CHALLENGES FACING THE NEXT GENERATION.

AND WHY CULTIVATE IS NEEDED.

Picture yourself alone in a rowboat in the middle of an ocean.  As far as the eye can see in every direction, there is nothing but sea and sky.  How would you survive?  

Even if you were trained for being in a rowboat in the middle of the ocean 

and thought you knew everything needed to survive it, reality would test your endurance and perseverance.  

Life today can be like surviving alone in the middle of an ocean.  

We live in a fast paced time in history…. a time of constant change, instability, and uncertainty.  The storms that threaten to sink us come with increasing frequency.  

Those of us who are older have navigated storms, relentless heat, and impossible challenges, but few like the ones we face today.  However, the generations after us are facing these conditions with less experience and skills to navigate life successfully.  Despite the fact that they are amazing and have the ingenuity and creativity to conquer like no generation before them, so many are plagued with chronic anxiety, depression, and feeling overwhelmed.    

Currently, almost half the world’s population is under the age of 25 years old (the largest population in the history of the earth).  Because of authority abuse and failure, many are trying to figure life out without anyone older speaking into them. They are left to figure things out for themselves.  A recent survey regarding today’s young adults communicated that 34% have no religious affiliation.  Another 16% do not attend church.

After World War I, Germany suffered from a huge crisis of leadership which made their cultural and economic struggles even worse.  As Adolf Hitler took power, a pastor named Dietrich Bonhoeffer understood God’s Word and the times in which he lived. Bonhoeffer stood up for Jesus and provided a rich spiritual environment that spoke to the needs of the next generation as they faced the rise of that evil regime.  He helped them navigate their difficult days within the context of Biblical truth and community.  

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The current post-Christian context in which find ourselves living today is being called "Digital Babylon." Screen driven content supplies nearly 20x that of any spiritual input in for a typical 15 to 23 year old.  (Kinnaman, David and Mark Matlock, Faith For Exiles, pg. 26)  

Cultivate is coming alongside the next generation during these challenging times to help provide wholistic discipleship by meeting practical as well as spiritual needs.  We foster spiritual growth, biblical community, creativity and purpose through various environments.  Cultivate believes in the next generation of disciples and wants to empower them to “do good works which God created in advance for them to do.” (Ephesians 2:10)