YWAM Founder Loren Cunningham Dies at 88
The founder of Youth With A Mission made missions accessible.
Loren Cunningham, the globe-trotting founder of Youth With A Mission, a large, decentralized ministry that made missions work accessible to people overlooked by many missions agencies, died Friday in Hawaii at the age of 88, according to a statement from the ministry. 
Cunningham was diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer in March. YWAM said a celebration of his life will be held Saturday, Nov. 4 at the University of the Nations in Kona.
YWAM summarized his impact on the missions movement:
“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, 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.”
Cunningham came to faith in Christ in 1948 at the age of 13. He felt called to preach the Gospel around the world in a 1956 vision in which he said he saw waves on a shoreline on the Bahamas representing waves of missionaries covering the continents. He founded YWAM in 1960 and remained part of the ministry’s Global Leadership Team.
A son and grandson of Pentecostal evangelists, YWAM called him an “apostolic visionary” and claims he was “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.”
His disciples followed his example. YWAM says it now has “tens of thousands of full-time staff participat[ing] from 200+ countries and various denominations and Christian traditions, serving at over 2,000 YWAM locations in nearly 200 nations.”
Cunningham is remembered for his passion, his tireless labors, a sense of humor, and humility. He disliked fancy titles and told people, “I’m just Loren. Please call me Loren.”
Access to MinistryWatch content is free. However, we hope you will support our work with your prayers and financial gifts. To make a donation, click here.
He likewise believed ordinary people could fulfill Christ’s Great Commission, and YWAM commissioned workers that other groups dismissed as too old, insufficiently trained, or from the wrong denominational tradition. Once accepted, YWAM trained them at its 12-week Discipleship Training School before sending them out.
Cunningham saw YWAM as a movement, not an organization, as we’ve previously reported: “YWAM is a network of linked ministries that shares Cunningham’s vision and mission…(but) unlike other evangelical ministries and mission agencies, YWAM isn’t incorporated and lacks a central organization or headquarters. It has no president, board of directors, fundraising department, or annual reports.”
That founding vision has been a stunning success. YWAM’s non-hierarchical structure has empowered its workers to create hundreds of independent organizations—some of them with significant income and assets—that reach unbelievers around the globe through a dizzying range of ministries.
At the same time, its organization structure means information about much of its work is unknown, and its internal operations remain opaque.
Loren is survived by his wife Darlene, their children Karen and David, and three grandchildren.
