What God did this year through YFC!

August 12, 2022

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This year God connected YFC with over 1,700 teens! And, after getting to know their stories, we successfully connected 1,000 spiritually lost teens into a Christ-sharing relationship with a mentor or peer. We praise God!

Throughout this year you’ve heard stories from the lives of these teens. They are kids like Nathan who first heard about and received Jesus in his Group Home and Dion who connected with Campus Life and started stepping into leadership through a deeper relationship with Christ. You heard about the teens we met who were caught between custody battles, drugs and alcohol, and their ever-present anxiety and loneliness. I remember Ramona who was stuck in the pain and confusion of her past. She asked her YFC mentor where God was in her story, heard a compelling answer, and decided to give God a try for the very first time.

Over 120 kids gave their lives to Christ this last school year!

This school year we saw a 70% increase in impact, and we’re still going. This summer we’ve had beach days, pool parties, bible studies, Grizzlies games, small group and one-on-one meetings, with more to come. And we’ll be taking over 70 kids to YFC camp this summer.

In addition to the weekly ministry, we have a few important organizational items I want you to know about.

We have launched a new Campus Life site in Reedley and have a new staff member Tommy Gayton. The community of Reedley has asked for Campus Life and a team of support is being developed to make it happen. Tommy has already started meeting kids and building partnerships that will sustain a wide outreach to teens at Reedley High and the surrounding middle schools. Do you know anyone in that area we should make sure to connect with? The team that prays, volunteers, and gives is critical to the health of this new ministry site.

Secondly, we are nearing the groundbreaking of Built For Them, our campaign to develop outdoor ministry space in the back acreage of the Campus Life Center. It cannot come soon enough! Andrew Young of AYCinc and Eric Briner of Briner & Sons along with Louie Avila and others are the project team. The permit for the shade structure is in its final stages with the city of Fresno and the ground is being marked in advance of moving dirt. As you can appreciate, the cost of the project has changed considerably over the last 8 months of planning and fundraising. God is providing, however, through gifts of labor and materials, along with continued financial giving towards this initiative as we diligently move forward. We are near the finish line with $60,000 to go.

Finally, I want you to know that YFC is absolutely committed to reaching lost kids with the good news of Jesus. There is nothing else that will save a person, nothing else that will give abundant life, than trusting wholly in Christ (Acts 4:12). Therefore the board has adopted a strategic plan for the next 5 years to intentionally increase our reach and connect more lost kids in Christ-sharing relationships. We cannot slow down when the need is so great. YFC, gear up with all of the energy he so powerfully works in you, for the sake of this generation truly knowing Christ.

“He is the one we proclaim, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone fully mature in Christ. 29 To this end I strenuously contend with all the energy Christ so powerfully works in me.” Colossians 1:28-29

 

Jameson

P.S. Join us for the Campus Life 5k and Kid’s Fun Run on August 27th! Run, walk or stroll in support of Campus Life. Includes Italian Ice from Heavenly Freeze, brrrrrrrrrrr. Sign up today at yfcnow.org/CL5k.