I bet you serve somewhere.
I recently dusted off the guitar myself and started leading worship again. It’s not pretty but it’s joyful! Where do you serve? Maybe you’re a crossing guard or help kids read, hold a baby at church or give time to clean an alley. Where’s the place you consistently give God your time?
If you are serving somewhere, there is something you need to know.
You are not just a volunteer.
Right now, there are about 35 incarcerated teens in Madera’s Juvenile Detention Center who have weekly sessions with YFC mentors. Alongside “church” or “class” as they affectionately call our program, we also get the opportunity to break them for special events like Worship Madera with Chaplain Ron.
David and Maria are two of the folks who share Christ in Madera’s Juvenile Detention Center. They are an amazing duo who love to serve and are honored to mentor the kids. David and Maria have such a great relationship with the kids that some even attend church with them when they get out!
Recently, one of their mentees got out of juvenile hall so they went to her house and prayed with her and her family. After that, her brother started coming to church too. And he ended up getting saved!
There are no volunteers at Youth For Christ, only Ministry Leaders. The 80+ people like David and Maria are folks that walk into the world of a teen to do 3-story evangelism. They listen to kids and learn their story. They share their own journey of faith. And they help a teen discover God’s story and all the connecting points in between. They offer their time and let God do the miracle with it.
Ministry leaders show up with a clear sense of their purpose. It’s never just a brownie baked, or a card written. It’s never just a smile or running the sound board. Ministry leaders know who they are and why they are there.
This is who you are: “God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for you to do” (Eph 2.10). “Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through you” (2 Cor. 5:20). You are servant leaders, truth-tellers, grace sharers, kingdom connectors, and the very loving hands and feet of Jesus.
Regular people saying YES to God's leading!
Truth be told, people will encounter Christ when we serve together. It’s through the body, with its mutual love for one another, that the world comes to believe. But there is no body without you and your part. Are you serving somewhere? Serve with kingdom purpose and kingdom passion. Are you on the sidelines? Get in the game.
Right now, we have opportunities to reach youth with the gospel if only someone would give the time. Here are three spots!
Edison Campus Life – Wednesdays 12:40-1:20p with Jeremy Miller
Roosevelt Campus Life – Thursdays 12:30-1:15p with Alec Trujillo
Group Life @ the Van Ness Home – Tuesdays, 4-5p with David Delgado
You are a ministry leader and this is your job description: “He is the one we proclaim, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone fully mature in Christ. To this end I strenuously contend with all the energy Christ so powerfully works in me.” (Colossians 1: 28-29)
Share Christ in all you do, and get after it with all God’s power in you.
Together,
Jameson
