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what leaders say about ywam
CHURCH LEADERS
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Dr. Jack W. Hayford, Pastor/President, The Church On The Way, The King's Seminary
"The influence of ywam and the leadership of Loren Cunningham, in
character and constancy, has been, under God's grace, one of the most
determinative factors in bringing about the global Church's renewal and
impact in the last half of the 20th century."
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Dr. Tony Campolo, Professor of Sociology, Eastern College, St. Davids, Pennsylvania
"Loren Cunningham has been one of the most adventuresome visionaries of our time. What he has accomplished staggers the imagination. God gave him a dream and he lived it out--very few of us do that. Wherever I go I seem to run into people who have been discipled into radical discipleship by ywam. Those who have been a part of their program prove to be a great gift to churches around the world. Their spirituality, their ability to witness, and their commitment to take seriously the teachings of Christ have impacted Christendom. I can safely say that ywam is one of the most important and effective movements in Christendom today."
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Dr. David Yonggi Cho, Senior Pastor, Yoido Full Gospel Church, Seoul, Korea
"We congratulate Youth With A Mission on their vision and creativity in
training youth to reach around the world for Christ in education, mercy
ministries, evangelism and frontier missions. We rejoice with you in
the faithfulness of God and of His people! May God continue to bless
you and use you mightily as you invest in and contribute to the lives
of Christian young people in your efforts to reach the world for
Christ."
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Bill Hybels, Senior Pastor, Willow Creek Community Church
"Whenever I'm traveling and speaking internationally and meet
high-committed, servant-oriented Christian leaders, I think to myself,
'Another ywamer!' I'm rarely mistaken. I am so grateful for the work of ywam and for the intensity with which you do it."
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Bill McCartney, Founder & President, Promise Keepers
"Over the last 40 years, Youth With A Mission has become one of the
premier missionary organizations in the world. Not only has it
effectively spread the gospel and ministered to practical needs of the
underprivileged around the globe, it has captured the imagination and
energy of young people, infusing them with a vision--and providing a
unique way--for reaching the lost!"
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Pastor Lloyd Ogilvie, First Presbyterian Church, Hollywood, California
"I have observed first hand the magnificent, mighty way the Lord has
used Youth With A Mission. It is Biblical, Christ-centered and
Spirit-empowered. Dynamic evangelism is coupled with profound caring
for people."
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Dr. Jerry Rankin, President, International Mission Board, Southern Baptist Convention
"The expansion of God's kingdom has been accelerated by the phenomenal
mobilization efforts of Youth With A Mission. The vision and creativity
of ywam has inspired and challenged other Great Commission
organizations to greater boldness and innovation for reaching our world
for Jesus Christ. "
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Tom White, Director, The Voice of the Martyrs
"I first learned about ywam 25 years ago in connection with the Bible
and other Christian literature we print for difficult areas of the
world. I was inspired to realize that there are selfless soldiers of
Jesus Christ around the world willing to give all in any situation. The
feet and hands of ywam have been a tremendous help for the gospel. They
were then and still are today the feet and hands of Christ."
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MISSION LEADERS
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Billy Graham
"We all rejoice in the way God has blessed this organization in
reaching people all over the world for the Lord Jesus Christ. Keep up
the good work. You have my support and my prayers."
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Dr. Bill Bright, Founder and President, Campus Crusade for Christ International
"I thank and praise our wonderful Lord for the world impact ywam has
had in helping to fulfill the Great Commission. Loren Cunningham along
with the leadership and staff of ywam has always been a great
inspiration and blessing to me and it has been a great joy and
privilege to work alongside them for the gospel. Their faith, boldness
and zeal for our dear Lord have been a significant factor in this
greatest-of-all-time spiritual harvests for Christ's kingdom in the
past 40 years."
