What We Believe

Youth With A Mission (YWAM) is an international movement of Christians from many denominations dedicated to presenting Jesus personally to this generation, to mobilizing as many as possible to help in this task, and to the training and equipping of believers for their part in fulfilling the Great Commission. As citizens of God's kingdom, we are called to love, worship, and obey our Lord, to love and serve His Body, the Church, and to present the whole Gospel for the whole person throughout the whole world.

We of Youth With A Mission believe that the Bible is God's inspired and authoritative word, revealing that Jesus Christ is God's son; that people are created in God's image; that He created us to have eternal life through Jesus Christ; that although all people have sinned and come short of God's glory, God has made salvation possible through the death on the cross and resurrection of Jesus Christ; that repentance, faith, love and obedience are fitting responses to God's initiative of grace towards us; that God desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth; and that the Holy Spirit's power is demonstrated in and through us for the accomplishment of Christ's last commandment, "...Go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature." (Mark 16:15)

We affirm the Christian Magna Carta which describes the following basic rights as implicit in the Gospel. Everyone on earth has the right to:

• Hear and understand the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
• Have a Bible available in their own language.
• Have a Christian fellowship available nearby, to be able to meet for fellowship regularly each week, and to have Biblical teaching and worship with others in the Body of Christ.
• Have a Christian education available for their children.
• Have the basic necessities of life: food, water, clothing, shelter and health care.
• Lead a productive life of fulfillment spiritually, mentally, socially, emotionally, and physically. We commit ourselves, by God's grace, to fulfill this covenant and to live for His glory.

YWAM Foundational Values

Since the beginning of Youth With A Mission (YWAM) in 1960, God has emphasized certain Biblical values which serve as spiritual foundations for the mission. The combined strength of these Biblical values has strongly influenced the nature and character of YWAM around the world. These shared values are the guiding principles for both the past and future growth of our mission. They are beliefs we hold in high regard which determine how we live and make decisions. God's Word is the final authority for conduct and faith in Youth With A Mission.

Our foundational values are not a list of rules to be adhered to; they were not written down until YWAM was 25 years old. Rather, these values are recorded here in an attempt to pass on to successive generations that which God has emphasized to us as a mission. The following list has been reviewed by the YWAM International Executive Committee and approved by the International Council.

