WE BOUGHT A HOUSE
It's exciting times for us at YWAM Småland! When we took the first steps towards buying a house, we weren't sure at all how that would all work out. I suppose that's what it means to step out in faith - following God's lead, without knowing the details.
In November 2023 we started this journey, and we'd like to give you an update on how it has gone, and what we have ahead of us.
YWAM Småland was established in 2019. From the start, the vision and goal has been to mobilize, equip and send young people, especially from Sweden, to the unreached - primarily in the 10/40 window.
We have mostly focused on the mobilizing and training part. In total we have had 21 students graduate DTS with us, and we have sent several teams to unreached nations. This year we had a milestone as we sent out our first long term worker to an unreached nation.
We currently have 5 fulltime staff. Our goal is to grow our team to 10-15 fulltime staff so that we can work well and effectively in all parts of our vision: mobilizing (visiting churches, youth groups and camps; organizing short term mission trips), equipping (DTS; seminars, second level schools) and sending (supporting and equipping our workers on the field).
Before we bought this house, we were renting two houses, which served us well. In the fall of 2023 we got the opportunity to buy our landlord’s own house. As we were seeking God in this we felt His guidance in moving forward with buying it, and to stop renting our old houses. This would mark a new era for YWAM Småland, now having a permanent location.
This house will provide more room for staff and student housing in a community setting, big communal spaces that can be used as diningroom, classroom and for hosting community nights, a spacious backyard that can be used for fellowship and outdoor activities, a separate guesthouse where speakers and guests can stay.
The fun extras like a sauna, swimming pool and direct access to the river makes it even more suitable as a YWAM house!
On top of that, it lowers our monthly costs as we don't rent two buildings any longer.
Owning a house creates more freedom to set longterm goals for our ministry, serve the vision that God has given us,and in the long run help us see more unreached peoplegroups hearing about Jesus.
How it started
In November 2023 we made a verbal agreement with the house owner and real estate agency to buy the house. We did that, trusting in God as our provider.
But what does 'our part' look like when raising money? Trusting God to provide doesn't mean that we are passive. We get to work together with Him, and invite others to stand with us in this.
- We have been reaching out to people directly, asking to invest in Gods Kingdom by giving towards the house.
- We have received donations from people who had heard about it through others.
- offerings were taken up at YWAM gatherings, both regional as well as in one of our focus nations in Asia
- recently we were given 5 kronor by an 8 year old who wanted to tithe from her pocket money.
We have been absolutely humbled by the generosity of people near and far. And it's so encouraging to see how people believe in what we do, and want to see the work get more established.
Phase 1 - down payment by Nov 30th
When we made the agreement with the house owner and real estate agency, we needed to pay the down payment by November 30th, which was 10% of the total amount of SEK 3.000.000 (EUR 267.000). Our board advised to commit to raising even more than that, to build in some margin.
This meant that our first goal was 500.000 SEK in just over 3 weeks.
After 2 weeks, we had raised even more than that!
This was beyond our expectation, and a reminder that all this is not in our hands.
Phase 2 - Buying the house by May 31st
In may we bought the house, paying 3 000 000 SEK. We raised around SEK 1 400 000, which is about 45% of the total amount! The rest was financed by generous interest free loans, and a smaller loan of 500 000 from the bank.
Current phase - Paying off a private loan before January
Before December 31st of 2024 the first private loan of 530 000 has to be payed off. At the moment we have 312 500 SEK.
This may seem like a big amount in a short amount of time (because it is!) but we know that for God, anything is possible.
We want to invite you to prayerfully consider giving towards this vision.
Bankgiro: 5540-3000
Thank you for partnering with us in all that God is doing here!