“It may well be that the future historian will count the Student Volunteer Movement as one of the most remarkable and significant movements in the history of the Church of God and that in coming generations multitudes of visitors from distant lands may seek Mount Hermon as the place where this historic Movement was born.” (Smalley 1980)

In the twenty years since, the Movement has been indeed often cited and often lauded. The SVM, as most students of missions know, was the American mission mobilization movement of the early 1900s, tied inextricably with the campaign “to evangelize the world in this generation.” Born in 1886 and lasting nearly a century, the first third of its existence saw its remarkable growth until its peak at about 1920.

In the post-World War I era it was caught up in the “the cynicism and confusion of a new era” (Smalley). Although it tried to adapt to its new situation, it failed and wandered uncertainly for a generation before the world collided in World War II. Afterward it tried to find some stability—but not in its original mission. It underwent multiple identity changes and finally ceased to exist in the mid 1960s.

In this article, we’ll look at the reasons both for the rise of the SVM and for its downfall. We’ll try to identify some key lessons that might be applied to modern mobilization efforts. But we’ll begin not with the birth of the movement, but rather with the birth of the birth of the movement: deep in the beginnings of America itself.

The Revolutionary Period (1704-1794)

The ‘Modern Era,’ according to the Encyclopedia of World History, was 1789. This date represents a “phase transition” in the wider world as well: the beginning of the French revolution and the introduction of industrialization.

In America, population growth had doubled every 25 years from 1704-1773, then tapered off slowly. It grew from 2.1 million in 1770 to 2.7 million in 1780 (an increase of 600,000); but by 1790 it grew to 3.9 million (an increase of 1.2 million). Intermarriage between people of different countries was causing a loss of ethnic identity and forging the identity of ‘American.’ Although immigration was by no means the major source of growth, the tide of immigrants was steadily increasing, primarily through the port of Philadelphia. There, Presbyterians and Baptists outnumbered the original Quaker founders.

When “America” was born, “Americans” were over 90% rural, living on the eastern seaboard in a strip stretching from Maine to Spanish Florida. The rest of the country, explored then only to the Mississippi River, was largely wilderness. This rural nature was at the time America’s winning factor. These small rural settlements and states were very independent from each other, and used to surviving on their own. Cutting a city off would not necessarily destroy it. Further, although the coastal cities were vulnerable, all of these small, tiny, rural settlements could not be occupied by the invading armies of the day—there simply were not enough troops going around.

However, since the colonies were independent, each had very different ideas about what independence from Britain would look like. There were significant social distinctions between the fishermen of the far north, the poorer, frugal Puritan/Pietistic holders of small landplots in New England, the urbanites of New York and Philadelphia, and the wealthy aristocratic landholders in the southern states who held large amounts of debt and slaves.

Little was done in a unified way, including defense: when Washington first began fighting, militias in each area defended the individual states from attack. Each colony had its own form of currency, and exchange rates were uneven. The idea of a standing army was anathema to many, but abruptly made necessary. America’s relationship with Britain had unraveled and the explosive War for Independence shattered the ties.

Disease was rampant: for every soldier killed in the war, 17 died of disease and for certain months out of each year the seat of American government virtually ceased to function as people fled epidemics in the cities.

The war was indeed won in 1781 and its conclusion formalized in 1783—but the nation remained to be formed. During the critical period of 1783-84 America went through a deep economic crisis, army mutinies and rebellions. The Constitutional Convention of 1787 finally established a stable government in which ‘America’ was born as a united nation: but while the states considered themselves siblings they still had to learn how to play together nicely. Several issues divided America.

First, although after the French & Indian Wars many in America had disliked and even hated the French, during the course of this period Americans came to look upon the French as the ones most likely to save the American Revolution from failing. ‘French Fever’ significantly colored American culture.

Slavery was another issue that would loom ever more largely over time. Over 760,000 Africans (slaves and free) made up roughly 20% of the American population, with several thousand fighting in the Wars. Some, like Abigail Adams, wondered how a nation could fight for freedom while not freeing its slaves. By 1784, all slavery in the New England states was prohibited (or in the process of being prohibited). By 1804, slavery in the Middle colonies likewise was prohibited.

This period was not devoid of Christian influence. Several “mini-revivals” broke out between 1781 and 1785 on college campuses: Dartmouth, Princeton, Yale, Williams and Hampden-Sydney were all precursors of the revivals of the early 1800s. Over half of the population (55%, adjusted for children) belonged to mainline denominations (Congregationalists, Presbyterians, Episcopalians) in 1776; this share began to decline so that by 1850, mainline denominations accounted for just 19%. Methodists and Baptists meanwhile rose from 19% to 55% by 1850 (essentially, in roughly 75 years the situation had reversed). This happened while the population was rising dramatically and the number of Christians affiliated with churches rose by 20%.

