We understand our youth to be a precious charge to us from God for they are the continuation of our lines of God-fearing families, the future of the church universal as well as our local church for the testimony of Christ in this world.  We understand the teen years to be a critical time in the life of a person in which he develops a strong sense of his personal identity that determines what he will be as an adult.  In doing so, he may re-examine the teachings of the faith passed on to him by his parents.  And so we hear Paul saying to Timothy, “continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of … how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation...”(2 Timothy 3:14-15).  Timothy learned the Scriptures from infancy but still had to become “convinced” of it at a later time seeing God at work in his life.  So teen years are critical in consolidating faith in a young person.  It may also be the time when a person meets Christ for the first time.  Most people who commit themselves to Christ in the teen years continue to follow Christ their whole lives.

We believe the world system is in strong competition to the teachings of Christ for the hearts and minds of our young people, and this is just a reflection of the desires of Satan.  The constant stimulation of TV and the digital world hinder our children from learning to concentrate on the Scriptures and to pray effectively.  The emphasis on self-gratification and self-actualization is contrary to the Biblical teaching that we are to love God and serve others and thus find our identity in God’s purposes.  The emphasis on self-gratification is also inconsistent with Biblical teaching on the family, submission to parents and other elders, from which our young people should learn godly character.

Thus, our goal is to “turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and the hearts of the children to their fathers.” (Malachi 4:6).  Therefore, we do not emphasize large youth-based activities, but interaction with adults to give opportunity for youth to learn from adults.

During the worship/communion time (the first week of each month), our youth are with the adults in the main sanctuary.  The worship is conducted in Mandarin Chinese with many of the songs translated into English – in many cases the songs used in worship were originally English and translated into Chinese, so it is not difficult to find the English version and project it along with the Chinese in order to make it easier for the youth to worship with the adults.  After the worship/communion, the youth go to the youth room for informal Bible-study using a discussion format and conclude with prayer.   This is patterned after the model of Jesus visiting the temple at age 12 when he asked questions of the teachers and the teachers also asked questions of him.

 

The content of the youth Bible Studies is organized into modules. Below is a list of modules most of which we have covered with those who have graduated from High School and are in the process of delivering to those in Middle School:

• Salvation
• Evangelism
• World View Studies
• Biblical Manhood and Womanhood
• Spiritual Disciplines
• Spiritual Gifts
• End Times
• The Persecuted Church
• History of Christianity in China and China Mission today

• Informal Fellowship:
  We encourage the youth to meet together for informal fellowship time outside of Sunday worship.  The goal is a once a month activity such as a game/movie night with a meal.   Since some of the youth are musically talented, practice for a musical presentation for Christmas for example lead naturally to times of fellowship over a meal.


• ACBC:
  The youth of ACCC also meet together with the youth of ACBC (Albuquerque Chinese Baptist Church) on Friday evenings at ACBC and receive Biblical instruction there.  The curriculum used there is from Desiring God Ministries and they are recently covering the subject of Biblical Manhood and Womanhood.


• LACCF:
  Once a year during the joint retreat with the Los Alamos Chinese Christian Fellowship, our youth have a joint program with LACCF’s youth.  In the past two years we have had a out of town speaker.


• Sendings:
  In the past few years, we have had “Sending” ceremonies to celebrate the graduation of a youth from high school.  During a sending, the parents of the youth invite extended family and members of the church to their home and share with the congregation how they see the Lord has been at work in their son/daughter’s life.  The youth is also encouraged to share about their faith, how they see the Lord leading them and what they see as challenges as they go off to college or the working world.  Other members of the church are also welcome to share their encouragement of the youth and the youth is prayed for by the congregation.  We see this as a significant rite of passage for the youth to mark their level of maturity – both spiritually and skillwise.