CHANGE YOUR WORLD
“Year 13 has challenged me to view my entire life as a mission field, to take every God-given opportunity and be bold for the sake of the gospel.”
“Year 13 has encouraged me to be a bold ambassador for Christ and to stand firmly in my identity in him.”
Year 13 is a discipleship gap year for school leavers, preparing you to change the world for Christ, whatever walk of life you choose.
GET COMMUNITY Connect with likeminded school leavers passionate about Jesus! Enjoy fellowship with Christians from all around the country and the world. Stay overnight on campus and share your life and faith. Quantity time makes for quality friendships that last beyond your gap year as you join the Year 13 grad community.
GET IMMERSED Go deeper with God so that you know how to shape your life and future around Jesus. Explore God’s word in class, chapel, discussions and in your personal Bible reading. We learn in community and look closely at biblical theology, evangelism, cross-cultural mission, practical ministry skills and much more.
GET EQUIPPED Be discipled by our experienced pastoral leaders. Gain inspiration from special guests who share their work and ministry life experience with you. Grow your skills in Christian leadership and show God’s love in action as you serve in a ministry placement across the year and volunteer at various youth and children’s camps. You’ll be shaped by the joys and challenges of ministry under the care of your local church and Year 13 staff.
GET MISSIONAL Play your part in God’s global mission as you experience real, life-changing ministry in an eye opening mission trip to Fiji. You’ll experience local life first-hand and be inspired as you contribute to God’s mission to see Jesus glorified in all the world.
GET MOVING Move forward in your knowledge of God, service of his people and understanding of yourself. Be equipped for kingdom work now by developing your practical ministry skills. Build your CV with X-Factor qualities that will set you ahead of the pack when it comes to job interviews in the future. You’ll take your place in God’s global mission as a leader among leaders.
Benefits of a Gap Year So, you’re thinking about Year 13. That’s awesome! But you may be hearing mixed messages about gap years. Why delay getting straight into life post school? Aren’t gap years just an expensive waste of time? We don’t think so (and we are not alone!). Research shows that students who take a gap year before starting university perform better academically. In response, more and more universities are encouraging students to defer their enrollments and take a gap year before commencing study. One of the great strengths of a gap year is the chance to take a breath. There are so many options and decisions you face after school and the impact these decisions have on the rest of your life can seem daunting. You can feel so much pressure to get it right! Study after study reports that gap year students have greater clarity and motivation in pursuing further academic study, benefit from increased employability and better career satisfaction, while gaining a broader perspective on life. The involvement of Year 13 mentors in your life, will build valuable social and spiritual capital and will help you flourish into adulthood. Find more information at: www.year13.net/faq
93%
93%
OF STUDENTS WHO COMPLETE YEAR 13 STAY IN CHURCH
COMPARED TO
66% 49%
CHURCH LIFE *Statistics drawn from 2016 NCLS survey results conducted with 298 of 792 past and current Year 13 students.
OF THEIR PEERS AGED 19* OF THEIR PEERS AGED 26*
Deep Discipleship It is our prayer that through your time at Year 13 you might be challenged to be a Christian above everything else - that as you then go on to university, to work, or whatever the future may hold, you will remain a resilient Christian for the long haul. Year 13 is a carefully and deliberately structured one-year program designed to mature your faith, connect you with trusted mentors and other like-minded young people, building on foundations that will set you up for the rest of life. A Year 13 gap year will aim to grow you in your love and knowledge of God. All students are treated equally in the program enjoying the same access to expert Year 13 teachers and mentors.
As a part of, and in addition to the classroom units of study, you will participate in a number of ‘life skills’ courses and seminars, ensuring you will grow spiritually and will also be better prepared for life after Year 13. These include: evangelism, ministry skills, financial planning, careers exploration, understanding different cultures, along with opportunities to learn how to serve on Christian camps, learn how to lead and/or work in a team, learn how to deliver a talk and/ or Bible study, and serve alongside Anglicare in care of the marginalised.
