IMPACT OF LAST DAYS MINISTRIES CONTINUES LONG AFTER CLOSURE

THEN, MARCH 1996: Last Days Ministries, the organization founded by the renowned late gospel singer Keith Green, and his wife Melody, prepared to close down after 19 years.

It was announced the previous month that the "season of ministry has been completed for the American group, internationally known for its publishing and advocacy work on issues such as abortion.

Tracts, books and music were to continue to be sold until the organization's warehouse - at Last Days' headquarters in Lindale, Texas - was cleared. While the name of the ministry would remain copyrighted, its 400-acre training and printing campus was to be sold to another ministry.

"For certain ministries there are seasons. Any ministry that has been born for a specific time of anointing should only continue to exist for the reason God appointed it for," said Melody Green Sievright, who continued Last Days after her husband's death in a plane crash in 1982.

She and her second husband, Andrew Sievright, had jointly led LDM since they married in 1991, the same year that the organization became a part of Youth With A Mission. At one stage, Last Days Magazine was sent to over 500,000 around the world.

NOW: Although it has had no active ministry for some time Last Days continues to have an impact, with its 120 popular, hard-hitting tracts on evangelism, discipleship and social issues now carried and distributed by the American Tract Society. In addition, each tract is available to download free from the Last Days 600-page website, which draws 50,000 hits a month.

Several hundred letters to Last Days also yet arrive in Texas each month, where two of six remaining staff - down from around 140 at the height of ministry activity - oversee administration and correspondence. Last Days retained nine acres of its property, including the home where Keith Green wrote and recorded much of his music.

The rest of the Last Days land and campus was sold to Teen Mania, a nationwide organization mobilizing young people for missionary service. "Their passion is so in line with what Keith had originally desired, getting young people really excited about Jesus," said Andrew Sievright. He and Melody live in California, from where they travel to speak at conferences and churches.

"Basically we just stopped being a big organization. We continue to do things, but have gone through a period of waiting on God to see what the next thing is." He attributes Last Days' enduring impact to its message of "the wholehearted living of the life of authentic Christianity - wholeheartedly embracing the gospel and all that it means. I believe that still stirs people". http://www.lastdaysministries.org

Return to: Special 100th Issue Update Index Page

Return to Main YWAM Page, or to YWAM Communications, or to Main News Digest Page