UYWI Remembers 9/11: A Place of Hope at Ground Zero

As our nation revisits the horrors and hope of September 11 during this tenth anniversary week, UYWI joins our friends in New York City, Pennsylvania, and Washington, DC, in remembering a God who’s present with us in our suffering. The video below is of Jeremy Del Rio at the 2005 UYWI National Conference, reflecting on…

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The Culture Around Us – Part 1

Maina Mwaura is from the great state of Georgia. He serves as the student pastor at Greenforest Community Baptist Church in Decatur, Ga. When Maina is not hanging out with his students you can find him spending time with his wife Tiffiney. Maina is a graduate of Liberty University and New Orleans Baptist Theological seminary.…

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3 Keys to Reaching Urban Teens with the Gospel

By Greg Stier, President & CEO of Dare 2 Share Ministries I don’t come from a suburban, church going, Bible reading, hymn singing family. I come from an urban family filled with body building, beer drinking, tobacco chewing thugs (and that’s just the women!) Seriously, it was a tough family growing up. The local mafia…

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Leading In Isolation

When I reflect on various settings I’ve experienced, there are so many moments when the leader shows up alone. As a little boy, no matter the type of support, Mom showed up; as a student in the classroom, the teacher showed up; as a player on the team, the coach showed up; and even as…

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The Lost Art of the Thank You…

Some days life can seem so…  thankless.  We wake up,  do what we do, and then we crash into bed.  It can feel like the never ending cycle of simply meeting the needs of those around us.  This is especially true of working with youth.  Add the reality of ministering to kids who come from…

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Youth and Pain

Everyone experiences pain, be it emotional, physical, spiritual or mental pain. We Recent events have shown how detrimental unresolved pain can be, especially the emotional pain caused by bullying and other forms of abuse, both in and outside the home. Pain can lead to suicide, homicide, or have other long-term detrimental affects on further development…

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The Politics of Youth Culture

Our world is fast becoming a village.  We’ve advanced from radio to television to satellite TV.  We now have the World Wide Web; everyone knows what everyone else is up to.  The pressure is on to keep up!  No one group is more vulnerable to pressure than our youth.  No other demographic sheds its skin…

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Teens & Drugs

The term “drugs” is used for mood-altering chemicals, including alcohol. Throughout history, people have found ways of ingesting or inhaling local flora and fauna in a way that produces physical and emotional changes. Through these experiences, many medicines have been discovered. The use of drugs, in fact, must be seen in part as a form…

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Unfathomable

RESOURCES FOR THE UNCHURCHED Every youth group has some students that we would consider “unchurched.” These are the youth who never in their life have been exposed to church life of any kind. We may not realize it but there are A LOT of nuances that we speak on in youth programs that assume our…

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VIDEO GAMES OVERVIEW

Video gaming has gone from being a subculture to being a dominant cultural influence. Currently 97% of males and 94% of females under 18 years of age are video gamers. Many play in small amounts (an average of 18 hours per week), but some gamers report that they play 40 hours or more a week.…

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