Loren Cunningham is the founder of YWAM (Youth with a Mission), one of the biggest Missions Organizations in the world. They have Discipleship Training School (DTS), which is offered in over 600 locations around the world, with more than 18000 staff members.
Loren Cunningham’s life has been devoted to sharing the Gospel to every nation. He travels continually to 30-40 countries each year, and he has visited every country on earth. His life is the world and reaching young people where their world is with the Good News.
It all started when Loren was a 20-year-old Bible college student. He was in the Bahamas on a singing tour. As Loren spent time in prayer, he was leaning back in his bed when he got a “mental movie.” He “saw” waves on a map. These waves then turned into young people going into every continent and sharing the Gospel. Four years later, in 1960, he started Youth With A Mission (YWAM). In almost 50 years, YWAM has become one of the largest Christian mission organizations in the world. Loren believes that every Christian is a missionary. There needs to be a “deregulation” of missions. In other words, we need to change the way we view and conduct missions. Missions can be done anywhere one is, even in the marketplace. Loren says when Christians do that then we will be able to finish the Great Commission.
His heart is to have the Bible in every home. God can and has used His Word and the principles of His Word to transform nations. Loren believes that as we sow the Bible into more and more lives, we will see the worldviews of people and nations realigned – the Bible will change their thinking, their values, and their behavior.
HOW GOD IS TRANSFORMING NATIONS
Having traveled to every nation, Loren has many stories to share. Within the last 90 days, Loren traveled to Nigeria. YWAM conducted a Discipleship Training School (DTS) that ended up praying for South Nigerian militants.
These young militants were angry with the government corruption. They were kidnapping people and seized one fifth of the oil. The young people from the DTS approached the militants without guns, but just prayer and God’s Word. About 300 of the rebels handed over their weapons to the YWAM workers. The government told the YWAM group to take care of those people that surrendered. Then, another 600 people left the militants. By October, 2,000 people left the rebellion. The governor later said that what the military government could not do in disarming the rebels, God did.
YWAM’s other projects include starting medical clinics, street kids ministries in Latin America by shanty towns, has 1,000 locations working with orphans and children at risk, has 25 cities in the United States slated for evangelism, and work in Fiji, New Zealand, and other Pacific Island nations.
STATE OF THE NATIONS
Loren says China is rapidly becoming the leader of the world, while the West threatens to spiral into decline. China will become the world leader if two conditions are met: 1. If its people continue to become followers of Jesus at the present rate, founding their lives on the Bible, and 2. If Western nations continue to turn away from the Bible at its present rate. China, the West, and all nations of the world can rise to the potential God has for them. We can see our foundations restored, our countries turnaround, and live in unity. The foundations rest in one book – the Bible. We can see God transform nations as we’ve seen him transform lives.
Loren is encouraged when he visits places where the numbers of people who have the Light of God outnumber those of darkness. As Christians we need to give every person on earth the chance to respond to the Gospel, make disciples of all nations, baptize people, and teach them. Seven areas where we can start are: Family, Religion (church and mission), Education, Celebration (arts, entertainment, and sports), Public communication (media), Economy (including business, science, and technology), and Government.
MORE ABOUT LOREN
Loren was born in Taft, California. His family heritage is rich with generations of Christian ministers. Also, Loren has personally gone to every sovereign nation on earth, all dependent countries, and more than 150 territories and islands for the sake of the Gospel. This has given him valuable insights into global trends and uniquely prepares him to share God’s strategies for world evangelism. His wisdom, experience, leadership understanding and call to build bridges of unity within the body of Christ have caused him to be sought out by leaders of nations and organizations worldwide. He speaks publicly in 30 to 40 nations a year, and has spoken to live audiences from a few to more than a million people gathered in one location.
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