YWAM News Podcast

This month we will talk a lot about The Send in Australia and the Baltics, Prison Outreach in Samoa, delivering clean water in Vanuatu, a preschool starting up in Burundi, people escaping out of prostitution, and more …

Thank you for watching or listening to the Youth With A Mission News Show Podcast, this is the 173rd episode. We are your hosts, Bill Hutchison and Lidia Hugentobler.

You can contact us, subscribe to future episodes, leave comments, and find links to all the stories we talk about on the show notes for this podcast at ywampodcast.com/173.

We are active on YouTube, Facebook, TikTok, and Instagram, so please like and subscribe to this channel so that you can get updates and interact with us.

Stories:

Dorm Life

Recently YWAM Paisley shared a post on their Facebook page asking about people’s experiences with shared rooms with YWAM.

On this episode Bill and Lidia shared some of their own experiences living with room mates. There are also other stories shared on the original Facebook post.

Mercy Ministries

Diabetic Support in Madang Province

We have a testimony from YWAM Ships Kona about ministering to Joshua, a 27 years old, insulin-dependent diabetic, living without electricity or running water in a village in Madang province:

Our team met him because his mother stopped three of our crew on the road during one of our clinics last year and said her son was too sick to reach the clinic. When they got to him, his foot had three deep ulcers from a recent surgery, he was almost out of antibiotics, and he had no way to test his blood sugar. His insulin was sitting in a mug of unfiltered water — the only way he had to keep it cold.

But what struck our team first wasn’t any of that. It was his joy.

Before his surgery, Joshua told his own foot goodbye — said he loved having it, but if Jesus told the surgeon to take it, he’d be okay either way. He woke up with his whole foot intact.

Our medical team went back to the ship that night, packed supplies, and put together a food plan to help him heal. The next day they brought it to him, along with a plan for managing his insulin. And they prayed with him and his mother, twice, before they left the village.

Months later, not knowing what they’d find, our team went back to check on him.

Joshua was standing in his doorway. On both feet. Shoes on. No crutches. Wounds healed.

He told them he’d been baptized two months before, that he’s in church now, that he’s stronger than he’s ever been. His faith has grown right alongside his healing.

He still needs test strips. He still needs ongoing care. But he’s walking, he’s smiling, and he’s giving glory to God for all of it.

This is the whole reason we’re here — not just to treat the wound, but to walk alongside someone until they know there’s a Guide bigger than the diagnosis.

If this is the kind of thing that reminds you God still shows up — send it to someone who needs to hear that today.”

Source

My eldest son has Type 1 Diabetes, and is insulin dependent. I know how challenging it can be to manage the illness here in Australia, and I can’t imagine the challenges that people like Joshua experience in PNG. It’s great that the team from YWAM Ships Kona could be there to minister to him.

The Captain Mosese Raloga Legacy Fund

Earlier this year Captain Mosese from the MV YWAM Koha passed away. In honour of his legacy of ministering in the Pacific Islands, the The Captain Mosese Raloga Legacy Fund has been set up …

More information about the fund, and how you can contribute to it, can be found at ywamshipsaotearoa.org.nz/legacy-fund/.

Water Provision in Vanuatu

The German Embassy has recently partnered with V2 Life Association – YWAM Vanuatu and Atoll Aqua to provide safe and reliable water to around 380 students at Maumau School and the neighbouring community in Teouma.

The project is almost finished with well drilling completed, and solar panels and a water pump installed.

The new water supply is urgently needed as currently, there is no reliable source of flowing water near the school, and the El Niño event declared in June is expected to put even greater pressure on local water supplies.

(source)

Testimony from YWAM Hong Kong

Here’s another testimony from YWAM Hong Kong

“One of our Cardboard collectors came to us at the end of our Helping Hands Hot Meals program wanting to offer us the money she had just earned for collecting cardboard. She kept saying she is “so thankful for the hot meals, so thankful I’m just so thankful” and continued trying to pass us her money. When we asked her how much she had earned today and looked at the amount she was trying to pass us, she had earned only $13 HKD for the day.

We offered instead of taking the money to sit down with her and spend some time chatting. Very quickly the conversation moved easily to sharing about Jesus – our One True God – who is also generous to us, just like she had been with the very little money she had! We shared for 30 minutes parts of the gospel and how God give us special gifts and there is a generosity that is given and shared with us through Jesus and His sacrifice to us!

We prayed with her for her body, as she had pain, and she agreed that Jesus is a God she is interested in! As we prayed she also prayed saying “Thank you Jesus, thank you!”. Although not yet ready to accept Jesus today, we encouraged her to keep praying throughout her week and see how Jesus will reveal Himself to her!”

James 1:17 “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.”

(Source)

Burundi Preschool in  Mutambu YWAM Centre

We received an update this month from the Mutambu YWAM Centre in Burundi that they have now opened a preschool.

They have officially begun with 60 children who are full of enthusiasm and excitement to start learning. This is a great step for their ministry, and we can’t wait to see all the greater things the Lord has in store for this community.

They ask that we pray for the staff and teachers as they raise up leaders out of these little ones.

You can find out more at ywamburundi.org.

Beauty Ashes – YWAM Zomba

YWAM Sumba shared this powerful testimony with us from Beauty Ashes, a ministry serving young women who have been caught in prostitution and want a new life and freedom

For more videos and information, visit their website at zomba.ywam.ws

Evangelism

The Send Baltics

Last month we shared with you about the Band of Bases initiative and the ONE10 Conference that was help in Europe. Part of that initiative is “The Send”, and they will be having one of them soon in the Baltics in Europe.

Check out thesend.lv to find out more

The Send Australia

The Send Australia has already completed multiple events in Australia, with many more planned …

Visit thesend.org.au to find out more about their upcoming events.

YWAM Asheville Food Truck Evangelism

We have been sharing about the Food Truck Ministry that YWAM Asheville has been running since the devastating floods that hit the Ashville area back in 2024. They have been faithfully serving the community, and it is making a physical and spiritual difference in the lives of the people there.

YWAM Asheville heads downtown every week with their food truck ministry, and you can find out more on their web-site, ywamasheville.org.

Samoa Prison Ministry

This month in Samoa, YWAM had the privilege of inviting the police officers who serve and work at the prison to share lunch together.

They wanted to sincerely thank them for their support and for allowing YWAM teams to come into the prison and serve alongside them, especially as they encourage and help the young youth prisoners.

The YWAM Samoa team is grateful for the opportunity to build relationships, share hope, and be a positive encouragement to the young men. They truly appreciate the trust, cooperation, and support of the officers and everyone who makes this ministry possible.

Find out more about their ministry at ywamsamoa.org.

Romanian Bible Studying

Our next video is just a just little clip from YWAM Furnace’s Podcast in New Zealand, it’s called Furnace Podcast NZ, and in this episode they share how in 1973, Barry smuggled 800 Bibles into communist Romania. Fifty years later, he met the grandson of the woman who received one.

If you’d like to watch the full episode, on Youtube, look for episode 65 from the Furnace Podcast NZ.

Training

Arts and Worship Centre in Barbados

We thought we could start this segment sharing about the Arts and Worship centre being developed that YWAM Barbados, and they exciting things they want to do out of it.

More can be found out about the YWAM Barbados ministry on their web-site, ywambarbados.org.

Documentary Film School

The Documentary Film School is a long running school out of YWAM Harpenden, and here is a testimony from one of their students.

Lots of the short films that have been produced from previous schools can be found on the Documentary Film YWAM Harpenden YouTube channel if you wanted to check them out.

More information about the school can be found on the YWAM Harpenden web-site, ywamharpenden.org/dfs.

Liberty Academy Professional Trade School

YWAM Saint Marc, Haiti shared this video from some of their Liberty Academy Professional Trade School.

The Liberty Academy has been running at YWAM Saint Marc since 2023, and this year they had over 550 students enrolled in 16 different classes.

Find out more about their ministry at ywamstmarchaiti.org.

Engaging with Islam – YWAM Boston

In October YWAM Boston will be running a gathering to help equip the Church to reach devout Muslims.

The Summits begins with the premise, “How do we reach our Muslim neighbors with the Gospel?”.

You can join YWAM Boston & Christ Underground for Engaged Islam, a two-day gathering focused on equipping Christians to understand Islam, build meaningful relationships with Muslims, and confidently share the hope of Jesus.

You can come learn, ask questions, be equipped, and be inspired to engage one of the largest unreached communities in New England.

Two days. One mission. The Gospel to the nations.

The Summit is running October 16 – 17 in Boston, Massachusetts.

More information can be found at ywamboston.org.

Simply the Story Workshop

Here is a workshop opportunity, it is “Simply the Story” . It teaches the inductive Bible study method through an oral, story-based approach. This will help participants experience Scripture through meaningful discussion, listening, and response— enabling them to engage with God’s Word in an interactive way.

All the details and the registration can be found at https://www.ywamancuan.org/sts

Anxiety

As we wrap up this month’s news, I wanted to leave us with an encouragement from one of the leaders over at YWAM Furnace, New Zealand.

For me that is a very relevant message. When I look at the amount of work that we need to do on our new house and property it’s easy to get overwhelmed, but I am reminded that God told us that “we can make it work”. Now, that is proving to involve a lot of work, but it was God who told us that, and Him that we can rely on to make it happen.

If you watch or listen to the show, you can hear how Lidia responds.

Changes for the Coming Months

The next four months or so of the YWAM News Show will actually be quite different than what we have gotten used to this year. Next month Bill has some family events going on, so there won’t be a podcast. Then for the three months after that, Lidia has some family things going on that will keep her away from us.

For the three months that Lidia is gone we are hoping to connect with YWAMers who want to share on the YWAM News Show. Kind of like news correspondents, reporting what God is doing at other locations around the world. We can interview you for a segment on the show, or you can also send your news to us for us to share.

If you want to get in touch we would love to hear from your. You can contact us at [email protected], or on our web-site, ywampodcast.com/contact.

Lidia

If you want to follow along with the work that I’m doing with my team you can find us on instagram, facebook and youtube at Ywamrogaland.

Bill

If you want to follow the YWAM News Show Podcast you can find links to everything at ywampodcast.com, and for myself, my personal web-site is billhutchison.org.

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This month we will talk about how Lidia I got involved in Youth With A Mission, learn how YWAM is responding to the devastating floods in Nepal and earthquakes in Argentina and Colombia, hear some of the ways YWAM is serving in Papua New Guinea, check out some upcoming training opportunities, and more.

Thank you for watching or listening to the Youth With A Mission News Show Podcast, this is the 172rd episode. We are your hosts, Bill Hutchison and Lidia Hugentobler.

You can contact us, subscribe to future episodes, leave comments, and find links to all the stories we talk about on the show notes for this podcast at ywampodcast.com/172.

We are active on YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram, so please like and subscribe to this channel so that you can get updates and interact with us.

Band of Bases

Lidia just came back from YWAM Grimerud for the ONE10 conference.

