July Update

The hurricane hit us hard in July, and we were without electricity for eight days, but we’re doing OK. Thanks for your prayers and concern. Carol and I took a week off to recharge, and now we’re ready to dive back in! We were also blessed to visit with our long-time friend, mentor, and founder of Links International, Norman Barnes.

NNYM Texas Fall Initiatives:
This Fall, we’re gearing up for a “crescendo of boldness” with events like See You at the Pole, Claim Your Campus, Campus Summit National Webinar, “Accelerate Texas” gatherings, Fields of Faith, and Dare2Share Live. We now have 60 strategists across Texas working together to reach every student with the gospel.

Here is a quick July Report:

Texas Camps: Our Network team trained 2,023 students in gospel conversations across five camps (Highland Lakes, 220, and three Wild Weeks) and 50 leaders in gospel-advancing ministry. We saw around 275 professions of faith from all 5 camps and 60 students called to ministry at Camp 220.

Ongoing and Upcoming Initiatives:

Global Leadership Conference Partnership: We’re presenting a "Next Gen" track for youth leaders worldwide. (Over 3500 youth leaders signed up so far)>
Creative Team and Published Books: Our team collaborated to update and produce three campus resources: "Campus Connections" and "Awesome Way to Pray" leader/student editions. Barry St. Clair is releasing them with training materials for youth leaders. The website includes "Jesus Focused Ministry Online" training in four languages, and Barry's 50-plus training and discipleship resources are now available digitally for free. (See www.barrystclair.com)
Articles: Interlinc-media published some of my Bible studies and articles, reaching 15,000 youth leaders globally.
Partnerships: NXT Move DFW partners selected the first five churches in the metroplex to model strategies to reverse the trend of students leaving the faith. We’re expanding our HUB leaders and strategists across Texas with regional “Accelerate Texas” gatherings and events. Lake Church Arlington will host one of our first events.
Campus Ministry: We will stream a nine-month mission trip presentation from Student Discipleship in Burleson on August 6th emphasizing prayer, care, and share on campuses.
Service Initiatives: We held a large backpack drive (around 200 families) with a local low-income community. Ministry leader, Taylor Johnson, has seen students saved, discipled, and called to ministry. Our Declaration youth group assisted Texans on Mission with post-hurricane efforts.
Campus Missionaries: I continue to invest in our Declaration youth leadership by supporting students in leading worship, mentoring, and guiding campus missionaries representing six local schools. Additionally, I mentor five youth pastors state-wide.
Footprints on Campus: NNYM Texas (and nationally) is promoting prayer walks and school adoptions at each of the 65,000 secondary schools in the U.S. the week of Aug. 12.
See You at the Pole: Plans are underway for this year’s prayer gathering on September 25, with prayer events the Saturday before and after sponsored by Claim Your Campus. Helpful resources will be available at syatp.com in early August. Our new resource “Awesome Way to Pray” will be used as a follow-up. Last year at SYATP, we saw a 35% increase in participation over the previous year.

OUR VISION: To see every youth leader thrive in a deeper connection with God and each other so that every young person is changed by the story of Jesus.

MISSION STATEMENT: We create collaborative spaces for youth leaders to be personally encouraged, professionally equipped, and spiritually strengthened for faithful and effective ministry with the next generation.

We are so grateful for your partnership! Thank you for supporting the work of NNYM!