‘It’s been 23 years since I started volunteering for YFC and I still have a passion to see young people’s lives changed’

March 21, 2022

DENVER— Youth For Christ (YFC, www.yfc.net), a pillar of mission ministry since 1944, continues to equip YFC volunteers and leaders to uncover God’s story of hope in the next generation. As March celebrates Women’s History Month, YFC’s National Director of Chapter Advancement Allison Johnson reflects on her own YFC journey and how she is leading the charge to create meaningful relationships with youth not only for the next generation of women, but young people everywhere.

Johnson looked back on her first interaction with YFC and their Campus Life ministry. Johnson commented, “As a 19-year-old I looked across the table at the Campus Life director I would be volunteering for. I was a brand-new Christian and wanted teenagers to know what I hadn’t known in middle school and high school—that the Creator of the universe wanted a relationship with me. Everything in my world changed to reflect His love and I knew I needed to spread that message to youth who needed it.”

Beginning as volunteer, Johnson was able to develop as a leader both locally and nationally.

“I volunteered faithfully for 3 years,” Johnson stated. “That Campus Life director poured into and developed me, and I became very passionate about the mission of YFC. Soon I joined the staff, starting as part time, then full time. As the years passed, I was an area director and then moved to Denver to become the national Campus Life middle school director. Shortly after, I was overseeing all of Campus Life. It is so amazing to see how God used my passion for YFC’s mission to reach His children.”

As National Director of Chapter Advancement, Johnson continues to use her leadership and ministry experience to propel leaders across the nation to continue investing in lives of young people. Johnson works with a team of Chapter Advancement Leads to equip and encourage YFC’s executive directors across the country by meeting together both virtually and in-person to ensure YFC’s mission of reaching young people endures.

“I was given opportunity to lead in Youth For Christ. I’ve been fortunate to be a part of healthy teams with great leaders that believed in me and worked to develop me. I now oversee the team that walks alongside executive directors across the country. I hope that my team can lead these executive directors and can encourage them to give opportunity and develop young leaders like myself. It’s been 23 years since I started volunteering for YFC and I still have a passion to see young people’s lives changed.”

YFC chapters impact thousands of communities across the nation, seeking out and serving youth from all walks of life. Young people are silently struggling through a wide variety of challenging issues—and through the YFC ministry God empowers, they see the living power of a loving God. YFC trains its leaders in a proven, relational ministry model called 3Story®, which encourages staff and volunteers to be good news while also sharing the stories of the Good News of Jesus. It involves building relationships through the ups and downs of everyday life to lead people to Christ. 

YFC has been a pillar of missional ministry since 1944, when the Rev. Billy Graham served as YFC’s first full-time staff member. Since then, Youth For Christ has continued to be both a rural and urban ministry on mission, and it is always about the message of Jesus. YFC reaches young people everywhere, working together with the local church and other like-minded partners to raise up lifelong followers of Jesus who lead by their godliness in lifestyle, devotion to the Word of God and prayer, passion for sharing the love of Christ, and commitment to social involvement. Youth For Christ operates in over 100 nations and has over 130 chapters that impact communities across America. 

Visit the Youth For Christ media page here. Learn more about Youth For Christ at its website, www.yfc.net, Facebook and Instagram pages, Twitter feed @yfcusa or on Vimeo. 

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