Over recent years, academic institutions and organizations across the world have been studying faith trends among younger generations. Some have claimed their research points to an awakening whereas others argue the data shows that young people are continuing to turn away from religion.

Yet one trend cuts through the noise: young people are open. Research from several groups — including the independent Environics Institute, the Angus Reid Institute, and the Barna Group — point toward a genuine appetite for more. Cardus, a Canadian Christian think tank, recently laid it out plainly: “The data suggest we are seeing something potentially significant: stabilization after decades of decline, and signs of openness to faith that weren’t there before.”

Intentional mentorship builds trust over several years of connection.
“IS THERE MORE?”

Mark Koop, GVYU’s Executive Director, is hearing directly from our team about this growing trend in the lives of the young people Youth Unlimited serves on a daily basis.

“I believe there is a spiritual appetite that is growing,” says Mark. “Our young people are longing for meaning and to begin to fill in the gaps that come from life’s big questions.”

Andrew Chong, GVYU’s Metro Vancouver West Regional Director, echoes Mark’s sentiment. “Amongst the young people our team works with, there’s often a deep question below the surface: who am I? What is my purpose? There’s a genuine curiosity to unpack what Christianity — or other beliefs too — is actually all about.”

Mark believes that at Youth Unlimited, we’re uniquely positioned to meet these needs. “These youth might not be ready to step into a church, but they want to have conversations with somebody, that safe person who they can be open with about faith, meaning and purpose. Our mandate is to have those conversations, meeting them with patience, consistency, and a promise to be present.”
Coffee shops make great, safe places for mentorship conversations.

FAITH-BASED CONVERSATIONS IN A MODERN WORLD

Mark reports that, for many YU workers, these conversations are happening naturally — often initiated by youth themselves, grown out of trusted relationships. “It’s invitational,” says Mark. “These conversations are non-coercive. They happen in public settings and there’s transparency with parents. We’re helping them explore critical issues of faith and life, where they can work out what they believe while getting a sense of how valuable and loved they truly are.”

Across our region, it’s building.

In Abbotsford, it looks like a group of youth coming together weekly during the school year to watch ‘The Chosen’, a TV show based on the life and ministry of Jesus. In Maple Ridge, it’s partnering with churches to run Youth Alpha in every school in the district. For Andrew in North Vancouver, it takes shape through consistent one-on-one mentorship, where one young man recently told him: “It seems like the people in my life who accept me the most tend to be Christians. So, it makes me want to be more open to finding God… I want to give Christianity a proper shot.” Over and over, young people are yearning to talk about the big things – and it’s our privilege to walk alongside them.
giving back

For Mark, YU’s combination of our Christian faith and vocational expertise makes us ready to respond to the growing openness of the youth we serve. “We get to be a tangible expression of God’s love for our youth demographic, who are often highly vulnerable,” says Mark. “And doing that well means being equipped to walk alongside them.” For YU workers, that includes significant training, including YFC Canada’s two year credentialing program. Training in areas like nonviolent intervention, trauma-informed care and mental health first aid give staff an assortment of practical tools that shape not just what they do in a crisis, but how they communicate everyday. As Mark explains, this training “means we can communicate in a way that connects with how youth think, and also connect them with additional resources and external support when needed.”

Through meeting young people exactly where they are, YU staff are building bridges of connection, understanding and hope. “Thank God that there is someone in the mix who can have these conversations,” says Mark. “We get to be there and lift up these youths so they can discover who God created them to be. It’s what we’re called to do.”

 

Coffee shops make great, safe places for mentorship conversations.

 

Environics Institute / AmericasBarometer (March 2026); Angus Reid Institute / Cardus

  

 

 

 

YUNITE OUTSIDE 2026

From July 21–August 8, a team of 14 youth and staff will travel to Rwanda to grow, learn, and be challenged together. Please pray for the team’s safety and connectedness.

On Friday, November 13, we’re sleeping outside once again in support of vulnerable youth in our community. This year we’re enhancing our experience, bringing everyone together in one shared space through Pacific Academy’s Mary Pattison Chapel for an even more connected and impactful event. Last year, more than 325 participants joined us. This year, we’re aiming to raise $250,000 to help vulnerable youth find hope and belonging. Register online or support a sleeper: youthunlimited.com/yunite
 

 

A SUMMER TO REMEMBER

What a summer to remember! From volunteering at the Richmond Food Bank to attending camps, celebrating graduations, and everything in between, our youth shared a summer full of meaningful experiences, lasting friendships, and unforgettable memories. Thank you to everyone who gives, volunteers, and supports our youth. Your generosity helps create moments they’ll carry with them for years to come.

ELEVATION EXPERIENCE RECAP

“Being here, everything is amplified and I see through lenses clear of external worry. I just feel so grateful and inspired by everyone’s simplification of joy.”

– Alecsus, East Vancouver youth and Elevation Experience Participant

It was another incredible adventure for our youth and staff in Rwanda! Highlights for the team included working shoulder to shoulder on building projects, helping run a VBS camp, and the laughs and learning shared alongside their new Rwandan friends.

Thank you for making it possible!

 
 

 

 
 

  

 

I recently spoke with a young adult who carried years of toxic stress as a result of many adverse childhood experiences, the kind of stress known to harm health and even shorten lives. What saved him, he told me, was the loving community of Youth Unlimited staff and volunteers. His life is changed! He is now pursuing his dreams and his creative path.

Years ago another young person from Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside joined our Mountain Life hike up Mount Seymour. A staff member noticed him stuffing his pockets with pine cones and asked why. “I want to remember there is life outside the Downtown Eastside,” he said. In his late teens, he had looked at the North Shore mountains his whole life and never once stood among them.

Now let me get a little philosophical, because these two stories shape how I understand our ministry.

In many Western Christian circles you will hear a familiar phrase, first coined by Pascal: there is a God-shaped vacuum in every human being. There’s real truth in that. But I’ve also been struck by another layer to it. What if the vacuum isn’t just waiting to be noticed and filled, but is already being met? God isn’t standing back until we feel the ache and come looking. God is already present, already inviting us into relationship, whether we’ve named the longing yet or not. Maybe it’s less “emptiness waiting to be filled” and more “relationship already being offered.”

This is what we see in our young people. Not a single moment of decision, but ongoing community and relationship with God at the centre. This kind of community heals hearts, transforms minds, and rewires brains. We are daily witnesses to this reality

Those pockets full of pine cones were a young man reaching for life, and God was already there, wooing him toward it. At Youth Unlimited, we simply walk alongside, partnering with the Spirit as God guides.

Thank you for investing in us! It is a privilege to do this work together. None of it happens alone.

Mark Koop

Executive Director