Ebrct Leadership For The Great Wave Loren Cunningham YT2018 Book Sampler Revised 09sep18

Revised Sept.
9, 2018 - Loren's Leaders Book Sampler YWAM TOGETHER 2018 (copyright 2018) 1
Loren's Leaders Book Sampler for YWAM TOGETHER 2018
“Leadership for The Great Wave”

by Loren Cunningham with Janice Cunningham Rogers
Revised Sept. 9, 2018 - Loren's Leaders Book Sampler YWAM TOGETHER 2018 (copyright 2018) 2
Synopsis:
I’m often asked why YWAM is growing when we’re nearly 60 years old. Especially
when so many missions are stagnating, shrinking, or dying off, even though they’re needed now
more than ever.
In this book I’ll share what we’ve learned as we’ve followed the Lord’s calling and
specific guidance. One of the guidelines we’ll share is how to listen to the leading of the Holy
Spirit at all levels of missions, from experienced leaders down to the newest recruits and
students.
These are difficult times for Christian ministries, with outward threat from increasingly
hostile government and community leaders. We also find a dangerous mission drift, with too
many churches and organizations taking leadership away from full-time Christian workers and
giving it to government or business leaders.
We must rely on the Holy Spirit’s guidance more than ever before. We must also have
correct foundations of leadership according to the New Testament patterns, particularly as seen
in the first eight chapters of the Book of Acts. In addition, showing integrity and accountability
with proper legal documents, structures, policies, and practices has never been more important.
The Lord has shown us that we’re about to grow at a much accelerated rate as part of the
greatest move of God the world has ever known. But it will also come with persecution. We
must be faithful to keep our covenants with God while preparing for present and growing attacks
on His work. We have to avoid mission drift in order to take our part in the final push to take the
Gospel to every person, and disciple all nations with what He has taught us. The Lord wants
ministries to thrive and multiply throughout the earth, with workers from every generation, but
with the majority young people.
There are seven spheres of society and five domains of authority. Each of these are
shown throughout Scripture. Each has a different purpose and different ways to operate. We
must know what sphere we’re called to and use our gifts to fulfill our calling in that sphere.
Those of us in full-time missionary work, like YWAM, are in the sphere and domain of religion.
Two spheres, government and business, can easily encroach on those in the religious
sphere, that is on churches and missionary movements. The spheres of government and business
are ordained of God, we know that from Scripture. Godly, mature leaders from these can be a
true blessing on boards. As the spheres of business, government, and religion work together, the
Lord can bless and use their gifts and words of wisdom. But it’s a matter of caution. Be careful,
because these two spheres have unusual influence that can slow down and even stop works of
God.
Business has the appeal of money. Ministries need money, and business people know
how to make money. Therefore, more and more churches and organizations are asking business
people to make the major and final decisions for them, rather than continuing the pattern set for
full-time ministries in Old and New Testament, and in two thousand years of church history.
The sphere of government has power and its power is growing, overtaking other spheres
and lessening the freedom of individuals. Because of society’s huge drift from biblical
foundations, government is particularly dangerous for Christian institutions and movements.
Further, if you accept funding from government, your ministry comes under their authority. With
their growing hostility to biblical truth, this will lead to great problems for you to maintain your
beliefs and values.
God intends all seven spheres to be operating equally, with no sphere gaining
preeminence. Why? Because He can’t trust sinful humans with too much power. He intends the
spheres to serve one another with love and generosity. If that fails, this division of
responsibilities is a safety net, a system of checks and balance. Overall, God’s people are to
bring the lordship of Christ into each sphere.
YWAM is a faith missionary movement as long as we listen to the guidance of the Lord
and obey His word to us. We must decide whether or not we will lead our work according to the
voice of the Holy Spirit, trusting God for provision to come from either friends in the Body of
Christ, or even from the mouth of a fish. Or will we lead according to business principles or
government policy, letting the ledgers or political favor tell us what we should do?
For example, should we do a cost-benefit analysis before deciding whether to translate

