About Tristin (Me)

Hello! My name is Tristin Hancock. I am from Richland Washington. I grew up most of my life not knowing Jesus or going to church. My family had gone through many moves, divorce, and remarriage as I was growing up. It was a tough life for a teenager not understanding their own emotions or having a solid world perspective to answer the hard questions in life.
However, at the age of 18, I was introduced to a Christian Family that basically adopted me as a son. They encouraged me to go to church, to pray, and to trust God. They brought me before the Lord in prayer even when I was ready to be in relationship with Him. I didn’t understand it at first, but as the year went by, I went into a depression during COVID from a hard breakup and deep family issues. It was during this time that God met me and saved me. I started praying with all my heart before bed. I started going to Bible studies and was just completely on fire for the word. I had never owned my own Bible let alone read one. I quickly started going to Bible studies around town 5 nights a week and even went as far as to quit my job and begin to work at a Christian coffee shop. By August of that year, I was baptized surrounded by friends, family, and my church in the Columbia River. At this point in life, I was dedicating all my time to pursuing a degree in Law Enforcement and volunteering as an Explorer at the local Sheriff’s Office and was teaching young adults and teenagers about Law Enforcement and Police work and assisting in the community events around the county. But as I was spending time in the community, I felt I was lacking a foundation in my relationship with Jesus and that I was being called to more.

I had never grown up with a Biblical foundation or worldview to be able to live life as a true disciple of Jesus. I was starving for the chance to grow in my faith and know God more. During this time working at a small coffee shop and school, a friend of mine told me about missions, they shared with me their experience on trips to Africa and their heart for sharing the Bible and Gospel with others. I was jealous of her faith in God and her relationship with the Lord, but also completely dumbfounded with this new world of life that is ministry and missions. I asked my friend if they knew about programs or for a way that I could also go to missions or colleges that would show me the foundation I needed in my faith. She immediately introduced me to YWAM. We talked shortly about DTS and what a DTS is and I was extremely curious about doing a DTS of my own. The very next morning, I opened my coffee shop and was working by myself when an older gentleman came in and ordered some coffee. We began to chat since the shop wasn’t busy this early in the morning. I came to find out in our conversation that his family had been a part of YWAM, not only a part of YWAM but had even been a part of the exact base and DTS that I wanted to go to in Montana! He immediately recognized what my heart and mind were already thinking and feeling and encouraged me to seek the Lord on this. He told me of his family’s experiences and encouraged me greatly to trust in God and to take the step of faith into applying to the school. I was completely dumbfounded that I had met a complete stranger that was telling me to step out in faith and follow Jesus completely. I was dumbfounded that God had sent a stranger to my small hidden coffee shop to affirm my call to missions. So that day I called my friend and told them I was going to apply.
I applied to DTS and through many financial miracles in fundraising to be able to afford the school and trip I made it to Montana! I was suddenly 100s of miles away from my hometown pursuing Jesus into unknown territory in my life. It was all worth it. I got to meet lifelong friends in YWAM Lakeside that pushed me even further into my faith and understanding of God and the Bible. I went on an insane missions trip with 11 other people to Colombia in March of 2022 and we got to have the amazing privilege of seeing Jesus make himself known in our ministry in Medellin, Cartagena, Barranquilla, and Bocachica. I got to see people come into a relationship with the Lord for the first time, praise God, and I got to see the amazing works of God in people’s lives. I got to pray for more people than I could ever keep count of and walk through conversations of God with people that I would never have dreamed of meeting if it weren’t for the work of the Holy Spirit guiding me from my hometown to a remote city in Colombia.

After returning from DTS in June to the Tri-Cities, I spent the rest of 2022 working and helping in my community. I helped train new management at my old coffee shop, trained a new team of leaders at my local Explorer’s program at our Sheriff’s Office, got involved in worship ministry at my church called South Hills, and also stepped into a role of a missions member at my local church. At first, I was content to be in the Tri-Cities growing in my own discipleship and helping in my community, and seeking to build my career. But around November of 2022, I started thinking about returning to missions once again. I spent more time in prayer as to which direction this would take. At first, it took the form of spending a few months in Montana serving on the YWAM base in Montana as a missions builder, but then it evolved further to why not go further? Why not commit to staffing full-time for 2 years instead? I began to pray very heavily about this. I was nervous, unsure, and at the same time excited, motivated, and at peace. I reached out to close friends and voiced my desire and immediately knew that God was calling me once again to missions. And that He was calling me to step in fully. Not just a couple of months, but 2 years at the minimum. I wasn’t scared of this, I was excited! Two years of missions? Pursuing God? I can not think of anything else I would rather do. So I contacted the base in Montana and applied to the DTS Staff department and immediately was relieved at the steps I was taking. Throughout the process of applying to YWAM as a long-term missions member waiting for communication and acceptance, I have been deeply involved with growing as a disciple in my home church South Hills and serving on worship, security, and in the missions department of the church. When God revealed to me missions and YWAM once again, He also meant living mission-minded in my hometown. We are called to be missional in all that we do and to be witnesses to God’s works in our lives and others.
I am beyond excited excited to be in missions at YWAM Montana. Being a part of the missions base and on the DTS team means I am committed to training together, serving together and sending missionaries together. I am beyond excited to be training new missionaries and going on outreach to spread the Gospel and love of Jesus Christ as a full-time focus and commitment.