West
Point Post ChapelWest
Point Post Chapel
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MCYM - Military Community Youth Ministries - The journey from adolescence to adulthood has never been easy. In every generation and in every place, teenagers have struggled to come to grips with their place in the world. They want to know if there is meaning to life in general and if their own lives are important. Among our nation's youth are some 300,000 American teenagers, the sons and daughters of our armed forces career professionals, scattered among overseas bases and installations in the U.S. The problems and struggles of military teens are similar to those of the typical teenager, but intensified because of their situation. Military installations, even in the United States, are often isolated. Military teens are frequently uprooted from familiar settings and replanted in a foreign country with language, culture and customs they don't understand. Further, the heightened pace of military operations in the post-Cold War and post 9/11 environment has meant more and more absences from the home of the service member, creating in effect single parent homes for the majority of military families for at least a third of any given year. To complete the picture, it is estimated that less than 2% of military teens are exposed to anything having to do with God in any given week. Obviously, there is a great need to reach these young people, to build meaningful relationships with them and to communicate the love of Jesus Christ in understandable terms. That is the purpose of Military Community Youth Ministries (MCYM). We believe that a way to help military kids is to affirm them, build personal relationships with them and strive to earn the privilege of being heard. Our relational approach can persuade teens to take an intelligent look at Jesus Christ. Some will decide to follow Him. Such a commitment usually has a beneficial, life-changing effect on both the teenager and his or her family. Toward this end, MCYM staff and volunteers seek to love teens unconditionally and provide a model of Christian hope in our military communities.(from MCYM site) |
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