Thank you so much for being part of our YFC Alumni family and for taking a few minutes to check out a few stories that connect us to our Mission, which is simply to help more young people become lifelong followers of Jesus Christ!
God continues to lead our YFC Alumni family to enjoy connecting our past with YFC today and tomorrow:
YFC YESTERYEAR
Thank you to one of our alums, Keith Bingham, a volunteer Campus Life Director from 1969-1973 in Charlotte, NC. Keith Bingham is now serving Christ at Lewisville United Methodist Church, Lewisville, North Carolina. His story is a great reminder of why we do what we do!
Keith Bingham:
After graduating from high school, Paul Davis, director for Charlotte YFC (North Carolina) asked me to “live and sleep at” the haunted house they had under construction for a fund raiser (popular back then). I actually accepted Christ in the kitchen of that “haunted house.” Though I had gone to church all my life, I really saw in the lives of the youth who came to work on the house, something I did not have: their love for Christ, me, and others made me want that for myself.
After two years of attending a local community college in Charlotte, and running the high school Campus Life club, I headed to college two counties away. The Campus Life Club had gone so well, I felt the need to try and start a club near the college. With the blessing of Charlotte YFC and the involvement of a Lutheran church located nearby, in two years 75% of the student body came to one of our meetings or events (pillow fight, etc). Many found Christ, including the school drunk. God truly opened that door.
After Asbury Theological Seminary in Kentucky I took my first church in 1976. Immediately I volunteered to help start an area-wide youth program, organizing a number of churches holding periodic rallies and activities. Most were small churches with few youth, but together we were strong.
Over the years, I have worked with each church, teaching them what I learned in YFC, training youth counselors, etc. All my churches over the years developed great youth programs and I still volunteered to help each “district” I was in, to develop training, rallies, etc. for all the area churches.
Now, as a pastor of a 915-member church, I also teach “evangelism, faith sharing” classes, helping persons, to use an old YFC idea to reach out “one to one.” It’s been an amazing adventure in ministry and God has blessed.
I often pray for YFC and its ministry, knowing what impact it can have. In addition to my role with YFC Alumni, I am involved with Leadership Development for YFC/USA. During the summer, I did a City Life ministry site visit to Columbus, Ohio. Words can’t express how moved I was as I witnessed the incredible needs of kids in an inner city where the poverty, crime, addictions, sexual and physical abuse, and brokenness create such a culture of hopelessness.
And, here’s a little update on one of YFC’s finest for many years.
Willie Foote:
Willie sustained a brain injury about a year-and-a-half ago and is at home now. He continues to make slow progress, but the family is thankful that he continues to show improvement. As a result of the injury, Willie is often not able to remember events in the past. However, while in Kansas City, they got together with some old friends from YFC and talked about the “rally days” and sang rally songs. Willie remembered all the words of the songs. In spite of the injury, Willie’s deep love and devotion to the things of God remain. Continue to pray for Willie’s health and a full recovery. You may contact Willie and Virginia at http://www.carepages.com/login (search Willie Foote).
YFC TODAY & TOMORROW
I can think of two words that describe what God is pouring out in a neighborhood known as “The Bottoms” – AMAZING GRACE! Each student pictured with me here has an amazing story of Christ freeing them from sin and bondage. They came to know Christ because of a relationship with caring YFC City Life staff who chose to live in their neighborhood and are now discipling them to reach others to become lifelong followers of Jesus. Watch for upcoming newsletters that will give you more details about YFC’s ministry called City Life!
Kristen Thomas:
My story with YFC began back when I was only eight years old. My brother was a sixth grader and went to Campus Life at Woodside Middle School in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Occasionally I would get to go see a club meeting and would end up crying in the back because I wasn’t able to participate, I could only watch. I was a part of Campus Life throughout all of middle school and high school and served as a student leader from the 7-12 grades. I knew the Lord before I ever began going to Campus Life, but what I learned through Campus Life was how to have a personal relationship with Jesus and the importance that I share that relationship with the friends around me.
While I was at college my freshman year, my old Campus Life Director mailed me a letter saying he was hopeful that I would find myself in full-time ministry someday. I laughed out loud and brushed it off but God had a plan. The summer after my sophomore year at Purdue I interned for the National Service Center for YFCamp. That summer God showed me the passion I had for doing ministry with high school students. It was then I realized God had called me, not only into full-time ministry, but specifically to be a high school Campus Life Director.
I joined the YFC family July 6, 2009, and have been working since then at starting the first Campus Life ministry site in Denver in over 15 years.
The Cherokee Trail High School Campus Life vision is to see every person in the Cherokee Trail community experience the love of Jesus. Our mission is to display the Truth of the Gospel by living our lives among students; giving them the opportunity to respond to the person of Jesus Christ and to help them realize their potential as lifelong followers of Jesus. I am passionate about the opportunity God has given me to speak hope into the lives of these hurting and broken high school students by living my life with them and sharing with them Christ’s abundant and radical love.
Youth for Christ has a calling from the Lord to give every young person the opportunity to respond to Jesus. That takes a joint effort with partnerships from other organizations, volunteers, financial supporters, and a great deal of prayer supporters. We also can’t overlook the importance of Alumni involvement. You are a walking testimony of how God uses Youth for Christ to come alongside youth around the country. Maybe that means you contact a local chapter to volunteer your time or to give financially. Perhaps it is donating a gift for an auction or offering to share your testimony at a banquet. You have a network - who do you know that needs to be introduced to YFC? Set it up, be the liaison. Take action. We can’t do it alone! We need your help. Thank you!
SO WHAT CAN WE DO?
¨ Pray for YFC, in your local area, nationally and internationally;
¨ If you don’t have a YFC local chapter you want to invest in, you can donate to the National YFC movement by going to www.yfc.org/give;
¨ Encourage other YFC Alumni to register to receive information from YFC Alumni either by mail or by email by sending your information to addresses@yfc.net and request to be added to the alumni mailing list;
¨ Send in your ideas for Alumni Stories to info@yfcalumni.org;
¨ Remember to check out our YFC National Brochure at http://www.yfcusa.org/j/brochure. It is full of great kid stories and an overview of our mission, our numerous ministries and needs.
Serving with you,
Byron Emmert
P.S. Be sure to check out Dan Wolgemuth's Friday Fragments devotional articles. His recent articles can be seen at: https://yfcusa.org/central/blogs/blog/fragments