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It is a new year and Mercy Ships is breaking into new things. This year is probably our biggest with PR in the UK so we are very busy within the office.
My role in the office is growing with the new as well. I have started using some more of my skills I developed whilst studying photography. I have started to do some more design work for the UK. These are only small jobs as Mercy Ships' main designers work in Switzerland and the US. So all the work I am doing is very localised to the UK and our office. Though mainly I work on alterations to existing designs as well as archiving our photographs from over the years. (There are hundreds and could easily be a full time job, so they are still a bit unorganised).
But I am loving the design work side of the job. Along side this I deal with placing Mercy Ships ads in magazines, answering peoples enquiries and sending out literature, photos, videos, etc. There are also lots of other small areas of the job that I deal with but the list could go on so I won't go into detail. But basically I deal with the visual side of our work. I am often referred to guests who are visiting the office as the young creative one. This mainly from my age, I am 6 years younger than the next person in the office who is close to my age, I work within the more arty area of our work I think a lot of it also comes from my new hair colour being bright orange, it is quite a contrast to the rest of the people in the office. But at least they won't loose me in a crowd.
Within life on the base (there are about 150 people on the YWAM base) I have become more involved within worship at our Tuesday morning community meetings playing viola with the worship group. Something I immensely enjoy and always look forward to the next time I am able to play. I have been hanging out/spending time with the new DTS (Discipleship Training School) on the base. There are about 20 young people who are here for 3 months of teaching, discovering more about their faith, seeking God and learning more about themselves in the process. It is an amazingly intense time for them, it was during my DTS that I came to decide to join Mercy Ships and YWAM full time. I have found it good fun as well as helping me to grow more by hanging out with them. I get to hear about what they have been learning, for each person this can be different. Even though they each get taught the same things in class each week, these teachings can lead to completely different things learnt. For some one week could be just learning something interesting from the Bible, for another it can be learning how to see God with new eyes and discovering a new aspect about Him, since He is such an amazing God who is greater than our comprehension I think all of us can go through our lives discovering something new about God until the day we die and still not discover everything about Him.
You may or may not know that my time with Mercy Ships ends in September I had committed to them only for a year but I have made a personal commitment to stay within Mercy Ships or YWAM for the rest of my life or until God calls me on a different path. I have been praying about where I go in September, because Mercy Ships and YWAM are so big it leaves a lot of opportunities. I had a few ideas of where I wanted to go and work. One of which wold be to stay with Mercy Ships UK, but I had mainly been praying for an invite. I did then receive an invite, but not from somewhere I had been thinking about. I was given an invite to staff on DTS at this base in September. It seems almost perfect timing, my commitment ends at the beginning of September and the DTS starts towards the end of September giving the weeks for training and preparation. I have not fully decided but it is greatly on my heart to be a part of discipling and being their for young Christians as they seek more of God. I am still praying about this a talking about with my supervisor in Mercy Ships UK.
A bit about my my vision...Before my DTS I was applying to go to University to study media or film. My dream was to become a director and make music videos or movies. However even before my DTS I felt I shouldn't really go, I was only applying because it was the done thing and that if I didn't go to university I wouldn't be able to go anywhere in life. So I was applying to have something to fall back on but I didn't really have the desire to go. During my DTS the desire not to go to university became stronger as did the desire to become a full time missionary and work for Mercy Ships. During my DTS outreach I was one afternoon reading a book, all of a sudden the words "you're going to make movies for YWAM" popped into my head. I had not even been thinking about this at the time. I did not understand this at the time, how could God be calling me to make movies yet at the same time be telling me not to go to university. The more a thought about these words the more the vision grew and the more it made sense. I do feel I am not meant to go and study for another 3-4 years. This will probably be within YWAM. YWAM has a university called University of Nations. Their campuses are all over the world, hence the name and in Switzerland and Hawaii they have a school of film. This may not be the school I do to study film but it is where I am aiming at the moment. The closer the time comes to me deciding to go to study the more I will look at the options of where I study. These years up until this point I feel God is using as preparation period. It is important for me to mature and grow. What I could end up doing could be a pioneering thing. My dream is to make movies within YWAM, these being Christian movies, not necessarily stories from the Bible but also stories by Christian writers, but always portraying and sharing Gods love and the Gospel message. Being in YWAM these movies would also be made without receiving a salary. My dream would be to see these movies being shown to secular audiences. It is an area that Christians have not really broken into. Going out to all these third world countries spreading the gospel to the people is very important but God did not call His people just to spread the gospel to third world countries, He said to go to all the world. Being a missionary in a western nation can often be harder because so many people are comfortable with their lives that they will not listen to the message of the Gospel as easily as someone from a third world country where they are all looking for something better than the life they are living at the moment, it is because of this that the Gospel needs to be spread in more creative ways. Do not think I am putting down any of the methods which are used at the moment. Things like visiting people, holding special nights at churches to invite non-Christians, etc these I love and are amazingly important but they are not the only way to share about Gods message which is why I feel God has given the desire and vision to become a director and to make movies that can seen by everyone and that portray Gods love for all to all. I f you want to talk with me more about my vision please feel free to contact me.
Since being here I have been attending a church called Stopsley Baptist,it is in Luton which is about 15 minutes drive from Harpenden. I have become involved with a prayer group which I attend each Monday evening. I also hope to become more involved with the worship at the church. So I am slowly starting to get to know a few people from the church. This can be a bit hard as it is such a large church. I do already know some people since a few people from YWAM attend, including my room mate, Philip, as well as some members of Mercy Ships. So I am feeling quite settled and involved in the church.
If you feel you can support me in any other way please do contact me. I do ask if you can keep me in your prayers.
You can contact me by mail:
Daniel Snell Highfield Oval Harpenden AL5 4BX Telephone: 01582 463207 or Email: snelld@mercyships.org.uk
If you are able to receive my correspondence by email please drop me a line so that I know your address. It would also help me by saving money on postage.
Thank you for your support and prayers.
Love
Daniel