God's Word is the final authority for conduct and faith in Youth With A Mission. Our foundational values are not a list of rules to be adhered to; they were not written down until YWAM was 25 years old. Rather, these values are recorded here in an attempt to pass on to successive generations that which God has emphasized to us as a mission.

The following list has been reviewed by the YWAM International Executive Committee and approved by the International Leadership Team.

1. YWAM is committed to know God, His character, and His ways. We affirm the vital importance of hearing God's voice, seeking His counsel and obeying His instructions.
   (Numbers 23:19-20; Deuteronomy 32:3-4; John 5:30; 10:1-4; 16:13; Isaiah 6:8; Acts 16:6-10)
   
   
2. YWAM is called to make God known, through Evangelism, Training and Mercy Ministries. All our activities should contribute toward the goal of discipling nations.
   (Acts 13:2-3; Genesis 12:1-3; Matthew 28:19-20; Mark 16:15; Acts 1:8; Romans 10:9-18; 15:18-21)
   
   
3. YWAM recognizes the Bible to be God's inspired and authoritative Word and relies upon the authority of the Holy Scriptures as the standard for life and ministry. Obedience to the Word of God is an evidence of our commitment to Jesus' Lordship.
   (Hebrews 4:12; 2 Timothy 3:16; John 3:31-32; 2 Timothy 2:15)
   
   
4. YWAM is visionary, doing new things in new ways where new initiatives are required to accomplish the Great Commission.
   (Isaiah 42:8-9; John 4:35; Matthew 10:1-10; Hebrews 11:1-3; Proverbs 29:18; Habakkuk 2:2)
   
   
5. YWAM is international and interdenominational in its scope and constituency. We believe that cultural, racial, and theological diversity are positive factors that contribute to the health and growth of the mission.
   (Matthew 24:14; Ephesians 4:1-16; Revelation 7:9)
   
   
6. YWAM affirms the importance of the local church and seeks to promote unity among all God's people. We endeavor to work in partnership with other believers, building bridges among Christian leaders, churches, and missions for the fulfillment of the Great Commission.
   (Philippians 1:3-5; 1 Thessalonians 1:2-10; Ephesians 3:8-10)
   
   
7. YWAM is broad-structured and decentralized, with operating locations linked together by relationship, shared values, accountability to leadership, and a commitment to world evangelization.
   (Mark 10:42-43; Exodus 18:17-26; John 8:36; 1 Corinthians 3:4-9; Hebrews 13:7,17)
   
   
8. YWAM is called to praise and worship of the Lamb of God, to intercessory prayer, and to spiritual warfare. We endeavor to resist the devil by moving in the opposite spirit, which is the Spirit of Christ. In all things, we desire to keep Jesus central to our lives and ministry.
   (Ephesians 5:19-20; 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18; Psalm 32:6; 100; 150; John 17:15-21; Mark 11:24; Acts 1:14; Colossians 4:2-3; 1 Timothy 2:1, Ephesians 6:10-18; 2 Corinthians 10:3-6; James 4:7, Matthew 12:23-29)
   
   
9. YWAM affirms the importance of living holy and righteous lives. We believe that holiness is a fruit of God's grace, transforming the motives of the heart, and affecting our words, conduct, business dealings, and relationships.
   (1 Samuel 15:10-28; Psalm 32:1-5, 51:6-17,; Matthew 5:8; 2 Corinthians 7:1; Hebrews 12:14; 1 Thessalonians 4:7)
   
   
10. YWAM is committed to doing, then teaching, according to Jesus' example. We affirm the importance of living a concept, theory, or belief in personal experience as essential to passing it on to others. We believe that godly character and the fruit of the Spirit are more important than an individual's gifts, abilities, and expertise.
    (Ezra 7:10; Acts 1:1; Phillipians 4:8-9; Colossians 3:1-17; 2 Peter 1:5-10; Micah 6:8)
    
