think I learned a lot about stepping out and having initiative to go out and speak to people. I'm introverted and aren't used to a Western, closed society but I've learnt well how to hear God speak. When he says, "Go and talk to this person" I need just to obey - this is my role. God cares about these people. This is the one thing that I have been challenged most in. I don't have to care about my image, I just have to talk about God and why I do care and why I do love as well."

A Chat with Sharen

Sharen, one of our incredible trainees from India, has been an absolute honour to have on the Newcastle/Manchester outreach. Sharen has been involved in leading worship, leading outreach days, renovating houses, doing club outreaches, sharing testimonies in youth groups and church services and so much more. We had a moment to reflect on all that God's done in Sharen's life and through her the other night and Sharen got to talk a bit about what growth she's seen in herself.

One of the areas she's most excited about is her new-found confidence in English culture. "Before DTS," Sharen says, "I was very bold in my place [India] but when I came to England, I became very nervous around people and was not very confident. This outreach has helped me to reach that confidence in myself and also in sharing my testimony, praying in English and doing evangelism."

"My favourite part of outreach is our team time. During one team time, we shared ways we wanted to challenge ourselves and I was so shocked."


During the first week of outreach, all of the team was asked in what way they wanted to be challenged. Sharen's challenge was to pray in English and to give her testimony in English. A few weeks later, we looked back on the challenges and the entire team applauded when realising Sharen had inherently met her challenge tenfold! It was in this moment our team realised we needed to set new challenges. Sharen rose to the occasion: "I told to the group that I wanted to share the gospel with one person... and the same night, we went to one place [The Globe International Student Café] and I shared the gospel with one person! I didn't even expect it to happen!" 

Sharen also was happy to report about how her times with God have changed during outreach.

"My relationship with God has grown a lot... a lot of the times I thought God was silent, but I learned that God was simply talking to me in new ways. I feel like God has used me in many ways in these two months, in ways sometimes I can't see but now I understand."

Newcastle: A Chat with Vianney Reyes

This is Vianney Reyes -- our team's representing Honduran and one of the three amazing girls we've had the privilege spending outreach with. No lies, it's been a long time since this blog has been updated... so long now that this update comes from our team's outreach to the northern city of Newcastle-Upon-Tyne! Vianney had the chance last night to answer a few questions about how Newcastle impacted her and how she impacted it!

"We spent two weeks in Newcastle," she explains, "and our main focus was just blessing the city. We worked a lot with YWAM Newcastle and Westgate Baptist Church, a church that we were blessed to stay at. We helped at the church with various events they had and their ministries, helping out in worship and in Sunday School and their Jubilee party. Outside of the church, we were part of an International students cafe called 'The Globe' and we helped set up, got to know other international students and talk to them. We also volunteered 10 hours at the 'Green Festival' -- it was to create environmental awareness, consume organic products, support locally grown items and make your carbon print less evident in Newcastle. We volunteered there stewarding -- carrying stuff, litter pick, tear down, setting things up, helping out wherever they needed help. We also did a project called 'Space Invaders' which helps young people in Gateshead who have designing/creative talent by giving them the freedom of decorating and renovating a house."

after a day stripping wallpaper at 'Space Invaders'

"My favourite part of the outreach was interacting with people, especially at the Globe Café. It was incredible to get to know people eager to meet other people from around the world and learn more about other cultures. It was a great opportunity to know people -- their thoughts, concerns, their faith, and Jesus. We got to know them as people without forcing our faith on them and were able to establish relationships first."

When asked about what's impacted her the most, she immediately answered, "my relationship with God and my trust in Him has been strengthened so much in this time. I went through a lot of trials but they helped me grow in that confidence that I can trust and rely on Him." 


Our half-team of seven spent two weeks in Newcastle from June 2nd - June 16th. During this time, the other team of five spent two weeks in Manchester -- more on that to come!