MEET ESTHER

What was your experience with YWAM like?

The last six months have been a crazy journey for me. I went to Kona, Hawaii for a missionary organization called, “Youth With A Mission” (YWAM). The vision of YWAM is to “know God and to make Him known." I had 3 months of training in Hawaii and 3 months of outreach in the Philippines. It was such an eye opening experience and has changed my life completely. Having intimacy with God became a more prominent aspect of my life, and I had the opportunity to experience the kingdom of God. The most important thing I learned during this time is ‘simple obedience’. Taking a break from school in the middle of college was never an option in my mind, and it was out of the norm in our society. However, I feet like my life is actually so much more than just going to school, having a good career, raising a good family, etc. As Christians, our lives are more than living for ourselves; we have the opportunity to spread the love of God to others. When God first told me to go to YWAM, I was very scared to go to a foreign place and live with strangers for 6 months; however, when I said YES to God, my life was filled with so many blessings that were beyond my imagination. I was blessed to have an amazing community, gain confidence in my identity, and spread His love to other nations. As much as I received tremendous love from God and other people, I was also able to give love to others. I had the best time in YWAM learning about who God is, who I am in God’s image, and how I can apply my purpose in life to real life. I didn’t have to work hard to receive all these blessings, but all it took was just simply saying YES to God. God wants all of us to feel His love and truly know who He is. Sometimes, you just need to obey, and you will see things that will blow your mind away. You will never regret it! A promise refers to the future, but obedience means NOW. I am more than happy to say that I love doing life with Jesus!