Brief History

To read an epic account of the history of International Teams, please click here.

1960 Kevin Dyer founds "South East Asia Literature Crusades."

1961 First team to Calcutta, India, sells 100,000 Gospels of Mark in just three months. The work spreads to Bangladesh and Singapore. U.S. Board of Directors is formed.

1962 An old house in Park Ridge, Illinois is renovated and turned into a training center. Ten adults and 7 children begin training for the first team to Latin America. The name of the organization is changed to Literature Crusades.

1963 A team leaves the US for Brazil, with another 100,000 Gospels of Mark.

1964 Thirty-nine businessmen from North America, Australia, and Asia distribute literature at the Tokyo Olympics. An estimated 70,000 people are contacted per day. (At every Summer Olympic Games since 1964 IT has had a major outreach program.)

1965 Forty-two adults, plus children, finish the first training in Prospect Heights and are sent on four teams to Manila, Philippines; Bombay, India; Bogota, Colombia; and Caracas, Venezuela. In September, another twelve people begin training, newly expanded to a nine month program.

1966 In December, between Christmas and New Years, International Teams conducts its first "World Missions Congress" at Wheaton College in Wheaton, Illinois. Nearly 1600 young people attend from all over the United States and Canada. Hundreds dedicate their lives to the Lord to be used in His service. These are then held every three years for the next 20 years.

1967 With teams serving in ten countries, International Teams begins its "Courier Ministry" - taking Bibles and Christian literature and relief items to Christians behind the Iron Curtain. They serve the persecuted church in this way for over 20 years.

1969 David Pavey leads our first team in Europe: Lyon, France. Since then we have had 14 short term and 5 long term (still on-going) teams serving in France alone, as well as many long and short term teams throughout the rest of Western Europe.

Early 1970's King's Inn begins, a ministry to kids struggling with drugs or other addictions. Three of the houses on campus are used to provide a communal type setting for kids (8 to 10 per house) to be discipled by house parents. Church-planting becomes one of IT's stated objectives.

1976 Special programs are run in Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. to celebrate America's Bicentennial. Nearly 100 people dress up in early American clothing to distribute literature through floats and displays.

1979 The name of the organization is changed to International Crusades.

1976-86 SCOPE conferences are run every year where 50 pastors and their wives are invited to come for four days of spiritual refreshment.

1984 The name of the organization is changed to International Teams.

1986 International Teams Philippines is founded.

1988 Kevin Dyer steps down as President in order to give opportunity to new, younger leadership. Marc Dyer returns from the Philippines and is appointed President of IT USA. Geoff Tunnicliffe moves to Canada and develops IT Canada into a partner organization with ITP and IT USA. One organization is becoming three partners.

Late 1980's The Courier Ministry expands to include evangelism and discipleship efforts in the communist countries of Central & Eastern Europe. Several IT personnel begin living in Hungary, Romania, and East Germany.

1989 Attorney Raineer Chu is appointed by the ITP Board, as the first Filipino Director of ITP. The influence of Filipino missionaries begins to lead IT toward defining "compassionate evangelism" as one of our core emphases. U.S. Urban Ministries is established with teams in Chicago's inner city African-American and Hispanic communities.

1989-90 Communism collapses in the countries of Central & Eastern Europe. Teams are formed to help churches throughout the region in the development of their evangelism and discipleship ministries.

1990 ITCanada launches a church mobilization effort that grows 600% in five years.

1991 Albania opens to the world. About 20 IT personnel take part in the first ever large outreach campaign in that country. More than 120 people from over 15 different nationalities and 20 organizations and churches work closely together for two weeks. The result is the planting of two churches in Tirana and the forging of a model mission partnership (The Albanian Encouragement Project). From these seeds more than 70 churches have been planted throughout the country since then, and the Albanian Evangelical Alliance (VUSH) was born. Brian Jose, formerly leading teams in Central & Eastern Europe, moves from Austria to England and is appointed International Director.

1992 IT Australia is incorporated. IT USA, Malachi Ministries, and SONLIFE form the Josiah Venture partnership under the leadership of Dave Patty. Josiah Venture's vision is a passionate movement of church-based youth ministry throughout Central and Eastern Europe.

1994 IT/UK becomes officially registered as a charity in the UK.

Mid-90's U.S. Urban Ministries expands to include serving in Philadelphia (among Cambodian and Vietnamese residents), Boston, and Los Angeles (among transplanted Iranians). An increasing number of people from countries in Europe and Latin America, begin serving in IT teams. Prototype training programs and support systems are designed in order to facilitate this movement. Europe and Latin America Regional Leadership established. Filipinos pioneer our first team in Vietnam. Teams, in partnership with other organisations, are formed in Central Asia.

