2023 Review
This has been an exciting and full year for Visit. Check out some of the highlights below.
By the Numbers
Here are a few highlights of this year’s progress:
3 teen centers launched
4 new teen centers working on launching now
10 churches serious about launching a teen center in the near future
20 more churches who have expressed interest and are exploring the possibility
11 active teen centers that we support in a variety of ways
600+ churches who have heard the message of Visit (in-person - not including social media ads, YouTube, etc.)
100,000 impressions on our social media ad campaign
10 conferences and events where Visit has been represented
Centers Launched
This year we helped launch three teen centers.
Youth Venture Parkway Plaza
Foothills Church launched a new teen center inside the Parkway Plaza mall in El Cajon, CA. This is a unique opportunity to reach the many young people who hang out there and increase the visibility of the YV teen centers. We were able to provide consulting feedback on the project at the outset and additional training for volunteers once it was running.
Hangtime Teen Center
In February, Summit Point Church in Mira Mesa launched a teen center on the campus of their church. This was an exciting project because it provided a template for other churches to follow which makes launching a teen center far less expensive and more accessible. We walked with them through every step of the project providing consulting, volunteer training, help with launch prep, and more.
Aftershock
East County Transitional Living Center relaunched a center that they had previously tried to launch, rebuilding from the ground up with new leadership and a new team of volunteers. We helped train their leadership, providing volunteer training and consulting with the director to help it get off the ground successfully.
New Centers Launching
This year we connected with many new churches. Some of these have simply heard the message and been encouraged in their efforts to reach young people. But many of them have expressed interest in exploring the idea of launching their own center. Some are very early in the process and may have many hurdles to overcome to launch, but others have committed to the project and are moving forward. There are currently over 30 churches who are exploring the idea and several churches who are working on launching centers right now.
St. Stephen’s Cathedral Church of God in Christ
St. Stephens Cathedral in South East San Diego is partnering with Reel Teens to launch a teen center on their campus. We are working with them to provide the support they need to make their center a reality. We are meeting weekly with their leadership to provide training and helping them to overcome the hurdles to launch. They are planning to open early in the new year.
Alpine Teen Connection
There is a new teen center launching in Alpine, CA. A board of business people and community leaders have formed to make the project a reality and they have asked Visit Ministries to lead them in finding the path forward. Jeremy Miller is serving on their board and providing leadership training and consulting. They are planning to open in January of the coming year.
There are several other churches and organizations currently working on launching are we will have more details to share on those projects shortly.
Mentoring Curriculum Rewrite and Redesign
We are currently working on updating and redesigning the YV Mentoring Curriculum. This curriculum has been used for over 30 years to evangelize and disciple perhaps thousands of students. This update will increase its effectiveness for this generation, and set it up to be used for many more years. It will immediately be used in teen centers all over the country, and in many future centers reaching perhaps thousands more young people. Jeremy Miller and Mark Hoffman have just completed a rewrite of the content and work on the design phase has begun by Lauren Miller. The design for the first lesson has already been completed and the project will be finished soon.
Conferences & Events
We have also had the opportunity to be involved with several conferences and events and we have connected with many churches.
New Year’s Prayer Event
We were given the opportunity to speak at a multi-church prayer event on January 1st where we shared the great need for churches to commit to reaching young people
Legacy Event
Foothills Church hosted an event to honor Mark and Dave Hoffman and Jeremy was given the honor of talking about the history of the YV Teen Centers and their impact on the young people of East County. During this time he was able to talk about the continuing work of Visit to spread the legacy of YV.
Next Gen Zoom Meeting
This was a gathering of pastors and youth pastors from all over the country organized by Gateway Seminary, where Jeremy was asked to speak about the crisis facing our youth and how teen centers can effectively help churches reach young people and meet their growing needs.
Regions Beyond Conference
Regions Beyond held their annual conference of their North American churches in Missoula, Montana and Jeremy was invited to be a workshop speaker. In his message he shared two challenges he believes God would give the church today regarding reaching young people and how teen centers can be a great tool to help churches meet those challenges. From this conference we have made several important connections and several teen centers may come from this in the future.
CSM Gatlinburg Conference
Charles Simpson Ministries held their annual conference in Gatlinburg, Tennessee in May. Last year Jeremy was introduced at a general session and was able to share the mission of Visit and pass out resources. This year he was able to connect with many more churches and further his relationship with others.
Future Quest Youth Conference
For the second year in a row, Visit Ministries was a sponsor of Future Quest and hosted the Youth Leader Luncheon on the last day. This year Jeremy was also given the opportunity to teach a workshop for youth leaders. We had a booth set up in the FQ lobby and made many connections. Already there are several churches interested in exploring the idea of launching centers from this event.
Gateway Conference
In September we will be attending the leadership conference at Gateway Church in Dallas, Texas. This conference brings thousand of church leaders together from all over the country. This year we will be attempting to make connections with pastors, and evaluate possible becoming an event sponsor for next year’s conference.
Amfest 2023
We will end this year by attending Amfest by Turning Point USA. There we plan on connecting with like-minded pastors and community leaders where we can forge strategic partnerships for the coming year and spread the message of Visit.
Many of these events will be revisited in the coming year with plans to spread the message even more effectively and some new events have already been scheduled. In 2024 we will reach more churches than ever before.
This really is just a brief overview of the progress we have made this year. We didn’t want to bog down this article any more than it already is with more details, ideas, and efforts we are working on, but there are a few that bear mentioning. There are several potential opportunities to connect with large networks of churches that God seems to be opening the door for us. We are currently working on exploring these opportunities and they may yield exciting results to share with you soon.
Also you may have heard us hint at a new initiative to further expand our work in San Diego. We believe God has given us a strategy to potentially plant a teen center in every major community in San Diego. We believe we may be able to plant more than 20 new centers right here in our county. We will be sharing more details, as they come available and how you can help this dream come to pass. Be praying and keep you ears open.
This is only the beginning…
There is even more coming in 2024 and we believe it will be our best year ever. We have plans to move the mission of Visit forward in new ways and connect with more churches than ever before. This will mean more teen centers planted and more young people transformed by the hope of the gospel.
But we cannot do it without you.
Your support is what enables us to continue the work and make our dreams for the new year a reality.
Will you help send us into the New Year strong with an end-of-the-year gift this Christmas Season?
Your generosity means the world to us. Thank you!
