A Brief History: YWAM’s Refugee Response

YWAM, Leading Up to ailand

e movement of young Christians known as YWAM (Youth with a Mission) was initially organized by Darlene and Loren Cunningham to take young Christians on short-term evangelistic trips. From their beginning in 1960, they engaged in activist-oriented Christian service that echoed the Jesus People movement. ey were committed to Christ, passionate for spiritual encounters, believed they could hear God’s voice personally, and were determined to make a di erence in the world. Diane Groves’ personal conversion experience demonstrates how some of the rst Christians to join YWAM had come to faith through evangelistic outreach, inspired by the Jesus people movement (Hutchinson 2012, 207).7 e mission grew slowly and relationally for its rst decade, with a handful of Christians committed to living out their faith in Jesus as a community of disciples who relied on God to meet their needs.

e YWAM missionaries were committed to Christian practices of prayer, Bible study, and evangelism and sought to live directed by the visions and words they believed God was giving (Cunningham 1984). Members started a training program for evangelism in 1969. ey acquired their rst training center in Lausanne, Switzerland in 1970 and organized their rst large scale evangelistic outreach for the Munich Olympics in 1972. YWAM started the King Kids’ ministry in 1976 and launched the Mercy Ship ministry in 1979. at same year, YWAM was about to pioneer a new work of mercy in ailand. At that time, the Mission had 1,800 full-time international faith missionaries and training centers in multiple locations in the United States and Europe, with individuals and teams in other countries ("YWAM History").

Why ailand?

ere were multiple factors that in uenced YWAM to begin a work in ailand, but the central determinant came through a trip that Loren Cunningham, Joy Dawson, and Don Stephens made to Southeast Asia in the fall of 1979 (Portale 2010, 186). A er this trip, Loren, Joy, and Don shared their experiences with YWAM friends in the South Paci c, Europe, and the United States (186). e challenge and invitation to respond made by these three leaders resulted in the rst short-term teams being sent from YWAM locations in Kona and Lausanne (187). What Joe Portale and Steve and Marie Goode thought was their short-term response turned into long term commitment and the beginning of what would be known as YWAM Relief Services (Goode, Goode & Wright 2014, 73).

In Solvang, California in the fall of 1979, Diane (Carabello) Groves had completed her Evangelism School and was raising funds to serve with YWAM. e Time Magazine images and stories of the unimaginable devastation of the Cambodian people were etched in her memory. She and her fellow YWAM workers felt compelled to pray for the people of Cambodia and the refugees individually and in group prayer times (Groves 2018). A guest speaker arrived to teach at YWAM Solvang on the exact day Diane was praying and asking God if she should go to Cambodia. Gary Stevens, the brother of Don Stephens, spoke about the Hong Kong and ai refugee camps he had visited that fall. He announced that YWAM was o cially starting organized work among refugees to ailand and encouraged all to respond. Diane was thrilled. To her, Gary Stephen’s visit and timing seemed like an answer to prayer. Diane submitted her application to goin ailand right away. In a few short months later in March 1980, Diane boarded a ight to Bangkok, ailand to join the new YWAM Relief Services team (Groves, 1980).

From Bangkok to the Border

Despite the preparations that the rst YWAM missionaries had made for the arriving teams, the rst groups of YWAM workers arrived to uncertainty. ey were unsure of the new culture, what work they would do, and if they would work in the border camps or transit camps of Bangkok. Surrounded by ambiguity, the YWAM teams continued to pray, asking God for guidance. ey considered that any opportunity to serve or any relational connection that developed with camp o cials was an answer to their prayers (Portale 2010, 195). In a letter to the mission community back in Solvang, Diane Groves wrote, “I must press on in prayer, and when I have I’ve seen the Lord quickly answer and I know there is a release from all those of you who prayed for me” (1981). e results of ministry opportunities in the camps were, to Diane, the results of the prayers of YWAM workers around the world. She believed they were connected in a spirit of prayer. Diane said that she saw God answer their prayers quickly when they were working in the camps, attributing this to the prayer, fasting, and intercession of the YWAM teams around the world who were partnering in prayer (2018). Diane recounted how she and her fellow YWAM missionaries would pray for the needs of the refugees, be it food, clothing, or physical healing. She recounted that every time they would pray for the needs of the refugees, they would see a direct answer. To Diane, and the other YWAM missionaries, prayer was an invisible connection of support between the YWAM workers around the world and God, who was answering their prayers in tangible ways (2018).8

