Just another quiet, old village in Germany? Herrnhut. From an outsider’s perspective, this town is nothing special. Completely average. A large stone church holds the place of honor in the main town square. Beautifully painted houses offer the eye a pleasant view as one travels down the cobblestone alleyways. ‘Penny Markt’ and ‘Schlecker’ can be found within a stone’s throw. The streets are lined with small shops offering various wares from pottery to books. The local ‘gymnasium’ (high school) lies to your right and the fire station can be found just around the corner. Looking for an ice cream cone? Around the corner and to your left, is the little shop, locally owned and operated. No, nothing out of the ordinary here. Just another quiet, old village...or is it?

Don’t be fooled. Think back with me for a minute to another town...probably much like the Herrnhut of today, only this one in Israel. There we find a town by the name of Nazareth, nothing really special or defining about this place either. Except one thing: it was the home of Jesus for the vast majority of His life on earth. No one expected anything good to come from this town (see John 1:46), simply because there was nothing special about it. Yet, God had appointed Nazareth for a purpose, and out of this humble place would come the One responsible for the salvation of the world. You see, God anoints places with purposes...so don’t be fooled by outer appearances. From one quiet, old town in Israel came the roots of a revolution that changed the world and continues to. What could God have in store for a small village in the corner of Germany, only kilometers from both Poland and the Czech Republic?

Herrnhut. This town already has a heritage and, yet, it’s complete destiny awaits revelation. The heritage goes back centuries and begins with one man who was willing to listen to the voice of God and sought Him at a time when it was not the popular thing to do.

Catch the vision. A God-inspired vision that will shake the world. A vision of 50,000 missionaries raised up and sent out into the very farthest reaches of the world. 50,000 commited disciples of Jesus, sacrificing all that they have previously known in order to capture the inheritance that God has promised to those who are willing to follow. The world is spinning out of control. Today, more than ever, our world is in need of Jesus’ love and compassion and we are the ones with the responsibility to go where the need is the greatest.

It begins in a place called Herrnhut, but it is not about the place. It’s about the vision that God has given to us as mission-live. YWAM Strategic Frontiers Herrnhut will be a place of training and sending for missionaries into the 10/40 Window. Strategic people in strategic places at strategic times is the heart cry of the ministry. Short-term and long-term workers in the nations will aid each other in creating lasting church plants, YWAM bases, orphanages, schools, etc. that the 10/40 can be reached with the Gospel and discipled to follow Jesus.

Our vision is for a release of the arts. Music, photography, painting, sculpture, dance, and composition are just a few of the areas that we see where God is wanting to come and redeem what has been lost for so long. The question comes sometimes: What good can arts do in reaching the desperate with the Gospel of Jesus? We want to discover the answer to this question and send out a host of artists, released to glorify God with their gifting.

Our vision is for a release in the areas of high-tech communication and modern technology. Today, the largest growing fields are in technology. This is no accident and we want to discover how God can use such things as web applications and design, satellite communications, video production, audio recording, etc. to build His kingdom on this earth. Communication and technology have been for too long overlooked as a valuable tool in furthering God’s work on this earth and we want to seek God for His purposes.

The Purpose:

For each one of us as Christians, one of the most important things that we need to consider is the motivation behind what we are doing with the time that God gives us on this earth. For us as mission-live, the purpose behind what we are doing is very clear. When things get difficult or cloudy, or when doubts come (as they always do), these purposes and motivations are what we remind ourselves of. They carry us through as we look to the long-term goals instead of the short-term circumstances.

Our main purpose is that through all that we do, in every moment and every second, God would be glorified. We realize the extent of His sacrifice for us, see the blessings that He daily pours out upon our lives, and desire to serve Him through the abundance that He has given. His glory is the focus; His love for us the motivation.

Second, we realize the seriousness of the command that Jesus gave in His last days on earth. “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you...” (Matthew 28:19-20). As a ministry, God has given us the focus of the 10/40 Window and so this is where we focus our attention of walking out the command that Jesus gave to us.

Now, humanly speaking...beyond formal words...the purpose of what we do goes deeper. Each one of us in this team have seen God change us from who we once were as sinners to who we are becoming as His children, while we daily walk in relationship with Him. For us, this encounter has so deeply moved us that we cannot help but share what He has done with people who do not know that He wants to do the same for them. Wherever we go, He has said that His light shines through us and we want to take that light into the farthest corners of this earth.

And it goes still deeper. Each of us on this team have had the opportunity to travel to nations in the 10/40 Window. We have held the hands of former prostitutes on the streets of Ethiopia, dying now of AIDS, but dying with the hope of Jesus because someone was there to tell them. We have stood next to the sick in India, prayed, and seen God heal them before our eyes. We have experienced God opening up doors into schools of children high in the mountains of Nepal, and we’ve been allowed to preach the Gospel, seeing as a result hundreds of children saved at once. We have seen rain fall in the village of the Hamar people each time when we pray. In Bombay, there stands a fellow mission-live worker, giving her life to work among the prostitutes and children of prostitutes in the biggest red-light district of the world. Story after story we could share! Yet, these good stories are too few and that realization urges us forward.

Billions await the Gospel. Entire tribes and tongues and people groups, destined to stand before the throne of God and worship Him still have not heard the message that Jesus died out of deep love for us, rose again, and through His sacrifice offers salvation to a waiting world. Our purpose remains to learn to love God more and bring this love to a world waiting.