Christian Missions Programs Let Youth Showcase Creative Talents
Christian organizations implement artistic creativity to remain relevant.
In order to remain relevant to a new generation of media-saavy youth, Christian organizations are offering a new modern selection of programs that allow volunteers to showcase their creative talents in missionary work.
One such organization is YWAM or Youth with a Mission. According to the organization’s website, YWAMS takes a refreshing stance on Christian ministry by “[using] tools such as music, performing arts and sports to connect with people of all ages and develop friendships which can lead to conversations of eternal value”.
Operating in over 180 countries, YWAMS allows volunteers to get involved through photography, housing development, teaching, financing, and many more opportunities for ministry work.
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For example, the program offers “Schools in Photography,” complete with international internships. This course “teaches photography from a biblical and technical perspective, and students learn appropriate ways of learning to those they photograph and work with,” according to the YWAMS website.
Students reside at one of the school locations for several months, learning techniques for proper ministry documentation.
Amber McGlone, a 22 year old YWAMS student from Orange County, California, will be attending the YWAMS Photography Program in Hilo, Hawaii, for three months. After the program, she will apply to participate in a foreign missionary program, where she will travel to Haiti, India, or South America to photograph social struggle and spread the word of God.
“I think YWAMS is a stunning opportunity to get involved with missionary work because it allows me to combine both my artistic talent with my interest in spreading the word of God. I take my passion one step further than attending youth group at my community church,” McGlone told The Christian Post.
Another program is “Artists Inspiring Action,” which uses primarily photography and film to communicate humanitarian efforts around the world.
“From child sex slaves in Cambodia, to the poverty and corruption in Haiti, Love must be tangible. It cannot be a concept, it can only be demonstrated with action,” according to the AIA website.
AIA’s core values of hope, justice, and love propel their various projects. One sub-project, “Creative Visions Foundation”, provides support and resources to Christian creative activists around the world.
AIA also features the documentary entitled “Sex + Money: A National Search for Human Worth,” which documents journalists as they travel across the U.S. seeking to understand how child exploitation has become the fastest growing organized crime in the nation.
Art isn’t the only outlet for Christian youth.
The program Christian Skaters, or CS, seeks to spread the gospel of the Lord within the skateboarding culture. Operating in 80 countries, this youth-centered organization offers camps, competitions, and “skate ministries,” all of which revolve around two passions: a love for skateboarding and a love for Christ.