YWAM workers, like Diane, believed their prayers to have been answered in any opportunity that came for them to serve the refugees. Men and women alike did the menial tasks of life in the camps (Littleton 2018). YWAM work included cleaning the toilets and sewers, feeding malnourished babies, preparing repatriation kits, sorting clothing donations, teaching English and French, preparing refugees for resettlement, handing out daily food rations and spending time with the refugees. O en, the YWAM workers did work that they did not care for, as in Diane Groves’ case. She described her schedule as consisting of working ve or six days a week. Her schedule included teaching English each morning and helping with food and clothing distribution in the a ernoons. Her “favourite part of the day” was sitting, visiting, and talking, with the refugees which came a er her other duties were complete. She enjoyed listening to the refugees share their stories, talking about their fears of what their new life would be like in third countries, and being with them to hear how they were homesick and deeply depressed missing lost family members (1981). To Diane, and perhaps many of the women on the YWAM teams, the roles they worked in day in and day out may not have been the reasons they felt called to serve the refugees in the rst place. ey responded out of compassion to love the people who were in crisis, and even with demanding schedules they found ways to connect, build friendships, meet needs, and accompany them in their new life in the refugee camps.

Women of YWAM at Work

Spiritual Women: Rooted in Prayer

Women have been a part of YWAM since its early days as a faith mission. Over the years they have served in mission roles as general missionaries, leaders, Bible teachers and trainers, evangelists, and more. In the ai refugee camps, the rst and most consistent ministry of YWAM women was that of prayer. rough Diane Groves’ writing and the accounts of Joe Portale and Steve and Marie Goode, prayer was the foundation for the outward work in the camps (Portale, 202; Groves 1981; 2018). e unseen work of YWAM women’s prayer and of their spiritual lives is central to the practical work that o en involved prayer with people and sometimes resulted in refugees physically being healed through prayer. Diane Groves wrote of maintaining her connection with God through the days of work in the camps: “I know He knows of my dreams, disappointments, and hopes for these people – as I ask for His wisdom and council and when I walk in it I see iron bars (bonds) broken that are too strong for me to even bend”(1981). Diane, in the same section of her album, refers to learning how to be a Mary and not a Martha so that she can “choose the better part” and remain connected to Jesus. To Diane, the presence and love of Jesus was her source of strength in serving the refugees (1981). Like Diane, the YWAM women in the ai camps relied on prayer and their spiritual lives with God to give meaning to their practical work as health care professionals, teachers, healing evangelists, friends, and much more.

Pioneering Women: Healing rough Healthcare

e rst YWAM team to work in Khao-I-Dang in December 1979 fed malnourished babies who were expected to die (YWAM Relief Services, 1980). e women used the caring professions of nursing and healthcare to serve the refugees. ere was Anne, a Swiss nurse who served in an outpatient clinic that saw three to four hundred patients each day, six days a week. Anne’s medical service was also explicitly evangelistic and reportedly resulted in Cambodians becoming Christians and Bible studies being formed (1980). ere was Grete, a Norwegian nurse who was one of six medical sta to serve sixteen hundred Vietnamese refugees in Khao-I-Dang. Grete discovered that the majority of the Vietnamese women in this section of the camp had been raped during their travel across Cambodia. Her medical ministry also included counselling and healing prayer for these women who were paralyzed by the trauma (1980). Inger Kristensen, a Danish nursing assistant, shared her faith in Christ with a Khmer couple expecting a baby.

e husband’s life was radically changed by embracing Christ’s forgiveness for him. He was able to forgive the Khmer Rouge who had killed the man’s entire family and began seeking justice free from revenge for the Khmer

