"We want you to call us back to our roots!" This was the surprising invitation given to Pete Greig (below left) recently when he was invited to address the CEO's of the largest YMCA Centers in England.

 

"I couldn't work out why these big cheeses who all run multi-million pound operations, wanted a scruffy guy like me as their after dinner speaker," laughs Pete. "But then I did a bit of research and it all began to make a bit more sense..."

 

If you've ever used a YMCA gym, stayed in a YMCA hotel or even done the actions to the Village People's classic camp seventies tribute song, you may be surprised by the striking similarities between the 24-7 prayer movement and the origins of the YMCA which today works in 120 countries serving more than 45 million people and seeks to: 'Put Christian principles into practice through programs that build healthy mind, body and spirit for all'.

 

The amazing story of the YMCA began innocently enough with a young man called George Williams (left) who arrived in London in 1841 to work as a draper. George quickly realised that there was no provision for his 140 colleagues to do anything other than work and drink and was determined not to get sucked into that lifestyle himself. So George found a friend and they began to pray diligently for each worker by name. He recalls in his diary that as they prayed God blessed them and filled their prayer room: "Our numbers grew and the room was soon crammed. In answer to prayer the Spirit of God was present and we had conversion after conversion. Scores of employees and even the firm's president professed faith in Christ."

 

That one prayer room quickly multiplied and by 1854 there were 397 branches of the YMCA in seven nations with an astonishing 30,369 members. Early leaders of the YMCA in America included the great evangelists Dwight Moody and John Mott who saw 'The Y' (as it became known) as a missions movement

YOUNG MAN, THERES NO NEED TO FEEL DOWN. I SAID YOUNG MAN, PICK YOURSELF OFF THE GROUND. I SAID YOUNG MAN, COZ YOU'RE IN A NEW TOWN THERE'S NO  NEED TO BE UNHAPPY.   IT'S FUN TO STAY AT THE Y.M.C.A.

planting YMCA centers instead of churches. During the World Wars the YMCA pioneered courageous and culturally relevant outreach.   Today the YMCA has the biggest non-uniform membership in the world and yet their roots trace back to a prayer room that multiplied and unexpectedly grew into an international, interdenominational movement of Christian mission and mercy. Sound familiar?   The YMCA started out with very little money (it was 15 years before they owned a building). Another similarity to 24-7 is the way that the YMCA was originally staffed almost entirely by highly committed volunteers.

 

The final words spoken by George Williams were at the 1905 World YMCA Jubilee. He said: "If you wish to have a happy, useful and profitable life, give your hearts to God while you are young." After saying this, George Williams - founder of the YMCA - collapsed, was carried to his room and died.

 

It would be presumptious for us to think that the 24-7 prayer movement could or should ever be as big, broad and influencial as the YMCA. But our heart beats with that of George Williams who prayed that young people would find Jesus and so worked tirelessly to rescue millions from poverty.