The Light
Dear Friends,
From the opening words of Genesis, light in the darkness is a powerful motif that God weaves into His story, revealing His plan for creation. The apostle John echoes this theme as he describes the birth of Jesus: “The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world” (John 1:9).
Light has been central to our theme this year at YWAM Lausanne, drawn from the words of Isaiah: “Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you” (Isaiah 60:1). Just as God once burst into a humble sheep cave in Bethlehem, we have seen God arise among us here in Lausanne over the past year. He has been faithful through every experience He invited us into and every challenge He led us through. As Jesus—the Light of the World—was present in our midst, He called us to live out His words: “You are the light of the world.”
This was evident in the thousands of people we served through our outreaches this year. In a fitting close to the year, we hosted our Kingdom Come event at the beginning of December. In one of the more challenging squares of our city, we filled the space with light. God’s presence broke into the darkness, and we witnessed many people touched by the hope of the gospel. We saw healings, freedom, and the reality of God drawing people into His loving presence.
Throughout 2025, we have seen God faithfully help us arise. We continued to develop our bilingual programs and laid a strong foundation for what lies ahead. We were able to expand our training in North Africa and are encouraged by the steady growth of ministry in that region. In the spring and summer, we pioneered four new, content-rich seminars, offering training in biblical studies, worship, and freedom in Christ. This year, many of our younger leaders stepped forward, creating a powerful, multi-generational synergy of vision. In His great providence, God has welcomed us into this season and is preparing us for an apostolic push into 2026.
We are deeply grateful to God for His guidance throughout this year and for the beautiful way He has led us to arise. Thank you for your prayer, support, and encouragement this year. We wish you a very Merry Christmas and a wonderful start to the new year.
Below is a snapshot of what our year looked like.
Our Christmas Kingdom Come was an incredible moment of expressing the light of the gospel in a dark world.
One of the highlights is that we get to hand out free Bibles through the ministry End Bible Poverty Now. For this event, we brought down 100 Bibles from 29 different languages. Over half of them were given out that night! That means 50+ people are now reading the Bible in their own language. How amazing is that? We also made over 100 bookmarks with encouraging Bible verses and gave out nearly all of them. Please be praying that people encounter God through these verses and through the Bibles they received.
We had a variety of performers as well: our base choir made up of students and staff, a local band from the Madagascar church, and several local individuals who sang or rapped. Jordan, one of our base leaders, shared a short message, and one of our students shared part of their testimony. Jordan spoke about the shepherds who were invited to witness Jesus’ birth and reminded everyone that we are all included. The student shared about being freed from drugs, which was especially powerful because of where the event took place—a square full of individuals facing many difficulties.
We believe that hosting this event there breaks strongholds and truly impacts the people in that area. We loved being able to glorify our God right in the center of the city. At our current moment, this is a powerful declaration that does indeed bring hope. We’re excited for Kingdom Come in 2026 and for what God will do in the city in the meantime.
