Youth for Christ

Youth For Christ
AbbreviationYFC
Formation1944; 80 years ago (1944)
HeadquartersEnglewood, Colorado
Location
  • Worldwide
First President
Torrey Johnson
First Employee
Billy Graham
Current International Director
Dave Brereton
10th U.S. President/CEO
Jacob Bland
Revenue
$151M USD Worldwide Aggregate; of which $95M USD is U.S. Organization
Staff
Over 30,000 worldwide (including volunteers)
Students
Over 1M worldwide
Websitehttp://www.yfci.org

Youth For Christ (YFC) is a worldwide Christian movement working with young people, whose main purpose is evangelism among teenagers. It began informally in New York City in 1940, when Jack Wyrtzen held evangelical Protestant rallies for teenagers.[1] Rallies were held in other U.S. cities during World War II, attracting particularly large crowds in Chicago led by Torrey Johnson, who became YFC’s first president in 1944. Johnson hired Billy Graham as YFC’s first employee.[1] Former YFC staff have launched over 100 related Christian organizations, including the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and World Vision.

In 1962, the original Youth For Christ International organization was renamed Youth For Christ USA; as the group launched a new, international federation of YFC ministries based in Switzerland. Today, YFC International issues a charter to over 100 nationally-led YFC organizations, each autonomous in their strategy and operations but united under a common mission to reach young people everywhere. The international delegation meets every three years for a General Assembly.

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