Youth With A Mission (YWAM)
Youth With A Mission is an international movement of Christians from many denominations dedicated to serving Jesus throughout the world. Also known as YWAM (pronounced "WYE-wam"), our calling is to know God and to make Him known. Back when we began in 1960, our main focus was to get youth into short-term mission work and to give them opportunities to reach out in Jesus' name. Today, we still focus on youth, and we also involve people of almost every age (even many people who choose to spend their "retirement" in active service). Our many ministries fit into three main categories: evangelism, training and mercy ministry. We are currently operating in more than 1000 locations in over 149 countries, with a staff of nearly 16,000.
For more information please visit our international website at www.ywam.org
YWAM definitions
It can be confusing when we talk about our organization and the things we do because there are so many acronyms (if you don't know what that is just keep reading!!). Here are some definitions to help you navigate and figure out what we are doing!
YWAM - Youth With A Mission - our ministry organization
DTS - Discipleship Training School which runs twice a year. This is a 5 month course where people are taught about being a follower of Jesus with a special emphasis on evangelism. At the end of the course the students are sent to another country for 8 weeks to practice their evangelism skills and put all of their training into use.
ESL - English for Speakers of other Languages runs twice a year. This is a 3 month program where students learn English for the purpose of missions and evangelism.
BCC - Biblical Core Course runs twice a year. This is an intense 3 month inductive study of the Bible. You must have completed a DTS to take this course.
eQuip - This leadership course runs once a year and gives students the tools and the practice at organization and Biblical Christian leadership. You must have completed a DTS to take this course.
SBCW - School of Biblical Christian Worldview runs once a year. It teaches people to think critically about the world and popular media (not in a negative way :). You must have completed a DTS to take this course
A base - this is any location where YWAM missionaries are gathered. Bases may have a focus on training, evangelism and/or mercy ministry. Some bases are extremely small (house in China) and some are extremely large (800 students in Kona, HI).
Intercession - gathering to pray for a nation or people group.
Outreach - going to share God's love in a cross cultural setting.
Evangelism - telling other people about God
Mercy ministry - meeting people's physical needs - caring for the poor, feeding the hungry, community development, social justice
Why YWAM?
We acknowledge and are thankful for the many different missions organizations around the world. We don't believe that anyone is better or "more Godly" than another. We are all working together to futher the Kingdom of God and we often partner together!
That said, we did chose to become missionaries with YWAM for several reasons:
1>We love the heart and focus of YWAM.
2>We enjoy the community aspect that life in YWAM offers.
3>Adam was greatly impacted by a YWAM missionary in LaRonge.
4>Kim did a DTS after high school that changed her life.
5>YWAM provided the broadest opportunities.
6>YWAM gives us the freedom to pursue areas where God has given us a passion and vision.
