Loren Cunningham of YWAM is in heaven
Missionary and Youth With A Mission (YWAM) founder, Loren Cunningham went on to be with the Lord today after a battle with cancer. He was 88 years old. YWAM announced the news via their Instagram account today.
“With great sadness, we announce that Loren Cunningham, Founder of Youth With A Mission, died at 88 today at 4.20 AM in his sleep at home in Kona, Hawaii.”
Loren is survived by his wife, Darlene, daughter Karen, son David and Judy Cunningham, and three grandchildren, Madi, Kenna, and Liam.
Pioneer of global missions
A pioneer of global missions and responsible for leading the largest Christian missions organization in the world, Loren 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 (Mark 16:15).
Loren was a disruptor to the status quo of missions in the 1960s. A native of Southern California, Loren saw a vision of waves of young people doing missions. His vision developed and he launched short-term mission model that created new opportunities for young people to “go into all the world.” “With mission base locations in almost 200 nations, millions of young people have answered the call of the Great Commission to go. The ministry grew and headquarters were moved to Kona, HI. Thousands responded and the organization has humbly and quietly grown to be the leading missions agency in the world today.
Reaching the whole world
“Well, however large it is, it’s not large enough because Jesus’ last commandment to reach the whole world with the Gospel has not been completed.” Loren was a bridge-builder and unifier to the church, recognizing, partnering, and working with churches and ministries across the globe in order to reach more people with the gospel of Jesus.
Global initiatives launched under Loren’s leadership include YWAM Olympic Outreaches, the International Torch Run, Cardinal Points Prayer Days, the University of the Nations, YWAM Ships (28 vessels currently serve the most isolated islands and coastlands), Pray OMT, and myriads of other ministries birthed by leaders he inspired.
Books by Loren
The Book that Transforms Nations
