Youth for Christ (YFC) is the name of a number of previously unaffiliated evangelical Protestant religious campaigns which led to the creation of Youth for Christ International in 1946.
A Catholic version known as CFC – Youth for Christ is a counter organization.
Youth for Christ is a worldwide Christian movement working with young people around the globe. Motivated by their faith in Jesus Christ, they share the good news of God with young people.
Youth for Christ is made up of tens of thousands of indigenous people in over 100 nations each seeking to spread God’s message of hope to the young people of their nation.
What do Youth for Christ programs look like? It’s like asking what the weather is like in the large country. It all depends on where you are. Youth for Christ uniquely reaches young people in ways that are relevant to them in the context of their culture and life circumstances.
Following World War II, some Protestant evangelists began ministering to the youth of America and especially the younger members of the U.S. Armed Forces. These formerly unaffiliated activities became collectively known as "Youth for Christ" campaigns and were inspired by the work of Jack Wyrtzen in New York during 1940. Wyrtzen was a young ex-insurance salesman who had also played the trombone in a cavalry band. The Youth for Christ campaign idea spread to Washington, D.C., Detroit, Indianapolis and St. Louis. In 1944 Torrey Johnson, a Baptist minister and pastor of Chicago's Midwest Bible Church staged "Chicagoland for Christ" and became the most successful advocate of this type of campaign.
The British branch is now a member of The National Council for Voluntary Youth Services (NCVYS),[1] by virtue of its work for the personal and social development of young people.
In 1945 Charles Templeton of Toronto, Canada, and Torrey Johnson met with a number of youth leaders from around the United States at Winona Lake, Indiana. Their agenda was to form a working group that would become an organization known as "Youth for Christ International" which was born in 1946. Torrey Johnson was elected as its first president.
Evangelist Billy Graham was the first full-time evangelist of YFCI. Graham took over Johnson's local radio program called "Songs in the Night" which was broadcast over a local station in Illinois and predated YFCI. Later still Graham left YFCI to form his own evangelistic association and commence the Hour of Decision broadcast.
Success for YFCI came from the promotional publicity in the newspapers and magazines owned or influenced by William Randolph Hearst. Due to the publicity by Hearst during a Los Angeles campaign, Billy Graham suddenly became a media star.
By 1946 (TIME magazine, February 4, 1946), Youth for Christ International had approximately 300 units in the United States and possibly 200 or more overseas. The average attendance at rallies in 1946 was 350. The largest attendance at that time was 70,000 at Soldier's Field in Chicago.
The Youth for Christ organization members provide assistance to their communities. In September 2006, The Watseka Times Republic reported that the Youth for Christ opened a new place called the Breakaway Center, in Iroquois Valley, IN. At the center they would provide games, food and activities, but their main focus is to provide mentoring and tutoring. The Times Tribune reported that through the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Youth for Christ, two sisters from Scranton, PA took a trip to Africa and stayed 16 days in the summer of 2006. They helped build a two story building, stated constructing the floor of a well to collect rain water and they went from hut-to-hut in a village to show the movie Passion of the Christ while a native translated. After being organized for 20 years, the Mississippi Gulf Youth for Christ worked in 19 schools and three detention centers in Jackson, Hancock and Harrison counties. Youth for Christ opened a youth center in Ocean Spring, MS, so that kids who wouldn’t normally go to church could go on Saturday evenings and skateboard, play pool, hang out with their friends and learn about Jesus Christ.[2] The Herald Net in Everett, WA reported that the Youth for Christ got together more than 500 teens and adults, on October 20, 2007 to work over 52 service projects. The event was called City Service. This group was a collaboration of local churches, organized by Brian Muchmore. Some of the projects involved helping the elderly and the disabled who could not clean or take care of their homes. The rewarding part of this project seeing the young people giving back to their communities and this also helped build bridges between their local churches. The Globe Gazette reported that the Youth for Christ set out on a 10 day mission trip to Mexico. This group of teens from Manson City, IA consisted of 38 women and 21 men. They volunteered to lead Vacation Bible School to 150 kids and helped with the construction on three Protestant churches. The Morrison County Record said the Central Minnesota Youth for Christ organized a group of women together to start a project called “Teen Parent”. In this program they help teen mothers by meeting with them weekly throughout the whole school year, at the Continuing Education Center, which is located at the St. Francis Campus in Little Falls, Minnesota. Through this program the teen mothers can earn their high school diplomas in a more comfortable environment. The Youth for Christ group raised their own funds for the program, which includes prenatal and parenting skills, baby items needed for childcare, mentoring program and networking activities. This group effort benefitted the students and their children as well as the Continuing Education Center. Although there aren’t any classes during the summer the mentors still make themselves available and the girls have the phone numbers to make contact if necessary. Much of the fundraising for this cause is done in the summer, during their down time from the regular school schedule. The Columbus Telegram reported that the Youth for Christ provided an afterschool program at Columbus Middle School in Columbus, NE. The program offer student’s 6-8 grades, the opportunity to learn cooking, fishing and taekwondo. They figured that most kids would be targeted for mischief between the hours of 3-6pm, so the afterschool program was definitely a positive way to keep the kids safe while they continued to learn and have fun at the same time. This is something that’s needed in every community because it would help build character and responsibility into the children as well as show them the love of Jesus Christ. The Examiner reports the Youth for Christ held a Fusion Youth Conference, in March 2007. This conference was held to target teens that may deal with suicidal thoughts, drugs loneliness or anger. The Youth for Christ wanted to provide the teen with the tools to help them grow spiritually and be able to cope with the problems they may face at home or school. This event took place in Ocean Spring, MN and the event bought in over 1,000 teens from the surrounding counties. Their main focus is spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ. The Examiner also reported on the Baltimore, Maryland region of Youth for Christ. This group of youths collected food, supplies and furniture to help the residents of the Dominican Republic. A hurricane hit the small island and destroyed everything that the people owned. The youth group also donated clothing and rice, which was one of the main item lost in the storm. Now the Youth for Christ take trips to Pimentel, every year to volunteer providing medical clinics, helping a school and digging wells.
Dan Wolgemuth, a 1977 Taylor University graduate, is the current president of Youth for Christ/USA.[3]
David Wraight, is the current International President of Youth for Christ.