One of the most common questions we get from those who are in full-time ministry, to volunteers, to parents and grandparents is; ‘How can we better engage today’s young people?’

In fact, I often imagine a Jewish mother approaching Jesus asking Him what she can do to get her son to go to the synagogue.

If you follow Casting Nets Ministries enough you know the answer is going to involve prayer, sacrifice, patience, relationships, messy vulnerability and more than just programs.

But the biggest emphasis is going to be about meeting them where they are at…just like our God did with us in the Incarnation. However, this involves an honest assessment of where young people are at today.

We know that many young people have not encountered the Lord or been evangelized. The even more astonishing realization is that a huge segment of young people are not even ready to be evangelized.

As Pope St. John Paul the Great referred, there needs to be a pre-evangelization to our evangelization. That means that young people today need to encounter truth, goodness, beauty, authentic relationships, and their true identities before they are ready to hear the Truth of the Gospel.

I have been blessed to get to know David Henrie over the last few years because he married a good friend Maria. If you do not recognize David’s name, your children probably do. He starred in Disney’s "Wizards of Waverly Place," ‘How I Met Your Mother," "Little Boy," "Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2" and many others.

Often, David and I have discussed what can be done to engage young people today. David has dedicated himself to producing work that is uplifting, presenting truth and goodness wrapped in beauty.

I am excited to share with you David Henrie’s film "This is the Year." It is everything that a young comedy romance, feel good movie should be and yet so much more. Since we know that teens and young people are watching most of their movies on their devices, David has taken his movie straight to where they are at.

I encourage you to join the watch party, get the word out and invite young people to watch this movie. www.ThisistheYear.film To save $2 David shared a promo code with me: bebold  

Opportunities like this do not present themselves very often, but when we have a chance to engage young  people we need to engage with passion and conviction because the right time is right now…"This is the Year."

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Casting Nets Ministries