Faithful CYMT Investors,
We have just entered our seventh year of ministry. We have moved out of the start-up phase of our organization’s development and are moving into a new phase of ministry that involves growing and building. We are excited about where we are headed, but I’d like to pause and thank God for how far we’ve come. Mark DeVries, who has faithfully chaired the CYMT Board for seven years said recently, “If you had told me that at this point we would be training over 30 youth ministers each year, that our students would be earning a Master of Arts in Youth Ministry, that we would be serving three regions [Nashville, Memphis, and Birmingham] and have students in five states, I would have told you that you were crazy.” Mark is stepping down as chairman of the board and passing the mantle to John Padgett. If you see Mark, please thank him for his years of service. Mark and I recently put together a video about the importance of CYMT:

  • 39 youth ministers have graduated from CYMT
  • 32 are currently in the program
  • 50 churches have partnered with the program
  • 1000s of teenagers have encountered the Good News of Jesus Christ

The last bullet point is the most important. CYMT trains youth ministers and equips churches so that the Good News of Christ can reach young people. How many lives are touched by one youth minister and one healthy youth ministry? If you have invested this year in CYMT, thank you: your investment has produced amazing dividends. If you have not, but would like to support the ministry of CYMT, you can do so by visiting www.cymt.horton.webservice.team/donate.
As we move into a phase of growth and building, we are launching a Foundation Campaign to raise long-term support and funds to expand the ministry of CYMT. You will be hearing more about this campaign in the coming months. We have set an ambitious goal of $5 million to do the following:

  • $1.2 million to create 12 partner church grants to support churches who cannot afford the program
  • $1.4 million to endow our youth ministry professorship
  • $2.4 million to create a Youth Ministry Foundation to support youth ministry education and allow CYMT to expand into other regions.

Thank you for your investment in this ministry as we build one youth ministry at a time!
Serving Christ,
Dietrich “Deech” Kirk, Executive Director