We are what can be called an ‘urban YWAM base’ in that we live right in the heart of our city, Whangārei. We have a large, 5-bedroom BCC house which we call our “Riverside House”. This house sits on a hill, right beside Whangarei harbour/river front. We would describe it as private (surrounded in trees with a view of the harbour-front and city) and within a short walk to our town basin. Students share a room with 2-3 others maximum, with staff on-site too. It has a pool for those summer months (or year-round for the cold-plungers!), an outdoor pizza oven, large covered deck and multiple living spaces to spread out as you read the word.

January 2026 is our first BCC in Whangārei, lead in collaboration with YWAM Rogaland (Norway). The next BCC is looking to be end of June 2026. You can contact bcc@ywamnorthland.org to register interest or request more information on dates. It’s always good to get connected!

Every member on the BCC team has succesfully completed a BCC or equivalent (SBS – School of Biblical Studies) which is the 9-month extended version of the BCC. School leaders have to have staffed BCC previously too, which ours have. This is because we truly believe in the YWAM value “Do first then teach”, so that we have lived the experience and walk with the course participants more effectively.

While we do own a large YWAM base 50 minutes south, we have moved our community into the city by a word of the Lord to be more connected and involved with the locals and partner fully with what the Lord is doing in this locaiton. This means we do not (yet) have one central base for all our activites, and instead have houses on two hills and local churches have opened their doors to our classes and larger meetings.

The DTS is currently running in Bethel Church, and the BCC is hosted less than 200 metres away in another church, HOPE Whangārei. 

We encourage involvement in our local community and love supporting the efforts of our local churches.

Monday nights are our “Community Kai” (kai = Māori/indigenous word for food). This is when we open the DTS houses for locals to join us over burgers and relaxed socializing. Thursday nights are our open worship nights where we gather at another nearby church, the Salvation Army, for worship with the wider ‘non-ywam’ community. 

Asides from these community events, we also have ministires our staff reguarly serve in that our students also connect into (community gardens, youth centres/youth groups, hospital prayer & chaplaincy, young adults small groups, highschool ministry, etc).

We live in a beautiful city filled with bush walks, water-front walks, waterfalls, swimming spots, low-key shopping, cafes, a large library, sports events and concerts, growers markets, creative arts and plenty of history with missions and the gospel.