HOSPITALITY
Hospitality is not only a founding value of YWAM International, at YWAM Livingstone we consider it a major part of our renewal ministry. As we trust God for facilities, we have also been praying for a renewing and refreshing presence around the Base. We hope that people will come from far and near and have their fires rekindled while visiting us. However, renewal is not the only ministry on the Base so, in order to make the sharing of facilities practical between the different base departments, the following is our hospitality policy:,
- All guests must warn us of their coming at least a week in advance,
- An overnight guest travelling alone will be accommodated and fed free of charge, however, if they wish to contribute some money towards the base to help with the cost of washing linens, food, etc, they are welcome to make their contributions to the Base and a receipt will be given for that.
- Missionaries and pastors coming out of the field, needing a place to retreat for 3 days, will be accommodated free of charge if the individual concerned is travelling alone. Should they wish to help the hospitality ministry financially by leaving a donation, they too should give their donation directly to the base because hospitality is a ministry of the whole base community. The heart of the ministry is to restore people. Visitors are free to bless whomever they wish to bless financially, we just want to be clear that if the intention is to thank the Base, the donation should go to the YWAM Livingstone Base account. This way, the blessing is spread to the entire staff body donating staff fees to make it possible for hospitality to be offered free or at cost.
- All teams need to make bookings and secure their booking by making a commitment fee of 50% of the cost of their stay at YWAM Livingstone upfront. This helps us to plan, and prepare for the arrival of the team adequately. All team members are charged (US$10) per person per day if the team is an African YWAM School Outreach team and (US$15) if the team is an International non-Third World YWAM team. Teams and individuals sent from churches that partner with YWAM Livingstone will pay US$20 per person per day.
- YWAM Livingstone has limited cooking facilities therefore, we do not accept teams that duplicate the cooking. The Base cooks one meal for all residents and guests. We believe eating together fosters community and helps people to get to know each other better. Visiting teams must be ready to share in the work duties around the base.
- YWAM Livingstone does not feel it is safe to have guests live on the premises in their own tents! Some saints have asked to come and visit Livingstone and eat their own food while living in their own tents. We feel that there are campsites around Livingstone where tent dwellers can really have fun living in tents.
- Teams must bring their own linen but invited guests like Guest Speakers will have beddings taken care of by Base hospitality.
- All residents and guests are to observe base community living guidelines for the good of the lives of whole community and our public testimony as a Christian community within the larger Livingstone community.USING YOUR STAY AT YWAM AS YOUR SUPPORT FOR YWAM’S MINISTRIESWe believe that the communion of the saints talked about in the Bible includes; being there to share in the lives and hardships of God’s people and helping to bring transformation by learning from the locals through life participation. God can speak to you while you are engaged in a community in ways He will not speak to you when you are praying from a “safe distance”. We do encourage our guests to consider spending a night or more and pray on location if there are no special medical conditions to hinder them.
God has blessed us with this dormitory and we are living in it.