Report by Jess Eriksen

Photographs by Sports DTS

Almost a quarter of the nations of the earth were represented by over 730 people in Perth, worshipping God, reflecting on his faithfulness to YWAM over the last 50 years, and looking ahead to the future. And talk about transformation! YWAM Perth’s dining tables replaced by bleachers, parking lot and volleyball court

turned into dining rooms, one classroom became a café, others became overflow space, all bursting at the seams. Current YWAM Perth staff and students were joined by outreach teams, former YWAMers, friends, visitors, supporters and family members to celebrate all that God has done.

The base was decorated with creative flair by the Art Evangelists School, with a centerpiece “chandelier” made of a dried tree branch strung with miniature lanterns. Relationship and family were key elements of the celebration, with plenty of “hang out” spaces throughout the base: bean bags on the lawn, couches and games in the classroom-café and picnic tables in the shade. Commemorative water bottles designed for the occasion helped stave off the Perth summer heat. So did numerous shade-cloths and plenty of extra fans hired for the event. Kaio Café even created a special “Aussie” thick-shake in honour of the celebrations: ice cream, Milo, Anzac biscuits and coconut. Yum!

In true Aussie form, the opening ceremony for the celebrations included a didgeridoo performance as well as a blessing by Cedric Jacobs, a local Aboriginal elder and friend of YWAM Perth.

It was wonderful having our founders, Loren and Darlene Cunningham, here in Perth to celebrate YWAM’s 50 year anniversary. The theme was “the flame goes forward.” Loren emphasized that the flame going forward is not about passing the torch, but igniting new flames from existing ones. God has done great things in the past 50 years, but we can’t rest on those laurels. New generations of YWAMers must do more than the last for us to survive as the mission God has called us to be. We can’t continue only doing the same, God wants to do more!

The Cunninghams reminded us of our “sovereign foundations” as a mission: the words of the Lord that have shaped us, our Foundational Values, landmark times, key speakers and leaders who have given us input, all those who have gone before and made a way for us. Peter and Shirley, founders of YWAM Perth, shared about YWAM Perth in the context of YWAM international, its founding, history and key mandates. “Early days” photos brought back lots of memories and laughter over bad haircuts, funny situations, historic water fights and out-dated fashion.

Loren shared a “Founders’ Timeline” of YWAM over the last 50 years, charting key times, significant developments and our growth from small beginnings to over 18,000 current staff in 1,300 permanent locations. Both Loren and Darlene emphasized again and again the faithfulness of God in our history as a mission. He is the one who has made all of this possible. To illustrate, Darlene quoted a 100 year old missionary, “I do the little part, he [God] does the big part.”

Loren pointed out that in Mark 16:15 and Matthew 28:19, Jesus instructs us to “preach” and to “make disciples.” Preaching is short-term and immediate in nature. Making disciples is long-term and generational. We must be committed to doing both. “Saints take a moment [to make], disciples take a lifetime.”

Both Darlene and Loren emphasized several times the need for perseverance, having an “I won’t quit” attitude in the purposes of God. Darlene reminded us that “perseverance and faith go hand in hand.” In the midst of everything, we must be loyal to the character of God, build a case FOR him, not against him.

Loren encouraged us with the progress of world missions, the current unity in missions and prayer movements (as evidenced in “The Call 2 All” Gatherings, etc.) and the increasing achievability of the Great Commission. Yet he challenged us with the remaining task before us to disciple nations, to see each household have a Bible in their own language and each person enjoying the rights affirmed in the Christian Magna Carta.

As a culmination to our 50 year celebrations, we had the opportunity to sign the “Jubilee Covenant,” a commitment to the Great Commission and to doing our part to make sure that “the flame goes forward.” Staying true to God, to what he has spoken and to what he continues to speak, will carry us into our next 50 years.

The timing of the celebrations worked out in a really special way. Last year as the leadership team was seeking God about the celebrations, God spoke about fireworks. They didn’t know at the time that the last day of Perth’s 50th celebrations would fall on Australia Day, a holiday marked by a massive city fireworks display! It was a wonderful wrap-up to the 50th celebrations and a fitting Aussie lead-in to YWAM Perth’s ensuing celebration of its own 25th anniversary.