The Beginning

Originally posted Sunday 2nd September


Starting something like this is a funny thing. I’m not really sure where to begin or what I should write about, but I reckon that probably the best thing to do is just start from the beginning… I imagine that most of you who are reading this will know who I am, and will have found this site by me telling you about it. But I suppose that for those who maybe don’t know me as well or have just stumbled across this, I should do a bit of an introduction… Not too long, just the basics!

My name is Tom Tate, I’m 22, born and bred in Belfast, Northern Ireland. I went to Stranmillis Primary School, then Belfast Inst for secondary school. While I was at Inst, I became a lot more involved in different Christian organisations and clubs, and then, when I was 16 at an annual Christian youth event called ‘Summer Madness’, I realised that even though I had been brought up going to church and in this Christian environment, it wasn’t something that was playing any part in impacting who I was. So at that point in time I realised that this was something I needed to remedy, and this was when I would say I actually became a Christian.

When it came time to leave school and go to university, I had my plans all set in place to go to Belfast Bible College. However, it seemed that God had other plans, and he directed my path in a different direction, and I found myself working with a worldwide Christian organisation called Youth With a Mission, YWAM for short (pronounced ‘why-wham’). This was the year when a relationship with God began to take a real priority in my life. I found myself falling so much in love with this God who had literally given everything for us, and realised that because of this, I had to start living my life in the reality of this fact. I spent an incredible ten months working on the Shankill Road in Belfast and in South Africa living and learning about the character of God and finding myself catching a piece of the vision of God’s heart for the world.

After finishing my year with YWAM, I started at Belfast Bible College for a 3-year degree in Divinity. These were years that were marked by a very real sense of God’s blessing as he provided me with an amazing community in which to learn more and go deeper into God’s word, and with some great friends to make these 3 happy years fly by in a no time.

The question was always at the back of my mind of what I was going to do after I finished college. I spent a lot of time exploring different options and seeking God’s will on where it was that he wanted me to be after I finished. It was a difficult time as I struggled to hear God’s voice and I wasn’t sure what it was that he was telling me. It was frustrating for me to not know where I was going to be next, as I like to know the next step! But thankfully he revealed it to me in his own time, and I was accepted to return back to YWAM in Belfast as a staff member.

So that’s pretty much all there is to it. Tomorrow is the big day I’ve been looking forward to for a good while now, the staff of YWAM Northern Ireland is going to be getting together for a 5 day staff retreat to get to know one another and also spend some time sharing ideas and visions for God’s heart for this country that we live in.

And that’s where this entry will come to an end I suppose… Over the next wee while I’ll be putting more up on here about what working with YWAM actually involves, and there’ll just be updates on what’s happening with me, the team and things that are going on that you can pray for us about!

The last time I worked with YWAM, it was an incredible time of discovery and growth for me, both personally and in my relationship with God, so I’m excited about this next period that I’m going to be involved with this organisation; but also about sharing the adventure with others, the things that are happening in my life and what God is doing with and through the small team of us that live and work on the Shankill Road in Belfast.

I’ll try and update this pretty regularly…and hopefully I won’t be too wordy! I’ll try my best to be concise… though, if this is the case I’m not exactly starting in the way I mean to continue!

I’m hoping this is going to be an interesting few years, so I’m looking forward to sharing the journey!

Tom