the Bible into a language only spoken by a handful of people? In Jesus' parable of the lost sheep,
did He consider the financial risks of leaving 99 sheep unguarded while pursuing the one?
When we know what God is asking us to do, and commit ourselves to obeying it, then we
can look at our financial situation and the governmental ramifications and pray accordingly.
Jesus said we must render unto Caesar that which is Caesar’s—paying our taxes, voting
for the best candidates we can, and obeying just laws. But we must also render unto God that
which bears His likeness—ourselves, and those whom we are responsible for. We must follow
the vision He has given us in the way He has guided. And if government passes laws that are
contrary to the laws of the Lord, then we must obey God rather than man. We are made in God’s
image, not in any other. We are to reveal that image to the world with faith and without guile.
Chapter One
A Call to Missions
We are just about to ride the biggest wave of missions and evangelism in history. We
must get ready for it now, for the explosive growth that is coming will be accompanied by severe
persecution. If you are a present day missionary leader or if you’re just starting out, I’m writing
this for you. Perhaps you’re already serving in a place of authority. Or you may be sensing God
has something more for you in the future. Either way, I’m convinced the Lord wants to see your
ministry succeed, multiply, and replenish the earth with the vision He is giving you.
I was called to global missions in August of 1948, when I was thirteen years old. It was a
Monday night at a youth meeting.
When I was praying at the altar I started seeing something in front of me. Words were
hanging in the air. I could see them if my eyes were open or closed. The words were, “Go ye into
all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature.”
They were the words from Mark 16:15, and I knew immediately what this meant. God
was calling me to preach and I was to go to every nation on earth. That has been my calling for
seventy years because “God's gifts and His call are irrevocable.”
(***Endnote: Rom. 11:29)
I’m not a CEO nor President of Youth With A Mission (YWAM), which I founded. I am
a missionary.
We all must know the difference between God’s gifts—the ones we were born with--and
His call for us. They are not synonymous. For instance, my father was a gifted builder and
mathematician. Someone wanted to pay for his education to become an engineer. But Dad said
no, God had called him to preach.
As for myself, I found out early that I had an entrepreneurial gift. I started selling
newspapers on a street corner while still in elementary school. By age 18, I had drawn paychecks
in five different jobs. Then while I was a full-time student at UCLA, working nights and
weekends at Ralph’s Grocery Store, I learned to make money work for me. I bought a brand
new, four-bedroom home in Orange County and furnished it. I had a good family renting it and
was receiving money every month. My property was across the highway from where they would
soon build Disneyland.
I also owned two cars and property by a lake that was in a fast developing recreational
area.
Then at age 19, the Lord asked me to sell everything except one car, and go to Bible
school. I began to obey the call God had given when I was thirteen.
Though we were doing intense Bible study through the week, my sister Phyllis, another
student, and I found time on the weekends to pioneer a new church in the countryside. We
preached there every Sunday, arriving early to light a fire in the cast iron stove before our little
congregation arrived.
After college, I found myself using my entrepreneurial gift again, but this time in my
life’s calling. To this day, because of my gifting I frequently see good opportunities for
investment. I don’t invest though, because of the Lord’s guidance to me personally. Now I look
back on decades of obedience where I’ve never used my entrepreneurial gift for personal gain.
Instead I have used it in my missionary calling.
I have traveled in ministry to every country on earth and have had the great privilege of
seeing millions of people participate in YWAM. My passion continues to be fulfilling the Lord’s
Great Commission.
Mission leaders often ask how YWAM continues to grow and attract so many thousands
of young people when our movement is nearly sixty years old. It is true. Except for a few years,
we have grown consistently since 1960. Plus, the Lord has told us to get ready for an explosion
of growth soon.
This guidance regarding explosive growth isn’t just for YWAM, either. I’m convinced
we’re about to experience the greatest spiritual awakening the world has ever seen. Habakkuk
2:14 says, “For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters
cover the sea.” The Lord has told us personally, and through other men and women of God, that
this kind of growth is coming, but with great persecution.
Out of Order
Too many missions are not growing. Many are dying off, not able to replace those who
are retiring or passing away. Formerly fruitful ministries have stagnated, even though they’re
needed now more than ever. It’s as if there’s a sign on their doors, “Out of Order.”
I want to share what we’ve learned. In coming chapters I will give guidelines to help your
mission flourish for this new generation. Remember also, even if you’re in a dynamic ministry
now, that could change in the future if you follow the wrong advice. The Lord wants your
fruitfulness to continue. He doesn’t want your ministry swept away by mission drift. He said the
laborers are few and the harvest is vast. Now, with nearly eight billion people on the planet, the
harvest is the greatest it has ever been.
It has never been more critical to rely on the Holy Spirit’s guidance. We must obey God’s
word to us regarding our specific calling. Pay close attention to what the Bible illustrates about
leaders of missions and churches. It’s critical that we govern and manage ministries “on earth as
it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:10). We must show diligence with correct foundations of leadership,
according to Ephesians 4, 1 Corinthians 12, Romans 12, and Galatians 2. We must also have
proper, written legal documents, stating the vision so that those who read it may run with it
(Habakkuk 2:2). Our structures, policies, and practices need to be patterned after the earliy
church, as shown in the first eight chapters of Acts and the epistles.
While guarding ourselves from mission drift, we must also shore up our defenses against
growing attacks on God’s work.
Growth doesn’t depend on artful public communication, nor effective branding, as
important as those are. It depends on genuine ministries that attract workers from every
generation, with the majority being young people to carry that vision into the future.
I’ll share what the Word of God says about succeeding in the sphere of religion, for that’s
the sphere in which YWAM is engaged. Mission groups and churches are stagnating and
shrinking because they are led by leaders from the wrong sphere or domain, and also by wrong
policies and practices.
For example, a short while ago one of the largest mission boards laid off 25% of their
missionaries because donations were down. That was a sound business decision, made by
business leaders on the board. But was it God’s best, to send dedicated, experienced missionaries
home? When we are in a difficult place, do we get guidance from our ledgers or from the Holy
Spirit? Is God limited by our resources?
Beware of changes that take us away from centuries of successful missionary service.
Jesus was the first missionary, sent from heaven to earth. Then His disciples and Paul laid down
their lives to carry the Gospel to far-flung countries and civilizations. Since then hundreds of
thousands of missionaries and missionary movements throughout the centuries have spread
God’s Word to every continent.
Now the cause of Christ is growing exponentially, especially in Asia, Africa, and Latin
America. Let nothing lead us away from the guidance of the Holy Spirit and His anointing on our
work. Instead, let’s plan for the future God wants us to have.
Chapter Two
A Deadly Drift
When I was seven years old, my family and I visited Niagara Falls. I have an indelible
picture in my mind of what I saw on the edge of the sheer drop of water. It was an old barge,
caught on a rock with the water raging around it. I’ll never forget the story we heard. Recently I
learned even more about it.
On a blistering August day in 1918, two men were working on a barge pulled by two
tugboats as they dredged sand from the American side of the Niagara River. One was an
experienced Swedish sailor named Gustave Loftberg, who was training a new worker, James
Harris. Around 3 pm on August 6th, Loftberg gave the signal to the tugboat captain to tow their
barge to shore. But their tugboat hit a hidden shoal, jolted hard, then listed starboard.
That collision caused the cable to the barge to snap like a raw piece of spaghetti.
The rushing current sped the barge away, carrying the two men on a vessel that had no
way to power itself. As they passed what was called the Point of No Return, they panicked,
knowing they were about to die. The barge picked up more and more speed as the river carried it
toward Horseshoe Falls, the largest of the Niagara trio.
Loftberg and Harris both began to pray. Word spread on both sides of the river and
people also began to cry out to God. There was no way to rescue them. They were minutes from
death.
Four thousand feet lay between them and the dropoff. The water was roaring like beasts
and a cloud of mist rose before them. Then it was three thousand feet. The power of 3,000 tons
of water plunging over every second was giving the current enormous strength.
Then, when they were 2,500 feet away from the edge, there was another jolt and shudder,
followed by a screeching sound as the steel and copper of their barge scraped against something
big under the water.
The two men couldn’t believe it. Evidently they had hit a rock below the surface! They
held their breath, afraid to move lest the pounding water tear their vessel apart. But God had
heard their prayers, and those of the Canadians and Americans praying on both sides of the falls.
The drama wasn’t over, though.
Earlier, as soon as the barge broke free, news had spread rapidly as rescue workers called
for help. Fire trucks and many rescuers rushed to the scene. The barge was lodged 850 feet from
shore. But no one could navigate through the savage waters. But if they used a gun to fire a rope
and breeches buoy onto the snagged barge, they could rescue the men, one at a time.
However, each time they tried, their cable fell into the water, only a third of the way to
the barge.
Then an army truck arrived with a larger gun and longer ropes. They fired, the ropes
draped over the barge, and Loftberg and Harris managed to secure them. It looked like they
would soon be out of danger.
However, the raging torrent wasn’t ready to give them up. The ropes and breeches buoy
sagged into the water, becoming hopelessly tangled. One hundred men on the Canadian side
strained to raise the cable out of the water. But it was still snarled.
Darkness fell, and the Canadians brought out flood lights to illuminate the desperate
scene. The barge could break apart any second now. To add to their worry, lightning began to
flash in the distance. A few inches of rain could raise the Niagara River higher, loosening the
barge from its perch and carrying the men away.
They decided they’d have to wait for daylight to rescue the men, hoping that the barge
wouldn’t be torn apart in the night.
Then a man named Red Hill, Sr., came on the scene. He had quite a reputation for daring
rescues. And he wasn’t willing to wait. At 3 am, Hill began crawling along the taut cable above
the boiling current. Several times the rope sagged, dropping him into the water, but he held on. It
took repeated tries, and many hours for Hill to get the ropes and breeches buoy untangled, but he
was able to do it.
With the help of 100 men, still stretching the cable tightly, the two men were rescued one
at a time, by 10:20 am on August 7, 1918.
(***Endnote: Details taken from

