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- choose 2 Live Free
Jan’s blog for teen’s to twenty-somethings, and for those who work with youth in the community and in ministry
writing and speaking . . .
Passionate about giving hope . . . changing the story, Jan Kern writes and speaks to teens, young adults, and those who care about them, confident that out of pain and brokenness freedom and fullness can be found. She has worked on a church staff and with a variety of ministries and groups with which she has had the privilege of mentoring and encouraging teens, young adults, and parents. During the last twenty-six years, Jan has served alongside her husband at a residential ministry for at-risk youth. As a natural extension of these experiences, many of her writing and speaking topics are geared toward equipping teens and young adults to face the pressures of today, with a particular focus on helping those who are deeply wounded and struggling.
Jan is available to speak to teens, youth and college groups, school assemblies, church and youth staff, youth camp staff, general church groups, and parents. See this page for more information.
A note from Jan
To the core . . .
You want to know what grips my heart to the very core? Watching teens and young adults succeed in the face of all that they have thrown at them these days. I have a passion to do my small part in the battle for their hearts and lives.
How did I get here?
I was once a teen who wrestled with the aftermath of my parents’ divorce and moved to a new state where I discovered peer pressure and choices I (naively) never knew existed. I struggled. I made mistakes. Thankfully, while in high school, someone told me I could find answers and strength through a relationship with Christ. That’s another long story for another time, but I did begin to learn what it meant to trust God through all kinds of crazy situations.
By the time I was twenty, I began working with youth, and I haven’t stopped. I’m now married and have been living and working with my husband at a ranch for at-risk youth for the last twenty-something years. We have two children, ages 21 & 24, who have fared pretty well facing today’s cultural pressures. When people try to credit us as parents, I say, “only by the grace of God.”
And I fully believe that. We can’t do any of this without him.
