Community Living Standards
We put priority on making YWAM Davos a place of safety, comfort, ministry, and fun for everyone. We expect all members of YWAM Davos’ community— residents, staff, students and volunteers— to nurture an environment that respects individuals, as well as the needs and interests of the whole community.
Culture of Honor in our Relationships and Community
A culture of honor is created as a community learns to see each other’s God-given identities. Acknowledging people’s true identity positions us to receive the gift of who they are. We choose to love, value, serve, respect, and honor one another. Our words have power, so we strive to be encouraging and uplifting at all times and we are careful about how we joke around, talk about one another, and communicate online. Because we live and work together in close proximity, we choose to protect the hearts of individuals based on who they are and where they are in life.
Living in community with people from different backgrounds, cultures, and languages can often lead to miscommunication and conflict. We choose to confront one another in an honoring manner so that relationships can be strengthened, and so that everyone involved is given the opportunity to grow.
If someone’s behavior upsets or offends a person, we ask them to…
- Take some time to get their heart and mind in a position of humility.
- Go directly to the person they have the conflict or misunderstanding with and try to resolve it.
- If it cannot be resolved right away, ask their leader for input or mediation.
As we confront, it is important to give the other person, or people, the benefit of the doubt, and seek understanding in the situation before seeking to be understood. Make steps towards forgiveness and resolving the conflict as soon as possible so that it does not grow bigger than it needs to. Share the details of the conflict and the frustrations only with the people directly involved in resolving the conflict.
Private Spaces and Personal Belongings
Everyone in our community has free access to all common rooms on our property, as well as their assigned bedrooms. We honor the private spaces and belongings of others and ask for permission before using something or entering a room that is not our own. We offer dormitory- style housing for singles that are separated by gender. We choose to live above reproach, and make sure everyone feels comfortable and safe in his or her room, so we do not socialize or hang out in the bedrooms of the opposite gender. We give our best to offer rooms with more privacy to married couples.
Hygiene, Appearance & Dress Code
Our appearance represents YWAM Davos and the other organizations we serve. For this reason, we manage our personal hygiene well. We choose to dress appropriately for the situations and environments that we are in so that everyone feels safe, comfortable and honored at all times. We choose not to draw attention to ourselves by being overly revealing. Shirts and shorts are required at all times in all common areas of YWAM Davos.
Being Hospitable
We love when people choose to visit us and be part of our community, so we do our best to go beyond expectations and minimum requirements to make their time with us pleasant, enjoyable, and memorable. As a community, we warmly welcome people to join us, and we want to show them value and honor in the way we treat them.
Children in Our Community
We believe that all children have value, worth and dignity as they are created in the image of God. Because of this, all children should be treated with respect, and every child within our care and community should feel safe and loved at all times. For this reason, we choose to stay in public areas as we hang out and play with children, and we always honor the guidelines and requests of their parents.
Meal Times & Base Lounge
We love to have great conversations with one another to build relationship and community, which happens naturally around meals and coffee breaks. It is important to us to be on time and minimize how much we use our phones during these to prioritize sharing life with one another. We strive to minimize the amount of food we waste in the way we shop, prepare, and serve meals. We only serve as much as can be eaten, and we are courteous to others so that everyone gets enough food. Our kitchen staff does their best to ensure that everyone is satisfied, and that meals are tasty, nutritious, and diverse.
Noise
We choose to honor people that live in the house, as well as our neighbors, by keeping noise on a level that is comfortable for everyone. We ask everyone to be quiet upstairs and move to an appropriate area after 8pm. There should be no noise from 10pm to 6am to respect those who want to sleep and to be courteous to our surrounding community.
Stewardship & House Care
We strive to be good stewards of the properties and buildings we are entrusted with because this is our home. Everyone contributes to caring for the house in different ways. Common areas, bedrooms, and storage rooms should be tidy and well organized at all times. If someone borrows or uses anything from the base or from other people, we expect it to be given back in immaculate condition and returned within the agreed time frame. If anyone notices that something is broken, or if someone breaks something while using it, we expect the person to take responsibility for getting it repaired.
Addictive Behavior, Alcohol, Tobacco & Drugs
We believe that part of living in true freedom comes when we have no addictions controlling our decisions or actions. Addictive behavior could be in many areas of life, such as eating behaviors, social media, porn, alcohol, tobacco, or drugs. This is a great time and place to overcome any addictions. In general, alcohol is not to be consumed within scheduled YWAM Davos programs. If someone chooses to consume any alcohol during off- time, we expect the person to do so moderately and responsibly. We do not accept drunkenness or drug use, and smoking is not permitted on YWAM Davos’ properties.
Media Use and Internet
What we read, watch and listen to influences our spirit and mind. We choose to feed our spirit and mind with things that bring life and help us honor and value others. We choose not to consume music, literature, images, television shows, and/or movies that contain pornographic material, excessive violence, inappropriate language, racism, and ethical or religious propaganda that is dishonoring to other people, cultures or beliefs.