The national leader of YWAM here in Norway presented the conference and objective in this video …

Nepal Floods

To start this month’s news I wanted to talk about what’s happened in Nepal yesterday. YWAM has multiple teams in Nepal, so we are waiting to hear from some of them, but we did get this update on WhatsApp from one of our teams:

“Our family is fine here—but we lost many good friends. A major dam in China broke, causing mass devastation down river, thousands dead, and roads washed away making aid difficult …

Our team here on the ground are working on securing food, blankets, and tarps for relief efforts, as many are without homes… but the struggle is getting supplies to those in need as many places can only be reached by helicopter. Prayers appreciated!”

We will be continuing to update you with what’s happening on our social media channels, but in the meantime, we can pray for all those affected, and working to help.

Colombia Earth Quake

This month Colombia experienced a strong and destructive earthquake. We have numerous teams in the nation, and have received updates from some. This is an update from a team from YWAM Louisville, that had a team of 12 serving in the nation at the time.

“Our hearts continue to be with the people of Pereira and the surrounding communities who have suffered tremendous loss. We are praying that God will bring comfort, strength, and hope to all who have been affected by this tragedy.”

The team has been volunteering in the hardest hit areas to distribute food and water to rescue workers labouring through the rubble in downtown Pereira. They found it to be a very sobering experience that compressed upon them the devastation caused by the earthquake, whild deepening their gratitude for God’s protection over their own lives.

The team is also running a children’s ministry program for the many neighbourhood children who play in the streets outside their temporary housing. They are working to minister and serve alongside locals, and to provide practical assistance where it is welcomed and needed.

Unfortunately updates from our other teams are sparse, but we will be updating you when we receive and find them.

Venezuela Earthquakes

On June 24, Venezuela was struck by two devastating earthquakes (7.2 and 7.5 magnitude), leaving thousands dead and missing, and thousands of families without homes, food, and hope. Behind every collapsed building is a family trying to rebuild their lives.

Since the first day Youth With A Mission (YWAM) Venezuela has been serving alongside local churches, welcoming displaced families, supporting rescue teams, praying with those who mourn, and bringing practical help to those who have lost everything.

Now, they are launching four emergency outreach projects:

Every donation—no matter the amount—becomes hope in action. It feeds a family, comforts a child, and reminds people that they are not forgotten.

YWAM Puerto La Cruz, and YWAM Caracas has been actively working to respond to the emergency. I have not been able to find an active web-site or social meda for Puerto La Cruz, but we will include a link to YWAM Caracas in the show note so you can donate, get prayers updates, and see how you could help.

Hurricane Lala

Hurricane Lala caused major damage across Kaʻū and other parts of the Big Island of Hawaii. YWAM Kona is operating a volunteer distribution center, coordinating local outreach teams with partner churches, and collecting financial gifts to buy supplies and gift cards for affected families.

YWAM Kona has set up a distribution center on the YWAM UofN Kona Campus. The distribution center is accepting relief donations to help families and communities affected by Hurricane Lala. All donations received will be sorted into relief kits and delivered with our local outreach teams for distribution alongside partner churches and ministries.

Head over to https://ywamkona.org/relief/ to find out more.

Restoring Sight in PNG

YWAM Medical Ships Australia continues to work to restore sight in remote Papua New Guinea.

Head over to ywamship.org.au to find out more about the ministry.

YWAM Ships Kona – One Ship, Two Impossible Needs

We also have YWAM Ships Kona serving in Papua New Guinea.

Bible Translation in PNG

One of the results of the Bible Translation project in PNG is that the Onobasulu people have received the complete New Testament in their own language for the very first time.

The journey began when their spoken language did not even have a written alphabet. Translators worked alongside the community to study its sounds, grammar and vocabulary before Scripture could gradually be translated.

Copies of the New Testament were flown into the remote village, where thousands gathered to celebrate. Some traveled for hours—and others for days through the jungle—just to witness God’s Word arriving in the language closest to their hearts.

This is one of 850 languages that were in need of a Bible in their language, and it is exciting to see these translations come online, and for people to experience the New Testament in their own heart language.

YWAM San Diego Homes of Hope – Uganda

YWAM San Diego recently produced this mini-documetary about a woman named Given, who was born in Uganda, 

Island Breeze Manitoba Luau

If you are around in Steinbach in Manitoba Canada on October 1, Island Breeze Manitoba will be having a special fundraising Luau.

It will be a night to celebrate what God has been doing through Island Breeze, and share where they are heading next. There will be island food, live music, cultural dance, stories from young people whose lives are being impacted, door prizes, and lots of Island Breeze fun.

Check out their Facebook page for more details.

TRAINING—

Bible Schools for the Nations – YWAM Madison

Starting with Bible School for the Nations with YWAM Madison in the USA. 

The next school will begin next year September 13 2027 to March 13 2028. For more information you can head to their website at ywammadison.org  or find the link below in the show notes. 

Community Development School – YWAM Ozarks

Next is YWAM Ozarks in USA,  will run the Community Development School.

The Community Development School (CDS) will equip you with principles, skills and perspectives for you to make a holistic Kingdom impact in unreached communities.

The CDS will give you Biblical Training, Practical Skills, and prepare you for effective ministry in a frontier context, with a goal of having Global Impact.

YWAM Ozarks is running the school from September 17 – December 12, 2026, and you can find out more on their web-site, ywamozarks.org/cds.

School of Frontier Missions – YWAM Cebu, Philippines

Last one for this month is at YWAM Cebu, Philippines. The School of Frontier Missions prepares you to cross cultures, share the good news and make disciples that make disciples. Learn from International speakers with a wealth of field experience.

It is a life-changing school training you to pioneer, equipping you with time proven tools to impact people or nations God put on your heart.

The next SOFM starts January 31, 2027 and you can find out more on their Facebook Page.

What’s Important for a YWAM Ministry?

If you want to follow along with the work that Lidia in doing you can find us on Instagram, Facebook and YouTube at Ywamrogaland.

If you want to follow the YWAM Podcast you can find links to everything at ywampodcast.com, and for Bill, his personal web-site is billhutchison.org.

If you liked the program, tell a friend. If you didn’t like it, tell a friend anyway …

This month we will talk about who YWAM’s Circle 18 is, get a fire update from Cimarron, Colorado, hear about the YWAM Lyon street outreach, hear about YWAM’s ministry in Zomba, Malawi, find out that YWAM Koha has redeployed to Fiji, and more.

Thank you for watching or listening to the Youth With A Mission News Show Podcast, this is the 171st episode. I am your hosts, Bill Hutchison.

You can contact us, subscribe to future episodes, leave comments, and find links to all the stories we talk about on the show notes for this podcast at ywampodcast.com/171 …

We are active on YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram, so please like and subscribe to this channel so that you can get updates and interact with us.

I want to start this month’s news with an appology to Lidia, and to those of you who joined us live last night. I had some issues with OBS and trying a new multi-stream service. In trying to get that to work I somehow crashed out the audio inputs, and we streamed and recorded an entire episode without any of Lidia’s audio.

Lidia added a lot to this episode, and I am sorry that you guys don’t get to see or hear what she contributed to the episode. I got to hear all of it, and you guys really did miss out. If I manage to grovel enough, Lidia will join us next month after I fix the audio inputs.

Stories:

YWAM Rosario

Recently YWAM Rosario, Argentina released a video from one of their staff about how he decided to join YWAM …

YWAM Rosario, Argentina has been growing a lot in their reach and opportunities. They are now looking to expand …

If you head on over to ywamrosario.org you can see how you could partner with their ministry, and find out more about what they are doing.

Circle 18

YWAM Rosaio was actually the site of a recent gathering of Circle 18, which is the international ministry in Youth With A Mission that Bill and I work with to produce this YWAM News Show. From that gathering they put together this video, that talks a bit more about the ministry.

The reason why the ministry is called “Circle 18” is because the ministry is based on YWAM’s 18th foundational value, which is “Communicate with Integrity”

“YWAM affirms that everything exists because God communicates. Therefor, YWAM is committed to truthful, accurate, timely and relevant communication. We believe good communication is essential for strong relationships, healthy families and communities, and effective ministry.”

You can find out more about the ministry over at circle18.org.

The Invitation

One of the ministries that Circle 18 works with is the Invitation, YWAM’s Monthly Prayer Initiative …

You can head over to ywam.org/theinvitation to find the different translations for the letter, and to sign up to receive future prayer letters.

YWAM Lyon Street Outreach

YWAM Lyon regularly heads out for street evangelism and send in this report from their latest open air events …

“These past two evenings of open airs were incredible! It was such a joy partnering once again with trEd to proclaim Jesus in the heart of Place Carnot in Lyon. Led by the Holy Spirit, we experienced powerful moments of rap, dance, worship, Gospel preaching, personal testimonies, and flag warfare. Between performances, we connected with people who had stopped to watch as well as those relaxing on the nearby benches.

We shared meaningful conversations, prayed with people, handed out Christian literature, had thoughtful discussions about faith, and, most importantly, saw several people open their hearts to Christ. Even without massive crowds, the peaceful atmosphere created space for genuine, unhurried encounters while spiritually taking back territory. Thank you to everyone who prayed, served, and stood with us. All glory to God!”

Check out ywamlyon.com to find out more.

YWAM Revive London Wimbledon Outreach

YWAM Revive London recently took part in a multi-church outreach during the 2026 Wimbledon Tennis Championships.

YWAM Revive London engages in many ministries in London, and you can find out more about them at ywamrevive.org.

YWAM Harpenden Mission Building

If you are looking for something to do with YWAM either short term, or longer term just outside of London, YWAM Harpenden has some Mission Building opportunities 

You can find out more about these opportunities on their web-site, ywamharpenden.org.

The Send Australia

Last month Lidia shared with us about The Send Philippines, and a few months ago we shared about the first tour of the Send in Australia. At the first Send tour in Australia they saw hundreds of commitments for people to follow God’s plan, and they have recently announced the second tour in Australia.

In September and October The Send will be visiting Bundaberg, Coffs Harbour, Brisbane, and the Gold Coast.

You can visit thesend.org.au to find out more details about the events, and to register for tickets.

YWAM Zomba Malawi

We recently received this video from YWAM Zomba in Malawi …

You can find out more about the ministry and their property project over at zomba.ywam.ws.

Cimarron, Colorado Fire Update

Last month on our social media accounts we shared about the forest fires that were threatening the YWAM location at Cimarron, Colorado. We received this update from them just a few days ago …

“We’re grateful to share a positive update regarding the Gold Mountain Fire and the base.

The evacuation zone has changed, and the base is now in an area under voluntary evacuation rather than mandatory evacuation. While everyone remains alert and prepared should conditions change, we are so thankful that things are looking to be improving. And we are so thankful that the base is still safe! 

Even though we’re able to return to the base, SST will still be hosted at the new location. With the wildfire situation still unpredictable, we don’t want to risk having to evacuate staff and students if conditions change again. We’ve also already committed to hosting SST at the new location, and we’re looking forward to having SST there! But we are rejoicing that we will get to take the students up to see the base at some point! 

Thank you so much for your continued prayers!”

