Linked Post: Faith Village Contributor Spotlight

FaithVillage is one of our favorite content sites, not just for youth ministry stuff, but for Christ-focused content in general. We've enjoyed partnering with them to make some of the awesome content from the ym360 Blog more available to the people who need it most. 

Recently, FaithVillage did a really gracious interview that both looked at the heart and mission behind ym360 and asked some pretty good discipleship-based questions of me. 

Below is an excerpt from the interview I did with Ryan from FaithVillage. To see the entire interview, click the link after the excerpt. 

FV: What are some of the challenges you see youth leaders facing today?

Andy: I love this question. My answer would probably be different if you ask me in a month, but for today, two come to mind:

1) The distracted nature of our teenagers (and our culture in general). The teenage world is so full of stimulus that fights for their attention (Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, and so on). We know that discipleship is a slow, spirit-fueled process. Growing in Christ-likeness takes time. And yet, the multimedia-driven, soundbite-saturated nature of our society creates a landscape where slowing down and focusing on how we fit into God's mission is almost impossible. So, distraction is a real challenge.

2) Our shrinking influence. Most youth leaders are lucky if they get a couple of hours a week with a teenager. Many don't get that. Our ability to influence teenagers has shrunk so drastically over the years; with the increased business of our church's families and the overall downward trends in church attendance, our weekly opportunities have dwindled. It's why we have to make our time count. That's why ym360 values training and Christ-centered resources that help youth workers maximize their kingdom impact in the limited time they have with students.

To read the rest of the interview, CLICK HERE to head over to FaithVillage.