Youth ministry reports over 7,800 young people turned to Christ in fiscal year 2023

By Nicole VanDyke, CP Reporter Thursday, January 11, 2024

An American youth ministry group has reported that over 7,800 young people accepted Jesus as their Lord in the last fiscal year.

Youth for Christ, a national parachurch group based in Englewood, Colorado, recently released its 2023 Ministry Report, which shows that 7,855 youths accepted Christ during the fiscal year 2022-2023 through its ministry work. This was a 7% increase compared to the 7,323 kids who accepted Christ during the 2021-2022 fiscal year.

Youth For Christ describes itself as a ministry that "engages young people ages 11 to 19 wherever they are to uncover God's story of hope in their story through authentic relationships, shared experiences, outdoor adventure, mentoring, small groups and more."

The ministry stated that more children are sharing their faith with their peers, reporting that it is up by 25% in comparison to 2022. There was a 26% increase in new-believing kids who began what the ministry calls 3Story faith relationships with peers (3,027).

According to the report's "Summer In Review" section, which highlights the ministry's work in its youth summer camps, they "redirected our resources towards training and equipping all 130 of our chapters to provide local trips based on what their youth need."

"We are already seeing evidence that our new strategy is leading to exponentially more kids being able to experience YFC camps and trips through every chapter across the mission. We can't wait to see what God does through the rest of the school year," the report said.

"Generation Z seems to be much more open to discussions about faith among their peers than the generations that immediately preceded them," Youth for Christ CEO and President Jake Bland wrote.

"They are living out YFC's '3Story way of life,' and it's this rising metric of young leaders that has our full attention," Bland added. "It's clear that this is a strategic opportunity God is creating for ministries like YFC and our Kingdom partners."

Bland said that due to "God's faithfulness," 2,907 children involved in the ministry "became multipliers of the hope of Christ."

"In YFC, we aren't celebrating numbers or scope or scale. We celebrate how Christ is moving. These are more than numbers — every number has a name, and every name has a story," Bland said.

"The harvest is ripe among this generation and Jesus is still calling us to pray earnestly and trust Him as Lord of the harvest, the solution for every soul, every story."

Youth for Christ was founded in 1944, stemming from a series of youth evangelism rallies held in Canada, England and the United States. The Rev. Billy Graham was the organization's first full-time staff member.

Nicole Alcindor is a reporter for The Christian Post.