Ep.#107: Youth For Christ East Alabama

We talk with Executive Director Tabitha Vasilas about how Youth For Christ reaches unchurched teens in East Alabama through school clubs and juvenile justice ministry, and why local partnerships are vital. Tabitha shares her faith journey, common myths, the needs of today’s youth, and concrete ways to get involved.

• mission to build authentic Christ‑sharing relationships with 11–19 year olds
• campus life clubs as entry points to trust
• weekly outreach in group homes, detention centers, and prison
• not replacing churches, placing students in churches
• why local volunteers, prayer teams, and donors matter
• Tabitha’s path from sports and social work to ministry leadership
• addressing spiritual warfare while staying on mission
• teens’ hunger for truth and need for multi‑generational mentors
• how to serve as a volunteer, board member, or partner

eastalabamayfc.org

Transcript

Welcome And Mission Overview

SPEAKER_00 0:00

This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, Susan Hodges.

SPEAKER_02 0:12

Welcome, and with me is Tabitha Vasilis with uh the East Alabama Youth for Christ. Welcome, Tabitha.

SPEAKER_01 0:20

Good morning. Thank you for having me.

How Youth For Christ Reaches Students

SPEAKER_02 0:22

I am so excited to learn about what you're doing here in Auburn in Opalika. Tell me a little bit about Youth for Christ.

SPEAKER_01 0:29

So Youth for Christ has been around since the 40s. Um we Billy Graham was the first full-time employee with us, and our target ministry is lost, unchurched 11 and 19-year-olds. And so we basically go wherever students are, whether that's the local community, middle schools, high school campuses, or juvenile facilities.

SPEAKER_02 0:54

Okay. So you have a lot of ways that you reach the youth, and you were just mentioning them, but kind of go over the different parts of what you do so that we can kind of get a better idea because you you work on campuses, but then you're also in uh juvenile facilities and you also meet people. I was just looking at your website. I mean, it's incredible all the ways that you try to reach people.

SPEAKER_01 1:24

Yes, there certainly is a lot of moving parts. So our campus life model is uh we do club on the school campuses wherever we have, you know, access and permission to do that. It's a volunteer base. And no matter where we are, though, our mission is to build authentic Christ-sharing relationships with law students uh in order to introduce them to Christ, help them to hear, to know, and have the chance to follow Him. And so we do that campuses, we have a club, um, and then it's a way to meet the students and begin those conversations and relationships. And then with our juvenile justice ministry, we actually go to juvenile facilities. So whether that be group homes, local detention center, or the prison, uh, we have weekly meetings that we go and do Bible studies, we do different activities to build relationships with those students. And um, and it even goes beyond just working with youth, uh, especially through our juvenile justice ministry, we're able to really impact families. Um, so yes, we directly pursue uh teenagers or 11 and 19-year-olds, but we also come alongside families in very hard and pivotal moments in their journey and try to help them navigate even the season where their their sons and daughters or nieces and nephews or grandchildren may be going through this extremely difficult time.

Tabitha’s Path To Leadership

SPEAKER_02 2:51

Okay. Well, tell me a little bit about how you got involved with Youth for Christ and what you what your role is there.

SPEAKER_01 2:57

Right. So I'm the executive director. I've been on staff with Youth for Christ for nine years. I've been, I originally came on as the juvenile justice ministry director and then got promoted to the executive director in August of 2019. So I've been serving in that role. Um, it really the easiest answer to that question is God has I like to tell people Ephesians 2 10, you know, God prepares in advance good works for us to do. And then he spends a season preparing us to do those good works. And just looking back over the course of my life and all the experiences that I've had, uh God was equipping me and preparing me for this. So for example, um I played collegiate basketball from there. I coached basketball on the collegiate level, and then it God had me in a new season of transition and training by placing me into social work. So I became a foster care social work worker, uh, working with the juveniles, the troubled, at-risk, abused, neglected uh children in that capacity. And then God opened a door for me to become a campus administrator of a children's home. And while I was at the social services as a social worker, I pursued my master's degree, coincidentally, uh providentially, however you want to look at it, in youth development leadership. And really the only reason that I went to get that was just because I thought it would be nice to have a master's degree, and it was something that it was interesting, but I never had an inkling of a desire to do youth ministry. So um, but God told me in in May actually of 2016 to pack up and move to Auburn, Alabama, to resign from my position as a campus administrator and really move here on faith. I only knew one person in Auburn at that time. And so I did I I obeyed, I came, didn't even know about you for Christ until three months after living here. Somebody introduced me to the previous director, and that's how I came on board. So it was just God ordering my steps and preparing me along the way, and here we are.