While people in America were far too busy with war and nation-building to widely consider missions at the moment, events in England would eventually affect America’s mission movement. In 1785, the Protestant denominations of England cooperated for the first time since the Reformation to create the Sunday School Society, in order to extend Sunday Schools throughout the empire. The Sunday School would become the primary mechanism for giving the young a heart for missions. English Baptist minister Andrew Fuller was publishing dozens of pamphlets urging obedience to the Great Commission. A concept called “Concerts of Prayer,” initially envisioned by Great Awakening preacher Jonathan Edwards, had made its way from England to America and was becoming widespread.

Then, in 1792, came the spark of the American missionary movement: in England, William Carey published the widely read Enquiry into the obligations of Christians to use means for the conversion of the heathens, and the next year sailed for India.

I had many questions about why this was taking place. How did this play into the purposes and plans of God? How could this destruction and loss of life happen? “This region has been prayed over for almost a decade since the ‘Praying Through the Window’ saturating prayer initiatives during the mid-90’s—and now this?”  The Lord would soon give me a totally different perspective.

“Can we meet tomorrow?” Abdullah, a 22 year old Jordanian man, asked. “I must have an answer to my question!” he bluntly declared. Two of us had already spent an hour and a half in spiritual conversation with him. We shared the critical pieces of the gospel. He seemed genuinely interested. We had given him a New Testament and other literature. We made plans to meet the next day and wondered to ourselves what his “question” was.

Abdullah read the three pieces of literature in full over a 24 hour period (except the entire New Testament). We met for 3 hours in a Starbucks in Amman. He asked questions about following Jesus. His “question” surrounded his disgust with the hypocrisy of his friends who called themselves Muslims but who drank and did not live moral lives. His heart was hungry for truth that was real. He was typical of many we met in Jordan. Long-term workers in the Middle East have seen this spiritual hunger and disillusionment increasing.

Can a natural war positively help street level Muslims be pushed more towards the loving arms of Jesus Christ? Research indicates more in the Middle East have come to faith since 9/11 then in the previous 200 years of outreach. God often uses painful circumstances to bring transformation and openness to His love in a region or a city.  He is shaking the Middle East. Many Muslims are asking deep questions and pursuing true peace that has eluded them through Islam.

Could the natural war also be a reflection of what is taking place in the supernatural? Scripture says the Kingdom of Heaven “suffers violence and the violent take it by force” (Matthew 11:12). We know this is not natural force, but spiritual force ushered in through prayer and intercession and the bold sharing of the gospel. Centuries of laborers in the Middle East have had great difficulty. Is the hard ground breaking? Could their toil and sacrifice coupled with the intense intercession of millions over the past decade be finally seeing the first-fruits of transformation and breakthrough? I wholeheartedly believe so!

Signs and wonders, dreams and visions have been increasing. Two girls in Iraq encountered a young woman who had a dream of Jesus beckoning her to join His family. She did not know what it meant. When she shared it with the girls they discipled her. In Beirut a young man had a dream of the face of a western girl. Not knowing who she was he forgot about it. A few weeks later the same girl was in the park talking to people about Jesus. He was overwhelmed that God would communicate in such a way with him. He promptly gave his life to Christ.

Transformation is happening in small steps. People need to go to the region and incarnate the love of Jesus Christ. Who knows how long this opening will last! Fred Markert, a noted mission strategist and base leader for YWAM, said, “If we do not see 200,000 new missionaries raised up in the next 10 years, we could be set back significantly in the cause of world evangelism.” These workers need to be sent to the areas of the world that have the least access to the gospel and the lowest number of workers. Openness comes in cycles. We cannot assume they will be open 5 years from now.

Will you commit to in disciplined prayer for the Middle East? How about signing the Message Bearer Creed? Can you give lavishly to workers and ministries serving in this region, so new works and ministries can be launched?

We’ve watched global history unfold before our eyes. Now is the time to engage in the redemptive plan of God for this region of the world! Don’t let the perceived “cost” hold you back. Serving God seems costly when we view our situation from a low and finite perspective. From God’s perspective we see it is not costly, but a true joy to participate in God’s in-breaking Kingdom!

Ryan Shaw is the director of Student Volunteer Movement 2 (www.SVM2.net…), is based in Dorchester, Ontario, Canada and can be contacted at http://www.momentum-mag.org/?p=217 The reverberations shook the Arab Baptist Theological Seminary guest room we were staying in. It was 6:20 am on Thursday, July 12th and the airport in Beirut had just been bombed by Israeli F-16’s. In the coming weeks more bombings would take place as Israel retaliated for the kidnapping of two of their soldiers by Hizbollah. We watched plumes of smoke in the distance and saw parts of a beautiful city being slowly laid waste. Our group of seventy were meeting for a conference before dividing into teams of six to seven and embarking on outreach throughout the Middle East.