“The best part of my story is being part of their story!” was the closing statement of a young adult at the end of the Year Out, Youth for Christ’s gap year programme. She was reflecting on her experience investing in the lives of unchurched young people and how many of them had taken greater steps of faith to Jesus.
At Youth for Christ, we’re about seeing young people’s lives changed by Jesus. We have long recognised that transformation usually happens through relationships and in most cases before we can declare Jesus, we need to demonstrate Him (Acts 1:8).
Across Britain, we have over 60 local ministries committed to incarnational youth work. Recently one of our centres asked a local school if they could have a presence there. Initially the head teacher was reluctant and said, “The children’s behaviour is too difficult and challenging for you to come in.”
In response, the Youth for Christ team offered to set up a breakfast bar every morning, keeping it simple with toast and cereal, all free of charge. While the Head hadn’t anticipated the offer, she agreed, and we set up a daily breakfast service available for all students. It wasn’t just those from more deprived backgrounds who turned up, but almost every pupil was fed each day. The Head invited the team to her office one morning after breakfast and said, “The children’s behaviour has changed remarkably. What else can you do?”
"The Head invited the team to her office one morning after breakfast and said, 'The children’s behaviour has changed remarkably. What else can you do?'"
The team now have a consistent presence in the school – sometimes the most effective thing you can do is to feed those who are hungry!
During one of our outreach services at a young offenders’ institute, one of our workers was leading a Bible study when a teenage boy unexpectedly reached across the table and used a sharpened instrument to slash the face of another teenager. A fight instantly broke out, rendering our worker caught in the ‘crossfire’. Despite the unnerving event, when it was later suggested that she should take some time off, undeterred, she replied, “Why? I need to be back in tomorrow. Only by turning up every day will they ever take me seriously. Until I can demonstrate I love them by turning up, they will never realise how much God loves them!”
Loving our neighbour takes many different forms within a Youth for Christ context. In every case, there is an invitation to belong through acceptance, knowing there will be no judgement. Somewhere along the way, we start to connect their story with God’s story. The revelation of Jesus, through safe relationships, and meeting practical needs, often results in an invitation to experience God for themselves (Psalm 34:8).
In June and July this year, the Youth for Christ national team stopped everything it was doing and took a posture of just listening to God for 40 days. We removed all busyness and ministry activity and simply asked God to speak to us.
We had become so task-orientated that we were beginning to question our fruitfulness. In a posture of listening, it became abundantly clear to us that God was not asking us to be overly busy, He was asking for our hearts. If we are to love our neighbours, care for the broken, despised and overlooked, we need to do so from a strong and unbroken connection to the Vine. With a renewed dedication, we focused on an intentional posture of prayer and discipleship – we are convinced that missional transformation (evangelism) within our local contexts is born out of our dedication to prayer and discipleship.
"If we are to love our neighbours, care for the broken, despised and overlooked, we need to do so from a strong and unbroken connection to the Vine."
All our research and experience tells us that God is not on the agenda for young people today – they are simply not thinking about Him. However, when Jesus is presented to young people, they are just as likely to respond to the gospel as any other generation before them. But sadly, in many cases, local churches struggle to engage with young people.
So, we are extending an invitation to you, to consider journeying with us in prayer and discipleship, and then pushing into evangelistic mission to see young people’s lives changed by Jesus. At Youth for Christ, we believe loving your neighbour begins with loving God and each other.
May the best part of your story come through being part of transformational stories of young people in your neighbourhood.
