by Becky Hefty | Mar 7, 2025 | Letter from the Director, Thrive
MBI is one of hundreds of global campuses in YWAM’s network. Our sole purpose is to provide practical and training support for other locations so they can thrive and fully realize their mission goals.
MBI’s ability to offer extraordinary services to our missionary counterparts relies on our quality staff. Our team consists of experienced long-term missionaries who know the ropes and understand the challenges of serving on the field.
We want to introduce you to the four incredible YWAM missionaries who recently joined us, allowing us to offer even more help than before.
The construction of Mission Lodge—MBI’s all-in-one center for refreshing, retooling, and resending YWAM leaders and missionaries—is well underway. We recently welcomed Benjamin Arnold and his wife, Liz, to help us realize this crucial part of our ministry vision. Benjamin oversees the current construction phase as MBI’s Mission Lodge project manager. He has a civil engineering and construction background in building large infrastructure projects.
Benjamin is originally from Austin, TX, and Liz is from Campbellford, Ontario, Canada. They have served in YWAM for two years. Before moving to Lakeside, they worked in English camps in Thailand, drilled water wells in Mexico, and preached the gospel in Indonesia and New Zealand. They love outdoor activities, from hunting and fishing to hiking, camping, and riding motorcycles.
Sally Jo (SJ) Vander Yacht is from Lynden, WA, and has served 15 years with YWAM. She also has a Master of Arts in the New Testament from Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary. She says: “Most of my YWAM experience has been serving in the realm of biblical training, including seven years at YWAM Lakeside-Montana with the SBS (School of Biblical Studies) and an additional five years with their Biblical Seminars program.”
Sally Jo loves teaching, training, learning, problem-solving, and helping people understand the hot topics of our current culture and society. She is pioneering and building the Christ-Centered Sexuality (CCS) ministry under MBI’s umbrella. Sally Jo says, “CCS trains and educates Christians in a non-affirming understanding of God’s design and desire for sex, sexuality, gender, and marriage while also helping people learn how to engage in compassion and pastoral care for those who struggle with sexual brokenness.”
Sally Jo also manages MBI’s Instagram account. When she isn’t busy with her MBI and CCS responsibilities, she enjoys boating, traveling, playing Call of Duty, and keeping up with her rambunctious golden retriever, Murphy.
Nate Ballivian works long-distance as part of MBI’s L13 (Leadership 13) team and as MBI’s Volunteer Coordinator. He took his YWAM DTS (Discipleship Training School) in 2006, adding on subsequent YWAM training and leadership schools, a Bachelor of Biblical Studies with Ecclesia College, and life purpose and calling coaching with Coaching Mission International (CMI). He and his family live in Lindale, TX, where they have served with YWAM Tyler since 2009.
Nate loves being exposed to different cultures and foods and enjoys working in facilitation, team building, life coaching, strategic thinking, and leadership development. He says his favorite challenges include “developing something and then passing it on so it’s not dependent on me and helping people and teams get unstuck by bringing clarity.” He also loves being out in nature, reading biographies and historical nonfiction, keeping up with Michigan in college football, and watching Arsenal in the Premier League.
Nate especially enjoys cooking and “eating yummy food” with his wife of 17 years, Lauren, and doing activities with his three kids: Gabe (13), Ephraim (8), and Beatriz (6).
Amy Stevens is a YWAM lifer with 32 years of service and experience. She recently joined MBI to serve as office manager and in L13 resource development.
Originally from Minnesota, Amy lived at and worked on staff with YWAM Lakeside-Montana for 11 years before moving to Taiwan and serving with Taipei Ministries for 21 years. While in Montana, she served as staff for the SBS (School of Biblical Studies) for two years before launching the Titus Project in 1996 and running it for seven years. Amy was the local Titus Project leader and overseer of what became Titus Project Int’l in Taiwan. Additionally, Amy was part of their ministry leadership team, the leadership council, the budget review team, the fiscal team (as an overseer), and the director’s office.
Amy says she gained working knowledge through seminars, experience, and trial and error. She is skilled at teaching, creating resources, systems/SOPs, and information organization. Her favorite challenges include creating spreadsheets, expenditure reports, and systems, especially those related to numbers and accounting.
Amy also says, “I love difficult passages in the Bible, studying and teaching through them. I love to see those without hope and searching for meaning come to believe in Jesus and go on to being discipled, becoming pastors or DTS leaders, etc. And I love the cross-cultural aspect of missions where people from all nations and vastly different cultures come together with the same purpose: to make God known and follow him.”
Amy is married to Michael Stevens from Australia. They have four gifted, mission-oriented adult children: Elise (24), Kenna (21), Anaya (19), and Nathan (18).
The Lord has blessed MBI with a treasure trove of skilled and talented people to help us continue assisting the YWAM missionaries who are making a difference in the world. Thanks for supporting our team with your prayers and encouragement!
by Becky Hefty | Mar 5, 2025 | Connections Article
MBI provides targeted services that help YWAM missionaries thrive. Sometimes, YWAM leaders and staff
taking on the complexities of ministry may not know what they don’t know. MBI can help them prevent challenges before they arise through training opportunities like LIFT (legal, immigration, financial, tactical).
