2022 was an interesting year for our YWAM ministry. The podcasts that I produce have been downloaded over 50,000 times in the last year, and there have also been many views of the various video versions. We have continued to distribute the YWAM Global Prayer guide every month to around 30,000+ subscribers, in up to 8 different languages. We have covered many different topics as a mission, including: Creation Care Survivors of Human Trafficking The Ukraine Conflict Migrants and Refugees It’s always encouraging to hear feedback from the prayer day, with how some the different locations around ..read more

I hope that you had a good Christmas and had some special times with friends and family during this festive season. We had a relatively quiet one at home on Christmas Day, and were able to catch up with Tamara’s family on Boxing Day at a local park. I think Elijah set a record though for our family by waking at 3:30 am to see if his stocking was filled! New Years looks to also be a quiet one as household gatherings are limited, and many public fireworks and festivities have been canceled because of the government response to Covid. As the New Year rings in there will no doubt be a lot to con ..read more

We want to wish you all a Very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Right now all our gifts are under the tree, the kids are in bed, and I’m hoping that our home’s “Mummy” will be caught kissing this “Santa Clause” … This is a special time to spend with family where we are able to and also to remember “The Reason For The Season”, and celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. In between Christmas and New Years I will be sending out an update about the YWAM ministry that I have continued to work with, and also an update on the car that we have been raising money for. The teaser is that we have rais ..read more

Earlier this year I transitioned the YWAM News Show from an audio podcast to a video show as well as an audio podcast. It’s actually been quite a challenge to make the change as I’ve needed to substantially change my workflow, upgrade a lot my equipment, and start working with video editing and production. This has meant fewer episodes as I have made the transition, but as I do more episodes I should be able to get to a more regular and stable production schedule. Below is one of the latest episode which included stories from Afghanistan, Mozambique, Haiti, and South Africa, and we also looked ..read more

Last week while traveling home on the highway, Caleb had to brake quickly to avoid hitting a Kangaroo. Tamara and Jessica were also in the vehicle. Caleb did a fantastic job at stopping and managed to barely hit the kangaroo, which jumped up and hopped away. While still in the vehicle and at a complete stop, they were then hit from behind by a large 4×4 ute (‘pickup truck’ for North Americans), travelling at 90 km/h. The ute hit with so much force that it crushed in the back of our car and propelled Tamara, Caleb, and Jessica about 75 metres down the road. The damage to our one and only car w ..read more

As believers Jesus tells us that, “In the world you will have tribulation.”. In that same verse though he tells us to, “take heart; I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33). Whether it be the isolation caused by the Covid virus, or the unrest that is happening around the world, it can be far too easy to fall into a place of depression and navel gazing. That is one of the reasons I reckon I have struggled to put out another episode of the YWAM News Show in the last few months. It’s been a struggle for me to know what to talk about and what to focus on during this time … While meditating on how ..read more

I reckon that we have all been affected differently by the Covid-19 pandemic. For us the three biggest changes have been: Online schooling for our children and having them home with us almost ALL the time Not seeing friends or family for Jessica and Elijah’s birthdays or while our kids have been off school Doing on-line church services instead of visiting our home church every Sunday here in Adelaide As a missions agency Youth With A Mission has been significantly impacted. Many of our courses have been closed down with students sent home and outreaches cancelled. Quite a few of our staff ha ..read more

Last year there were over 100,000 downloads of the various podcasts that I produce for Youth With A Mission. The various shows that I’m producing are: YWAM News Show Podcast YWAM Teaching Podcast YWAM Global Prayer Podcast – The Invitation The podcast episode with the most downloads is our show about “Mobilizing Two-Thirds-World Missionaries“. In addition to the podcasts I also help to manage the YWAM Global e-mail which is in touch with over 30,000 people every month, and which we sent out over 550,000 emails last year. This audience has about doubled over the course of 2019, so we are abl ..read more

This year has been a tough start already. In August last year I wrote about how we were struggling financially with only $2500 per month in financial support. We were blessed with an increase in support after that appeal, but then in December we lost significant support when our original sending church had to suspend their financial support. Loosing the support of our sending church, after having been in missions for 21-years, is disheartening to say the least … Currently our monthly support is only $2250. Next week I’ll be sending out another email sharing what impact we’ve been able to have ..read more

I have had a few questions recently from our friends in Canada about how school works here in Australia. We have three children currently attending school here, so I thought that it would be worth providing you with a short video produced by a film production group … It’s a pretty good breakdown of how it’s working for my own children, and I’m happy to say that according to the standards of that video our kids are heading towards receiving an “A”! The post How School Works Here in Australia first appeared on Bill Hutchison ..read more