Youth for Christ is about seeing young people’s lives changed by Jesus. Our gap year programme, The Year Out, is for young adults who want to take a Year Out to serve Jesus, grow in their faith and work alongside young people. Whether it be skills, memories, friendships or opportunities, the Year Out goes further than a typical gap year.
WHAT THE YEAR OUT IS ALL ABOUT
The Year Out is for those aged between 17-25. Born out of our passion for mission and evangelism, The Year Out is all about investing in you, enabling you to impact the lives of others as you learn to effectively share your faith in both word and action. We are passionate about growing young leaders in youthwork and bringing out their God-given skills. We offer a variety of streams for you to choose from, such as touring teams, media and music. We believe that our best youth work is done when we can use our gifts and stories to connect with young people. Every young person’s life matters and you get the opportunity to be a part of what God is doing in their life. We offer high quality training in youthwork and discipleship and you will have a mentor placed wherever you are. We also offer a Homegrown stream where you can choose to serve in your home church whilst still being plugged in to our regular Year Out training. Being part of our Year Out family, you will make friends for life.
1. Hi, tell us a bit about yourself?
I’m Izzy, and I’m from Bradford. I love to sing and write. I’m a lover of colour and dungarees! I am very passionate about history, art and photography.
2. So, your gap year… what did you do and where did you go?
For my gap year, I did the media stream and the evangelism stream on The Year Out gap year program. The Youth for Christ gap year is great as you can choose a ‘stream’ that fits you best (this ranges from youth work to touring in a worship band to media). I was placed at Youth for Christ’s head office in Birmingham doing photography and evangelism training, writing blogs and volunteering at a local church, creating graphics for them and running their social media accounts. I also spent 2 days a week at my church placement, running their social media accounts, helping them with their youth program, leading worship and getting involved in their connect groups.
3. What organisation was this with and how did they train you and support you?
This gap year was with Youth for Christ. The year kicked off with a 10 day retreat where I met everyone else that would be doing the gap year. We spent the 10 days pressing into God and learning important and helpful tips about youth work, the potential things we would be involved in when we arrived at our placements, host homes and the Bible. We had mentors who would meet with us individually and were there to talk should we need pastoral care or encouragement. The Year Out also has hubs once a month where the Year Outers gather to receive training, worship and pray together and to encourage each other. I was on the media stream and was taught how to use programs like Lightroom, Photoshop and Adobe InDesign. I’m also did the evangelism stream alongside the media one which means I received more training on how to share my faith both in day to day encounters and on a platform.
4. What were some highlights of the year?
A key highlight was definitely making friends that I know are friends for life. I met so many likeminded people to journey through life with and I am incredibly thankful to God for that. I really enjoyed creating images for events run by Youth for Christ and being able to contribute to campaigns because of my love for photography. I also really enjoyed the hubs that we had monthly. Everyone on the gap year program were placed across the country in different Youth for Christ centres so each month, we gathered for ‘hub’ for two days to pray,
worship and receive teaching. It was always so great to see everyone and catch up as well as being able to encourage, support and pray for each other. Mid Year Retreat was also great. We gathered for 4 days to recharge and prepare ourselves for the next 6 months of the year, encouraging each other and taking some time to rest.
5. What were biggest challenges of your year?
The year was definitely a challenging one. The challenges for me were a lot to do with missing home and missing my friends placed in different locations in the country. I was challenged a lot with how I viewed myself. I think it can be so easy when you move across the country and begin a gap year to convince yourself that maybe you should go home, that maybe God won’t use you and that perhaps you aren’t good enough to do the year ahead. However, these challenges have been the biggest contributor in the growing of my faith and self-belief. They have allowed me to constantly seek God’s truth and speak those out over the
challenges.
6. How did the year impact your faith? How did God change you, challenge you, did it cause you to grow closer to him?
The Year Out impacted my faith massively. I experienced what it truly means to have faith and how faith shouldn’t be based on feelings or emotions. My faith has grew as I had to rely on God more than ever and trust that I am being led by Him. I learnt the importance of reading the Bible and being able to speak the truth of it out. In Ephesians, the word of God is described as the ‘sword of the spirit’ and this was so important to me to remember on my gap year. I spoke the words of scripture over myself and the situations I was in constantly so that I would know truth always, regardless of my circumstance.
7. Would you recommend this as a gap year? Why?
I would recommend this gap year as I have definitely grown in my faith. I have been transformed as a person and discovered so much more about the gifts God has given me. I have surprised myself with how much I have helped with. I have grown in strength and character and developed a much greater understanding of what it means to walk in faith and live for God each and every day. The year has allowed me to do everything for God, it has been great to live and work with God at the centre constantly. I have gained new skills as well as gaining clarity about where God may be calling me in the years to come. My gap year has definitely been one of constant growth.