Back to Index

RENDEZVOUS

City and Rural Youth Resources

Rural Church Youth Ministries provides a unique youth outreach ministry experience for rural youth groups. Tom Horton is the director and a veteran youth leader of over 35 years. He seeks to provide connections between rural churches and strong city youth groups with deeply committed leaders. The city groups cover all expenses and work with rural pastors and any lay youth leaders to provide ministries to impact rural communities for a week in the summer.

Youth leaders with committed and trained Christian young people have had a great impact in Rocky Mountain Bible Mission churches these past six years. Youth groups from Spokane, Seattle, Portland and their suburbs have served our churches in Superior, Lincoln, Drummond, and Camp Elohim in ways not thought possible in the past. Through these partnerships the gospel has reached more youth in one week than have been reached in years. Consequently, many young people and some of their families have been connected with our churches encouraging the whole Christian community.

A ministry camp is a creative ministry partnership with a metropolitan youth group that will allow you to realize your vision for a powerful spiritual impact with many of the youth in your community. The metropolitan church will train their core students to serve you during a week (of your choosing) to run events that will allow them to share their lives, testimonies and the gospel with non-church youth as well as encouraging your own Christian youth in their walk with the Lord.

A ministry camp will provide your church a connection with a gifted youth director who will bring a resource of youth ministry experience plus a group of seriously committed and trained young people to be an effective tool for outreach through your church. The committed "city young people," with adequate adult leadership, will cover all their own expenses and will provide the rural church with an evangelistic opportunity that will enhance its own youth program. Community youth will be reached with the gospel and most will be connected to your church.

Tom Horton served as youth pastor for 28 years at Boulevard Park Presbyterian Church in south Seattle and led 29 of his own ministry camps. During these past eight years he has helped setup over 300 ministry camps. Each camp involved a larger church youth group with at least one rural church. These home mission trips usually occur either during spring break or during any week of the summer. Tom works to find larger youth groups to partner with rural churches. He works with the youth director and provides training materials for the ministry camp to work and serve the youth ministry goals of both churches.

For more information, call Tom at (206) 954-4100 or e-mail at ruraltom@juno.com.

A ministry camp can produce depth in your ministry. It can:

1. Develop a Paul-Timothy type relationship between students and youth director.
2. Inspire other young people to maturity and service.
3. Create devotion and loyalty within leaders.
4. Cultivate a spirit of producing reproducers.
5. Foster a kindred-spirit within ministry team.
6. Focus on the depth of/in your ministry rather than the breadth of the ministry.
7. Give each student a clearer vision for life and service.
8. Develop ministry confidence in students for ministry at home, church, and school.