You can follow the developments with the fire, and stories from their ministry, on their website,  ywamcolorado.org,

YWAM Koha Deploys to Fiji

We have told you previously about the refit that the vessel the YWAM Koha went through earlier this year, well this month the ship has departed for Fiji for their next season of ministry …

One of the main ministries that the YWAM Koha does in Fiji is Optometry, which is something that we often take for granted, but can have a huge impact on the lives of the people YWAM ministers to …

Head on over to ywamshipsaotearoa.org.nz to find out more.

Media4Movements – Create International

Create International has been at the forefront of using technology and media for mininstry in YWAM. One of the ministries that they do is Media4Movements …

If you head on over to createinternational.com you can see a lot of the ministries that they are involved in. You can also the many films, books, podcasts, and training opportunities over their.

Final Message from Loren Cunningham

I wanted to finish up the show with a message from Loren Cunningham that YWAM Kona republished.

That concludes the re-recording of this month’s episode.

If you want to follow along with the work that Lidia and her team is doing on instagram, facebook and youtube at Ywamrogaland.

If you want to follow the YWAM Podcast you can find links to everything at ywampodcast.com, and for Bill, his personal web-site is billhutchison.org.

Feedback

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If you liked the program, tell a friend. If you didn’t like it, tell a friend anyway …

This month we will talk about the FIFA World Cup and some of YWAM’s different sports outreaches, we also hear stories from YWAM Australia’s gathering in Alice Springs in the middle of the country, we’ll hear about YWAM in Haiti helping to serve their local community, and more

Thank you for watching or listening to the Youth With A Mission News Show Podcast, this is the 170 episode of the Youth With A Mission News Show Podcast, We are your hosts, Bill Hutchison and Lidia Hugentobler.

You can contact us, subscribe to future episodes, leave comments, and find links to all the stories we talk about on the show notes for this podcast at ywampodcast.com/170 …

Fruitbreak Shorts

The most recent Fruitbreak for YWAM Rogaland asked the BCC students some questions about their school …

YWAM Australia Alice Spings Prayer and Evangalism

This month about 100 people from YWAM Australia met in Alice Springs in the Australian Northern Territory. When they were there they spent time praying for the nation and engaging in evangelism.

Here are some stories from their time in Alice Springs.

If you head on over to ywam.org.au you can find out more about the different ministries around Australia.

The Send Philippines

More than 13,000 young people gathered in two different locations for The Send Philippines this month. The Send is done in partnership with  Youth With A Mission (YWAM), Circuit Riders, Christ For All Nations, and related organizations, including Andy Byrd, Francis Chan, and Lou Engle.

The engagement of vulnerable children — orphans, children in poverty, and those in the foster and adoption system — is a formal pillar of The Send’s global framework and featured prominently in the Philippines gathering. 

In the Philippines, partner organizations working in child welfare and family-based care, such as Philippines Without Orphans, were on-site at both venues to receive commitments and connect participants with concrete next steps.

The Send Philippines had a real focus on the country’s large overseas worker population. With an estimated 10 million Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) dispersed across the globe, the event’s leadership saw an opportunity to prepare Filipino Christians to function as missionaries in the countries where they settle.

You can read more about the Send Event in the Philippines in the original article on the Christian Daily web-site.

YWAM Sports Outreach

YWAM has had a long history of outreach at sports events and ministry around sport. This includes multiple outreaches and opportunities during the current 2026 FIFA World Cup in Canada, Mexico and the United States of America.

Munich Olympic Outreach 1972

YWAM’s history is full of sports outreaches and ministries. One of the outreaches that started it was to the Munich Olympics in 1972.

YWAM deployed nearly 1,000 volunteers for an evangelistic campaign. To accommodate the expected crowd of young people, YWAM purchased the Hurlach Castle in Bavaria, which was about 70 kilometers west of Munich. That castle became the organization’s second permanent training center.

Unfortunately the Munich Olympics of 1972 the games were marred by the Palestinian terrorist attack that killed 11 Israeli athletes and coaches. The YWAMers quickly mobilized to comfort the public, hand out flowers, and pray on the streets.

The full story can be found in Loren Cunningham’s Book, Is That Really You God? by YWAM Publishing.

This event marked the beginning of YWAM’s tradition of Olympic outreaches.I was working with YWAM in Australia in 2000 when the Olympics were held in Sydney. There was a significant outreach to those games including creative art outreaches, evangelism, parallel sporting events, and more. Also the most recent summer games in France YWAM brought many people and teams to the event. 

YWAM Sports Outreach Opportunities

Again using the search engine over at ywam.org I had a look at what opportunities are available with sport in YWAM. 125 different opportunities came up under the “sports” category. It includes specialized courses like a Sport Leadership Ministry in Cameroon, Sports clubs, Training camps, and opportunities for Hiking,Trekking, Camping, and even Hunting at different locations.

I thought I would narrow it down, especially with the World Cup happening, and searched up soccer and football, and came up with nearly 100 different opportunities. YWAM runs soccer camps or events all over the world, including training camps and clubs in Italy, Romania, Albania, Argentina, Panama, Latvia, New Zealand, Tanzania, South Africa, Lebanon, Mexico, Canada, USA, and many more.

I reckon that with all the sports played around the world, football / soccer would be “YWAM’s official sport.”. There is a reason why they call it “The World’s Game” as it’s the most popular sport globally.

With the World Cup happening right now there are many locations in Canada, Mexico, and America that are engaging in outreach to the people coming to watch the event. You can find examples of many of the ministries using the search engine at ywam.org.

YWAM Dunham Jubilee

In 1976, four years after YWAM’s first Olympic Outreach, The Olympic Games came to Montreal, Canada. Thousands of Christians took to the streets, proclaiming the gospel and seeing God move in extraordinary ways.

Fifty years later, that story isn’t finished.

July 17–25, 2026, YWAM Dunham is hosting The Montréal Jubilee: 

We would love to see many people come, pray, worship, be equipped, and take the good news of Jesus into the streets of Montréal.

Find out more on the YWAM Dunham website, ywamdunham.com.

YWAM Sain Marc, Haiti Community Service

Garbage Collection

YWAM Saint Marc has been running their trade school for many years, and have put thousands of students through their programs, equipping them with many practical and valuable skills. The trade school is open Monday to Wednesday, so on the other days the staff have been going out to serve their community.

Lately the community service has been a lot of picking up trash because the garbage situation in their city has gotten very bad. Now that it is rainy season it is especially bad, with most canals being blocked with garbage and Saint Marc has been flooding worse than we have seen in previous years.

Bridge Building

Last week a large bridge in the city collapsed which has made travel in the area difficult. People have to climb down a ladder and then climb up another ladder on the other side in order to cross the street. A YWAM team from the trade school went to check it out and saw that school children have to do this everyday as well. The bottom is full of water and garbage and it is not safe.

Fixing the entire bridge is a huge undertaking that will cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. The YWAM team decided to do what they could, with what they had. They team and a few volunteers from the community built a footbridge for people to use until the full bridge can be re-built. 

They also installed a solar light over the bridge for safety, and cleared significant rubble to allow people to pass and make use of the new crossing.

The best place to follow YWAM Saint Marc, Haiti and their ministry is on their Facebook page.

Excited for Outreach

We have heard a few different outreach stories already this month. YWAM Kona asked some of their students about what they were excited about for outreach.

YWAM Ozajks

It’s always fun to learn about some of the other over 1000 YWAM locations around the world, so this month I thought we could check out YWAM Ozarks, and some of what they are doing …

You can find out more about them at ywamozarks.org.

College of Arts

YWAM’s University of the Nations College of Arts has launched a new website that is full of different opportunities around the world. You can search by your passions or regions, and find courses, communities, and art collectives around the world.

Check out ywamarts.org to find out more.

YWAM Kona Musicianaries

One of the many arts related opportunities out there right now is with the YWAM Kona Performing Arts Music Team.

Right now they are auditioning talented, passionate individuals for full-time missionary staff positions. Their outreach bands perform evangelistic concerts with original material in Hawaii, and they travel internationally annually.

Not only are they looking for musicians, but they are also looking for producers, sound engineers, concert event planners, social media managers, and videographers.

Head over to uofnkona.edu to find out more.

The Invitation

Last month for our monthly YWAM prayer day called “The Invitation” we prayer for oral Bible translation …

You can check out the invitation in different languages over at ywam.org/theinvitation.

Thrive Hike

Last month Bill shared with us about the Wilderness Encounters: Hiking Retreat that will be happening in Spain in October.

There is another hiking retreat happening in Wales this August, but this one -> is for women only…

Taken directly from their web-site, this is what they say it’s about …

“Hiking from the north to the south of Wales. An adventure journeying with God, depending on him, relying on His guidance and coming alive in Him. During this 16-day hike we will cross the beautiful country of Wales, traversing the most beautiful mountainous regions of the Country. It will be a transformative journey of following God’s guidance and depending on him. We will listen to the voice of God together and trust Him to guide us. 

Taking only the bare essential we trust in God’s provision along the journey. It will be a time to enjoy the beauty of Creation with the Creator, to find healing, restoration, and freedom. As women we will experience the power of sisterhood as we rely on one another.”

Visit ywamrevive.org to find out more…

Next Step

YWAM Next Step is a ministry of Mission Builders International (MBI), the YWAM ministry that seeks to serve all of YWAM. They desire to gather and create teams of YWAMers with common or complementary skillsets who can work remotely to serve the underserved in YWAM.

Some of the skills that they are looking for are Web Design/Graphic Design, Programming, Architectural Design / Master planning, Member Care / Debriefing, Marketing, Fund raising, 

Project Management, and General Contracting.

They are specifically looking for coders and IT staff as they have entered the BETA test of a new YWAM Base program. The program seeks to provide all of YWAM with a program that can be run on their website hosting service even as a WordPress plugin. The vision is that YWAM bases could even be run with phones alone.

If you would be interested in serving YWAM in any of these ways, then check out the YWAM Next Step web-site at ywamnextstep.org.

Gleanings for the Hungry

We have shared before about some of the work that Gleaning for the Hungry do, and here is a testimony about their work.

Visit gleanings.org to hear more stories about their ministry, and also find out how you might be able to get involved.

Documentary Film Seminar

This October YWAM Harpenden will be running the Documentary Film Seminar.

The seminar will run from the 14 – 23 of October. Through the seminar participants will learn how to discover, craft, and tell stories that matter. Through hands-on training in storytelling, interviewing, filming, and editing, they’ll gain the skills to create documentaries with purpose and impact.

The seminar is a bit of a teaser for the full Documentary Film School that YWAM Harpenden has been running for about 15-years. You can actually check out a lot of the previous films they have produced on the YWAM Harpenden Facebook Page, and their YouTube Channel. You can also find out more about the school on the YWAM Harpenden web-site.

Foundation in Education school

YWAM Suva is running two second level training courses starting this September, both in the area of education.

The schools are meant for people who have a heart for education and a passion for impacting children. It’s for people who have a pull toward shaping lives, education and want to let the Bible format how and what they teach.

