WELC08/Three Generations Together

My Journey
Good morning my family, my sons and daughters. Good to share with you some of my journey. When you see grey hairs you see strongholds, attitudes, belief systems, vices.... we all live with it and love it and don't want to change and don't want to repent. I'm stuck in my strongholds. And the young people have them to.

Grey hair, what are you doing in Youth With A Mission? I had mouse coloured hair and dyed it blonde when it went grey. But the Lord told me my blonde days were over. Put down the pretence and act your age, you are nearly 60. About 10 years ago I felt I fitted well. I was at the heart of the mission and felt needed and had lots of co-workers with me, but realised that the distance between me and other YWAMers was getting bigger in behaviour and values. I am definitely not post modern.

Stairs Are Made for Feet and Not Bums!
Young people think they will sit on the stairs and when I have to come down the stairs I was faced with a sense of dishonour, making my way between these bodies and none of them would move. By the time I get to the bottom I have a bad attitude. I'm sure these young people had an attitude. I wanted to sleep at a certain time of night, these young people don't want to sleep. Judge, judge judge. Sitting in the dining room a young man slurps a piece of spaghetti up his nose and I think aaaaaaaaaagh, what has happened to our mission? In a meeting one of the young men farts in the face of a young lady, aaaaaaaaagh. What am I to do in our mission? This is not made up, it has all happened to Mariette Louw. This culture has changed so much I can't stay. I believed the lie that there was no place for me in YWAM. I am a golden oldie and gold is valuable but when I was with young people if felt like dust. And was it in their hearts? NO, no. No one had it in their hearts to offend me. I co-worked with the enemy and dishonouring after dishonouring happened that reinforced my impression. YWAM is not for older people! Find a local church and settle down, I can't do that, I love the challenge of new things and missions. I was a speaker on a DTS and the translator had to go away one day and so they asked a student to translate and she was good at it but she couldn't cope with me and took the jug of water that was on the table for me to drink and poured it over me in absolute anger. And I thought, "The line is drawn and I'm leaving." If this is YWAM then no way.

Another DTS soon after, a young person looks me in the face and begins to shout, "I hate you." I thought they didn't know me well enough to hate, who do I remind you of. Wisdom came in there. But I was wrestling with my age and with these young ones and I didn't come through. I needed a young person to take me by the hand and take me over. I couldn't do it on my own -- too hurt and alienated.

But Who Will Teach My Generation?
Another YWAM base speaking. Knock on my door at night. He looks me in the face, "Can I come in?" Yes please. Took my hand and says to me, "Who will teach will my generation to travail for the lost if it is not your generation?" And it got to me in my greatest place of need and I stepped across a bridge that night. We wept for the lost and we cried out for this generation and felt the Lord say, "Walk across, there is a role for you, a function." It was wonderful. That young man said we need you to train us to deliver people. I'll never forget that day. I went to the training place. They invited me and another speaker close to 80. He stood in front of the school and had the love of God shining out of every pore of his being and it was the first morning that I heard someone say, "Good morning my son and my daughter." Heard a worship team with a strange sound -- not used to that -- and felt the Lord say He would show me the heart of this generation and looked with the eyes of Jesus. He began to speak to me, "This is my broken-hearted generation and I want you to bring healing to them. Rip off the name tags you've given to them. They are not strange and disrespectful. They are broken-hearted and need parents to bring healing to them." I turned 180 degrees. "Never again will you look at this generation with a judging heart. You will see them with hope, with the destiny that I have for them."

And then I met Carl Tinnion who became a major part in healing the rest of my heart. Young people began to say, "I need you and want you alongside us. There is a place for you, please come, please come, we want you."

I'm Back
And I was at a DTS who were hurting and doing their very best but it wasn't very good, it was bad. That night I was before God and I said, "What is going to happen?" I was weeping and travailing before God and I said, "I can't let this happen in our mission." this brokenness in their hearts and not knowing what to do. I didn't sleep all night crying out to God for the solution. When the morning broke felt the Lord say to [do something about it]. The Lord said I had to come back to the DTS. I didn't realise what a challenge I was to them. The DTS couldn't get to the point of faith thinking they could deal with me. They were threatened by me and thought I would take over -- a real possibility. I threatened them, my offer is only on the table till Friday. God told me to go back and I was going to go back, either here or somewhere else. Invited a young couple to join me, embraced them and said we couldn't lose them, I love you and will pray and minister to you. I believe in you and I NEED YOU. They still had the DNA of the DTS. I have the YWAM DNA but not the DTS DNA. I have the dooka dooka dooka. [I don't know what that means Ed]. This man needs to lead the DTS and you need to serve and mentor him from under. I don't need to be the leader. I have come alongside the younger generation to speak life and hope and believing in them. "You guys, at the end of this year you will be more prophetic than ever before because God has put you next to me." Next year my prophetic wasn't needed -- another crisis! They went further than me. Come and go where I haven't been before. It is a vicious cycle, YWAM ebbs and flows.

What is My Role Now?
I am now going through the next phase. The ones I mentored are now the leaders of YWAM -- I mentored them over the last 4 years. David met his wife and is now the base leader. What is my role now? They are the mentors and are saying the same to the young? Who am I to mentor now, it is rediscovery all the time. I no longer believe in the message that I don't belong. You older YWAMers, "Do you already have a second and third generation that you've mentored?" You haven't mentored until your mentorees have passed it on to others. I'm not retiring I'm retraining, retreading, recycling. I have space in my heart for all of us. The older generation, please don't believe the lies of the enemy, we have to be the fathers and mothers. Do you know that I have never been so honoured as the last 10 years in YWAM. What started as dishonour has become honour, that's redemption. If they honour you, you know you are honoured. If they say they appreciate you then they do, they speak from the depths of their hearts.

Auntie, Mother? What's Next?
My journey with the younger generation has made me ask who I am in this growth. They lead and I move back. A young leader came to me and said, "No way you are to take a back seat, where have you disappeared to?" Next year I am the auntie of the DTS to come in with counselling, prayer, advice, leadership training. I love being an auntie. I am the auntie at Seamill, reinvented, recycled. I'm not just speaking to the older generation but to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and his 12 sons. We might have multiplied the ones and twos but the Jacob generation will do the twelves -- it is multiplied-fold. Younger generation, how do I work with the older generation? Here is my hand, take it. The distance between us shouldn't leave you to feel abandoned and me unneeded. There should always be partnership, partnership, partnership, partnership, partnership, partnership. Next time you feel abandoned, find an older hand. Stay in your anointing and do new things and recycle, get new vision. I'm turning 60 and I'm looking forward to the next 10 years in missions and this time with a British passport. Travelling is becoming harder. Will I be obedient in going to the nations?

Mariette prays -- God is into Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and the 12 children and millions from them. I'm calling for the three generations. We are in it together and rebuke everything that separates us....

Over 50's to stand up and receive a clap.

Now, between 30 and 50. "Clap you young ones, clap."

and now others in any other category.

Next phase, we celebrate each other's age. Find someone in another category and ask God, "What message can I give them." Remember the young man who broke through to my heart. What can you say to them?

Relax and let the Holy Spirit talk. He always wants to talk. Honour and embrace one another and speak it into the spiritual realm, we walk as generations together. We ask God for a creative pastoring moment and a prophetic moment and a spiritual warfare moment. We can walk out of here with some of the lies dispelled. Spiritual warfare, hearing God and doing it.

WELC08