Youth for Christ Austria Missional Youth Work

Youth for Christ Austria –

Missional Youth Work

Youth for Christ Austria believes that every young person should be seen, heard and valued

Young people are important members of society – present and future. We are here to engage with, equip and empower them to live out their potential to the full.

We would like to invest in three target groups:

  • Volunteers
  • Non-churched kids and teens
  • Third Culture Kids

Why volunteers?

In the discussions with pastors and youth leaders from different churches, basically everyone indicates that a new perspective on youth work is needed here. They are open to innovation and training. Youth for Christ Austria wants to train and coach the (potential) volunteers of the churches in how to properly carry out their (missional) youth work themselves.

Why non-churched kids and teens?

There are only little missionary or outreach activities of the churches aimed at non-churched kids and teens. The gap between these two target groups is large. Churches do not know how to reach the non-churched kids and teens, while this target group is very large. Because of the aforementioned church and cultural history, kids and young people receive almost nothing from the gospel.

Why Third Culture Kids?

Because, among other things, the United Nations is located in Vienna, there are quite a few ‘expats’ in Vienna. People who live in another country than their home country for shorter or longer periods of time, mainly because of work. The children of these so-called expats are called Third Culture Kids (TCK’s). Because of the mobile existence of these expats and therefore also of their children, the children grow up in a mix of cultures: the culture of the home country of their parents and the cultures of the countries where they (temporarily) live.

As a result, these TCK’s have no place to settle and therefore no real ‘home’. This nomadic existence and the accompanying needs and challenges are often not seen or understood by churches or other institutions. We would like to give these TCK’s a place where they can feel ‘at home’ for this period and hear about Jesus (who could also be seen as a TCK).