WHO ARE WE ?
Youth With A Mission (YWAM)is a global movement of Christians from many cultures, age groups and Christian traditions, dedicated to serving throughout the world. YWAM is pronounced “WHY-wham”
YWAM Volunteer called YWAMers are Driven by God’s love to the ends of the earth.
A Brief History of YWAM
Youth With A Mission (YWAM) pronounce "Why wam" started in 1960, by Loren Cunningham with a vision of seeing young people travelling the globe and sharing the good news of Jesus. Today YWAM has grown into one of the largest Christian missions organizations. We unite in a common purpose to know God and to make Him known. YWAM encompasses thousands of people and hundreds of ministries in almost every country. Our staff and students are a mixture of nationalities and people from a wide variety of nations who serve side by side.
We come from numerous different Christian denominations and speak hundreds of languages. Nearly half of our staff come from “non-western” countries, such as Brazil, Korea, Indonesia, India and Nepal.
In addition to our full-time staff, many YWAM locations host short-term outreach teams made up of individuals, youth groups, families and churches who get to participate first-hand in “making God known” through both word and action. We send out over 25,000 short-term missionaries each year.
What is Youth With A Mission
Loving God’s World
We are A Family of Ministries
We reach out in 180+ countries through three main areas — Evangelism, Training and Mercy Ministry.
Our ministries cover every sphere of society, including ship-based medical care, performing arts teams, Bible training programs, business coaching, sports ministries, anti-trafficking work, and many more.
How we Function?
YWAM functions as a family of ministries rather than a centralized agency.
Each YWAM Location seek means resources to develop the location vision. without depending necessarily on a head quater directives.
Our Leadership
As YWAM has grown over the years, it has developed as a family of ministries. Although we have global networks of leaders and elders, we do not have a headquarters.
Our decentralized structure gives room for leaders to emerge from many different cultures.
YWAM Location
Each YWAM location is responsible for initiating its own ministries, organizing its own training programs, and doing its own fundraising. All YWAM locations are expected to uphold the vision, purpose, beliefs and values of YWAM.
A YWAM eldership group called the Founders’ Circle serves as a guardian of YWAM’s vision, purpose, beliefs and values. YWAM also has a leadership structure for the University of the Nations and leadership teams for global ministries such as Frontier Mission, and King’s Kids.
YWAM Launch waves of Volunteers into the world since 1960
From a late-night vision of waves of young people reaching every continent, given to a 20-year-old in the Bahamas, to a global ministry with over 20,000 workers, the growth of YWAM is the story of God’s inspiration, God’s grace for many mistakes, and the creativity of the Holy Spirit’s leading. The heart of YWAM–to worship God, to serve God’s global purposes, and to champion young people–remains as strong as it was in the beginning.
One of the joy of participating in YWAM programs or ministries is to serve with people from many nations. YWAM’s staff (known as “YWAMers”) are volunteers from all nations and numerous different Christian denominations.
We believe that ethnic, linguistic, and denominational diversity, along with redeemed aspects of culture, are positive factors that contribute to the health and growth of the mission.