    
11. YWAM is dedicated to being relationship oriented in our living and working together. We desire to minimize the need for structures and rules by leading lives of transparency, humility, and open communication.
    (1 John 1:7; Galatians 5:1)
    
    
12. YWAM is called to value each individual. We believe all races, ages, cultures, and individuals -- male and female -- have distinctive contributions and callings.
    (Genesis 1:27; Psalm 139:13-16; Galatians 3:28; 1 Corinthians 12:4-31; Acts 13:1-3; Ephesians 2:19-22; 4:4-7)
    
    
13. YWAM recognizes the value of the family. We affirm the importance of fathers, mothers, and children all sharing a call to missions and contributing in unique, complementary, and vital ways. We support the necessity for each individual family to be a strong and healthy unit.
    (Deuteronomy 4:9-10, 40, 6:6-7, 32:46; Proverbs 31; 1 Timothy 3:4)
    
    
14. YWAM is called to champion young people. We believe in their leadership and potential to change the world, and are dedicated to equip them with the tools to do so.
    (Joel 2:28; Acts 2:17; 1 Timothy 4:12; 1 Samuel 2:18-19; 17:33-37; Daniel 1:4, 8-9; Jeremiah 1:5-10)
    
    
15. YWAM is called to team ministry. We recognize that functioning in teams at all levels of the organization provides an opportunity for balance of spiritual gifts and insights.
    (Ecclesiastes 4:9-12; Mark 6:7; Ephesians 5:21; Proverbs 15:22; Acts 15:22; Acts 10:25-26)
    
    
16. YWAM affirms personal responsibility and volunteerism, encouraging individuals to seek God for guidance and direction regarding ministry roles and methods of performing their work. We encourage personal initiative in these areas, making decisions together with their leaders -- both YWAM and others.
    (Exodus 3:4; Isaiah 6:8; 1 Samuel 3:10; Mark 1:17-18; Matthew 9:9; Acts 26:12-20)
    
    
17. YWAM is called to servant leadership. A servant leader is one who honors the calling of his/her followers and guards their rights and privileges. Just as Jesus served His disciples, we stress the importance of those with leadership responsibilities in our mission serving those whom they lead.
    (Luke 17:7-10; John 13:12-17; Mark 10:42-45)
    
    
18. YWAM makes no distinction between the sacred and the secular. We seek to honor all functions equally within the Kingdom of God. No roles or ministries are more important or spiritual than others. We seek to equip and mobilize men and women of God to take roles of service and influence in every sphere of society.
    (Acts 11:9; 1 Peter 4:11; 1 Corinthians 6:19; Zechariah 14:20-21; Romans 12:3-8, 13:1-10, Philemon 1-2; Titus 3:13; Colossians 4:14; Hebrews 13:16)
    
    
19. YWAM is called to practice a life of dependence upon God and His people for financial provision, both corporately and individually.
    (Philippians 4:6-7, 10-20; 3 John 5-8)
    
    
20. YWAM is dedicated to hospitality. We believe it is important to serve and honor our fellow YWAMers, guests, and the poor and needy through this ministry.
    (3 John 8; Hebrews 13:2; 1 Timothy 3:2; Titus 1:8; Romans 12:13; 1 Peter 4:9)
    
    
21. YWAM is called to practice generosity and to model and teach the spirit of generosity in all we do.
    (Romans 12:8-13; 1 Timothy 5:17, 6:18; Philippians 4:17-18; Luke 6:38; Acts 20:35; Psalm 112:5)

Copyright 2002 Youth With A Mission

Home

We, members of the Church of Jesus Christ, from more than 150 nations, participants in the International Congress on World Evangelization at Lausanne, praise God for his great salvation and rejoice in the fellowship he has given us with himself and with each other. We are deeply stirred by what God is doing in our day, moved to penitence by our failures and challenged by the unfinished task of evangelization. We believe the Gospel is God's good news for the whole world, and we are determined by his grace to obey Christ's commission to proclaim it to all mankind and to make disciples of every nation. We desire, therefore, to affirm our faith and our resolve, and to make public our covenant.