1998 Partnership formed with Reach Out Ministries, another youth leadership development organisation. Executive Team formed.

1999-2000 East Asia Regional Leadership established ACCESS, a standardized, two-week intensive, introductory training program designed for all people joining International Teams anywhere in the world.

Today 102 teams, made up of people from over 24 different countries, serve in Western, Central, and Eastern Europe, Eurasia, Central and Southeast Asia, Australia, Latin America, and North America.

Full History: The International Teams Story

In 1954, 18-year-old Kevin Dyer left his home in Tasmania and set out on what proved to be a life-defining journey. Eventually he and his older brother, Alan, would travel throughout Europe and the Middle East, but it was on the first leg of their trip, in a port in India, that Kevin was shaken to the core.

"I was never able to forget that brief time in Bombay. We walked through the bazaars and on through the areas where millions were enslaved in the prison of poverty. The need was beyond description. There were people sleeping on the sidewalks. Hundreds of thousands lived in broken down huts. Everywhere people seemed undernourished. The sheer physical need of India gripped my soul. And that was nothing compared with their spiritual need. ... I determined to give my life to telling the good news of Jesus Christ to those who were hopelessly lost."

But how? How could any difference be made in the face of such overwhelming need? This question haunted Kevin over the next months and years. He sought God in prayer, asking him to guide his steps, to show him what he should do.

Their travels eventually brought them to the United States, and Kevin enrolled in Emmaus Bible College, where he met his wife Eloise. Their passion for mission was reflected even in their first date: a visit to a city mission for homeless people, alcoholics, and drug addicts!

After marrying in 1957, Kevin and Eloise returned to Australia in 1959. Along the way they visited missionaries throughout South East Asia and the Far East, an experience that re-lit their passion for mission. They kept praying for guidance. Returning to the States in 1960, the Dyers once again visited ministry locations along the way, and the pieces of the puzzle began to fall into place. "It was the cities which cried out to me. ... I knew I was called to the cities." But one couple was unlikely to make much of an impact in a huge city, let alone in major cities all around the world. "An army was needed - a team of missionaries!" And so the vision took shape: teams of Christian young people sharing the Gospel in the major cities of Asia, distributing Bibles and literature, and offering correspondence courses as follow-up. As Kevin and Eloise re-settled in the Chicago area, they prayed with increasing frequency and fervour, especially with others who shared their burden. Soon concrete plans began to form, and the organization that would one day be known as International Teams was born.

Calcutta, India was the destination of the first team. At the start of 1961, though, things didn't look too promising. After an initial burst of enthusiasm, interest seemed to drop off, and opposition picked up. Only a small portion of the necessary funds had come in. In July, even the ship was cancelled! But God miraculously overcame these and other obstacles, and the first six team members found room on another ship and departed in August. Joined by four more in November, they sold 100,000 Gospels of Mark within just three months. At least one church was planted as a result, and the work spread to Bangladesh and Singapore.

More teams came together, at that time primarily from brethren churches in North America. Not only would these teams compliment the work of churches and long term missionaries, but their brief exposure to the reality of missionary work would also have immeasurable impact in their lives, and play a major role in preparing them for their next steps in service. Some remained as long-term workers; others influenced those in their home churches to act in obedience to the Great Commission.

In 1962, in order to increase the effectiveness of teams, a training centre was established in Park Ridge, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. Ten adults completed the training, and the first team for Latin America was on its way!

Over the next few years, teams were sent out to Brazil, the Tokyo Olympics, the Philippines, India, Colombia, and Venezuela. The growth was exciting, but the Park Ridge facility was inadequate for the increase in numbers. In 1965 the Lord provided larger facilities in nearby Prospect Heights - a good thing, because the opening of the Canadian office in 1966 meant that even more teams would be on the way!

By 1968, International Teams was serving in ten countries, and Kevin felt God's call to a new challenge - the Communist world. For the next 22 years IT carried on an extensive "Courier" ministry, secretly delivering Bibles, study guides, clothing, and medicine to believers behind the Iron Curtain.

Up to this point, International Teams had seen new churches born as a result of efforts in evangelism and discipleship, but it was not until 1972 that church planting became a stated goal of the organisation. Since then IT has helped numerous churches in Europe, Latin America, Asia and North America come into being.

It was wonderful to see many new churches born in Central America and the Caribbean during the 70's and early 80's, churches which continue to thrive today. Tragedy, however, struck repeatedly during those decades, as a series of devastating hurricanes swept through the region. IT Teams, together with these young churches, responded by providing emergency aid and assistance to tens of thousands of people. These relief efforts laid a foundation for the development of more holistic ministry projects in future years.

