Book Release Marks Youth With A Mission (YWAM)’s First 60 Years
Kona, Hawaii–Having begun in 1960, Loren Cunningham was traveling from church to church in those early years sharing his vision of a global missions outreach when a young woman, Darlene Scratch, first encountered her future husband – and ministry partner. From an early age, she was aware of a distinct calling from God on her life, and then she met this dynamic young man-with-a-vision. Not only did their shared commitment to the Lord and His service lead them into a loving marriage – but because of her people development and team-building skills, the fledgling movement grew so quickly upon her involvement that Loren publicly acknowledges her as the co-founder of Youth with a Mission a.k.a. YWAM. Although statistics are difficult to quantify, YWAM is surely one of if not the world’s largest mission movements given the scope of their outreach to 180+ countries…and counting.
Now, on the nonprofit’s 60th anniversary, Darlene Cunningham has penned Values Matter – Stories of the Beliefs & Values That Shaped Youth With a Mission, her recounting of the people and places God has impacted through this vast and ever-expanding missions outreach – an international movement of Christians from many denominations dedicated to presenting Jesus personally to this and future generations, and to the training and equipping of believers for their part in fulfilling “the Great Commission.” Intertwined inside its pages, she also candidly shares both failures and victories, along with her discovery of the Biblically-rooted beliefs and values that have proven so fruitful to the Cunningham’s calling over the decades. Given the global scope of YWAM, this foundational book encapsulating the heart of their nonprofit is scheduled to be available in 41 languages all told.
In addition to other outgrowth projects of YWAM’s, Homes of Hope International was spawned by YWAM San Diego/Baja and its Founder/President, Sean Lambert – who also served as a co-author of Values Matter. He was named “Hero of the Week” by People Magazine on their 25th anniversary and Homes of Hope International has itself marshaled over 135,000 volunteers to build 7000 homes which have been donated to poor families in 24 countries to date. The new book’s other co-author, Dawn Gauslin, has worked closely with Darlene for many years at YWAM’s University of the Nations Kona Campus in Hawaii.
In addition to the recent publication of trade paper and ebook editions, the audiobook of Values Matter will be released soon (read by Darlene Cunningham). The Spanish edition, Los Valores Importan, has just been published along with five other translations, including Ukrainian and Thai so far. In addition to profiling the new book and its authors, the newly-launched www.YWAMvalues.com provides a recently-updated Statement of Purpose, Core Beliefs, and Foundational Values of YWAM, along with many other helpful resources including biblically-based Discovery Starters by David Joel Hamilton for journeying deeper into the character of God, who called this global missions movement into being six decades ago.
(SOURCE: Renaissance Consultations via Christian Newswire)
