Greg A. Stier - Outbreak: Creating a Contagious Youth Ministry Through Viral Evangelism

This book is infectious! Once you read it, you will want to spread the news to everyone you know who works with young people. Greg has a true heart for evangelism, and in Outbreak, he has developed a powerful tool to help you lead the charge for effective outreach in your youth ministry!

J OSH D. M C D OWELL

Greg has captured a great vision for Gods purpose of evangelism and laid it out in an easy-to-understand format. Two of the aspects of this book that I appreciate most are its practical approach and easy application. Ive never used the word easy when it comes to evangelism before, but Outbreak really helps students and youth leaders clearly understand the need for viral evangelism and provides them with user-friendly help. I cant wait for my youth ministry to be influenced by this material.

D OUG F IELDS

Pastor to Students

Saddleback Church

Author: Purpose Driven Youth Ministry

In todays postmodern world of political correctness, its refreshing to see that someone still believes that teenagers can win their unsaved friends to Christ. Greg Stier is not only a believer, but an enthusiastic and successful motivator and equipper of young saints who want to turn their world upside down just like the early disciples did! This book is long overdue and highly recommended!

W AYNE R ICE

Co-founder, Youth Specialties

Director, Understanding Your Teenager

Youth leaders are in a war for our nations teenagers, and Greg gives them practical, Bible-inspired ammunition and strategies to reach out, infect, and excite young people to a passion for God. Each chapter of this book concludes with a review statement, a challenge for the leader, and questions for the entire youth ministry team to go over, think about, and put into action.

L ORI S ALIERNO

CEO, Celebrate Life International

CREATING A CONTAGIOUS

YOUTH MINISTRY

THROUGH VIRAL EVANGELISM

G REG S TIER

M OODY P UBLISHERS
CHICAGO

2002, 2006 by
G REG S TIER

Revised and Updated

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version. NIV . Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved.

Editor: Ali Diaz

Cover Design: The DesignWorks Group, Inc., Wes Youssi

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Stier, Greg.

Outbreak : creating a contagious youth ministry through viral evangelism / Greg Stier.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references (p. ).

ISBN 0-8024-1794-9

1. Church group work with teenagers. I. Title.

BV4447 .S695 2002

259.23dc21

2001057934

ISBN: 0-8024-1794-9

ISBN-13: 978-0-8024-1794-7

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To Doug
Your example showed me how to go viral.

This book is designed to give you a hands-on guide for implementing a viral approach to evangelism through your weekly youth group meeting. After each chapter, you will find three practical helps to enable you to maximize the principles you have discovered. Red Dot Reviews, Monkey Mandates, and Staff Infection Questions will help you navigate these truths from theory to reality.

I encourage you to make this a twelve-week project. Take one week for each chapter. You and your team can read the chapter and then go through the questions. On the twelfth week spend time refining your strategy. Then launch it officially in a viral kickoff in the youth group.

Have fun and go viral!

T his book goes out with many thanks to many people. First and foremost I would like to thank my wonderful wife, Debbie, who encouraged me to go beyond what was comfortable to me, preaching behind a pulpit, and try something different, writing behind a desk. Her patience with me during my travels and writing retreats enabled me to invest in a craft that did not come as easily to me. Eric and Leslie Ludy are to be gratefully acknowledged as well. It was their insistence and persistence that encouraged me to pursue getting published. They believed in the importance of getting this vision out there and coached me along every step of the way. Thanks to the Ludys as well for the introduction to Moody Publishers.

Thanks to the wonderful staff at Dare 2 Share Ministries who tolerated an absentee president every morning from 811 a.m., while I worked to complete this manuscript at our local Starbucks. Lane Palmer and Debbie Bresina as staff members, your insights, ideas, and help have been tremendously influential in the crafting of this book.

Special thanks goes out to all of the youth leaders across America who have helped me to discover the principles that are represented in Outbreak. In addition, R. J. Koerper and Ralph Yankee Arnold both changed the way I define effective youth ministry. Their input into my life has infected me with a passion to see God unleash a student awakening across the world.

I would also like to thank the people and leadership of Grace Church. Although I am no longer a pastor there, I sensed the prayers of this viral congregation every step along the way while putting this book together. Special thanks to Jim Malouff, Rick Long, and Jonathan Smith, who continued to encourage, coach, challenge, and ask the hard questions.

Finally, I would like to thank the publishing team at Moody Publishers. Its been a privilege working with a team that is so godly, encouraging, and concerned about truth. Moody Publishers is truly a name you can trust.