Back in 1991, while we were on vacation at a cabin on a lake in Sandstone, MN, Dorothy and I began a practice that we maintained for some thirty-plus years. What was it? Well, we would read books aloud together. Actually, I read the books, and she would listen. We often would discuss what we have read and then pray together.

This time reading was meant to be a time of inspirational reading, not a time of study, and the books we most often read were biographies or autobiographies. The first book we read was one by Catherine Marshall, the author of many books, including ‘A Man Called Peter.’ The last book we read was entitled ‘Is that Really You God?’ by Loren Cunningham, the founder of Youth With a Mission. This was a book that we had read before and was one that Dorothy loved. It was the last book we read together before she died last month. Strangely enough, Loren Cunningham died a few days before Dorothy, so I felt to write a word about Loren Cunningham and his impact on my life.

FOUNDER OF YOUTH WITH A MISSION

Loren was a son of an Assemblies of God minister, and at the age of 13, he received a call when God spoke to him through Mark 16:15, ‘Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every nation.’ This call was later followed up with a vision when he was 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 says, “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 (ywam.org).

Eventually, he and his wife Darlene, founded an organization called Youth With a Mission (YWAM), which has grown to be one of the largest missions organizations in the world, with tens of thousands of full-time participants from over 200 countries.

LOREN CUNNINGHAM’S ACHIEVEMENTS

The De-regulator of Missions – Loren is often called the “de-regulator of missions” because he broke the 1960s missionary paradigm by creating opportunities for Youth to serve short-term, interdenominationally, globally and unsalaried. This foresight opened the floodgates so that millions could come FROM everywhere and go TO everywhere as missionaries around the globe to proclaim the truth of God and display His love (ywam.org).

World Traveler – Loren was the first person in history to travel for the sake of Christ and the Great Commission to every sovereign nation on earth, all dependent countries, and more than 100 territories (Mark 16:15). Now he has added one more “stamp” to his well-worn passport: HEAVEN! (ywam.org)

Built a Decentralized Work – YWAM was not a centralized organization, as the administration and ministry of each YWAM base was in the hands of the local leadership. There wasn’t a hierarchical structure within YWAM.

Author of Six Books and the Magna Carta – Loren authored six books, including ‘Is That Really You God?’ In 1981, he also penned ‘The Christian Magna Carta,’ which included both his personal goals and YWAM’s corporate goals that are implicit in the Gospel. It had six components stating that everyone on earth has the right to:

  1. Hear and understand the Gospel of Jesus Christ,
  2. Have a Bible available in his/her own language,
  3. Have a Christian fellowship available nearby to be able to meet for fellowship regularly each
  4. week and to have biblical teaching and worship with others in the body of Christ,
  5. Have a Christian education available for their children,
  6. Have the basic necessities of life: food, water, clothing, shelter, and health care,
  7. Lead a productive life of fulfillment spiritually, mentally, socially, emotionally, and physically (ywam.org).

Influenced Every Sphere of Society – Loren was also the Co-founder (together with his wife Darlene and Dr. Howard Malmstadt) of the University of the Nations (UofN), a global ministry of YWAM (www.uofn.edu) designed around the “Seven Spheres” that influence every society. In 1975, God gave insights about these spheres simultaneously to Loren and Dr. Bill Bright, the founder of Campus Crusade for Christ (CRU). The UofN was established in 1979 and has grown to offer more than 600 courses and seminars (some in nearly 100 languages) held at more than 800 locations/campuses in 160+ countries. Hundreds of thousands of students are registered within the global UofN system. They all begin with the Discipleship Training School (DTS), which serves as the entry-level course and pre-requisite for all other UofN courses and for becoming YWAM staff (ywam.org).

LOREN’S INFLUENCE ON MY LIFE

My main contact with Loren was in the 1970s and early 80s when I came in contact with YWAM through their early Australian elder, Dean Sherman. In 1972, I led a small group of young people to participate in the YWAM outreach at the Munich Olympic Games in Germany. I later invited Loren to speak at a couple of our conferences in Australia, including the ‘Jesus 79’ conference in Sydney, Australia. I will always remember Loren speaking at a pastor’s meeting at Calvary Chapel (Rev. Don Baker), which greatly inspired me. He was due to speak for a one-hour session that day, but he was so anointed that he continued speaking for some two hours.

INVITATION TO JOIN YWAM 

In January 1979, when Loren was in Sydney for the Jesus 79 conference, he and Joy Dawson, who was also there for meetings, came to our home for dinner with Dorothy and me (Supper in America). We had a wonderful time sharing together, and in the course of the evening, they invited me to join WYAM. I was greatly honored that they invited Dorothy and me to join them in WYAM, but as it turned out, neither Dorothy nor I felt we should take that step.

CLOSING WORD

Loren was a great general in the Army of God. As it has been written, he was a ‘humble and godly man,’ who pioneered an ever-increasing and effective organization – Youth With a Mission. Loren is survived by his beloved wife, Darlene Joy Scratch-Cunningham; his daughter, Karen Joy Cunningham; his son, David Loren Cunningham (Judith Fitts-Cunningham); and three grandchildren, Madison Grace, Kenna Faith, and Liam Reid.

In his final days, though his body was riddled with cancer, God energized Loren to “Zoom” with tens of thousands on every continent to share this passion. Just as he showed people how to live “full on” for Jesus, he also modeled how to faithfully finish the race God has set before each one of us. These were precious days of impartation into and prayer over the next generation and the next, who responded with an emphatic “yes – we accept and will carry out the call” (ywam.org). The call to ‘Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every nation.’ 

RESOURCES

https://ywam.org/loreniswithjesus