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December, 1944
Photo by Kaufmann and Fabry
student council president at the Uni versity of Virginia. Representing business were Philip A. Benson, president of the Dime Sav ings Bank of New York, Herbert J. Taylor, president of Club Aluminum of America, and Robert F. Nelson, vice-president of thé Arma Corpora tion in Brooklyn. From the mission field—past, pres ent, and future—came Clarence Jones, co-director of radio station HCJB in Quito, Ecuador, and Peter Stam III, nephew of ' martyrs John arid Betty Stam and himself hesrtled for. Africa next spring, the Lord willing. From the military services came Paratroop Chaplain William Conley from Fort Benning, Ga., and Lt. Col. Erwin Stolle, of Chicago, who is liv ing today because of prayer . . . and plasma . . . after several years in the Southwest Pacific. The testimonies were straight from the shoulder. They merged with two strong evangelistic appeals by Tor- rey Johnson and by Evangelist Mer- vin Roselle of Rochester, Minn. Hun dreds of hands went up and hun dreds of names -were signed to in dicate decisions for Christ that night. Born in Prayer Youth for Christ leaders are men of prayer and vision. “O God, we want this kept on a miracle basis. We want everyone to know that God’s hand is
on this ‘movement. We want folks to see that this is too big and too great for any man or group of men to ac complish by themselves. We want all to say, “GOD DID IT !” That'petition was at the very foun dation of Chic'agoland Y o u t h for Christ. It had been the heart cry also of Jack WYrtzen. of New York in whose mind the idea of city-wide y o u t h movements originated months ago. Wyrtzen used to s t a n d in Times Square on Saturday nights, his heart ' aching for the thousands of young people—unsaved and unreached. As he prayed for them, there came the realization that he must dp some thing about the situation. He obeyed God—and youth meetings began. On April 1, 1944, Youth for Christ in New York City filled Madison Square Gar den with 20,000 people. God had been, looking for a man,-and He found Jack Wyrtzen. The same thing happened in In dianapolis. Roger Malsbary, a minis ter on the outskirts of the city, felt a burden for the hundreds of young people within his reach. On May 27, 1943, Youth for Christ was launched at the English Theater in Indianap olis. Ifi Washington D. C., God f o u n d Glenn Wagoner, former all-American football star—and He used him.
More than 28,000 “Youth for Christ” enthusiasts packed the Chicago Stadium on Oc tober 21. Scene of some of the greatest national a n d sports events, t h e Stadium this time rang w i t h only praise to Christ.
In Chicago, in April of 1944, Torrey' Johnson said, “Lord, I believe You want me to start this thing here. I don’t know where the staff or t h e place or the program or the money are coming from, but I’ll trust You.” Now throughout the country this Youth for Christ movement continues to progress. Groups are flourishing in New York, Washington, D. C., Indian apolis, St. Louis, Detroit, Philadelphia, Minneapolis, and Boston (5,000 at the first meeting). Cities which might easily be hold ing meetings when t h i s article is read include Moline, 111.; Miami, Fla.; Grand Rapids, Mich.; Tampa, Fla.; Atlanta and Augusta, Ga.; Columbus and Toledo, Ohio; La'Crosse, Kenosha, Milwaukee, and Racine, Wise.; Bel- videre, Chicago Heights, and Rock ford, 111.; Gary, lin’d ; Sunnyside, |Continued on Page 432]
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