EMQ » January–April 2024 » Volume 60 Issue 1
Summary: To say Loren Cunningham reshaped missions is not an overstatement. It’s a fact. From the vision of waves turning into young people on every shore, to the last catalytic call to see every native tongue have an oral translation of the Bible, Loren was a man who loved the Lord and inspired peoples from every nation to join in on the adventure of God.
By Charis Jackson and Lynn Green
In the wake of Loren Cunningham’s death, it’s hard not to reflect on the life of a man who reshaped the way we do missions. That’s not some grandiose posthumous comment, it’s a fact. Countless upon countless lives have been impacted and changed because of this one man’s “yes” to God’s giant dreams.
Looking at my (Charis’s) own life, there isn’t one aspect that hasn’t been formed or affected by “Uncle” Loren’s global movement – Youth With A Mission (YWAM). As a third-generation YWAMer,[i] it’s in my DNA. Because of him, I’ve experienced a vibrant community of believers from all walks of life and cultures going anywhere and everywhere, and not a mission environment of strict rules where only specific people had the opportunity to go.
But what exactly did Loren do that was so transformative to how we do missions, today?
How It Began
In 1948, 13-year-old Loren knelt at an altar during a brush arbor revival meeting. God gave this boy a verse that would alter his life. “Jesus said to them, ‘Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation” (Mark 16:15).
Just under a decade later, in June 1956, days before his 21st birthday, Loren knelt again, this time by the guest bed he’d been given where he was staying in the Bahamas. He asked God what he was supposed to preach on that night. It was the continuation of that call from Mark.
God gave Loren a vision.
The white wall of his room transformed into a living map of the world, complete with waves crashing on every shore. It wasn’t just an image, it was moving, he could see the waves spreading onto each continent, taking over the land. As the waves reached the shore they transformed, turning into young people.
In his own words, Loren described what those young people were doing, “They were talking to people on street corners and outside bars. They were going from house to house and preaching the gospel. They came from everywhere and went everywhere, caring for people.”
The vision ended as quickly as it came but the impact of it is still making waves today.[ii]
Four years after experiencing this incredible vision, Loren founded Youth With A Mission, often known today simply as YWAM. Within two years he married co-founder, Darlene Scratch. By 1969, the two would expand the movement by running the first School of Evangelism in Lausanne, Switzerland. I wonder if at that point they had any idea of the global impact their “yes” would have?
What started there, with roughly 30 participants soon became a polycentric movement. YWAM locations sprang up in Germany, the Netherlands, and the UK, to name a few. But this was just the beginning.
In 1972, with the Munich Olympics fast approaching, two castles outside of Munich were found to house the expected 1,000 young people from all over the world who were to come and evangelize during the games.
One of these, Schloss Hurlach, had only recently been refurbished and modernized from its sixteenth-century style. YWAM miraculously purchased it in faith. Trusting that God would provide, the contract was signed, and within days the down payment appeared. What made this even more remarkable was the fact that only a handful of people were even aware and praying for the provision.
It was here Loren Cunningham, and other speakers like Brother Andrew, Joy Dawson, and Corrie ten Boom, shared and inspired young people to go into the city, and all over the world, to evangelise and proclaim, “Jesus is Lord.”
In the documentary film titled, Revolution of Love, a YWAM production, Loren addressed hundreds of young people, “There were 50,000 young people that were marching through the streets of Moscow, Russia, and they were chanting this slogan, ‘We’re ragged and we’re poor, but we’re changing the world.’ I would to God that would’ve been 50,000 Christian young people that might say, ‘We’re ragged and poor, that part doesn’t matter, but we’re changing the world for the cause of Christ.’”[iii]
A moment later, as the documentary shows clip after clip of young people sitting there listening, Loren added, “But now we are seeing young people as they’re marching now, on every continent of the world that are truly changing the world for the cause of Christ.”
I don’t think they knew it yet, but they were on the front lines of a global revival known today as the Jesus Revolution or the Jesus People.
Welcoming Global Christians
One beautiful aspect of this growing global movement was how it welcomed Christian’s from every denomination and every nation. Today, this idea has been embedded within YWAM’s core beliefs and foundational values. Stated within the core beliefs is the importance of fellowship, recalling the commitment a YWAMer has to the church, locally, and “its mobile multiplying expression.”
Within the foundational values, a list of 18 values to help foster kingdom culture across YWAM’s decentralized centers worldwide, is value eight: Be international and interdenominational. Several others, also highlight the importance of keeping nations and denominations in mind.
By the mid-’70s, it became clear that young people coming to take part in the Schools of Evangelism and other short-term missions events were in need of more training focused on Biblical foundations and character development before they were sent out to share the gospel.
This came about when one YWAM leader, Leland Paris, was chatting with a student. Leland asked the young man about his religious background, and when the young man replied with one word, “Drugs.” Leland consulted with Loren and other YWAM leaders to form the Discipleship Training School (DTS). This has become the foundational course in YWAM training.
