The Great Commission
The Great Commission is the most important command of Jesus and He invites all believers to join Him in this mission. And this applies to the teenagers as well. The only way to save this generation is to engage them in the disciple making process and to partner with them in ministering their communities (peer and younger siblings).
High Receptive Generation
The current Barna study indicates that nearly half of all Americans who accept Jesus Christ as their saviour do so before reaching the age of 13 (43%), and that two out of three born again Christians (64%) made that commitment to Christ before their 18th birthday. The younger generation is highly receptive to the gospel.
Teens Leaving Church
Yet, close to 60 percent of young people who went to church as teens drop out after high school. Why do young Christians leave church? Especially for those who were regular churchgoers during their early teens? The research revealed that the number one reason our youth leave church is because “churches seem overprotective.” Our Christian teens are in need of ideals – a cause worth living for and dying for, to be a force they believe can change the world.
The Arrow Generation
When is the best window to invest leadership? Psalm 127: 4 (KJV) says “As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth.” Children of the youth, adolescents, is in the stage of social identity development, when they begin to develop strong affiliation and devotion to ideals, causes and friends. Therefore, children in the age 11-19 will be in their greatest time to develop leadership.