I’m so excited to be attending Youth With A Mission (YWAM) as I enter this next phase of my life. If you don’t already know what I’ve been up to, this letter should definitely bring you up to speed.

In the summer of 2008, while I was on vacation with friends in O’ahu, I felt God calling me to commit a longer portion of my time towards missions before I continued with any further education. Through a rather unique series of events, I recognized God was specifically calling me to join YWAM and go through the Discipleship Training School (DTS) program. After searching through the various DTS focuses, I stumbled upon one called PhotogenX which had a strong emphasis on photography along with serving in the global community, combating injustice and delivering the gospel message to the world. Once I had committed to YWAM, I actually ended up talking with friend of mine who lived and worked at a church in Hawaii about a job opportunity before my DTS started. The first three months of 2009 I ended up working with New Hope Diamond Head (NHDH) Church in Honolulu, Hawaii. That short stint at NHDH really reignited my passion for the work God’s doing in the church around the globe.

It’s that same passion that’s fueled my desire to join YWAM and learn more about a missional lifestyle. As a Christian, I’ve received the commission to go into the world and proclaim the gospel of Christ to the lost, bring hope to the hopeless, stand against injustice, feed the poor, clothe the naked, and pray for the sick to be healed. YWAM is awesome because it exists to equip young people, like myself, to live missional lives intentionally focused on reaching the world for Christ and living out the great commission (Matthew 28:19). They’ve sent out nearly four million young people over the course of their more than 50 years in the field. Even in the short time I’ve been here, I already feel like I’m apart of a great heritage of believers who are excited about reaching the world.

And here’s the part where you come in! One of the luxuries I have as a child of the internet is the ability to be in constant communication with you, as supporters, and give you current updates and prayer requests. My vision is that this wouldn’t just be a one-time letter but that, as you choose to partner with me in what God is doing, we would grow closer as the global family of God and in our understanding of the work he’s doing in every corner of the world. I have a sense that God’s preparing me for a long term investment in real global issues of injustice and poverty.

So what does partnership with me look like? Well, I definitely need to be showered in prayer while I’m here in Kona, Hawaii and also once I’m on my outreach in Panama. Classes have already been pretty intense and, by God’s grace, I don’t even think I’ll be able to recognize my old self once this course is over. It’s certainly exciting to know that God will be doing a work in me but I’m also a bit timid or guarded about being completely open and honest with a group of total strangers. I’d specifically like prayer around the area of God refining and pruning me spiritually in this season. I think it’s safe to say I bring a bit of baggage into this experience and I’m just looking to grow closer to God as my spiritual father and feel his love in my life. I would be personally blessed if you committed to pray for me weekly in the various areas I list on my website.

The other real element of support is in my financial needs. God has already blessed me with enough resources for the first half of the DTS but I still need another $5,000 for the following 12 week outreach to Panama. The great thing is I already know in my heart that God is the faithful Provider, he has proven that fact over my last four years of life. There are two different ways to give. One would be electronically through Mountain View Community Church’s online giving system on their website. The other would be to mail a check to them and they can process the rest.

Thank you so much for taking the time to read this letter and I hope that you will prayerfully consider partnering with me in the ministry of Christ. To stay connected, I’ll be making a real effort to consistently update my blog each week at www.calelivingston.com along with additional email updates.

And here are a few pieces of info if you’re looking to support me financially:

If you’re looking to donate through Mountain View’s website you should use “Missions” as the category and specify “Cale Livingston YWAM.” If you want to write a check, make it payable to “MVCC” and write “Cale Livingston YWAM” in the memo line.

Three children's bodies lie in a makeshift morgue at the South Oromia clinic.

Why Africa Is Still Starving – TIME

After reading this article I can’t help but become upset at the way America operates in the global community. Obviously I’m not surprised that our government takes advantage of any given situation to make a quick buck but how can they do that in good conscience when they know there’s death on the other end?

Ultimately, I’m and idealist and the main issue I’m pushing right now is “social responsibility.” I still don’t understand how anyone, in good conscience, can exploit the plight of those less fortunate like this. The US has created this deadly co-dependence cycle with starving African countries and I believe it’s our responsibility to correct the problem. We can’t just rely on living ignorantly and reacting emotionally, regardless of our good intentions. Once you get past the initial compassion response you have to deal with the sustained follow-through and end results of your effort. Personally, I don’t think we get credit for providing all that food if everyone starved to death a few years later anyways, right?

May I be so bold as to say I think America’s main sin in this issue is pride. On a deeper level we love the satisfaction of giving charity to others. While I don’t think the concept of charity is wrong, I do believe it’s easily tainted with out own selfish motives. In this case, we want to blow in and solve everyone’s immediate problem with our temporary, and heart-warming, solutions. But I would argue that if we truly did care about the lives and well being of these people then we would actually take the time to create a legitimate strategy to meet their needs both now and for the future. The article says it best with the “Teach a man to fish” adage.

Until then, this seems to be a missed opportunity at providing genuine help. We dropped the ball. But there’s good news, we can still continue to invest in these countries and change our strategies as well. Hope is not lost.