This week, with schools closing and public gatherings discouraged, every youth ministry in Europe has had to re-evaluate everything it does to reach young people. We can’t see them physically, but does that mean we have to stop connecting with them and discipling them?

We don’t think it does.

We live in an exciting point in history, where it’s possible to connect with people on the other side of the world. We can stream video right out of my living room from my phone all around the globe. None of this replaces physical contact fully, but where that’s not possible, we have an opportunity to use social media for some good.

Research suggests that 9 out of 10 young people in the UK use one or more social media platform. Which means that whether we like it or not, for the youth we’re connected to, the online world is a big part of their life. Where this feels like new territory for many of us.

We actually have the potential to reach more people in this season than we were seeing before. So the Dreaming the Impossible have put together a guide covering a few different tools that could be used in your context

Please note that not all apps are suitable for all ages and churches should follow best-practise on safeguarding when working with young and vulnerable people.