How Youth for Christ NYC Is Reaching Overlooked Teens with the Gospel

By Matthew Becker

Daniel Sanabria has spent most of his life in ministry, serving as a Christian school principal, youth pastor, and co-founder of the God Belongs in My City prayer movement. For the past nine years, he has led Youth for Christ: New York City, an urban extension of the global ministry founded in 1944.

Youth for Christ’s mission is simple and bold: go where the kids are, especially the ones others avoid. That means stepping into juvenile detention centers, listening without judgment, and forming real relationships with youth who feel forgotten.

“Where there is darkness, that’s where Youth for Christ goes,” Sanabria often says.

Today, the Juvenile Justice Ministry of Youth for Christ NYC serves in five key areas across the city, including Crossroads and Horizon Juvenile Centers. The team partners with local churches and ministries to reach teens who are incarcerated or on the margins—those who are often dismissed by society and even overlooked by the church.

“We’re not after the varsity athletes or the most popular kids,” Sanabria said. “We walk into a cafeteria and look for the quiet kid in the corner. That’s who we’re going after.”

For Sanabria, this isn’t just a job—it’s a calling. He’s been reaching youth with the gospel since 2005. Even in high school he would pray every day that God would bring someone new into his life to share the message of Christ. He says God always answered.

Through years of experience, Sanabria has learned that connection, not performance, is what transforms lives. His approach is built on something he calls three stories: “I tell my story. I hear your story. I share God’s story. And God’s story will change your story,” he explained.

That relational foundation is a distinctive of Youth for Christ. Rather than rely on big crowds or large events, the team meets regularly one-on-one with teens, investing time, presence, and trust. Their goal is not just to preach—but to live alongside these young people, pointing to Jesus through genuine friendship.

“We’re not here to preach to them. We’re here to live with them,” Sanabria said. “Living with them in Christ will show them more of Jesus than preaching to them ever could.”

Many of the youth they serve have no positive adult role models in their lives. They come from broken homes and traumatic experiences. They are skeptical, angry, hurt. Sanabria and his team step into that brokenness not with judgment, but with grace and consistency.

“It’s about being present, hearing their story, and being someone they can count on,” Sanabria said. “We’re not the ones saving them—God is. But we get to be part of their story.”

Youth for Christ NYC has been active in the city since 2017 and now operates across all five boroughs. Under Sanabria’s leadership, a small but committed team works tirelessly to bring the hope of Christ into the darkest corners of the city.

Their work is rooted in John 15, where Jesus says, “I am the vine, you are the branches.” The mission is to help young people connect to the vine, Christ, so that their lives can bear fruit. And just like any healthy branch, those lives can then be pruned and restored.

For Sanabria, youth ministry isn’t an optional part of the church—it’s vital. He feels a deep burden when churches don’t invest in the next generation.

“If a church has no youth ministry, that concerns me,” he said. “This is the generation we’re called to raise up.”

Through Youth for Christ, Sanabria hopes to see teens come to understand that their story matters—and that God is still writing it.

From a simple prayer in high school to now leading a citywide mission, Sanabria’s life is a testimony to the power of showing up, listening, and sharing the greatest story ever told.

To connect with Youth For Christ New York City, click here.