The first time Zion went to LiNKUPs, he carried a lot of questions with him. Big ones – the kind most young teenagers wrestle with but don’t always know how to say out loud.
The first time Zion went to LiNKUPs, he carried a lot of questions with him. Big ones – the kind most young teenagers wrestle with but don’t always know how to say out loud.
“I’ve been coming to Stockwell Baptist Church for almost a decade,” the now 14‑year‑old explains, “but I still had so many questions – like, what if I sin after I’m baptised? Or how was God created?”
For years, he asked leaders when he felt brave enough, piecing things together slowly. But it was at LiNKUPs last year, the week‑long Christian event run in partnership with London City Mission (LCM), that things finally clicked. Surrounded by friends, away from the pressures of London, and hearing the Bible taught clearly, Zion found space to process.
“The teaching on forgiveness, the cross, grace… it made sense
“The teaching on forgiveness, the cross, grace… it made sense,” he recalls. “When my questions were answered, I had no reason not to follow Jesus.”
By the end of the week, he told Freddie, one of the elders and youth leaders at Stockwell Baptist Church (SBC), that he wanted to be baptised. A few weeks later, he stood at the front of his church, shared his testimony next to his older sister, and recited John 3:16 from memory. Afterwards, he says simply that it felt “refreshing.”
Zion’s testimony was one of many last summer. Six young people from SBC were baptised – a moment that left the church in awe of what God was doing.
Before all this, there were only a handful of young people at SBC.
“They came on Sundays, but there was no structure, no rhythm, no discipleship,” Freddie shares. “Three years ago, we didn’t really have a youth ministry."
Young people needed more than occasional contact – they needed community, teaching, and adults willing to invest time in them.
Bringing young people to LiNKUPs – an LCM project that gives young people from London’s urban areas a week away from the city to encounter Jesus – became the turning point for the church’s youth ministry.
LiNKUPs isn’t a “camp” in the traditional sense. It’s a week away with mix of solid Bible teaching, small group studies, and outdoor activities like raft building, sailing and abseiling.
For many, it’s a rare moment of safety and rest. As LCM missionary and LiNKUPs coordinator Adam Boyce explains, “Everyone brings their own baggage – stress from home, friendship pressures, tough situations. But throughout the week, they begin to understand Jesus’ love in ways they haven’t before.”
Some arrive barely knowing what the gospel is; others return year after year, growing in maturity. The heart of LiNKUPs is simple: to meet young people where they are, introduce them to Jesus and equip those who know and follow him to make him known in their everyday lives.“The Holy Spirit was at work in the hearts of many at LiNKUPs last summer,” says Adam.
“We were all deeply moved to see young people like Zion share their desire to follow Jesus and get baptised after the week away.”For SBC’s young people, LiNKUPs became the spark they desperately needed.
Each summer after LiNKUPs, something shifted.
“Our youth came back encouraged,” Freddie says. “They’d studied God’s word,
had fun, and grown together. The week away gave us momentum to start a youth ministry.”
The team moved from meeting every other Sunday to weekly gatherings. They
introduced Friday youth sessions, which quickly became the heartbeat of the ministry as young people started inviting friends.
Looking across the church hall on a typical Friday evening, it is deeply encouraging to see many young people from the nearby estates brave the cold, wet winter night to spend time together, eating dinner, playing games, reading scripture, and praying for one another.
Sometimes those friends came in surprising ways.
“One lad came because his grandma just walked into the church one day,” Freddie laughs. “She says he was staying with her and needed a youth group. So, he came – and kept coming.”
Other families also connected through door-knocking with LCM missionaries, who went out with SBC members to help the church reach their local community.
We’d knock, chat about church life, pray with parents,” Freddie recalls. “And
sometimes their children showed up to our youth group.”
It isn’t just the number of young people at church increasing – families are now
being drawn in as well. Recently, a youth group parent returned to church after years away because their children had become so passionate about following Jesus.
LCM missionaries have played a key part, giving the church confidence to share the gospel in their community and helping build a sustainable ministry.
Our partnership with LCM helped us find our feet,” Freddie says. “They raised up workers from within our church. When they later stepped back, it wasn’t a loss – it was intentional. We were ready.”
The youth ministry didn’t only shape teenagers. It shaped adults, too.
Aubreka Stewart, who has been a Christian for just over two years, never expected youth work to become such a core part of her life.
“I didn’t know how important this youth group would be for me,” she says. “I want the young people to feel seen and heard. I’m still learning, too. The team prays for me, supports me – they’ve helped me grow in my own walk.”
Her first time at LiNKUPs was “amazing” and “emotional,” not because of the activities or the change she saw in the young people who attended, but because God stirred something new in her.
“God wasn’t just working in the young people. He was working in me.”
Adam sees the partnership with SBC as part of something bigger. His hope is to support more churches across London in building youth ministries rooted in discipleship, mission, and genuine care.
“We want young people to come to know Jesus as their saviour, and to be confident in sharing Him with people in their everyday lives and helping the local church to be equipped to reach the young people God has placed around them,” he shares. “That’s the vision – supporting local churches, helping to shape young people’s lives, and seeing the gospel shared among young people, by young people.”
This story and more were published in the Winter 2026 edition of Changing London. To get your next edition in the post, subscribe here!
LCM shares the gospel alongside the local church of London, equipping everyday Christians to lovingly bring a message of hope in Christ to those least likely to hear it.
Registered Charity No. 247186
