New Motivational Mentoring eWorkbook

Motivational Mentoring 101 is an eWorkbook for training volunteer adults to work with youths who are going through the struggles of adolescence. MM101 is a simple proven system of strategies, concepts and ideas for motivating at-risk or troubled teens. For more info, visit www.motivationalmentoring101.com.

New ATV racing video resource from Breakaway Outreach

Breakaway Outreach has finished a new outreach video featuring ATV racing champion Quinn Michael.

Quinn Michael had a life-changing experience while incarcerated over fifteen years ago. After giving his life to Christ in a jail cell, Quinn went on to become a two-time ATV racing champion in the Extreme Dirt Track Nationals.

Read more and watch the video trailer here.

Rock N' Bowl to send at-risk youth to summer camp

A Perfect Game: You Play and the Kids Win!

It doesn't get any better than that. Bowl for Kids in Crisis is a fundraiser for Breakaway Outreach with proceeds going directly to their summer camp program for children of prisoners and other at-risk youth. These funds are significant in helping Breakaway Outreach build friendships and develop year-round mentoring relationships initiated through a summer adventure camp experience.

With this years theme as Rock n' Bowl 80's Style, the event is sure to be "totally tubular"... costumes, music, team photos, individual and team prizes, and much more! Bowl for Kids in Crisis is for the entire community; anyone can sponsor or bowl.

Super Bowl Outreach Kit

A great way to reach out to at-risk youth in your community is to host a Super Bowl outreach event. The 2009 Power to Win Halftime Homepak is the perfect resource for your Super Bowl outreach party. The kit includes a video testimony featuring 9-Time All-Pro Derrick Brooks of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and some Christian sports magazines to give away. Check it out here >>

When Church Kids Go Bad

When Church Kids Go Bad: How to Love and Work with Rude, Obnoxious, and Apathetic Students

You may have an amazing program and be well connected to your students, but that doesn’t always guarantee a problem-free ministry. Whether it’s the guy in the back of the room who’s always causing trouble, or the girl in the corner with a look of indifference, disruptive and apathetic students can hinder the effectiveness of your ministry. But you don’t have to let discipline problems drive you out of youth ministry (or out of your mind!).

Read more...

Breakaway Outreach Volunteer Featured on 700 Club

Breakaway youth worker Regi Harris on the 700 Club:



Regi has volunteered with Breakaway Outreach for about ten years now, serving as a youth mentor, event speaker, and sports outreach coordinator.

Regi is a former All-American basketball player who made a series of critical decisions starting in college that eventually landed him in a Florida prison. He has a powerful testimony of overcoming addictions through the power of Christ. Regi also serves as athletic coordinator for Breakaway's summer adventure camp for at-risk youth.

Check your local listings to get programming times for your area.

Read more about Regi’s story here…

Pro wrestler talks to juvenile offenders in new video

In a new video resource for juvenile centers, former pro wrestler and NWA Hall of Famer Nikita Koloff (a.k.a. "The Russian Nightmare") tells his story of growing up as a welfare fatherless child in the projects of Minneapolis with dreams of becoming a pro football player. Nikita challenges youths in a juvenile center to put their faith in Christ.

Find out more here...

Youth Workers as Cross-Cultural Missionaries

In a recent article, Connie Neal describes what it's like crossing cultural boundaries to reach kids for Christ.

That’s our job as youth workers and volunteers, being cross-cultural missionaries to teens. There’s no way we can adequately do that without going beyond the church walls physically, but we must also understand and use their culture in order to make the gospel relevant. That requires us to go beyond the philosophical walls the church often builds in a sincere attempt to keep Christian kids safe from the world. Case in point: Harry Potter.

We must find useful inroads to kids’ hearts and minds, then build bridges from their culture, back into the Bible, and ultimately into a personal relationship with God. In these endeavors, consider the possibility that Harry Potter could be a godsend!

You may be ready to toss this aside if you’ve already set up camp in anti-Harry territory. I know you’ll get flak, but I urge you to think this through. Here isn’t the place to get into the debate over whether or not Christian kids should read Harry Potter.

As cross-cultural missionaries, we cannot afford to be out of touch with the most influential body of literature to impact any generation of youth in the history of publishing.

We must know why these books have captured the hearts and minds of this generation (as well as many members of older generations). We must know what the Harry Potter phenomenon reveals about the heart-hunger kids today have for the supernatural. We must know how to use the emotional response kids have to these stories so we can connect with them. Lastly, and most importantly, we must know if there are any redemptive analogies in Harry Potter that can be used to do God’s bidding. Indeed, there are and they are rich.

Read the full article here...

Kids and Media Consumption

Kids between 8 and 18 spend over six hours a day consuming media, and thanks to multitasking (surfing the Web while listening to music), they take in 8 1/2 hours worth of media entertainment and information during those six hours.

Until more kids learn to live without sleeping, it seems that most won't spend more than six hours a day consuming media. "We are approaching (or have reached) a ceiling on media use," say the report authors. But with multitasking on the increase, the intake of more and more kinds of media during that sixhour window is expected to continue growing.

Consuming media isn't the only thing kids do, but it takes up a significant chunk of their daily lives. Here's a look at how much time young people spend on some of the more important activities that fill their days:

Watching TV = 3:04
Hanging out with parents = 2:17
Hanging out with friends = 2:16
Listening to music = 1:44
Exercising, sports, etc. = 1:25
Watching movies/videos = 1:11
Using a computer = 1:02
Pursuing hobbies, clubs, etc. = 1:00

Media is a great leveling influence, and there's amazing uniformity in the consumption patterns of all kinds of kids. The only significant differences are that boys seem to like video games more than girls and African- Americans like TV more than other groups.

NC Takes New Approach to Youth Justice Issues

DAVIDSON COUNTY, N.C. – Therapeutic treatment is a core concept state juvenile justice officials want to use in plans to build 15 new youth development centers across North Carolina.

Read the full article here...