- WHAT IS YWAM?

- MINISTRY EMPHASIS

- HOW TENTMAKERS' MINISTRY DEVELOPED

- MISSION STATEMENT

< WHAT IS YWAM? >   Under the Mosaic Law. only the Levites could serve the Lord. The Levites were not to do any work other than serving the Lord in various ways. And their needs were provided as priests by the rest of the tribes of Isreal. However, in the New Testament days, all the believers are called as royal priesthood. (I Peter 2:9) Among the followers of Jesus, there were two types of people. The first twelve disciples left their jobs when they were called by Jesus and thus, devoted their full time in ministry. But other people like Paul and Barnabus (I Corinthians 9:7) and Aquilla and Pricilla (Acts 18:3) kept their jobs while serving the Lord. God is still calling today to those followers who serve Him with occupations as well as those who devote all of their time to ministry. On November 1999, in response to God's call, Tentmakers' Ministry, Y.W.A.M was established by today's tentmakers in Toronto. Even though present involvement is mainly from Korean-Canadians in Toronto, we pray this ministry will reach out to Koreans as well as non-Koreans.

< MINISTRY EMPHASIS > Tentmakers' Ministry puts the foremost emphasis on youth. We believe that God has a special plan for young people is these last days. God chooses weak things of the world to shame the strong (I Corinthians 1:27). And He will silence the enemy through the praise of young people (Psalms 8:2). Today's young people are living in the world with incomparable amount of temptations and pressures. It is because the enemy who knows that God has a special plan for them, is making every effort to pull them into the world. Tentmakers' Ministry wants to raise and stand beside the young people so that God could use them mightily. We are not satisfied with young people to be merely saved; but we want to make sure they grow spiritually, so that they could reach the stage of spiritual youth or "young men" as described in I John 2:13,14. Youth in God's family are strong because the word of God lives in them, and overcomes the evil one (I John 2:13,14). Tentmakers' Ministry's vision is to raise young people into these spiritual youths by training them in the word of God and in His Spirit. We intend to accomplish this through regular worship meetings, discipleship training, leadership conferences, and retreats. The second emphasis for Tentmakers' Ministry is on the Christian adults. In God's family, God wants fathers as well as youths. Spiritual youths need fathers/mothers who would show God's directions and support through love and prayer. The bible tells us that the spiritual fathers are those who have known God who is from the beginning (I John 2:13,14). They are the spiritually mature people who have intimate relationships with God. They know who God is and understand His plans and ways. As Paul pointed out in I Corinthians 4:15, we do not have many fathers in the church. However, becoming fathers/mothers is our goal in our spiritual maturity and we should never stop growing. Tentmakers' Ministry encourages and helps Christian adults to grow into spiritual fathers/mothers who can raise spiritual youth. We also intend to do this adult ministry through prayer meetings, bible studies, conferences and retreats.

< HOW TENTMAKERS' MINISTRY DEVELOPED >   In the story from Numbers 11, Moses was confronted with the grumbling and complaining people. Moses was fed up with such grumbling and he asked the Lord, "Why have you brought this trouble on your servant? What have I done to displease You that You put the burden of all these people on me? Did I conceive all these people? Did I give them birth? Why do You tell me to carry them in my arms, as a nurse carries an infant, to the land you promised by oath to their forefathers?" God answers Moses' cry by annointing 70 elders with the Spirit which was on Moses so that they could help Moses carry the burden of the people. The interesting twist of the story is that2 elders, Eldad and Medad, had remained in the camp while the other 68 elders together with Moses and Joshua were at the Tent of Meeting. The bible does not tell us why these 2 elders remained at the camp and were not present at the Tent of Meeting. Perhaps, they were not happy with the way Moses and Joshua were leading the people. Perhaps, they were sick. Whatever the reason was, they were not together with the rest of the elders. But the Spirit of the Lord also rested upon them and they also began to prophesy just like the other 68 elders. When this incident was reported to the Tent of Meeting, Joshua spoke up and said, "Moses, my lord, stop them!" But Moses replied with in Numbers 11:29, "Are you jealous for my sake? I wish that all the Lord's people were prophets and that the Lord would put His Spirit on them!". The story tells us that there are two kinds of people who are doing God's work. One kind is Joshua who is so zealous for his master Moses or the organization he belongs to that he will stop anyone who is not for them. Even if they prophesy God's will, he will have to stop them because they do not work the same way he and the organization carry out or because they are not affiliated with them. But then there is the other kind of person like Moses who understands God's will is for all of the Lord's people to prophesy and that the Lord would put his Holy Spirit on them.   The meaning of "prophesy" is to sound the praises of God and to declare His will. In other words, when one is prophesying, he is actually carrying out God's work. The one who prophesies, refers to those people who are serving God's kingdom wherever they are, even if they are independent and not under the same influence or authority. God's will is to raise up all the young people to serve His kingdom. Far too long, we have been saying we are too young or we do not have resources or we are not full-time workers for God's Kingdom. But God wants to raise us and annoint us with His Holy Spirit so that we may all prophesy. In Jeremiah 5:1, God challenges the people of Jerusalem to "find one person who deals honestly and seeks the truth". BUT GOD KNOWS ALL, He knows that there is no one in the city of Jerusalem who fits that description. In the midst of our lives, (school, job, business, and home) God is waiting for you and me to be that person. He wants to save this city and this land through you. This is a great challenge for all of us to consider seriously.

< MISSION STATEMENT > 1. TO KNOW GOD AND MAKE HIM KNOWN   We pursue the mission of Y.W.A.M: to know Him and make Him known. The same mission is for our personal lives as well as of our corporate body. 2. FOLLOW THE EXAMPLE OF PAUL    Paul explained the benefits of a tentmaker (serving the Lord with an occupation) in the following ways: i) By supplying his own needs, he can help the weak and give to others (Acts20:34,35) ii) In preaching the gospel he may offer it free of charge, and so make use of his rights in preaching it to win as many as possible (I Corinthians 9:18,19) Likewise, Tentmakers' Ministry intends to follow Paul's examples of helping the weak, giving to others and winning as many as possible as tentmakers. 3. LIFE OF INTEGRITY    God told His people to find but one person who deals honestly and seeks the truth in the streets of Jerusalem (Jeremiah 5:1). Of course God knew there was no one like that in Jerusalem. However, He was pleading His people to become those who are honest and seek truth by themselves, by telling them to seek those people. Interestingly, He told them to find such a person in the wide s treets and squares of Jerusalem, rather than in the temple or some secret place. God wants to see these honest and truth-seeking people in the midst of their day-to-day lives. 4. MINISTRY   Through Moses, God revealed His heart of wanting all of His people to prophesy by placing His Holy Spirit upon them Numbers 11:29). To prophesy means to sound the praise and declare God's will (Amplified Bible). To simplify this, to prophesy is to do God's work. Having called all His children as His priests, we believe God wants tentmakers (believers with occupations) to prophesy in His Spirit as mush as those who devote their full time for His ministy. Tentmakers' Ministry does not consider tentmakers as part-timers in God's work. Neither does it consider their occupations as secular. The Tentmakers' Ministry believe God called tentmakers as full-time ministers at their homes, works and schools. OUR VISION IS TO HAVE YOUNG PEOPLE AND ADULTS WITH SPIRITUAL MATURITY WORKING TOGETHER TO CLAIM THE VICTORY JESUS HAS ALREADY WON AND TO EXPAND HIS KINGDOM IN THIS LAND UNTIL HE RETURNS