Sparking revival in tomorrow’s church leaders
The youth of today are the leaders of tomorrow—so the saying goes, and it’s as true for the church as it is for society in general. What that means for the church today is that it’s not enough to train and disciple adult believers—if we’re hoping and praying for a revival with an impact that extends beyond the Boomer and Gen X generations, Christians must work to inspire young people with the spirit of revival.
Several ministries in the Gospel.com community are focused on fanning the flames of revival not just in today’s church leaders, but in tomorrow’s:
- Youth for Christ aims to connect young people with mission trips and service opportunities that will deepen their faith. Their mission trips send young people everywhere from Botswana to Uruguay, and their Prayer Triplets program plugs students into a worldwide network of prayer. In their words, these small prayer groups “may seem insignificant, but even one life spent in prayer may start a revival that will sweep the world.”
- Youth Specialties is all about helping youth leaders inspire their youth. In particular, their Generation Change (“Calling students to change their world”) conferences, held all across the U.S., train church leaders and volunteers to inspire young people to carry the Gospel into the world.
- In an article at the Youth Specialties site, Ted Stump describes a type of student ministry that might just be the prelude to widespread youth revival: student-led cell groups.
- Youth revival programs are not without their challenges. Elsewhere on the YS site, Tom Bergler cautions against (among other things) youth revival programs that focus too much on entertainment and not enough on real spiritual change. Current Thoughts and Trends sums up an account of a high school revival that might or might not bear lasting spiritual fruit.
Take some time to browse through more articles and resources here about youth revival!
