What is YWAM Frontier Missions?
One of the core goals of Youth with a Mission (YWAM) is to reach the whole world with the transformative power of the gospel. In order to facilitate reaching this goal, there is a branch of YWAM called YWAM-FM (Youth with a Mission – Frontier Missions). This branch’s primary focus is on reaching unreached people groups with the gospel and bringing the gospel to difficult places. This includes any country where less than 2% of the population follow Jesus. At YWAM Provence one of our focuses is on bringing the gospel to the least, the last, and the lost. We want to see God glorified in the places where there are currently no followers of Jesus.
As you can see from the map above, much of the world has still not heard of the gospel of Jesus Christ!
Why is YWAM Frontier Missions important?
Frontier missions is not only a focus of YWAM but a focus of many other missions organizations as well. It is important because the gospel messages needs to go out to every tribe, tongue, and nation. This is the task that Jesus’ gave his disciples (us) after his resurrection. He said to go into all the world and make disciples of the nations. There are still many nations today where there are very few disciples of Jesus. The goal of YWAM Frontier Missions is to have disciples of Jesus all over the world.
Did you know?
Unreached people groups
An unreached people group (UPG) is a distinct cultural or ethnic group that has little to no access to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. These groups are characterized by the absence of a viable, self-sustaining Christian community capable of evangelizing within its culture. In practical terms, this often means that less than 2% of the population in these groups identifies as evangelical Christian, and there are few, if any, churches or believers within the group.
The concept of unreached people groups emphasizes the importance of reaching those who have never heard about Jesus in their cultural context. It is rooted in the biblical mandate of the Great Commission (Matthew 28:18–20), which calls believers to make disciples of all nations. The Greek word translated as ‘nation’ is the word ‘ethne’ which can be defined as ‘distinct ethnolinguistic people groups’. The usage of terms like ‘Unreached People Groups’ helps us in missions to determine where the greatest need is for the gospel.
Did you know that 42% of people are part of unreached people groups? The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few!
Frontier Missions training
Frontier Missions Training gives you the skills, knowledge and spiritual foundation to serve among unreached people groups. This specific training prepares missionaries to work in culturally diverse, language challenging and often remote or restricted areas. Frontier Missions Training focuses on cultural awareness, strategic thinking and practical tools to make long term impact in places where the Gospel has not yet taken root.
YWAM Frontier Missions provides programs tailor made to overcome the unique challenges of frontier missions. You’ll learn to adapt to new environments, build relationships across cultural boundaries and disciple people in ways that resonate with their cultural context.
What training does YWAM Frontier Missions offer?
YWAM-FM offers many schools including Foundations for Intercultural Studies (FIS) and School of Frontier Missions (SOFM). Both of these schools are specifically tailored to prepare individuals for long-term missions among unreached people groups. They build on the foundation of DTS and dives deeper into the skills and strategies needed for frontier missions.
YWAM-FM also offers online training courses such as their 'disciple makers increase course'.
What are the prerequisites for joining YWAM Frontier Missions?
The Discipleship Training School is the first step in joining Youth with a Mission. YWAM Frontier Missions training courses are designed for those who have already completed a DTS and are wanting to take the next step into long-term missions. If you have not done a DTS yet, there are hundreds of locations all over the world where you can complete one including here at YWAM Provence.