Youth Pastor: Gary Jung has a passion for serving the youth of his area. He knows being a Youth Pastor is the best way to impact their lives. He starts by giving us a background about himself and his journey to becoming a Youth Pastor.
“My name is Gary Jung. I live, work, and serve in the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. Our community is very focused on material things and few show an interest in spiritual things or learning about the Lord. Although many believe in God, most find him irrelevant to their lives. Our task is to shine the light of Jesus in the darkness that envelopes our city.”
Gary’s journey to becoming a Youth Pastor began by growing up in a Christian home.
“I was born and raised in a God-fearing home by loving parents. Attending church weekly as a child I came to understand about spiritual truths but I never owned them or made them my own. As I grew to be a teenager I sensed that something was missing in my life. I tried to fill the void I sensed with many things including drugs. Little did I understand how close I was to the truth all that time.”
Gary didn’t want to live a Christian life and become a Youth Pastor at first.
“I thought I had concealed my drug usage pretty well. One Wednesday night when I went with the church youth group to a family’s home, I stayed outside and hung out with the bus driver. He looked me straight in the eye and told me he knew that I was doing drugs and that if I kept it up it would kill me. He spoke of God’s love for me and my need for a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. These were words I had heard many times before but suddenly they took on new meaning. A week later I was with my friends doing drugs when I put this newly discovered knowledge to the test. I said, “God if you are real, show yourself to me.” Little did I know that he would answer. Immediately I came down from the LSD trip I was on stone sober. It scared me but I knew I had my answer from God. I fell to my knees and gave my life to Jesus.”
Gary accepted the Lord into his life and the road to becoming a Youth Pastor.
“From that moment a peace descended upon my heart and I knew the reality of a relationship with God. I sought to share this new powerful truth with my drug friends but they were not interested and wanted nothing to do with me. I re-established my friendships with those at church and found a new meaning and purpose in my life.”
Touched by his own personal struggle in his youth, Gary knew being a Youth Pastor was the path to take.
“Since that day I have served the Lord. Beginning with leading a youth Bible study, my path has led me to become an intern at a Christian servicemen’s center, a college and music minister, an associate pastor, a senior pastor, a Bible college professor, and a teacher at a private Christian high school.”
Gary wants to mentor youth and create programs as a Youth Pastor.
“As co-pastor of a small church, my dream is to spend the remaining time the Lord gives me to minister to make the maximum impact on the next generations by mentoring and equipping young people to serve the Lord in ministry. I envision a group of young men and women making a commitment to be trained and using Christian Leaders Institute as the vehicle. Mentoring a group through the training process would allow my ministry to multiply and continue bearing fruit long after my part is finished.”
Christian Leaders Institute is the way for Gary to become a Youth Pastor.
“None of this can happen without funding. My resources are limited and without scholarship assistance this dream will not come to pass. Please pray for the Lord to open hearts to hear His call to minister; and strength, wisdom and courage for those who need to answer the call. The field is white and the laborers are few.”
Gary has completed the Christian Basics Certificate. He continues to expand his education for becoming a Youth Pastor thanks to generous donors of Christian Leaders Institute.