Allison Kach | 293 people (Goode, Goode & Wright, 86).9 e YWAM women who worked in healthcare encountered intense need and traumatic events on a daily basis. ese brief accounts demonstrate their presence, care, and commitment to share the love of Christ in action and deed (Groves 2018).10 ere were other YWAM women who were not trained healthcare professionals but who served in the caring professions. Marie Goode and Tove Penderson o ered their presence to overworked nurses of the Catholic Relief Services. ey served both the Catholic nurses and the refugee families by feeding malnourished babies and comforting ill and emotionally depressed mothers (Goode, et al 86). ey simply sat with the mothers and cried with them in their pain. Dorothea Ho mann learned how to serve the three hundred refugees who were a ected by leprosy, although she had no formal medical training. rough her physical and spiritual touch, lepers believed in Jesus and started a church in the leprosy hospital (99). ese YWAM women used their availability and accompaniment to serve vulnerable women, children and men of the ai refugee camps (Groves 2018).11

Pioneering Women: Teachers, Preachers and Evangelists

e foundational female missionary roles of teacher and children’s worker were still tting for the YWAM faith missionaries in 1980. Gunnhild was a trained preschool teacher who ran a daily children’s program for one of the Cambodian churches in the camp. She was described in the YWAM Relief Services First Report as loving the two to three hundred children, singing songs with them, o ering a Bible story and sharing testimonies of God’s answer to prayer (YWAM Relief Services 1980; Groves 1981). Corrie, a Dutch YWAM woman, worked in Rangsit Transit camp. It was written that she had a gi of ministry to children, which resulted in children and their families believing in Jesus (YWAM Relief Services 1980). Tove Pederson, of whom it was said, “Among the women, Tove was a champion,” was a Norwegian woman in charge of all the pre-school programs (Littleton 2018; Goode, et al, 109).

Diane Groves was one of the many missionaries that lled the need for English teachers. rough her role as a teacher, Diane was able to develop culturally permissible sister-brother like relationships with the Cambodian, Vietnamese, and Laotian men. e title of “Teacher” allowed her to visit their families, where Diane was able to meet the wives and sisters of her students who did not come to her English classes (Groves 1981). Teaching was a challenge for Diane, but it provided her an opportunity to develop relationships with the refugees. Diane, and perhaps the other women missionaries, related in a personal interview how she had been initially displeased to be relegated to the role of teaching. She described that her leaders asked her to take some time to pray about accepting the role, a er which she had peace to serve in any way she could (Groves 2018).12 Right when Diane had arrived in ailand, she was co-opted by a married YWAM woman with children who had Diane babysit her children for three weeks so she could unpack (Groves 2018).13 In both of these cases, Diane Groves, as a single female missionary, was asked to serve in ways that were di erent from her preference or purpose. She said that both times she went to be alone to ask Jesus what she should do. In both cases she said that God gave her peace to serve with a joyful heart because it was for the refugees (2018).

In Diane’s teaching and food and clothing distribution ministry, she shared the message of Jesus with those interested and prayed with people o en (1981). Two other women, Heather and Barb, who served in Suan Phlu camp, led songs and are reported to have prayed for a woman who had tubarculosis. is young woman could not travel to Australia to start a new life because of her sickness. A er the YWAM women prayed for Nhuong, she had another chest X-ray and reported to the women that her screen was now clear. She no longer had tubarculosis (YWAM Relief Services 1980). e YWAM women that are documented in the extant records shared their faith in practical ways that resulted in refugees becoming Christians. Whether they all felt ful lled in their roles or like Diane Groves were challenged to accept serving in ways that were di erent than the reasons they went is yet unknown. Diane Littleton may o er a key insight into the sense the women had of their roles and ministry, even if coupled with dissatisfaction:

We were willing and passionate to serve. However, we were also very ordinary, with lots of broken places. Our job was in many ways menial and yet because God was moving we found it a wonder and honor to be a part of it all (2018).

