Love Thy Neighbor

Love Thy Neighbor

by | 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.

I Did a DTS. Now What?

I Did a DTS. Now What?

by | Aug 25, 2021 | Connections Article

Many students of YWAM’s Discipleship Training School graduate with a desire to serve full-time in the mission, and YWAM campuses worldwide need people just like them to achieve their mission goals and thrive. MBI brings these two dynamic groups together through our After DTS program.

DTS graduates can now explore opportunities and locations through volunteer placement, allowing them to experience a variety of service opportunities, places, cultures, and causes. Graduates may learn new skills, encounter new people groups, fall in love with a ministry vision, find their “tribe” of like-minded missionaries, and more! They volunteer at global locations, build lasting relationships, and find their best fit for long-term service. MBI makes easy what used to be laborious and time-consuming.

Dawn Mekunwattana from Thailand did her DTS in the spring of 2011 at YWAM Lakeside and knew she wanted to join their staff someday. She spent time mission building on campus between the secondary schools she attended after her basic training. She says:

“My mission building experience gave me a snapshot into the behind-the-scenes life of missionary members on campus and helped to solidify my desire to serve full-time in Montana. I loved the Mission Builder community! We had our meetings and times of connection and prayer outside of the regular base meetings, and I loved connecting with all the people who would come through for those short seasons to serve and bless others. Mission building also grew my confidence—I could serve and work in many capacities! It’s been ten years since I did my DTS and six years since I last worked as a mission builder.  Now, I’m finally here as a full-time missionary member!”

DTS graduates like Daniel, Fabio, Presley, and others have utilized the After DTS program to explore the exciting ways and places available to them to serve within YWAM as they’ve fulfilled God’s call on their lives.

Are you a DTS graduate with a passion for moving to the next step of service? Apply at www.missionbuilders.org to volunteer with After DTS and discover your next step!