#YWAM4life

We call ourselves YWAM-ers, aka missionaries that work with Youth with a Mission. We are all very unique but sometimes you can spot a YWAM-er from miles away. 

1. Pants from Nepal, Thailand or India, or all three. Face it, we have either been to one or all of these countries or we know someone who has been to one or all of these countries, and they lovingly brought you back some flowy pants with crazy designs all over them. Extra points if they have elephants on them. 

2. You wear chacos, even if at one point you said you would never wear them. Can't beat the versatility and comfy walking shoe that's a sandal I guess when you go on outreach to Africa, or to the grocery store.  

3. You have a lot of backpacks. Once you become YWAM staff you suddenly find yourself travelling a lot or you find yourself around a lot of people who travel. And over time you begin to accumulate backpacks. I have so many hiking backpacks in my house, and don't ask me how I got them.  

This is me with my first hiking backpack!
It had already been to Bolivia and Ethiopia and I was taking it to Mexico
 for my first time back in 2012! 

4. You make acronyms. Go to the ywam.org website and you will find hundreds of magical schools with awesome names that are quite long and hey it's easier to just acronym it. Just like our name! YWAM! There is the DTS, CSBS, SBS, CTDS, BCC, SOMD, FCYM, SOFM...just to name a few. 

5. You have a tattoo. I don't know what it is about tattoos but having one or getting one after your DTS (wait till after graduation please.) is kind of like your stamp that tells the world, I am a YWAM-er and I mean business. The more Christian your tattoo is the better, is it a cross? 5 points. Is it a single word but holds so much meaning, such as FREE, FORGIVEN, SAVED, HOPE, LOVE, PEACE, PATIENCE or two small words, SEND ME...10 points per word. Is it in Greek or Hebrew? Even better! That's super Christian, they are original languages the Bible was written in so 20 points for that (I have a tattoo in Greek so 20 points for me!) 

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6. You love to GIVE. I have never encountered more gracious people than YWAM-ers. I love how YWAM bases live out their faith. It reminds me of the early church in Acts. "And all the believers met together in one place and shared everything they had." Acts 2: 44. It's interesting how those who have so little often give the most. Because we all live on monthly support, we get to rely on God in such a raw way and we understand the struggle each missionary has to trust in provision sometimes. Being a YWAM-er is amazingly full of blessing. 

7. You love to talk about which season you are in. We love seasons around here and I am not talking about winter, spring, summer or fall. I am talking spiritually. We often hear the words, I am just in this really hard season, or dry season or happy season or confusing season. Things change a lot in YWAM in very short periods of time so in makes sense, "For everything there is a season..." 

What do you think makes a YWAM-er a YWAM-er? Share your thoughts! And go and know God and make Him known!