Major growth and change for International Teams was in store during the 1980's. As the organisation expanded from its Brethren roots, teams were soon composed of people from a wide spectrum of evangelical backgrounds. The possibility of serving long term was added to the standard two-year option. Urban Ministry became a focus in North America and in the Philippines, while in Europe the Refugee Ministry evolved out of the courier work, and the number of long-term teams serving in Western Europe increased steadily. "Field" leadership necessarily took on increasing responsibility, which also reflected Kevin's commitment to developing and empowering younger leaders.

In 1988 Kevin took a further step in this direction as he and the Board turned over leadership of IT USA to Kevin and Eloise's son Marc. Marc and Sue had just returned from several years of service among the urban poor in the Philippines. One result of their work there was the formation of International Teams Philippines. As Director of ITUSA, Marc would continue to play a key role in promoting indigenous mission movements.

Also in 1988, Geoff and Jewel Tunnicliffe left the US office, moved back to Canada, and began developing IT Canada into a full partner with IT USA and IT Philippines. International Teams was on the road to becoming a truly multi-cultural, international organisation.

During the late 80's IT quietly explored the possibilities of evangelism and discipleship ministries in the then communist countries of Central & Eastern Europe. Several team members had already begun to reside in Romania and Hungary when suddenly, in 1989, the communist regimes collapsed. The courier team shifted its efforts to relief deliveries during the difficult transitional years, and other teams were rapidly established in Eastern Germany, Slovakia, Romania, Hungary, and Bulgaria, working alongside local churches in ways we had only dreamed of before. In the early nineties teams were also established in Russia, the Ukraine, Albania, and Central Asia.

With new National Organisations emerging in the United Kingdom and in Australia, teams multiplying in Western Europe, Central & Eastern Europe, the Philippines, North America, and in the Refugee Ministry, it was evident that new structures were necessary in order to support it all. In 1991, therefore, Brian Jose, who had been leading our work in Central & Eastern Europe, was appointed International Director. An International Board was also formed, and an International Executive Council consisting of National Organisation and Ministry leaders from around the world. Brian and the International Council spearheaded our development into an increasingly multi-cultural organisation reflecting the nature of what global mission had become. He also pioneered our efforts to bring coordination to such multi-faceted ministry endeavours. While many adjustments would be necessary along the way, the direction was set.

It was also in 1991 that our first ever "World Conference" was held, in a lovely setting in the north of Wales with 180 people from 27 countries gathered for 6 days of fellowship, worship, teaching, mutual encouragement, and celebration. For many of the Filipino participants, it was the first time they had travelled outside of their country! And for all who attended, it was truly a landmark experience to finally meet the heroes from other ministry locations of which so much had been heard.

Starting around 1993, a number of youth ministries began to approach IT to explore the advantages of partnership. The Josiah Venture was one result: initially a partnership between IT, SONLIFE, and Malachi Ministries, with the vision of developing church based youth ministries in the former communist countries of Central & Eastern Europe. SONLIFE also joined with us in efforts in Latin America, and further partnerships were formed with the US based National Institute of Youth Ministries and with Reach Out International. Young people are the future, and it is a privilege to partner with others committed to seeing their lives transformed by the Gospel.

The nineties were also a time of revisiting our core statements of purpose, vision, mission, values, and faith, and reshaping them to express more clearly who International Teams is and where we are going. Largely due to the experiences and influence of those ministering among the urban poor of the Philippines, in the inner cities of North America, and among refugees all along the Refugee Highway, International Teams has embraced an even more radical commitment to compassionate evangelism, and a burning desire to see transforming communities of hope established and growing throughout the world.

In 1998 a new "Executive Team" was formed, consisting of our present National Organization and Regional Leaders. We now have more than 500 workers serving in the Regions of Central Asia, East Asia, Europe, the Middle East, Latin America, and North America. They are sent out as extensions of their home churches' mission vision, to work in teams committed to making Jesus Christ known and seeing lives transformed by the power of God. Gregor was a young Albanian who fled his country for a better life. In Athens, he met an International Teams missionary and gave his life to Christ. Burdened by the Lord, he returned to Albania to tell his family and friends about Jesus. He has since started two churches and the Lord is powerfully using him to spread the Gospel.

Gregor is an excellent example of what International Teams hopes to accomplish: to see people put their faith in Christ, to help them develop and grow in Him, and to encourage them to catch the vision for becoming missionaries themselves. International Teams gives all glory to God for the triumphs of the past four decades, and eagerly anticipates the ways in which He will work in coming years.