Just three years later, in 1977, Loren, along with Dr. Howard Malmstadt, would expand the movement again, establishing the Pacific and Asia Christian University (PACU). Leasing out, what was then called the Pacific Empress Hotel, in Kona, Hawaii, they began renovations to turn the property into the University.
In one recounting, Loren recalled how he was sitting on a metal chair in his empty flat, with Howard sitting on the only other piece of furniture in the room – another metal chair. He shared with Howard that God wanted YWAM to have a university. Howard’s response was, “Yes, I know that.” This surprised Loren, as only a select few were aware of this new polycentric vision. When Loren expressed his shock, Howard said, “Yes, God told me that last spring.”[iv]
Within a short time, many training schools were developed in six of the seven continents. The aim was to make disciples of all nations and in all spheres of society. In 1989, the PACU’s Board of Regents recognised the various schools around the world linked to PACU no longer reflected the impact the university was having on higher education world-wide. At their meeting, it was a unanimous vote to change the name to the University of the Nations (UofN).
Today there are 12 colleges within the university. People of every nation and denomination can earn degrees in several spheres of influence, from master’s degrees in science and technology to associates or bachelor’s degrees in health care, linguistics, sports or communication, etc. The impact is staggering.
Over the course of the next few decades, more new initiatives and ministries would develop throughout the world. These included impactful ministries like King’s Kids, Mercy Ships, 30 Days of Prayer for the Muslim World, Impact World Tours, Reconciliation Walk, and many more.
By 2010, during YWAM’s 50th celebration, it was determined over five million people had taken part in this movement as either staff, student, or short-term volunteer. At that point there were tens of thousands of people from more than 200 nations serving in 191 countries at over 2,000 YWAM locations. It was the last time YWAM would take a census, today only God knows the number of YWAMers and YWAM locations world-wide.
Multigenerational Missions
Countless men and women in YWAM have met and married, raised families, and watched as their children entered a life of missions too. My (Charis) mom was there during those early years, smuggling Bibles into closed countries, and praying for people at the Munich Olympics.
I was raised on the YWAM Kona campus, running around after our community meetings, hugging all the grown-ups I liked, people like Darlene Cunningham and others, who I’d come to understand later were academic deans of different colleges within the UofN.
Several of the men and women I interact with on a daily basis, were also raised on the mission field with YWAM. Their families, and mine, walking out the vision of waves turning into people going anywhere and everywhere.
There are graduates working on blockbuster film sets and building wells in remote countries and nations. There are YWAMers who became leading voices for things only dreamt of in science fiction, creating one of the first operational flying cars – the intention behind this innovation coming out of a need to find a better way of reaching isolated parts of the world with medical supplies.[v]
The movement has become so vast, it’s near impossible to recount every endeavor, event, ministry, or project. It’s difficult to know how to define the details of the different works being done. And that’s just what’s happening in YWAM. There are YWAM alumni working in every sphere of society, using what the Lord taught them during their time of short-term missions, to continue to make an impact in their work today.
Ending Bible Poverty
I (Lynn) count Loren and Darlene Cunningham to be trusted friends and inspirational leaders to both me and my wife, Marti. Along with a few others, we pioneered YWAM in the United Kingdom in the early 1970s. In my tribute to Loren, I shared, “[We] met at one of the earliest courses and Loren asked us to pray about going to England to plant another School of Evangelism. Now there are nearly a thousand locations world-wide where YWAM courses are available.”
In 2003, I was with Loren in Singapore for a leadership meeting. Loren was due to speak to a large group of Christian leaders at a dinner one evening. I asked him what subject he’d be speaking on, and Loren’s response was, “I plan to convey vision to get a Bible into every home in China.” At the time, I discouraged Loren from sharing on the subject. I told him that as one of the leaders of YWAM, I felt an obligation to have a plan to accomplish anything they talked about. Praise God, Loren spoke on the subject anyway.
It would be a few years before I understood the spiritual, visionary dynamic of what happened that night. Did Loren have a plan? No, but he had a prophetic word. It was as if God wanted to change the world again and he was looking for someone to have the faith to speak out, in faith, what he wanted. And it wouldn’t happen unless someone spoke it out as God directed. Once again, Loren obeyed.
That dinner was the beginning of Loren Cunningham’s primary message for the last 20 years of his life. His research confirmed that there were no sustained revivals without the Bible being available first. With more than 8,000 languages on earth and many without their own Scriptures, much work remained. So, wherever he went, his message from that time on was, “end Bible poverty now!”
In the last few years, he focused on oral Bible translation and then the essential importance of every person having access to the Scriptures in their mother tongue.
When asked shortly before his passing if he’d seen the fulfillment of the vision of waves turning into young people, Loren shook his head and stated, “Not even remotely close.”
