When Youth With A Mission was founded in 1960 in North America, the focus was to get youth into short-term mission work and to give them opportunities to reach out in Jesus' name. YWAM's co-founder, Loren Cunningham, believed that years of theological training did not necessarily qualify people to serve the Lord effectively, nor should they be a requirement before encouraging young people to pass on the love of Christ through missions. At the time, this was considered a revolutionary concept.
The idea of having relatively untrained youth doing missions was generally not considered and was even seen as potentially dangerous. However, over the years, while mistakes have of course been made and learnt from, the concept of short-term missions has added huge numbers of people to the task of world evangelization. It is now accepted as a valid contribution to mission work . Over the last 40 years, YWAM has grow to more that 16,000 regular volunteers and missionaries in over 1,000 bases on every continent and in over 160 nations around the world.
WHAT IS DTS?
These five-month programs, which include an overseas outreach, teach on various topics such as the ways of God, how to hear and respond to His voice, and how each person can discover their destiny in Christ.
Over the past 40 years many thousands of students have been trained through DTS, and most say it is one of the most significant experiences of their lives.
DTS is a prerequisite for all other University of the Nations courses and for serving on staff within Youth With A Mission.
Purpose:
1. To equip people of various ages and levels of spiritual maturity to grow in their relationship with God and develop Christ-like character.
2. To awaken in our students a burden for the world's lost and hurting people, showing them how they can be an influence for redemptive change in whatever job or country or sphere of society God may call them to serve in.
3. To help students build a solid Biblical foundation for life, including an understanding of the nature and character of God and how to apply his truth and wisdom in everyday life.
4. To challenge Christian men and women to become active in service to their local church, their local community and in world missions and evangelism.
5. To impart an understanding of Youth With A Mission International, its foundational values, calling and opportunities for service.