11 Dead in Arusha Tragedy, Chile Wildfire Recovery, Carnival Outreach

Welcome to the Youth With A Mission News Show for February 2024. This month we hear about the tragic accident in Tanzania that took the life of 11 YWAM leaders, the recovery work of YWAM in Chile after the wildfires, the completion of YWAM Island Reach vessel, JOCUM Brazil Carnival Outreach, and more …

Thank you for downloading this, the 142 episode of the Youth With A Mission News Show Podcast, I’m your host, Bill Hutchison.

You can contact us, subscribe to future episodes, leave comments, and find links to all the stories we talk about on the show notes for this podcast at ywampodcast.com/142 …

Stories:

11 YWAM Staff Die in Car Crash in Tanzania

Eleven missionaries with Youth With A Mission (YWAM) died in a tragic traffic accident on Saturday near Arusha, Tanzania. The incident, involving multiple vehicles, also claimed the lives of several others, including the bus driver. By last reports two key mission leaders remain in critical condition.

Here is the update from February 25:

With the ripples of the difficult news of the death of 11 YWAMers in a terrible traffic accident in Tanzania, our prayers are with the family and friends of the deceased. There are five injured individuals still hospitalized and two more people in critical condition to be rallied around in prayer. We thank the Lord that one of the hospitalized, Isaac B., has been released to return home. (Due to security reasons, we cannot release the full names).

Local and international leaders from YWAM are gathering to support the team on the ground, who are now faced with many details of repatriation, medical evacuation, family support, funeral arrangements, and many other logistics. We invite you to help with these expenses with an opportunity to give on the following link. The estimated cost of all of these arrangements is approximately $350,000. Thank you to those who are already contributing.

There are regular updates to the condition of those still in hospital, and the needs of the survivors and their family on ywam.org. The names of the people involved in the accident can also be found in the updates over at ywam.org.

Darlene Cunningham has also issued a letter about the Arusha Tragedy, which you can also find over at ywam.org, or the link in the show notes, Letter from Darlene Cunningham.

YWAM Vancouver No Snow Outreach

YWAM Vancouver is known to be a fantastic destination for discipleship training school students wanting to grow in their relationship with God, tell others about Him, and also hit the slopes. Sometimes however, the weather doesn’t cooperate with the skiing and snowboarding part of that plan …

Find out more about YWAM Vancouver on their web-site, ywamvancouver.org.

Wildfire Damage in Chile

In early February wildfires torched many highly populated areas in Chile. The fires killed over 150 people, and damaged and destroyed more that 5000 homes.

Our YWAM location in Viña del Mar was spared by the fire because a nearby avenue created a kind of wind corridor between two hills, which redirected the flames away from the building. The director of the YWAM location, pastor Dionicio Viana, has transitioned the location to focus on helping the people affected by the fires. Four YWAM bases from around Chile have sent people to join the local team in removing debris from the streets and homes.

In some of the local areas few homes remain. Viana says that, “it looks like we were bombed, like a war. For the time since the fire, residents have been without water and electricity.

Last week some of the t