This feature kicks off a year-end series by Executive Director Haddon Anderson with a few posts that capture the heart of our mission and how your investment makes a difference (taken from the 2025 year-end email series).
Part 1
The other night at the City Life Center, I watched youth learn construction skills through a faithful volunteer. They then had a meal before working on an art project. They also mixed in some exercise in the fitness area.
Amidst it all, connections with leaders were forming or deepening.
Laughter. Encouragement. Joy.
It was an evening that magnified God’s common grace–His general kindness and blessings that are given to all people such as food, skills, and well-being.
This framework was initially highlighted by the French theologian John Calvin, who distinguished between God’s common and special grace.
Calvin captured how God’s common grace is extended to all regardless of faith and that His goodness is experienced even in a broken world with sin.
YFC ministry is filled with God's common grace through meals provided throughout the week, life skills taught, soccer and basketball outreaches, shared experiences in God’s creation such as Camp, a unique mental health program called Rebalance, and simply offering safe spaces for youth to gather.
Through such opportunities, youth encounter God’s common grace that enhances their life, health, and engagement in the world. We are committed to common grace ministries and see them as an integral part of our ministry vision.
There’s beauty in uplifting the image of God in one another, and this happens through efforts that meet basic human needs, activate new skills, and empower social and emotional health.
Quite frankly, we serve youth where these needs are immediate. They may not have food on the table at home. They may not be aware of unique skills they can develop. They likely don’t know how to navigate depression.
A vision for common grace ministry bestows God’s goodness in unique and strategic forms. In our case, it’s contextualized to a diverse youth context.
Ultimately, this approach meets the needs of youth where they are, in the here and now.
But it also doesn’t stop there. Common grace ministries point an arrow to God’s special grace revealed to us in Jesus Christ.
The here and now points to eternity, and we’ll share more on that in the next feature. Stay tuned!
