Urgent Call to Prayer - On 23rd December, YWAM England & Wales received notice that our Visa Sponsorship license has been suspended and we have 20 days state our case as to why we should keep our licence. If we are not successful, they will revoke our license completely. This would mean 350+ staff and their families having to leave the UK within 60 days. Please read more to find more details, how to write to your UK MP and ways to stand with us in prayer. A foundational value and essential element of Youth With A Mission is that we are international and interdenominational. In September 2014, following procedures introduced by the UK government to reduce immigration numbers, YWAM England and Wales was inspected by the UK Visas & Immigration office to review our status as a visa sponsor. The inspection concluded we were compliant in 5 of the 7 areas audited and found some clerical issues in the remaining two. We immediately formed a team to rectify these issues and submitted an Action Plan. However, we were warned that we faced the possibility of being downgraded, limiting our sponsorship ability for a few months, or that we would have our license revoked entirely. We were told we would have a decision from the UKVI office within 4 weeks, but it was only on 23rd December that we were notified that our license has been suspended for 20 working days. During this time we can make a response to what have largely turned out to be fresh issues not raised in the initial inspection. If unsuccessful in our response, the UKVI will pursue revoking our license, as it has already done to several other faith-based organisations this year. If our visa sponsorship license is revoked over 350 YWAMers (missionaries and their families) will have 60 days to leave the UK. That is about half of our current workforce, all of whom are volunteers with YWAM who support themselves through personal fundraising, according to YWAM’s values as a charitable organisation. This includes a significant number of people from Holmsted Manor and it would inevitably mean shutting down some of our training and service opportunities here at our base, across YWAM in this nation and with an impact abroad. Whilst we recognise and support the UKVI’s legitimate right to concern over compliance to the rules, we do not feel that the issues raised in the letter from the UKVI justify such an outcome as losing our licence would produce. We are cautiously hopeful that through dialogue and by demonstrating our determination to follow the regulations as carefully as possible they will allow us to continue our operations in the UK as part of a global charitable faith-based movement. We recognise that YWAM has never been the type of organisation which fits neatly into boxes. Nonetheless, we are doing everything we can to comply with the law and ensure that our missionaries remain a blessing to the UK and, through our YWAM England and Wales teams, to the rest of the world that YWAM seeks to share the love of Christ with. Please pray with us for a favourable resolution to this inquiry. If you would like to write your MP in our support, following is some advice and a draft to help you – we need to write urgently, as we only have until January 20th before a decision is made. Thank you for supporting us - YWAM England and Wales! The National Leadership Team of YWAM England & Wales and our Board are calling a Day of Prayer and Fasting (7th Jan) for this Visa issue. All YWAM teams across Wales & England will be uniting in this and we are inviting our supporters, friends and family to join us too. Post this link into your browser to download the details of how to write to your MP. ywamharpenden.org/ywamharpenden/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/MP-Letter-to-help-YWAM.doc
Posted on: Sat, 03 Jan 2015 15:46:55 +0000
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