youth with a mission (WYAM), launched 50 years ago by loren cunningham in his parents' garage, is active in 180 nations..YWAMwers..undertake an enormous range of ministries: caring for chechen refugees living in poland; rebuilding burmese villages after cyclone nargis; sharing the gospel thru sports at the FIFA world cup in cape town; sheltering the children of prostitutes in pune, india; and distributing bibles in patagonia..
since its inception, YWAM has deployed more the 4 million people on outreach projects in 240 countries (some of which no longer exist as sovereign states).
..overseas missions in the 1960s were top-down and slow to innovate enterprises and outreach across denominational boundaries was infrequent and problematic..the pentecostal church, of which cunningham was a part wanted him to stay within their lines..
instead, cunningham resigned, unwilling to compromise on the vision he believed God had give in him 8 years earlier: millions of evangelistic young people from all denominations crashing like waves onto the shores of every continent.
he and his new wife, darlene started out and had a terrible accident...when cunninghame came to, he caught sight of his wife's limp body and rushed to cradle her. he found no pulse. blood and tears streamed down his face into darlene's open, glassy eyes. he suddenly felt there never would be a greater time of testing. he says he clearly heard God ask, 'loren, do you still want to serve me?'
he wondered what he would have left to live for if his wife died, but he said, 'ok, God. whatever it takes. i give You my life'. he then prayed for darlene and she started gasping for breath. she recovered fully.
ever since, he has not lost a deep trust in God, which has sustained him thru everything from flying in an airplane with no gas in a togo jungle to simultaneous battles with hepatitis and malaria in chad.
with a volunteer force topping 20k - and more than 50% non-western - one of YWAMs greatest ongoing challenges is discipleship training. each volunteer regardless of nationalityh, race, denomination or age must attend a 6 month discipleship training school (DTS)...students study the bible, learn about cross-cultural missions and pray. cunningham, sho still spends most of his time teaching..teaches students to seek God's voice and then obey, even if resources aren't visibly present. for decades he has taught that if a leader and student ;pray about a situation and hear from the Holy Spirity, a consensus will be evident.
university of the nations offers more than the 6 month course and its academic ministry reaches beyond hawaii...it has 500 campuses in 138 locations. those earning bachelor's or master's degrees in everything from counseling to linguistics must study on at least 2 continents...it uses the modular approach, offering intensive focus on a topic followed by hands on experience in the field. instructors are volunteers and experts in thier fields..the u does not have u.s. accreditation (note: yea!)
by 1978 YWAM inaugurated mercy ministries, which developed a fleet of ships serving as floating hospitals to provide food, medical supplies and dental care. mercy ships split off in 2002 when YWAM directors sensed it had grown too large.
that lack of possessiveness has earned cunningham respect among mission agencies, most of which have YWAM alumni in their ranks. 'we train up some and they go elsewhere..YWAM is like a bridge: easy to get on and easy to get off. it's not to be a cul-de-sac to trap people'.
in the early years, cunningham endured criticism that 'thrill-seeking' western youth and unqualified nationals interfered with the work of career missionaries trained in the west. 'in 1960, the whole missions movement was based on a white man going to non-white people'..he recalls being privately rebuked by a veteran american missionary serving in nigeria in 1961 because cunningham had told a group of nigerian nationals that they too could be missionaries.
at the time, short-term missions seemed outside the box, but he believed that Jesus implemented the technique by sending out disciples on brief excursions. mission leaders in the early 60s also told him that young missionaries should be paid by their sending organization so they could be held accountable, something they felt young people especially needed. cunningham insisted that youth needed to raise their own support, noting that 'joseph, daniel, david, and john mark were all teenagers'. critics see him as just a dreamer - but so was joseph..
no one in YWAM is paid - including cunningham. each on raises his own funds and some have left lucrative careers to serve..cunningham, who draws social security, is backed by 15 donor couples and says he lives on less than 6 figures...
miriam adeney, professor of world christian studies and author of KINGDOM WITHOUT BORDERS: THE UNTOLD STORY OF GLOBAL CHRISTIANITY, says YWAM is 'doing the wole gamut of witness, discipling and serving the poor and oppressed, expecially in doing integrated holistic community development'. for example, in colombia, enith dIaz started YWAM medellin 15 years ago to provide shelter and basic health care to displaced families. since then, the outreach has grown to provide grief counseling, agricultural training and public health programs. during a recent clinic in a village, the medical team treated 1000 people in 4 days.
david hamilton, vice president for strategic innovation at kona, says YWAM works in 3 main areas: evangelism, training and mercy ministries. these are built around mark 16.15, and matt. 28.18-20, with the goals of personal redemption and social transformation. the more groundbreaking the ministry, the better..leaders focus on what they cal the 7 spheres of society: the family, economics, government, religion, education, media and 'celebration', which includes the arts, entertainment and sports.
from its earliest years, YWAM has been linked to controversy. gregory robertson, who served on YWAMs staff from 1973 to 1979 in germany and california, says he experienced abusive and manipulative shepherding tactics. some students and staff who disagreed with overseers were viewed as rebellious against God or demon-possessed..an anonymous source was quoted who likened YWAM training to 'cult mind-controlling techniques'.
at an international gathering in the late 70s YWAM leaders repented of a 'spirit of religious controversy' for trying to win arguments. he has refused to debate critics ever since..another inside says, 'of course we are not a cult. talk to our ..friends - campus crusade, wycliffe, operation mobilization - about our credibility'.
other detractors point to YWAMs decentralized structure which they claim leads to lack of accountability in finances and theology. finances and legal structures are handled at the local level at 1400 bases. local boards usually include pastors. 'we don't dictate how to finance something in mozambique or mali. they have to make their own decisions'. (this avoids a layer of bureaucracy it may be noted.
YWAM cultivates team leadership even at the highest levels. dawson, a new zealander... is considered a presiding elder o the 7 member global leadership team which (includes loren and darlene) rather than a primary director of a legal entity. the ad hoc network is held together by relational, not legal, dynamics. he says, 'accountability comes from intimacy not organizational structure. the international board holds the line on vision and values, but has no decision-making power on spending or allocation of resources. local pastors and business leaders create accountability pressure in rare cases of sexual or financial misdeeds. 'if something goes wrong with us locally local people will step in and correct - and even rebuke - the people bearing the YWAM name'.
currently 'our goal is to focus on where we are not. we're intentionally trying to go to the least-reached areas, where medical needs, poverty and illiteracy are the greatest'. YWAM likewise is involved in another great commission-fulfilling movement, call2all. the networking movement was spearheaded by campus crusade founder bill bright but now is led by YWAMs mark anderson. only 3 years ago, cunningham says, 639 unengaged, unreached people groups (each with a population of 100k or more) existed. that # has been reduced to 152, thanks to 4k call2all missionaries planting 14k churches in the past 3 years.
YWAM is able to enter countries closed to evangelists and pastors because students simultaneously work as preschool teachers and physicians, among other professions. one said, 'what i like about YWAM is the spirit of being willing to charge hell with a squirt gun, that go-for-it mentality. it is commonplace now for career missionaries to have short-term missions experience first. YWAM is giving opportunities for ministry to people who would not have been given the same opportunity in many other organizations.
note: this seems a good fit for me. maybe they could start a branch OWAM (oldies with a mission). i'm all for bottom-up over top-down any day.
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