Youth workers across the country have a common dream–that their students will be passionate about their faith and will be talking about it with their friends who don’t know Christ. It’s no secret that this is a difficult task. What are the barriers that keep this dream from being realized, and how do we overcome them?

We asked our Facebook fans what you thought these barriers were. Every response had to do with fear. Students don’t share their faith because of fear of not fitting in, fear of not knowing how to combat their friends’ arguments and fear of persecution and embarrassment. As with any problem, there are usually layers to be peeled back to reveal foundational problems. So what’s the foundational problem here? Jesus repeatedly told His disciples not to fear and when He gave them (and us) the Great Commission; He promised He’d always be with us. Do our students believe God is right there with them when they try to explain Him to others? Perhaps this is where we should start when trying to help our students overcome their fear.

I caught up with Adam Bond, missionary with Evangelism Explosion International, one snowy Colorado day to get his ideas about how youth workers can equip their students to make outreach a lifestyle. The air outside was cold, but the conversation was warm (as was the weather in Florida on his endof the phone line). It was evident to me right away that Adam is passionate about seeing young people equipped to share what they know about God with those around them who don’t know Him at all. Adam helps churches implement a tool called XEE that helps students share their faith in a way that fits their generation’s values. One of XEE’s premises is that evangelism is most effective when done within the context of trust-based relationships. XEE teaches students how to share the story of the gospel within the context of relationship and then gives them a chance to practice.

So how can youth leaders and parents come alongside their students to help them make sharing their faith a lifestyle? Adam says we must first understand the way they see the world and recognize they value different things than the generation before them. The way we were taught to share our faith is not the way that is going to be most relevant to them. Generation X values individuality, but Generation Y values team and unity. Adam believes today’s students will not learn about evangelism in a clean, sterile environment. “They need to get their hands dirty,” he said. He suggests that youth workers give students adequate opportunity to practice what they learn about evangelism in environments that are meaningful to them. If someone else creates the opportunities, they won’t be interested. He recalls a group of students who planned a service day at their school and invited their friends who didn’t know Christ to join them. It takes leadership from youth workers for students to create these kinds of experiences, but Adam encourages youth workers to help students hear God’s voice, step back and let them explore that within their own context. “Let them get a sense that they are teaching you,” he said. When they are given power and the chance to lead, they will get excited about evangelism and want to do it again and again, making it a lifestyle.

Another generational value held by today’s students is for information to be current. Adam suggests the traditional idea of sharing our testimony of who we were before we knew Christ and who we are now is a past-tense story, and aged information is of little value to today’s students. XEE encourages students to tell current stories about how God has been involved in their lives recently. Adam has shared his faith hundreds of times using this approach and never has repeated a story. “Real time story is a hinge pin in personal evangelism,” he said, adding that sharing these kinds of stories in trust-based relationships inspires genuine curiosity about God and open doors so that not sharing the gospel becomes awkward.

Another key to helping students make evangelism a lifestyle is to help them understand that Christianity is not something we do, but is who we are. Our faith is the core of our identity and permeates every part of our lives. We must break down the false dividers between the Christian parts of our lives and everything else. If our students don’t understand they are just as Christian when they’re at school or on the football field as they are when they’re at church, sharing their faith will seem awkward.

Another thing we must do is dissolve the stereotypes that our students hold about evangelism. Is their idea of evangelism handing out tracts on a street corner? If so, you can bet that evangelism is the last thing they will want to do. However, if they understand that it’s sharing their real life stories about God with their friends in a way that makes sense to them, they will be much more likely to do it.

To learn more about Adam’s ministry, visit AdamTaylorBond.com. Merri Helton is a student at Denver Seminary and will graduate in May 2011 with a Master’s Degree in Christian Studies.