I’ve served as a YWAM missionary for over 10 years now. I work with the traveling community: young adults on a gap year, traveling the world, looking for adventure and hoping to ‘find themselves.’ This is a relational ministry. It’s about knowing how to connect with people from different backgrounds of culture, religion and experiences. I need to know how to effectively share the Gospel, meet their needs, pray with them and teach scripture. I encounter many different world views, new age beliefs and atheism as I work with backpackers. My passion for this work, my training and experience all came from my time as a student and staff on the DTS in Oxford.
I was fresh out of University and looking into different options for my next step. I was also a new follower of Jesus; I came to faith during my first year at uni. A friend mentioned YWAM and at first I wasn’t interested. Perhaps because I didn’t grow up in a Christian home, my idea of a missionary was limited. I thought missionaries were people who went to Africa and held babies and helped orphans. And as much as I loved kids, that did not interest me. I decided to check out the website anyway and found the Backpackers DTS in New Zealand. This combined my love for the outdoors & desire to travel with an opportunity to learn about missions.
I came to DTS excited about the 3 months of lecture phase and apprehensive about the outreach, I had never done evangelism before. But I was hungry to know more about God. During the DTS, I was challenged to dive into scripture and started reading through the Bible for the first time. I had previously been afraid and confused of the Old Testament but learned to understand God’s heart and plans through the whole of scripture. I learned about the beauty of repentance & grace. I encountered the power of the Holy Spirit. The teaching, the mentorship, and the community living built a foundation for the work I am involved with now.
Jesus says in the Bible,
“I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” John 14:6
