What is now Youth Alive was birthed two decades ago in a program called Youth to Youth. The program focused on drug prevention has continued to be successful these twenty years in the Southern Asia-Pacific, North Pacific, and South Africa Indian Ocean Divisions.
Today, after a rebranded launch in 2018, Youth Alive looks vastly different, with a focus on discipleship, mentorship, and whole health for the youth of the church and those connected to our church communities.
This new version of Youth Alive uses the iCor model of Christ’s method (pictured below) to build resiliency in youth, connect them, and prepare them for mission. This model sets Youth Alive apart from other programs of its kind and includes reaching IN (fostering relationships), reaching OUT (promoting mission), reaching UP (nurturing spiritual growth), and reaching BEYOND (cultivating empowerment). The intentional focus on these four areas cultivates in youth and young adults seven essential items shown to prevent at-risk behaviors in young people:
High self-esteem
Positive peer group influence
Youth connecting with adults
Adults connecting with youth
Supervision
Modeling of decision-making skills
Christian values incorporated in the lives of youth
Dr. Katia Reinert, program coordinator, explains how connecting youth with adults and youth with youth contributes to the success of the Youth Alive program. Her experience as a clinical Family Nurse Practitioner and her advanced studies in trauma, family violence, and resiliency, combined with her experience with Adventist Recovery Ministries, has prepared her for this unique calling. She is now dedicated to bringing the Youth Alive program to even more divisions in 2023, and by 2025 hopes to see the program thriving in all 13 divisions of the Seventh-day Adventist Church.
Youth Alive was relaunched in 2018, leading to an immediate impact on the lives of young people. When the COVID-19 pandemic necessitated a General Conference mental health initiative, the Health Ministries department and Youth Alive led the project, launching an online video series called Youth Alive Mental Health Talks. The videos featuring youth and young adults include funny, motivational, fact-based, health-focused, and uplifting stories.
The Youth Alive online magazine features articles to support youth and young adults’ mental, physical, social, and emotional health, as well as videos and images to inspire, educate, and share on social media.
The Youth Alive library makes available ebooks, book reviews, movies, and blog posts to youth and young adults – all free.
Through the Youth Alive Portal, youth and young adults can access courses ranging from money management, personal devotion, relationships, substance abuse, and lifestyle health. To access these courses, youth should register through the portal. Once registered, courses can be completed individually or as a group, all available for free and presented by World Church leaders such as Dr. Katia Reinert, Dr. Willie and Elaine Oliver, Pastor Sam Neves, and Pastor Pako Mokgwane.
Finally, the Youth Alive leaders portal is where program leaders and youth leaders can find training and resources for Youth Alive programming. Registering on the website as a leader allows Sabbath School leaders, Pathfinder directors, youth ministry leaders, and more to get involved and get started.
By partnering with youth ministries such as Adventist Youth Society, Pathfinders, and Public Campus Ministries, as well as Global Mission, Adventist Family Ministries, Adventist Education, and Adventist Health Ministries, Youth Alive has truly made youth and young adults a priority of the World Church. By prioritizing relationships through this supportive discipleship model, young people experience positive whole-life changes, which decrease risk factors for addictive behaviors.
“Youth Alive is not only a health program; it’s a collaboration of many ministries. It’s really a comprehensive health ministry program, so the challenge is that it takes a lot of effort to coordinate everyone,” Dr. Reinhert shares. It may be Youth Alive is the only comprehensive health ministry targeting Adventist youth and young adults, and since 2018, it has been thriving globally.
Youth Alive can happen in every region; it just takes time and coordination. When a training event and youth congress occur in your territory, it’s important to invite facilitators from every field to take the information back to their area.
Today, Youth Alive is active in five divisions and one attached field. There are successful collaborative groups in Martinique, Botswana, and Albania, where Youth Alive coincides with Pathfinder ministries. Youth Alive can also thrive in primary and secondary schools, universities, local churches, camp meetings, community clubs, public campuses, and other centers of influence. Young people everywhere need support, and the discipleship model of Youth Alive sets it apart from other groups of its kind.
Register in the Youth Alive Portal today if interested in Youth Alive resources. Youth and leaders can also download the Youth Alive app from the App Store or get it on Google Play.
You can also follow Youth Alive on YouTube, TikTok, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
_____________________________________________
