We are offline 😞

What happened?

A team from YWAM Circle 18, which is the group that manages ywam.org, has decided to take down kb.ywam.org. We did this reluctantly and only after processing this decision quite a bit with two of YWAM’s global elders.

We have decided to take down kb.ywam.org because it no longer has a person with the time to give the site the moderation and editing it needs. As a result, KB now has some articles that are no longer appropriate or accurate. In at least one case, this has resulted in a critic of YWAM using one of the KB articles to make false accusations against the mission.

But I really liked it!

We like the YWAM KnowledgeBase, too! We know there is a lot of good material on the KB site. We occasionally hear from people who thank YWAM for articles they found there.

We are grateful to everyone who had the vision for YWAM KB and who worked so hard to facilitate the sharing of information on the KB site. However, we really need a team of YWAMers who can actively maintain the informations shared on this site.

Is it offline for good?

We still have a backup of everything, and we are very open to the idea of continuing to offer YWAM KB to the YWAM family. It might be accessible for YWAM staff only, as it was mainly meant for sharing knowledge and experience within YWAM, anyway. It all depends if we can find a critical mass of engaged core team members.

So - what do you need?

We need you! If you are interested in maintaining and transforming the YWAM knowledge base, please contact us. You would commit to engage with the other team members, to discuss and develop a new vision/focus, and to regularly check the site for recent changes and outdated content. You don't need an IT background in order to effectively help!

The team should consist of at least 3-5 long-term team members that can invest 2-4 hours a week. If we can establish this core team, more members can join and leave flexibly / depending on their interest.

Which roles/skills are needed?

For the long-term development of the project, people in these areas are needed:

• A team leader that keeps the big picture in mind, moderates the team discussion and suggests steps forward
• A contact person that communicates with other YWAM leaders about official policies etc.
• A system administrator that improves the technical backend (recommended skills: SSH, PHP, Mediawiki)
• A website designer that improves the look & feel and usability of the wiki (recommended skills: CSS, Mediawiki)
• An onboarding helper that welcomes new users, helps them to understand how editing and improving the wiki pages work, and documenting the most frequently asked questions...
• And of course: editors and proof-readers that improve content and layout of the articles. Each editor will bring different interests and experiences to the table, and that's exactly what the content of the knowledge base is about!
• Another ongoing task is "public relations": talking about the Knowledge Base on many channels and explaining again and again the philosophy behind it: e.g. you don't need to be a YWAM leader in order to contribute.

Vision of the KnowledgeBase

The YWAM KnowledgeBase is designed for members and associates of Youth With A Mission (YWAM) to find help and advice globally.

If you are a YWAMer then where do you go to get knowledge and helpful advice? When a weird and wonderful problem presents itself to you how do you solve it? Ask around? Perhaps nobody knows how to help you? Anyway you muddle your way through and a couple of months later you chat about it with a senior YWAM leader or a colleague working in an obscure corner of the work who say "Well, when that happened to me, I did it like this..."

At times like this it becomes clear that collectively we have a lot of knowledge, but it is not all centrally tied together in one easily accessible place. This website is a chance for us to attempt to pool our knowledge, review our areas of ignorance and stem the leak of expertise from our rapidly changing organisation.

What kind of material was being collected there?

The content was very diverse, depending mainly on who worked on what. E.g. How to lead a DTS, tips how to do fundraising, how to improve the IT infrastructure of the base, a list of YWAM bases and 2nd-level schools, inspirational sermons, official documents and values of YWAM, etc.