https://wanderwisdom.com/travel-destinations/The-Mysterious-Barge-In-Niagara-Falls Accessed
Aug 23, 2018)
When a Mission Begins to Drift
The Lord used that story to speak to me many years later, in 2002. I had been uneasy
about something, a concern that weighed on me. It was our movement, Youth With A Mission
(YWAM). We had grown every year since our founding in 1960. Then in the year 2000 our
growth slowed down. But it was something more that nagged at me. We had lost our apostolic
edge. Something was missing. What’s more, some of our YWAM ministries were moving away
from how the Lord had led us to operate, our foundational values.
I had shared my unease the year before with our YWAM Global Leadership Team
gathered in Kenya. I told them the story of the men on the barge in Niagara Falls. I said some
areas of our mission were drifting from our founding values, from the commitments we had
made with God. This drift could lead to our demise, I warned.
I knew that few organizations were able to continue with vision and passion beyond the
second generation. Although YWAM was 41 years old at that time and had many thousands of
full-time participants working all around the globe, momentum alone wouldn’t guarantee future
growth. We needed God’s understanding of where we had drifted and His realignment to bring a
new thrust of apostolic growth. I worried about this and kept praying for an answer. The weight
of the situation got heavier.
A year later, on July 13, 2002, I was meeting at our home with a team of young
YWAMers in a time of earnest prayer. After a long day of prayer, as we were sitting outside in
the cool of the evening the Lord spoke to me.
Loren, YWAM has hit the rock.
I knew exactly what the Lord meant. He was reminding me of the barge story on the
Niagara River. A light breeze from Kona Bay touched my forehead. I knew that if we obeyed the
Lord’s course corrections, we would receive our apostolic anointing again.
The heavy load lifted. I sat there, weeping with gratitude and relief.
Rhema Words from God
The following month, the Lord called me to eleven days of fasting and prayer for
YWAM. I asked Him, “What steps do you want us to take? How can we stop the drift?”
He began to give me key elements for growth that I will explain in coming chapters.
In order to understand YWAM’s drift, you need to know what we were drifting away
from. These founding characteristics of our movement began with rhema words from God.
We have only one English translation for the “word” of God. But in Greek there are
two—the logos, that is, the inspired written word, the Bible. One example is in 2 Timothy 2:15,
“Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be
ashamed and who correctly handles the word (logos) o f truth.”
(***Endnote: https://iblp.org/questions/what-rhema, accessed Aug 11, 2018)
his is what people mean when they say God
The second Greek translation is rhema. T
gave them a word, a guidance. It can be the “still small voice of God,” as referred to in the story
of Elijah in the cave. Or it could be a prophecy, or a quickened scripture in your daily reading of
your Bible. Or it could be any number of other ways God spoke (rhema) to people in the Bible
(logos). An example of a scripture with the Greek word rhema is Romans 10:17, “So faith comes
from hearing, and hearing by the word (rhema) of Christ” (NASB).
When we believe God has given us a rhema word, we must test it. First, it should never
contradict the logos, the Bible. Next, we should ask the Lord to give confirmation of the rhema.
I’ve found that God uses more than one rhema word to lead us into principles or major changes
for our ministries. As 2 Corinthians 13:1 says, “In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall
every word (rhema) be established” (KJV).
As you read through the Bible, you will see that God makes covenants with people.
These are vows, a legal contract. God promises what He will do if we obey His words to us. As
we obey, we sign on the dotted line. Afterward, we may forget our covenants with Him, but He
never forgets. That is how a person, a group, a nation, or a civilization begins to drift and
eventually dies spiritually. If we break our covenants with the Lord, He must remove His hand of
blessing and anointing. This isn’t about financial need either. A ministry may be well-funded but
bankrupt spiritually.
What were the covenant words, or rhema to YWAM?
The first covenant word for YWAM came to me in the Bahamas in 1956. It was a
Wednesday afternoon, around 3 o’clock. I was in Nassau because I had joined others to form a
Gospel quartet while in Bible school. During the summer we went on a ministry tour. In addition
to singing, we took turns preaching every night. That afternoon in Nassau I was alone in a
missionary’s guest room, asking the Lord what I should speak on that evening.
As I knelt there I saw something happening before my eyes. A map of the world appeared
but it was moving, like it was alive. I opened my eyes and I could still see it. I closed them again
and it was still there. Surf was pounding the edges of all the continents. As I watched, the waves
crashed, then receded, then surged again. But unlike in real life, the waves went farther and
farther onto land. Finally the waves covered every continent.
Then I saw the waves turn into young people. They were preaching, sharing the Gospel,
and handing out Bibles to people all over the world.
This vision became a covenant with God, first for myself and my wife Darlene, then for
those who joined us as we began Youth With A Mission in the 1960s.
Other rhema words came to me in our formative years.
YWAM’s Story, Hearing God’s Voice
First I should make clear these rhema words were specific guidance to us in YWAM.
They are not for every missionary organization. Also, it’s not elitist to say we hear God’s voice.
Jesus said His sheep hear Him. And in my experience, sheep are not an elite group. The Lord
wants to speak to every believer because that’s how a relationship grows. With communication.
So, what is YWAM? Many define us by saying we are an NGO (non-governmental
organization). That doesn’t say what we are, only what we are not. We are not part of any
government. That sphere passes laws, and maintains peace and order. Those are not our jobs as
missionaries.
Others say we are a non-profit organization. Again, that doesn’t say what we do, only
what we don’t do. We’re not a business. God didn’t call us to make money. Our success isn’t
determined by accumulating assets. If we were to lose every property and every piece of
equipment we have, we would still go on, in our teams, listening to the Lord for how to
accomplish His calling.
We are a mission. Together we have embraced the vision of waves of young people
covering the earth. Our goal is to join with others and complete the Great Commission.
Theologians call movements like ours a “sodality,” distinguishing our worldwide work from a
“modality,” that is, a local church. Think historically of religious orders of monks and nuns
scattered over the earth, in contrast to a local parish priest and congregation.
I like the term “glocal,” because YWAM is both global and local. As this book goes to
press we are in 191 countries, at more than 2,000 locations (some purchased, some rented). In
addition, thousands of our mobile teams go into other nations on a regular basis. Our teams have
ministered in every country on earth.
Staff We Could Never Hire
Many of our people have gifts that would make them outstanding entrepreneurs. A
consultant to some of the biggest, most well-known companies in the world was visiting in
Kona. She happened to be here at the same time our leaders were meeting from 40 of our larger
locations. This woman was quite impressed with these leaders, telling my son David that “[The
famous head of an IT giant] would love to have the creative, visionary strength of your people.”
Yet we’re not growing a multinational corporation. We are a different kind of
entrepreneurial group We listen to the Lord and obey Him to do innovative missions, creating
new things, and doing them in new ways. We call it creating with God.
Of course we need finances for the work God has called us to do. But that is not what we
are about. Strictly speaking, we’re not even a mission organization. We are a mission movement.
We have never had a headquarters, a centralized planning committee, nor centralized funding.
We don’t give “top-down” directives. Our greatest innovations in ministry have come from the
ground up, or I should say, from heaven down.
YWAM is a spiritual entity. It’s only a legal entity on the local level. Our people work in
teams, with a leader or leadership team. Together we listen to what the Lord is saying, then do
the possible, trusting Him for the impossible.
I’ve characterized YWAM as a bridge because the vast majority of our workers and
students only stay with us on a short-term basis. We have a conservative estimate that five
million have served or studied with YWAM since 1960. I like to say, “Once a YWAMer, always
a YWAMer,” because as people go on to other ministries or professions, they carry our DNA in
their hearts.
Three Main Ministries
It took us awhile to realize God had given YWAM three ministries. We had been doing
them from the beginning, but in time we defined these three: evangelism, training, and mercy
ministries.
* We were to evangelize, taking the Gospel to every person (Mark 16:15).