1. KNOW GOD - YWAM is committed to know God, His nature, His character and His ways. We seek to reflect who He is in every aspect of our lives and ministry. The automatic overflow of knowing and enjoying fellowship with God is a desire to share Him with others.
2. MAKE GOD KNOWN - YWAM is called to make God known throughout the whole world, and into every arena of society through evangelism, training and mercy ministries. We believe that salvation of souls should result in transformation of societies, thus obeying Jesus' command to make disciples of all nations.
3. HEAR GOD'S VOICE - YWAM is committed to creating with God through listening to Him, praying His prayers and obeying His commands in matters great and small. We are dependent upon hearing His voice as individuals, together in team contexts and in larger corporate gatherings. This is an integral part of our process for decision making.
4. PRACTICE WORSHIP AND INTERCESSORY PRAYER - YWAM is dedicated to worship Jesus and engage in intercessory prayer as integral aspects of daily life. We also recognize the intent of Satan to destroy the work of God and we call upon God's power and the Holy Spirit to overcome his strategies in the lives of individuals and in the affairs of nations.
5. BE VISIONARY - YWAM is called to be visionary, continually receiving, nurturing and releasing fresh vision from God. We support the pioneering of new ministries and methods, always willing to be radical in order to be relevant to every generation, people group, and sphere of society. We believe that the apostolic call of YWAM requires the integration of spiritual eldership, freedom in the Spirit and relationship, centered on the Word of God.
6. CHAMPION YOUNG PEOPLE - YWAM is called to champion youth. We believe God has gifted and called young people to spearhead vision and ministry. We are committed to value them, trust them, train them, support them, make space for them and release them. They are not only the Church of the future; they are the Church of today. We commit to follow where they lead, in the will of God.
7. BE BROAD-STRUCTURED AND DECENTRALIZED - YWAM is broad-structured and diverse, yet integrated. We are a global family of ministries held together by shared purpose, vision, values and relationship. We believe that structures should serve the people and the purposes of God. Every ministry at every level has the privilege and responsibility of accountability to a circle of elders, with overall international accountability to the YWAM Global Leadership Team.
8. BE INTERNATIONAL AND INTERDENOMINATIONAL - YWAM is international and interdenominational in its global scope as well as its local constituency. 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.
9. HAVE A BIBLICAL WORLDVIEW - YWAM is called to a Biblical worldview. We believe that the Bible makes a clear division between good and evil; right and wrong. The practical dimensions of life are no less spiritual than the ministry expressions. Everything done in obedience to God is spiritual. We seek to honor God with all that we do, equipping and mobilizing men and women of God to take roles of service and influence in every arena of society.
10. FUNCTION IN TEAMS - YWAM is called to function in teams in all aspects of ministry and leadership. We believe that a combination of complementary gifts, callings, perspectives, ministries and generations working together in unity at all levels of our mission provides wisdom and safety . Seeking God's will and making decisions in a team context allows accountability and contributes to greater relationship, motivation, responsibility and ownership of the vision.
11. EXHIBIT SERVANT LEADERSHIP - YWAM is called to servant leadership as a lifestyle, rather than a leadership hierarchy. A servant leader is one who honors the gifts and callings of those under his/her care and guards their rights and privileges. Just as Jesus served His disciples, we stress the importance of those with leadership responsibilities serving those whom they lead.
12. DO FIRST, THEN TEACH - YWAM is committed to doing first, then teaching. We believe that firsthand experience gives authority to our words. Godly character and a call from God are more important than an individual's gifts, abilities and expertise.
13. BE RELATIONSHIP-ORIENTED - YWAM is dedicated to being relationship-oriented in our living and working together. We desire to be united through lives of holiness, mutual support, transparency, humility, and open communication, rather than a dependence on structures or rules.
14. VALUE THE INDIVIDUAL - YWAM is called to value each individual. We believe in equal opportunity and justice for all. Created in the image of God, people of all nationalities, ages and functions have distinctive contributions and callings. We are committed to honoring God-given leadership and ministry gifts in both men and women.
15. VALUE FAMILIES - YWAM affirms the importance of families serving God together in missions, not just the father and/or mother. We encourage the development of strong and healthy family units, with each member sharing the call to missions and contributing their gifts in unique and complementary ways.
16. RELY ON RELATIONSHIP-BASED SUPPORT - YWAM is called to a relationship-based support system, depending upon God and His people for financial provision, both corporately and individually. We believe that relationship-based support promotes responsibility, accountability, communication, and mutual prayer. It involves the donor as a partner in ministry. As God and others have been generous toward us, so we desire to be generous. YWAMers give themselves, their time and talents to God through the mission with no expectation of remuneration.
17. PRACTICE HOSPITALITY - YWAM affirms the ministry of hospitality as an expression of God's character and the value of people. We believe it is important to open our hearts, homes and campuses to serve and honor one another, our guests and the poor and needy, not as acts of social protocol, but as expressions of generosity.

MANILA COVENANT

We affirm that Youth With A Mission's calling as a missionary fellowship is to help complete the Great Commission. We celebrate the calling of the Lord Jesus upon our mission to be involved in evangelism, training, and ministries of mercy. We renew our commitment to the Lord and to one another so that by God's grace and the empowering of the Holy Spirit we will do all God asks of us to help complete the Great Commission.

We affirm the calling of the Lord upon our mission to mobilize youth for world evangelism. We express in this covenant our commitment to see young people mobilized in great numbers for world evangelism, and to see youthful, exuberant world changers be given every opportunity to take roles of leadership and influence in our mission. We affirm God's calling upon our mission to focus on reaching those who have not been reached with the Gospel.

We declare our desire to see tens of thousands of workers mobilized on the following nine frontiers of world evangelism: the Muslim world, the Buddhist world, the Communist world, the Hindu world, the Small Half, Nominal Christians, the Cities, the Poor and Needy, and Tribal Peoples. We affirm the Lordship of Christ over every sphere of life. We commit ourselves to spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ in such a way that His Lordship is proclaimed over individual lives, nations, the family and home, the church in all its expressions, education, the electronic and printed media, arts and entertainment, the sports world, commerce, science and technology, government and politics.

We believe that this should be done in the same spirit in which Jesus came: as a humble servant, laying down His rights and so pleasing His Father. We affirm that God wants Youth With A Mission to be representative of all nations of the earth, and that our staff and leadership should be comprised of races from Africa, Asia, Australasia, Latin America, Oceania, the Middle East, Europe, and North America.

We affirm our calling as a mission to love people in both word and deed in order to proclaim and demonstrate the Good News of the Gospel. Personal evangelism and practical concern alike give witness to Jesus Christ. Accordingly, we will, by God's grace and mercy, proclaim the Good News and perform acts of mercy so that men and women will embrace the truth of the Gospel.

We affirm the importance of doing God's work, God's way. We declare our total dependence on God for wisdom, and ask Him to reveal to us any trace of paternalism, prejudice, or triumphalism. We choose to follow the example of the Lord Jesus who gave up His rights, defending the rights of the poor, and serving those He came to minister to in righteous humility.