The YWAM World I Know

My parents led DTS's when I was a kid from 5 till 11, we as a family were in YWAM. We were in Hawaii for a year and a half of that time the rest in New Zealand. I joined YWAM in Jan 92 doing my DTS in LA and going to Estonia for my outreach. I went back to Estonia a year later with the first DTS I staffed. That is where a huge question was raised for me.

On my DTS our team went from School to school doing our way cool drama's, preaching, tambourine dancing, and testimoning with lots of hands being raised at the end of each meeting. As a team we were totally stocked really it was amazing. But on my return the church hadn't grown at all. What the ... I was not allowed to question this or I was blown off with a very simple "it is in God's hands."

I was at a Mission Adventures network gig in 2001, Danny Lehmann spoke in the morning on evangelism and our need to be doing it, not it, but evangelism. We had a time of repentance following his talk but I just felt mad and frustrated. His talk pissed me off, I didn't understand why I was so mad. That evening Tony Jones of Emergant fame, talked on postmodernism and how the playing field had changed. Evangelism had to be different. It all may sense, I felt liberated. Someone had allowed me to ask questions. So the shift started for me.

As I started to question my YWAM world a lot more questions arose. Is doing evangelism the right question, where did discipleship fit in? Were we living in a way that help people become disciples of Christ? Why did we have such a division between the Christian world and the rest of the world? Discipleship is always relationship based that made relating amongst us as YWAMers of utmost importance, but why were we not very good friends? How could I change Mission Adventures outreaches fit in with the way God was asking me to live? Heaps of questions.

Missional YWAMers

Last week I was hanging out with a few choice people in Orlando namely Will and Lori from YWAM PismoBeach, Kim from YWAM Winnipeg, William from YWAM Seattle, good connections happened. Also some of the YWAM big wigs were talking about young leaders again in the same old ways

I have been thinking for a while now, could I live out the life I'm being led into while being in YWAM. In these people I heard the language I use, I saw a desire to live out the YWAM life in similar ways I have been thinking about. While we were in Orlando the base there wanted to sell the 15 houses they own and buy a large campus so they could all live together. We said why would you do that? We want to live in the world not separated from them. We want to be neighbors and have neighbors.

During my time in YWAM New Zealand, I spent heaps of time rethinking my faith and allowing the questions God had put in my head reshape me and my thinking about the way we live in the YWAM context. I felt lost and alone as I deconstructed my YWAM experience, my wife worried, others left me alone as I got bitter and frustrated, one of my leaders tried to understand but didn't get it. During that time I had one ally, Thomas, a kiwi who had been living in Melbourne Australia working with YWAM and with Allan Hurst author of "the shaping of things to come." Anyway Thomas was a God send. As time passed Thomas was finding it harder and harder to work inside of YWAM and live the way he knew he should. Not long after, he left YWAM, making me think is there a place in YWAM for me. I believe there are a bunch of other people like myself going through the same situations in YWAM. Alot of them are young leaders wanting some help, strength, someone to understand.

I love this mission, I think we have an ethos that could be lived out in a beautiful way. I believe we have room in YWAM to do that also. I'm willing to leave YWAM behind to pursue this life I'm being lead into, if need be.