2021

I could give you a billion reasons why Dare 2 Share is so critical right now, and each one has a face, a name, a story. 

This is the largest generation of young people the world has ever seen. But it can be hard to really imagine how many one billion actually is, so we came up with a word picture to help visually how many teens that represents. 

Imagine teenagers lined up toe to heel, chest to back in a single file line across your church sanctuary, depending on the size of your church, you could probably visualize about 200 teens. Now, extend that line west, all the way to California’s coastline. No matter where you are, I can guarantee, you still wouldn’t get close to a billion. So imagine a bridge across the Pacific ocean to China – and that’s still not enough! Let say you keep that line going across China through Europe and across the top of Africa. Nope.  

Imagine another bridge across the ocean to the East Coast of America, then bring the line all the way back to where you are at. This is still not enough. You would need to that circle around the world not just twice, or three times, or even five. You’d have to repeat that circle seven and a half times to get one billion! That’s a lot of teenagers!  

And as you look across all those faces, realize that every one of them has a story. And for the majority of them, their story includes pain, loss, hurt, and hopelessness.  

According to the latest statistics, youth suicidal ideation, attempt and completion are on the rise. A recent behavioral report states that one out of every five high school students have seriously considered suicide and one in 10 have attempted suicide. Suicide is currently the second-leading cause of death among 10-24-year-olds in America today. And it’s not just a national problem, it’s a worldwide crisis. According to the World Health Organization, suicide is the fourth leading cause of death among 15-19-year olds worldwide.  

Now, the world’s experts would tell us that the root causes of this epidemic among our youth is linked to struggles with identity, belonging, and purpose. And on that we would agree. However, we believe we need a different solution. We need a supernatural solution!  

• We believe our youth need to find their identity as a child of the one true and living God. 

• We believe our youth need to belong to a community of Christ-followers. 
• We believe our youth can find purpose in making disciples. 

Dare 2 Share is committed to reaching every teen everywhere in every way possible. But it’s going to take all of us to make this a reality. Parents, youth leaders, students, grandparents, partner ministries, denominations – the Church. And the amazing thing is that we are seeing that happening. God is raising up His people who have a passion for our youth who are volunteering, supporting and praying for believing teens around the world to be inspired and equipped to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with their friends and family. No one group – or ministry – can do this alone. It’s going to take everyone. And I think that has been God’s intention all along. 

Debbie Bresina
President, Dare 2 Share Ministries