Juvenile Justice Ministry

What does that look like in Lincoln?

As many as 800 students pass through the Lancaster Youth Services Center each year. In 2010, 65% of those students returned to a school in which we already have an established Campus Life program. In 2011, the Youth for Christ Lincoln Area board and staff began to explore a ministry that enters the YSC facility to engage these teens in positive, life-changing relationships. We currently have a chaplain who visits the detention center every week day and -- with the help of volunteers -- runs Campus Life clubs for each pod as well as facilitates Bible studies throughout the week and weekend.

Our hope is to meet these students in a time of significant need and develop a long-term relationship with them when they return to school.

See the Story Luncheons

These hour long lunches are your chance to literally see the work of Juvenile Justice ministry in the actual location where most of the ministry takes place, the Lancaster Detention Center. Come on-campus to the youth jail and be locked in a cell where kids spend their hours of lockdown. Walk the hallways each closed off by a hundred pound metal door. Meet the guards that monitor every step these kids take. Hear from Eldon, Nathan, and detention center staff about the impact this ministry has on kids who need someone to care about where they're at with God and why it matters more than anything else. 

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  JJM is a nationally resourced program from YFC USA. JJM seeks to engage young people in relational outreach as they are met in a variety of youth-serving institutions. Our Lincoln chapter meets with jailed teens in Lincoln, Omaha, Kearney, and Geneva.