Building Bridges to
Reach and Serve
Impacting Our Community
In the "Great Commission," Jesus commanded his followers to "Go into all the world..." (Matthew 28:16-20). Sadly, most churches and Christian organizations do just the opposite. Most do "outreach" by developing various programs designed to "draw" people to their particular building or group. At Harvest Youth Ministries, we take the "go" in the Great Commission literally. Whether it's creating spaces where teens enjoy congregating, developing and pushing devotionals that strike at the roots of issues in modern culture and point to the Truth's of Jesus' words, we "go" into their world, hold out our hands, provide physical/spiritual help when & where we can, and then we share the Gospel. Harvest Youth Ministries (HYM) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization founded in 1997 do just that.... to reach-out and serve unchurched young people. Our mission is to offer real hope in a dark world as we meet the practical needs of our neighbors.
Harvest Youth Ministries comes alongside teens and their families as
they
work to break cycles of poverty, unemployment, abuse and more.
Our Mission:
To fulfill the Great Commission by bringing consumable pieces of God’s Word directly into peoples lives and by creating non-threatening environments for investigating the truth of Jesus’ birth, life, and resurrection.
Our Programs
Harvest Blog
Read about news, updates, thoughts and more!
"Don’t you have a saying, ‘It’s still four months until harvest’? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest.’" John 4:35 (NIV) Dear Friends, Why did we name our ministry “Harvest” Youth Ministries? It’s more than just a name…. it’s who we are, and it’s our mission. In a world often weighed down by uncertainty and darkness, the Gospel of Jesus Christ shines as a beacon of hope. The word "Gospel" means "good news," and it is indeed the greatest news humanity has ever received. Through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, God has made a way for us to be reconciled to Him, offering forgiveness, peace, and eternal life to all who believe. The Gospel is not only good news for individuals but also a call to action for all believers. Jesus speaks of a plentiful harvest, saying, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into His harvest field” (Luke 10:2). The harvest represents those whose hearts are ready to receive the message of salvation, to turn from darkness to light, and to find hope in Christ. As followers of Jesus, we are called to be workers in this field, sowing seeds of faith and truth through our words, actions, and love. When we share the Gospel, we become part of God’s divine plan to gather this great harvest, bringing more people into His kingdom. Jesus reminds us in Matthew 5:14-16 that we are the light of the world, a city on a hill that cannot be hidden. As we reflect His light, we are to let it shine before others, pointing them to the source of our hope and joy. This calling is not a burden but a privilege, as we join in the mission of spreading the good news. Let us sow faithfully, pray fervently, and trust that God, the Lord of the harvest, will bring forth an abundant harvest for His glory. In this work, we are reminded that the light of Christ will never be overcome by darkness, and the good news will continue to transform lives for eternity. Blessings in Christ, Pastor Jim Kilby
I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. 17 I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. (Ephesians 1:16-17, NIV) ) Friends, I love sticky notes. And fun pens. And organizational systems. Goodness, they make my heart sing. If you didn’t know that about me, now you do! My sister recently gave me a whole stack of sticky notes. I have learned not to give them to my children because they end up on every surface of the house. So, this pack of neon colored possibilities just stared at me from my desk drawer. I also love prayer. I didn’t use to love it because I saw it as a “have to” task list item I wasn’t very good at until a couple years ago. And why, why am I sharing this with you? Glad you asked. I am wall papering my office in sticky notes. Every need filled with Harvest Helps, any mentoring situation with Harvest House, any email / text / please pray is going on a sticky note and onto the wall. At this rate though, I may need a different system. I just wanted to share some of these with you: Miss O: Lives in transitional housing and was given clothing, household, and hygiene items. She accepted them with a hug and a thank you. There was a note tucked in the bottom of the box reminding her she is seen and loved by the Lord! Miss S: She was in a car accident and totaled her car but still needed to get to work to pay the bills. She asked for a one month bus pass so she could get to work for the immediate future and then she could get her own pass next pay day. I’m hoping to meet up with her soon for coffee. Miss C: She recently moved into a sober living house and needed items to make her room there feel more like home. She also needed clothing. I asked if I could add her to my prayer list and she said she would be so grateful! Those are just three. As we move into the new year, I can’t wait to continue to tell you about the sticky notes filling up my walls. As Aaron often says, each of them is a dearly loved child of God and I am so excited by meeting needs, we get the opportunity to speak truth into their lives! Blessings, Elizabeth Kilby
We loved you so much that we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well, because you had become so dear to us. (1 Thessalonians 2:8) Friends, I usually try to use the space in these newsletters to share a ministry win, a current struggle, or something that conveys the heart of what Harvest Youth is working toward. This month though, I thought I'd take a quick detour and share a family update. Your support allows our family to continue to serve with Harvest and I thought a personal update was in order! Aaron and I have both served with Harvest for over 20 years. It is incredible to me how God took people who were socially awkward and extremely introverted and grew us into people who don't mind standing in front of people to share the good news of the Gospel. We have both been working hard in our "areas" of ministry. Aaron has really taken the focus of the thrift store to serving our community and being the public touch point of Harvest. I have been working on growing Harvest Helps and figuring out best practices for making sure this ministry is serving our community well. And something must be going right - we now have national non-profits sending clients our way for help! Our kids (all 8 of them!) are thriving this year! They all had roles in their homeschool group's Christmas play and made the cutest angels, shepherds, Mary, and speakers. They are all also involved in AWANA and it has been so fun to see them memorize scripture and being to learn how to apply it! Talk about making my momma heart happy! I was able to take a few of them with me recently to pick up a food donation and then deliver it to another local mom and it was exciting to involve them. They know we work for a ministry, but for them to see what that (sometimes) practically looks like was so fun! It's also a blessing to have boys with some muscle to help me move the heavy boxes! We have been in a season of refining. I think God has been using some medical issues for Aaron and me to cause us to remember to slow down and turn to Him. (And I'd love prayers for complete healing!). But more than that, I am overjoyed God continues to show up, in the most unexpected ways, and just continues to show me over and over how good He is. Thank you for letting me ramble, brag on my kids, and share my heart. God is so good and I am thankful we are on this journey with you. Please feel free to send me an email (Beth@HarvestYouth.org) if there are any ways we can serve or bless you and yours. Blessings, Elizabeth Kilby
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Harvest Youth Ministries (HYM) is an outreach aimed at young people; not a youth group. HYM is an IRS approved 501(c)(3) not-for-profit ministry. All donations are tax deductible as allowed by law.
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