Women of Community, Friendship and Faith

e international women who were a central force in YWAM’s work in the ai refugee camps shared a strong sense of community. Community living was a practice that the new team in ailand continued as a YWAM value, sharing their homes together ("YWAM History"). Diane Groves wrote that there were four houses rented by YWAM and each room was shared by two or three people (1981). Living in close quarters with other YWAM women meant that life was shared and together. is was true especially for the single female missionaries, such as Diane, who lived together with the other single women. Single men shared a house with other single men and married couples and families shared their homes with single missionaries (Goode et al. 2014, 83). In Steve and Marie Goode’s house, all the YWAM workers gathered every morning for prayer and worship before going to their ministry roles in the camps. In the evenings, everyone was home to make dinner together and eat a meal while sharing about their days (2014, 84).

Another aspect of community life, was a commitment to make sense of the human pain and su ering they were encountering together. Steve Goode notes that together their team studied the Bible, the life of Mother eresa, and writings by Francis and Edith Schaefer that speci cally talked about su ering and injustice. e YWAM women had a place among their team to learn how to live before God and others with the trauma and su ering they experienced in the lives of the refugees without it crushing them (2014, 85). Both Diane Groves and Steve and Marie Goode make mention of the immense emotional strain that they submitted themselves to by making their home near the refugee camps (Groves 2018; Goode et al 2014, 85).14 And yet in the midst of the challenges and trauma of life near and in the refugee camps, the YWAM women found and created community (Goode et al 2014, 84).15 Diane knew there were people always available for her if she needed to pray or go for an ice cream (1981). ere was also regular fun and laughter shared by Diane and the single women she lived with. She described how they made a pretend television screen out of cardboard and then would assign acting roles to each person present and then “turn on the television” and entertain each other. eir evenings were lled with laughter (2018). Participating and building community, even in the mist of the di cult ministry demands, may have helped some YWAM women combat isolation and hopelessness and restore a sense of joy and hope for them and for the precious people they served.

Conclusion

Diane (Carabello) Groves and the other YWAM women who worked in the ai refugee camps in 1980 provide an example of an internationalizing faith mission movement that continues to in uence global Christianity and mission today. e YWAM women depicted here were competent professionals, e ective evangelists, willing workers, accompanying friends and faith- lled prayers. ey were not perfect, and in fact, they own their brokenness (Littleton 2018). rough their commitment to prayer and Christian community, these women found meaning in their faith and missionary service, o en with the tangible results of physical healings, conversions to Christ and cross-cultural friendships. ese women chose to make their home among the unrest of Southeast Asia and sacri ced much in the process, and, as Diane Groves as an example, they still bear the emotional scars of their experience today (2018).

e YWAM women of the ai border camps o er examples of female mission models and gender dynamics in mission that are yet to be explored. What do present day mission movements, indigenous churches in Cambodia and Christian humanitarian aid responses owe to these women? What did these women gain from the rst women faith missionaries of the late nineteenth century who pioneered long before them? is all beckons further study and historical, missiological, and gender studies re ection. May Diane Groves and the YWAM women of the ai border camps be voices that move the conversation forward, proving that, indeed, some of YWAM’s “best men were women” serving the Cambodian refugees while also essential contributors to the establishment of YWAM Relief Services and the development of the Mission’s vision and values (Littleton 2018).16 ere is much to be learned from these women of YWAM and pioneers in cross-cultural faith mission.

Endnotes

1 Allison is a doctoral student at Boston University School of eology studying world Christianity and mission history. Her research interests include the history of mission and migration, the history of contemporary faith mission and the history of Pentecostal-charismatic mission movements. Allison has served as a full-time missionary for twelve years, the past nine being with YWAM, has lived in Ukraine and Guatemala, and hasserved short-term in around thirty other countries.

2 e UNHCR noted that there were thirty-seven NGOs working in Khao-I-Dang by March 1980, representing the “global proliferation of NGO activity” around the crisis. YWAM was likely not counted as one of these organizations because they came and mostly sta ed other NGO labor needs. (Refugees, “ e State of e World’s Refugees 2000.”93.)

3 Diane became a Christian at Floyd McClung’s Dilaram house that was purposed to reach out to hippyies traveling on the hippie trail. Floyd had been reaching out to hippies in Kabul and later moved to Holland. He and Sally later became the leaders of YWAM Amsterdam.