YWAM attendees at MBI’s recent LIFT conference in Colorado Springs had this to say:
“We returned to Santa Rosa after the conference, and as I was organizing our documentation and checking things, I realized we did not have the 2023 taxes done. We had just taken over in July 2024. I had no idea what happened in 2023! However, because it was just before the deadline, I could reach out to the previous accountant and find out what we needed. Also, I made friends with Michelle at MEI (Misson Enablers Int’l) in Arkansas and contacted her to help me make reports for the accountant. All those pieces fit into place in just enough time to avoid the daily IRS fine for late taxes.
“All this to say, thank you for running LIFT! We didn’t know we needed to sort out a tax issue. But because we were asking questions and being asked questions at the conference, we discovered this problem before it became a crisis.” —Melissa, YWAM Santa Rosa
“I just finished my first MBI LIFT conference. As a fairly new personnel director at our YWAM location, I wasn’t sure what I would learn. I knew I needed to understand more about immigration laws, but I thought all other subjects would not necessarily apply to me. I still wanted to gain some understanding and at least get a broad picture since I also sit on the team that oversees operations on our campus.
“I want to report that a new world of understanding opened up! The presenters were knowledgeable and skilled in their areas and gave us lots of information to process. The conference leaders would go above and beyond to serve us and ensure we took the best information back to our campuses.
“Knowing MBI is there for us when we need expert advice is a comforting thought.” —FinnGirl64
Visit MBI’s LIFT website here.
by Becky Hefty | Feb 5, 2025 | Thrive, Volunteer Viewpoint
MBI has recruited and sent volunteers to global YWAM mission locations for decades, providing them the practical help they need not just to get by but to flourish in the ministries God has called them to. Not only that, our volunteers also thrive as they find their niche in missions! Here is the first-hand story of one of MBI’s current and most prolific Mission Builders, Ed Wandell.
“Four years ago, I was researching YWAM and other RV-related service opportunities. YWAM Lakeside in Montana got my attention. Another YWAM ministry, MBI (Mission Builders International), was across the road. ‘Let’s see,’ I thought. ‘Montana in the summer? Let’s go!’
“The help I got from MBI via phone, email, and their website, full of places and opportunities, began to enlarge my thinking. These and MBI’s flexibility with fewer restrictions compared to other organizations caught and held my interest.
“It was a God-inspired ‘leave this place’ time. God was ready to introduce me to the upside-down nature of His kingdom. I sold everything back home, bought a travel trailer, and jumped in. Many things led me to make such a significant change, but God gave me a lot of peace and excitement about what was in front of me. Since then, He has kept my service fresh and rewarding.
“Seasons of the yea
r, friends I want to see, campuses where I have good memories of blessing and being blessed, and places where there is a need are all parts of my prayerful decision-making process. I haven’t found a way to make a mistake yet! My biggest challenge is fitting in too many friends, places, and memories each year.
“So far, I’ve made 25 volunteer visits to 13 YWAM locations: Lakeside, MT; Faith Harvest Helpers, WA; Salem, OR; Chico, CA; Gleanings for the Hungry, CA; San Antonio del Mar (Tijuana), Mexico; Richmond, VA; Northwoods, WI; Tyler, TX; Cross Wind, KS; Seven Peaks, MT; Raleigh, NC; and Cimarron, CO.
“I typically serve in maintenance/facilities, which encompasses many jobs. But I have also hel
ped in woodshops, kitchens, food banks, and numerous other campus ministries. God has me excitedly looking forward to and fondly looking back at all of them. Now, that doesn’t mean all the work and situations were equally enjoyable everywhere—it means that God was in all the places and blessed all of them. I recently helped install a new liner in an active sewage pond. I’m still processing that!
“All the locations have had their arms open to welcome me, and it feels like they are holding on to my bumper when I leave. They appreciate the help and encouragement of someone investing one to three months of time and resources into their ministry.
“It’s easier to jump into their community at the smaller locations. Friendships are made quickly and more personal, and they feel our help immediately.
“I have been told, ‘You are not here just to fix stuff, but to grow closer to God. That’s the most important thing.’ That sure takes the pressure off to get everything done! And the culture of all these bases is to know God and to make Him known. It’s easy to make genuine friendships with that as a foundation. While each base has its personality, I love the YWAM focus on prayer time and worship. These gu
ys know how to worship!
“The past four years have also been a special time for me to write and publish a book titled My Father Journey. It’s not about my physical journey with Mission Builders but my spiritual journey of searching, wrestling, and healing. My everyday Mission Builder experience—a combination of physical service and community engagement—helped create fertile soil in me so that when I returned to my RV every night, writing flowed out of me. It helped add reflection time to round out the journey I am on.
“This stuff will grow on you. I call mission building my ‘seek, serve, and see tour.’ Traveling alone, I have ample time and opportunities to seek God and enjoy a growing relationship with Him. The serving is the glue that holds it all together, and I also get to see so many wonderful places around America.