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Luis Bush, Former Director, AD 2000 and Beyond
"My wife Doris and I have reflected upon the impact that the ministry
of ywam has had on our own family. We counted that our children had
been on no less than 14 short-term mission outreaches with ywam. As one
outside the ywam family, I had come to see the many lessons I learned
from the experiences of my own children. ywam has had a major world
impact. The leadership style invites initiative, entrepreneurial risk,
spontaneous responsiveness. There is the enthusiasm and commitment of
those who are making sacrifices just to serve. ywamers have always been
part of new spiritually-critical, cutting-edge initiatives. They have a
pioneering spirit; a discipleship emphasis on servanthood; a culture of
innovation and orientation to the future; dream facilitators who seek
to encourage the dreams of others; willingness to take risks; a passion
for Jesus and partnership with other Christian entities in advancing
the Kingdom of God. Some of the impact values and principles I have
learned from ywam include: seeking God and waiting until you hear
before you move, interceding on a regular basis for the nations;
tapping into the initiative of God moving through the two-thirds or
majority world; setting worship at the heart of all ministry out-flow
and giving a place to the 'Holy Spirit and new-paradigm sensitivity'
with an out-flowing prophetic nature and appeal."
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Gregory Fritz, President, Caleb Project
"yeam provides a positive alternative for energetic young people. For
some, the choice can be as clear and dramatic as rebellion versus
submission. The danger and thrill of drugs, gangs and the street
seduces them into rebellion from their parents' world. However, ywam
offers similar excitement through an alternative means--submission to
Jesus Christ. ywamers love God and follow Him with the same reckless
abandon that characterized the first century disciples."
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Millard Fuller, Founder and President, Habitat for Humanity International, Inc.
"ywam is a powerful voice for Christ around the world. I am pleased and
proud to salute Loren Cunningham and all of those faithful people with
whom he has served over these four decades. May God continue to guide
this pioneering venture in the years ahead."
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Franklin Graham, President, Samaritan's Purse
"It has been my privilege over the years to observe and participate
with Youth With A Mission on numerous projects around the world. Their
focus on evangelism is always great. ywam has a tremendous team of
dedicated servants of the Lord and I always marvel at how God has been
able to use them in so many strategic areas of the world."
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Dr. Roger S. Greenway, Professor of World Missiology, Calvin Theological Seminary, Grand Rapids, Michigan
"I have known the ywam organization for some 20 years and I have grown
to respect its leaders' vision, dedication and passion for world
evangelization. ywamers are everywhere today and they are often on the
cutting edge of mission advance. Since the days when I taught urban
mission on a rocking houseboat in the Amsterdam harbor to an eager
group of young missionaries, I have appreciated and praised God for
this mission-focused organization."
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Dick Hugoniot, President, Wycliffe Bible Translators International
"ywam has made a tremendous impact over the years in challenging both
young and old alike to make themselves available to Christ for service
in worldwide missions. I remember when I first came in contact with ywam in Nepal in 1973-76. In those days you were known as Dilaram House
and you had a special ministry with world travelers. My wife and I were
impressed with the dedication and the servant hearts of your workers.
Over the years many of the children of our members have joined ywam to
work in various ministries around the world. Some of your short-term
workers have joined us in the Bible translation task. We have counted
it as a privilege to be partners with you in carrying out the Great
Commission. We are praying that the Lord will continue to show us ways
in which we can partner together in reaching the remaining unreached
people groups of the world in the coming years."
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Darrow L. Miller, Vice-President, Food for the Hungry International
"The first time I met Loren, he described ywam as a tribe. I knew that
I was a 'lost member' of the tribe. My first contact with ywam was over
30 years ago while a student at L'Abri Fellowship in Switzerland. I
have seen this small band of brothers and sisters grow to become one of
the most dynamic missions movements in recent history. ywam has
encouraged men and women to dream and to bring those dreams before the
face of God. During my lifetime, no one has spoken more boldly that the
mission of the church is more than saving souls for heaven, but is
nothing less than the discipling of nations. As I have traveled around
the world, it is the ywam tribe that gives us a foretaste of what
Heaven will be like, men and women from every tribe and nation bowing
before Christ and worshiping the living God. Thank you ywam and thank
you for allowing me to be a member of the tribe."
