WWYC History

The ministry of World Wide Youth Camps began with a seed of information being shared among the church body. One man heard the call, another broadcast it, and it found receptive heart soil, where it took root and through the grace of God, became the mission call it is today.

Glover Shipp, editor of the Christian Chronicle, based in Oklahoma City, visited Ukraine in 1992. While there, he discovered an opportunity for Christians to teach the children of Ukraine about their hope in Jesus. He called a friend who served in mission points globally and let him know about this opening for good news in this newly independent state. The man he contacted to follow up on this news was Wendell Broom, Professor Emeritus of Missions at Abilene Christian University (ACU).

Professor Broom gathered a group of individuals with experience in missions and working with children to tell them that Christians were being invited to work in the Pioneer Youth Camps in Ukraine. Greg Perry, former director of ACU Leadership Camps and then a teacher and coach in Abilene, Texas, attended this meeting. He learned about these camps and the Ukrainian struggle to create positive change in their country. These were camps set up by Lenin and Stalin to indoctrinate the children of the Soviet Union with communist beliefs. With the fall of Communism, Ukraine was a country trying to escape a painful past but not fully sure of how to create a better future. 

In the summer of 1993, Greg and a team of co-workers traveled to Slavyanagorsk, Ukraine, to "scope out the possibilities." This small group was welcomed in camps and met people on this first trip who would be key relationships in returning to Ukraine in years to come. On the train ride back to Kiev, the dreams for WWYC began and the mission was formally named between friends who were experiencing the thrill of sharing the gospel in this great country.

Since then, World Wide Youth Camps has worked in Pioneer camps, street ministries, and orphanages in Ukraine, Russia, Kenya, Namibia, Croatia, Bosnia, Kazakhstan, Honduras, Brazil, Guatemala, Mexico, United States, Germany, and Australia. We look forward to where the faith adventure takes us next, whether to a country or an individual's heart. Join us in planting the seed of Christ in the hearts of children of every tongue, tribe, and nation.