History
“YWAM Mumbai started about 30+ years back in Andheri East. Later, it was moved to Malad West before settling in Navi Mumbai.
Journey to Mumbai
Marimuthu & Kavitha’s Move to Mumbai – We had been working in YWAM in South India for many years. After having pioneered various ministries including YWAM in Trichy city, South India, we began to feel prompted by the Lord that it was time to bring our time in Trichy to an end, and move to Mumbai. Before doing so, we consulted few YWAM leaders in Maharashtra, who were encouraging. We also talked with various other leaders in YWAM and Pastors. They, too, encouraged us to move. We also consulted our friends and family members, who all agreed to the move. And yet, we didn’t want to leave our Trichy ministry untended.
We prayed all along for the right leaders to arise, to take over leadership responsibilities for YWAM Trichy and YWAM Tamilnadu. These prayers were answered; the Lord brought the right leaders to replace us, and we were able to handover all the responsibilities by April of 2017, allowing us to move to Mumbai by May 29th.
Why Andheri?
Although the Lord had placed a desire to minister to the needs of the city of Mumbai firmly in our hearts, we weren’t sure quite where our ministry should locate. To come to an answer, we printed the map of Mumbai in a big flex and began praying, asking the Lord for direction. Every day in our family prayers, we asked the Lord for guidance. After many days, we felt called to Central Mumbai. However, there are many areas in Central Mumbai, including Bandra, Kurla, Santa Cruz, Ville Parle and Andheri. Again, we sought the Lord’s guidance, and began to sense that we should situate in East Andheri. What we didn’t know at the time was that Andheri means a place of Darkness. Neither did we know that Andheri has more people (4 million) than other places in Mumbai, with more slums than any other part of town, nor that YWAM got its start over 30 years years earlier in Andheri before moving out to the suburbs. Andheri is, in a sense, a city center for Mumbai. We praise God for placing us strategically in Mumbai. Our vision is to see the transformation of Mumbai from this strategic location.