Youth In Mission began over 50 years ago during a dinner conversation in a restaurant as several entrepreneurial youth leaders in the USA discussed strategies to deploy young people in response to the Great Commission. The year 1961 brought considerable unrest over the growing conflict in Vietnam. There were challenges for radical action from the American Civil Rights activist, Martin Luther King, and there was a general feeling of uneasiness toward the established church. Each of these factors contributed toward the birth of a dream to enable college and university students to be deployed in Christian service.
During this time, another cultural phenomenon emerged on the American political landscape. U.S. President John F. Kennedy proposed the Peace Corps which would send short term human resources to third world countries to assist in their development. Kennedy’s proposal and the emerging cultural trends provided a similar opportunity for Nazarene students to be involved in the mission enterprise of the church.
Denominational leaders and Nazarene college administrators in North America were seeking ways to tap into the growing pool of interested students who were willing to go and make a difference in their world. In 1961, the Department of World Mission became the architect of a new program that would seek to harness the interests of college students and address the college administrators’ interest in seeing their students serve in world areas.
By 1964, the Nazarene Evangelical Ambassadors was created. It was a joint venture sponsored by the Department of Foreign Missions and the Nazarene Young People’s Society. Two male members from each of the Nazarene colleges were selected and sent to Mexico and Central America for the summer.
In 1967, the first team, Youth Assistance Missionary Corps, was formed with the approval of the General Board. Fifteen college students were selected and deployed to five different countries. The name of the program changed to Student Mission Corps and then eventually to International Student Ministries. Although the name of the program has undergone change, the focus has remained constant. The need to extend the missionary arm of the church to the world has been the impetus for an exciting exercise in leadership formation. From 1967 until 2012 Nazarene Youth in Mission teams were being sent to and from all corners of the world – North America, Australia, Germany, South Africa, Korea, Indonesia, Guatemala, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Great Britain, Mexico, Brazil, and more.
Youth In Mission relaunched in 2014 under USA/Canada Compassionate Ministry with new goals: 1. Focus on recruiting the 89% of Nazarene students out of high school going to Community or State Colleges and Universities. 2. Embrace the USA/Canada region as a mission field. 3. Partner with strategic locations and leaders on the region.
Hundreds of youth have returned to their campuses and to their local churches with renewed commitment to be missioners of God’s kingdom; joining Christ in what he is already doing in their Community and Culture. Youth in Mission continues to be a viable and challenging methodology for exposing Nazarene young adults to areas the adventure of serving well as providing them with missional training opportunities.
