Voices of Youth - Awakening the UMC to Mission was started in 1985 by Rev. Jim Perry as a project of the Youth Service Fund Committee of the Virginia Conference Council on Youth Ministries.  It has proven to be such an effective tool for mission education, that it is now sponsored each year by the Virginia Conference General Board of Global Ministries (GBGM) - Mission Interpretation Team (MIT).  To date more than 850 youth have been trained intensively in the scriptural imperative for mission and the basics of the United Methodist Church’s organization for mission.  They have visited missionaries and mission sites, used the United Methodist Prayer Calendar, and have seen how mission monies for apportionments and Advance Specials are used around the world.

A variety of adult staff have shared leadership of Voices of Youth in the past two decades.  Youth have experienced mission in many U.S. states, including Virginia, California, New York, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Tennessee, Louisiana, Florida, and Mississippi.  They have traveled internationally to Russia, Malaysia, Singapore, Mexico, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, and South Africa.  Voices of Youth has participated in the Virginia Conference School of Christian Mission, the World Methodist Conference, the Southeastern Jurisdictional Conference, and the Mexico Annual Conference.  They have explored their Methodist heritage in England and have promoted Covenant Relationships with GBGM missionaries around the world.