Posted on March 12, 2015.
There are 1,429,801 non-profit organizations in the United States. Out of those 1.5 million organizations, 84,706 of them are Christian based organizations. YWAM alone has 1,100 ministry locations in over 180 countries, 18,350 volunteers/ministry members, and we train 25,000 short term missions volunteers annually.
These characteristics describe every YWAM operating location:
The pre-requisite of a Discipleship Training School for all ministry members
The mandate “to know God and make Him known”
A threefold ministry: evangelism, mercy ministry, and training/discipleship
A shared statement of faith, vision, and values
So why choose YWAM Denver? What makes YWAM Denver different?
Besides the obvious things: the location-north of a major metropolitan city, and just southeast of the glorious Rocky Mountains-YWAM Denver requires each ministry member to complete a secondary school called the ‘School of Ministry Development’. In this school students study a variety of topics including: Spiritual Leadership, Understanding God’s calling, Stewardship, Raising Support in Missions, Public Speaking, Personal Gifts, The Cost of Discipleship, Spiritual Authority, Effective Personal Ministry, and Worldview.
This means each ministry member joins YWAM with the same foundational values: a pursuit of the Kingdom of God-individually and corporately, a beginning knowledge of discipleship, and the purpose of making disciples, a servant-minded heart of leadership, and a desire to serve the those in need with the love of Jesus Christ. While we don’t operate in all of these perfectly, and all the time, the foundation of our service here at YWAM Denver begins at the same place-the heart of God.
I was having a conversation with a young woman the other day who is deciding whether or not to come do her DTS at YWAM Denver or somewhere else. In our conversation I realized, I didn’t have a heart that wanted to convince her to come here as opposed to another campus, but I did want her to know why I chose YWAM Denver.
I chose YWAM Denver for my DTS because of the mountains. Honestly, I chose YWAM Denver because I knew I wanted to be in Colorado. However, the second time I chose YWAM Denver-when I decided to join YWAM Denver-I chose it for other reasons. I chose YWAM Denver because I knew that at the foundation of everything we do is a desire to glorify God. I chose YWAM Denver because I knew there is a type of green house effect here. We are constantly surrounded by people encouraging us and lifting us up, but at some point we choose to ask for the rain and the sun to nourish our growth. At some point we have to ask for the growth, and this is a place where I find growth. YWAM Denver is a place where you will be surrounded by people who desire to make God’s Kingdom known, while cleaning toilets, making food, working at a desk, etc. And I can promise you, the Lord will challenge you as a student or ministry member at YWAM Denver in ways that will stretch who you think you are as a servant of Jesus Christ.