Nurturing the Youth into the Kingdom: A Case of Music Ministry at Christ is the Answer Ministries (Citam) Karen.

ABSTRACT The youth are known to be the most dynamic group of people in any given setting. They keep the church vibrant and energetic through various activities. One of the major activities is music. Music is a very important part of Christian worship. It is the one major way that Christians communicate with God. Through music, many have come to the saving knowledge of Christ and had their lives transformed. It is therefore paramount that musicians in church be firmly grounded in God‟s word if the music they sing is to edify the body of Christ. This research was a case study of Christ Is The Answer Ministries (CITAM) Karen. Its purpose was to explore the various ways in which CITAM Karen nurtured her youth in music and faith in general. There were four objectives that the researcher sought to achieve: to identify the types of music sung and danced to by the youth at CITAM Karen, explore various approaches which CITAM Karen used to nurture the youth in their faith, establish various ways in which CITAM Karen nurtured the youth in music and lastly identify challenges faced by the church in the process of nurturing the youth in music. Questionnaires, observation guide and interviews were used to collect data at CITAM Karen. The researcher found out from the data collected how CITAM Karen ensured that the music sang is biblical and how they carried out continued nurturing of their youth in music. At the end of the study recommendations were given on how youth can better be nurtured in music and in their faith in general. This research will be helpful to the youth, those in youth ministry; youth pastors, chaplains in learning institutions and counselors. Having found out that the dominant music at Karen is local music it is recommended that a further study be carried out to establish the relationship between local music and the dominant youth age group of 19 to 24.