North India YWAM came together to celebrate YWAM's 50th anniversary with its founders, Loren and Darlene Cunningham.  523 staff and 117 staff children of all ages came together in New Delhi India from all parts of the North India Region to celebrate this special event.

(Loren and Darlene’s time of praying over the children—the future--was a wonderful highlight!) Both national and foreign staff were present from the states of Uttar Pradesh, Uttar Khand, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, New Delhi, as well as other places.  In addition, there were many non YWAM Christian leaders who participated.

When our founders arrived on the 13th, YWAM North India gave them a special treat with a presentation of Indian Cultural Dances. This event truly expressed the diversity and color found within the staff of North India. Among the dances presented were a Naga tribal dance, a Nepali dance, a song and dance from Himachal Pradesh and to conclude a Panjabi 'Bhangarda' - similar to Bollywood movies!  Each group was dressed in their traditional clothing and danced to songs sung in their mother tongue. After these dances were presented Loren reminded us of the diversity found in the Kingdom of God and the great sea of people who will be around the throne of God from every tribe, tongue and nation (Rev.7:9). This event proved to remind us that YWAM is truly an international organization.

Loren continued to tell us about how God is working and moving through YWAMers around the world. He told the story of how one faithful worker in Nigeria was leading an outreach team that had a tremendous impact for his nation:  they were listening to the call of God and courageously responded by loving and sharing the gospel to a group of powerful destructive militants. They led many to the Lord, had ministries of deliverance and discipleship, and started a movement towards amnesty and peace. They learned that the power of God does not “rehabilitate” us:  it transforms us at the core of our being. Loren also shared some historical examples of moves of God in both Korea and Norway, revivals that changed those nations entirely. He said that history shows that when about 25% of the population of a country become believers, then it reaches a critical mass that can transform a nation. He encouraged us to bring this transforming power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the unreached peoples of the earth and to see that "the flame goes forward" into all nations.

Much emphasis was put on the call for YWAMers in this time to expand the ministry. We took a look back at the founding of YWAM and saw where we come from and the direction in which we are headed. Loren spoke about 4k and the need for YWAMers (together with others in God's Kingdom) to be actively involved ministering in each of the four thousand Omega Zones of the earth. On the final day of the conference each North India YWAM team met together to pray and seek God as to which neighboring Omega Zones He was leading us into. We then made a commitment to pray and work toward the establishment of effective YWAM led ministries in those areas.

We also got our chance to share with our founders what the Lord has been doing in YWAM North India. Some of our YWAM North India leaders were interviewed, one of which was a student in the first Discipleship Training School held in Calcutta, India in 1983. The other leaders shared with us about the fruitful Church Planting movements they were involved with in different parts of North India. Several leaders that work among women said that they felt that God is saying that women will be the catalyst that would bring salvation to the people of North India.

On the final day that our founders were with us, Darlene led us into a time of prayer, dedication, and making a thoughtful covenant. We together as a body signed the YWAM Jubilee Covenant, a statement committing to pray and work towards fulfilling the call of the great commission in our lifetime. We dedicated ourselves again to putting God first in our lives, to loving others as He loved us, to serve others and follow where God leads us. We vowed to make these our priorities until “the earth is filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea” (Habbakuk 2:14). We were encouraged to work towards that goal here in North India as we said “good-bye” to our founders who then traveled to Nepal on their world tour, urging the family of YWAM on towards this same task.