More Than a Bay Area Youth Group

BACC Y (Teen and Middle School) Ministry

 

 

“If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader”
John Quincy Adams

If you’re just looking for a Bay Area youth group, then we’re glad you’ve come to hear about our Y-Ministry. Unfortunately… you’ve come to the wrong place, because our Y-Ministry is incredibly more than a youth group.

Consider the following leadership opportunities available in the Y:

• Teen and Middle School Summer Camps
• Friday Night Events and Devotionals
• Life-applicable Bible discussion groups
• Y-Partners
• Peer Mentorship
• Middle School Basketball League
• Coaching at E-Soccer
• Volunteering at E-Karate
• Student Internships

Our Y-Ministry is more than a Bay Area youth group – it is a community and a culture that transforms teens into leaders. As the quote at the top describes, if your actions influence a friend to dream more, do more, and become more, then you are a leader. And we believe that within every teenager is a leader waiting to emerge.

This kind of transformation, underlying every aspect of our Y-Ministry, cannot be described by mere bullet points. No, it’s a story to be told.

Leading with Compassion

Elicia Locke started studying the Bible at the age of 13. When she was growing up, her little brother had a hard time learning to read. But determined to help, she began spending countless hours drawing and narrating superhero comic strips so her brother could actually enjoy the challenge instead of backing down.

Years later, several of her friends in Y-Ministry, including Cassi Hoyt and Shaterica Sullivan, decided to study the Bible with Elicia so she could use her empathy to become a disciple that leads people to God by teaching them the power of compassion.

Because of her transformation, she has helped her friends Olivia Jones and Aubrey Kring become Christians. Amazingly, her brother is now excited to study the Bible, and to this day, he still loves to read.

Leading with Innovation

Growing up going to church doesn’t mean you’ll be excited about God, and that was certainly true for Nick Roby. Even though church was ingrained into his life by the time he entered high school, he still developed a very cynical view of God, which was significantly colored by his misunderstanding of why God allowed his older brother to have special needs.

When Nick entered the Y-Ministry, he found friends who cared about him enough to challenge his view of God by teaching him to see obstacles as opportunities. Following Nick’s transformation, he started an E-Soccer club at his high school so dozens of his friends could support children with special needs like his brother. Now, continuing this culture of transformation, his brother has also become both a disciple and a leader.

Leading with Friendship

In the fall of 2005, eight incoming freshmen and sophomores in high school came together to form a group called Double Edge – a predecessor to the Y-Ministry – where they openly engaged and challenged each other’s excuses for being cowardly and not becoming Christians.

One Wednesday night, while watching clips from Top Gun, each teen decided that the only way to be bold was to build real friendships worth fighting for. Everyone who continued into the Y-Ministry became disciples, and are all currently leaders and college students at schools like Stanford, U.C. Berkeley, and San Jose State.

What the Y-Ministry provides is a community of determined peers, supporting mentors, and faithful parents who believe that when we come together, God can turn us into dynamic leaders.

The unknown is now known, and he’s calling for a radical life-change.
Acts 17: 30 (Message)

So why do we believe so strongly in building our Y-Ministry? Because when a teenager’s life transforms, so does his family, his school, and our future. This is so much more than a Bay Area youth group.

Resources:

• e-Soccer
• e-Karate