The first of these courses is the Foundation in Education school. The Foundation in Education is a 3-month school centered on developing communication and teaching skills to disciple the next generation effectively.

School of Early Childhood Education

The other course that they are offering at the same time as the Foundation in Education school is the School of Early Childhood Education.

This school prepares students with the practical skills to teach and nurture children aged 0–8.

The schools in Suva include 6 months of classroom learning, followed by an incredible 6 month hands-on practicum and a 3-month outreach in the nations where you will get to actively help set up an ECE center!

You can find out more on the YWAM Fiji Facebook page.

School of Biblical Christian World

YWAM Grimerud is excited to announce that they are running a School of Biblical Christian World in September.

You can find more info and the link to apply at grimerud.no/sbcw-1.

Bible Core Course (BCC) at YWAM Brisbane

Do you wish you could fully understand what you’re reading in the Bible?

The Bible Core Course (BCC) at YWAM Brisbane (Australia) is more than a Bible study program, it’s an opportunity to dive deep into Scripture and allow God’s Word to transform your life.

The next school will be running this September, and you can find the details at ywambrisbane.com.

That concludes this month’s episode. I’m actually heading off to the graduation of YWAM Rogaland’s own Bible Core Course (share more details).

If you want to follow along with the work that I’m doing with my team you can find us on ywamrogaland.no, instagram, facebook and YouTube at Ywamrogaland.

If you want to follow the YWAM Podcast you can find links to everything at ywampodcast.com, and for Bill, his personal web-site is billhutchison.org.

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This month we will talk a lot about coffee, look at why Samoa has become a missionary sending giant, get a ministry update from a North Africa outreach, hear about the harvest in Sudan, hear what needs there are in Madagascar after Cyclone Gezani, share some prayer points, garner some wisdom from Steve Ahearn, and more.

Thank you for joining us for the YWAM News Show for April 2026!.

This month we will talk about some of our various ship ministries, hear a testimony from an outreach to Japan, see one of the ways that YWAM is ministering in Ukraine during the current conflict, follow up with some of the recovery work happening in Jamaica after Hurricane Mellissa, and more …

Thank you for downloading this, the 168th episode of the Youth With A Mission News Show Podcast, We are your hosts, Bill Hutchison and Lidia Hugentobler …

You can contact us, subscribe to future episodes, leave comments, and find links to all the stories we talk about on the show notes for this podcast at ywampodcast.com/168 …

Stories:

YWAM Rogaland has released their latest Fruitbreaks.

Visit ywamrogaland.no to find out more.

The Invitation – Pray for Greenland 

Every month YWAM engages in a monthly prayer event that we call “The Invitation”. Last month we prayed for Greenland.

Outreach to Greenland

Exciting news – YOU can now apply for our Outreach to Greenland!

It’s an unique opportunity to be part of bringing the Gospel LITERALLY to the ends of the Earth – YWAM Norway believes the time for Greenland is now!

The goal is to build relationships with the local churches and with people who have a heart for Greenland.

In Nuük they will do prayer walks, visit the churches and minister to the local community as well as prepare for the second week in Sisimiut where they will be leading the kids and youth program during the annual INO church gathering.

Dates and prices may vary. So far the dates are June 22 – July 7 2026. 

For more information contact them: [email protected] or apply directly in the links below here on show notes: https://event.checkin.no/221878/greenland-outreach?_gl=1%2Anbf3tj%2A_gcl_au%2AMTM0NTI2MDk3MS4xNzc1ODEyMjc4

YWAM Adelaide Maintenance 

Although I have not been up to the YWAM base for almost a month due to our move, things have been happening up there. Earlier this month MMM (Mobile Mission Maintenance) visited YWAM Adelaide to help with necessary repairs …

Visit ywamadelaide.com.au to find out more about the location.

YWAM Samoa Dyna Fundraiser

I wanted to start this episode with a make good from last month when I replayed the wrong video from YWAM Samoa about their fundraiser for a new service truck as they work to replace their Dyna, that they were donated in 2009 …

When I was in Townsville with YWAM Reef to Outback our workhorse truck was a four door Dyna, which was an absolute beast. We took it into the North Queensland outback on outreach, took it camping, and I used it on at least two different occasions when our family moved houses in Townsville.

Since they posted that video they have already received almost $9000 towards their goal of $63,000. We will link to their Facebook Page, where you can get updates for the fundraiser, and find links to give yourself.

 YWAM Kyiv Solar Power Provision

With the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, getting consistent and stable electrical power is a serious challenge. YWAM Kyiv is working to overcome this through solar power …

If you head over to ywamkyiv.org you can find out more about the fund raiser, and also the ministry that YWAM is doing during the continued conflict.

Pacific Hope

Marine Reach Global is a nonprofit ministry organization distributing medical care and supplies from the MV Pacific Hope, a nearly 180-foot boat. The MV Pacific Hope was actually based out of Australia before moving to the Caribbean, where they are currently ministering. My wife and I had the chance to be a part of one of their tours, and she travelled between ports during part of it.

As Marine Reach Global continues to serve in the Bahamas and beyond, they are preparing for essential dry dock maintenance for the MV Pacific Hope, to ensure that they can remain in service for years to come. They are trusting God to provide $240,000 to make this possible and so they can continue to bring medical care, practical aid, and the message of God’s love to communities around the world.

Head over to their facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/marinereachglobal, to follow their ministry, and their web-site, marinereachglobal.org, to sign up for their newsletter and learn how to support their ministry.

YWAM Koha Update

Another one of YWAM’s vessels that is in need of scheduled maintenance in the MV YWAM Koha, and we have this update from their director …

So that’s pretty exciting to hear that they are fully funded, and preparing for their next phase of ministry.

 You can find out more about the MV YWAM Koha Ministry on their web-site, ywamshipsaotearoa.org.nz.

YWAM Ship Ministers in Medang

YWAM Ships Kona’s vessel – the YWAM Liberty, has confirmed that their medical vessel will continue serving communities in Madang Province, with a strong focus on rural and coastal areas. They have leased a local dock for the next 50-years, indicating a substantial long term commitment.

The director has said the long-term plan is to continue delivering vital medical and community services across the province, particularly in Rai Coast and surrounding island communities. In 2025 alone they provided more than 20,000 medical services to people in remote areas. 

The YWAM Liberty team travels by sea, anchoring near villages and sending medical teams ashore to set up temporary clinics. Patients requiring further treatment are transported back to the ship. Services provided include general medical care, dental treatment, and cataract surgeries, restoring sight to patients who have lived with vision impairment for up to 10 to 15 years. In addition to healthcare, the organization is also involved in distributing thousands of eyeglasses and delivering health education programs to local communities. 

For 2026, the team has paused outreach voyages to focus on supporting health services within Madang town. While that being said the decision was made after consultations with doctors at Modilon Hospital, which is currently under pressure. YWAM Liberty will remain in Madang until at least June 2026, continuing to provide primary healthcare, distribute eyeglasses, and assist local health facilities. 

Head to ywamshipskona.org to find out more about their ministry in Madang Province.

Gleanings for the Hungry

Gleanings for the Hungry has been producing and distributing food to people in need since 1982. This video shows some of the process involved in securing the food needed for their ministry …

In the last 10-years Gleanings for the Hungry has proved over 53 million meals to people in over 30 different nations.

You can find out more about their ministry on their web-site, gleanings.org.

YWAM Kings Lodge

YWAM Kings Lodge has been operating since 1984, so we thought we could hear a bit from them about who they are, and ministry they are involved in.

Their web-site is ywamthekingslodge.org, where you can find out more about their ministry, and how you can get involved.

Family Care Centre in Vanuatu Celebrate 10 years

In addition to operating the MV Pacific Reach, Marine Reach also runs the Family Care Centre in the Teouma Valley in Vanuatu.

We have reported on a lot of the work that the Family Care Centre has been doing, including the local work recovering from the earthquake that hit Vanuatu last year. Well, this month that centre is celebrating 10 years of operations.

They released this statement about the 10-year anniversary:

“For a decade, it has been our privilege to serve the Teouma Valley community and beyond through our open clinic here in Vanuatu. We are deeply grateful to the families and individuals who have trusted us with their care, and to the community that has welcomed us with open hearts.

This milestone would not have been possible without the generous support of our sponsors, whose commitment has helped turn this vision into reality.

Here’s to 10 years of care, compassion, and community—and many more to come.”

The best place that I have found to follow their ministry is on their Facebook Page, facebook.com/FamilyCareCentre, which is linked to in the show notes.

Philippines Medical Outreach

More than 10,000 villagers benefited from a three-day medical, dental and community health intervention mission of the Youth With A Mission (YWAM) Ships Philippines in Barangay San Isidro in Talaingod, Davao del Norte in partnership with the Philippine Army’s 10th Infantry Division.

10,222 villagers, including children, women and elderly folks, availed of the free medical and dental services during the three-day outreach activity, partly capped off with lectures on prevention of communicable diseases in their tribal enclaves.

The health service teams from YWAM and the Philippine Army had also provided villagers with medicines for their ailments during the three-day medical mission.

Find out more about YWAM Ships Phillipines on their web-site, ywamshipsph.org.

YWAM Saint Marc, Haiti Update

We now have an update from YWAM Saint Marc, Haiti about what is happening …

Check out their web-siite, ywamstmarchaiti.org, to find out more about their work.

YWAM Orlando Outreach Story from Japan

We love sharing stories from some of our outreach teams, and we have this one from YWAM Orlando to share with you now.

You can find out more about YWAM Orlando, and find more outreach stories, on their web-site, ywamorlando.com.

Kings Kids International Celebrate 50-years of Ministry

On July 4th, 1976, Kings Kids International was born in Kona, Hawaii, which means they are celebrating 50 years of ministry this year!

They sent me this message to share with you about this event …

Kings Kids International’s Mission Statement is:

“To lead children, youth and families into knowing God intimately, bringing Him joy and, together with Him and one another, making Him and His Kingdom known to all.”

KKI is an international movement that embraces a Kingdom lifestyle that is family-based, generationally linked, and supported by covenantal relationships. Our purpose is to mobilize, equip, reach out to and care for children, youth, families and communities, helping them to know God intimately, bring Him joy, and – together with Him and one another – make Him and His Kingdom known.

So, this year is very special and we will celebrate its 50th anniversary in 16 different regions in five different continents!

This will be an opportunity to:

We are called to remember and consecrate our hearts as we learn the new way for the new day ahead. It will be a time of gratitude, joy, and inspiration and you are all invited to join us. 

For further information, please visit our website at kki.global/50th 

Rebuilding in Jamaica after Hurricane Melissa

We will now look at an update from the YWAM base in Jamaica helping rebuild from the damages from Hurricane Melissa that hit in October last year.

That volunteer was one of many volunteers that have been helping with the rebuilding in Montego Bay. Teams are working tirelessly under the sun, committed to restoring not just shelter, but dignity and hope.

Last week the volunteers were able to build 15 homes, directly supporting the broader commitment to deliver 200 new homes to families affected by Hurricane Melissa. 

