With a focus on biblical foundations and character development as well as missions, much of the material from this course is now taught in the present day Discipleship Training School (DTS).

[25] In the 1990s, YWAM became a strong promoter of the 10/40 Window concept of evangelization and associated spiritual mapping prayer campaigns, which focused on praying on-site in specific locations to battle demons or territorial spirits.

An important concept in YWAM teaching is the notion of societal "spheres of influence", via the Seven Mountain Mandate such as education, government, arts and entertainment, media and communication, business and commerce, family, and church.

[9] It has been reported by former members that after the initial Discipleship Training School, they are recruited into further courses, programs, seminars or into long term staffing positions.

[60] YWAM works to help meet the practical and physical needs of the global community through its many relief and development initiatives, collectively known as Mercy Ministries International.

YWAM ships have provided vital surgeries, dental care, medical supplies, food, seeds, construction materials, development projects, training, and the organisation's spiritual message.

Chung cast two street kids whom he found through YWAM's soccer-outreach program as the stars of a film that dealt with the moral and emotional repercussions of the Rwandan genocide.

[82] David Loren Cunningham, son of the group's founders, produced a film, Hakani: A Survivor's Story, which contains a depiction of infanticide among Amazonian tribes of Brazil.

A notable working relationship is the OneStory Project[84] which is a partnership between YWAM, Campus Crusade for Christ, the International Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention, Trans World Radio, and Wycliffe Bible Translators as well as other Great Commission-focused organizations, churches and individuals.

[44] YWAM joined with the Evangelical Alliance and John C. Maxwell to design the training program for the Global Pastors Network's Million Leaders Mandate.

[87] YWAM Pittsburgh has been involved in ecumenical local efforts to revive Epiphany School through teaching young people "Christian principles" and exposing them to dance and the arts.

[100] According to the Department of Justice press release, Rivera used fraudulent invoices from an outside contractor to supplement his lavish lifestyle; this included plastic surgery, failed stock market investments and a gold mine in Sierra Leone.

[99][101] Jarryd Hayne was charged with two counts of aggravated sexual assault inflicting bodily harm in relation to the alleged rape of a woman in Australia.

On February 23, 2019, over 40,000 Christians gathered at a "The Send" event Camping World Stadium in Orlando, Florida, with thousands more joining via livestream, as reported by Fox News.

[107] On February 8, 2020, "The Send Brazil" attracted 140,000 attendees across three stadiums in Brasilia and Sao Paulo, with millions joining online, according to the Christian Post.

"[109] In 1989, Sara Diamond's book Spiritual Warfare mentioned a meeting in the United States between various Christian leaders (including YWAM Founder Loren Cunningham) and Efraín Ríos Montt.

[112] In 1975, YWAM's founder Loren Cunningham, along with Bill Bright of Campus Crusade spoke of the importance of influencing seven main segments or spheres of society and culture (Family, Celebration, Religion, Government, Education, Science, Media).

It is an ideologically refined version of the Dominion or Kingdom Now theology which Loren Cunningham openly taught and subscribed to, and is considered an unbiblical teaching by mainstream Protestantism.

The movement came to further prominence after the 2013 publication of Wallnau's and controversial Bethel Church Pastor Bill Johnson's Invading Babylon: The 7 Mountain Mandate.

A scholarly journal article in the Evangelical Review of Theology and Politics shows that the "Seven Spheres" are nearly identical to the ideological state apparatuses developed by the French Marxist philosopher Louis Althusser, on the basis of the theories of Karl Marx, Antonio Gramsci, and others.

They both outline the key objects of societal influence to be religion, family, education, media, government, business (trade unions), and arts and entertainment, with Althusser's work being published several years prior to the supposed revelation received by Cunningham, Bright and Schaeffer.

[120][121] On December 9, 2007, Matthew Murray, an expelled student from Youth With A Mission (YWAM), shot four staff members at the missionary training center near Denver, killing two.

Tiffany Johnson and Philip Crouse were killed, while Dan Griebenow and Charlie Blanch were wounded, all of whom were staff members at YWAM's Denver center.

On the day of the shooting, he attacked both the YWAM training center in Arvada and the New Life Church in Colorado Springs, where he was ultimately killed by a security officer.

[130] The website of the International Cultic Studies Association hosts an article which describes in some detail an experience of spiritual abuse on a DTS course in Hawaii.

"[133] He also quotes Harold Busséll, author of By Hook or by Crook: How Cults Lure Christians, "While living in Europe, my wife and I were involved with an evangelical youth mission based in Switzerland.

We were with the group only six weeks, but it was almost seven years before I had overcome the psychological damage caused by their cult-like control and spiritualization … Questioning a leader was considered an act of rebellion against God and His chain of command.

[citation needed] After the 2007 shootings, Ross told the Fox News Network that he continued to receive occasional "serious complaints" about Youth With A Mission, but he believed it is "not a cult".

[110][136][137] Evangelical theologians Alan Gomes and E. Calvin Beisner believe certain doctrines taught to young missionaries at some YWAM locations from the 1970s until the 1990s to be unorthodox from a protestant point of view.

[141] Adherents of this theology such as Gordon Olson, Harry Conn and Winkie Pratney taught classes based on this teaching to young missionaries during this time period.