“We believe that it is through the efforts of urban youth workers — who lead and disciple urban youth — that the tide of disinterest in following Christ will change.”

30 YEARS, DECADES OF IMPACT

To quantify how many hearts have been healed, mindsets transformed and stereotypes challenged after an encounter with the UYWI movement is difficult to do by numbers alone.

That type of impact is a story that is told by the more than 5,300 urban youth leaders trained whose lives are the blueprint for what freedom in Jesus Christ looks like.

It’s the kind of impact that is realized when city after city experiences a renewed hope and future through UYWI’s influence at a time when so many in our communities are uncertain of what’s next.

This mission where the rejected are restored proves daily that God is faithful to the mission Larry Acosta envisioned 30 years ago to reach the “last, lost and least” in our communities.

We will keep the momentum of the Message going as we celebrate our first 30 years…because 30 years is just the beginning of what God is capable of doing through urban leaders.

The minority that Larry sought to inspire is now the majority. We are an ever-expanding community. And with 1.2 million young people leaving Church every year, the idea that 42 million young people could leave by 2050 creates an incredible urgency to exceed our goal of reaching one million youth through 15,000 urban leaders by 2025.

We believe that it is through the efforts of urban youth workers — who lead and disciple urban youth — that the tide of disinterest in following Christ will change.

U MAKE A DIFFERENCE
If one person’s life is changed by hearing the truth of the love of Jesus through UYWI every single day, then we’ve already succeeded.

But if that one person in every community thrives from that truth and shares how the Lord has empowered them, then success spreads like wildfire. That is the mission of even more training and digital resources that will strengthen how UYWI serves God, our members and the world.

“With 1.2 million young people leaving Church every year, the idea that 42 million young people could leave by 2050 creates an incredible urgency to exceed our goal of reaching one million youth through 15,000 urban leaders by 2025.”

30 Year Collage

Think about it: Thirty years ago the Lord knew where our country would be and how the demographics would change, and he inspired Larry to create something that would be so needed in 2022 and beyond.

You make a difference in the lives of urban youth across the country looking to their youth leaders and mentors for wisdom and direction in a season when authentic leadership is scarce at best. You are equipping urban leaders to reach and re-engage the 1.2 million youth leaving the Church every year. We know this is not an easy feat but we have seen time and time again how God is transforming lives and growing the next generation of urban leaders.

“Many leaders have a hope or a dream for a better future, but dreams are simply visions with no legs. They’re not going to take you anywhere,” says UYWI COO Robert Aboites.

“We want to help put some legs to the dream and create an actual vision and help youth develop strategy from where they are today to what that reality is.”

By fully embracing that we are a leadership development organization, we want to continue to help you make a difference through our programs and resources:

UYWI Certification Program: Our certification program offers leadership training, along with personal development tools.

NXT LVL Leadership Coaching: Our leadership coaching is a program for high-capacity urban leaders who are ready for a more targeted and intensive coaching experience for themselves and the organizations they serve.

Fuel Networks: In partnership with DVULI, we have launched 10 Fuel Networks throughout the country. Our regional leaders are partnered with our Network Coordinator to establish a connection with youth leaders in their cities.

Leadership Library: In the Training Center, youth workers can access tools, resources, and teachings to help train them for more effective, impactful work in urban youth ministry.

CELEBRATING U
Join us as we celebrate 30 years of equipping urban youth workers so that urban youth have the role models they need to live transformed lives by the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Thanks to YOU, urban leaders across the nation have access to the tools, knowledge, coaching, and community they need both in-person and virtually. We look forward to continuing to journey with you, to see God’s plan unfold in the lives of thousands of urban leaders and the lives of the young people they disciple.

Special recognition also goes toward all who continue to support what UYWI has set out to do. Our Urban Allies who not only invest in our community through finances but also in prayer and in service are so valuable to our ecosystem. Our major donors committed to ensuring that every need the movement has is met. The celebration also brings about reflection of challenges that must be achieved.

“Thirty years ago the Lord knew where our country would be and how the demographics would change, and he inspired Larry to create something that would be so needed in 2022 and beyond.”

Larry Acosta 2007

“Many leaders have a hope or a dream for a better future, but dreams are simply visions with no legs.”

You make a difference in the lives of urban youth across the country looking to their youth leaders and mentors for wisdom and direction in a season when authentic leadership is scarce at best.

“How can we claim to be loyal to Christ's mission when we flee the mission field at our doorstep? When we forsake the inner city so that our lives will not be inconvenienced by the sufferings of the neediest among us? We flee the very mission fields we should be invading.”

- Dr. John Perkins