Sometimes Being in YWAM Sucks
One of the hardest things I have found about being in YWAM is the relationships...Right now I'm not talking about the work / personal balance that is sometimes hard to find or the leader / peer relationship that is part of our ministry teams. I am talking about the deep friendships that are built within YWAM, but often feel much too short.
Last month Matt and Natalie Thomas left Reef to Outback to move onto the next thing that God has for them. They will be heading over to Fiji for seven weeks to work on the tech team with IWT and then back to Lancaster County, USA where they will be starting a wedding photography and wedding video company. Matt's got a real gift for making videos and they are both pretty handy with a camera.
Matt and Natalie would probably have been our best friends at Reef to Outback. They have invested a lot of time into us and especially into our kids. Caleb didn't even want to sit next to Matt for the last week that he was here because Caleb was so angry at him for leaving.
As with the ending of so many friendships within YWAM we may never have a chance to see them again. We might, if we are lucky, as Natalie's folks are living in Calgary, but there is certainly no guarantee.
With YWAM being such a transient organization it can be quite draining always having to make new friends and loose a lot of the old ones. I have been convicted quite a bit in the past with withdrawing from people because of the fear of them leaving. It can be quite the challenge to have to make new friends every few years, but I guess that it comes part and parcel with being in YWAM.
We'll miss you Matt and Nat, and we wish you all the best in all your future endeavors.
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I am a full time volunteer with Reef to Outback - Youth With A Mission (YWAM) where I work in Communications and Information Technology. I am married to a wonderful wife, we have a five year old son and a one year old daughter.
- I cried
Natalie on Wednesday, September 26, 2007Gosh, way to make a person cry eh?! Thanks heaps, we miss you guys so much. I hope Caleb isn't mad at Matt still. Say hi to the kids and Tamara for us and yous are always in our prayers.
Nat
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