* We were to train people to do all Jesus taught (Matthew 28:19, 20), making disciples of all
nations.
* And we were to do works of mercy, according to Matthew 25:35, 36. Jesus said when we feed
the hungry, give water to the thirsty, provide shelter and clothing, take care of the sick, and visit
prisoners, we are doing it as if it were to Jesus Himself. YWAM does all of these things, and we
do it for Jesus' sake.
Radical Changes in Missions

From our beginning in 1960 I knew YWAM was to recruit large numbers of young
people into missions. Our largest numbers should always be the youth. They are our “boots on
the ground.”
Again, this is not for every mission. But every ministry does need to prepare young
leaders for the future. Having the majority to be young was God’s idea for us. He showed me
young people covering the continents in that vision of waves.
At first we had difficulty convincing church leaders to allow young people to go to other
countries. They were afraid inexperienced youth would disrupt, or even discredit what the “real
missionaries” were doing. Mission boards required years of preparation from their candidates.
Sending young people overseas was unheard of.
Another radical idea was to do short-term missions, something no one had seen before in
our time. Of course, Jesus sent out short-term missionaries--the 72 in Luke 10, and the 12 in
Matthew 10.
We were called to take young people out for short periods of time, a few weeks, a few
months, or a year to do mission work. That was something God planted in my mind when He
gave me the vision of the waves. I realized that the waves receding and returning meant going
out in missions, returning home, then going out again.
The idea of short-term missions was a seismic shift in world missions. Three years later I
met George Verwer, who started Operation Mobilisation about the same time I began YWAM.
Neither of us could have predicted how many millions of Christians would be doing short-term
missions today, from every kind of denomination and mission board.
From Everywhere to Everywhere
Another innovation the Lord showed us was to recruit missionaries from every nation,
every ethnicity, and every people group. They were to go out to every nation, every ethnicity,
and every people group.
Again, this idea broke with the practices of missions in the past, when they used to
differentiate between missionary-sending nations and missionary-receiving ones. One veteran
missionary rebuked me for preaching Mark 16:15 to a group of Bible school students in Nigeria,
challenging them to go out as missionaries. I said to the dear brother, “Their Bibles say the same
thing as ours.”
YWAM was also to release women as staff, leaders, preachers, and Bible teachers. This
wasn’t a new idea to me. I grew up with a mom who was ordained, as well as several of my
aunts.
We were to include lay people as well as traditional full-time Christian workers.
Secretaries, plumbers, doctors, scientists, and lawyers could be YWAMers as well as evangelists,
Bible teachers, and those who plant churches.
Unity in Essentials, Diversity in Non-essentials
Our movement was to be interdenominational, working with and recruiting workers from
all Bible-believing churches. Within our ranks we agree on the basics, such as the statement of
beliefs in the Lausanne Covenant, which we signed. However, we differ on lesser matters of
doctrine, cooperating in the bonds of love and common purpose—sharing Jesus with everyone.
(***Endnote: Put in this summary of Lausanne Covenant, from
https://www.gotquestions.org/Lausanne-Covenant.html, accessed Aug 14, 2018
The Lausanne Covenant, written primarily by John Stott, has included and prioritized many
essential teachings on evangelism. It is a “covenant” in that it binds the signatories in a promise
to God and to fellow believers. The Lausanne Covenant lays out fifteen specific categories of
belief: the purpose of God, the authority and power of the Bible, the uniqueness and universality
of Christ, the nature of evangelism, Christian social responsibility, the church and evangelism,
cooperation in evangelism, churches in evangelistic partnership, the urgency of the evangelistic
task, evangelism and culture, education and leadership, spiritual conflict, freedom and
persecution, the power of the Holy Spirit, and the return of Christ. The resulting doctrinal
covenants are biblical and well thought out. They are orthodox and help define the Christian
mission given by Christ to fulfill the church’s purpose. The Lausanne Covenant affirms that only
through faith in Jesus Christ may a person be saved. It affirms social responsibility to help the
oppressed yet states that social efforts cannot substitute for the preaching of the gospel to every
person.)
A Forest of Aspen Trees
You can see that YWAM is a movement with unity and diversity. Perhaps the best way to
understand how it works is to imagine a forest of aspens. When you plant an aspen tree it sends
its roots downhill to a river or lake. Other roots go up the mountain where rocky outcrop
provides rich minerals for growth. Scientists call the aspen roots “clones” because they all have
the same DNA.
The roots near the water share moisture with other roots and aspen trees that spring up.
The roots higher up the mountain send minerals down to the clones near the water. Trees
continue to spring up from the same root system to cover the hillside. When you look at a forest
of aspens you are actually looking at one tree.
This is YWAM. No matter where God has led a group to pioneer a new location, when
you visit it you will recognize the same “DNA.” No matter what language they’re speaking, or
whether they’re evangelizing, training, doing acts of mercy, or all three, you will recognize them
as YWAMers. We have the same vision, calling, basic beliefs, and values.
Mobile teachers, from inside YWAM and from the wider Body of Christ, reinforce our
unity. Our diversity shows in the many adaptations our teams have made in nations, cultures, and
ethnic groups. Our unity and integrity is maintained because every YWAMer has a home
operating location where they are accountable to others who are praying, worshipping, and
ministering together. When an individual or a family moves from one location to another, they
must come with a letter of commendation. Paul did that when he sent team members like Titus or
Phoebe to new places.
Leading by Influence, Not Control

