Tāhuna ki te Ao, or Youth With A Mission Queenstown, is a missions training and evangelism centre in New Zealand. Queenstown has always been a place that people from many nations come to, and our vision is that it is also a place from where many people are sent to the nations. This purpose is reflected by our name in the native Maori language: Tāhuna ki te Ao, which means “from Queenstown to the world”. The heart of YWAM Queenstown is to be a place where people can discover their identity and calling, and then be trained, equipped, and released to carry out that calling.
In 2012, Andy and Amy-Joy Scalas officially started laying the groundwork for the vision that the Lord had given them: what would become Tāhuna ki te Ao and YWAM Queenstown. In 2014, they and a small team of people who had also caught God’s vision for this place spent six months in New Zealand’s South Island where they took the time to grow as a team and listen to what God was saying. They focused on building relationships in the community, hosting outreach teams, and preparing for the first Discipleship Training School (DTS). As they stepped out in faith, they were amazed as God brought those dreams to life.
Since our first DTS in January of 2015, YWAM Queenstown has grown rapidly. We now facilitate a DTS in 3 quarters of the year, usually with one starting every 3 months. Each quarter is made up of several of the DTS themes that we run. We also run several Second-Level Schools each year.
God is doing incredible things in Queenstown, and we are so excited to see where He leads us next!