Focused discipleship and training about God, matched to your age and stage on campus.
Young people you disciple through your ministry placement.
Older Christian Supervisors and Mentors who invest in your faith in the local church.
A cohort of supportive peers in Year 13 who experience Christian life as you do.
A Whole Year FIJI MISSION
O-WEEK
JUNE/JULY
FEBRUARY
Every year, the one-month mission to Fiji is a highlight. You’ll visit some beautiful locations and experience genuine Fijian culture and hospitality as you travel far from the tourist track to partner with local churches and share the gospel in many different contexts.
Year 13 begins with a week away where everyone comes together to jump-start the year. A fun-filled week with chapel, lectures, activities and much more. It’s a great way to meet others doing Year 13 and prepare for the year ahead.
FIJI TRAINING WEEK MAY Fiji Training Week is a chance to get away and focus on the mission to Fiji. Through classes, activities and much more, you’ll be trained for ministry in Fiji, and will gain a better understanding of cross-cultural mission.
MONDAY
TUESDAY
WEDNESDAY
THURSDAY
FRIDAY
SATURDAY
SUNDAY
SEMESTERSocial 2 Life
Church
EXAMPLE WEEK
Travel
SEMESTER 1 February/March 1 P/T & O-Week Work
Block P/T Work
April Easter Break April/May Block 2 May/June Fiji Training Week
Training
Ministry Prep
JuneYEAR 13 Pre-Fiji Break
YEAR 13
July Block 3 & Adventure Week September/ October Fiji Mission
Dinner with Church Family
Bible Study
Youth Group
D-Week is the perfect way to finish the year. With everyone together for one final week, it’s a time to finish the year well, to look back on everything God has done for you and to celebrate!
The Celebration Service is an opportunity to reflect on everything that Year 13 has been and praise God for the work he has done over the year. Your family, friends and supporters join us as we celebrate!
Social Life
Church Prep
Youth Group meeting
NOVEMBER
NOVEMBER
Sport P/T Work October/November Block 4 & D-Week
Travel
D-WEEK
CELEBRATION SERVICE
October Post Fiji Break
Social Life
Church Dinner after Church
On Campus At Year 13 you stay on campus and participate in an exciting and engaging discipleship program. This includes chaplaincy and prayer groups, chapel, firesides, morning and afternoon prayers, solo time with God, 1-to-1 mentoring, practical ministry and Bible classes, meals and more. To cater for all students and allow Year 13 to work well with your ministry week, you will attend campus two days and one night per week throughout the year.
STREAM 1 TUESDAY
WEDNESDAY
STREAM 2 WEDNESDAY
Breakfast
Arrive
Solos
New Testament
Breakfast Arrive Chapel
Morning Devotions Chapel
THURSDAY
Solos Morning Devotions Evangelism
Morning Tea
Morning Tea
New Testament
Evangelism
Lunch
Lunch
Morning Tea
Morning Tea
New Testament
Evangelism
Lunch
Lunch
Prayer Groups
Evangelism
New Testament
Prayer Groups
Afternoon Tea
Afternoon Tea
Afternoon Tea
Afternoon Tea
Chaplaincy Groups
Arvo prayers/clean up
Chaplaincy Groups
Arvo prayers/clean up
Solos
Solos
Free time
Free Time
Dinner
Dinner
Fireside
Fireside
Free Time
Bedtime
Free Time
Bedtime
Go deeper in God’s word. Be active in your local church. Grow as a Christian leader. DEEPEN YOUR FAITH During a Year 13 gap year you will be encouraged to go deeper in your relationship with God. Deepen your faith as you spend time getting into God’s word and spend time with like-minded young people as you challenge each other to stretch your passion and knowledge of God.
SHARPEN YOUR PRIORITIES In 21st Century Australia, emerging adults have the privilege to do almost anything. It’s difficult to know how to navigate life when almost every option is available and acceptable. Spending your gap year with Year 13 will help you approach some of life’s toughest questions through a Jesus focused lens.
