Who are your people? Think about that for a moment. I’ll answer for myself. First, I think of my family. My family are my people, and that feeds into my understanding of who I am, where I come from, the historical challenges “my people” who came before me faced, battling generational poverty, which carries a strong burden and requires a long journey to break the bonds and get your head above water. My people are my friends, I grew up with, classmates from high school and college. My people are my Christian friends, my mentors, and those who invested in my spiritual life.
These past few weeks, I’ve felt the incredible challenges some of the youth I serve are facing. Stepping into the presence of God, accepting Jesus Christ into their hearts, being introduced to the powerful impact of scripture as we studied passages in Psalms, Proverbs, and James 1, and starting to pray, for the first time, and feel God’s presence in a real way… many of them now realize “their people” don’t fit their new life in Christ.
I’ve never seen this in this way since I began ministering to high-risk teens in 2008. I’ve never seen teenage guys read verses of scripture, literally feel the message, sit back in their chairs as if they were just stunned by what they just read, and then read it again. The consistent response has been a quiet remark such as, “I’ve got some big decisions to make. I need to make some hard choices. I need to find my new people.” And I’ve experienced this happen multiple times over the past few weeks.
What is this even about? It’s the incredible reality that if I am going to truly follow Jesus, I need to find my new people. Because my current people are spiritually dark, some are gang members, some are evil influencers, some are my companions in crime, and it’s easier said than done to break those ties. But you can’t read Psalm 140, James 1, or hardly anywhere in Proverbs without a “come to Jesus” reality check that God wants to deliver you from the evil in the world.
Seven more teens accepted Christ since my last email update in January. And they need all our prayers. There have been thirteen new believers born into the body of Christ since January 1. Pray for all of “our new people” who have joined God’s family.
Also, pray for the students and me at Valley Christian School in Oshkosh, WI, where I will be preaching in daily chapel services for their Spiritual Emphasis Week, March 2-6.
Easter will be here six weeks from this coming Sunday! We will be providing Easter gift bags and our Rise Up youth outreach project should be our biggest ever. Our goal is to provide Rise Up! Easter Gift bags to 300-500 high-risk and fatherless youth! Read all about it and how your gift of $30, or any amount, can impact youth this Easter. https://kenturnerministries.org/easter-project-rise-up-for-youth/
Easter is coming soon, and I’d like to share a special project you can participate in!
On Easter weekend, 2026, we have a special youth outreach project called “Rise Up for Youth.” We will deliver an Easter gift bag to youth in juvenile centers in Tennessee, Indiana, and Illinois. Each bag will contain a Bible, a book called The Case For Easter, a NEW edition of the High Impact Teen Spiritual journal, and some Easter candy. The book, The Case for Easter, is written by former “atheist turned Christian” and former legal editor for the Chicago Tribune, Lee Strobel. The book makes a powerful case for the evidence of the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The High Impact Teen Spiritual Journal is a teen devotional journal I developed with daily Bible reading schedules, a prayer journal, and scripture memory. This revised version of the HIT Journal is specifically for high-risk, fatherless youth, with special sections on “How To Have a Personal Relationship With God,” “How To Pray,” and “7 Habits To Help You Grow Spiritually.” Over 30,000 teens have used the HIT Journal since it was first published, and statistically, teens who use the journal average having personal devotions 4 days out of 7 each week or more.
I know you will agree that we are in a culture war between good and evil for today’s youth’s hearts, minds, and souls. And the frontline of the battle is in the heart of our fatherless youth.
You Can Help In Two Ways
Every $30 donated will provide a “Rise Up For Youth” gift bag with these powerful gospel tools. Our goal is to impact at least 300 youth this Easter, and if possible, we could impact 1000 youth through the rest of 2026. We can do more as God provides through His people. To give to this project, go to https://kenturnerministries.org/give/and select High Impact Ministries and the subfund “Rise Up For Youth.”
Write a letter to a high-risk and fatherless teen in juvenile detention. I am collecting letters to teens in juvenile centers this Easter, and I could use your help! See these instructions and consider writing a letter to a high-risk, fatherless teen. If you would prefer to email a message, feel free to type an email and use the subject line “My Letter To Fatherless Youth” and send it to me at kenturner@highimpactteens.org You can also mail a letter or card to me for a teen at High Impact Ministries, PO Box 375, Benson, IL 61516
Your gift at this time will also provide funds to continue sharing the life-changing message of the gospel with fatherless youth throughout the rest of this year!
God bless you as you prayerfully consider partnering to spread the gospel to fatherless youth.
Do you ever wonder if the effort you invest is even worth it? The time you devote to your work, the decision to improve your property, another expense to keep that car running, and maybe the efforts you put into your spiritual life and kingdom building.
I am deeply grateful that the board members of High Impact Ministries and our amazing team of supporters are on board with the idea that we aren’t about flashy, numbers driven, celebrity status ministry.
This week in our High Impact Teen Bible Study in the juvenile center in Normal, IL, I met a completely new group of teens. Our study this week focused on wisdom from Proverbs 1. As I broke down the process of following God’s path of wisdom verses following the path of the foolish person from scripture, God really began to move in the hearts of these high school guys and girls. They wanted to talk. One by one they expressed how hard life is growing up fatherless, not having a stable mom to give guidance, and the incredible pressures of gang life in the community. When we reached Proverbs 1:10-19 where it speaks of sinners “enticing” us to do evil, one guy literally jumped in his chair as if he was jolted. He said, “This is unbelievable! I didn’t know there was a passage in the Bibnle that literally descibes my life. I feel like this was written about me.” The spirit of the Lord was moving deeply.