You can read more details about the work through a story linked to in the show notes, and also on the YWAM Jamaica web-site, ywamjamaica.org.

Athi River Mission Builders

Here’s a testimony from a volunteer who was at Ywam AthiRiver, Kenya earlier this year.

“I am writing to tell that by God’s unfailing grace and mercy, I had a most rewarding volunteer experience at YWAM Athi River. This was my first venture abroad. As I wrap up my two-week stay, I cannot help but remember how, thanks to your singular initiative, this trip came to be. Thank you very much from the bottom of my heart.

“I look forward to my next opportunity to serve at this location, as well as other locations. May you continue to be led by the Holy Spirit in everything you do to help other volunteers find their places to serve. I do hope to meet you someday.”

–Simone, serving at #YWAMAthiRiver, Kenya

Find out more about YWAM Athi River’s ministry on their web-site, ywamathiriver.org, and find out more about YWAM Mission Builders International on their web-site, missionbuilders.org.

Tribal Waves

We will now hear from YWAM in Sigatoka, Fiji, about who they are and what God has called them to do.

For more information visit ywampacificwaves.org 

Artistic Journaling Online School 

Coming from YWAM Potchefstroom, South Africa, an online course opportunity – Artistic Journaling starting 2 May. 

The topics they will cover will be; prayer & journaling, forgiveness & gratitude, processing and applications with the Bible as a foundation – using creative activities.

You can register at ywampotch.com 

C.S. Lewis – A Reading Course

Another online course that you could join is a summer reading course on the works of C.S. Lewis. They will be going through a variety of books by him and have weekly discussions. It starts on July 13 – September 4. And an important note is that you’ll get 2 UofN credits. 

Find out more and register at uofn4all.org  

YWAM Experience Asia – Holy Cow!

 I saw this video and just wanted to share it with you all …

I thought that was a fun video put out by YWAM Experience Asia, and a good way to wrap up this month’s YWAM News Show!

Wrap Up

If you want to follow along with the work that Lidia is doing with her team you can find us on Instagram, Facebook and youtube at Ywamrogaland, as well as their web-site, ywamrogaland.no.

If you want to follow the YWAM Podcast you can find links to everything at ywampodcast.com, and for Bill, his personal web-site is billhutchison.org.

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Thank you for joining us for the YWAM News Show for March 2026!

This month we will talk about, rebuilding happening at YWAM St. Vincent and the Grenadines, hear a few different testimonies about ministry in Guinea-Bissau, Check out three of YWAM’s ship ministries, hear what YWAM is doing in Morlia, Mexico, and more …

Thank you for downloading this, the 167th episode of the Youth With A Mission News Show Podcast, We are your hosts, Bill Hutchison and Lidia Hugentobler …

You can contact us, subscribe to future episodes, leave comments, and find links to all the stories we talk about on the show notes for this podcast at ywampodcast.com/167 …

Stories:

Latest Fruitshorts from YWAM Rogaland

YWAM Rogaland BCC Staff Needed

YWAM St Vincent and the Grenadines Rebuilding

In August of 2024 the YWAM Centre in St. Vincent and the Grenadines was destroyed by Hurricane Beryl. We have talked about some of the  cleanup and rebuilding that the team there have been engaged in. Not only are they working on rebuilding their own centre, but they have also been working with the local community to help them rebuild and recover.

Here is the latest update from the team.

“This past week’s team did plumbing & electrical on cabins and put up rafters for the staff house. We are definitely seeing progress and it’s inspiring. But a lot of work still needs to be done to get this base back to where it was pre-hurricane”

If you are watching, you can see the roof rafters getting installed for the staff house, one of many buildings that was destroyed when the hurricane hit the islands.

If you head over to their web-site, ywamsvg.org, you can see their plans for the rebuild, and the further development of their centre.

YWAM Niagra Guinea-Bissau Outreach

Last Month YWAM Niagara had a team visiting Guinea-Bissau, here is a short report of one of the miracles they experienced …

YWAM Niagara has other testimonies that they have shared on the YouTube channel, which we will link to in the show notes at ywampodcast.com/167, and you can also check out their web-site at ywamniagara.org.

The Send Australia

The Send Australia kicked off their first Australian event in Townsville this month.

They had an epic night, with 532 people joining the event, 46 salvation happened, and there were 62 responses to action.

Many messages were shared at the event, including this one by Brendane.

Since that first event the Send has happened in Mackay, and tonight it’ll be happening in Rockhampton. After that this first tour will head to the Sunshine Coast, Brisbane, Gold Coast, and finishing up in Byron Bay on 19 June.

Check out the schedule and locations on The Send Australia web-site, thesend.org.au.

YWAM Aotearoa Ship Update

Over 72,000 services have been delivered from the YWAM KOHA during it’s multiple deployments in the South Pacific.

For the ship to stay operational for the next decade, the vessel must undergo a mandatory five-year survey inspection and dry-dock maintenance. To see that happen, they need help …

You can visit ywamshipsaotearoa.org.nz to find out more and to donate.

YWAM Morelia

Now we will visit one of our locations in Mexico, Morelia, and find out more about their ministry

Head on over to ywamm.org to find out more about their ministry, and how you can get involved.

Rend 26 in Medicine Hat

From April 11th to May 2nd, YWAM Selah in Medicine Hat, Alberta, Canada, are calling the Church of Medicine Hat to a 21 day of prayer and fasting in the heart of Joel 2.

You can head to ywamselah.com/rend26 to find out more about this prayer event.

YWAM Ships Australia Visited by PNG Prime Minister

Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape visited the MV YWAM PNG ship ahead of its first voyage of 2026 to Western Province, expressing support for its health and education initiatives serving local communities.

The visit cames just days before the vessel set sails to Western Province, PNG, marking the first outreach for 2026. On board, volunteers were in the final stages of preparation, readying the ship for deployment and welcoming national leaders into the heart of the mission.

The Prime Minister met with volunteers from Papua New Guinea and around the world, including a team from YWAM Norway. Conversations during the visit focused not only on the upcoming outreach, but also on the future – particularly the potential for additional ships serving the people of PNG. Prime Minister Marape expressed strong enthusiasm for this vision, reaffirming his long-standing support for ship-based services that bring healthcare, training, and development directly to coastal and riverine communities.

Nearly 100 volunteers from 14 nations were on board the MV YWAM PNG when it sail to the coast of Western Province. Working in partnership with local health workers, the team will deliver essential healthcare services alongside health promotion and education, strengthening local capacity and supporting long-term community wellbeing.

The vessel is reported to have arrived in Papua New Guinea on March 22, and should soon begin its medical mission into Western Province.

Head over to ywamships.org to find out more, and follow their work in PNG.

YWAM Camp Galina

Another YWAM location that is operating in PNG is YWAM Camp Galina. The camp serves the local community through discipleship, education, outreach, and practical care.

One major challenge that the team has that limits what they can do is transportation.

Camp Kalina sits high on Kalina Mountain. Every day, staff and volunteers must walk a steep and often dangerous path just to reach the main road. When it rains, the trail becomes slippery and difficult. Supplies for the camp, food for the school, and materials for ministry are often carried up the mountain by hand.

A reliable 4×4 vehicle would completely transform what Camp Kalina can do.

The local community is even raising pigs to sell to help fund the vehicle, but reaching the goal this way will take a long time.

In the shownotes for this podcast at ywampodcast.com/167 you can watch the video about their ministry, and also find a link to their fundraising page.

YWAM Juba, South Sudan King’s Kids Ministry

We also received this update from YWAM Juba, in South Sudan:

We have had such an amazing and impactful week of training in the King’s Kids Children Ministry!

We are truly grateful to God for the opportunity to learn from Jack Hart and Jason Stewart, who have been teaching and equipping our staff through Zoom. It has been a powerful time of growth, encouragement, and fresh vision for the ministry.

As a base, we feel strongly that God is leading us to go deeper in children’s ministry and youth. This is our focus in this season—to see young lives transformed by the love and power of God, and to raise a generation that knows Him and walks in His truth.

We believe this is not just training, but a step into what God wants to do in our community and beyond.

Please continue to keep us in your prayers as we follow His leading. And if you feel in your heart to stand with us or be part of what God is doing through this ministry, we would love to connect with you.

We will link to their Facebook page in the shownotes at ywampodcast.com/167, where you can follow along with their ministry, and connect with the YWAM Juba, South Sudan team.

Balanta Tribeswoman Finds Faith in Jesus Through Audio Bible

The Balantas are a small people group residing in central west Guinea-Bissau, consisting of various subgroups, each speaking a different dialect.

The predominant religion amongst the Balanta people is animism, the belief that natural and inanimate objects possess a soul. Islam is the second most common religion, while only 5% identify as christian. Due to a 50% literacy rate a large portion of this population lack access to the Word of God because it is only available to them in written Bibles. 

In partnership with YWAM the Balanta-Kentohe audio Bible is being distributed across villages in central west Guinea Bissau. Many are now able to hear the Spoken Word of God in their home languages for the first time. 

Jefferson Brunetti, a YWAM leader, has shared testimonies of the transformative experiences he and his team have witnessed during these audio Bible distributions. 

For more information and updates you can visit the YWAM website at https://ywamguineabissau.org/

School of Transformational Business (SOTB)

We will now shift to to some upcoming YWAM schools taking place later this year, starting with the School of Transformational Business (SOTB) in YWAM Kampala, in Uganda.

This school is 6 weeks, and it will equip you to launch and lead a business with a missional purpose. Whether you are in the process of starting a business, growing a ministry initiative, or exploring how business and faith intersect, this school will provide you with biblical foundation, practical tools, and community to move forward with confidence. 

The school begins on the 19 October – 28 November 2026

If you’re interested you can find out more on their instagram @ywamkampala.

YWAM East Africa Community Development

YWAM Burundi is hosting the East Africa Community Development Workshop starting July 5th to 18th, 2025.

This hands-on workshop is for people who are already serving in local communities and those wanting deeper insight into community development.

Learn practical tools, share experiences, and discover faith-grounded approaches that help communities grow with strength and dignity.

Led by Dave and Swann, experienced facilitators with YWAM Mercy Ministries since 1989, this is a unique opportunity to learn, reflect, and build hope-filled solutions together.

Find the link to the post on YWAM Burundi’s facebook page at ywampodcast.com/167.

School of Early Childhood Educatcion

Next school is the School of Early Childhood Education in Suva, Fiji with YWAM Suva, YWAM Auckland and YWAM Pacific Tribes.

In the School of Early Childhood Education (SECE) you will be taught how to deliver the YWAM Preschool curriculum that speaks about Knowing God as Creator and as Father, Knowing God with us and through His Word. This 3 month school you will learn about healthy holistic development and the ways we as adults come alongside to nurture and build what children already possess. 

This course can be used as a ´refresher´ for teachers to capture once again the heart of Jesus as Master teacher or for those still searching how to use their gifts and abilities for the Kingdom. 

For more information visit their Facebook at Youth With A Mission Fiji.