From the earliest days of our mission, I knew we were all to trust the Lord for our
material needs. Some experienced people counseled against this. “At least give salaries to your
office staff, Loren. If you aren’t able to hire and fire people you will lose control.”
That was just it. I didn’t believe we were to be a top-down, controlling mission. We were
to lead by influence and trust, not control. In our fifty-plus years we have used as little
international governing of our mission as possible, instead trusting local leaders to hear from the
Lord and from their people.
A key part of leading by trust is for every YWAMer to depend on the Lord for material
needs personally and for his or her ministry. This goes for my wife and myself, every staff and
student, every leader, every operating location (op loc), and every transnational YWAM
endeavor. We do not have salaries. We listen to the Lord for guidance, then invite friends,
family, and churches to help, ultimately trusting God for finances. As the saying goes, where
God guides, He provides. And where He leads, He feeds.
All YWAM leaders and staff join after successfully completing a YWAM Discipleship
Training School (DTS). That’s where our students learn how to hear the voice of the Lord, how
to pray and intercede, how to trust the Lord for finances, and how to bear faithful witness of the
Lord Jesus Christ.
Trusting God for Money Builds Your Faith
Some are afraid to trust the Lord for finances. But when you see His faithfulness,
providing for you time after time, your faith grows. This is also one of the main reasons we have
grown and are still growing.
Others may think we would get better qualified people if we gave salaries. That hasn’t
been our experience. We get people working with us whom we could never afford to hire. Young
people form the largest number in our mission, but we also attract highly qualified people who
come as second career missionaries. One such person is Vernon Byrd, who served as a senior
biologist for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Alaska. He heads up our natural farm and
community technology training program, giving missionaries the ability to help the poorest of
the poor become self-sufficient.
Another person we could not afford to hire is Chong Ho Won. He left a company he
started that gave tech solutions to major corporations as well as the United States Department of
Justice, the Department of Education, and the Federal Aviation Administration. Since joining
YWAM, Chong Ho has led tech teams to Papua New Guinea to set up computer labs and train
their people in 21st century communication technology. He has also recruited many tech
professionals in South Korea to make themselves available to help Christians fulfill the Great
Commission.
We have had so many fine people, including two retired ambassadors, a former TV star,
an IT CEO of Hyundai, a leading architect from South Korea, as well as a YWAMer named
Marcia Suzuki, whom Wycliffe’s SIL workers say is one of the top five linguists in the world.
Another is Doug McClure, a world class cellist who is now training refugee children and street
kids in various countries how to play in an orchestra. Recently some of his pupils performed “A
Mighty Fortress Is Our God” for Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany.
One of the preeminent scientists in the world was a YWAMer for thirty years, the
Co-Founder of the University of the Nations, Dr. Howard Malmstadt.
My dear friend Howard was a faculty member of the Department of Chemistry at the
University of Illinois from 1951 to 1981. He is widely considered the father of modern electronic
and computerized instrumentation in chemistry. He wrote more than 150 scientific articles and
ten internationally used textbooks. His teaching materials were used in more than 500 schools all
over the world.
(***Endnote: https://chemistry.illinois.edu/spotlight/faculty/malmstadt-howard-1922-2003,
accessed Aug 20, 2018)
When Dr. Malmstadt joined us in 1981 to co-found YWAM’s University of the Nations,
he had invitations from three leading universities to become their president. I was in awe of his
humility, his intellect, and his close walk with God.
He had just finished training some of our students when he passed away on our Kona
campus in July of 2003. During his lifetime he received many scientific awards for his work, but
only the Lord knows how great his reward is in heaven.
How would we ever been able to hire a man like Dr. Howard Malmstadt? There are so
many inspiring examples, YWAM missionaries whose level of expertise would command large
salaries. It would cost YWAM hundreds of millions of dollars to hire them.
How to Have Workers with Big Faith
Most missionary organizations with more than 500 workers have their missionaries
raising their own support. When your staff members are listening to the Lord, then sharing what
they are doing with potential donors, their faith will grow as they see God working on their
behalf. On the other hand, if you have an organization with a handful listening to the Lord,
directing things from the top, down to the missionaries, trusting God for finances, hiring and
firing, those few at the top might end up with strong faith. But not the ones they hire to do the
work.
Our story is about hearing the voice of the Lord and doing what He tells us to do.
Sometimes the guidance is dramatic, such as a vision. Other times it is only an
impression—quiet, but strong. However, divine guidance was the source for any innovative ideas
we have had. The rhema word from the Lord pulls you into the blessing He wants to give you.
It’s one of the ways of God. Scripture says Israel saw the acts of God, but Moses knew His ways.
(***Endnote: Psalm 103:7)
Join us in the thrilling adventure of hearing and obeying the most creative being in the
universe. You’ll never regret it. As God tells you what to do and you obey, He will make
something wonderful happen. He will turn impossibilities into possibilities.
Chapter Three
Two Temples
Anyone leading God’s work is aware of sweeping cultural changes that are colliding with
Christians who want to live by biblical standards.
However, as the writer of Ecclesiastes said, there is nothing new under the sun.
(***Endnote: Eccl. 1:9) When Jesus was on earth, and during the Apostle Paul’s ministry, Rome
ruled the known world with a culture that was extremely hostile to God’s Word. All but one of
the apostles lost their lives because their preaching and teaching challenged the establishment of
their day. Only John’s life was spared; he died in exile on an island.
Yet in our time the enemy of our souls seems to be gaining more power than ever before.
Social beliefs and values that used to change slowly can now, with the help of modern
communication and social media, turn overnight. God isn’t giving more authority to the devil.
People who are sinning are increasing his authority, and modern technology is speeding up the
process.
In 1975, I was already alarmed at the way countries of the west were abandoning biblical
truth. I wondered how we could we turn the situation around. I knew from Matthew 28:19, 20
that Jesus commanded us to disciple all nations. How could we do that? Was there any hope?
Was there some strategy we were missing?
During August of that year our family was on vacation high up in the Rocky Mountains,
on the western slope of the Continental Divide. I decided to fast and pray about the trends I had
witnessed in America and Western Europe.
One morning I asked the Lord how His people could turn nations around. God answered
me clearly, saying there are “seven classrooms” for discipling nations. I grabbed pen and paper
and started writing quickly as the Lord brought them to mind.
● The Family
● Education
● Business/Commerce
● Government
● Public Communication
● Arts, Entertainment, and Sports
● Religion
As I finished writing, a knock came at our cabin door. It was the forest ranger saying I
had a phone call in his office, several miles away. Dr Bill Bright, Founder of Campus Crusade
(CRU), was on the phone. He invited us to meet with him and his wife Vonette in Denver the
next day.
A pilot friend flew us over the mountains in his small Cessna. I remembered to wear a
blazer since Bill Bright always dressed as a businessman. I had my list of the seven classrooms
tucked into my jacket.
As soon as we greeted Bill and Vonette I reached into my jacket for the list. But Bill was
quicker than I. He whipped out a piece of paper, saying, “Loren, look what the Lord just gave
me!”
He had written the same things I had during the same week, maybe on the same day.
A month later, Darlene heard Dr Francis Schaeffer of L’Abri share similar ideas on a
radio broadcast. Much later I learned a Dutch pastor named Abraham Kuyper received the same
understanding exactly 100 years before. He was a key figure, leading a strong spiritual renewal
in Holland. He also became Prime Minister.
(***endnote: For the inspiring story of Abraham Kuyper, see “The Book That Transforms
Nations, Chapter 7.)
Now we call these “classrooms” the seven spheres. Others call them seven mountains.
The message from the Lord was clearly for the entire Body of Christ. We are to concentrate on
these spheres to disciple nations. Every person should know what sphere he or she is called to,
and ask the Lord how to bring the lordship of Jesus into his or her endeavors every day.
YWAM Is in the Sphere of Religion

