YWAM GO Conference 2011 Report
October 17-21th - The DAILY UPDATES & WRAP UP VIDEO
DAY 5 - Final Day - Where Do We GO now?
A sense of anticipation and hope filled the meeting room this morning, the last morning of GO 2011.
For four days we heard stories of God at work around the world. Stories of God using people like us - young, energetic, sometimes fearful, but willing to step forward in faith, dreaming of a better world.
Since creation, and even before creation, the Father always intended to fill the earth with himself - with the knowledge of him, with his presence and glory. He always wanted all people to be his.
He has been calling people to "GO and bless" for thousands of years and this week we too heard the call.
Standing on the shoulders of those who have gone before is a humbling place to be. A great cloud of witness has blazed a trail and we were encouraged to run with endurance the race that's set before us. This race is more like a marathon than a sprint - a race that will take us to the ends of the earth, to all tribes and people, to all realms of culture and society, and to all the places where Jesus is not yet known and followed.
For four days we were flooded with stories of the needs of the world and heard how God is using people like us to respond to these needs. Each story was as unique as the person who told it. Their passionate stories and steps of faith inspired us to ask God to use us to reach the world.
Though the needs are great, the power and love of God is strong. We can't reach the world alone. As the Church we need many to go, many to send, and many to cheer along the way.
We ended GO 2011 by surrounding a map of the world, lifting up each nation of the 10/40 window to God in prayer. Then we commissioned and sent out the five DTS outreach teams that will go to the nations. The children participating in GO Jr. shared what they had learned and each of them was "adopted" by a DTS team who will take a "flat" version of them on outreach. What a cool way for the next generation of missionaries to travel the earth!
The love and generosity of our God is too big to keep for ourselves. We were created to share His blessing with others! God wants to flow through us and use us to reach the ends of the earth.
Here we are, send us Lord!
Join us for GO 2012! We look forward to hearing about all that God will do between now and then!
Tanya
for the GO 2011 Team
DAY 4 - Living Life Intentionally
The morning opened with a stirring worship and intercession time focused on Pakistan, where costumed actors representing oppressed Pakistani men and women eventually had their veils removed by the intercessors. Afterwards, 6 workshops were offered over two hour-long sessions.
Following lunch, the cultural fair enlightened many people, staff and student alike, to 7 different countries and people groups. The diversity of the afternoon was the heart of the GO Conference.
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A Mexican dinner and a scrumptious dessert later, a life-giving worship time prepared the way for Vinjelu’s closing evening session. It was a challenging message to encourage real and intentional, life-long discipleship, which found its way to the heart of all present and emphasized the necessity of devoting one’s life to walking alongside people and encouraging them through the ups and downs of life.
DAY 3 - Our Loving And Caring God
Today I started out feeling distant from God. Some frustration and disappointment filled my heart, “Will I ever change? “I asked myself. Instead of dwelling on myself, like I usually do, I decided to go to God. I confessed my struggles to him, saying “God, take away these lies and obstacles. Please reveal yourself to me.” What follows is a recount of a day transformed by God...
As I worshiped this morning I know the words sung from my mouth became a genuine prayer to God. I prayed for human trafficking where my heart became tender and my eyes moist as compassion filled my heart for people I’ve never met who are forced into slavery every day. I heard about God’s great desire to bless the whole world. We are blessed to be a blessing as Tanya Lyons would say.
God spoke through Pete and Josanna Justine as I learned about the importance of “desert” times in our lives because they shape us and refine us, ultimately bringing us closer to God. I felt encouraged as I listened to 
Pamela speak about her adventures with God on the mission field, and we prayed for each other. And what better way to end the day than relaxing in a chair while listening to Vinjelu and Kathryn Muyaba perform their own Christian rap songs.
As you read, this day was full of encouragement, heartfelt worship, and new insights. I know all the good from this day came straight from God. Who else is this caring and loving? Only God can take my normal, potentially bad day and turn it into something hope-filled and spectacular.
Thank you God!
By Esther - GO Conference participant
DAY 2 - Red and Yellow, Black and White
The thing about God is that He loves every culture. “Red & yellow, black & white they are precious in His sight. Jesus loves the little children of the world.” And the old, and the sick, and the trafficked people of the world. They are all His children, and they all matter. This, in a nutshell is what we have talked about today.
God wants people to know Him. Every culture, every language, dialect, and people group. As the Canadians say, "wild eh?!" From the mission 101 workshop and the intercession for the 10/40 window to the bafa bafa game we played and the speaker on injustice, God wants the world to know Him and to use us to do it. I can see God challenging us all to do something about those that don’t yet know Him and those that are being oppressed and violated.
We had many speakers today including Tanya Lyons & Andrew Kooman. Each spoke from their own experience and shared what God has given them, so we can in turn be a blessing. See, it’s like this endless cycle of good that God intends for the whole world, starting with Genesis 12 and on and on to us today. To quote from both speakers today we are “blessed to be a blessing”and “human kind if we so chose can use our powers given to us by God to stop evil. It need not be so.” If this is day one, I wonder what the other days will be like. Excited to experience all that awaits us in the next couple of days.
By Linda - GO Conference participant
DAY 1 - Let the GO Begin!
The GO Conference has started! We arrived in Alberta and quickly got settled in. There are over 80 people from 6 different locations in Western Canada and everyone seems open and friendly. We have had the privilege of having Josanna and Peter Justine lead us in worship. I thought the worship was anointed and amazing, as well as an inspirational opening to the GO Conference. Afterwards we were graced with Vinjelu and Kathryn Muyaba’s unexpected story of Africa. He told us about the gems in the mud of the country. Though parts of his continent are under duress there are plenty of shining moments hidden in the people. There were stories of hope and God’s light in areas of darkness, and a message of how to open our eyes to the beautiful things instead of seeing the dirt.
He shared with us from Phil 2 on how Jesus was willing to leave the comforts of home and to GO to another place and share His love. It was a message of the incarnational Jesus. We were challenged to consider God’s love for all people not just towards the ones we already know. They finished with a song that touched the hearts of many in the audience.
By Stefan - GO Conference participant
