We had felt something stirring after our trip to the mainland this past December. We knew that change was in the air, but we were not entirely sure what it would look like. After arriving back in Kona, our Apostello team was encouraged to pick a location to individually be praying for an hour each week. I remember closing my eyes, asking God where it should be, and seeing a word pop up in my mind… “Tauranga”. This was a new word for me so I opened my laptop and began investigating. I’m Googling the name and thinking ” Sure hope this place exists”. As it turns out, praying for Tauranga would trigger an amazing string of events leading us into a new chapter of life and ministry beginning this September.
As I press “enter” on my keyboard, my computer screen begins filling with images that surprisingly remind me of Kona, the place we have called home since 2016. “Tauranga exists!” I thought, how cool is that. I begin researching this city and learn that it is located in New Zealand (Aotearoa) on the North Island. I had an upcoming teaching trip to Oxford, New Zealand lined up so my thoughts were already in place to be involved ministering in this country. I was curious if YWAM had any involvement in this area and as I researched it I saw that there were a number of YWAM ministries operating in the area. As I looked at the various ministries, one stood out… “YWAM Furnace”.
As I learn about this community I feel a near instant connection. Reading about their training programs and ministry focuses was like reading about all of the highlights of Jen and my last ten years of involvement in ywam. They have a prayer room at the center of all their ministry with a high value on prayer and worship, they have outdoor adventure and singer/songwriter focused Discipleship Training Schools. It was easy to get excited about praying for this ministry and their involvement in Tauranga. One training stood out to me in a special way. Furnace is one of the few bases in the world that offers a Transformational Development School. This is the primary area that I have been facilitating training in for the past few years.
I reach out to one YWAM’s international leaders in this field. I had met Arnold Rottier a few years back as Jen was doing her School of Worship in Lakeside, Montana. I figured if anyone know about this school it would be Arnold. I send him a message to see if he has heard of it. He sends me back a message, and among other things says…
“Thanks for praying for the school in Tauranga. I led the first one in 2018 and Debbie and I will be going back to run the 2nd school starting in September. “
I am thinking “How awesome is this?” God highlights Tauranga out of nowhere, I feel drawn to the Furnace Base, the Transformational Development School stands out and I feel prompted to reach out to Arnold, and now it turns out he is running the school! Arnold was actually very instrumental for me to get involved with community development for missions during our time in Montana. We had many great conversations, and although it was a short season it was a shaping one. I had always hoped that at some point I might be able to work with him for at least a small season. I wrote him back, excited to hear of his involvement, thinking back on our time in Montana. I know he travels around often and helps run these trainings and I mention it would be fun to staff a school at some point with him if we can figure out a time and location that could work, and ask him what the Furnace campus is like.
He writes me back a big block of text with a lot of information in it all about the base, the school, tons of details. As I am reading through the message I get this impression…
“If Arnold invites me to staff this school, really pay attention to it”
I find it to be a weird thought, out of place. It wouldn’t even make sense as the timing would conflict with two schools in Kona that I will be staffing and have been planning to be involved with for a long time already. I continue reading through this long message, and with slight relief I arrive at the end of it without having received an invitation. “Phew” I think, wondering where that stray thought had come from. I had assumed it was the Holy Spirit giving me a heads up, but when nothing comes from it I try to dismiss it. It’s still in my head though… I still believe that if Arnold invites me to staff the school I really need to consider it.
The next day I receive a standalone message from Arnold.
“By the way….would you be interested in staffing this school with us?”
My brain lights up, “had I heard correctly?” I immediately feel a “yes” in my spirit to accept this invitation although it goes against any common sense. I thank Arnold for the invitation and let him know Jen and I will pray about it. This had all come up so suddenly. It was only yesterday that God highlighted Tauranga, and now I’ve followed a trail that has lead to an invitation to help staff a school there! Jen and I talked about everything and needed to pray for clarity and certainty.
Laying out the fleece
In Judges 6:36 there is a story about Gideon asking God to give him a sign so he could know how to move forward. He lays a fleece on the ground and asks God to cover it with morning dew but to leave the threshing floor around it dry. This would be Gideon’s sign that God would save Israel. God delivers. The fleece is wet, the ground dry. This happens two nights in a row and serves as a confirmation for Gideon.
I say a quick prayer… “God, if we are supposed to accept this offer, would you give a clear word to our Apostello ministry leaders here in Kona”
We had not yet connected with them since getting back from the mainland and planned to have them over to catch up. They were interested to hear how he were, how God has been directing us for the upcoming year, and just spend some time together. They come into our place and sit down on the couch. We collect some tea and coffee to enjoy as we chat and begin sharing some of what we have been sensing. We knew that something was going to have to change but didn’t know exactly what that meant.
I felt it was time to share with them about this crazy Tauranga string of events and walk them through the journey. At one point our friend Michael asked for some clarification “Tauranga… is in New Zealand, you said… right?” which we confirmed. Once we had finished sharing with them I figured we could maybe all pray together but there was something else going on, and a reason why Michael needed to hear again that Tauranga was in New Zealand. He chimes up,
“You know what’s crazy” he says in his Scottish accent “As soon as I sat down on your sofa, before we even started talking, I heard God say to me “New Zealand!” and had no idea what to make of it”
He continues on,
“I think this is the LORD, and I think you need to say “yes” to accept this invitation” then uncharacteristically gives us a stern yet hesitant charge ” If you don’t I think you might actually be walking in rebellion. So, we bless you in this and we release you to move forward in it and are excited for you”
As Michael and Madeleine sit with us in our living room and pray together and talk some more, we all get the sense that this is not just an invitation to staff a school, but the beginning of a bigger transition for our family to begin a new chapter on our adventure in ministry. God is calling us to Tauranga.
Over the next weeks we receive countless confirmations about this new assignment. I even got a chance to put my feet on New Zealand soil while I taught on the South Island in their DTS for a week on missions. While it was a different base, I remember this sense that we belong in New Zealand and every day sent a good report home to Jen, with excitement and encouragement for this next chapter. In this, we have seen God answer prayers of our hearts and also give clear guidance so we feel peace as we take steps forward. We feel a great sense of favor and welcome from the YWAM Furnace leadership as well as the YWAM community in Oxford that I taught at. We are seeing God make a way and give an invitation and we are happy to say “yes, send us”.
It just over 3 months since God highlighted Tauranga. There is still much work to be done and but we are trusting God and moving forward. In many ways, this part of our story is just beginning. That being said, we could not have picked a better way for it to start. Thank you for your interest in our journey, we can’t wait to share more updates with you as things continue to develop. Blessings.
-Drew
thereussfamily.com 