Spring 2014

Packards Progress

Michael & Helen Packard, missionaries serving as Bible teachers with YWAM Turner Valleys School of Biblical Studies.

Looking forward to what God has for us next...

Exciting new things ahead!
About two years ago, when we were praying about where God wanted us to staff with the School of Biblical Studies, we both felt like God gave us the word Titus. Titus is not only a book of the Bible, it is a YWAM program available to graduates of the School of Biblical Studies (more about that on page 2!). As God gave us this word in 2012, we felt like it was something for the future. As we came to YWAM Turner Valley in the Summer of 2012, we continued to talk about Titus, and what Gods word meant for us. We knew we wanted to complete the Titus program, but we were not sure where and when. We also wondered if YWAM Turner Valley had ever thought about having Titus run from their campus. We thought Titus would be a great fit for this base, which has such a strong and well-respected Biblical Studies program, and a heart to send people out to the nations. Fast forward a few months - the scene is the dining room at YWAM Turner Valley. We overhear our campuss director, Andrae, say that the Leadership Team here has been praying for Titus to be planted in Turner Valley for years! We hear how leaders from other YWAM locations have stated that Titus would be an excellent fit here. That day we cornered Andrae and told him of our desire to take the Titus program, and of our interest to see Titus come to YWAM Turner Valley. This first conversation happened about a year ago; now, our plans for Titus are picking up serious steam. We are planning to take the Titus program this Fall, and wed love to tell you more about that, and what going forward in bringing Titus to YWAM Turner Valley will look like. While the details are still coming together, more and more we feel that God has led us to YWAM Turner Valley for this purpose, and our time in missions has brought us to this exciting season of partnering with God in this new thing. In addition to filling you in on what the Titus Project is all about, we invite you to pray for us and learn about our current ministry with SBS; please continue reading for more!

Table of Contents
2 Prayer Requests & Financial Update! 3 Current Ministry (SBS 2013/14)! 4
What is Titus? and Other Q & A!

Frequently Asked Questions:

1. Why do you want to take the Titus program, and why plant it in Turner Valley? The Titus Project is an opportunity to equip believers around the world with the tools to study the Word of God! This combines our love of Bible study with our love of outreach, but more importantly, we feel it will allow us to have greater impact for Gods Kingdom. Planting the Titus Project in Turner Valley will give our SBS graduates an opportunity to apply their nine months of hard work, by taking Gods Truth to the nations.

Titus will equip us for teaching cross-culturally, and will allow us to bring Bible teaching and Bible study methods to those in other parts of the world!

What is Titus?
The Titus Project is an international YWAM ministry and outreach program that aims to bring Bible training and discipleship in the Word of God to places around the world where little training or resources are available. The program is specifically for those who have graduated from the School of Biblical Studies, and is comprised of three weeks of training, eight weeks of outreach, and one week of debriefing. The Titus Project equips SBS graduates to pass along tools for Bible study to the body of Christ around the world. The need is great. 85% of churches around the world are led by pastors with no training. In the 10-40 window (the area of the world between 10 degrees and 40 degrees north latitude, including North Africa, the Middle East, and Asia) over 5 million pastors have no access to any formal Bible teaching. On outreach, Titus Project participants provide training for pastors, church leaders, church planters, and the body of Christ by teaching the Inductive Bible Study method, allowing Gods people to study His Truth for themselves, and then pass that Truth along to others. In the three-week training phase, we will learn how to prepare and present a lecture with illustrations, how to address learning styles, how to reach oral communicators (for those who cannot read or do not have the Bible in their own language), how to minister cross-culturally, and how to teach through a translator. In the two-month outreach phase, this learning will be put into action as we will have the opportunity to provide Inductive Bible Study seminars, present overviews of the Bible, and give sermons/topical teachings as needed.

2. Why do you need to take Titus? Havent you already been teaching the Bible for the last few years? Though weve been teaching in SBS for a while now, we have not been equipped to teach cross-culturally, or to oral communicators. Taking the Titus Project ourselves will give us a foundation for helping others to grow as communicators. In addition, it is a requirement of YWAM that one must complete a school before staffing that school, let alone pioneering it!

3. When would you plant the program in Turner Valley? We are very eager to plant Titus at YWAM Turner Valley, but we and the Leadership Team here want this to be done well, which can take time. In addition to taking the Titus Project, we will also staff a Titus Project at a location other than Turner Valley before planting the program here. We will keep you updated as these plans unfurl!

Where/when will you take the Titus program?

Excellent question! We are planning to take the Titus program in the Fall of this year. We will likely do the three-week lecture phase of the school in Tijuana, Mexico, either beginning at the end of September or mid-October. Our two-month outreach will likely be to the Spanish-speaking world, though we dont have an exact location as of yet. Because this will be the first year the YWAM Tijuana campus offers the Titus program, there are still some details to iron out, so wed ask that youd be praying for us and for those operating Titus in Mexico.