 

1. THE PURPOSE OF GOD

We affirm our belief in the one-eternal God, Creator and Lord of the world, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, who govern all things according to the purpose of his will. He has been calling out from the world a people for himself, and sending his people back into the world to be his servants and his witnesses, for the extension of his kingdom, the building up of Christ's body, and the glory of his name. We confess with shame that we have often denied our calling and failed in our mission, by becoming conformed to the world or by withdrawing from it. Yet we rejoice that even when borne by earthen vessels the gospel is still a precious treasure. To the task of making that treasure known in the power of the Holy Spirit we desire to dedicate ourselves anew.
(Isaiah 40:28; Matthew 28:19; Ephesians 1:11; Acts 15:14; John 17:6, 18; Ephesians 4:12; 1 Corinthians 5:10; Romans 12:2; 2 Corinthians 4:7)

 

2. THE AUTHORITY AND POWER OF THE BIBLE

We affirm the divine inspiration, truthfulness and authority of both Old and New Testament Scriptures in their entirety as the only written word of God, without error in all that it affirms, and the only infallible rule of faith and practice. We also affirm the power of God's word to accomplish his purpose of salvation. The message of the Bible is addressed to all men and women. For God's revelation in Christ and in Scripture is unchangeable. Through it the Holy Spirit still speaks today. He illumines the minds of God's people in every culture to perceive its truth freshly through their own eyes and thus discloses to the whole Church ever more of the many-colored wisdom of God.
(2 Timothy 3:16; 2 Peter 1:21; John 10:35; Isaiah 55:11; 1 Corinthians 1:21; Romans 1:16, Matthew 5:17,18; Jude 3; Ephesians 1:17-18; 3:10,18)

3. THE UNIQUENESS AND UNIVERSALITY OF CHRIST

We affirm that there is only one Saviour and only one gospel, although there is a wide diversity of evangelistic approaches. We recognize that everyone has some knowledge of God through his general revelation in nature. But we deny that this can save, for people suppress the truth by their unrighteousness. We also reject as derogatory to Christ and the gospel every kind of syncretism and dialogue which implies that Christ speaks equally through all religions and ideologies. Jesus Christ, being himself the only God-man, who gave himself as the only ransom for sinners, is the only mediator between God and people. There is no other name by which we must be saved. All men and women are perishing because of sin, but God loves everyone, not wishing that any should perish but that all should repent. Yet those who reject Christ repudiate the joy of salvation and condemn themselves to eternal separation from God. To proclaim Jesus as "the Saviour of the world" is not to affirm that all people are either automatically or ultimately saved, still less to affirm that all religions offer salvation in Christ. Rather it is to proclaim God's love for a world of sinners and to invite everyone to respond to him as Saviour and Lord in the wholehearted personal commitment of repentance and faith. Jesus Christ has been exalted above every other name; we long for the day when every knee shall bow to him and every tongue shall confess him Lord.
(Galatians 1:6-9; Romans 1:18-32; 1 Timothy 2:5-6; Acts 4:12; John 3:16-19; 2 Peter 3:9; 2 Thessalonians 1:7-9; John 4:42; Matthew 11:28; Ephesians 1:20-21; Philippians 2:9-11)

4. THE NATURE OF EVANGELISM

To evangelize is to spread the good news that Jesus Christ died for our sins and was raised from the dead according to the Scriptures, and that as the reigning Lord he now offers the forgiveness of sins and the liberating gifts of the Spirit to all who repent and believe. Our Christian presence in the world is indispensable to evangelism, and so is that kind of dialogue whose purpose is to listen sensitively in order to understand. But evangelism itself is the proclamation of the historical, biblical Christ as Saviour and Lord, with a view to persuading people to come to him personally and so be reconciled to God. In issuing the gospel invitation we have no liberty to conceal the cost of discipleship. Jesus still calls all who would follow him to deny themselves, take up their cross, and identify themselves with his new community. The results of evangelism include obedience to Christ, incorporation into his Church and responsible service in the world.
(1 Corinthians 15:3-4; Acts 2:32-39; John 20:21; 1 Corinthians 1:23; 2 Corinthians 4:5; 5:11,20; Luke 14:25-33; Mark 8:34; Acts 2:40,47; Mark 10:43-45)

