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Will Your Students Leave the Faith?


 
Since 1988 when I started in youth ministry, I’ve seen many students grow up. As you may know, there are some scary studies about students leaving the church as they grow. Here are a couple of first-hand observations:
  1. Students whose parents (and youth leaders) had a settled faith that was authentic and integrated into their lives tended to "own" their faith over the long-term.
  2. Students who shared the Gospel with their friends when they were teenagers have tended to stay engaged in their faith over the long-term.
  3. Students who had ongoing discipleship-based accountability friendships tended to pursue their faith long-term.
In regard to Observation #1: We pray that in serving students you will also have an opportunity to serve their parents, helping them develop a settled, integrated, authentic faith.

In regard to Observation #2: When I wrote The Life Book a few years ago, my hope was that even the shyest students would find it easy to give as a gift to their friends and classmates. I think that has happened as, by God’s grace, over 900,000 students have been involved in giving the gift of over 16 Million Life Books.

In regard to Observation #3: I would encourage youth leaders to consider helping students develop discipleship-based accountability friendships with a couple of their fellow disciples.

Although these may be helpful observations for your ministry design, remember the great news is that God is always at work in the lives of your students as you faithfully teach His Word and pray for them. (If you find these observations helpful, please feel free to pass this email on to your youth ministry friends.)

Thank you for allowing us the opportunity to serve you through The Life Book Movement. May God richly bless you and your ministry!

Carl Blunt

President and CEO
The Life Book Movement
Copyright © 2014 The Life Book Movement, All rights reserved.
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