Let’s Go: Featuring Youth With A Mission!
Hello, Faith Family!
As you know, we support a variety of missionaries through our church body. One of those missionaries is Amada Stapp. Amada is a missionary through the organization Youth With A Mission (YWAM) and her work through YWAM is quite exceptional. Please enjoy this Q&A session as Amada beautifully articulates what it means to lay down your life and GO through YWAM:
Question: What is YWAM?
Answer: Youth With A Mission (YWAM) was started in 1960 with the goal of knowing God, and making him known. Now it has grown to be an international missions movement in 180 different countries, with more than 20,000 full time staff! That’s a lot of numbers but in short: YWAM is an opportunity to know God, and to share about him with other people. It’s an opportunity for young people to explore what missions looks like in a six month discipleship training school, and then from there get trained in specific skills to share the Gospel, or join staff to multiply what we’ve been trained in. To me personally, YWAM is family! I’ve been here at the base for the last 7 years and I’m so happy to be part of a community that loves God and is committed to see the Gospel go forward, all while working hard and having fun.
Question: How did God call you into YWAM?
Answer: Erika (Simpkins) Webb did her discipleship training school in 2010 and came back to tell me about it! I felt like God had been speaking to me about Australia but I had no idea why – literally I was seeing it on billboards, the sides of buses, random conversations – Australia, Australia, Australia. When she told me about the base in Perth it all started to make sense and as I looked into it further I knew it was the next step after graduating high school. I came in 2012, and from there I heard about the Birth Attendant School, which trains midwives for developing nations. Again, things related to babies and birth just kept coming up, and as I continued to pray I felt like that’s what God had been speaking about. I returned for the school and completed another school related to Primary Health Care, and then I joined staff.
Question: How do you specifically see God moving in and through your ministry at YWAM?
Answer: I am a ministry leader in our health care ministry on base, and we do a lot both in the city and in Africa/Asia! In the city we have started a ministry that reaches out to women who have no one to be with them in their pregnancy/birth. Perth is a very diverse city, and we have found that there is a massive need for people to come alongside women in this way. We have another part of our ministry that reaches out to families in crisis in the city – cleaning, watching children, doing yard work – whatever is needed, really! We have seen mums and families give their lives to Jesus through these small ways of reaching out. We are also going into the city to reach out to the homeless and have become friends with a lot of them. I like spending time with them!
For part of the year I lead our Birth Attendant School, which trains midwives for developing nations, and a large chunk of my year is spent out on their field assignment, working and training them in government hospitals and clinics around the world. We regularly see God intervene in impossible situations or complications – in just this last year we saw four babies raised from the dead!
I love health care because it opens doors to sharing the Gospel with whole families and communities; and ultimately that is why we go. We’re able to be with a mum in labour and welcome her baby in the name of Jesus, or help provide friendship and support to a family going through a hard time, or even just teach a group of children how to wash their hands who have never been taught that before, and at the same time we are always praying and sharing the Gospel. We have seen thousands of people come to know Jesus and the conversations start because we’re there and willing to enter into health needs among the poor and offer a bit of support and the love of God.
Question: What are some ways we can be supporting you—prayers, finances, going and serving alongside you?
Answer: I am currently leading a birth attendant school outreach to nations in Africa this October thru December and later on to central Asia next April or May – I would love prayer for that! I’m leading these teams and discipling and training students, which is such a joy, and I find that I always grow in faith as I go on outreach with them. We often face life and death right next to each other, along with the reality of low resourced hospitals and maternity care in developing nations. I am a full-time volunteer and depend on God for all of my finances for both living in Perth and outreaches into the nations, and always looking for more people to join my team financially as well. To be honest I just love hearing from people! I love hearing stories and little updates and to be able to connect and pray for you. As far as coming alongside – I’m always keen for a visit! Our ministry also runs short term trips for medical professionals throughout the year, and there’s no pre-requisite to join one of those – you’re always welcome!
Amada, we so appreciate you taking time out of your schedule to chat with us here at Faith. Your work with YWAM is nothing short of inspiring and we are so glad we get to support you in your efforts! If you’d like to hear more from Amada, please visit her personal blog by clicking here.
Until Sunday,
Tone Waters
Director of Communications & GO