“It has been a journey with a purpose!”
by Becky Hefty | Oct 21, 2024 | Thrive, Volunteer Viewpoint
MBI believes YWAM’s frontline missionaries are heroes as they engage the nations with the mercy and gospel of Christ. We aim to provide the practical training and resources they need to thrive in their calling. We also believe that our Mission Builder volunteers are heroes because they sacrifice their time, skills, and sometimes retirement to work alongside YWAM missionaries for kingdom purposes.
Here is the story of an extraordinary family of hero volunteers from Seattle, Washington. After Autumn Duckworth, her husband Ryan, and their three young children, Noa (11), Ashton (9), and Dakota (6), faced down Autumn’s life-threatening disease, the family chose not just to survive but to thrive.
Autumn says: “In April of 2022, I was diagnosed with colorectal cancer. By May of 2024, after several surgeries, radiation, and chemotherapy, my tests showed no evidence of disease. Summer was coming, and we needed a change of pace, a reset, a new rhythm, and a renewed vision as a family. We didn’t just want a vacation; we were looking for a VWAP (Vacation With A Purpose) where we all could serve and receive training as a family.
“The Lord directed me to MBI. I contacted Jeanette Brewster, and we began to let God orchestrate my family’s nine-week summer mission-building adventure. I’d been ‘prayer circling’ for a God idea/opportunity since January 2024. In His perfect sovereignty, He directed my attention to six YWAM campuses where we could serve alongside the local missionaries.
“The first was at YWAM Lakeside, Montana, where we enjoyed serving on the Facilities team. One highlight at the campus was watching the DTS School of Dance perform the beautiful production of The Story of Creation to Resurrection. Seeing so many young people worship Jesus freely through the creative arts was so impactful for my three children. 
“Next was YWAM Cascade, Idaho, for a week-long Family DTS, where we learned how to take our brokenness, unique passions, and giftings and allow God to redeem them into something beautiful. Learning to speak shalom over our family also helped us recalibrate and recenter our family on Jesus.
“At YWAM Emerge in Colorado Springs, we served on the Grounds team. There were so many highlights here! Volunteering and learning more about their genius OASYS aquaponics ministry was incredible. We hope to partner in the future with this ministry, as it’s a brilliant and tangible way to love God and others through building aquaponics systems, enabling other groups to achieve nutritious and sustainable food security in a dignified way.
“We then went south to YWAM Vicente Guerrero in Baja, California, Mexico, where we partnered with Mexico
Mission Adventures from YWAM Chico, California. My kids were astounded to see the impoverished living conditions of these amazing people. It gave them a greater appreciation for what God has provided for us. Seeing my three kids work hard to bless this family with a new home was unforgettable.
“Next, we headed north to YWAM Mendocino, California, where we helped with the library and installed ventilation systems in the cabin bathrooms. This place is truly anointed. Morning prayer at 8 a.m. was such a gift! On the last day, the local missionaries spoke and prayed prophetic words over us. It was a life-giving encouragement to our family.
“Last but not least, we had the pleasure of serving at YWAM Chico in California after the Park Fires struck the
area in July. Initially, everyone was evacuated, but after five days, things began opening back up. We witnessed His miraculous work firsthand as we provided relief care and cleaned, rebuilt, and restored things to order. Additionally, we got to hand out food and clothing to some of the homeless people in the Chico community and pray for people during street evangelism in Redding.
“We hope to return to each of the bases during our summers for 1-2 week long mission builds to serve and bless our new friends! Each base provided a unique ministry we are excited to partner with for life.”
Are you ready to be a hero and make a difference? Visit missionbuilders.org and explore your opportunities!
by Becky Hefty | Sep 9, 2024 | Connections Article
God is a champion of the vulnerable. That’s why MBI is committed to helping ministries like YWAM San Francisco, CA, maintain their life-changing work among people subsisting on the streets.
YWAM SF focuses on the people living within the Tenderloin—San Francisco’s most diverse and unusual neighborhood—part of which sits outside the front door of their main ministry center at 357 Ellis Street. Their mission is to engage San Francisco with a loving God.
Director Tim Svoboda says: “Homelessness is a large problem across American cities. There are many
reasons for this. Housing, high rents, unemployment, mental health, drugs, and so on. We find the number one problem facing most of the unhoused is loneliness. A lack of family connection. The isolation and loss of dignity people find on the streets can make them want to give up and live on the street because it’s easier than solving the complicated problem of finding a job or a place to live.”
At the Ellis Street center, the YWAM SF staff engages their homeless, lonely, and addicted “neighbors” in practical and relational ways, from providing showers and haircuts to playing ping pong and hosting community Bible discussions. “Whatever we do,” Tim says,” it focuses on building relationships so people feel loved, accepted, safe, and trusted. We concentrate on belonging first, which then leads to believing.”
Does it work? Tim points to Jason, who is beginning to embrace faith in Jesus, actively volunteering at YWAM, and contemplating his future with newfound optimism. As one of YWAM SF’s Mission Adventure outreach participants noted: “God taught me that some people just need someone to listen or talk to.”
YWAM SF’s current practical needs include volunteer help in communications, maintenance, and renovations. They also need mature, relational staff and an administrative assistant. We invite you to volunteer and help them continue loving their neighbors into God’s kingdom.
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