Hello! My name is Josiah Bell, I am 20 years old and I am from Detroit, Michigan. I am a missionary of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I am currently serving with a missions organization called Youth With A Mission (YWAM) in South Africa. I am a disciple of Jesus, called to raise up more disciples and worshipers of Christ in the hardest and darkest places of the world, stewarding them to step into their God-given callings and identities.
YWAM's goal is to empower young people, sending them all across the world, from everywhere, to everywhere, to accomplish the great commission (Matt. 28:18-20). YWAM has many different focuses, including youth movements, unreached people groups, prayer, worship, revival, and reformation in all spheres of society. YWAM is the world's largest missions organization, with close to 20,000 full-time missionaries across 1,200 different locations all around the world.
Since YWAM is so large there are branches of it that are more specifically targeted at certain things. One of those branches is called Fire and Fragrance (FF). FF is a circle within YWAM committed to raising up a generation that carries a fire in their hearts for Jesus that becomes the fragrance of Christ to the lost. There are several FF locations all around the world. The base I am a part of is an FF base in a town called Potchefstroom, South Africa. There are roughly 120 staff members here. Some things we specifically prioritize are prayer, worship, and youth movements. I am serving at this base as a staff member. I am involved in worship leading, sound engineering, discipling youth, and much more. Missions is a full-time job in my setting, and I am actively working for over 40 hours a week.
It is important that I have people partnered with and supporting me. As believers, we are all called to be a part of accomplishing the Great Commission (go into all the world and make disciples of every nation). However, it looks different for each person. For some, it looks like going overseas and bringing unreached people the Gospel. For others, it looks like supporting the sent ones with prayer and finances.
In order to do what God has called me to do, I need to partner with prayer warriors and financial supporters. By supporting me in these ways, you yourselves are becoming a part of what God has asked of every believer!
Josiah