Since its launch last summer, more than 3,200 young people have learned how to effectively share their faith through BGEA’s youth evangelism program.

Geared toward 9- to 14-year-olds, Dare to Be a Daniel focuses on training an army of young evangelists who will boldly share Christ with their classmates and friends.

Parents, grandparents, pastors and friends have ordered Dare to Be a Daniel kits for the youth in their lives. Participants receive a printed booklet that includes step-by-step instructions on how to lead someone to Christ, as well as nine Scripture verses they must commit to memory in order to become a member of the Dare to Be a Daniel Team. Once a member, they receive access to the Team Section of the program’s Web site and a dog tag necklace inscribed with Scripture verses and a prayer to help them lead someone to Christ.

The lessons from the program, now available in a 13-Session Training Resource, focus on principles practiced by the Old Testament hero Daniel, who refused to be drawn away from God by the godless Babylonian society. Daniel purposed in his heart to obey God, prayed and studied the Bible, picked godly friends and pointed others to God.

“The program really drills into you how to be a witness,” said Heather Perry, of Indian Land, S.C. “You tell people what it’s like to be a Christian and about the peace that Christ can offer them. You tell them about eternal life and about constant companionship; how God is someone who will always be with you, day and night, how He is always caring.”

Heather has led at least one person to Christ since joining the program.

“We were at school and I was talking to a friend about my faith when another friend walked up. She asked who we were talking about and I said, ‘We’re talking about God, how you can talk to Him anytime.'”

Heather showed the girl her dog tags and the girl wrote down the Scripture verses on a piece of paper. Then she prayed to accept Christ.

“It used to be hard for this friend to approach people just to say hi,” Heather said. “Since she became a Christian, I’ve seen her walk up to people and say, ‘Hey, do you know that Jesus loves you?'”

Heather also reached out to a friend of a different faith.

She explained, “I asked her, ‘How do you think you get to heaven?’ and she said, ‘We don’t believe in heaven. We think we’re in heaven right now.’ When I asked her how she thinks people get saved, she said they have to believe that man is in control. I told her how in John 14:6, Jesus said, ‘I am the way, the truth and the life. No man comes to the father but by me.’ She said she would ask her parents about it.”

Daniel Powell, 14, of Belmont, N.H., received a Dare to Be a Daniel kit from his great-grandmother.

“I opened it up and started reading and saw that it was really cool,” he said. “I had never read the Book of Daniel, chapters 1-6. I had always heard these stories, but I had gotten them mixed up. Stories about Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego; Daniel in the Lion’s Den; and how King Nebuchadnezzar went into Jerusalem and raided the city.”

Daniel Powell had been a Christian since age 8, but rededicated his life to Christ two years ago at a youth convention. He changed his music and his friends, and he started talking about Christ at school. Then he received the kit.

“That made me see that I needed to get out and start preaching the Gospel to my friends,” he said. Daniel started talking about Jesus to his new friend David almost immediately.

“I talked to him about Jesus during lunch break at school,” Daniel said, “and also after school when he came to our house for my mom’s in-home daycare. David said he had a faith but that he didn’t know how to get to heaven.”

Daniel invited David to his church’s youth meetings, and after attending for several months, David went forward to accept Christ.

“I was sitting right beside him,” Daniel said. ” I was really happy for him that he understood the Gospel and that he accepted Christ. I’m happy to know he’s going to heaven.”

It didn’t surprise Joy Scott’s mom at all when 10-year-old Joy wanted to order the Dare to Be a Daniel kit after seeing Franklin Graham discuss it on television one night.

“Joy is a go-getter,” Scott said. ” She used to give out tracts, but we recently moved to a new neighborhood and we have not gone out witnessing yet. Dare to Be a Daniel is a great tool to equip our children to share their faith. They need their own relationship with the Lord. We can encourage them, but they have to develop their own desire for Christ. With Dare to Be a Daniel, they will know how to answer when someone asks them questions about their faith.”

Joy likes the program “because it has good tools for evangelism, which will help kids to reach other kids,” she said. Joy can recite the Bible verses, and she has purposed in her heart to be like Daniel and obey God.

“Daniel was courageous–he wasn’t afraid to stand up for what he believed,” Joy said. “He changed the course of a nation. He helped to bring a king to God and he trusted in God. I think Dare to Be a Daniel will help me share my faith, because Daniel is an example to me, and I’m trying to follow his example.”

Joy plans to share her faith with the family who lives across the street.

“One of the kids is a little boy who comes out and blows a whistle,” she said. “I am planning to share my faith with him. I will just ask him how he’s doing, and then I’ll ask him if he knows Jesus as his Lord and Savior.”

To order the Dare to Be a Daniel 13-Session Training Resource, call toll-free 1-888-902-3223, or visit
billygraham.org.