UPSKILL FOR LIFE
A Year 13 gap year will equip you to change the world for Christ. Be discipled and gain inspiration from special guests who share their work and ministry life experience with you. Have time to connect in community on a deeper level, ask tough questions and pray for one another in small and large groups.
FAQS FOR PARENTS Research shows that student who take a gap year before starting university perform better academically. But it’s not just about academics. Increasingly, more and more universities are encouraging students to defer their enrolments and take a gap year before commencing study. One of the great strengths of a gap year is the chance to take a breath. There are so many options and decisions facing your child after school, and the impact these decisions have on the rest of their lives can be daunting. They feel so much pressure to get it right! Study after study reports that gap year students have greater clarity and motivation in pursuing further academic study, benefit from increased employability and better career satisfaction, as well as gain a broader perspective on life. The involvement of Year 13 mentors in your child’s life, building valuable social and spiritual capital with them, will help your child flourish into adulthood.
“I am a great advocate of the gap year, provided that the year is well planned. I taught in Oxford for many years, where you are responsible for a small group of students throughout their degree and get to know them very well. The students who had taken a gap year were invariably more mature, and more ready for tertiary study, than those who had come direct from high school. Far from losing ground, students arrive at University from a gap year better prepared to excel.” Michael Spence, Vice-Chancellor and Principal of The University of Sydney (14 September, 2018)
FOR MINISTERS DISCIPLESHIP FOR CHRISTIAN MATURITY
We recognise that not every Year 13 student has the same level of Christian maturity, or the same character, convictions, or competency. Some are as keen as mustard to keep following Jesus and want to take every opportunity to expand the opportunities, places, and ways they can serve him and their neighbour. Year 13 is for all Christian school leavers regardless of their current spiritual maturity! We want to partner with you in discipling and developing them to maturity in Christ as they transition to adulthood.
CHURCH PARTNERSHIP
As part of the Year 13 program, students should be involved in their local church. At a minimum, this means regularly attending and participating in church services, being a regular member of a small group. However, Year 13 provides the opportunity to serve in so many more ways with the availability to have a go at things they’ve not previously been able to do. You might like to have your Year 13 student serve as an SRE helper, a kids or youth leader, or perhaps fulfil some of the administrative tasks at church. You can work out what is best to suit both your church and your Year 13er.
MENTORING
Mentoring is an essential part of our program and functions as a connection between Year 13 and the rest of a student’s life. Mentoring provides long term nurture and discipleship of students, which will hopefully extend far beyond Year 13. Mentors can provide a confidential sounding board during the year for students as they process the many new experiences and challenges they face in the program, within their ministry, and in life in general.
INTERGENERATIONAL INVOLVEMENT
One of the consistent statistics for young people remaining engaged in their church is the quantity and quality of intergenerational relationships they have. Intentional intergenerational relationships are key to their continued discipleship into adulthood as they learning from older generations and see firsthand what it looks like to follow Jesus as an adult. The Year 13 program suggests that all students should form a relationship with one other family from church and share meal with them each week. If you have any questions, feel free to contact us at year13@youthworks.net or on (02) 8093 3412.
Global Mission OVERVIEW
On mission you will visit some beautiful locations and experience genuine Fijian culture and hospitality, far from the tourists, as you and your Local Church Mission team partner with churches and minister the gospel in many different contexts. You will have the chance to teach Scripture in orphanages, schools, churches, refugee settlements and prisons, participate in hands-on community projects as well as present at Fijian Youth Leadership Conferences.
and develop the relationship with our Fijian partners. Fijian culture operates on trust, and it is a great privilege – and a testament to our past students to be asked back each year.
Year 13 is always monitoring the restrictions and border closures. We have contingency plans for mission trips to NZ or with an indigenous community in rural NSW.
