Cross-posted from YouthMesh.org:

As I make contact with people seeking to connect with young people around the world in mission contexts, I hear one request time after time. It is “Can you send us people to work with young people?” It is one request that keeps nagging away with me because I so want to be able to help them right now, but the reality is that there are not too many people putting their hand up to go and minister and connect with young people.

I have had requests for youth workers from Niger, Ghana, Senegal, India, Ethiopia, the Philippines, and many other places. They want people with skills with working with young people, but more than this they desire to have people come over who just have a heart for young people. They want people who are happy to ‘hang out’ with young people and to enter their world and connect them with God.

These are not tough requests, but they stir my heart. Younger generations are so open to hear about life, hope, the future, and the living God. They want to be in relationships with people a bit further along in their journey. Young people seek after people they can look up to and follow, people they can go to for advice, but also people who will just be there for them.

So one of my goals for the next year is to look at how I can encourage more youth workers to get out and serve in countries where youth ministry is such a desperate need. It may require targeting those people (aged 18 to 30) who are best at connecting with young people but may only be available for six months to two years. I have come to believe that we need to challenge young people themselves to be the ones to go overseas and reach other young people. I hope that global youth culture and youth issues will be the common glue that will help young people reach young people no matter which country they come from.