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Dr. James H. Montgomery, President, DAWN Ministries
"Down through the centuries of the Church age, God has given us great
evangelists, theologians, missiologists and inspiring prophets and
teachers. In our time, I believe the Lord is raising up a whole new
category of Church leaders that I refer to as Great Commissionists.
These are the men and women with the vision and prophetic word to call
the Body of Christ to work at completing the Great Commission in our
time. Of even greater significance, these are the committed servants of
the Lord who lay down their lives in actually developing bold,
comprehensive and realistic strategies that could lead directly to the
completion of this majestic task. Loren Cunningham, and the ywam
network that is the lengthening shadow of this man of God, is certainly
one of the small band of mighty spiritual warriors who fit this
category. It is a profound delight to me that I am able to know Loren
Cunningham and to share vicariously in the Kingdom effort for which the
Holy Spirit has anointed him."
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Bryant Myers, Vice-President, World Vision
"ywam is a unique contribution to world mission. ywam has been highly
effective in attracting mission entrepreneurs, especially among young
people, and mobilizing them for a wide range of important mission work.
Sprawling, sometimes messy and very nimble, ywam's entrepreneurial
spirit is the envy of the larger, more structured missions. ywam's
dependence on the movement of the Spirit of God in directing its work
is a witness to all of us."
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Tetsunao "Ted" Yamamori, President & CEO, Food for the Hungry International
"The ministry of ywam has grown considerably over the past four
decades. It is now, in my estimation, one of the most strategic
agencies penetrating the mission frontier."
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MUSISCIANS and OTHERS
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David Aikman, author and former TIME Magazine editor, Washington D.C.
"I know of no other organization in the Christian missionary field that
has produced and continues to produce such outstanding, mature and
Spirit-led young men and women. "
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Rebecca Saint James, musician
"My life has been so powerfully impacted by missions. I've been
involved with trips to Calcutta, India, to Romania, Bucharest, Romania,
to Ecuador. And I just have seen God move through those trips
powerfully in my life and seen how God uses that to change people's
lives in those countries. I have had some very close friends of mine
who have worked with Youth With A Mission and been on mission trips and
their lives have been radically turned around by working with this
ministry. So, I encourage people considering going on a missions trip
to link up with ywam because it is an incredible ministry."
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Martin Smith, lead vocalist, Delirious? England, UK
"ywam has been an incredible inspiration to thousands of people around
the world-refreshing the parts other ministries cannot reach."
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Michael W. Smith, musician
"I am a big believer in the roaring lambs philosophy of showing our
faith through our actions, not just our words. That's what I admire
about ywam--they take this philosophy worldwide!"
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YOUTH MINISTRY LEADERS
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George K. Brushaber, President, Bethel College and Seminary, St. Paul, Minnesota
"Youth With A Mission has been a powerful force within the Bethel
community for Kingdom values and global servanthood. Hundreds of
students have been challenged and equipped to represent Christ around
the world."
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Denny Rydberg, President, Young Life International
"Thank God for Youth With A Mission! It's a clear path for kids in a
cluttered world. It's a clear path to Jesus Christ, a clear path to
significance and satisfaction and a clear path to discovering what we
were created for: sacrificial service to God and man. Thank you, ywam,
for 40 years of dynamic ministry to Christ and kids!"
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Dr. Dallas Willard, author and Professor of Philosophy, University of Southern California
"ywam's training schools and short-term outreach programs have provided
opportunities for thousands of young people who were raised in our
affluent society to experience the reality of life in other parts of
the world. Through these experiences, the students have found a greater
understanding of the breadth of God's love, and many have committed
their lives to church ministry or missionary work. I am grateful for
their influence on the youth of American culture and around the world."
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 "Youth With A Mission has been a powerful force within the Bethel community for Kingdom values and global servanthood. Hundreds of students have been challenged" more... George K. Brushaber |
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