Y.M.C.A. IN WAR

Auckland Star, Volume LXXII, Issue 165, 15 July 1941, Page 8

Y.M.C.A. IN WAR

SERVICE OVERSEAS

ADDRESS BY SECRETARY

The development of the Young Men's Christian Association since its inception, and the mighty scope of its war effort, were discussed today by Mr. Vernon T. Drew, general secretary of the Auckland Y.M.C.A, in an address to the Christian Business Men's Association.

The Y.M.C.A. was at work to-day in 6000 centres, with a membership of over 2,000,000, while in the Dominion there were 8205 members, 3552 being under 16 years and 2255 enrolled in Bible classes, he said. The national council conducted institutes in 17 Public Works Department canips and 35 military camps in New Zealand, apart from 31 secretaries in military work overseas.

Mr. Drew traced the history of the Y.M.C.A.. touching on its foundation in London by George Williams in 1844. It spread to the Continent and America in 1851, and was etsablished in Auckland in 1855. It had developed into the phvsical, mental, social and spiritual sides of life through a multiplicity of activities. The Y.M.C.A. had been active in the American Civil War. the Boer War. the Great War and the present conflict, said Mr. Drew, who read extracts from reports written from the front line trenches in Greece and during the difficult period in Crete. Behind it all was the history of a constantly developing movement, entirely governed by Christian laymen.