YWAM Oxford History

The Youth With a Mission base in Oxford New Zealand has an interesting history as I found out tonight. The "trust" as we call them, or the people who founded the place I now call home, visited us tonight over dinner and dessert. There was 8 to 9 trust members present and it was great hearing their stories of how the base came about.  YWAM Oxford was the first base to create a "themed" school like a snowboarders school, backpackers, climbers, and the list goes on.  The first snowboarders school was created in 1999 in Oxford. I was on the 12th consecutive snowboarders discipleship training school. This base is just an incredible place to call home for the next 7 months.  

I landed in New Zealand on May 24th.  I forgot how gorgeous and magical this place is.  As I flew over the mountains of New Zealand I saw one of the most gorgeous views. The mountains covered in a glorious blanket of snow, leading to the plains of Canterbury, all ending at the vast ocean, describes what I saw from the plane window.  I love the simplicity of this country. Rewind America 30+ years, decrease the population to tiny, give up fast food, and you have New Zealand.  Fish & Chips, farms, small towns, nice cities, mountains, and sheep, all make this place magical.  

I have been in "staff training" over the past two weeks. Mainly getting used to the way things run,  getting a drivers license, and many meetings.  We had a guy (Josh) from the house of prayer come speak to us. It was really good and refreshing to hear what he had to teach us. We had lots of prayer for the upcoming school, talked about a culture of honor, and had lots of fun. 

The students come in on the 21st and I am super stoked! The base will be much better with all them being here. Looking forward to the lectures, Friday night outreach, the 10 week outreach, and even the snowboarding.  It is going to be a very growing, challenging, and adventurous school.  

I will do my best to keep posting on this blog! If you want to follow me on Instagram my name is simply joshchamp as well on Facebook. Pictures and everyday life is much easier to post on those websites 

Thank you all who helped get me here I am very thankful for your support!