FEB15

ENDING BIBLE
POVERTY NOW
ANNUAL
REPORT
2016

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ANNUAL REPORT 2016 YWAM KONA
CONTENTS
OVERVIEW
BIBLE DISTRIBUTION
TESTIMONIES
FINANCE REPORT
VISION FOR 2017
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6
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CREDITS
Designed by Esther Park
All Photos Courtesy of Abby Beard
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MESSAGE FROM LOREN CUNNINGHAM
Loren Cunningham is the Founder of Youth With A Mission (YWAM), an ever-expanding global "family
of ministries" born in 1960 which has reached into every nation on earth. As a missions movement,
YWAM encompasses evangelism, training and mercy ministries. It is manned by more than 20,000
full-time staff from 200+ countries and a wide variety of denominations and Christian traditions who
serve at more than 2,000 YWAM locations in 191 nations. Some five million participants have served
in YWAM programs as students, short-term volunteers and full-time staff since its inception.
Loren is also the Co-Founder and International Chancellor of the University of the Nations (UofN), a
global ministry of YWAM (www.uofn.edu). Since the university was established in 1978, the UofN has
grown to offer more than 500 different kinds of courses and hundreds of seminars (some of which
are offered in 97 languages), held at more than 600 locations/campuses in 160 countries. Hundreds
of thousands of students have registered within the global UofN system and have taken at least a
Discipleship Training School (DTS), the entry course and prerequisite for all other UofN courses, for
pursuing UofN associates, bachelors or masters degrees, and/or for becoming YWAM staff. UofN is
also initiating certificate courses and online e-courses.
Together with his wife, Darlene, Loren’s ministry partner from the beginning of YWAM and UofN, he
currently leads the University of the Nations campus in Kona, Hawaii (www.uofnkona.edu).
By 1999, Loren had personally gone to every sovereign nation on earth, all dependent countries, and
more than 100 territories and islands for the sake of Christ and the Great Commission. This has given
him valuable insights into global trends and uniquely prepares him to share God's strategies for
world evangelism. His wisdom, experience, leadership understanding and call to build bridges of
unity within the body of Christ have given him opportunity to speak publicly to live audiences from a
few to more than a million people gathered in one location. He usually ministers on all six continents
each year.
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ANNUAL REPORT 2016 YWAM KONA
Since 1960 Loren, joining with many other global leaders, has carried a burden to make the Bible
accessible to every person on earth in their mother tongue by 2033, thereby ending Bible poverty
worldwide. Wherever the Bible goes, the Spirit of God brings transformation! In recent years, he has
met with hundreds of influential leaders in evangelical, charismatic and Pentecostal denominations,
as well as those leading the oldest Christian traditions, to invite their partnership in this cause.
Loren’s personal goal is to make at least an oral translation of Scripture available to the 1,869 totally
Bible-less languages by 2020. He is actively recruiting more than one million Christians that will sign
a pledge to help eradicate Bible poverty by praying and serving as the Holy Spirit leads them (www.endbiblepovertynow.com).
Born in Taft, California, Loren’s family heritage is rich with generations of Christian ministers. His educational
background includes three Bachelor degrees, a Master of Science in Administration of Education,
and three Honorary Doctorates. Loren is the author of five books: Is That Really You, God?
(translated into more than 130 languages), Making Jesus Lord, Daring to Live on the Edge, Why Not
Women? and The Book that Transforms Nations—the Power of the Bible to Change any Country.
Loren Cunningham
Founder of YWAM
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GER
FRANC
2016 BIBLE DISTRIBUTION
CUBA
HAITI
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
PANAMA
C
COLOMBIA
21,571
BRAZIL
AUDIO BIBLES
WERE HANDED OUT
13,000
HANDED OUT IN AN ADOPTED, UNREACHED
DISTRICT OF THE HIMALAYAS IN NEPAL
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ANNUAL REPORT 2016 YWAM KONA
MANY
E
TURKEY
GREECE
LEBANON IRAQ
JORDAN
EGYPT
UGANDA
AMEROON SOUTH SUDAN
RWANDA
MONGOLIA
CHINA
NEPAL MYANMAR
LAOS
INDIA
THAILAND
TAIWAN
VIETNAM
CAMBODIA
PHILIPPINES
MALAYSIA
PAPUA NEW GUINEA
FIJI
8,571
TO OTHER NATIONS
84 63
TEAMS SENT
LOCATIONS
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NEPAL
Ywam Kona has adopted 3
districts in the Himalayas
In Nepal, Bible distribution in several regions of the country continues to plow forward. September
of 2016 marked a year since the start of the distribution project. As teams of YWAMers and local
believers have delivered the Bibles to villagers and helped start audio Bible listening groups, we
have seen God come in power.
