Frequently asked questions about YWAM Lusaka

YWAM Lusaka is a Youth With A Mission base on Mungwi Road, just outside Lusaka, Zambia. It started in 1986 and has operated from its own seven-acre site since 2001, training people for missions and serving its neighbours through health care, education and community work.

Youth With A Mission is an international movement of Christians from many denominations, which began in 1960 with a focus on helping young people into missions. It now includes people of all ages, with staff from nearly every country. Its mission statement is "To Know God and Make Him Known".

Randy and Jane Rhoades, an American couple, pioneered the base in 1986. They worked in Lusaka for 17 years from a rented camp site before God provided the seven acres the base stands on today.

YWAM Lusaka shares the 18 foundational values held across Youth With A Mission, which describe the beliefs and practices that have shaped the movement since 1960. The full list is on the foundational values page.

The school is split between a lecture phase at the base on Mungwi Road and an outreach phase. The outreach location varies from school to school.

Yes. The Discipleship Training School is YWAM's entry point, and most long-term staff roles build on it. If you have not done one yet, it may be your first step.

DBS is an intensive journey through all 66 books of the Bible, for believers who want depth and structure in the Word. It is built on Ezra 7:10 — to study the Law of the Lord, to live it, and to teach it faithfully.

The next Discipleship Bible School runs April 12 to July 3, 2027 - three months at the base on Mungwi Road. Fees are K7,000 for applicants from Zambia, Malawi and Mozambique, K12,000 for Category C, K18,000 for Category B and K28,000 for Category A, covering tuition, accommodation, meals and school activities.

Ten days of leadership training at the base for emerging and established leaders, running October 12-21, 2026. Registration is $100 and you apply through the seminar page.

After you submit an application, a separate reference form goes to someone who knows you — a pastor, church leader, employer or YWAM leader.

Every application, volunteer and reference form is listed on the forms page, including the school application, the short-term team form and the staff application.

Yes. There are rooms on the seven acres for students, guests and visiting teams. Ask about availability and dates before you travel.

Yes. If you are doing a DTS or DBS, accommodation is included with your school fees.

Yes. The seven acres are a quiet, natural setting just outside the city, and the base hosts church groups for camps, retreats and meetings.

International volunteers enter Zambia on a business visa. The base will point you to what you need before you book travel.

No. YWAM Lusaka is a purely volunteer organisation, and no staff, local or foreign, receive a salary. Most staff meet their financial needs by partnering with friends, family and churches.

The Discipleship Training School is YWAM's entry point, and most long-term staff roles build on it. If you have not done one yet, tell the base where you are at — the DTS at Lusaka may be your first step.

There are opportunities to serve long-term or short-term. Tell the base what season you are in and the team will talk through what fits.

Teams across training, operations and the ministries — including the Hope Clinic medical team, Inspired Football Academy, rural ministry in Munyama Village, community development and missions mobilisation.

Hope Clinic is YWAM Lusaka's health ministry. It serves the community with holistic health care addressing the physical, mental and spiritual well-being of individuals, families and communities.

Serving Lusaka since 1986, the base saw that access to good health care was one of the community's real needs. The clinic combines quality care and health education with a compassionate team, and serves as a model for health professionals who want to join their profession and their calling.

The clinic needs qualified health workers — clinical officers, nurses, midwives, primary and public health workers — as well as management, counsellors, people who will pray for the sick, and help with building work.

Write to HopeclinicYWAM@gmail.com. Gifts go to YWAM HOPE CLINIC, account 1614155 at Absa Bank Zambia, Longacres branch, sort code 020017, SWIFT BARCZMLX.

The Lighthouse serves the local community through Christ-centred education, health care, skills training and ministry. Its education programme is a place for discipleship and for modelling Christ to young people.

Gifts go to YWAM HOPE SCHOOL, account 1616409 at Absa Bank Zambia, Longacres branch, in kwacha. You can also volunteer or visit — the Centre's ministry page lists the ways to serve.

Hope Clinic, the Lighthouse Community Centre, Inspired Football Academy, Just Kids Ministry, church ministries, community development, missions mobilisation, Missions Bridge, Frontier Missions, rural ministry at Munyama Village, and the camps and retreat centre.

Yes. Besides the Lusaka base there is an outreach location in Munyama Village, Siavonga, where reaching the villages and islands of the area means travelling by road and by canoe.

YWAM's South-Central Africa Frontier Missions Centre stands with the church across Angola, Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia and Zimbabwe to send workers toward unreached peoples.

Inspired Football Academy disciples boys and teenagers through football, faith and faithful mentorship.

Yes. You can give to the base, to a department, to the Hope Clinic or Lighthouse accounts, or to send and sustain a missionary, student, team or church group.

The base team. The financial information page explains how giving to YWAM Lusaka is handled and where to direct questions about donations and records.