on the road again

I’m going to cut to the chase, then go back to the details, if that’s all right with you.

In September, I am moving to York (north England) with three other women in order to re-pioneer the YWAM base there. We will be joined by a family that has been a part of YWAM York since their own DTSs.

As many of you will know, I moved to London eight years ago to join an arts team that eventually became YWAM London Radiant. I never put a time limit on how long I would be here. Instead, I said, “I’m here until God tells me to go elsewhere.”

Well, guess what. God’s called me to go elsewhere!

Late last year, my leaders here at Radiant asked me to pray about leading a team to re-pioneer the base in York. God gave me a strong “yes,” and my leaders and I prayed together and travelled to York a few times (my mother even visited it with me whilst she was here!), and we asked a few other people to consider coming along. They heard God’s “yes,” and also agreed to be a part of this new adventure!

So long story short, the three other ladies are in the States renewing visas and raising finances right now, and I am in London preparing to lead an outreach team up for a week at the end of July.  The York base has a building, a community centre that holds a small cafe and a dance studio/meeting room space, and we are going to spend a week cleaning and organising it to prepare for September. 

Over the next two months, I am also going to be going through a process (which has already begun) of learning the different things I need to know in order to lead a base - finances, data protection, communication, health and safety, etc, etc, etc. I’ve never done this before, and there are certainly a lot of things to learn! Luckily, my leaders at Radiant, Chris and Johanna, are walking with me through the process. They will continue to be my spiritual leaders when I move to York, and the York base is being re-pioneered by Radiant, so we will not be abandoned in any way. 

There are a lot of aspects of moving to York and re-pioneering the base that are large and could be a bit intimidating: we need to do some work in the base to prepare it for the activities that we will run for the community and for future training schools. We (by we, I mean the four of us ladies who are moving) also need to raise money for a deposit on a house for us to live in, which will probably be around £2,000. And of course, we need to come together as a team, to discern God’s vision and heart for both the city and for the base. 

This is a big transition for me, and you lot have been with me faithfully for the past eight years, so I am glad to finally be able to share it with you. A lot of the details are still up in the air (global pandemic, etc), but here are a few prayer points:

1. The visa offices are currently shut, and all three other ladies need to renew their visas to be in the UK. Please pray for the offices to open up and the girls to get their visas by September.
2. For the outreach that will go to York next week to prepare the base/get to know the area.
3. That I will meet the people, have the appointments, and receive the paperwork that I need as I prepare to move to York and the base.
4. For us to raise the finances that we need to put a deposit on a house to live in.
5. For the physical move from London to York.

If you have any questions about the move, you can email me at deborahestevenson@gmail.com. I am happy to share more with you about what is happening, or just to hear how you are doing or clarify anything I can.

Thank you all for your support, your prayers, your emails, and the way that you constantly surprise me. And thank you for being here as we transition from London to York!

a map of England including York and London (so you have an idea of the journey)

L-R - Renee, Nicole (who already lives in York with her husband and daughters), me, Raya. Yvonne, our fourth American lady, is not pictured.

York Minster at the end of a typical shopping street. It makes you want to come and visit, right?

A photo of York Minster grabbed from atop the medieval city walls (which you can walk round any time)

The tea shop where my mother and I had tea and scones

Inside the tea shop where we had tea and scones

together, we cannot be silent

Throughout June, I watched as the Black Lives Matter movement grew and swelled across the US and into England. Our protests were not as violent or as quick as the ones in the States, but age-old wounds were brought to light by our neighbours, and as a church, we listened and sought God's heart. And we weren't the only ones. Through conversations between pastors, the idea for a demonstration by Christians was born.

On Friday, we met with dozens of other churches and Christians from around the UK to have a time of peaceful protest and prayer in front of Parliament. There were no other protests happening; in fact, it was eerily quiet in Westminster. We all wore masks and tried to stay socially distant, but we weren't actually distant. Our churches have still not been able to meet together, and as we met across the street from Parliament and began to pray together, I realised that it was the first time that we've gathered together physically since March. It was such a privilege to get to be together to fight for God's heart in the midst of all of the unrest that is pouring across our planet.

We stood together for racial equality. In the past decade, several bills have been passed in Parliament that fight for racial equality, but they are not being upheld. We exhorted Parliament to uphold them, and we prayed that God would convict their hearts and ours as we learn what it means to fight racism, both systemic and in our own hearts.

Eventually, we made our way to Trafalgar Square, where we prayed together again and spoke to the few people who were out and about. I got to pray with some girls from Reading (a city near London) and to talk with men from around the nation. There was a little push-back from some men who felt that slavery should still be legal, but for the most part, COVID19 has made people much more willing to talk to strangers and to be more real about what is happening in their hearts. I was also walking on stilts, so I got to meet a few different children.

A year ago, a protest like this would have been an activity that was exciting, but as soon as it was over, I would have forgotten it. But everything is different now. I remembered an impression I felt last winter as our whole base prayed together in Trafalgar Square. We had been planning OneFest, an event for the churches to host together this month (which we had to cancel in April due to the pandemic). The impression was that what the noise that we made together would reverberate off of the embassies and offices that surround the Square and bounce across the UK and Europe. On Friday, our drums made just such a noise as we stood with other churches and Christians and asked God for His heart and to see Him move. I believe that God is doing something incredible in London this year. We have all felt that it is a year of revival, and God can do that as easily in our houses as He can in our church buildings and arenas.

So I have to tell you, four days after our demonstration at Parliament, I am still thinking about it and praying over it. And I feel expectant. 2020 has been full of so many surprises so far, but the one I am waiting for is to see how many people have met Jesus and had their hearts transformed in this time. Covid isn't all bad. I serve a God who can work all things together for good.