Pray for the Middle East

As we wrap up the news for this month it would be good to remember to pray for the conflict in the Middle East right now. Pray that there would be an end to the war, to the unnecessary dying, and that rebuilding of the region and trust can begin as soon as possible.

We need to remember that the people on both sides of the conflict are created in God’s image, and are children of God. I think it’s important that we pray, and ask God to intervene.

As things come up for YWAM in the Middle East we will update you as we learn more and when it is safe to share.

In Closing

If you want to follow along with the work that Lidia doing with her team, you can find them on Instagram, Facebook and YouTube at Ywamrogaland.

If you want to follow the YWAM Podcast you can find links to everything at ywampodcast.com, and for Bill, his personal web-site is billhutchison.org.

Things will be looking different next month, so tine in to see how!

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Thank you for joining us for the YWAM News Show for February 2026!

This month we will talk about some upcoming conferences and stories, find out some plans for one of our ship ministries in 2026, hear about a mobile medical clinic in Burundi, see some other Bible distribution opportunities around the world, get an update on the new high school being built in Marromeau, and more …

Thank you for watching or listening to the Youth With A Mission News Show Podcast, this is the 166 episode. We are your hosts, Bill Hutchison and Lidia Hugentobler …

You can contact us, subscribe to future episodes, leave comments, and find links to all the stories we talk about on the show notes for this podcast at ywampodcast.com/166 …

Latest Fruitshorts from YWAM Rogaland

YWAM Rogaland Refill

YWAM Rogaland has an upcoming event called Refill, from the 27 June – 3 July.

Refill is for former staff & students, or friends of former staff and students who are not involved with YWAM but would like a taste of it.

Our heart with this event is to give them space to refill and reconnect with what God has done in your life.

Don’t think you really want to miss out on that. This will be on 27 June – 3 July.

Check-in is already open with early bird tickets until the 1st of May. You can find the check in and more information linked in our bio, at YWAM Rogaland Instagram page.

Creative Identity Conference

Another gathering that YWAM is having is the “Creative Identity conference in Singapore from the 1st to the 5th of June.

The CREATIVE IDENTITY CONFERENCE is a Spirit-led gathering of Christian creatives from across Asia and beyond, designed to equip participants to steward their creativity with excellence to tell God’s Stories in their unique space, and to discover their creative identity in the ultimate Creator.

The conference is run by YWAM Singapore & Parable International with 3 goals:

Before the MAIN CONFERENCE begins, there is a 2-day intensive STORYTELLERS TRACK to help missionaries, communicators, mobilizers, tell stories that carry God’s heart with greater impact!

You can find out more about the conference on the YWAM Singapore Instagram page.

3 New Classrooms at YWAM JOCUM Marromeu

In some encouraging news, back in September last year we shared about YWAM Marromeu working towards adding 6 classrooms to their primary school so they could facilitate a new high school. Well, this month we got this news from their location.

“We thank God for His provisions as we have officially completed construction on 3 new classrooms! The 2026 school year will begin soon and we are excited to have the additional classrooms! We are still needing funding to continue our school campus’ expansion in order to officially add high school to our elementary school.

If you would like to contribute towards the continued construction or sponsor students, please visit https://www.ywamjocummarromeu.org/school-building-project”

So that is very exciting news from their ministry centre, and we look forward to seeing their continued growth and expansion to better serve their local area.

The Send Australia Launch Even

In some really exciting news for us in Australia, The Send is having their launch event in Townsville, Queensland on the 13th of March!

The event will be happening at the YWAM Warehouse on Walker Street in Townsville.

You can register for the event, and find out more, on The Send web-site, thesend.org.au.

YWAM Series 23

Now we will get to see an update from YWAM Series 23, and their ministry in the Dominican Republic.

You can find out more about their ministry on their web-site, ywamseries23.org.

YWAM Ships Aotearoa 2026 Goals

Last year YWAM Ships Aotearoa was busy in the South Pacific, and this year they plan to continue to serve communities in New Zealand and Fiji …

Find out more on their web-site, ywamshipsaotearoa.org.nz.

Guinea-Bissau Outreach

YWAM Niagara recently had an outreach in Guinea-Bissau. This is a report from them about some of what happened when they were there.

YWAM Niagara has more stories and testimonies from their time in Guinea-Bissau, which can be found on their Facebook page, facebook.com/YWAMNiagara.

End Bible Poverty Outreach

As you heard in that last story from Guinea-Bissau, one of the the things that YWAM is doing around the world, and one of the legacies of Loren Cunningham, is Bible distribution and translations around the world.

For many people, an audio Bible can be the first moment God’s Word speaks clearly to them in their mother tongue.

More than 700 million people still don’t have access to Scripture in a language they can understand, and YWAM is actively working to bridge that gap, with many partnerships with other Christian organizations like Mission Aviation Fellowship. (source)

End Bible Poverty Partnership with MAF in Ugagnda

On the isolated islands of Jaana, Kalangala and Bukasa in Lake Victoria – Africa’s largest lake, which straddles Tanzania, Uganda and Kenya – Mission Aviation Fellowship – Uganda joined forces with YWAM ‘End Bible Poverty Now’ initiative to deliver 200 Bibles in their mother tongue.

Pastor John from Jaana Island is so grateful. ‘Getting Bibles is a big blessing. People have been asking for them for years. Many people can’t afford to buy one, but today we received Bibles, and we are thankful.’

MAF’s 30-minute flight to Bukasa saved the team a dangerous 10-hour boat crossing.

You can find out more about the work that Mission Aviation Fellowship does, including their partnering with YWAM, on their web-site, maf-uk.org.

YWAM Burundi Mobile Medical Clinic

YWAM Burundi, in partnership with the PI team, hosted a two-day mobile clinic on their ministry centre. From 5 a.m., hundreds of patients arrived for checkups, tests, and compassionate care from their doctors and nurses.

Visit ywamburundi.org to find out more about their ministry. (source)

YWAM Louisville – How God Moved

YWAM Louisville asked some of their past students about how they saw God move on their outreaches, and these are some of the stories that they recorded…

Visit ywamlouisville.org to find out more and read more stories of how God has moved through their ministry.

Night to Shine Special Needs Event

On Valentine’s Day, 23 persons from the Special Needs community got recognized, honored, and celebrated during A Night to Shine at YWAM in Roaring Creek, Belize.

You can Go to ywam.bz to find out more about YWAM in Belize and their current projects and ministries. (source)

Trailblazers School of Evangelism

YWAM EA in Malasia will be running the Trailblazers School of Evangelism starting on March 30.

Trailblazers is a second-level YWAM school designed to equip you with the skills and knowledge needed to make a lasting impact through community outreach and cross-cultural relationships. The program begins with an 11-week lecture phase, where you’ll deepen your understanding of key topics, strengthen your faith, and develop leadership skills. Following the lecture phase, you’ll embark on an 8-week outreach in Asia and Africa, putting your learning into practice as you engage with communities and make a tangible difference. Trailblazers combines personal growth with hands-on ministry, preparing you for effective service in missions.

Visit ywamea.com to find out more.

Principles in Child, Youth, and Family Ministries

The PCYFM is a five-month school designed to equip you for reaching and serving children, youth and families. Understand biblical principles for human growth and development, character building, healthy family models, the linking of the generations, and a practical understanding of our faith applied to all areas of life.

It’s an intense, full-time program integrated into a live-learn environment consisting of two parts – lecture phase and outreach phase.

The outreach phase will give you opportunities to apply the skills and principles learned in a variety of different settings with children, teenagers and families. Possible activities include child and youth evangelism, outreach trips, serving in schools, churches, and children camps, youth camps, family camps, mercy ministries and helping children with special needs.

This year the school is being offered at multiple locations around the world, including:

We will link to all of those locations in the show notes at ywampodcast.com/166 if this is a school that you want to find out more about.

School of Missions and Evangelism – YWAM Sheep River

A new school, the School of Missions and Evangelism (SOME), is coming to YWAM Sheep River this July.

You can find out more on the YWAM Sheep River web-site, ywamsheepriver.org.

School of Missional Justice – YWAM Wiler

YWAM Wiler is running the School of Missional Justice in July.

At the heart of the School of Missional Justice is getting to know God, His character and His ways and letting that teach us how to relate, think, act – and live. How it could be possible to make a real difference in this broken world.

This course affirms and explores the Mission of God. As followers of Jesus we are called to participate with God in His mission, and thus to proclaim the Good News of the Kingdom of God and live out its implications

We seek to pursue an integrated, holistic approach to aligning with God’s Kingdom agenda of righting relationships with Himself, others, and creation; to restoring justice; and to bringing healing to a broken world. We highlight a biblical Christian worldview and the resulting pursuit of a lifestyle of doing justice, loving mercy, and walking humbly with God in every sphere of society.

Head over to jmemwiler.ch to find out more.

Foundations for Christian Peacebuilding – YWAM An Cuan – Rostrevor

YWAM An Cuan – Rostrevor will be running the Foundations for Christian Peacebuilding,
a 2-week mini-school exploring peace, justice, and reconciliation, in May of this year.

The Foundations for Christian Peacebuilding school gathers people from diverse backgrounds around some of life’s hardest realities to ask, what is the Good News here?

The 2 week school aims to provide students with teachings, resources, and experiences to formulate a fresh framework for understanding what the gospel of peace means for us in our world today.

You can find out more on their web-site, ywamancuan.org.

Foundation in Education Course – YWAM Burtigny

YWAM Burtigny is running a Foundation in Education Course at the end of June this year.

Education plays a critical role in the development of an individual and we advocate for the availability of biblically based learning models for every child worldwide.

The Foundation in Education course aims at giving teachers and those who work with children in all contexts, a solid biblical foundation. The course explores how to establish an educational model that makes disciples of children in all areas of life (intellectually, spiritually, physically, morally, socially and emotionally). The seminar also looks at the role of education in community development and global mission.

The seminar will be running from June 28 – August 1st in Burtigny, Switzerland, and you can find out more on their web-site, ywamburtigny.com.

YWAM Nashville Podcast – The Heart of Worship

If after joining us for the YWAM News Show this month you are looking for something else to listen to, YWAM Nashville’s podcast has an episode on The Heart of Worship.

You can find their full podcast episodes on Spotify and Apple iTunes, which are linked to from the YWAM Asheville web-site, ywamasheville.org.

Pray for Muslims During Ramadan

I also wanted to remind you, especially this month, to be praying for Muslims around the world as they partake in Ramadan. There is a long history of Jesus appearing in visions and dreams to people of the Muslim Faith during this time, so prayer for them while they are fasting is important.

A fantastic resource for praying for Muslims during this time is the 30 Days of Prayer for the Muslim World prayer guide and web-site. You can find them at pray30days.org.

If you want to follow along with the work that Lidia doing with her team, you can find them on Instagram, Facebook and YouTube at Ywamrogaland.

If you want to follow the YWAM Podcast you can find links to everything at ywampodcast.com, and for Bill, his personal web-site is billhutchison.org.

