Our vision at Youth for Christ and the Encounter is to see every young person in every people group in every nation have the opportunity to make the life-changing decision to be a follower of Jesus Christ and become involved in a local church.

At the Encounter we strive to accomplish this goal in everything we do. Of the many programs we offer at the Encounter, our indoor Skate Park is one of the biggest and most effective tools, as it reaches half, if not more, of the youth who walk through our doors throughout the year. Many youth have simply come to skateboard and instead have begun a life-changing relationship with the staff, and, ultimately, Jesus Christ.

About six years ago, Dan began coming to the Encounter to do just that -- skateboard. Dan would come to the Encounter, skateboard and hang out with the staff and volunteers, all the while keeping a curious eye on the words and actions of the staff. After some time, Dan began to trust our staff and even began to volunteer.

About a year ago, Dan came to us and confided that he was having some problems with his friends and didn’t know what to do. He was interested in what the Bible taught about his situation. After some discussion and searching of God’s Word, Dan asked if we could pray for him.

Ever since that moment, Dan has grown in many encouraging ways, regularly attending our young men’s small group, seeking out God’s Word and even attending church on a regular basis. Dan recently came to the staff seeking our prayers for a hurt knee -- showing his faith that the Lord can heal and do great things in his life. Dan graduated a year ago, and while he works full time, he also continues to pour his time into the Encounter’s ministry and give skateboard lessons to the youth.

It is always exciting to see the youth we work with every day grow, get plugged into the body of Christ and even start to give back. Stories like Dan’s and many more could not be possible if it were not for the body of Christ that supports us prayerfully, financially and physically through helping in the ministry.

For more information on the Encounter and the Skate Park, go to www.encounteryfc.com. We hope you are as excited about the things the Lord is doing in the lives of kids as we are!