Sometimes people confuse the spheres, trying to apply the principles and goals of one
sphere to another.
A couple of years after America and her allies responded to the attack on September 11,
2001 by declaring the “War on Terror,” I was invited to speak in Canada on the difference
between Islam and Christianity. Many Muslims attended that evening, as well as the press. As I
spoke I focused on the love of God.
Afterward, reporters crowded around and TV cameras were rolling. Someone stuck out a
microphone and asked me, “What do you think about this war?”
I could sense tension in the air. I said, “God is always grieved by war.”
The reporter persisted. “Then you as a religious leader are saying we shouldn’t go to
war?”
“No, I didn’t say that. God gave government to uphold justice on the earth, and the
church to show mercy. Now… ask me a mercy question.”
Don’t Cut Off Your Future
Each of us have gifts and talents which could be used in several of the seven spheres
within our communities. But we must know our specific calling. What is your calling? Our gifts
don’t determine what we’re to do with our lives. God’s calling does.
Of course we must relate to the other six spheres, and be accountable to government, to
the business world, and to our families. But don’t confuse the God-appointed methods of one
sphere with another. That could lead to mission drift. And that would cut off the future God has
planned for you and your mission.
Remember the word of the Lord He gave to me and to Dr Bill Bright about the seven
spheres? YWAM is within the sphere of religion. It’s our primary arena, but we also work in
other spheres, such as education with our preschools, schools, and the University of the Nations.
Some may wonder about the division of the spheres. Aren’t Christians to be salt and light
in every sphere? Yes, we all must bring the influence of the Lord Jesus Christ into whatever
sphere we find ourselves. The Kingdom of God is in us. As long as we’re making Jesus Lord of
our lives, we are carrying Him into the sphere we’re operating in. However, we concentrate on
the sphere where God has called us.
Not all of us are called to be in full-time Christian work. Some are called to business,
others to education, and still others to public communication. Full-time Christian workers are
those whom God has called to the religious sphere. These include evangelists, pastors, Bible
teachers, missionaries, and more. YWAM has many thousands of full-time missionaries. We are
cautious with publishing our statistics because in some countries this would bring greater
persecution, even loss of life.
We can say, though, that our full-time missionaries have around 200 different
nationalities, and are doing evangelism, training, and mercy ministries on every continent except
Antarctica.
What is a missionary? The word comes from a Latin word, missionem, “the act of
sending;” or mittere, meaning “to send.” Even though Jesus’ followers have been going as
missionaries since the beginning of the Church, the first use of this word was in the late 16th
century, as Jesuits began sending out missionaries. It’s closely related to the New Testament
Greek word apostolos, meaning “one sent forth.” This is where we get the word apostle.
(*** Endnote: https://www.theopedia.com/missionary)
The Goddess of Money
Imagine you were with the Apostle Paul as he walked into Rome. As you climbed its
hills, you’d be overwhelmed by the forest of temples dedicated to hundreds of gods and
goddesses. However, two particular temples would catch your attention, because they ruled the
world. One, Jupiter’s Optimus Maximus Temple, towered on Capitoline Hill. Jupiter was the
chief of gods, thus that temple came to represent the power of the state.
Another was the Temple of Juno, sister and wife of Jupiter. One of her personas was Juno
Moneta, goddess of wealth. Her temple also stood on Capitoline Hill. In her shadow was the
place where they minted coins for the empire for 400 years. Juno Moneta came to be known as
the goddess who protected wealth. The name Moneta became the source for the English words
“mint,” the place where they make coins and paper money; and for the simple word, “money.”
(***Endnote: https://greekgodsandgoddesses.net/goddesses/juno/ Accessed Aug 16, 2018)
Remember in Jesus’ time, when religious rulers tried to trap Him into making a
politically dangerous statement? Jesus held up a borrowed denarius that was probably minted at
the Temple of Juno Moneta. He asked whose picture was stamped on it.
As they answered, “Caesar’s,” Jesus replied, “Render to Caesar the things that are
Caesar's; and to God the things that are God's.”
(***Endnote: Matthew 22:21 KJV)
His word of wisdom is even more important today, especially to those who hold positions
of responsibility in the religious sphere.
Just as Caesar’s image was stamped on coins, every person on earth is engraved with the
likeness of God. Government is the sphere primarily responsible for guarding the resources and
safety of its citizens. All people, in every sphere, have the duty of honoring and blessing those
who are made in the image of God. But no sphere holds that responsibility more than those in the
religious sphere.
This is why governments and civilizations based on the Bible hold a special place of
respect for houses of worship, often not requiring religious institutions to pay taxes. They
provide chaplains for the legislature, the armed forces, and for prisoners, as well as protecting
religious freedom and freedom of conscience in courts of law.
Render unto Caesar as Little as Possible
All seven spheres are under attack right now. Satan is unable to procreate, since angels
are genderless, as Jesus said in Matthew 22:30. The devil can’t multiply the number of angels
who followed him into rebellion. So he focuses his attention on humans, made in the image of
God. He deceives, perverts, and destroys. He uses bribes, or threats, or sometimes both to trick
people into believing him. And the image of God becomes distorted in people, one sin at a time.
His strategies never change, because he’s neither creative nor wise.
Satan’s attacks against Christians in the west are getting more blatant. It has led to a
