We asked the teens of our partner ministries, “How is youth ministry shaping your life?”

Teenagers are growing up in a rapidly changing culture and experiencing isolation, loneliness, and overwhelming anxiety. And in the midst of this, more youth are finding faith irrelevant to their everyday life. Today’s teens need leaders and spiritual tools that help them in authentic faith-formation. Youth ministry is not just needed – it is essential so that youth feel supported in their growing relationship with a loving God.
A recent high school graduate who attended a CYMT Innovation Lab ministry, Memorial Drive UMC in Texas, shared, “During my senior year I struggled with mental health and friendships and I turned to my youth leaders to find a place to grow closer in my relationship with God because it is what I knew I needed. One of our youth leaders openly talks about her mental health journey and how she has been through it. I quickly started opening up to her and spending so much time with her that helped me with my mental health and the rest of my senior year of high school.
I think youth group is important because it gives youth an escape. School has pressures that are put on us and we are involved in so many extracurriculars that we forget at times that we can take a break. I think that in these times, it is the perfect time to focus on a relationship with God. I know for me that in my times of rest I tried to work on my relationship with God which helped me in the hard moments because I was connected and maintained a relationship with God.”

How You Can Support Essential Youth Ministry

 

CYMT Big Payback Profile

 

The Big Payback is just TWO DAYS away! The 24 hour day of giving kicks off Wednesday, May 5 at 6pm CT and will end Thursday May 6th at 6pm.
CYMT has committed to dedicating all funds raised through The Big Payback to our Partner Ministry Grant Fund – a fund specifically for partnering with under-resourced communities to provide youth ministry training and placement.
Through our Big Payback efforts, we are hoping to fully fund one partner ministry, for one year, during one hour! 
Between 6-7 pm CT on Wednesday, May 5th, we have the opportunity to win a prize of up to $2500 during that time. To do this we need to be the organization with the most unique donors over $10 that hour.
By simply giving during that hour, you can join others in helping us win an extra $2500 prize to provide youth ministry training and placement in under-resourced communities for youth to experience the love and grace of Jesus Christ.    
We are currently connecting with several unique ministries with who we hope to partner alongside.  With your support, we can partner with these ministries and place a passionate youth minister in these communities. These ministries include: an organization that serves youth and families in need, and a ministry with a homeless transition initiative. We are also working on partnering with more diverse congregations, specifically a Latinx ministry this year. These are just a few examples of how these funds will be used IF we raise the funds to make these types of placements possible.  Commit to giving next Wednesday, May 5th between 6-7pm to help us reach our goal of one partner ministry, for one year, during one hour! 
Get a text reminder! Sign up for our Big Payback reminder system by texting @BigPayback to 81010.  You will only get 3 texts.  One at 6 PM with instructions, one at 6:45 PM as a final reminder, and then later when the event is over to let you know how much we raised! We will not use your number for any other reason than for Big Payback updates.
You can also forward this email to your friends and family and ask that they click here:Big Payback Email Updates to receive reminders in their inbox!