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This month we will talk about missions advocacy, get some year end updates from a few of our locations, find out some different ways that YWAM serves people and locations when on outreach, check out a couple of ministry books, get some life advice from YWAM Tahlee, and more …

Thank you for watching or listening to the Youth With A Mission News Show Podcast, this is the 165 episode. I am your hosts, Bill Hutchison.

You can contact us, subscribe to future episodes, leave comments, and find links to all the stories we talk about on the show notes for this podcast at ywampodcast.com/165 …

Last week Lidia and I recorded this episode together. Unfortunately, I messed up the recording and streaming, and Lidia’s voice was not recorded. Unfortunately, you all missed out as Lidia contributed some great stories and content, but I will still share the news with you now …

Lidia has returned to Rogaland from Brazil and is now leading their media team. One of the projects that she is continuing is their Fruit Breaks …

Lidia is going to be continuing to produce fruitbreaks every week, and we will be watching them as well and enjoying their content moving forward.

YWAM Rogaland also had a video made by one of their DTS students, Anoah, who is currently on outreach in South Africa and made a stop in Lesotho. Lesotho is a very small country inside South Africa. Its completely landlocked, with a population of roughly 2.3 million. The team was working with YWAM Lesotho, helping a lot with practical needs and at preschools.

If you liked the video, you can find more made by Anoah on the YWAM Rogaland Instagram page.

The video was actually made as part of the All Nations Initiative, which Mika will explain to us now …

If you would like to know more or to take part in the All Nations Initiative, you can find out more on ywam.no,

Acts 1:8 – Missions Advocacy

Next I wanted us to watch a video put out by Bevin from Global Cast Resources about Acts 1:8 …

In the originally recorded episode Lidia and I had a good discussion about the importance of serving locally, and serving overseas, and how God has a roll for all of us somewhere. Even though that discussion was lost, I think that it’s important for us to remember how all of us have a roll in the Body of Christ.

We will talk more about Global Cast Resources and the work that they are doing later in the show …

Davos Outreach

This month saw the meeting of hundreds of world leaders in Davos, Switzerland. YWAM was also there, praying, worshiping, outreaching and hosting Christian politicians, businessmen, and entrepreneurs who are making an impact in those spheres of society.

Ezekiel shares with us a bit about what happened there …

You can visit ywamdavos.org to find out more about the ministry that location is engaging in.

YWAM Las Vegas March Against Human Trafficking

January 12th was the National Day Against Human Trafficking, and YWAM Las Vegas was out on a prayer march to raise awareness in a city that has the nick name, Sin City.

National Day Against Human Trafficking is a day to shine a light on human trafficking and celebrate the resilience of survivors. While awareness is key, we also need to focus on taking action.

What can you do to be part of the solution?

Learn the signs, support anti-trafficking organizations, and advocate for policies that empower vulnerable populations. Every action has the power to drive positive change.

YWAM Las Vegas is working to change the city. Instead of calling it Sin City they call it Grace City and they are working with victims of human trafficking, foster children, inner city youth, EMT workers, and more …

Visit ywamlasvegas.org to find out more about their ministry, and how you can get involved.

Thailand / Cambodia Conflict Outreach

Last month I shared about the border conflict between Thailand and Cambodia, and how there were nearly 3/4 of a million displaced civilians because of it. Shortly after we published that episode a ceasefire was agreed to on December 27, and fighting ceased.

There are still hundreds of thousands of people displaced, and YWAM is sending teams to help with the recovery and the next steps, including this team from YWAM Maui …

We should keep praying during the recovery and relocation time for the people affected by this conflict, and that the long running conflict would not reignite.

You can find out more about the team from YWAM Maui, and the ministry that YWAM Maui engages in, on their web-site, ywammaui.com.

YWAM Queenstown Outreach to Fiji

There are many ways that YWAM teams serve in the nations that they outreach to. While on outreach in Fiji, a team from Queenstown in New Zealand conducted a Clean-up campaign at a local park in Lautoka.

You can head on over to ywamqueenstown.com to find out more about what their teams did on outreach.

2025 Ministry Location Updates

This month we have some year end updates from 2025, shared by two of our ministry locations.

YWAM Wylie 2025 Update

We start with YWAM Wylie, in Texas.

You can find out more about their ministry at ywamwylie.org.

YWAM Lausanne 2025 Wrap Up

Now, we have a wrap up from YWAM Lausanne in Switzerland.

You can find out more about their ministry at ywamlausanne.com.

The Day Bagabag Island Heard the Bible in Their Own Language

This is an outreach update that we received from a YWAM Ships Kona team that visited Bagabag Island …

When we arrived on Bagabag Island for our recent medical outreach, within minutes of talking with people, I learned something important. Everyone speaks Takia as their heart language, yet all of their Bibles and teaching resources are in English or Tok Pisin. They do their best with it, but it is hard for them to truly understand. You could tell they wanted something that felt like theirs, something they could genuinely connect with.

That night back on the ship, we researched online, and to our surprise, the entire New Testament had already been translated into Takia. It was done for a neighboring island call Karkar, but had not yet made it to their island. There were audio recordings, apps, online tools, and even the full Jesus Film. It looked like the resources had been sitting there, ready to be used, but no one had ever brought them to this island. Everything was already available; it just needed to be shared.

The next day we loaded everything onto a LightStream sharing device and returned to the village. As soon as people began receiving it on their phones, the reaction was immediate. People gathered around, faces shifted from curiosity to shock as they realized what they were hearing. They listened quietly at first, then began asking how they could get the recordings for themselves. For them, it was the first time they had ever heard the Bible in the language they grew up with.

Our Bagabag Island outreach was a powerful reminder of just how impactful it is for someone to hear the Bible in their mother tongue. These resources had been sitting online for years, waiting. No one on the island knew they existed. We did not plan for any of this. We came for a medical outreach and it turned in to something so much more. God went before us!

It showed me something about His faithfulness. Sometimes the biggest impact comes from surprises. We simply walked into the village, had a few conversations, and followed a small curiosity. God handled the rest. He already had the New Testament translated. He already had the Jesus Film recorded. He already had every tool prepared. All we had to do was give Jesus our YES and show up!

If you head over to ywam.org you can read that story, as well as additional testimonies from people who were there, and also find links to YWAM Ships Kona, where you can find out more about their ministry.

YWAM Serving in Kyiv, Ukraine

In the midst of the turmoil and attacks on Kyiv, YWAM is continuing to serve the locals.

In the cold and darkness of attacks and blackouts, our staff stepped into the streets with hot meals and hot drinks, choosing love when it wasn’t easy.

YWAM Kyiv will be continuing their Waves of hope ministry, with upcoming events in June and August, later this year.

Visit ywamkyiv.org to find out more.

YWAM Dunham

YWAM Dunham has been operating in Dunham, Quebec, Canada since 1976 since the location was purchased to send missionaries to the 1976 Montreal Olympic Games …

YWAM Dunham Book

In 2024 YWAM Dunham, in Quebec, Canada, published a book about their story, from the birth of the vision in 1974 in Amsterdam, to the launch of the ministry location in 1976 …

The book tells the faith journey that they took to pioneer and establish the YWAM Dunham campus. You can not only learn about the historical events, but also discover lessons of faith and perseverance learned along the way. The desire is to leave an inheritance for future generations and to inspire readers to remember and build upon the faith experiences and lessons shared in the book.

Head on over to ywamdunham.com/en/book to get your own copy.

YWAM Lilongwe

YWAM Lilongwe in Malawi has a heart to empower vulnerable girls to reach their full potential …

You can contact them to find out more about their ministry on the YWAM Malawi web-site, malawi.ywam.ws.

YWAM Grimerud – Impact

Now we’re gonna look at a testimony from YWAM Grimerud.

This is just one video from the YWAM Grimerud IMPACT series that they have, where they share testimonies of God’s impact on people and the nations. You can find the rest of the series videos on YWAM Grimerud on Youtube.

The Invitation

Last month as part of our global prayer initiative called The Invitation we prayed for Muslim Background Believers.

For more than thirty years, the YWAM-birthed prayer movement called 30 Days of Prayer for the Muslim World has sought to educate, enable and encourage Christians worldwide to pray for Muslim peoples as an act of love.

The focus of the 2026 guide is on Muslim people, from whom there are now radiant believers, sharing the gospel with their own or nearby Muslim people groups. We can celebrate that bringing the good news to Muslims is not just something done by foreigners from faraway countries; it is now the believers from Muslim backgrounds themselves who are key to transformation in their countries.

In the full letter at ywam.org you can find ways that you can pray and take action with the 30 Days of Prayer for the Muslim World. We will also embed the full video letter in the show notes.

The Gentle Answer to the Muslim Accusation of Biblical Falsification

In addition to the 30 Days of Prayer for the Muslim World guide, another useful resource for reaching out to, and sharing about Christ with people of the Muslim faith is a book called The Gentle Answer to the Muslim Accusation of Biblical Falsification written by Gordon D. Nickel.

The description of the book from Amazon reads …

The Gentle Answer is a scholarly response to a claim that many Muslims have made in relation to non-Muslims for more than 1200 years: that the text of the Bible is corrupt and/or falsified. Since critical writing on the Bible is more abundant and has a longer history, Muslim polemicists have selectively used Western biblical criticism in an attempt to support the traditional Muslim accusation of biblical falsification. Only quite recently have the techniques used in biblical criticism been applied to the Qur’an. The Gentle Answer responds to the Muslim claims by placing the Bible and the Qur’an on a level scholarly playing field to show that questions about the Qur’an are at least as challenging as questions about the Bible.

The Gentle Answer invites Muslims into a conversation about the contents of the scriptures themselves. Respect for the conversation partner means taking issues of truth seriously. It means doing one’s best to thoroughly understand accusations. It also means commending one’s own faith in terms of the partner’s worldview. Differences in faith between Muslims and non-Muslims show no sign of going away in the years to come. But in a world of considerable political tension and violence, Muslims and non-Muslims must seize the freedom to openly discuss their differences together while nurturing mutual respect and committing to peaceful coexistence.

Gordon D. Nickel (PhD, University of Calgary) is a retired missionary and professor of Islamic studies, who has taught in Canada, USA, Pakistan, Malaysia, and India.

I’ve talked a bit with Gordon lately, and he mentioned that the book has been translated into Bangali, Telugu, Korean, and Mandarin. There have been moves to have it also translated into Arabic and Urdu (a language spoken mostly in India), but Gordon has asked that we pray those translations would progress, and that partners would be found to make those important translations available.

You can find digital and paperback copies of The Gentle Answer to the Muslim Accusation of Biblical Falsification on Amazon.

We will also link to Gordon’s Substack, where he is regularly writing fantastic articles about Islam and the Quran.

School of Missions Advocacy

So, earlier we heard from Bevin from Global Cast Resources about Acts 1:8. What he shared was part of the School of Missions Advocacy (SOMA), and he is going to share more about the vision of the school here …

You can go to globalcastresources.com/training to find out when the next school is. Registration for the current course is currently closed, but you can register there to find out when the next school will happen.