4 e main training that YWAM o ered its members. is later developed into a Discipleship Training School because the people that were coming to faith had not grown up with any Biblical knowledge.

5 Diane Littleton wrote this to me in response to my question if she felt that women functioned di erently then men in the refugee work. She said that Loren always used to say that “my best men are women.” Personal email correspondence, 2018. I now know that this is a direct quotation that Loren borrowed from William Taylor, the great faith mission founder. I do not know if Loren every gave credit to William Taylor, but for the purposes of this paper it is important to note its origins and how the concept was central to YWAM’s founding and the work of missionaries in the ai camps.

6 Taken directly from the following quote by Diane Littleton’s email interview, 2018. “We were willing and passionate to serve. However, we were also very ordinary, with lots of broken places. Our job was in many ways menial and yet because God was moving we found it a wonder and honor to be a part of it all.”

7 Diane Groves’ personal conversion story reveals she was part of the drug-using hippie movement that was travelling Europe. She came to faith in Dilaram House, the YWAM outreach of Floyd and Sally McClung. Floyd and Sally McClung and Keith and Melodie Green were aligned with the Jesus People movement, while Loren Cunningham had been a part of the Assemblies of God denomination. He wrote in his book, Is at Really You, God? that he took his vision for interdenominational youth mission teams to the Assemblies of God, asking for their support, but they rejected it because it was not exclusively within their denomination. From the personal history and faith commitments that the Cunninghams used in founding the Mission, one could say that YWAM has Pentecostal roots. At the same time, their friends and associates were connected to the Jesus People. ere was certainly a cross-pollination that took place in YWAM’s early days.

8 Diane talked about how surreal it was. She said when she prayed she felt like she knew God heard her and then answered quickly. Her description bore resemblance to the apostolic fervor of the Book of Acts in the sense of immediacy.

9 e man’s name was Man “Kal” Mabaskal. He and his wife, later relocated to the US, where he has worked to see the Khmer Rouge be brought to justice through legal advocacy and Cambodian organizations.

10 Diane told me in a personal interview that she thought the medical sta had the most challenging work. She related how she had heard that many of them were deeply emotionally damaged and traumatized a er their service in the camps. She said that some le the Christian faith. Diane Groves, Personal Interview, 2018.

11 Diane Groves recalled that those who worked in the clinics, hospitals, and leprosy hospitals had the most challenging time of them all. Diane alluded that many of them were deeply damaged emotionally a er their service and some of them were not Christians a er their service.

12 is is a dynamic of YWAM leadership and ministry that relies heavily on participants “hearing God’s voice” to con rm or accept any ministry positions. In a sense, each worker has the opportunity to say no to a post, but the focus is placed on them knowing what God desires for them and following in obedience. e fact that Diane Groves was displeased to be given the role of English teacher combined with the spiritual pressure to “hear God” makes for complex decision-making dynamics. Groves, Personal Interview with Diane Groves, November 9, 2018.

13 Diane told me this story, and then I gured out the “married YWAM woman” who had later become her friend and is still her friend is Diane Littleton, the other woman I had communication with about her experience. It is interesting that Diane and Diane became friends and have remained friends for forty years. Diane Groves also noted that while she was upset about being asked to babysit for three weeks, a er she prayed about it, she said she had peace to serve. She also mentioned that because of her experience she tries to protect single women missionaries from married women with children using them as babysitters.

14 Diane’s shared that she still plans evacuations when she is a new place and feels like she “lives in a war zone.” Personal Interview with Diane Groves, November 9, 2018. Steve Goode refers to “always being ready to evacuate” and parking the car facing out with a full tank of gas. Goode, Goode, and Wright, 85.

15 Steve recalls the sound of shelling, hearing land mines going o and knowing someone had died. He talks about the trauma of “having babies die in their arms and seeing people with their limbs blown o – was extremely di cult.” Goode, Goode, and Wright, 84.

16 To be credited to William Taylor, but as aforementioned Diane Littleton quoted this as a phrase Loren Cunningham has said about YWAM women.