Hey Y’all, my name is Mark Phillips and I am a missionary with YWAM Ships Kona. Our aim at YWAM Ships is to serve the most remote and difficult-to-reach locations in the South Pacific. I am currently serving onboard the YWAM Liberty, our Medical vessel in Papua New Guinea, as the Community Engagement Leader. Our medical outreaches involve visiting various villages and providing health teachings, distributing medicines, conducting Bible teachings, providing children’s ministry, oral Bible translation, and more. While our medical professionals focus on physical needs, we get to do the fun stuff with the communities.
I love serving in Papua New Guinea, but I feel a strong calling to serve in every isolated island nation in the Pacific for the rest of my life. I invite you to join me in this mission that the Lord has given me, not only to reach the hardest-to-reach places but also to submit to the Lord every day. Together, let’s impact the kingdom!
Update – April 1st, 2024
Hey everyone! I wanted to give y’all an update on what I’ve been up to over the last 2 months – It has been quite busy!
First, I started February in Nashville and went to The Send. Then, I continued on the Bible teaching outreach with my team to Atlanta, Georgia. We spoke at a couple of house churches and small groups, as well, as got the privilege of handing out Bibles and answering people’s questions about it and Christianity! After that, I headed back to Kona for a couple of weeks. While I was back in Kona, a very difficult situation came up for our global YWAM family.
We have a Masters degree program with some of the most influential leaders in YWAM globally and they meet once every 3 months somewhere around the world. They discuss and study global pioneering and development in what we call a 2-Week Intensive. During this last Intensive, we had some of the most valuable leadership of YWAM in Africa riding a bus back to Nigeria from Tanzania. Their bus was hit by a truck that lost control of its brakes. Twelve leaders died and 7 were severely injured. This meant it was the most devastating loss that YWAM, as a whole, had ever experienced. Obviously, we went into a time of mourning for them and prayer for their families, not to mention their ministries as well. (For more information please visit ywamkona.org)
During this time I was asked to go to our founder, Darlene Cunningham’s, home and help with serving the leaders so greatly impacted by this as they were to spend days together praying and discussing what this meant for YWAM as a whole. It was a privilege for me as I helped cook, clean, and serve these leaders who had just gotten back on the island from this tragedy. I felt the Holy Spirit so deeply and richly there that it only made me more certain of the great privilege that it is to serve with this mission and align myself with our leadership.
Immediately after this, I jumped on a plane back to Papua New Guinea and joined our medical missions team again. We have just finished our first 2-week outreach of the year.
My heart has been touched by the many things I’ve seen over the last 2 months and it’s made me so much more grateful for God and His provision and guidance through all these things. I am also so thankful for His gifts that He gives to me in small moments.