Loren Cunningham, founder of YWAM
Loren Cunningham, founder of YWAM
Share good news – Share this and any page freely
Over 100,000 Renewal Journal views annually.
Loren Cunningham, founder of YWAM
Loren Cunningham, the impactful global evangelist who founded Youth With A Mission (YWAM), passed away at age 88 in Kona, Hawaii on October 6, 2023.
“Loren was the first person in history to travel to every sovereign nation on earth, all dependent countries, and more than 100 territories and islands for the sake of Christ and the Great Commission (Mark 16:15). Now he has added one more ‘stamp’ to his well-worn passport: HEAVEN!” the official announcement on the YWAM website states.
Cunningham has been described as a “de-regulator of missions” because he enlisted young people to serve short-term, globally, raising their own support. This resulted in millions of young people deployed around the world to proclaim the Good News. The ministry he launched in 1960 now has tens of thousands of full-time staff in 200+ countries serving at over 2,000 YWAM locations.
He received a remarkable vision from the Lord in the Bahamas in 1956. He was staying in a missionary’s home, kneeling beside the bed, praying in preparation to speak that night. He recorded the experience as follows:
“Suddenly, I was looking at a map of the world, only the map was alive and moving! I could see all the continents, and waves were crashing onto their shores. Each wave went onto a continent, then receded, then came up further until it covered the continent completely. The waves became young people – kids my age and even younger – covering all the continents of the globe. 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. Then, just as suddenly as it had come, the scene was gone.”
– Excerpt from Is That Really You, God? by Loren Cunningham with Janice Rogers, YWAM Publishing
Global initiatives launched under Cunningham’s leadership include YWAM Olympic Outreaches, the University of the Nations, YWAM Ships (28 vessels currently serve the most isolated islands and coastlands), and myriads of other ministries birthed by leaders he inspired, according to YWAM.
Cunningham believed that every Christian is a missionary and that there needs to be a ‘deregulation’ of missions. In other words, the global Church needs to change the way we view and conduct missions. Missions can be done anywhere one is, even in the marketplace. When Christians do that then we will be able to finish the Great Commission.
Cunningham is survived by his wife, Darlene, two children and three grandchildren.
Source: YWAM
Joel News International, #1319, October 9, 2023
See also Mercy Ships and YWAM Ships
