About FM

Disciple-Making Movements are multiplying around the world. We are honored to be a part of what He is doing among the nations.

Will you join us in this harvest field?

To Know God and to Make Him Known

Youth With A Mission (YWAM) is a global movement of Christians. We are from many cultures, age groups, and Christian traditions. We unite in a common purpose: To know God and to make Him known!

YWAM began in 1960, with a focus to get youth involved in missions. Today, in addition to “youth,” we involve people ages 9 to 90. We have tens of thousands of staff and work in thousands of teams and locations. One of the joys of participating in YWAM is working with people from many nations. YWAM’s staff come from nearly every country in the world!

Many of us have a specific focus on Frontier Missions (FM). As YWAM FM, we are passionate about making God known among those who have never heard the gospel. They are the world’s unreached peoples.

We are going to them, whether in our own neighborhoods or in other nations—to bring the blessings of God’s Kingdom.

YWAM FM is one of YWAM’s largest international ministries. As our name says, the focus is upon the “frontiers”—areas or peoples who have not yet been reached with the gospel. YWAM FM has hundreds of teams serving in more than 150 unreached people groups.

We’ve seen hundreds of thousands of unreached peoples become obedient disciples of Jesus. We have launched dozens of Disciple-Making Movements and Church Planting Movements among the unreached.

As Jesus’ disciples, our calling is to obey the Great Commandment and the Great Commission. A person cannot obey one without obeying the other. When we love God and love our neighbor as ourselves, our natural desire is to invite our neighbors to follow Jesus as well. In making new disciples, we teach them to do the same.

There are so many creative options for loving service to others. In our serving, our constant hope and prayer is that in the end, the people we serve will choose to follow Jesus. Here’s how we express YWAM FM’s mission, our hearts’ desire:

"To empower unreached peoples to become obedient disciples of Jesus and help them start transformational Disciple-Making Movements."

YWAM-FM is primarily involved in three main activities:

- Mobilization

- Training

- Disciple-making among the unreached

Our commitment is to bring the life-changing, community-transforming power of the Gospel to unreached peoples. We work to present the Good News in understandable ways. New believers begin to lovingly obey and follow Jesus. They gather together in simple fellowships. God speaks to them through His Word and His Spirit. God empowers them to spread the blessings of His Kingdom within their families, among their neighbors, throughout their societies, and across the nations. Disciples make disciples who make disciples—a movement emerges.

FM = DMMs + UPGs

Frontier Missions = DMMs (Disciple-Making Movements) among UPGs (Unreached People Groups)

A Mentor’s Life-Changing Impact – Part 2

In Part 1 of the story, you saw how my mentor was a MODEL for me. You saw ways he would ASSIST me. Now, in Part 2 of the story, let me tell you about how he would WATCH me and then LAUNCH me. You’ll be convinced of his life-changing impact. As one of George […]

A Mentor’s Life-Changing Impact

Have you ever wondered what kind of influence a God-given mentor could have upon your life? Have you wondered how you might serve as a mentor for a young disciple or emerging leader? Let the story help give you a clearer picture. A few weeks ago I drove down the road with a couple of […]

Action-Packed Family Time with YWAM Founders

“Mom! Dad! Let me tell you what happened today!” One of the best parts of growing up was telling encouraging stories to my family. As my wife Laura and I became parents ourselves, dinnertime was a highlight of the day for our family of six. It was storytime, accompanied often by lots of laughter. Laura’s […]

Visionary Maverick Urges Us to Obey Jesus Above Human Customs

Our beloved mentor and role-model Dr. George Patterson has gone to be with Jesus. He changed the direction of my life and the lives of many of my fellow workers in YWAM Frontier Missions. George believed in me. He came alongside me and launched me into a new level of effectiveness in advancing the Kingdom. […]

A House Above a Watch Shop- Can Our Family Change the World?

