Hello! My name is Shane Appel. I am currently serving God as a volunteer staff member with YWAM Ships Kona in beautiful Kailua-Kona, Hawaii, USA. The motto for YWAM (Youth With A Mission) is “to know God and make Him known”. In total, I have been serving God with YWAM for nearly six years now. I have been serving God with YWAM Ships Kona since January 2025 and I absolutely love doing so!
I grew up in Appleton, Wisconsin, USA. My mom and dad taught me from a very young age to take full responsibility for my words and actions, to be honest and tell the truth, to treat others the way I would want to be treated, to pursue excellence, and to work hard to achieve what I wanted in life. I was taught to be very self-reliant. As a result of my upbringing, I did quite well academically as well as in sports while in high school. After graduation from high school. I studied engineering at the University of Wisconsin – Platteville. Aside from my academic studies, I became very involved with other activities on campus such as playing soccer, shooting billiards (both 8-ball and 9-ball) in leagues and tournaments, serving on the resident hall council, working as a student manager for the catering department on campus, as well as many other activities. During my third year of university, I met a group of people who appeared to be both successful and happy. I found myself drawn to them and I really enjoyed spending time together with them. They seemed to be really living life – together! I soon discovered that they were all involved with a campus ministry known as Intervarsity Christian Fellowship (ICF). There was something different about them. They spoke and acted differently than others. I learned that they were all Christians who believed in Jesus Christ. It was during my third year of college that I too became a believer. I became a Christian! I even went on my very first missions trip to Denver, Colorado with ICF later that same year!
I graduated from the University of Wisconsin – Platteville with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Psychology. I had switched majors from engineering to psychology during my fourth year of college then graduated during my fifth year of college. Soon after graduation, I moved to Southern California to live with some friends from college. While there, I began working with troubled teenagers in group homes and residential treatment centers. Despite the challenges of working with such youth, I discovered that I really loved making a positive difference in the lives of others – especially teenagers and young adults! After six years in California, I moved back to Wisconsin. I continued to work with troubled teens at a Shelter Care then later at a Christian Residential Care Center. I learned a lot about what it really means to be a Christian while living and working with my fellow Christian staff at the Christian Residential Care Center with troubled youth. I was expected to speak and act as a Christian man and be a positive role model for the youth. I really enjoyed working with the youth at the Christian Residential Care Center and did so for many years!
While I was enjoying living and working with troubled youth at the Christian Residential Care Center, God began to stir my spirit. I was not sure what God was about to do in my life but I did know that God was about to do something. After seeking God with all of my heart and soul, I eventually realized that God was leading me to get involved with YWAM in Hawaii. At that point in my life, I had never been to Hawaii and I did not know very much about YWAM. I desperately sought God for greater clarification. Even though I knew that I wanted to go to Hawaii someday, I did not want to leave the comfort and relative security of my good life in Wisconsin. I had a good job with good pay and good benefits. I was loved by my family and friends. I had a good car. I was in good health. Life was good in Wisconsin. I needed to make certain that God was indeed the One who was leading me to leave my good and familiar life in Wisconsin for an uncertain and unfamiliar life in YWAM in Hawaii. After much thought and diligent prayer, God clearly and unmistakably led me to leave the familiar of my good life in Wisconsin and go and serve Him at the unfamiliar life at YWAM Kona in Hawaii. I am so very grateful that I trusted and obeyed God and became a Crossroads Discipleship Training School (CDTS) student at YWAM Kona University of the Nations in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii, USA for the September Quarter of 2010. My journey with God in YWAM had just begun!
I successfully completed my Crossroads DTS in February 2011 after completing three months of lecture phase at YWAM Kona followed by two months of outreach phase in Cambodia! What an amazing and unforgettable experience “to know God and make Him known”! Later, I successfully completed the Foundations for Counseling Ministry School (FCM – April Quarter 2011) and Discipleship Bible School (DBS – September Quarter 2013) at YWAM Kona as well as the Bible Core Course (BCC – September Quarter 2020) at YWAM Honolulu. I served in the Gateway Office at YWAM Kona in Student Services, Staff Services, the Visa Department, as well as with Mission Builders and the Housing Department. I served on the Leadership Team at Mission Builders as well as the Director of Housing for YWAM Kona. I staffed the Go Asia DTS (April Quarter 2013) and co-led a bilingual English-Korean DTS outreach to Togo and China with time spent in South Korea as well. In all, I served God at YWAM Kona for about four years (October 2010 thru September 2014). I left YWAM in September 2014 and returned home to Wisconsin. I continued to work with troubled teenagers in paid positions in different organizations including the Christian Residential Care Center that I had worked at before. In late 2024, God once again led me back to Hawaii to serve God with YWAM. I am so glad that He did! In January 2025, I began serving God at YWAM Ships Kona and I absolutely love doing so! What a privilege it is “to know God and make Him known” to people here in Hawaii, around the United States of America, and around the world! God is so, so good!