YWAM Asuncion, Paraguay

We have heard and seen updates and news from Europe, Africa, North America, the Middle East, Asia, and the Pacific Islands, so I figure it’s time to hear from one of our locations in South America, YWAM Asuncion, in Paraguay …

I love being reminded about how global YWAM really is, with over 1200 locations around the world, on every continent except Antarctica.

You can find out more about YWAM Asuncion on their web-site, ywamasuncion.com.

Addictive Behaviour Counseling School

There is a new school opportunity with YWAM Windhoek in Namibia – the Addictive Behaviour Counseling School (ABC). Come to learn how to break the cycle of addiction through effective counseling.

This course, offered by the Faculty of Whole Person Care & Development at the University of the Nations, will offer holistic training that equips students to understand the human being in their entirety – body, soul, and spirit – and to walk alongside those seeking restoration after experiences marked by pain, compulsions, and inner brokenness.

The lecture phase will be from the June 29th – September 20th, with an outreach phase from Sep 21th – Nov 15th.

You can find more information on their website at  ywamwindhoek.org.

5 Steps to Study the Bible – Bible for Life

Do you want to study the Bible, and have no idea where to start? Ywam Grimerud’s here to help!

Maybe add a step 6 – apply for Bible for life at YWAM Grimerud! Their next school starts on March 18th and runs until June the 12th. You can check it out on their web-site, grimerud.no/bible-for-life.

School of Sustainable Developement

YWAM Homestead in Alessandria, Italy will be running the School of Sustainable Developement in March …

The school is designed for people that had a passion for sustainability, gardening, animals, cultures, travelling, and Jesus. It consists of 12 weeks of lectures and workshops, followed by 10 – 12 weeks of outreach.

Some of the topics covered are:

You can find out more about the school on their web-site, ywamhomestead.com.

Life Advice from YWAM Tahlee

I thought we could finish this episode with some advice from YWAM Tahlee in Australia …

I love that, Jesus is your Jackhammer.

When I was chatting to Lidia we talked about how God can often work as our jackhammer, and often when we are working to obey God, we need Him to act as a Jackhammer to push through to what He asked us to do.

Let us know in the comments how Jesus has been your Jackhammer.

If you want to follow along the work that Lidia is doing with her team you can find us on instagram, facebook and youtube at Ywamrogaland.

You can follow along with what I’m up to on my personal site, billhutchison.org.

Leave feedback at ywampodcast.com/165.

Subscribe to future episodes at ywampodcast.com/subscribe.

If you liked the program, tell a friend. If you didn’t like it, tell a friend anyway …

This month we hear how YWAM is responding to the conflict between Cambodia and Thailand, learn about the YWAM location in Milala, Malawi, hear about the 10,000 Bible’s distributed by YWAM in Lyon, France, check out how YWAM in Barbados is using the Go Africa film to fight local gang culture, we get some other stories about gross foods had on outreach, and more …

Thank you for downloading this, the 164th episode of the Youth With A Mission News Show Podcast, I’m your host, Bill Hutchison.

You can contact us, subscribe to future episodes, leave comments, and find links to all the stories we talk about on the show notes for this podcast at ywampodcast.com/164 …

Merry Christmas to you all! Unfortunately for us, but fortunately for Lidia, she is actually in Brazil right now visiting her family for Christmas! So we wish her the best, and that she has a great time there, and in the mean time, you are stuck with me!

Stories:

God is the Great Moblizer

I wanted to start this month with a reminder from Bevin from GlobalCAST Resources about how God is the Greatest Mobilizer…

To find out more about GlobalCAST Resources, and Missions Advocacy, head over to their web-site, globalcastresources.com.

 MV YWAM PNG back in Papua New Guinea

The MV YWAM PNG has returned home to Papua New Guinea following a successful maintenance work, marking a major milestone in the vessel’s extension project and ensuring she remains strong, safe, and ready to serve the nation for years to come.

With dry dock and initial maintenance works completed earlier this year, the MV YWAM PNG is sailed back to Western Province for its final outreach of the year, the first since returning to service. The outreach supported the Provincial Health Authority to provide a full range of essential health mainly to remote and disadvantaged communities, and training services with a particular focus on maternal and child health, disease prevention, and community health education, delivered in close collaboration with local health professionals. Volunteers from 13 different nations joined the ship this week for the outreach.

Since 2010, YWAM Medical Ships – Australia and PNG has partnered with the National Department of Health and provincial health authorities, delivering over 2.3 million of healthcare and training services and providing hands-on training opportunities for Papua New Guinean health workers. The ship’s return home marks a renewed season of service, partnership, and hope for the decade ahead.

You can find out more about the work that the MV YWAM PNG is doing on the YWAM Ships Australia web-site, ywamships.org.

YWAM Ships Aotearoa Year End Update

While the MV YWAM PNG runs their final outreach in Papua New Guinea, the YWAM Ship Koha wrapped this this year with a video update.

Visit ywamshipsaotearoa.org.nz to find out more.

Cambodia / Thailand Conflict Relief Work

The border conflict between Cambodia and Thailand continues, despite international effort to end the conflict.

Earlier this month the number of displaced civilians on the Cambodian side of the boarder was reported as at least 400,000 civilians, and the Thai side at more than 258,000 people.

On the Cambodian side of the border, Youth With A Mission (YWAM), has brought relief with much-needed supplies for the displaced civilians – such as rice, eggs, and mosquito nets.

A volunteer from Singapore, Heather Lim, reported: “We just want to help them (the displaced), support them and stand with them. Just our presence being here and just being with the people, being able to listen to them and talk to them, that’s the difference that we can make,”.

YWAM also has volunteers in Thailand who are helping similarly affected people on that side of the border. All lives are “precious”, so “we need to be kind and compassionate to help everyone,” she added. (source)

Please pray for the families who are displaced living in harsh conditions. Pray this battle will end. The trauma is so deep including the children.

Filipino Response to Typhoon Tino

Last month we shared a bit about YWAM Philippines response to the multiple cyclones that hit their nation, here is some more information about what they are doing.

Visit the YWAM Philippines’ web-site, ywamshipsph.org, to find out more.

Tai Po Fires in Hong Kong

Last month when Lidia and I were putting together the news, reports of the fires in Tai Po had just started to filter in. We were unable to report on it last month, but since then it’s confirmed that the fire raged for 43 hours, with 161 people dying, and about 80 people injured. The YWAM location in Hong Kong is only about 30-minutes away, and they have been active in providing relief after the fires.

YWAM Tuen Mun is providing essential items to those in shelters in the Tai Po community. They delivered the bags filled with necessities, festive food, and special bags for the children to the hotels where families are temporarily staying.

They are making plans to help provide an “incredible” Christmas for the incredible community from TaiPo.

You can find out more, including how you can help, on their web-site, ywamtuenmun.org.

YWAM Milala

Now I thought we could take a look at one of our other locations in Africa, Milala in Malawi.

Head over to milala.ywam.ws to find out more!

YWAM Lyon 10,000 Bible Distributions

Since 2010, YWAM Lyon has been active sharing true light with Lyonnais and tourists during the Festival of Lights in Lyon by offering them the Bible!

This year, 20205, they gave away 10,000 Bibles: a big challenge that they met! They are convinced of the necessity and urgency of offering the word of God in their country more than ever. Every year they see the spiritual needs of the new generation who have often received no religious education and are searching. This year, they will exceed the mark of 70,000 Bibles offered since the 2010, they they launched the Bible distribution project for the Festival of Lights! This year again, together, we will share the true light with thousands of people from all over France.

You can visit ywamlyon.com to find out more, and to donate so they can continue to distribute Bibles next year.

YWAM Bad Blankenburg Refugee Circle

YWAM Bad Blankenburg in Germany updates us on their ministry to refugees.

Visit ywambb.com to find out more.

Pray for Sri Lanka

Earlier this month we received this message from YWAM Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka is facing a very difficult moment right now. Heavy rains have caused severe flooding and landslides, especially in the central and western regions. Many families have lost their loved ones, homes, and everything they owned. Many are still missing, and thousands are suffering without food, shelter, and basic needs.

In this painful time, I invite you to stand with Sri Lanka in prayer and support.

How You Can Pray:

Let us lift our voices together and pray for Sri Lanka.

You can follow what’s happening in Sri Lanka over on their Facebook Page.

YWAM Turns to Film to Fight Gang Culture

YWAM in Barbados is turning to film to fight local gang culture …

You can head over to their web-site, ywambarbados.org, to find out more, and find links to their social media accounts, where they share more about their showing of the film “Go Africa”, and the other ministry that they are engaging in.

30 Days of Prayer for the Muslim World

30 Days of Prayer 2026 is coming soon.

This year – from February 18 to March 20, 2026 – we are pleased to introduce a special prayer booklet comprised of stories from Muslim background Jesus-followers who are, themselves, sharing Jesus with friends, co-workers and in far-away places.

To get your copy of the prayer guide, head over to pray30days.org.

AniMissions Online Seminar

If you have a heart for the unreached, and an interest in art and animation, then you might want to check out the AniMissions online seminar, beginning on February 2, 2026.

Create AniMissions produce animated short films that communicate the gospel story to people groups using their own language, culture, and worldview, specifically honoring their art and music. They find that this practice breaks down barriers that the audience may have and portrays the good news in a way that makes them more likely to accept and embrace it.

To encourage people to get involved in the AniMissions ministry they are actually giving away the first course of their seminar for free!

If you head over to the Campfire Creatives substack, you can find out more, and find links to sign up for the free introductory course.

YWAM Albania School of Prophetic and Worship

The School of Prophetic and Worship being offered by YWAM Albania is a Transformative 3-month training school for students who would like to grow in their walk with the Holy Spirit, practicing and growing the gifts, and developing a spirit-led worship on earth as it is in heaven.

The purpose of the school is to train students to become catalysts of transformations by training them how to receive and deliver prophetic revelations, visions, and insights, how to “Translate” them practically for people to be able to understand God’s heart and respond to him.

The program includes teaching & application, worship practice, intercession, practicing the gifts of the holy spirit , bible study, research, reading books, impartation, and prophetic ministry .

The school program includes prophetic ministry outreach in local churches in Albania and abroad.

The school starts in May, and you can find out more on their web-site, ywamalbania.com.

Pray for Australia – Bondi Shooting

On a somber note, we have a message from YWAM in Sydney …

Our hearts are deeply saddened by what happened in Bondi. Fifteen lives have been lost, and many families and friends are grieving beyond words.

As YWAM Island Breeze Sydney, we stand with our city in this moment of sorrow. We pray for comfort for every family affected, for healing for the wounded, and for peace that only God can give in the midst of tragedy.

We are reminded that our battle is not against flesh and blood, but against the spiritual forces of darkness. This is not a time for hatred or fear, but for prayer, compassion, and standing together in love.

Please continue to lift Bondi, the families, first responders, and our nation up in prayer.

May God’s light shine even in the darkest moments.

Gross Food Response

We got some good feedback about the crazy foods that people have eaten on outreach with YWAM. Here are a few …

I would still love to hear your stories from outreach, so please email me at [email protected], or leave your comments on the video on YouTube.

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