5. CHRISTIAN SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

We affirm that God is both the Creator and the Judge of all men. We therefore should share his concern for justice and reconciliation throughout human society and for the liberation of men and women from every kind of oppression. Because men and women are made in the image of God, every person, regardless of race, religion, color, culture, class, sex or age, has an intrinsic dignity because of which he or she should be respected and served, not exploited. Here too we express penitence both for our neglect and for having sometimes regarded evangelism and social concern as mutually exclusive. Although reconciliation with other people is not reconciliation with God, nor is social action evangelism, nor is political liberation salvation, nevertheless we affirm that evangelism and socio-political involvement are both part of our Christian duty. For both are necessary expressions of our doctrines of God and man, our love for our neighbor and our obedience to Jesus Christ. The message of salvation implies also a message of judgment upon every form of alienation, oppression and discrimination, and we should not be afraid to denounce evil and injustice wherever they exist. When people receive Christ they are born again into his kingdom and must seek not only to exhibit but also to spread its righteousness in the midst of an unrighteous world. The salvation we claim should be transforming us in the totality of our personal and social responsibilities. Faith without works is dead.
(Acts 17:26,31; Genesis 18:25; Isaiah 1:17; Psalm 45:7; Genesis 1:26-27; James 3:9; Leviticus 19:18; Luke 6:27,35; James 2:14-26; John 3:3,5; Matthew 5:20; 6:33; 2 Corinthians 3:18; James 2:20)

6. THE CHURCH AND EVANGELISM

We affirm that Christ sends his redeemed people into the world as the Father sent him, and that this calls for a similar deep and costly penetration of the world. We need to break out of our ecclesiastical ghettos and permeate non-Christian society. In the Church's mission of sacrificial service, evangelism is primary. World evangelization requires the whole Church to take the whole gospel to the whole world. The Church is at the very center of God's cosmic purpose and is his appointed means of spreading the gospel. But a church which preaches the cross must itself be marked by the cross. It becomes a stumbling block to evangelism when it betrays the gospel or lacks a living faith in God, a genuine love for people, or scrupulous honesty in all things including promotion and finance. The Church is the community of God's people rather than an institution, and must not be identified with any particular culture, social or political system, or human ideology.
(John 17:18; 20:21; Matthew 28:19,20; Acts 1:8; 20:27; Ephesians 1:9-10; 3:9-11; Galatians 6:14,17; 2 Corinthians 6:3-4; 2 Timothy 2:19-21; Philippians 1:27)

7. COOPERATION IN EVANGELISM

We affirm that the Church's visible unity in truth is God's purpose. Evangelism also summons us to unity, because our oneness strengthens our witness, just as our disunity undermines our gospel of reconciliation. We recognize, however, that organizational unity may take many forms and does not necessarily forward evangelism. Yet we who share the same biblical faith should be closely united in fellowship, work and witness. We confess that our testimony has sometimes been marred by a sinful individualism and needless duplication. We pledge ourselves to seek a deeper unity in truth, worship, holiness and mission. We urge the development of regional and functional cooperation for the furtherance of the Church's mission, for strategic planning, for mutual encouragement, and for the sharing of resources and experience.
(John 17:21,23; Ephesians 4:3-4; John 13:35; Philippians 1:27; John 17:11-23)

8. CHURCHES IN EVANGELISTIC PARTNERSHIP

We rejoice that a new missionary era has dawned. The dominant role of western missions is fast disappearing. God is raising up from the younger churches a great new resource for world evangelization, and is thus demonstrating that the responsibility to evangelize belongs to the whole body of Christ. All churches should therefore be asking God and themselves what they should be doing both to reach their own area and to send missionaries to other parts of the world. A reevaluation of our miss