Mission Builders
Individuals/Couples
Without volunteers, we would not be able to impact the island of St. Croix as God has called us to. YWAM has a program called Mission Builders; which is what we call people that come to serve the YWAM base. We have singles, couples, and families that come to our base and serve in practical areas. In the summer we have a lot of college students that come and help in our summer camps. In the Fall & Winter we see mostly retirees and couples coming down to work in trade/skill areas where they have 25+ years of experience!
What do mission builders do?
Mission Builders primarily help in practical service areas around the base. This means working in a mixture of maintenance, grounds, garden, housekeeping, kitchen, office, and childcare. We need help in these areas as we try and balance our physical needs with ministry demands. As a smaller base; schools, camps, and events often take all of our staff and trying to balance ministry and the large amount of base responsibilities can be exhausting. We try and schedule Mission Builders during our "high times" when we need all hands on deck! Mission Builders have played a major role in the success and growth of our base.
We try our best to fit people in areas where they enjoy and are skilled in. You will most likely rotate through several areas each week. We do our best to help you find "your niche" while you are here!
In the past we have had many couples volunteer where one of them had physical limitations that made them hesitant to apply. If that is you, please shoot us an e-mail! Often we have found a way to work it out where the couple could come and serve together in spite of whatever limitations they had.
As a Mission Builder we also encourage you to get involved with the weekly ministries that we have running. Weekly base worship & intercession, Tuesday afternoon children's ministry in the projects, \basketball ministry three times a week, weekly skateboarding ministry, weekly intercession downtown and homeless ministry.
How long of a commitment is required?
Mission Builders come from between 2 weeks to 3 months!
When do you need volunteers?
January-Mid April
Historically we have a lot of retirees or couples that work in seasonal occupations come down during the winter. It is a beautiful 72' here that time of year!
This is when we run our training school as well as host a DTS outreach team. During this time we always need help in the kitchen, grounds, maintenance, and housekeeping! We can have up to 60 people on base! We also have several massive construction projects being done during this time so we can use any/all people that have a construction background!
Late June - Early August
In the summer we need Mission Builders that work primarily with our summer camps. We need Camp Councilors, Sports/Dance/Drama leaders, and recreation leaders for our overnight camps. It is the perfect fit for High School Graduates and College students! Come for one camp (two weeks) or stay a month or two and help all summer! Be warned though, we often have young adults come down several years as they fall in love with the kids they are working with!
We also need cooks! We cook for up to 110 people a meal so kitchen help is greatly appreciated!!!
We also can use Mission Builders other times of the year; these are just our busiest times! :)
Who can be a mission builder?
Are you a believer? Do you desire to be used by God? Are you willing to go outside your comfort zone? Do you want to use your gifts, skills, and talents to build what God is doing in STX? Answer yes? Ok then, go ahead and apply!
*We do require anyone who is going to be working with kids to pass a background check.
How much does it cost?
All of our full-time staff and short-term volunteers pay for food & housing. Living expenses are very high in the islands and we cannot financially afford to house/feed people for free. We try and keep these costs low for our volunteers! When you contact us with how long you would like to stay we can give you an exact cost.
Do I need a passport or VISA?
We are a US Territory so if you are from the USA you do not need a passport or a visa! If you are coming from another country our visa reqirements are the same us the mainland USA.
How do I get started!?
You can go ahead and click on the links below to either apply or e-mail us with a question! Once we have a complete application form we will check available housing, confirm dates, and then get back to you with a green light to proceed with buying airline tickets and such! *Please do not buy a ticket before we have confirmed with you. We often have limited housing and cannot guarantee room unless we have officially accepted you.