Young Adults of Worth, or YAOW, is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit agency with a mission of keeping more young adults in a relationship with Christ after graduating high school.
The Need
Over the past 20 years, more and more Christian raised young adults have stepped away from their faith. Studies estimate that as high as 70% walk away from their faith after graduating High School. Some notable studies are from the Barna Group, Ranier Research and LifeWay Research.
Whether they go off to college or enter the workforce, they face the world for the first time on their own. The world starts to attack their faith, and they start to question what they believe and why they believe it. The “fun” places and people they start hanging out with present temptations and peer pressures that prove too much for them. Whether consciously or not, they end up walking away from their faith.
We recognized what studies have already shown, which is that there are several reasons young adults walk away from their faith. They are:
- Today’s Christian parents tend to rely too heavily on the Church to train their children about God, instead of following the biblical mandate found in Proverbs 22:6 to “Train up a child in the way he should go, and even when he is old he will not depart from it.”
- The young adult never made their faith their own, and instead just road on the coat tails of their parent’s faith. They never had a “come to Jesus” moment, where they themselves acknowledged their sin and need of a savior, believed that Christ died to pay the punishment for their sin, repented from their sins, and asked Jesus to be their personal Lord and Savior.
- They lost their community of believing friends. All of their Christian friends left for college, joined the military, or started a career. So they stopped going to Church, because none of their friends were there.
- They were never trained in Apologetics, and therefore they didn’t know how to articulate and defend their faith. When in college, the military, or the workforce, their faith was attacked by professors, students, friends and coworkers. They started to question if their faith was real, if their religion was true, if there are many ways to God, and even if there is a God.
- There is a lack of Christian places where they could hang out with their Christian friends, and meet new ones. Therefore they go to bars and nightclubs to socialize, where they meet non-Christians and are tempted and pressured into sin.
You might say, “70% leave their faith, but they will come back later in life.” Studies show that only 30% come back later in life, so most never return. That is such a shame because they grew up in a Christian home and in the Church, but still they end up lost. Normally what makes them return to their faith is one or more of these:
- They get married
- They have children
- They settle into a long-term career
The problem with this young adult generation is that they are taking longer to get married, longer to have children, and longer to settle into a long-term career. This is making the problem worse.
The Focus
YAOW’s primary focus is on keeping more and more 18 to 30 year old’s in the Church. This age group are the ones that Satan seems to hit hard with temptations, and combined with their lack of spiritual maturity, they make unwise decisions to leave their faith; often without even realizing what is happening or why they are doing it.
We do this by:
- Encouraging young adults to continue their walk with Christ towards maturity, by attending, participating and supporting their local church.
- Supporting and helping other young adult ministries to be successful within Collin County Texas.
- Holding young adult events to provide fun and safe places, where they can meet other Christians.
Giving parents Biblical advice on training their children in the way they should go, as stated in Proverbs 22:6. Studies show that 70% of Christian raised young adults walk away from their faith after high school, which means that only 30% stay. We encourage and challenge parents to start parenting biblically at an early age and continue through young adulthood, to increase their child’s chances of being in the 30%.
The Funding
Our main funding is provided by individual supporters. God willing, more and more Christians who are passionate about young adults and the future of the Church, will join us in changing the tide of young adults leaving their faith.
Please prayerfully consider making a tax deductible donation today to help us continue this much needed ministry.