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Youth With A Mission (YWAM) Madison is committed to seeing a God-initiated transformation of the world through university students. The university is THE training ground for the world's future leaders.

Many nations send their brightest, most promising scholars and leaders right here, to the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus. The UW is home to nearly 4,000 international students and many of their families. That's why we are in Madison, minutes from the UW campus.

Don't know where to start? A Discipleship Training School is your entrance into a world of missions and training. Read our staff blogs or news articles to learn about the real life missionaries who make up YWAM.

Check out all the ways you, too, can be involved in world transformation--from your own home or from as far away as East Asia.

To Know God and to Make Him Known!

Jesus' command to "make disciples of all nations" provides us the greatest challenge ever encountered.

The opportunity to reach the nations presents itself on our own doorstep--the University of Wisconsin campus, where there are more than 3500 international students from 117 nations.

This is where our mission field begins!
YWAM's History in Madison

Since its establishment in 1986 by Warren & Gayle Keapproth, YWAM-Madison's goal has been to train university students to affect the world for Christ as they return to their home countries and jobs. 

Wisconsin's Capitol in downtown Madison With a small and dedicated staff, YWAM-Madison initially focused on university ministry, short term outreaches, and intercessory prayer teams. During winter and spring breaks, various short term outreaches went to Mexico, Grenada, Belize and several inner cities of the U.S.

The Discipleship Training School began in 1991 at a rented facility in downtown Madison.  Additional Discipleship Training Schools were held in churches until 1995, when we purchased a public school building as a permanent training facility. The Training Center now operates year round, hosting seminars and retreats for churches as well as the Access in the summer and DTS in the summer and fall.

In 1999, YWAM established a house on the University of Wisconsin campus to provide staff and student housing, fellowship, and discipleship in a live/learn environment. Known as the PHOS House, it is open to students serious about being disciples of Christ, relevant and effective in their fields.

Also launched in 1999 was the School of the Bible. SOTB is a ten-month course designed to equip students as Bible teachers and challenge them to consider the relevance of God's Word in every sphere of society. 

The 2004 purchase of the Global Missions Center on the northeast side of Madison made it possible to better function and serve the Madison area. We moved and expanded our operations offices and SOTB classroom and dorm space. The SOTB is now held off the often-noisy University of Wisconsin campus, and we can hold more helpful seminars for the community at this more central location.

To better serve and equip more students to understand and teach the Bible, the Bible School for the Nations (BSN) began in the spring of 2007.

Twenty years after its inception, YWAM-Madison continues to grow in staff and areas of ministry. In addition to working with university students and running training programs, YWAM challenges local church members with the call to missions, specifically in providing opportunities for short-term outreaches.   


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