Hello! I am Mikayla Smith and I am a core member of the Community Life ministry on our base here in Coeur d’ Alene. Currently I’m 19 years old and I did my DTS with YWAM North Idaho in the Fall of 2019. In this blog post I will be introducing you to what the Community Life ministry here at YWAM North Idaho truly is, why God has called me into it, and how God is calling us to live out this ministry.
What is Community Life?
Community is a very prominent theme in the Bible. A wonderful example of Biblical community comes from Hebrews 1-:24-25 (NIV). This verse states, “And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another - and all the more as you see the day approaching.” This is such a perfect example of what we are striving for here at YWAM North Idaho and YWAM across the globe. YWAM as an organization has so many amazing values, but there is one that wholly represents what we are trying to achieve through this ministry: Value #13: “YWAM is dedicated to being relationship-oriented in our living and working together. We desire to be united through lives of holiness, mutual support, transparency, humility, and open communication, rather than a dependence on structures or rules” (https://www.ywam.org/about-us/values/). As followers of Christ, we have a call as a community to love each other, but to also love outsiders. So, in order to steward this calling well, we have developed this ministry.
This ministry is broad and is in some way involved with every other ministry on base. I would even be so bold as to say that Community Life is one of the foundational parts of discipleship and mobilizing to the unreached. We make sure that the other ministries and staff members are functioning well so they can reach out and more effectively disciple and mobilize. Like I said before, our heart is to create a community that is Biblical and Christ-like, and one that will organically reach out to create better followers of Christ. Although Community Life is not directly teaching and sending missionaries, we play an extremely vital role in the process. By working behind the scenes to make sure that all of our staff and students are being poured into spiritually, mentally, emotionally, and physically, we advance YWAM North Idaho’s vision to reach unreached people groups in Thailand for the Lord.
Ministry Responsibilities
I have two main responsibilities as a core member of Community Life:
To make sure our community here on base is thriving and growing the way God intended.
To ensure that we are extending hospitality to our community by offering comfort, family, and love to others.
It is important for me as a staff member to prayerfully consider and observe if our community is representing Christ in an honoring way. It also involves helping individuals to better honor Christ through their personal life. This might sound weird to you, but I do a lot of watching and observing throughout the day. I am always on the lookout for things that might need to be changed for the better.
Now that I’ve briefly explained the heart of Community Life and the purpose for it, I am going to explain in more detail what Community Life does on a day-to-day basis. Apart from the regular responsibilities of staffing here you can find me cooking, cleaning, checking in on our staff and students, hosting and planning events such as our quarterly pastor’s breakfast, thai night, birthday celebrations, welcome lunches for our new students etc. Other than this, I put my hands to supporting the other ministries here on base whenever I can! I will always be thankful for the opportunity I have been given to staff with YWAM North Idaho and be a core member of this ministry.
My heart is so overjoyed with what God has called Community Life to be and I am so glad that He has given me a part in developing this ministry. It is not hard for me to wake up and do my tasks for the day. I genuinely see the value in what I am doing and I love worshipping God through serving others and strengthening our community. I feel a very deep connection to the Lord’s heart when I am serving others. I know He is pleased with how we are carrying out His will for Community Life, and I am excited for the Lord to take us deeper!
Thank You,
Mikayla Smith (Community Life Core Member)