Know God. Make Him known to the Japanese.
Who We Are
A Global Movement
Who We Are
Youth With A Mission is a global movement of Christians from many cultures, age groups and Christian traditions, dedicated to serving Jesus throughout the world.
Also known as YWAM (pronounced “WHY-wham”), we unite in a common purpose to know God and to make Him known.
Back when we began in 1960, our main focus was to help youth get involved in missions.
Today, we still focus on youth and we also include people of all ages. We currently have tens of thousands of staff (called “YWAMers”) from nearly every country, including places like Indonesia, Nepal, Mozambique, and Colombia.
We have been making waves here in Japan since 1975, starting in Osaka. We have since expanded all over Japan.
God is calling people from many countries to bring the Gospel of Jesus Christ to Japanese people and to raise up the Japanese people for His glory and honour and give them His gifts to spread the gospel in various ways.
Ministries
What We Do
We believe everyone has the right to hear the good news about Jesus and our prayer is to see fellowships of believers worshipping and following Jesus in every nation, tribe and tongue.
We use music, performing arts, sports, and Bible distribution to connect with people of all ages. YWAM also starts discipleship groups in places where there may be no church at all.
YWAM’s introductory course, the Discipleship Training School (YWAM DTS), is offered in many nations and languages. It’s an intensive six months of growing more like Jesus and serving Him in the world.
Through our training programs and YWAM’s University of the Nations we aim to equip Christians to grow in their relationship with God and to serve others. Our courses focus on subjects like healthcare, the Bible, business development and biblical counselling.
YWAM’s mercy ministry teams follow Jesus’ example of compassion to those in need. We operate relief and development programs in over 100 countries, working among people living in desperate circumstances.
Our staff serve in areas such as agricultural assistance, the prevention of human trafficking, ship-based dental care, and micro-enterprise development.
Wave Makers
Our Founders & Elders
“Loren and Darlene, through their obedience to the Lord, have transformed the global mission movement. Their actions directly affected countless lives from every nation!” - Rev. Leonard Ravenhill
YWAM was founded by Loren Cunningham in 1960 after God gave him a vision of waves of young people crashing onto the shores of all nations of the world with the Gospel. Loren also co-founded the University of the Nations in 1978 in order to better train and equip people for missions. As YWAM is a decentralised mission with no global headquarters, Loren and his wife Darlene make up part of YWAM’s Founders’ Circle overseeing the mission and pointing YWAMers across the world back to Jesus.
Know God and Make Him Known
Our Purpose, Beliefs and Values
The combination of this purpose, beliefs and values makes up the unique family characteristics of YWAM—our “DNA.” They are the framework we hold in high regard for they help us determine who we are, how we live and how we make decisions.