About Soul Survivor

Soul Survivor started in the UK in 1993 when Mike Pilavachi, the youth pastor of an Anglican Church near London, was released to pursue a vision he had been thinking and praying about. Much of the impetus behind Mike's vision came as a result of living in a time where the British Church existed in a post-Christian era. As a youth pastor, Mike was well aware of the church studies that showed a consistent exodus of young people, with thousands of teenagers leaving youth groups each month.

Mike believed the Lord has spoken to him about a way to be a part of the solution by hosting a youth conference which would encapsulate the current expressions of popular culture, yet also provide focused times of ministry, counseling, worship and prayer. Never did Mike anticipate what would ensure his simple vision.

While the first event in 1993 attracted a modest 2,000 young people, the annual festival has since become the biggest of its kind in the UK. Alongside seminars on subjects ranging from social justice and cultural awareness, to the gifts of the spirit and self esteem issues for young women, the festivals celebrate creative arts and host a number of expressive venus and alternative entertainments. The main focus of each day is the worship in the morning and evening celebrations. Here, you'll find Soul Survivor's three core values in full effect: intimate worship, relevant teaching, and ministry in the power of the Holy Spirit.

Today, an estimated 225,000 young people have attended Soul Survivor events in the UK, South Africa, Holland, Norway, Australia, Canada and the United States of America.

In August of 2000, Soul Survivor led an estimated 11,000 young people onto the streets of Manchester for a ten day outreach which the BBC later called "one of the most ambitious volunteer projects ever seen in this country..." Through worship events, cafes, sports venus and social action endeavors, the aim of The Message 2000 was to serve, evangelize and impregnate some of Britain's poorest and most disadvantaged urban communities with real answers and real hope. In this, they won the backing of the city's Police force who assisted with transport logistics for the event.

Soul Survivor USA began after Paul and Erica Martin visited the Soul Survivor festival in England in the summer of 1998, while on a work placement in London.

Paul and Erica were challenged by the reality and authenticity of what they saw. He saw young people in times of powerful worship, teaching, and ministry and heard a central theme challenging young people to go back to their communites to make a difference. They also saw people developing relationships in make-shift cafes, watching regular films in transient tent "cinemas", attending late night gigs; and skate-boarding in specially made venus.

In Paul's own words:
It was one of those moments where I really felt the Lord tell me, 'Take this ministry back to America.' I had been a part of dozens of great youth events, camps and concerts previously. But I had never seen an event which was so congruent with youth culture, yet, at the very same time, so incredibly effective in evangelism and giving young people a vision for making a difference in their worlds. Lives were being changed!"

Subsequent to this encounter, Paul returned to America to launch the first US Soul Survivor youth event. These US events have since drawn thousands of people from a broad range of denominations, and from over US 18 states.

Soul Survivor Ministries was established in Autumn of 2000 as a California non-profit corporation.