Last night I drove to Champaign, IL. The drive from my house is one hour and fifteen minutes. I had two Bible studies with two different groups. The response in the first group was much the same as the session in Normal, IL the day before. It’s amazing to see teenage guys respond to God’s word in this way when they have little to no background in the church. But it was the second group session that affected me the most…
I walked into a classroom for my second Bible study. In the back of the classroom, seated in the very back row, in the far right corner, was a high school boy. All by himself. I asked the security staff, “Is it just the two of us, or will others be joining us?” He told me it was just this one boy in this group. When I walked in, I imagined I’d be standing up front, leading a Bible study with a group of teenagers, but here I am, looking in the back corner of basically an empty room, and only one person. I walked to the back, pulled a chair up to his desk, introduced myself and asked if he needed a Bible. In a shy, quiet tone, he said, “I have my Bible right here.” The Bible he showed me was one of the Bibles we provided last month as part of the gift bags we shipped to hundreds of youth in juvenile centers. He also showed me his High Impact Teen devotional journal and said he knew when I walked in that I was the guy whose ministry provided these for him. He said, “Ken, I’ve been wanting to write you a letter to tell you about the ways God is working in my life.” His Bible was frayed, the cover was curled around the edges, the pages were frayed, dirty, and curled in all directions. The devotional journal was filled with writings of his time with God. He told me he read the book of Epesians last week and is excited about the next book of the Bible he will finish. We spent thirty minutes in Proverbs together. He was like a sponge, eager to digest all of it.
One person, one gospel, one Saviour, one conversatiuon, one small effort… you and I have no idea on this side of heaven how our life may have touched the life of another for all eternity. Someone, somewhere, may be sitting in their chair, in a room alone, pondering you, your testimony, your care for them, and your example of Jesus.
Christmas is coming soon, and I’d like to share a special project you can participate in!
We are calling our Christmas Project “Good News for Youth.” We will deliver a Christmas gift bag to youth in Illinois, Tennessee, and Indiana juvenile centers. Each bag will contain a Student StudyBible, Christmas gift devotional books such as The Case For Christmas, A Love Worth Giving To You At Christmas, Why The Nativity, a High Impact Teen Spiritual Journal, as well as Christmas gospel tracts. We will also include knit hats, gloves, and some Christmas candy. Imagine spending the Christmas season away from family as a teenager, with little to no contact with loved ones. At times like this, God often moves in special ways to speak the message of His love into hearts and minds. We want youth to know there is “Good News.” Christ was born so that they might receive the greatest gift of all… God’s gift of salvation. What a great gift to receive this Christmas!
You Can Help In Two Ways
Your donation will provide a “Good News For Youth” gift bag with these powerful gospel tools. Our goal is to impact at least 300 youth this Christmas, and, if possible, many more. We can do more as God provides through His people. To give to this project, go to https://kenturnerministries.org/give/and select High Impact Ministries and the subfund “High Impact Needs – Special Projects.”
Write a letter to a high-risk and fatherless teen in juvenile detention. We are collecting letters to teens in juvenile centers this Christmas and could use your help! See these instructions and consider writing a letter to a high-risk, fatherless teen. We have an online form so you can write and submit it online, and we will print it and include it in the special Christmas Gift bags we are distributing.
A. Online : Here is the link to write and submit your letter.https://forms.gle/9YEfHxfcDsVeL3u38 B. Or you can write your message in an email and send it to me at kenturner@highimpactteens.org (Include the subject line “Letter to Youth.” C. Or you can mail a note to teens at our address: High Impact Ministries, PO Box 375, Benson, IL 61516
Your gift at this time will also provide funds to continue sharing the life-changing message of the gospel with fatherless youth throughout the rest of this year and next year!
God bless you as you prayerfully consider partnering to spread the gospel to fatherless youth.
Your gift will help bring the gospel to fatherless youth!
On this Giving Tuesday, join us in our outreach to high-risk and fatherless youth. Your gift to High Impact Ministries will be used to bring the hope of the gospel of Jesus to youth who desperately need it.
Here are a few ways your gift today will help us reach youth at the end of the year!
High Impact Ministries – Outreach project to provide Bibles and devotional journals to fatherless youth in juvenile centers across Tennessee, Indiana, and our newest outreach in Illinois. Our other project is to provide Christmas gift bags to 500 or more teens in juvenile centers. Each teen will receive a gift on Christmas with personal toiletries, a Bible, and a devotional book. Your gift will impact hundreds of youth.
High Impact York – Our outreach in York, PA, led by Tom Vietti, focuses on reaching high-risk and fatherless youth in the York County Youth Development Center and the Lancaster County Youth Intervention Center. Tom also leads a Wilderness Discipleship Ministry throughout the year. Funds are needed to bring the gospel to the youth in York, Lancaster, and the surrounding area and for expenses to grow the Wilderness Discipleship Ministry. Thank you for praying and partnering with this vital ministry.
Join us and make a difference in the life of a fatherless teen on this “Giving Tuesday.”
