June Campus Update

Campus Update

The Old Roof  on the Depot Needs to be Replaced!

Work here on the campus facilities is still moving forward this summer. We are currently preparing roofs on eight buildings for new roofs to be installed. A friend is coming with his sons (they are industrial contractors) to put the standing seam roof on at least two of these buildings. Our hope is that all these buildings will have new roofs by the end of July. 

A Friend Ordered the Material

We currently have the funding to complete one of the seven dormitory cabins and believe that the Lord will continue to send in the remaining funds in preparation for our fall quarter. Speaking of the fall quarter, we are on track for a possible record-setting quarter, but we have learned that we must pray fervently as well as work diligently to see the fruitfulness that God intends. Would you also take another 45 seconds to ask God to send laborers (students) to us this fall?

So many of you have helped in so many ways - THANK YOU!!!

Work on the Roof has Begun...

Old Roof Needs to be Replaced

One of Seven Cabins

Work is Progress - Come JOIN US!

June Post from Michael & Darla after Masters Intensive Module

Dear Friends and Family,

Darla and I just returned from my last Module for the Executive Masters in Leadership that I am attending. We met at the YWAM Ships campus for about 10 days of very intensive lectures and study. I left with a boatload of work (pun intended) due at two key dates this summer. If all goes well, I will graduate in September at our next University of the Nations Meetings in Townsville, Australia. Darla and I needed to attend these meetings due to our leadership responsibilities in the mission, so we are glad that the graduation is attached to these meetings as opposed to going to another location. Please take 45 seconds now pray for God’s strength and grace to carve out time for this academic work in the midst of all of our leadership responsibilities here at YWAM Orlando and to complete it all with excellence! Thanks so very much!

Loren Cunningham teaches in our Masters of Arts in Leadership

It was a privilege to have Loren speak to us during our module. Amazing insights!

Masters Cohort

Breakfast on the Coast

We had two days off in the midst of my studies and we enjoyed a bit of time together for breakfast on the coast and time with friends.

Darla with some great friends!

Darla and I with some great friends!

With Loren & Darlene in their home

We also had an evening at Loren and Darlene Cunningham's home and each of us from the Masters course had an opportunity to speak words of honor and affirmation. They didn't expect this, but as always were gracious hosts.

May Update from Michael & Darla

Depot Dedication - Don't Touch God's Glory!

Today we dedicate our 14^th building on campus called the Depot.  It is our Internet café, kitchen, and first cafeteria building.  We have had offices, classrooms, dormitories and chapel, but not a food service building.  This will make a huge impact on our live learn environment and a major victory.  This will also be a time of celebration for all God has done and a time of declaration of how God desires to use this building for His purposes.

As I ponder this moment of dedication and celebration my heart is filled with gratitude to the One who has made it all possible.  Many people have been inspired by the Lord to give to the renovation of this building.  Then last fall at our YWAM conference people gave $86,000 in an offering, which finished the funding of this building except for the roof, which we planned to take care of in a year or two.  Then two weeks ago a man that I had met came to campus and committed to replacing the roof with his construction company, which, based on an estimate we received from a local contractor worth $63,000.  In addition he has committed to provide the material and some of the labor for the seven dormitory cabins we are working on. I can truly sing with the Psalmist; “O Lord, our Lord, how awesome is your name through all the earth! I will sing of your majesty above the heavens” (Psalm 8:2 NASB)

No one who sees the magnitude of what has been accomplished at YWAM Orlando will ever give any one of our team, including me, credit; it has clearly been a work of our awesome and majestic God and His body the church.  I can really relate to Psalm 8:5,6 that says, “What is man that you are mindful of him”... When I think of our capacity it falls far short and yet God has worked through us to do His work in a mighty way.  I am truly grateful for the opportunity to have joined Him on this journey with the family we call YWAM Orlando.  There is much yet to do before our entire campus is renovated, but this building is a major victory for all of us.

As I think of our time of dedication I am compelled to remind our community who should really get the credit and glory for this victory – God!  As leaders not only do we need to be careful not to touch God’s glory, but we also must work to ensure that no one in our community takes credit for the work of God.  We must lead out in honoring, praising, and glorifying God for His magnificent work.