collision between a culture led by “Caesar,” that is, ever encroaching government, and a church
led by God’s Word. Comedians mock beliefs previously held sacred, businesses punish people
who don’t conform. Educators teach children that God is not real. Aggressive atheist groups sue
those who disagree with their so-called progressive views. Families are breaking apart, and
millions of women raise children alone.
We in the “free” world aren’t put in prison for our beliefs. Yet. But we’ve come close. In
Sweden, a Pentecostal pastor named Åke Green was sentenced to one month in prison for
preaching against homosexuality. He was acquitted on appeal from a higher court.
(***Endnote:
https://www.christianheadlines.com/columnists/al-mohler/criminalizing-christianity-swedens-hate-speech
-law-1277601.html) I wonder, though, how many were willing to preach against sexual immorality
after that case?
Cameras Everywhere
Believers who collide with government are being imprisoned in many countries. This is
happening in China right now, as the government hardens its stance against believers. They are
using the most extensive facial recognition program in the world to permanently identify
everyone in the nation, even every visitor to China.
(***endnote:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/world/wp/2018/01/07/feature/in-china-facial-recognition
-is-sharp-end-of-a-drive-for-total-surveillance/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.ad97e791ccd4
Accessed Aug 19,2018) They’ve passed laws against unregistered meetings of more than a
handful of people. I had a conversation with a leader from China telling how this is affecting the
house church movement, which has millions of believers. Pastors say they face a camera every
time they step out of their door. These ubiquitous cameras are linked with their facial recognition
database, revealing their identity. If even a modest number of people are seen entering a person’s
home or leaving, the person hosting the group and his landlord will have to pay fines of many
thousands of dollars, and/or face imprisonment.
What do they do? Continue to meet and shepherd their flock until imprisonment, or
discontinue their house church?
Paul said in Romans 13 that government was ordained by God for our good. But when
government contradicts the law of the Lord, we remember the Apostle Peter’s words: “We must
obey God rather than human beings!”
(***Endnote: Acts 5:29)
We have to discern more and more which laws we follow as governments move away
from a biblical basis for laws. We will see in later chapters how to keep our freedom for as long
as possible. If governments continue to oppose biblical truth, we will have to judge between just
laws and wicked ones.
Imagine if we were living back in Nazi Germany. We would have driven slowly in a
school zone, obeying a just law. But when they told us to report Jews in hiding, we would have
refused to obey that evil law--even though we ended up in concentration camp like my friend
Corrie ten Boom and her family.
Not everything that’s legal is righteous.
Who do we obey, God or man? Which image do we follow, Caesar’s or God’s? As we
lead God’s people, do we structure our mission or church according to the government? Or do
we build on God’s purposes and His Word? Deuteronomy 8:3 says, “...man does not live on
bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.”
“Purple Penguins”
Do we change our words and statements to reflect the times, using words that conform to
ungodly principles? For example, more and more English-speaking universities and schools are
telling students to use pronouns like “ze, zir, hir,” or “xe, xem, and xyr” instead of he, her, and
so forth. These new pronouns are meant to include a wide spectrum of “genders,” and even
individuals who claim they have no gender at all. Educational institutions are teaching students
that gender is no longer binary, but fluid.
(***Endnote:
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/harvard-university-colleges-gender-free-pronouns-transgender-g
enderqueer-students/ Accessed Aug 18, 2018)
Some primary schools are no longer calling young students “boys” or “girls,” but are
choosing other words to get children to respond in groups. For example, administrators have told
teachers to say, “Let’s line up, purple penguins.”
(***Endnote:
http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2014/10/09/gender-inclusive-school-district-says-drop-boys-a
nd-girls-call-kids-purple.html) Certain parents aren’t assigning a gender at all, raising a “theyby”
instead of a boy or girl. They intend to let their child choose his or her gender.
(***Endnote:
https://www.nbcnews.com/feature/nbc-out/boy-or-girl-parents-raising-theybies-let-kids-decide-n
891836)
Are we going to join this drift away from God and the Bible? A pronoun might seem like
a harmless thing. But this is a distortion of the truth that God made humans in His image, male
and female.
(***Endnote: Gen 1:27)
We must stand firm, doing spiritual warfare by our prayers and our godly practices. We
have to take the words we say in The Lord’s Prayer seriously, “Thy will be done on earth as it is
in heaven.” It’s not merely a traditional prayer to be mumbled. We need to pray these words
fervently and frequently.
We must also make sure our corporate policies, legal documents, and structures are
consistent with a biblical, Christian worldview. We have to choose what laws we obey and
which ones we disobey, accepting the consequences for our decisions. We have to render unto
Caesar, but if this drift continues, we must choose to give Caesar as little as possible.
More Chapters coming ….
* Out of Order (using methods from a wrong sphere)
* Domains of Authority and Spheres of Influence (difference in the way they operate, and
how they work together)
* Guidance of YWAM and Covenants with God (including guidance for starting UofN)
* Total Control vs Trust (leading ministries by influence, allowing individuals to hear God’s
vision for them and then, creating with Him)
* Operating through relationships (circles), staying connected through regular gatherings,

