March 2026
My future with YWAMEA
Micah Lee
3/23/20266 min read
Hey friends and family! I’m very excited to announce that I’ve committed the next 2 years of my life to serve Christ with YWAM (Youth With A Mission) in Malaysia! My time in Asia has been so great, I’ve seen God move in so many ways in Malaysia, Thailand, and Japan, and I’m very happy to be able to continue to love the people in these wonderful countries!
What I’ve Been Doing
YWAM is an organisation that enables youth (or anyone!) from all over the world into missions. YWAM hosts schools and has dedicated mission teams in over 1,400 bases around the world, each independently run by volunteers. 6 months ago I joined YWAM in their introductory school DTS (Discipleship Training School) with a base in Malaysia!
DTS Lecture Phase
My time in my DTS was split into two parts: The lecture phase, and the outreach phase. During the lecture phase, me and 21 other students lived together accompanied by a few DTS staff for the guys and girls houses. We attended lectures every weekday morning across 3 months. The lectures focused on a different topic each week, including things like the Holy Spirit, evangelism, relationships, and the Father heart of God, and we often had guest speakers come in to teach on one of the topics for the week.
We also did evangelism during the week with the missions team at the base doing street evangelism, working at a local orphanage, ministering to refugees from Pakistan, and building relationships with non-Christian students at a nearby University. Our 3 months in the lecture phase was very practical and helped prepare us for the outreach phase, which was the 2 months after.
DTS Outreach Phase
During the outreach phase we split into smaller groups led by one male and one female staff member and went to two different countries across Asia. Outreach phase was dedicated purely to evangelism in the two countries we went to, and my group went to Thailand and Japan.
Thailand
Thailand has a very warm culture, people loved to talk to you about anything, and there were even a few times where strangers would pull us off the side of the road to eat a meal with us! We did a little street evangelism, but we mainly focused on teaching English to middle and high school students in what are called temple schools. Temple schools are Buddhist run public schools and are the main place of education for kids in Thailand, similar to the public school system in the US.
This means that most kids in Thailand grow up with a worldview based on Buddhism, and they often don’t learn any other way. We would teach the kids Christian songs in and bible stories in English, sometimes performing a skit as well. We also went into a couple prisons, singing worship and giving a sermon or testimony. In a juvenile detention center, we saw over 25 young adults give their lives to Jesus! It was so cool to see God work in the hearts of the people there.
Japan
The social culture in Japan is quite the opposite of Thailand. People never spoke on public transportation, and lots of eat-in restaurants had machines that you ordered your food from so you didn’t have to talk to a real person.
Most of our ministry in Japan revolved around street ministry, where we would talk to strangers we met in the streets. One of my favorite things we would do during ministry time is when we’d hold up big signs that said “Free hugs” in big letters outside of train stations or inside malls. You’d think that in a culture where everyone was reserved and polite that giving out hugs to strangers would be ineffective, but it was actually the other way around!
So many people came to give us hugs, and I was able to share my testimony and pray for lots of them. This really spoke to me: in a culture like Japan’s, so many people were searching for a deep love that went beyond anything that was around them, and that love is the love that Jesus gives to us! God has since then put Japan on my heart and I hope to one day do full time ministry in Japan, but that’s further down the road.
What’s Next
My DTS was very eye-opening for me. It gave me a whole new perspective on missions and the need for Jesus in the wonderful countries across Asia. Over 85% of the unreached people groups are in Asia, which is approximately 3.2 billion people.
So many people I spoke to on outreach had never heard of Jesus, and have never experienced the love he gives to us. That’s why I’m excited to have the privilege to stay in Malaysia with YWAM and continue to reach the people of Asia!
For the next 2 years, I’ll be on the DTS staff team. This means that I’ll live with the incoming DTS students and directly mentor 2-3 of them each season.
I’ll also lead teams of 5-6 students on their outreach phase alongside one other female DTS staff, including planning what countries we’ll go to, where we’ll stay, and the ministries we’ll do. This is a big step for me and really unlike anything I’ve ever done, but I know that God has led me here and am so excited to see what he has planned for me and the students for the next 2 years!
There are also opportunities for me to get involved with the missions team in our base, working with the orphanage, Pakistani refugees, university students, and lots of other ministries, however I plan to mainly work with the DTS for the foreseeable future.
How You Can Help
I want to thank you all for your support in both prayer and finances, as well as all of the encouragement I’ve gotten through cards, texts, gifts, and your words. It’s so cool to see God’s provision and love in action!
Prayer Points
Prayers for the incoming students that I will be ministering to. Prayers for growth in their relationship with Christ, a clear calling in their lives, and that more will enter the missions field for Jesus!
Prayers for growth in my own relationship with God, that I would be spirit-led in everything I do from staffing the DTS to leading teams across Asia!
Prayers that everything would go smoothly in my finances, my planning, and my day-to-day. That God would be with me and my team every step of the way.
Prayers for the people of Asia, that the love of Jesus would reach every nation and people!
Financial Support Options
I need to raise at least $1000 a month and am currently at about $600 monthly. If you feel called to give, there's a few ways you can below.
Venmo
Can be one time or monthly
Not tax deductible
If you wish to give monthly, press “Schedule” before you press “Pay”!
Should be sent to @micahjwlee
Through YWAM El Paso
Can be one time or monthly
Tax deductible
Slightly higher fees
Be sure to leave my name in the text box! “Micah Lee, YWAMEA”
Through cash or check
One time
Not tax deductible
Checks should be written out to “Nathan Lee” (My father)
Should be mailed to “470 Otis Rd, Coldwater, MI 49036”
Closing
Thank you again for all of your support! I’ll be putting out updates the first Monday of every month to keep you all in the loop. You can find these on Facebook and my website. You can sign up for email updates on my website as well. If you'd like to send me mail, you can send it the address left below (please let me know if you've sent something so I can be sure to collect it!).
God bless! Have a wonderful month!
- Micah Lee