Do you want to expand global ministry awareness in your church? Wayumi (“why-you-me”) is a great place to learn about ethnolinguistic people groups who have no access to the Gospel — and about the missionaries, sent by their own local churches, who work with Ethnos360 teams to establish thriving churches among them.
Churches bring people to central Pennsylvania (near Williamsport, in Jersey Shore/Linden) for a weekend or a week to experience a tribal village, language acquisition, culture obstacles, Bible translation, teamwork, church planting, and the Biblical basis for missions. (Or is it God’s mission as the basis of the Bible?)
Why are these people still unreached? How do you learn an unwritten language? What does culture have to do with it? Come and find out — then bring people with you.
What the weeklong course covers
Bible — does the Bible speak specifically about reaching each ethnic group? Language — learn that you can overcome this obstacle. Culture — delve into the challenge of cross-cultural ministry. Animism — what do tribal people believe? Evangelism — sharing the Gospel where there is no previous biblical understanding. Translation — making God’s Word clear in a new language. Relationships — developing friendships before you can even speak the language. Teamwork — it takes a team to reach isolated people groups.
Wayumi programs
- 01
Weekend Retreats (church groups)
Friday afternoon to Sunday noon, in winter, spring, and fall — the core Wayumi experience for whole church groups. Details →
- 02
Wayumi Course (college & career)
A seven-day course over spring break or in fall — the deepest dive into every facet of cross-cultural church planting. Details →
- 03
Expedition (senior high youth)
Six days in June or July designed for high schoolers. Watch the video →
- 04
Quest (youth groups) & Church Leaders Retreat
Quest is a one-day, same-day event for youth groups; the Church Leaders Retreat runs Tuesday through Thursday for pastors and missions leaders. All programs →
Wayumi can be life-changing for leaders, college students, high schoolers, youth groups, and missions committees. Participants leave with a better understanding of what God is doing in the world, the needs of unreached people groups, the missionaries who engage in the work, and the team that makes it possible. Register at wayumi.com.
Why Wayumi instead of an overseas trip?
Low cost, large impact. Wayumi costs participants much less than comparable camps and overseas trips — so you can bring more people, resulting in a broader impact on the global missions culture of your church. No planning headaches. There is no need for vaccinations, airline tickets and screening, passports, food planning, or finding lodging; no international homesickness, fewer health risks, and no interference from foreign governments — Wayumi organizes lodging, food, meetings, and activities. Purposefulness. Teams that attend Wayumi first are better equipped for traveling overseas later — and better able to see past the surface when they get there. Many short-term teams come home talking about the strange food they ate; did they catch the vision you wanted them to see? Greatest need. The teaching keeps the focus where it belongs: on the people who will not hear about Jesus unless your church works to tell them.
Read my full Wayumi guide — a photo booklet of the village, the camp, the programs, and things people say they heard at Wayumi.
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More short-term options
- Encounter — a two-week overseas trip: visit an indigenous people group, hear from field missionaries, and see what it takes to bring the Gospel to the ends of the earth.
- Interface — a college-level missions course in Papua New Guinea or Brazil, learning from missionaries and spending time with tribal people.
- Field Support Internships — after Interface, stay in PNG working alongside career missionaries in church planting or one of six key support ministries.
- Volunteer in the USA — and all short-term trips, built on forty-plus years of sending teams.