Young People and Mission

How can we encourage more young people to get involved with God’s global mission?

It’s a question that the majority of the mission community in the UK and further afield are asking, according to Global Connections and MAP’s recent listening exercise.

After speaking to more than 60 leaders of mission organisations and churches who are part of the Global Connections & MAP network, we found that engaging with and recruiting young people for mission locally and overseas has become more challenging in the past decade.

Attitudes towards cross-cultural mission among young people have shifted. This generation is more aware and sensitive than any other of mission’s colonial past, and has a tendency to shun any industry or body associated with something that is perceived not to align with their own values.

"They might have lost confidence that God would want to use them in cross cultural settings because of the world's agendas,”

said one leader as part of the listening exercise.

According to interviewees, this has contributed a drop in mission recruitment numbers over the past few years, with young people not giving their lives to serve God’s mission in the same ways as before.

There is a double-edged call here to the mission community; to raise awareness and inspire the next generation of Christians to be involved with what God is doing in the world, and also to deepen our own understanding of how young people are engaging in mission already and to respond.

“We are getting a new generation of young people who are innately naturally, irrevocably, subconsciously, unknowingly interculturally aware just by their upbringing,” one respondent said. “And I think that that may well equip them well as Christians to think and engage globally in a way that perhaps my generation hasn't been.”

Every new generation sees things with a new perspective to the last. Sometimes correction is needed, but at other times it’s just another new way of doing things. Other respondents praised the next generation for being impact driven and ambitious, for being willing to act on convictions. The question for the mission community is how it will create a platform for the next generation to be bold and courageous as they step out.

“Gen Z is the activation generation. They will act on their convictions. You know, they're the ones it sounds like that will not just sit around and want to talk about the need but actually act on it. And I think we as the mission community need to be ready to give opportunity for them to actually act to take a step,”

one interviewee said and another added:

“There's a lot more interest in solving the world's problems or contributing to the solution to those problems than we think but we're just presenting it in 19th or 20th century language instead of 21st century.”

The imperative for mission-focussed organisations and churches is to create programmes and ways of working that fit with their needs and passions. Possible solutions identified include creating less bureaucratic systems and bringing in different voices.

“In order to see a movement among the younger generation, maybe they don't need to jump through quite as many hoops as we ordinarily would have expected,” one respondent said. “Maybe we can generate some mindset shifts and some activity through non-conventional lenders. I think we need to be open for those sorts of things."

How young people engage with mission is one of the most important conversations we can have as a mission community as we look to the future, but there is much to be hopeful about. New initiatives are being birthed all the time. In 2025, The SEND are hosting a series of large-scale events aimed at mobilising young people for mission. A number of other movements are popping up and young people are getting on with sharing the good news in their own ways.

The challenge for the mission community is to adapt with the times, while holding on to fundamental truths – as is always the case.

Just as one interviewee said;

“you've got to be prepared to change, but also, it's important to stand firm on what we know to be the truth and also to listen well.”

The potential for impact in this area is huge, but so are the challenges and questions for organisations and churches in the UK and beyond. In 2025, the Global Connections & MAP network will explore this area in detail. We will discuss the challenges together, hear from experts on working with young people and explore possible collaborative efforts.

If you want to find out more about any of this, get in touch. Or, join the conversation on Discourse.