Youth for Christ

Youth for Christ (YFC) is an international Christian ministry program that promotes youth evangelism and biblical Christianity.

In the early 1940s, during World War II, many young men, mostly ministers and evangelists, were holding large rallies in Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States. In an effort to coordinate these programs Youth for Christ was founded in 1944. The organization was co-founded by the Rev. Billy Graham and then-evangelist Charles Templeton. Graham was YFC's first full-time staff member. At its inception the president was Chicago pastor Torrey Johnson.

This organization also eventually gave birth or helped to birth several other ministries: World Vision, Camp Encounter,Gospel Films, and the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association.

YFC follows the motto of "Anchored to the Rock, geared to the times" in an attempt to help equip young people to minister to each other. Over the years Youth for Christ has had many types of programs such as; youth rallies, Bible Clubs, Bible Quiz competitions, teen to teen evangelism, campus ministries and urban ministries. YFC is in over 100 countries.

In 1978, YFC founded the Flevo Festival, a yearly Christian music festival that currently draws about 10,000 participants.

British Youth For Christ

British Youth For Christ was started in 1946 following a Billy Graham rally in the Midlands. In the sixty years since then it has expanded into its current format. Today BYFC has the aim of "taking good news relevantly to every young person in Britain". It seeks to do this through its 'four D approach':
*Demonstrate God’s love
*Declare relevantly the good news about Jesus
*Decision Giving young people the opportunity to accept Christ as their personal Saviour
*Disciple Serve the local Church by providing both evangelistic and discipleship resources

BYFC works with over 70,000 young people each week, from every kind of background and culture in Britain. To do this it employs 150 full-time workers, and many more volunteers. Main focus areas of BYFC today include:

Local Centres

There are currently 64 YFC Local Centers around Britain, tackling issues youth face today, such as family breakdown, binge drinking, bullying and self-worth. They run activities drop-in youth clubs, Camp Encounter, school lessons, social-action projects, and detached youthwork on the streets.

yfcone

yfcone is the gap year program run by YFC which aims to reach youth with youth. They teach young adults how to use their individual gifts in music, sport, leadership, dance, youthwork, and communication to share their faith with their peers, and place volunteers in teams located around Britain.

Resourcing Churches

YFC's Church Resource Department aims to serve the local church, right across the denominations, as it works with children and young people, providing all the necessary resources and support for effective Christian youth work, as well as supporting and nurturing local Youth Workers. It does this by producing resource packs for youth groups ("Rock Solid", "RS2", "Mettle", "The Art Of Connecting", and in partnership with other organisations "Youth Specialities", "Youth Alpha" and "Youthwork Magazine") and running weekend residentials and activity holidays ("Impact Holidays", "Fort Rocky").

Reflex

Reflex is YFC's nationwide initiative helping Young Offenders in custody to build a fresh start. YFC look to invest in young people on the fringe of society, building their self-esteem by encouraging creative reflection and positive expression. They also provide care for ex-offenders, meeting them at the gate after their release and helping them to find a place to live, a job, and a church.

External links

* [http://www.yfci.org/ Youth for Christ International]
* [http://www.yfcmym.org/ Youth for Christ Military Youth Ministry]
* [http://www.yfcone.com/ yfcone] (Youth for Christ UK's gap year programme)

National YFC websites

* [http://www.jackandpollywilson.com/yfc.htm Youth for Christ - Guinea-Bissau, West Africa]
* [http://www.yfccanada.com/ Youth for Christ - Canada]
* [http://www.yfccyprus.com/ Youth for Christ - Cyprus]
* [http://www.yfc.dk/ Youth for Christ - Denmark]
* [http://www.yfc.org.nz/ Youth for Christ - New Zealand]
* [http://www.yfcni.org/ Youth for Christ - Northern Ireland]
* [http://www.yfc.nl/ Youth for Christ - Nederlands]
* [http://www.syfc.org.sg/ Youth for Christ - Singapore]
* [http://www.yfc.org.za/ Youth for Christ - South Africa]
* [http://www.yfc.co.uk/ Youth for Christ - UK]
* [http://www.yfc.org/ Youth for Christ - USA]
* [http://www.yfc.de/ Jugend für Christus Deutschland - Germany]