About – World Youth Group

ABOUT US

A Mission Rooted in Faith and Service

World Youth Group equips and sends missionaries to serve communities in need, sharing the healing love and salvation of Jesus through compassionate service.

Our Story

In 1994, Arleen and Henry Stubbs started the first youth group in their small rural church plant in South Carolina. As they prayed about how to make Jesus relevant to the youth, they both sensed God calling them to involve the young people in foreign missions among communities less fortunate than their own. Soon afterward, the group received an invitation to help build a church and assist with outreach in Chile, South America.

After returning from their second mission project in Chile in 1997, the group received an unexpected invitation to build a church and share the gospel in the mountainous regions of central Cuba. Over the next twelve years, the youth continued building churches and sharing the gospel across Cuba. During this time, they became known as the World Youth Group (WYG).

While serving in Cuba, the group was deeply moved by the tremendous needs they encountered. At the same time, they were challenged by what seemed to be the limited long-term impact of their efforts. In response, the team set aside a week for fasting and prayer, seeking God’s direction for the future of the ministry. During that time, they became convinced that their nonprofit organization should adopt a new fourfold approach to ministry in Cuba:

Training Cuban youth through a one-month LIGHT school to relieve suffering, serve the disenfranchised, and minister Christ’s healing love.
Coordinating mission opportunities for individuals and organizations to help cultivate and harvest decisions for Christ.
Housing, nurturing, and establishing new flocks of believers in places where there were previously none.
Sending and supporting graduates to serve and live among the most vulnerable in unreached communities.

Through the faithful support of individuals who share this vision of reaching Cuba for Christ, the ministry has grown significantly. Today, more than 100 gospel workers serve full-time in 44 Cuban cities, carrying forward the practical, medical missionary gospel of Jesus. At the same time, hundreds of volunteers from across the United States join World Youth Group on short-term mission projects each year, experiencing firsthand the power of the gospel to transform lives throughout the island nation.

We give thanks and praise to God for the incredible work He is doing. At the same time, we remain deeply aware of the vast needs that still exist. We invite you to join us in prayer that every city in Cuba will come to see and know Christ’s mercy and the saving power of His grace.

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