Myths About YFC And The Local Church

SPEAKER_02 5:12

Amazing. It is uh it is amazing how God works behind the scenes, doesn't He? Getting prepared even when you don't think you're getting prepared. That's right. Well, you've been in uh in Youth for Christ for many years now. I'm sure you've come across some myths or misconceptions that people have about your ministry. What are some of those things that uh you'd like to clear up?

SPEAKER_01 5:36

Oh, so I think one of those is just that Youth for Christ is a national organization. And well, there's two things I want to address. One thing that we're a national organization and we don't necessarily need local support. That is a huge myth because we cannot operate and execute the ministry without the local support, whether that be local staff, volunteers, church partners, business owners, um, church, you know, whatever that looks like, we need the local community to do what we do, which leads into the second or maybe the main myth I believe people have is that we're trying to replace the local church.

SPEAKER_02 6:17

And that is certainly not the truth.

How The Community Can Help

SPEAKER_01 6:21

You know, we're not trying to replace, we're trying to place students in the local church because we're we're the boots on the ground, we're the local missionaries that are going places uh to find kids. You know, we're going out here to um to meet the lost and the unchurched. That and and you know what surprisingly, we're in the Bible belt. And I still I'm nine years into this, and I still get incredibly shocked every time I go into a facility and I hear students say, What in the world's a Bible? I've never heard the name of Jesus. And so, you know, we need the local church partnership in order to more urgently and effectively uh reach the students because it's you know, it is a very real need out here. Less and less people are church these days. We we live in the least Christian generation to date. And so um, you know, we're looking for people to partner with us and we're not trying to replace it, you know, we're trying to build the church by going out and sharing Jesus uh with students that have never, believe it or not, never even heard the name of Jesus here in East Alabama.

SPEAKER_02 7:32

Well, how can people get involved with Youth for Christ? What are kind of what are the things you're looking for from the community?

SPEAKER_01 7:39

So, number one, you know, pray. Pray for the mission, pray for this generation. Uh, we are indeed living in the last days. If you're awake at all, you certainly can see and discern that. And so prayer partnership. Um, but even more, not just generically pray. You know, we have prayer teams we're trying to build. So if if you're an intercessor and you would love to commit to praying over a ministry site, please reach out to us. Um, obviously, we need volunteers, we need the the boots, the laborers. Um, Jesus said pray for them because the harvest is plentiful, and it indeed is. So we need laborers to come alongside of us to go onto these campuses or into facilities. And you know, uh another myth, I know you didn't you asked for one, but another myth is youth want college students. That is so far from the truth. Now, do college students have impact? Uh yes, and we certainly need college students, but the the generation coming up today, they typically, and this is a blanket generic statement, but they typically don't have generational influence in their lives, and they're starved and void of grandparents and you know, involved people in their lives that may be healthy, healthy role models to look to. And so no matter if you're if you're still breathing and love Jesus, there's a place for you. There is a place for you. And so um the service part is certainly a need. Uh, we need we're looking for quality board members, board members that have strategic planning, that have, you know, business acumen, that have a passion for this generation and can use their network and their influence to come alongside of us to help us advance the mission. Uh, and of course, we're always looking in in need of local financial partners to help us reach more. You know, we can only do what we can uh what we're doing because of the resources that we have. But we have, you know, youth that are in facilities and campuses that want us to be there and to reach uh their students and and and youth, but we don't have the capacity. We can only do with what we have the capacity to do. So those are a few ways.

Personal Life And Family Moments

SPEAKER_02 10:01

Well, let's talk about you for a minute here. What do you like to do for fun when you're not working with uh the youth in Auburn and Opalika?

SPEAKER_01 10:09

So I love spending time with my children. We love to do day trips, you know, we love to travel, uh, things like that, play games. We like a there's a card game that we enjoy playing together as a family and um and watching movies together.

Challenges, Faith, And Perseverance

SPEAKER_02 10:25

Yeah. Well, tell me a little bit about uh, you know, one of the reasons I like to do this podcast is I like to encourage people to, you know, step out on faith and do uh what they want to do in life, and whether that's in business or in your case in ministry, but there's always obstacles, isn't there? Uh always challenges. So, what are some of the challenges that you personally or maybe the youth for Christ has had to overcome that made you personally stronger or made the organization stronger?

