Hello, friends and family!
We’re back in Perth, and as the title says, we’re back in the swing of things! We pretty much jumped right into ministry and things are going well. Here’s what you’ll see in this update:
- Joel is on YWAM Perth Worship Team full time!
- Worship for the Nations (in Manila and here in Perth)
- Abi and Joel wrote a song together!
- Prayer Points
YWAM PERTH WORSHIP TEAM’S FIRST FULL-TIME MEMBER
YWAM Perth has had a worship team since it was established in 1986, but no one has ever been a part of it full-time… until now! Joel is the official first full-time member. Those on the worship team are part of other ministries as well, so it hasn’t yet reached its full potential because its members have been committed to other areas (for instance, Abi is on worship team but she is also staff for WFN and School of Worship). Joel’s new role is to help develop the team, currently working on upgrading our stage and researching new sound systems and thinking up ways for the individuals to develop their music skills. Another dream of ours is to see songs released that will serve well in missions. Yes, great things are ahead for Joel, and definitely for YWAM Perth! Thanks to everyone who was praying for us during Joel’s transition. God has placed him perfectly for this season! God is good!
Worship For the Nations (in Manila)
Abi is part of the leadership team of Worship for the Nations (WFN) and they just sent a team to Manila again. Abi has stayed back this time with a couple of others in the ministry holding the fort here in Perth. We were really working and trusting God for everyone’s finances, and it all came in just in time! In case you missed it on Instagram, here’s a pic of the team after a long day of car-washing. God honoured our hard work! (by the way, you can keep up with WFN by searching #worshipforthenations)
Worship for the Nations (here in Perth)
So what does WFN do when they’re not on outreach anyway? Well quite a few things actually…
Research, research, research. We are currently researching and slowly but surely mapping the city of Perth and its surrounding areas! We want to create a tool for other ministries to use so they can best reach our city! We’re also creating a research booklet of the Kimberley (the northern region of Western Australia) as a ministry tool to reach and be a part of the incredible indigenous communities that live there.
Lots of prayer! We partner with ministries on base to see breakthrough in their field. This quarter (January-March) we’re partnering with Australian Relief and Mercy Services to see their ministry of helping Perth families in crisis grow and develop. Last Friday we were privileged to be a part of the street appeal, shaking our cans in the streets to raise funds for this amazing ministry!
Abi and Joel in Perth City for ARMS Street Appeal
Song Writing. Yes, we write songs! We’ve just started, but we’ve got a few under our belt. The team in Manila just recently wrote a song for the youth of the city, and they pray God will use it to inspire them! It was sung for a group of young people just today (hot off the press, guys)! There’s many more things we do, but just wanted to name a few. Speaking of song writing…
The Gaytons’ First Song Together
We have written our first song TOGETHER! We feel like God’s been speaking to us to write music, and as of last week we’ve written our first worship song. Abi used it in worship on Friday night, and Joel will be using it again tomorrow at the YWAM base for Monday morning worship. We are anticipating it to be the first of many!
Prayer Points
- Wisdom and inspiration as Joel adjusts in his new role
- Wisdom, inspiration and strength as Abi prepares to lead the School of Worship coming up in April
- Inspiration and blessing on our song-writing as a couple
Thanks for reading! We put up some new photos on our photos page from the past couple of months (including Christmas with our family!) if you’d like to have a look.
God bless you and thank you for praying for us and supporting us.
Abi and Joel
P.S. We love hearing from you! Comment, or send us an email. We’d love to pray for you more specifically if you have any prayer requests!
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