NORTHERN INDIANA ALLEN COUNTY ǀ FALL 2017 SAVE THE DATE Allen County Rally Tuesday, Oct. 24 Allen County War Memorial Coliseum One simple word: “YES!” T he stage was set. Danny, our Brian Biedenbach Summit & Woodside MS Campus Life Director YFC Camp speaker, had just powerfully presented the Gospel to a room full of 330 middle school students and leaders. After he shared, everyone was released and encouraged to find a place to sit by Come hear about the impact Youth for Christ is having in the community! themselves and reflect on what they had just heard. They were given a piece of paper and a pencil to write down a prayer or thoughts and questions they had about Danny’s message. OUR MISSION YFC reaches young people everywhere, working together with the local church and other likeminded partners to raise up lifelong followers of Jesus who lead by their godliness in lifestyle, devotion to the Word of God and prayer, passion for sharing the love of Christ, and commitment to social involvement. I took the opportunity to soak in the silence and pray for the students who were deep in prayer, busily scribbling their thoughts, or just enjoying the quiet. When the silence ended, our cabin group discussed what they reflected on during that time. Every kid had something different to say, but each one of them wrestled with the goodness of Jesus’ love in a profound way. Randy was the first to share. He pulled out his paper, and it had one simple word on it. It said, “YES!” That one word was Randy’s response to the Gospel. He said yes to Jesus! Earlier in the week, he told me about his tendency to make poor choices and his lack of desire to change that. But after his choice that night to follow Jesus, his heart had already begun changing. He committed to start making some changes in his decision-making process upon his return home. Randy was one of 55 students who trusted Jesus that night! Please lift up your prayers for them as they take their first steps of faith.
Nygel Simms City Life Director Freedom in Christ “W hen I lived on the east side of Chicago, my family and I were homeless for two months going from house to house, and, some days, we stayed at a park. Many of my family members were murdered through gun violence, and my dad is not even in my life. One day I was walking to school and a group of guys drove up alongside of me and asked if I was a particular person. I told them no, that they had me confused with someone else. I walked away towards an alley because I noticed they had guns in the car. As I walked down the alley, I could see in my peripheral them pulling out their guns. I quickly hid behind a dumpster as they fired a few shots at me. I could feel the wind of the bullets pass by me...” This is just a small part of “Allen’s” story, a 17-yearold we took to YFC Camp in Maryland. With tears streaming down his face, he shared the rest of his heartbreaking story for the first time with his peers. Though initially embarrassed by his painful story, Allen experienced the freedom that comes from being open and honest about where one is at in their life. Later that evening after hearing the Gospel, he experienced an even greater freedom when he gave his life to Jesus! PRAYER REQUESTS AND PRAISES • Praise for the many students that said “YES” to Jesus at YFC camps this summer! • Prayer for those still searching for the hope found in Jesus. • Prayer for our staff as we prepare for the upcoming school year! • Prayer that staff positions are filled so we can reach more students with the Gospel message! FOLLOW US! @YFCnIN @YFCNIN @yfcnin
NORTHERN INDIANA Thank you Larry Lance for over 40 years at YFC! “I’m so fortunate because I get to sit on the front row seat every week and hear miracle stories of lives being changed,” Larry Lance, CEO, says. “Who wouldn’t want that job?” It’s one of the reasons Larry fell in love with Youth for Christ, and why he has dedicated 40 years of his life to this organization. Larry first took his seat in the front row of those miracle stories in 1976, when he started with YFC as a part-time Campus Life director at Huntington North and Homestead High Schools. Moving through a variety of roles, Larry became the executive director in the early 80’s. Under his leadership we expanded our reach by growing Campus Life programs, starting the Family Care Center (which provided family counseling) and the Primetime Center, which is now called City Life. Former Primetime Director, and current senior pastor at New Covenant Worship Center, Luther Whitfield, believes YFC is strengthened as a whole by Larry’s ability to lead, build relationships, and invest into people. “Larry loves building and speaking into the lives of people and coming alongside them,” Whitfield says. “He wants to see people advance for the cause of Christ.” That desire to see others advance led Larry to the YFC national office where he served as the vice president of field development for seven years, helping grow and develop chapters across the country. Returning to Fort Wayne in 2010, Larry is now spearheading the movement and mission of YFCNIN as our CEO. Through his leadership, we have successfully expanded from our original four county reach to now encompassing 12 counties. “We started out as little Fort Wayne Area Youth for Christ,” Judge Wendy Davis, Allen Superior Court judge and YFCNIN board member of over 10 years, says, “and now we are Youth for Christ of Northern Indiana, and that was under Larry’s leadership.” Larry’s steadfast leadership and dedication through the years is recognized by both his staff and members of the community. “Simply put, Larry is one of the best leaders in this community, and we are all lucky to have him in our lives,” says Bill Kinder, vice president of Michael Kinder and Sons, Inc. and YFCNIN board member. Throughout his 40 years with YFC, we have grown and changed as the times have changed, but his dedication to the mission has never wavered – to raise up lifelong followers of Jesus Christ.
Chief Ministry Director Roger Vezeau A summer of revival S ummer! Like Olaf in Disney’s animated film Frozen we all seem to like the idea of summer. We dream of a more relaxed schedule, reading more, exercising more and the list grows. In the YFC world, we look forward to summer primarily for one thing…a change of rhythm. This change of rhythm does wonders for our team in a number of ways: more family time, vacations, renewing our spirits and recharging the batteries just to name a few. But it also opens up great opportunities to more intense and deeper relational ministry through our camps and the trips we do with teens. As you read this, our staff are winding down their summer schedules and gearing up for another great ministry year. We are praising God for the amazing way He worked in teen’s lives this summer. We know that from camp alone we had over 70 teens say YES to Jesus for the first time or YES to walk in surrender to Him as their Lord and Savior. As we wind down our summer schedule, and at the same time gear up for a new ministry year, I ask that you pray for your staff in your community. We need an army of people (God’s army) to join us daily in prayer, build trusting relationships, give financially towards the mission, and encourage one another to daily build into the lives of our youth. Join us as we seek to Give Life to their Stories with the love of Jesus! There are so many more stories from our summer trips and relational ministry actions. We hope to share some of those stories throughout the year. THANK YOU, CORPORATE SPONSORS! LEGACY — $40,000 Brotherhood Mutual LH Carbide Mary Cross Tippmann Foundation Micropulse Parkview Health Parrish Leasing Rosema Corporation Sweetwater Sound EXECUTIVE — $25,000 Color Master, Inc. Michael Kinder & Sons, Inc. Professional Parkwest Properties LEADERSHIP — $15,000 ALLEN COUNTY iAB Financial Bank Pizza Hut Steel Dynamics Foundation WHITLEY COUNTY Dale & Elaine Haupert Family Foundation WABASH COUNTY Instrumental Machine & Development PARTNER — $10,000 ALLEN COUNTY Ambassador Enterprises Grabill Financial Services, Inc. Larson Financial Group McCampbell Enterprises Unlimited O’Neal Excavating & Construction, Inc. Parkview Ortho Hospital PPG Cardiology WHITLEY COUNTY Columbia City Plastics DEKALB, LAGRANGE, NOBLE, AND STEUBEN COUNTIES RP Wakefield Van’s Home Center HUNTINGTON COUNTY Huntington Sheet Metal, Inc. Innovative Edge Kline Farms Shawmak Enterprises Stephen DRP, Inc. WABASH COUNTY Stephan DRP, Inc. Please consider becoming a corporate sponsor. For more information, contact Mike Stetzel at mikestetzel@yfcnin.org.
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