SPEAKER_01 10:59

Oh, we don't have time for all of that. You know, anytime you're doing the Lord's work, there is rampant spiritual warfare. Yes, and so we're constantly coming against. I like to think um uh I I try to teach, I'm trying to learn myself and to help teach others and lead others into being like Nehemiah. You know, how do you complete the mission? You know, how do you rebuild a wall and complete the mission that God has assigned you to do while not being distracted by the warfare, the accusations, the you know, all the things that are coming against you to try to keep you from fulfilling what God has called you to do. So that is a constant battle. It is just the spiritual darts that are flying at us all the time and the roadblocks that come along. But for me, one of the things, the season that really uh one of the seasons that strengthened me and my foundation with Christ was my move here. You know, I moved here in 2016 under some unusual circumstances, but by faith, uh I was trusting God. But like I said, I left a job to not have a job. In that spirit, yeah, and didn't know anybody here, but I knew that I knew God was sending me here and never could have imagined how the events were gonna unfold over that time in that season. But what it it kind of forced me to do was cling to Jesus, you know, and so when you lose everything that you once depended upon that you thought was your security blanket and that you you relied on just for comfort and you no longer have those things, um, it's really the best place to be. And it was, you know, just being flat on my back and in a in so to speak, and just having to nowhere else to look but up and to trust in God's promises, to depend on him to be faithful. Uh, and he proved to be my provider, he proved to be my defender, he proved so many things to me in that season that uh, I mean, just miracle after miracle, if I had time to tell you, I'd love to. But um just there was no doubt in my mind after moving here that I was his daughter. Oh, and that and that he had gone before me and he had paved the way because this was where, you know, and I don't know, you never know. What I learned is we never know what tomorrow holds. And so I stopped presuming that I'm gonna be here five years, 10 years, 20 years. But what I do know is God has me here. He made it abundantly clear that he put me here, and until he's ready to reassign or realign me, then I will be faithful because he is faithful.

What Teens Need Most Today

SPEAKER_02 13:44

So wonderful. Yes, that is a great, great outlook on your relationship and what our relationship with Christ should be, just walking in in faith, because we don't know the future. No. So what's one thing you wish people knew about youth for Christ that they may not realize, and you'd like for them to know?

SPEAKER_01 14:02

So, what I I guess I want people to realize not so much about you for Christ, it's more so about the youth and and how starved they are for biblical truth for biblical worldview. I don't know if you know, but less than 2% of this generation has any biblical worldview at all. They just have not grown up in church, their grandmamas aren't talking about Jesus. There's nothing, and that is a that should alarm us, right? And so when you have zero um biblical foundation, you have zero biblical worldview, and therefore you have no moral compass, you know, it's godlessness always leads to lawlessness, right? And so the youth are starved for this, and but they're hungry, right? They're hungry. The thing is, though, they're gonna eat whatever is in front of them, and it is our job as the church, as the body of Christ, to get to them to provide a meal for them that is better than anything that the world can offer, right? And so, you know, it this is true that kids just don't know. They're not bad kids. I mean, we're all bad at the end of the day. God says there's none of us that are good, not one of us. And so, but they they really do want to know, they want to know truth. They're coming, God is awakening them to the reality they've been lied to for a long time. And so they're ready to receive. And if that if that doesn't excite you, my coach used to say, if that doesn't light your fire, your wood's wet, you know. And so as a believer who is called to go and make disciples, um, we should get excited to know that the harvest is ripe and they're just waiting, waiting for us to come to them with the good news of Jesus.

How To Connect And Get Involved

SPEAKER_02 15:49

Well, how can uh people find out more about you? Get in contact with you for Christ. Um, what are the best ways to reach you?

SPEAKER_01 15:56

So uh you can check out our website, eastalabamayfc.org, um, and then, or you can email us at yfc at eastalabamayfc.org. We are our building is at 1400 North College Street in Auburn. So stop by and say, hey, we have office hours during the week. Uh, you're welcome to pop in and meet. We'd love to let you come visit one of our ministry sites. You can tag along and come and see just what what it's like and what God's doing in our midst and here in East Alabama. So um feel free to reach out. We'd love to tag you, you know, let you tag along with us.

Closing And Local CTA

SPEAKER_02 16:34

Wonderful. Well, thanks so much for being with me, uh Tabitha. I've enjoyed learning about Youth for Christ and about you. Really appreciate you um talking with me today.

SPEAKER_01 16:43

Thank you.

SPEAKER_00 16:45

Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor Podcast Auburn. To nominate your favorite local businesses to be featured on the show, go to gnpauburn.com. That's gnpauburn.com, or call 334 429 740.