Could his last message to end Bible poverty be the fulfillment of that vision from 1956? Could the work that’s being done, even today as you read this, be part of the answer? Only God knows. Whatever the outcome, it’s a beautiful continuation of being polycentric missionally – finding and translating the Word of God into the heart language of every tribe and nation.
Being a missions movement that values prayer (this is another of YWAM’s foundational values), one of the first things established to see this giant answer met was a website. On this site every praying Christian can adopt a mother tongue to pray for and watch the progress of it becoming an oral Bible translation. There are also other ways to help, either financially or inviting people to be a part of the answer.
It’s important to note, this is not just a YWAM initiative. Knowing that countless other global leaders shared the same burden, Loren invited and met with hundreds of Christian leaders across denominational divides to partner with this cause.
Loren’s desire was to fulfill Jesus’ prayer in Matthew 6:10 to see God’s will be done “on earth as it is in heaven.” And when we think about what is being done in heaven, Revelations reveals a stunning picture, perhaps similar to that original vision of waves. “After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people, and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb” (Revelations 7:9).
When Loren received a diagnosis of small-cell lung cancer in January 2023, it didn’t deter him from his mission and the Lord gave him many months more than the medical professionals expected. During this extended time, he was largely pain-free. He also had miraculous mental and spiritual capacity to focus on Oral Mother Tongue Bible Translation. On that subject, he could pray, think, and talk to others by the hour. So, he constantly refined the vision and his ability to explain it.
A Multiplying Movement
Many people have wondered, what will happen to YWAM now that Loren is gone? Will it continue to grow and be innovative, and transform missions?
There is no doubt that no one can replace him. However, from the very beginning he focused YWAM’s heart and soul, encouraging every person from young or old, towards the biblical paradigm of the body of Christ, as it applies to YWAM. He spoke a vital message on that subject in 2002 and it became known as the “Tripod Message.” A glimpse of that message is this: If we continue to practise the knowledge of the priesthood of all believers; if we strengthen and guard our relationships; and if we recognise the wisdom and spiritual gifts of elders among us, we will multiply more and more and be a blessing to the whole body of Christ.
Loren was never a CEO in YWAM. He always worked with teams of leaders and leaned into the different spiritual gifts and strength of others. There are teams of elders and leaders all over the world and the vision God has given YWAM is broad and clear. If each person that makes up YWAM carefully nurtures the health of their relationships, remaining rooted in biblical beliefs and pursues the vision of taking the good news to everyone in every mother tongue, YWAM, but more importantly, the vision of God will thrive.
Reflecting on the moments I (Charis) had the opportunity to be in Uncle Loren’s presence, I believe this movement was able to have such a huge and global impact because of his servant-hearted leadership. Here was a man who graced millions of stages and spoke to crowds in the thousands who patiently sat laughing and praying with individual after individual, even though I’m sure many of those times he was jet-lagged and tired after giving a message.
He was The 6 Million Mile Man, having traveled over 6 million miles, always sitting in an economy seat. He was all this and more, yet one of my fondest memories will always be of a man in his late 70s dressed in dusty clothes, in a room by himself, quietly scrapping stucco off the floor of a new building that would house thousands and thousands over the years.
If we want to see our different missions grow, this is where it starts.
Learn more about Loren and YWAM at ywam.org/about-us/history.
Charis Joy Jackson (cjackson@ywamharpenden.org) works as a full-time missionary with Youth With A Mission (YWAM). For 14 years she served in a leadership capacity for the UofN’s film and acting courses. Currently located north of London, she is working on establishing a narrative writing seminar to encourage and train aspiring authors. In her spare time, she weaves stories of speculative fiction.
Lynn Green (lgo@oval.com) and his wife, Marti, established the work of Youth With A Mission in England in 1971. He’s served as director of YWAM in the UK, chairman of the board of directors, YWAM’s international chairman, and founder of “March For Jesus.” Lynn now devotes much of his energy and time to international leadership development. As a result, he has ministered in more than 100 nations, encouraging and training younger mission leaders.
[i] Pronounced WHY-wam-er.
[ii] “Loren’s Vision,” YWAM Values, https://www.ywamvalues.com/the-vision-of-the-waves.html.
[iii] Jan Rogers and Bob Owen, “Revolution of Love – Munich 1972,” UofN Legacy, video, Jul 24, 2019, https://youtu.be/n6-5g2tz7g4.
[iv] Loren Cunningham, “Honoring Dr. Howard Malmstadt,” University of the Nations, Feb 19, 2018, video, 0:33, https://youtu.be/TA9xcxXUKdE?t=33.
[v] Raymond Siebring, “YWAM’s Flying Car,” YWAM – Youth With A Mission, https://ywam.org/ywam-flying-car-interview.
EMQ, Volume 60, Issue 1. Copyright © 2024 by Missio Nexus. All rights reserved. Not to be reproduced or copied in any form without written permission from Missio Nexus. Email: EMQ@MissioNexus.org.