In September, four YWAM staff hiked through the Himalayas to scout out the possibility of sending
future teams to villages on these trails. After an especially difficult day of travel, the team stopped
for the night at a shepherd’s hut. The hut, small and littered with dung, seemed like a resort for the
exhausted missionaries after their trip. As the team got settled in, the shepherd approached them.
Discovering that these four were followers of Jesus, the man said that he had been reading a Bible
and then asked if he too could become a Christian. The team led the shepherd in a prayer to give
his life to Jesus and then they prayed that the Holy Spirit would come and dwell in the man. The
man then looked up and said, “I am so happy!”
The team left the next day rejoicing over what God had done and two days later, were able to pass
back through the shepherd’s village. When they reached the new believer’s hut, they turned to see
that a 15-year-old shepherd boy had followed them. The boy was invited inside and he and the
other shepherd sat with the team and listened intently as they spoke about Jesus. The boy
became excited as he heard what they had to say. “I know about Jesus!” he said. “A little while ago,
there was a group of westerners. They came to my village and talked about a man named Jesus.
Then they started praying for people. One man was completely blind. [The westerners] prayed to
Jesus. I watched with my own eyes as Jesus gave the man his sight. After that, I wanted to follow
this Jesus." The team of course was elated and led the boy in a prayer to receive Jesus. Both of
these new believers were presented with an audio Bible.
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ANNUAL REPORT 2016 YWAM KONA
HIMALAYAS
In just 1951, there were no known Christians in Nepal, according to the Nepal census. Today, the
fame of Jesus is rapidly spreading throughout the Himalayas and the country has one of the
world’s fastest growing Christian populations.
Because Bible engagement training is key for discipleship and lasting impact, the teams that are
sent out in 2017 will receive further training in listening groups. Listening groups are small gatherings
where a group of those wanting to learn about Jesus commit to listening to a portion of the
audio Bible and then discussing it every week. In regions such as Africa and India, audio Bible
listening groups have multiplied and many times these groups become new churches as people
grow in their relationship with God and lead others to the Lord.
“ the fame of Jesus is rapidly spreading
throughout the Himalayas and
the country has one of the world’s
fastest growing
Christian populations.”
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TESTIMONIES
PAPUA NEW GUINEA
A Kona team traveling through the PNG islands disembarked from their ship on Karkar
island. They were able to pull together a program and shared the Gospel with about 10,000
people that day. When the team outreach leader was asked if she found a use for the SD
cards, she replied, “I wish we had brought more!” The team had taken 200 SD cards loaded
with the audio Bible in English and Tok Pisin. They were able to share all of these cards and
show the islanders how they could transfer the audio Bible files to friends’ phones via Bluetooth.
Still, the outreach leader wished they had taken closer to 1,000 SD cards.
In Medang, PNG, they met a blind girl who had never before owned a Bible. The team suddenly
felt a sense of awe that even though the girl couldn’t read or even see the word of God,
she could be touched by the Word of God ministering to her out loud in her language! When
the girl heard the words of the Bible coming from a cellphone, she and her family were
moved to tears. The Kona team called this an “Ah ha! Moment” when they realized the impact
of these tiny SD cards that carried the audio Bible in the local language and how God had
used the to reach people on the island of Papua New Guinea.
Ships DTS
UGANDA
We were in Wakiso Uganda working with Show Mercy International. One day, we were in the
market and met a woman named Mariam and we prayed for her and her knees got healed.
