For more than sixty years, Leland Paris gave his life to a single, unwavering purpose: that people of every nation would come to know Jesus. He was one of the founding fathers of Youth With A Mission, the pioneer of its flagship training, and the founder of YWAM Tyler at Twin Oaks Ranch — a man whose quiet “yes” to God set countless others in motion.
Alongside Frances, his wife of sixty-five years, he poured out everything he had to see the Great Commission carried forward in his generation. He mentored leaders, championed the least-reached corners of the earth, and never stopped believing that ordinary young people, sent in faith, could change the world. Those who knew him remember not only the vision, but the tenderness — a father in the faith to thousands.
He has finished the race, and heard the words: “Well done, good and faithful servant.”
A Life That Sent Millions
How the mission began
1939 A life given before it was understood
Leland Paris is born — the beginning of a life that would carry the gospel farther than he could have imagined.
1960 Youth With A Mission is born
Loren and Darlene Cunningham found YWAM in Lausanne, Switzerland, with a radical idea: send young people out, short-term and unsalaried, to make God known. Leland would become one of the movement’s founding fathers.
1974 The Discipleship Training School
Leland pioneers the DTS — a school built on biblical foundations, character, and mission. It becomes the heartbeat of YWAM worldwide. More than a million people would one day pass through it.
1980 Twin Oaks Ranch — YWAM Tyler
Leland and Fran, with some two hundred staff, move from New Jersey to East Texas and purchase the 365-acre Twin Oaks Ranch — land once held by David Wilkerson of The Cross and the Switchblade — to pioneer what is now YWAM Tyler.
Decades To the ends of the earth
As president of YWAM Tyler, Leland turned the mission toward the world’s poorest and least-reached places — most of all across Asia — and launched the ministries that carried his heart: Global Bridges and Hope for the Children.
2026 Home
After 87 years, Leland Paris goes to be with the Lord he loved — remembered as a missionary statesman, a pioneer, and a father in the faith.
The Fruit of One Obedience
Because he said yes
One life, laid down — and a harvest no one can count.
1,000,000+
SENT THROUGH A DTS
180+
NATIONS REACHED BY YWAM
65
YEARS BESIDE HIS BELOVED FRAN
His vision gave the world the Discipleship Training School, Global Bridges, and Hope for the Children — and gave thousands of young missionaries a place to be equipped and sent.
CELEBRATION OF LIFE
Service details
Date
Saturday
August 22, 2026
Time
1:00 PM
Location
Paris Fellowship Center
Twin Oaks Ranch
Address
20131 FM 16 West
Lindale, TX 75771
A reception will follow the service. To RSVP, register below or email memorial@ywamtyler.org
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