“O Lord, our Lord, how awesome is your name through all the earth! I will sing of your majesty above the heavens” (Psalm 8:2 NASB)

April Update from Michael & Darla

If Faith is to Grow it must be used!

Loren Cunningham comments in his book, "Daring to Live on The Edge"; “faith is a gift from God.  But for our faith to increase, it must be used and tested.” I have found this to be so true.  I remembered as a young Christian praying for God to increase my faith, but I did not sense any significant change.  When I began to obey the Lord and take the small risks He was asking me to take, then my faith grew.  Then one day He asked me to take on trusting Him for 185-acre campus.  This seemed absolutely crazy with our meager funding, and yet, as we sought God as a team God confirmed His word to pursue the purchase of what would become the campus for YWAM Orlando.

As we heard the stories of so many wonderful miracles in YWAM of property provisions, we assumed and hoped that we would have an instantaneous provision to purchase this land.  This did not happen, and as a result we now realize that God not only wanted to provide for us, but He wanted to teach us and grow our faith.  God dealt with us much in the way He did with the children of Israel. He told them; “remember that the Lord your God led you all the way these forty years in the wilderness…that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord. (Deuteronomy 8:2-3 - NKJV)  Fortunately, it was not a 40-year journey, but it has been nine years since I asked the question; “Will you sell us this land?”  Within a week or two we will dedicate our kitchen and dining facility and hopefully by the end of the year we will have seven additional dormitory buildings completed.   This will give us the 200 beds we need for the initial core of our campus. As I write, I realize that many of our current students were only eight or nine years old when we started our journey.  No one in our YWAM Orlando Community would deny that although our process to obtain our campus and make it usable was extremely difficult, God has taught us so much about His ways and His character.  I am tremendously grateful for God’s leadership on our journey and I can also say with confidence that those that have walked with us on this journey have had a major increase in their faith and an understanding of the ways and character of God!

Follow on journey both here at bergfamily5.com and at ywamorlando.com

A life of faith - ruins you for the ordinary!

It's been many years since I read Loren Cunningham's book; "Daring To Live On The Edge".  As I read it again it is quite encouraging and refreshing, especially in this season of my life.  As I read the opening chapter, a classic phrase jumped out at me.  “Once you’ve experienced the life of faith, it ruins you for the ordinary.”[1]  I have found this to be absolutely true for me.  I remember many years ago when the thought of a consistent salary and a more comfortable living felt quite enticing.  I flirted with returning to my hometown to move back into what I perceived at the time as a “normal life”.  As I imagined being home I remembered people, places, and activities that had been so fulfilling before and I could not wait to get home to engage with these once again.

When I returned home for a brief time I was surprised to find that the all these things that seemed to entice me home were no longer satisfying.  I thought everyone and everything had changed while I was away.  But, as I examined this more carefully, I realized that the main change that had occurred was in me.  What used to be important to me paled next to the wonders of following the Lord.  Oh, the people at home were still wonderful and I will be forever grateful for the love and investment so many have made in my life, but I had tasted an extraordinary life of following Jesus on an epic journey.  The truth was that nothing else would ever satisfy me again.

Now that I look back I am so grateful that I did not return to what I perceived as a normal life.  We have faced many challenges in this life of faith.  Along the way people have said, “You guys must really have a gift of faith”, but as I have pondered this I don’t think that’s true.  Rather, I think we have been called to live a normal Christian life, a life that the Lord wants all of us as Christians to live, and that is a life of faith.  Of course, the particulars are different for each of us because God has a particular destiny for each and every one of us.  Nonetheless, each of us is called to obey and trust God.  

Although my life has been full of challenges and at times Darla and I have wondered if we would even make it through a few situations along the way, I would not trade this epic adventure of a lifetime for the ordinary existence that I once thought so enticing.  If you are reading this, then I invite you to trust the most trustworthy being in the universe - God - and follow Him on an epic journey of your own! 

Join us at www.ywamorlando.com to begin your journey...

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[1] Loren Cunningham, Daring to Live on the Edge. Seattle, WA: YWAM Pub., 1991. 17.