YFC Youth & Kids Discipleship & Outreach Resources Review by Becky Lawrence
YFC Youth & Kids Discipleship Resources Review by Becky Lawrence
It can be tricky to find time and ideas to come up with engaging discipleship material from scratch, especially if you are a volunteer leading youth/kids work. This weeks review highlights some youth and kids discipleship resources by national charity Youth for Christ which could be perfect for your youth or kids group. The great thing is that the resources vary from being outreach focused – which make them more suitable and accessible for kids/youth perhaps without a church background or faith yet of their own, and discipleship focused – which are a bit more tailored to kids/youth already used to church. You should be able to find something that will work for your group and context.
The quality resources are available on a 6 week free trial or as a subscription model. It works out cheaper if you go for more than one resource – you can mix and match between age groups or whatever you like. One resource is £10 a month, 2 is £18, 3 is £25, 4 is £30… you can find the full pricing here.
I’ve used their Mettle resource before in a small group context and my young people really engaged with it and enjoyed it. I also think it would work with a bigger group too.
They have resources for age 7-18, we’ve listed them with descriptions and links below, I hope one of these or more might be a great resource for you and your group(s)…
Go, for age 7-11’s disipleship & outreach
Go is a resource that is designed to reach out to and disciple 7-11s. It is made to help children learn about and be excited about having an engaging relationship with Jesus.
It is structured around six teaching principles, to give children in your groups the tools they need to have a well rounded and healthy faith. These principles are giving and serving, relationships, living wisely, sharing the Gospel, connecting with God and Jesus centred.
On the page (link below) you will find sessions that are created to equip you and help your children’s work be the best that it can be. You can see the current material under the ‘this term’ tab, browse sessions by clicking ‘browse’ or click on ‘recommended’ to see our top choices. You can also head over to the ‘search’ tab to find something specific.
Each session is made up of a whole load of modules that can be customised and edited to suit the specific needs of your group and setting. The sessions are filled with games, craft, activities, film clips, Bible stories, worship times and activities to help the children in your group to explore the theme. To help you as well, YFC have highlighted a few ‘core’ modules in each session that they really like and recommend that you use.
The Go resource is updated each term with new content, here’s what the YFC website says about this term… “This term (Autumn 2021) we are looking at the themes of ‘Relationships’ and ‘Jesus Centred’. We have a series of sessions that looks at how we can turn away from unhealthy and bad parts of relationships such as lies, anger and jealousy and replace them with healthier habits. We will also be spending some time unpacking the Christmas story and seeing what the different characters can teach us about who Jesus is.”
Lumen, for age 11-14’s discipleship 
Lumen is a discipleship resource for 11-14s. It is aimed at young people who are already in Church and have a faith in Jesus. The hope is that young people would grow in their relationship with God and be empowered to share their faith with their peers.
It is based around 6 key teaching themes that are covered throughout the academic year. These key teaching themes are living wisely, relationships, giving and serving, connecting with God, Jesus centred and sharing the Gospel.
Each session is made up of modules and you can be as flexible as you want, using all the modules or just using those that you have time for. You can also chop and change and personalise each session to make it suit your youth group! Sessions include games, activities, discussions, videos, creative responses and much more! YFC also highlights 3 or 4 core modules per session that they suggest you include if you have limited time for your session.
The resource is updated with new content each term, here’s what YFC say about this term…”This autumn we are looking at the themes of Connecting with God and Giving & Serving. We’ve got a series looking at the topic of prayer and also a series on thinking about the importance of looking out. We also have a couple of fantastic one-off sessions looking at the topic of materialism, doubts, Christmas much more.”
Rock Solid, for age 11-14’s Outreach
Rock Solid is YFC’s evangelistic resource that reaches out to 11-14s who don’t follow Jesus in your community. The heart behind it is to encourage young people to explore questions of faith and we upload incredible new material each term. The resource is updated each term with new content. This term, exploring the key teaching themes of sharing the gospel and relationships alongside one-off sessions for Christmas, Thanksgiving and more. Plus our termly parable and big story returns.
https://resources.yfc.co.uk/resources/rock-solid
Mettle for age 14-18’s discipleship
YFC’s Mettle resource is geared towards discipling 14-18s into deeper relationship with Jesus and inspiring them to share that with their friends and family.
There are 6 key teaching themes that Mettle unpacks throughout the academic year. These themes are Jesus centred, relationships, giving and serving, living wisely, connecting with God and sharing faith.
Each session is made up of modules and you can use as many or as few of the modules as works for you. You can also personalise each session and add your own comments that will be relevant to your youth group. YFC highlights 3 or 4 core modules per session that are modules which they think are best to use if you have limited time for a session.
Modules include games, activities, Bible studies, discussions, films, creative responses and much more! YFC try to have a variety of modules to make each session as fun and engaging as possible for your young people!
New material for Mettle is released each term and at the end of each term there is a social which involves great fun that young people can invite their friends to, as well as activities to do in your local communities.
https://resources.yfc.co.uk/resources/mettle
Frames for age 15-18’s outreach
YFC’s Frames resource is aimed at young people who aren’t currently in church and is centred around videos and discussions. It’s a great way to get young people talking about faith and exploring topics and questions they might have!
Each Frames session gives you several different options and ideas when it comes to connecting with young people in your community. Whether you choose to use each module, or just use ice-breakers or use the videos as a discussion launchpad – Frames is yours to use as you wish. Every Frames session contains an opening activity, discussion moments, a film clip and a creative response.
Unlike YFC’s other resources, Frames is not re-generated each term but is intermittently updated instead.
To see the full suite of resources available at YFC click here https://resources.yfc.co.uk/
