Dear Friends,
YWAM has four legacy words. They tell a story of God’s multi-generational guidance to shape what Youth with a Mission is today. They shape our call to “the alls and the everys.” The first legacy word is, of course, the waves. In 1956, while in the Bahamas, a young Loren Cunningham had a vision. He saw a map of the world—but it was alive! Waves were crashing onto the shores of the continents, and as he watched, those waves became young people. They spread across nations, sharing the gospel everywhere they went. At the time, this was revolutionary—young people weren’t considered missionaries. But through this vision, God was bringing forth something new: a movement of youth from all nations, going to all nations. Over the decades, countless waves of young people have risen up, transforming the landscape of missions forever.
Here at YWAM Lausanne, we are thrilled to continue this legacy—to send waves of young people from everywhere to everywhere. One expression of this is the diversity we see in our training today. This quarter alone, our courses are running in English, French, Korean, and Arabic, with students from 21 different nations. As they study the Bible, leadership, discipleship, and cultures, we are launching Koreans, Egyptians, South Sudanese, Colombians, Swiss, and many others into the nations.
As we embrace the legacy words, we continue to discover God’s unchanging missional heart. He longs for the nations to know Him. He calls every individual to rise up and live out their God-given purpose.
Waves of youth, from everywhere, to everywhere, is how YWAM has shaped our current missions movement. Our other legacy words continue to create an unprecedented platform for innovation in global missions. And as we carry this vision forward, we ask with anticipation: What new, innovative ways will God lead us to “go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation”?
We currently have outreach teams in North Africa, Japan, and the Solomon Islands. Here is a great story of personal transformation from our team in the Islands.
One week before the start of the DTS, Tae from Korea applied at his mother's suggestion. He wanted to rediscover his faith and grow as a person. In previous years, he had not followed Jesus, but he often remembered his roots. When he arrived, he wasn’t even aware that we would go on an outreach! He changed his flights during the second week of lectures.
We have seen immense growth in Tae's life. He is currently in the Solomon Islands on outreach and has found great joy in sharing his testimony with the people here. The other day, he spontaneously decided to share his story during a market ministry in a remote island community. Our team was the first group of Western missionaries to come through. A crowd gathered as we set up. After performing a skit and sharing the gospel, Tae shared what God is doing in his life. We invited people to pray, and a middle-aged man stepped forward because he could relate to Tae's story. As a result, the man wanted to dedicate his life to the Lord!
