Youth For Christ

December Youth for Christ Update

Right now, Youth for Christ (YFC) has four core ministries; ALL*STAR Basketball, Successful Pathways for Teen Parents, Victor Campus ministries, and Moonlit Adventures. One of our goals is to bridge the gap between urban and suburban ministries and we have been very successful so far. In the last year students in both the ALL*STAR and Victor ministries have been building relationships through events such as the Excel conference and Saturday ALL*STAR league games. Below is a short update on each ministry.

ALL*STAR Basketball just completed another successful season this fall. Games are held on Saturdays and practice is during the week. At each practice there is a bible lesson which students must attend as well as memorize a verse each week in order to play in that week’s game. During the off season, Jemel works with an ALL*STAR team which is made up of students who have showed excellence during the season on and off the court. These students are discipled and encouraged to be great leaders while practicing with the ALL*STAR team.

Victor campus ministries have been very busy. Weekly events include “club” which is an outreach event and is held Tuesday night for junior high and Thursday night for senior high. Wednesday night a small group of guys meet for discipleship and accountability. In January, there will be a small group for girls starting to meet once a week. We are also going to start meeting with student leaders Friday mornings before school to have breakfast and a bible study.

Moonlit Adventures has been trying to host an event on the last Saturday of every month. Due to students schedules and the fact that most activities are weather dependent, we have not been able to meet every month, however we went rock climbing in September and over Christmas break we are heading to the Adirondacks to do some winter camping. The potential a “wilderness ministry” like Moonlit Adventures has is the fact that relationships are built deeper faster when you are living life together outside away from computers and cell phones.

Each year Successful Pathways, Inc. continues to advance its mission of empowering adolescent parents and youth who are at risk for early parenting, to become responsible and self sufficient, through education, mentoring, and social support. Through our Case Management and Mentoring programs we have seen many lives changed for the better. We are also pleased to report that 89% of the adolescent parents that we service have refrained from having a second child, and 100% of our at-risk youth have successfully delayed parenting. The goal of Successful Pathways, Inc. is to continue to make a difference in the lives of the young people we service. Currently we are recruiting for Mentors. We need 50 mentors to match with our teen parents and at risk youth. Mentor training sessions are held once per month. This training will give you the tools necessary to be successful in the mentoring relationship.

We are also running our Adopt a Family program. The Christmas season can be extremely stressful for our young families, and the help of a stranger can help to eliminate some of the stress. Adopting a family will provide volunteers with a wonderful opportunity to meet the physical needs of a young family while showing the love of Christ. For more information please contact our office at 235-3248. Please help support our efforts to break the cycle of adolescent parenting.