Together, my daughter and I stood on a busy sidewalk. We looked at the narrow Dutch house above the watch shop. We were about to visit the home of a family of internationally known world changers. Our family is also committed to changing the world. In fact, that is why the two of us were […]

From Sad Farmer with Destroyed Crops to Happy Disciple with Eternal Fruit

The Lord called Alessandro* to work amongst an unreached tribe in Africa. This people group is largely Muslim. Today there is a thriving movement of believers. Back in the beginning it was slow going. Alessandro testifies that much of the fruit began with the simple act of reaching out to a neighbor. He trusted that […]

Taking Radical, Bold Steps: They Apologized for the Crusades

There are times when offenses are so severe and wounds so deep they last for centuries. Individuals, families, communities, and nations are unable to listen to the Good News. This is true of the Crusades, one of the great offenses of history. Lynn Green, a key leader and early pioneer in YWAM, felt led by […]

Just Obey: God Can See What We Do Not

I knew God spoke to people, though I hadn’t experienced it much. I’d been a Christian since childhood. Bible reading and church attendance were part of my normal life. Hearing God’s voice…not so much. Not until I joined an organization filled with people who regularly listened to God and expected Him to speak- Youth With […]

How Celebrating Muslim Women Turns Into a Growing Movement Effort

How does a Disciple-Making Movement begin? Does it start with finding and befriending one or two souls, hungry for more of God, and ready to learn? A group of European women discovered that there were many ways to see a Disciple-Making Movement (DMM). Jesus would build one through each of their unique gifts. Celebrations of […]

The Desperate Prayer of a Tribal Woman Was Powerful…and the Heavens Gave Rain

When I first visited this arid West African country, a small YWAM team had already worked there for several years. I came with friends from my home church in California. It was another step in preparing a new team to come help with the work. We were all inspired by the progress we saw. God’s […]

Incredible Multiplication in a Few Short Months as God’s Story is Told

As with most mornings, I began today with God’s Word. How wonderful it is to allow His stories to come to life and to hear the Holy Spirit speak. It is hard to imagine not having God’s Word in my own language. Still today, over 1,600 languages do not have a single Bible story translated. […]

In the Face of Setbacks and Opposition, Bible Translation Pushes Forward

In Part 1 of their story, Leo and Tori were working on translating thirty-five Bible stories. The stories spanned from Creation to Christ, in the language of the Alze people. The Alzes are an ethnic minority of several thousand people. They live in a mountainous area of a much bigger country. Most of them can […]

They Were Not Sure God Understood Their Prayers

“There are approximately 7,100 living languages spoken on earth today. As I write this introduction there are some 1,600+ living languages that still do not have a single verse of the Scriptures translated. These 1,600+ languages need to be translated to reach zero.” David Hamilton, Youth With A Mission. Up in the mountains, on the […]

How One Man Refused to Give Up on a High Caste People Group

God has been doing amazing things during the pandemic year. In spite of lockdowns and difficulties, His Kingdom is advancing among the unreached! Talking to a South Asian church planter recently, Raj* told me of significant breakthroughs in their area this past year. Some of these are among very unreached high caste Hindus peoples. Raj […]

Once A Mission Field Now the #1 Missionary-Sending Country in the World

With astonishment, I look at how the life-changing gospel spreads across Mongolia–and beyond. I pause to look back. How grateful I feel, remembering my own early experiences: One night in the 1980s, our YWAM staff listened intently to stories from a scouting trip. It was to the mysterious land of Mongolia. The team had recently returned […]

Pandemic Sparks Renewal in a Well Established South Asian Movement

Some Disciple Making Movements begin strong, but grow traditional as the years pass by. This was the case for one movement started by YWAM in South Asia. Though early growth was spectacular, in recent years the movement had plateaued. The rapid, multiplication growth they’d seen at first had almost completely stopped. Changes and Bold Decisions […]

When A Disciple Making Movement Becomes a Missionary Movement

Baptisms, multiplication, and generational growth are all part of what happens when a movement begins. But how does that movement then start to send out missionaries to launch other movements? The following story was told by M. Andersson who worked closely with a Disciple Making Movement that has become a missionary movement. “What a privilege […]

How the Pandemic Kickstarts Breakthrough Growth

In June 2020, the COVID 19 pandemic was raging in many parts of the world. Severe lockdowns had come upon South Asia. This brought our disciple-making activities to an almost complete standstill. There were forty of us equipping people in skills for Disciple-Making Movements. What should we do? We discerned God leading us to make […]

3 Mullahs Meet Jesus

Our friend is a Muslim background believer. He has a vision for a Disciple-Making Movement in his nation. We’ll call him Paul*. Facebook Fruit? One of the ways he reaches people is through a Facebook page. One day, he met a man from the southern part of his country. First, he talked to through messenger, […]

If We Want Our Disciples to Surpass Us, What Happens?

When fellow workers in the harvest tell their amazing stories, it captures my attention. That’s what happened during a YWAM gathering in Asia. Coworkers from many continents sat shoulder to shoulder. We listened carefully as the host interviewed our friend. Interviewer: How did you get started with Disciple-Making Movements? “My native country is mostly Muslim. […]