Prayer Requests
We are so excited about all God has in store for us, especially as we begin this new journey with the Titus Project. We want this to be Gods project, not done in our own strength; please pray for us, especially in the following areas: 1. Patience. There are many details up in the air right now, many of them out of our hands. While we plan to do Titus in Mexico this Fall, Titus in North America is currently in a stage of transition, so we are very much in a waiting game, as Titus leaders process through what is Gods best for the program. Pray that well have the patience to wait as decisions are made by others, and pray for guidance for those making important decisions. 2. Trust. Embarking on a new journey requires trust in God - trust that were hearing from Him, trust that were walking in the direction He has for us, trust for provision. Pray that well trust the Lord as we walk in obedience to Him. 3. Growth. While starting Titus here in Turner Valley is still a somewhat distant reality, we recognize that we have a lot of growing to do if we are going to be pioneering a school (yikes!). Pray that God will grow us into servant-hearted leaders. Pray that God will increase our love for Him, our heart for the nations, and our desire to expand His Kingdom. 4. Gods timing. In addition to taking Titus ourselves, we will need to staff the Titus Project at another location other than YWAM Turner Valley before we can pioneer and lead the program here. This extends the timeline as to when Titus will operate out of our current location. Please pray with us as we trust in Gods timing, particularly in regards to when the first Titus Project will run in Turner Valley, and what season of the year is the best fit for this program in this location. 5. Provision. Taking Titus in the Fall and traveling to Ontario this year will likely cost in the neighbourhood of $10,000 (see Financial Needs Update below). Pray that God will provide exactly what we need, whether its more or less than this estimate. Please also continue to pray that our monthly support would increase, enabling us to save towards outreach each year. Also pray that we would have creative and successful fundraising ideas, if that is an avenue through which God wants to provide for us!

Titus 1:1 - to further the faith of Gods elect and their knowledge of the truth which accords with godliness.

Tax-Deductible Giving:
1. All cheques should be made payable to YWAM or Youth With A Mission (BC Society) - do not write our names on the cheque.

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Financial Needs Update

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2. Write a separate note designating support for Michael & Helen Packard. 3. Place cheque and separate note in envelope addressed to:

We are thrilled to report that in the last few months, our support has increased significantly! Thanks to new supporters and continued commitments to support our ministry, we are currently receiving $975 each month! We are praising God for His faithfulness; this is by far the highest our support has been since we began YWAM in 2011. As we approach the incredible opportunity of participating in the Titus Project, and beginning the process of bringing the program to YWAM Turner Valley, our need to trust in God for finances grows. Taking Titus in the Fall will cost approximately $7800, and flights to Tijuana, Mexico (where we will train for the first three weeks of the school), will cost approximately $500 for each of us. In addition, it is very important for us to connect with family and friends in Ontario this year. Flying there will likely cost $600 each. Altogether, we are anticipating that we will need approximately $10,000 by September (not including visas for Mexico or travel insurance). This is a daunting number! Please pray with us - that God would provide, and that we would trust in Him for that provision.

YWAM Project Funding Office PO Box 57100 RPO East Hastings Vancouver BC V5K 5G6

4. Contact us! Wed really love to hear from you! Interested in monthly support? Email us at packardsprogress@gmail.com. We will forward you a short form to fill out, to which you attach a void cheque, and then mail to the above address. Its a quick process, and wed be happy to walk you through it!

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Beginning this journey with Titus means that we will be going on outreach every year. This is a leap of faith, as we are not able to save a great deal each month towards off-setting the costs of such a commitment. God has called us to the nations; pray with us that He would provide for us to go! If you are interested in giving a tax-deductible donation towards our ministry, please refer to the pink box at left for more information.

SBS 2013/2104

Other Ministry
In addition to our roles as staff with SBS, weve been taking on some other ministry opportunities. Michael is working a half-day in Facilities, helping our Facilities Director, Evan, who is single-handedly responsible for maintaining our campus. Michael spends Friday afternoons plumbing, laying flooring, and doing various other tasks to help with the upkeep of our campus. Michael is now also the SBS representative on YWAM Turner Valleys Ministry Team; the Ministry Team is responsible for the day-to-day aspects of operating our campus. For the last year, Helen has been involved with a local ministry called A Frozen Meal or Two (AFMOT). This ministry was started by Christina, a fellow SBS staff. AFMOT provides frozen home-cooked meals for people in the community in crisis. Helen is mostly involved with planning and cooking these meals. Helen is also involved in a new initiative to develop a SBS Correspondence Course for pastors and lay-people in SE Asia who cannot take SBS themselves. Helen has recently written the courses workbook for the book of Titus. This course is being pioneered by the Shan Project in Northern Thailand.

We are over half-way through this years SBS, and it has been a very busy five and a half months! Michael taught Psalms, 1 Corinthians, Hebrews, 1 John, and 1 & 2 Samuels. Helen taught Titus, 2 Corinthians, 1 Timothy, and a Women in Ministry lecture in the Fall/early Winter, and taught Exodus in late-January. Throughout the Winter, the students are studying the Old Testaments historical narratives and wisdom literature. They will begin their study of the prophets in April. When April rolls around, there will be a lot of change in our SBS staff body; one of our staff members will be stepping out of SBS to stay home with his children as his wife prepares to lead another YWAM school running in Turner Valley this summer. Another one of our staff will be taking a Directed Reading Course, meaning he will be a correspondence student for the last three months of SBS. Yet another one of our staff will be going on outreach to Togo and France, as she has a desire to grow SBS in the French-speaking world, and wants to connect with those who are already involved in French Bible study. With three staff absent, and there being many prophetic books to cover (not to mention grading!), we are anticipating a very busy Spring. Michael will be teaching 1 & 2 Chronicles, Micah, and Daniel; Helen will be teaching Hosea and Ezekiel.

Please be in prayer for us as an SBS staff as we continue to teach through the Bible, and as we transition into a busier schedule with a smaller staff. Please also be in prayer for our students as they continue to pour hours into their study of the Old Testament.

SBS Staff & Students, 2013/2014.

Thank you for being a part of Packards progress! Please continue to pray for us as we partner with God in

Equipping our generation with a world-changing knowledge of the Bible.