Jesus, the Church and Young People

A vision for disciple-making youth ministry

(From the January - March 2020 issue of VOX)

Based in the cross-border North West of Ireland, a dynamic youth ministry is seeing exciting new developments. Here Andy Lamberton and Clodagh Dickson tell us about the work of Exodus in the North West.

Memories of our founder and chairman Norman Lynas (who died in November) are very much in our thoughts at the moment. Exodus was first established in Portstewart in 1997. Norman and his wife Lynda wanted to find a positive alternative to the nightclub scene so that young people could celebrate and enjoy themselves in a healthy way. He was inspired by Exodus 3 when God commissioned Moses to bring His people out of slavery and into His promised land. For Norman and Lynda the “Egypt” of the 90s was the nightclubs. Today, there are different types of slavery for young people - problems like anxiety and isolation.

We cannot over-emphasise the difference the smartphone has made in the everyday lives of our teenagers. If you were going to reach a different culture, you would need to learn their language and their customs. In the same way, our young people are from a different culture! Exodus seeks to be a resource to help local churches to reach out to them.

For example, one of the programmes we offer involves taking young people on discipleship trips to Eastern Europe after a small group journey. We call these Exodus Teams. During these trips, many of the young people do a two-day retreat without running water, electricity or smart phones.

I remembered asking the question, “Do you think society would be better without the Internet and social media?” They all agreed! But they couldn’t even imagine life without them. Even the 15-year-olds understand that smartphones are hugely destructive but they think, “I won’t get on in life without this.”

For 16-weeks leading up to a mission in Eastern Europe, the young people meet each week in a small group. As they start praying together, learning from the Bible and sharing, transformation begins to take place. It is so exciting when a young person turns to a friend in need and naturally says, “Let’s pray about that.” You can often notice the evidence of discipleship in the mix of conversations as well as those defining moments.

Exodus in the North West

In 2014, Exodus North West was launched to serve the city of Derry as well as county Donegal and beyond. Ultimately our heart is for the whole of Ireland, to see many young people experiencing this full life that Jesus offers and acknowledging Him as their king.

At the launch service, the European CEO of Exodus said, “Maybe there is somebody here who could bring the vision into Sligo.” Two-and-a-half years ago, local churches in Sligo phoned to ask if we could develop the ministry there. Today we have a new worker (Claudio Barguena) who is based in Sligo and supporting the local churches to develop disciple-making youth ministry across the region.

Reaching and discipling young people

The landscape in the North West is very different to Coleraine or Portstewart where there are often churches on every corner. But in all these places, there are young people who are looking for life and so we hold tightly to three things.

Firstly, we believe in Jesus. Whatever is going on in a young person’s life, it is incomparable to the difference Jesus makes. He is the best. As Christian leaders we can sometimes forget that the Gospel still works and it is only the Gospel that works - it is only Jesus who brings life and life in all its fullness. There is no other option. Underneath that there are two beliefs that help position Exodus as part of the Body of Christ: We believe in young people and we believe in the local church.

We believe in Young People

Discipleship is a Christ-life transformation that touches every part of who we are and leads to each disciple becoming a disciple maker. We really want to inspire and empower young people to become Christ’s ambassadors to their friends and family.

If God is going to reach this new generation, we need to train, equip and inspire young people themselves to be missional. At the moment, we are working with 40 young people aged 15 to 18 who are learning how to relate to their friends in their football club, or choir, in their school or college. We equip them to be ready to share their story and invite their friends to “come and see.”

Ultimately if you were reaching a new culture, you would have to do things differently and to try new things; you cannot go on autopilot. The same holds true for our young people! If you are a church leader who is wondering how to reach out to young people and a young person comes in with new ideas, please believe in their intentions and their heart, even if the ideas seem odd. Allow them to run with things.

Young people need depth. We will turn them away if we make the Gospel too easy. Instead of the chaos of the world, they need the rhythm of discipleship. Instead of the isolation of the world and of their bedroom, they need to experience the presence of God in the company of (ordinary) saints.

“Jesus made disciples through deep relationships that were missional and adventurous.”

Young people also need to understand that life in Christ is adventurous - it is amazing and it lasts for all eternity. If you begin to think about that, you will be blown away. Jesus made disciples through deep relationships that were missional and adventurous. Our small group programme is not just a Bible study. We even get on planes and go somewhere and come back to learn more about Jesus.

We believe in the Local Church

Ultimately we want to see the church stepping closer to young people and young people stepping closer to Jesus. One of the main roles of the church is to pass on faith to the next generation. The church needs these young people. They bring new life and fresh creativity to our congregations. They have a contribution to make and they can do this with great energy and depth.

Mentoring is vitally important in this. We need to understand that what young people need most from their church is not enough entertainment to keep them settled but deep friendships that encourage and support them to live lives of faith. Exodus encourages older Christians to support and mentor young people. We are not perfect examples but we are real examples of what it means to love and follow Jesus. Character is measured and developed in years not weeks and so we need to mentor people over a long period of time.

“We want to see the church stepping closer to young people and young people stepping closer to Jesus.”

We are hoping to inspire churches to understand what young people need and to help them in their discipleship journey. They don’t need a sage on the stage but a guide by their side. Anyone can watch a YouTube clip, but meeting with someone face to face is what really helps transformation to take place in people’s lives.

Recently Exodus worked with eight other organisations and denominations to launch a new app called “Walk with Me” aimed at helping people to support and mentor young people. The app provides questions a mentor can ask as they meet up with young people.

A lot of local churches want their older Christians to have connection with younger Christians but are scared of safeguarding issues. With the App comes a website that means you can formalise the mentoring process to ensure young people are kept safe. It runs through the church’s own safeguarding policy.

Our vision is to see the church in the North West making disciples naturally. That may take more than 50 years. I hope we will be seeing young people who have Jesus’ vision for discipleship ingrained in their DNA, who go on to become church and community leaders bringing hope to this broken world and life to the Body of Christ.

As an organisation, we are here to stand with the Body of Christ. Whether that be in providing a team experience or helping launch mentoring, or facilitating a learning community around youth ministry and disciple making. We long to serve local churches to see generations of young people boldly following Jesus and becoming lifelong disciple makers. Please feel free to get in touch.  www.exodusonline.org.uk.