Mission Report: Introducing a Christ-centred Schoolies Option for 2026
Youth for Christ launches Schoolies for Jesus, offering Australian school leavers a safe, joy-filled getaway to celebrate graduation, grow in faith, and step confidently into life’s next season with Christ.
“Wouldn’t it be something to see young Aussies finish school, celebrate in a safe environment, get fired up for Jesus, and be equipped to walk into the next season of life with Him?”
That question, posed by National Director PJ Bedwell, captures the heart behind Youth for Christ’s newest initiative: the Schoolies for Jesus Getaway.
A Culture Shift
For many years, YFC has been on the ground at popular Schoolies locations to share the love of Jesus with school leavers. Through thousands of faith conversations, the team has seen remarkable fruit, including salvations and baptisms. At the same time, this firsthand experience has fuelled a growing desire to help reshape the culture surrounding this coming-of-age milestone.
“The end of high school is a really significant time in a young person’s life,” explains PJ.
“It’s a great opportunity to celebrate and reflect on the purpose of life and what’s next. But there’s got to be a better way than what we’re seeing, with too many Schoolies experiences marked by high-risk behaviours and avoidable harm.”
From that conviction, the Schoolies for Jesus Getaway was birthed, not as a replacement for on-the-ground outreach, but as a new option for school leavers who want to celebrate together with Jesus as King.
The Getaway 2026
The inaugural getaway will take place in 2026 in Coffs Harbour, New South Wales, where Youth for Christ has hired an entire beach holiday resort with capacity for hundreds of school leavers.
Event Director Ruth Lewis-Jones says the focus is on creating an experience that is both joyful and meaningful.
“We want school leavers to celebrate well. To rest, have fun, and build memories together, while discovering that God’s way is better,” Ruth says.
“Our prayer is that young people leave encouraged, strengthened in their faith, and excited about what God has ahead for them.”
Tickets for the 2026 Schoolies for Jesus Getaway are now available at schooliesforjesus.com, where school leavers can book individually, or secure a villa with a group of friends.
___
Republished with thanks to Youth for Christ Australia.
10 Comments
Leave A Comment
Recent Articles:
25 June 2026
2.4 MINS
The Australian Christian Lobby is hosting screenings of the groundbreaking documentary Born Alive, Left to Die across Australia. It is time for truth, accountability, and change. Attend a screening and invite others to join you.
25 June 2026
3.9 MINS
Most Australians still believe in human dignity and inalienable rights, essential truths for a just legal system. What they’ve since abandoned is the only foundation that make those beliefs coherent.
25 June 2026
5.4 MINS
For three weeks, Women's Rights advocate Sall Grover tried to have an opinion piece published on the ABC. But the taxpayer-funded organisation refused, saying that terms such as ‘biological reality’ and ‘truth’ were offensive.
24 June 2026
4.8 MINS
After scoring the sixth-fastest goal in FIFA's 2026 World Cup, Christian footballer Felix Nmecha dropped to one knee and symbolically laid his crown at the feet of Christ. It's a gesture that captures everything about him: faith first, football second.
24 June 2026
2.9 MINS
If you’re a parent or a grandparent, you probably worry about what your child or grandchild is learning at school. In the first of its kind in Australia, a survey has been launched to measure parent attitudes to Respectful Relationship sessions in schools.
24 June 2026
5.9 MINS
Nation First looks into Keir Starmer’s resignation and why Anthony Albanese should be worried by the same policy failures now haunting Labor at home.
24 June 2026
4.1 MINS
Rupert Lowe has just released The Rape Gang Inquiry Report. Occurring over decades, some 250,000 girls were raped, tortured, and abused, with some even killed. Yet authorities and the media covered up these diabolical crimes in the interests of not being 'racist' and 'Islamophobic'.
Excellent news!! We done Paul and YFC !!
Yes! I am told that they are LGBTQIA+ inclusive, and I know that may irk you , but at least YFC are being modern and contemporary.
Let’s face it, YFC are not Pentecostal, so they are very warm to the whole LGBTQIA+ agenda.
Officially, when asked, YFC are happy for LGBTQIA+ teens to attend this event. Which is also a big breakthrough!.
Which is also a big endorsement for same-sex attracted teens to go to this YFC resort rather than the boozy Gold Coast where they might be abused.
Great idea!
A very innovating idea. You and YFC are to be congratulated.
The resort will be packed to capacity with youth who will make a godly difference for our nation.
So yes.
YFC have confirmed that they welcome LGBTQIA+ teens. So you’re right, the resort will be packed with LGBTQIA+ teens, because they have no where else to go.
Other destinations are all very anti-LGBTQIA+, the Gold Coast particularly.
I don’t mind, seems a safer environment. Even straight kids will probably fit in some how,
Great thing. 👍
Yeah bro, looks like it will be the #1 destination for LGBTQIA+ year 12s! As soon as YFC said LGBTQIA+ teens were welcome, that whole group have decided that’s going to be their destination! It’s so cheap!
Col — a moderator note.
We value open discussion and disagreement at The Daily Declaration, and we’ve allowed a wide range of views to be expressed in these threads. However, your recent commenting pattern now places you in breach of our commenting policy in several specific ways:
Be constructive / be respectful: The cumulative tone of your comments across multiple articles has become inflammatory and dismissive, rather than reasoned and charitable, even where individual comments may appear mild in isolation.
Stay on topic: You are repeatedly re-litigating the same grievances across unrelated articles, shifting discussions away from the subject at hand.
Create a welcoming environment: The volume, frequency, and length of your comments are dominating threads and discouraging genuine participation by others.
This comment serves as a final warning. Further breaches of these standards will result in your account being blocked from commenting.
We encourage you, if you wish to continue engaging here in a way that contributes constructively to the discussion and reflects the Christian ethos of this publication.
— The Daily Declaration moderation team
Amen.
Before all I heard was silence
A rhapsody for you and me.
Wow! I wish this was available back when my kids were finishing school.
So much peer pressure and everything else – so hard for us parents to balance the whole ‘yes, I want you to celebrate the end of high school, but does it need to be so worldly?’
Now, an alternative. So kids tell their mates ‘yeah I’m doing schoolies at a resort’.
Great for year 12s, great for parents.