celebrations, and major outreaches (cycles), and relating closely with those in your geographic
area or special international ministries within YWAM (circuits)
* Crises and what we learned
● * Biblical Basis for Ruling Elders, Deacons, Boards
* Role of Elders and Boards in YWAM
* Protection from Drift in the Future (forming bylaws and multiple corporations, avoiding
lawsuits from the greedy and anti-Christian encroachment by government)
* Longevity of a Mission (honoring spiritual fathers and mothers; avoiding mission drift that
cuts off our future; releasing young and not-so-young leaders)
* Training of Young Leaders (look for those who are reaching for responsibility, not for
authority, titles, or positions)
* Avoiding Pitfalls of Leaders (minimizing temptation, and knowing when you must discipline
someone in your ministry)
* Getting Ready for the Biggest Wave (multiplying our circles of leaders, getting ready for
ten-fold multiplication, keeping our covenants with God, and making practical preparation)

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Ebrct Leadership For The Great Wave Loren Cunningham YT2018 Book Sampler Revised 09sep18

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Loren's Leaders Book Sampler for YWAM TOGETHER 2018

“Leadership for The Great Wave”

For example, should we do a cost-benefit analysis before deciding whether to translate

(***Endnote: Details taken from

When a Mission Begins to Drift

Rhema Words from God

YWAM’s Story, Hearing God’s Voice

Staff We Could Never Hire

Three Main Ministries

* We were to evangelize, taking the Gospel to every person (Mark 16:15).

Radical Changes in Missions

From Everywhere to Everywhere

Unity in Essentials, Diversity in Non-essentials

A Forest of Aspen Trees

Leading by Influence, Not Control

Trusting God for Money Builds Your Faith

How to Have Workers with Big Faith

YWAM Is in the Sphere of Religion

Don’t Cut Off Your Future

The Goddess of Money

Render unto Caesar as Little as Possible

More Chapters coming ….

* Out of Order ​(using methods from a wrong sphere)

* Operating through relationships​ (circles), staying connected through regular gatherings,

* Crises and what we learned

● * Biblical Basis for Ruling Elders, Deacons, Boards

* Role of Elders and Boards in YWAM

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* Out of Order (using methods from a wrong sphere)

* Operating through relationships (circles), staying connected through regular gatherings,