This quarter, YWAM Kona is blessed to have over 500 students here, being trained for missions! There are 11 different DTS’s running (Discipleship Training Schools), each with a unique focus, but with the same core curriculum. These students come to be transformed by God, and to fall more in love with Him! He rocks their world during the 3 months of training & equipping, and then around Christmas, these same students are sent out to the nations, to share the good news of Jesus. We are so privileged to be part of this discipleship process, and to hear some of the stories when they come back full of amazing testimonies of how God worked through them!

Here is a quote from one of our campus leaders – this is what the University is all about!

With so many students, the campus is jam-packed. Here is a pic of student orientation at the Ohana Court, where we hold our campus gatherings. It’s a full house!!! But we are believing the Lord for MORE, to make a bigger impact in the nations! We have an unfinished dorm building that will hold another 100 students. Please pray with us that we can finish this building soon!

We are also pumped to announce that our new campus cafeteria has opened. The official dedication ceremony will be on Oct 24th, but we are all eating there now. The old kitchen facility was BADLY out-dated, and the truth is we out-grew it probably 10 years ago. The only reason it wasn’t condemned by the county is that they knew we were building the new facility, so they showed us grace. 🙂

Here is a picture of the new cafeteria, which will hold us all in one spot. It even has modern kitchen equipment, to aid the food preparation process!!! The boy’s school is the building just to the right, so they are nice and close for school lunches!

In order for us to use the new cafeteria building, it had to pass several inspections. Lynnette was one of many staff who helped to do a “final clean”. Here’s a pic of her hard at work!

In addition to our students going to the nations, sometimes the nations come to us! A classic example is every October in Kona, when our small town hosts the Ironman World Championship! Because our family loves running and triathlons, we are keen to be involved. This year, our family volunteered at “Pro Fluids”, which is an aid station just for the pro men & women athletes. Here’s a picture of Luke McKenzie, who placed second last year. Josiah was cheering him on! It was so fun to be right there with the pro’s, cheering them on, and serving them as they battle to conquer one of the world’s toughest race courses.

For Youth With A Mission (YWAM) and YWAMers, the goal is two fold: first, to know God, His character and His ways. Second, to make Him known. But HOW do we make Him known in the nations? Using a variety of ministries, schools and seminars, which exist to declare the gospel message in all spheres of society. Here’s a great video which shows just a snapshot of some of what YWAM is currently doing.

Answer the Call – Youth With A Mission from YWAM Kona – UofN on Vimeo.