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Christian Youth in Action (CYIA) is a Bible club/ministry for Christian teens ages 13+. Our local group usually has 15-25 local youth (most are homeschooled) who participate every year.
The purpose of CYIA is to prepare teens and young adults to share the Christian faith with younger children. During the school year, CYIA youth participate in a variety of ministry opportunities and fund-raisers to help pay for their week of CYIA camp near Salem. They get to know each other pretty well, so it is also a social time for them.
Christian Youth in Action (CYIA®) is a summer missions program developed and run by Child Evangelism Fellowship staff and volunteers. Students learn how to effectively share the gospel message with boys and girls at the week-long training school and then teach 5-Day Clubs® in their local areas. CYIA gives students many opportunities to witness the miracle of salvation that takes place in children who hear and receive the Good News.
Each time a CYIA youth helps out with a ministry or work opportunity, they earn "scholarship" monies to help pay for their week at camp. Churches also help students by sometimes donating some funds to help cover part of the costs of camp. There is usually one CYIA activity each month or so, during the school year. Delene Gehrke works very hard to help ensure that the youth are not only able to help out in our local community, but to also help them earn the funds they need to attend CYIA camp.
Camp lasts for one week in June, and then the youth are expected to participate in leading or assisting with three Vacation Bible School or 5-Day Club programs where CYIA curriculum is used.
Quite a few local homeschoolers have participated in CYIA and have loved it! Teens' summer commitment to CYIA have been that they spend one week at camp, and then help out for two weeks during the summer (sometimes, there are two sets of VBS or 5-Day Club programs going on in the same day/week, so they can get two or all three of their commitments finished in 1-2 weeks).
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The Bible teaching/leadership at the camp has been amazing. Our local CYIA'ers have grown a lot through the teaching and wise counsel they hear at CYIA camp. This isn't your typical "church camp" experience. The main speaker is one of our local homeschool fathers who is a pastor in Roseburg. |
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CYIA'ers learn a lot about how to lead singing so that children in the audience really get involved! Fun!
CYIA also gives the youth lots of training and practice in public speaking and leadership skills. Their confidence and the way they speak to the public grows and develops in an exciting way. And other youth who have participated in CYIA are noticeably not as shy, and are more willing to step up to leadership roles and do things in front of a group. It's a wonderful experience!
If your 13-18-year-old children are interested in participating in CYIA this year, I recommend that you contact Delene at 784-7159 to get all of the information. The kind of teens CYIA is encouraging to participate are those who love serving and following Jesus Christ, and are excited to learn more about ministry and sharing the Gospel.
Students can jump in and join this year's CYIA group at different times during this school year, but if they want to be able to earn their funds for CYIA training camp, it's better to start off in the fall.
These events are also great for inviting your evangelical Christian friends who are interested in CYIA to come to these events with you and learn more about the group.
If you have questions about CYIA, please call Delene. You may also learn more about CYIA HERE.