We asked if she had ever read the Bible and she said no. We took her phone and put the
micro SD Bible into her phone and showed her how it worked. The look on her face was
priceless. We visited her the next week and asked her what she had listened to and she was
telling us about a prayer she heard Jesus teaching his disciples. She said as she was listening,
she felt compelled to pray. Through this, her son was healed of ulcers in his stomach
because Mariam was learning how to pray.
Fire & Fragrance DTS
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ANNUAL REPORT 2016 YWAM KONA
NEPAL
Monsoon season in the Himalayas is infamous for transforming steep mountain
passes into treacherous trails. Definitely not the ideal time for a trek. However, squinting
through yet another downpour, two exhausted, very wet missionaries and their
translator picked their way over the slippery paths. They were scouting out trails for
future YWAM outreaches.
The translator trudged on ahead to secure them all a refuge for the night in a shepherd’s
hut. When the missionaries reached the door of the little hut, they poked their
heads inside. The pungent stench of sheep dung and smoke engulfed them as they
stopped, dripping through the entrance. As their eyes adjusted to the darkness, they
overheard their translator and the shepherd already engrossed in deep conversation.
“How can I become a follower of Jesus?” the shepherd was asking. By the end of the
night the shepherd had given his life to Jesus. The team was overjoyed. The team left
the next day but returned through that same mountain pass on their way home. As
they neared the shepherd’s hut, they realized they were being followed by a boy, who
was about 15 years old. The shepherd once again invited them inside, along with the
boy, and initiated another conversation about Jesus. Suddenly the boy could barely
contain his excitement.
“Some other Westerners came to my village. They also spoke to us about Jesus. There
was a man there who was completely blind. When the Westerners prayed for him in
Jesus name, the man received his sight! I saw it with my own eyes!” he said.
This miracle had deeply affected the boy. Seeing these three Westerners pass by his
hut had ignited the hope that maybe they could tell him more about Jesus, and so he
had followed them. Sitting there, he explained that ever since the miracle, he had
wanted to become a Christian. Then he asked, “Could I also follow Jesus?”. The team
was elated and led the boy in a prayer to receive Jesus. Both of these new Believers
were presented with an audio Bible on a MicroSD card, which they could listen to on
their cellphones.
Fire & Fragrance DTS
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2016 finance report
s
$156,300
raised
by the Kona base to fund all of
End Bible Poverty Now
125000
s$105,000
EXPENSES
100000
75000
50000
25000
0
SD Card &
Audio Bible
s$3,800 s$6,800
Administrative
SD Duplication
Machine
s$40,700
Remaining
2017 Budget
PNG & Cambodia $50,000
*Other projects and expenses $40,000
Total budget $90,000
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*No individual salaries are paid out of any project funds

ANNUAL REPORT 2016 YWAM KONA
VISION FOR 2017
We were so encouraged and thankful to see how many people received the Word of God
in audio and hard copy during 2016! We ask that you pray with us for 2017 and that we
are able to meet the demand of the growing ministry of Ending Bible Poverty Now. Our
team at YWAM Kona would like to thank those of you who prayed for and gave to this
initiative in 2016.
Looking in to 2017, our plan is for YWAM to continue to distribute Bibles in Nepal and to
add Papa New Guinea and Syrian refugees as new Bible Distribution projects. SD cards
that fit into feature cell phones and that play audio versions of the Gospel in their native
languages have been very effective among illiterate people groups. During 2016 we distributed
over 20,000 SD cards. We anticipate that the number will go up exponentially
as projects continue to develop in 2017. Our estimated cost of Audio Bibles and hardcopy
Bibles distributed through our office in 2017 for Papua New Guinea and Syrian
refugees is roughly $50,000.
These are two of multiple projects that we are projecting for 2017. We are working with
partners and YWAMers all around the world to see how we can most effectively get the
Word of God to everyone on the planet. We anticipate that additional new, yet to be
determined projects will cost approximately $40,000. We ask that you pray about joining
us this year in financially supporting these exciting efforts to see transformation
through the Word of God all around the World.
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ENDBIBLEPOVERTYNOW.COM
YWAMKONA.ORG
75-5851 Kuakini Hwy Kailua-Kona, HI 96740
808-326-4400
Youth With A Mission