By Pastor Ricardo Bain

These days it seems as though young people are more concerned about deep relationships with but a few people. It appears as though the larger the world gets the smaller it becomes. This is an oxymoron of great proportions. It has direct implications for youth and young adult ministry. Think about it! The world is larger through technological advancements and discoveries, people movement from place to place (even exploring vacations in outer space). The scientific and medical scope is far broader today than it was a few years back. Yet the world is a smaller place for young people.

Let's take the same technological advancements and apply that alone to the world of the young today. One could be in London and communicate with a person in Freeport in real time over Skype. Twitter gives on point information right away from literally anywhere on earth. Numerous instant messaging platforms proffer ways for young people to stay in touch at any time and just about anywhere.

The world has become smaller for young people. They are together in community in ways that were unheard of 25 years ago. This is a new kind of community that the Christian youth worker must not allow to go by and not tap into. It is community redefined! Pete Ward wrote a book called Liquid Church in which he puts forth the view that young people are to be connected today more than they were without the Internet. They are texting, messaging, Facebooking, etc. These give them opportunities to be in community more than the once or twice per week that they would be in church or a youth group.

I believe his push was for youth leaders' need to learn that they must have a presence in this new community if they want to effectively impact it for Jesus Christ. So I recommend the following ideas to help you get into their "world," their "community" for Jesus:

1. Develop a Facebook Presence - It is a given that any serious youth leader has a Facebook account. I urge you to do more. Set up a secure page for your youth group and have running Christian commentary on practical godly living. Have your youth frequent the page and put different scenarios for their peers to, respond to that would challenge them at the point of their faith.

2. Have a Following on Twitter – This is a good thing to do. In this way you will be able to communicate with young people instantly. You can get messages to them; help them by tweeting Bible texts, and spiritual quotes.

3. Set up E-Chains – This is one of my favorites. You can send a chain message to your young people via the cyber world. I would also argue it is a novel way to pray with your young people. Email, instant message, twitter etc., all give opportunities to make this happen. The last one who completes the prayer let him or her send the word Amen to everyone else. I think it is a cute way to help them stay connected through prayer.

4. Text-A-Text – This is a good way to keep the word of God active in your life and share it with young people. Set up a plan where young people text to the group a verse of the Bible that they have to learn that week and then have them repeat it when the youth group meets (be careful to know the text because some of them could choose the longest text they could find for peers to learn....lol).

5. Play Bible Games Electronically – Using the Internet you can set up Bible scrabble, Bible bingo, question and answer with a point system in place all via the Internet. Have your young people partake and then have a celebration of the winner at your next meeting.

I think just these five suggestions will go a long way in helping you tap into the youth cyber community. We might as well be real with ourselves this technology will revolutionize the way we do ministry so lets get with it. By the way we are light years behind on this so we ought to see how quickly we can catch up with it. Becoming a part of this community is not optional if you want to connect with young people. Let's get in and have a meaningful time enjoying them as they enjoy each other and us.