Each generation faces a unique challenge. The challenge being experienced by this next emerging generation is a crisis of identity. There is a desperate cry for mentors to help them figure out who they are and why they exist.
“So, tell me, what is the dream?”
This is the question I ask young adults wherever I go. The answers never cease to amaze me. Most of them have a dream. The dream may lack clarity. It may be suppressed or even have died. But most young adults have some sense of the life they are called to live. What they lack is a way to get there.
When we were building Disciple-Making Movements in rural environments, we would most often begin by looking backwards. We would begin in the book of Genesis. We would slowly take people from creation through to Christ. There was a strong interest in the past and in the origins of the world. But young adults in cities think differently.
When we work with young adults in cities, we find that many are asking more personal and future-oriented questions. They want to know their destiny – why they are on earth. They want to bring their unique contribution to the world. They need a mountain to climb, a battle to fight and a purpose to pursue.
At Two Four Eight we designed the Quest journey for young adults who are asking these questions. It has become a powerful way to connect with young adults who are still far from God. Quest helps young adults answer ten critical questions:
- Why am I here?
- Where am I now?
- Where have I been?
- What do I value?
- How am I wired?
- What brings me joy?
- Where am I going?
- How will I get there?
- How will I energize?
- Who will go with me?
The answers to these questions are discovered, not lectured. As mentors, we simply facilitate a discussion of self-discovery. Some of the discoveries are made through reading relevant Scripture passages. Other discoveries are made by being challenged to answer difficult personal questions.
The Quest journey to purpose is still new. My wife, Michelle, and I have taken the journey with several young adults in our city. It has already had a life-changing impact. All these young adults are now asking questions about God. The journey of discovering their God-given purpose has led them into a journey of discovering God.
You can learn more about making disciples through a discovery of purpose in our free online training.
NEXT: Teams start Movements