Meet Rachel
Posted on Wednesday, January 11, 2017 by
She's "the hand" behind the #weshowup campaign, but she's more than just talented with a sharpie. Rachel leads our yfc core ministry which grows young people deeper in their faith and in their confidence to be the good news of jesus to those around them like friends and family.
When did you first join YFC?
I was a volunteer for City Life for a couple of years, working with the youth throughout Hilltop and then also doing some discipleship stuff with girls that came to Sozo, an after school City Life weekly gathering.
What impacted you the most about being a part of this ministry?
I think it was the fact that the youth I was getting to know were incredibly difficult for me to relate to, because their stories and circumstances were so much different than mine, but they all have this inherent need to be loved and I wanted to love them. And to be loved and to love in our YFC community has changed my life. It's crazy how God shows up through you when you step out and follow that heart tug.
So now you're on staff at Tacoma YFC right?
Yes, and loving every second. I can't believe I get paid to wake up every morning and do what I love.
What do you do now? City Life?
Not in the same way that I used to. I've started a ministry called YFC Core here at Tacoma YFC this fall with the vision to see young people throughout Pierce County get to know God in a deeper way, and have the confidence to love their friends, families, and communities radically like Jesus. After kids get saved there isn't really a protocol for what's next. That's where YFC Core comes in. If we really want to see 100,000 youth reached, coaching young believers is the way to do it. Research suggests that young people can meaningfully connect with 8-10 other students a year, while I can only go deep with maybe 3. That is why the next generation of believers is the key to reaching their own communities and we are helping them do so by coaching them through meaningful relationships that always point beack to Christ.
Why should people join the #WeShowUp Campaign?
Because I drew the logo with a sharpie! No, that's not why. The campaign has a couple different purposes but the main purpose has been to raise awareness and funding to the growing struggle that we have over 100,000 11-19 year olds across Pierce County and many of them do not have any connection to Jesus today. We want to see that changed, we want to see all of them connected to God's story.
Along with that, to hire and mobilize people like myself and others, we are raising $230,000 through the campaign to grow our campus ministries, build upon ministries like YFC Core, and we have the vision of establishing a safe place, drop-in center like facility, that teens who are affected by Sex Trafficking can come and have the ability to seek out help and resources.