It is important to know that Year 13 does not go to ’do mission’. Our philosophy of mission is to partner with local Fijians in mission. God has opened the door for Year 13 in Fiji through existing relationships with Fijian church leaders. Year 13 has also returned, year after year, to the same ministries, seeking to consolidate the work done by previous year groups,
The Fiji mission takes place in June-July each year. Part of your Year 13 training involves personal fundraising to help cover most— if not all— of your mission costs. The mission fees cover your airfares, incountry transfers, travel insurance, meals, training, accommodation and sightseeing for your trip. While in Fiji, you will receive a prepaid SIM in order to contact home, as well as give you intermittent internet access. There will
also be a supporters’ Facebook page to allow friends and family to see what you have been up to. Detailed risk management policies and emergency procedures are in place to ensure the safety of all team members. For more information about travelling to Fiji, please visit: https://www.smartraveller. gov.au/destinations/pacific/fiji.
PREPARATION
You will be well prepared for cross-cultural ministry. This includes detailed cultural awareness training on Evangelism and Biblical Theology of Mission, which work together preparing you for mission work. Travel to Fiji does not require a Visa for Australian citizens but will require a passport. You need to apply for a passport well before the Fiji mission if you don’t have one already. Please don’t leave this until the last minute! You may also require some vaccinations. We will provide details of what is recommended, but these will need to be organised and paid for by you. Detailed risk management policies and emergency procedures are in place to ensure the safety of all team members and fully trained medics accompany the team.
YEAR 13 FEES
*FINAL 2023 FEES PUBLISHED SEPTEMBER 2022
2022 | *$10,990
2021 | $22,350
S
S
The 2022 program has been redesigned to ensure that all participants receive maximum value out of their discipleship gap year. This also means that there have been changes to our fee structure.
NEED A PART-TIME JOB TO FUND YOUR YEAR 13? WE CAN HELP!
We can facilitate introduction to employment opportunities with Youthworks Conference Centres, Anglican schools and Hammondcare for positions in Christian hospitality, education and aged care respectively. All these employment opportunities will allow you to cover the cost of your gap year working just 2 days per week for 40 weeks of the year.
MISSION TRIP FEES.
The Fiji mission takes place in June-July each year. Part of your Year 13 training involves personal fundraising to help cover most— if not all of your mission costs. The mission fees cover your airfares, in-country transfers, travel insurance, meals, training, accommodation and sightseeing for your trip.
A WORD FROM THE DIRECTOR 1 Year. What is the best use of 1 year of your life? The world may tell us it is to make money or to study or train so you can make money in the future. Maybe it’s to spend the year lying on a beach or backpacking across Europe. God sees it very differently. Consider what happens when young men and women join Year 13: • They start to lay a solid foundation for a life following Christ. • They learn, grow, cry and laugh in a community of other Christian peers from many different backgrounds. • They grow in Christian character, ministry skills and servantheartedness • They come away with a deeper confidence not just in what they believe as Christians but also in why they believe it • They spend time with older role models and mentors, both in the Year 13 program itself and the ministry they do in their church or school
Eirc Thurston, Year 13 Director
•
They finish Year 13 with greater clarity around who they are, what they should do with their life and how to make a difference for God in His world. As a father, I thank God for Year 13 because my son went through the program and I saw him grow as a young Christian man and servant of Christ. As someone who has worked overseas in ministry for 11 years, I thank God for year 13 because, in my experience, it is unique and a gift from God. 1 Year. What is the best use of 1 year of your life? I strongly encourage you to make the most of the opportunity God has given you to grow as a Christian and lay a foundation for a life joyfully serving Jesus, as God uses you to help others to do the same. Year 13 will help you change your world. It’s a year you’ll never forget and a year you’ll never regret. Join us at Year 13 in 2023!
CHANGE YOUR WORLD Year 13 Gap Year
year13yw
www.year13.net 11 Fifth Ave, Loftus, 2232, NSW (02) 8093 3412 year13@youthworks.net