By Lloyd Mackey

Having a good time is one of many ways young people benefit from Youth for Christ.

Brian Hamp is careful to note why both perceptions of the organization are important to cultivate, each in the environments that are appropriate.

In Valley schools, Youth Unlimited has been active in recreation programs, discussion groups and school assemblies.

“We keep our heads down and maintain a low profile. There is a real advantage in being able to do the school assemblies,” Hamp told BCCN, adding that the respectful, non-combative approach is necessary to be able to keep working in school settings.

Hamp and his wife Susan work with the long-established youth movement, along with the more than half a dozen staff members. The couple have been in the Comox Valley since 1992.

In the Christian community, supporters of YFC are kept aware that the ministry’s methodology adapts to the reality of communities and schools as they exist in 2010.

That said, the Christ being shared with young people is the same one that was the focal point of YFC Saturday night youth rallies which dotted the landscape almost three-quarters of a century ago. In those days, one of the young evangelists involved in the founding of YFC was a fellow named Billy Graham, now in his 90s.

That was then and this is now, in the Comox Valley.

Hamp speaks with grateful satisfaction of the reception YFC has enjoyed in recent years. Recreational activities which are foundational to the ministry often attract 50 or 60 people to a single event, which might take the form of surfing on the west coast of Vancouver Island or wall-climbing at facilities located in the Courtenay-Comox area.

The nine staffers raise their own support, as is often the case with youth ministries. The budget for YFC in the Comox Valley is $371,000 this year. Assets actively used in the work include three vans, three homes used for meetings and staff accommodations, and a riverside campsite donated some years ago to YFC.

Noted Hamp: “We provide opportunities for ‘disorganized sports,’ and to hang out. There are discussion groups, prayer meetings and meal times together, with the intention to walk with God and grow in faith.”

He said YFC does not own the homes, but rather pays minimal rent and taxes. They are close to the schools where staffers work with young people.

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Other community facilities are used, too. There are ski boats, canoes and kayaks, used at water facilities each summer, where young people enroll in Leadership Training (LT) programs. Tubing occurs on the Puntledge River. The land-based programs include hiking, horseback riding, biking and wall climbing.

“We use the environment around us,” Hamp stated simply.

In the LT program, the students are taught to journal. They have biographical readings that help them focus on the lives of great Christian leaders. That leads into the spiritual formation part of leadership preparation, where the future leaders are encouraged to develop their own testimony or witness, in their own words.

In the Underground program, a variety of engagement tools are used – with the aim of helping participants be comfortable with what is happening, noted Hamp.

“A week ago, those attending our youth night canvassed for the food bank. On another occasion, there was an ice cream night.”

Sometimes, there is no specific formal presentation. Rather a ‘drop-in’ format is used.

“Every six weeks, there is an over-nighter, attended by up to 60. On that occasion, we bring in a special speaker who can connect with young people.

“There is dinner, worship, teaching, gym, game playing. The students meet up at the local school. They stay overnight in a church. In the morning, there is a muffin break, a session, brunch . . . and it is over.”

Contact and openness with the Christian community has been essential to the success of what YFC has been doing, Hamp pointed out.

YFC facilitates a ‘youth network’ meeting at Quality Foods the first Thursday of each month. This provides for encouragement, planning and sharing of information regarding youth ministry in the Comox Valley – and is open to all Christian youth workers, both in churches and other trans-denominational youth ministries.

The churches involved in the support network are drawn from most denominations. A recent report to the supporting constituency identified congregations from Baptist, Christian Fellowship, Evangelical Free, Anglican, United, Mennonite, Catholic, Community, Foursquare and Pentecostal affiliations.

Hamp said there is support outside the community, as well. Some churches in the Pacific Northwest and B.C.’s Lower Mainland are involved; and some LT opportunities occur in Vancouver with Union Gospel Mission.

Info: comoxvalley.yfccanada.org.

April 2010