Journey To Israel: A Nova Festival Survivor’s Story of Faith, Courage, and Choosing Life
Release Date: 01/14/2026
More Powerful Than Superman: Prayer and Fasting
Youth Worker On Fire Podcast
Prayer and fasting can be powerful... but what happens when God doesn't answer the way or when we expect? In this episode of Youth Worker On Fire, Doug Edwards speaks about learning to hear God's voice, trusting His timing, and resisting the temptation to force an answer to prayer. Through Scripture, the Daniel Fast, lessons from Draw the Circle: The 40 Day Prayer Challenge, and stories involving Jerry Falwell and Bill Bright, Doug explores what it means to seek God for who He is - not simply for what we want Him to do. Whether you're leading students, facing an impossible situation, praying...
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How to Pray for Revival: Why Your Prayers May Outlive You
Youth Worker On Fire Podcast
What if a prayer you pray today becomes part of an answer God is still revealing generations from now? In this episode of Youth Worker On Fire, Doug Edwards explores the power of persistent prayer, revival, intercession, and building a legacy of faith that can continue long after our lifetime. Jesus taught His disciples to always pray and never give up. But what might that kind of prayer actually look like in our lives, our churches, our youth ministries, and our families? Drawing from Mark Batterson’s Draw the Circle: The 40 Day Prayer Challenge, Doug reflects on the extraordinary story of...
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Hugh Kirby: A Legacy Of Youth Ministry and Discipleship
Youth Worker On Fire Podcast
What does it take to remain faithful in youth ministry for more than four decades and still see your influence growing through future generations? In this interview episode of Youth Worker On Fire, Doug Edwards sits down with longtime ministry leader Hugh Kirby for a powerful conversation about youth ministry longevity, relational discipleship, mentorship, prayer, church leadership, and going the distance in ministry. Hugh has served in ministry for more than 42 years, including 17 years directly leading student ministry at New Hope Baptist Church in Fayetteville, Georgia. Today, he can look...
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Student Mission Trips That Change Generations: The Guatemala Legacy of Dr. Wes Collins
Youth Worker On Fire Podcast
What can one missionary’s faithfulness set in motion across languages, students, families, and generations? In this episode of Youth Worker On Fire, Doug Edwards remembers his friend Dr. Wes Collins and reflects on the extraordinary legacy Wes and his wife, Nancy, built through missions, Bible translation, education, and service among the Mam people of Guatemala. As a missionary connected with Wycliffe, Wes helped restore a written form of the Mam language and worked to translate the New Testament so that indigenous families could read Scripture in their own language. His ministry helped...
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3 People Every Youth Ministry Leader Needs: Mentors, Investors, and Operators
Youth Worker On Fire Podcast
No youth pastor, volunteer, ministry leader, business owner, or parent accomplishes meaningful work alone. In this episode of Youth Worker On Fire, Doug Edwards shares the three types of people every effective youth ministry leader needs: mentors, investors, and operators. Mentors provide wisdom from experience. Investors believe in the mission and contribute the resources required to move it forward. Operators handle the responsibilities, systems, communication, planning, and administration that allow leaders to focus on the work God has uniquely called them to do. Drawing from decades in...
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Work Smarter, Not Harder in Youth Ministry: Jesus’ Model for Multiplying Leaders
Youth Worker On Fire Podcast
Youth ministry is hard work... but it was never meant to depend on one person doing everything. In this episode of Youth Worker On Fire, Doug Edwards shares a practical and biblical challenge for youth pastors, student ministry volunteers, church leaders, and parents: work smarter, not harder, by following Jesus’ model of discipleship, delegation, and multiplication. If you are a volunteer youth leader, part-time youth pastor, or full-time student ministry leader, you already know the weight of ministry. The planning, teaching, trips, retreats, mission work, public school outreach,...
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Holy Surprises: How to Recognize God’s Invitations and Say Yes
Youth Worker On Fire Podcast
What if God is working all around you, but you are missing the holy surprises? In this episode of Youth Worker On Fire, Doug Edwards shares a powerful message about recognizing God’s unexpected invitations, trusting His plan, and learning to say yes when He opens a door. After a conversation at church with Larry Stevens about Israel, adventure, and the unexpected ways God connects people, Doug reflects on the phrase “holy surprises” and how God often works through conversations, interruptions, friendships, closed doors, open doors, and opportunities we never saw coming. This episode...
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5 Ways Summer Camp Changes Students Forever
Youth Worker On Fire Podcast
Summer camp is more than games, music, cabins, and memories. In this episode of Youth Worker On Fire, Doug Edwards shares five powerful things God often does through youth ministry summer camps, student ministry retreats, mission trips, and Christian camp experiences. Whether you are a youth pastor, student ministry volunteer, parent, grandparent, or someone praying for students this summer, this episode is a reminder that camp can become a life-changing place where students encounter Jesus, hear God’s calling, find healing, build Christian community, and return home ready to live on...
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Start Here: Evergreen Youth Ministry Stories, Parenting Help, and Student Leadership Wisdom
Youth Worker On Fire Podcast
Looking for encouragement, wisdom, and real-life stories to help you lead, parent, teach, or serve the next generation? In this episode of Youth Worker On Fire, Doug Edwards reflects on more than 300 episodes of conversations, stories, and teaching designed to encourage youth pastors, student ministry volunteers, parents, teachers, coaches, counselors, and anyone working with adolescents. Over the years, Youth Worker On Fire has featured youth pastors, ministry leaders, teachers, doctors, psychologists, school leaders, parents, grandparents, FCA leaders, public servants, and everyday people...
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Be Strong, Be Courageous, Be Kind: How God Builds Leaders Who Lift Others
Youth Worker On Fire Podcast
What does it really mean to be strong and courageous? In this episode of Youth Worker On Fire, Doug Edwards shares a powerful message about Christian courage, kindness, confidence, generosity, and leadership. Through stories from Theodore Roosevelt, Bear Grylls, Michelle Monaghan, Tony Robbins, and personal moments from his own life, Doug points us back to a biblical truth: God calls His people to stand strong, speak truth, care deeply, and trust Him with the outcome. This episode explores how simple actions can shape the people around us, offering a genuine compliment, showing respect, giving...
info_outlineIn this powerful interview episode of Youth Worker On Fire, Doug Edwards sits down with Haji, a survivor of the October 7 Nova Festival attack, to hear his remarkable story of survival, faith, intuition, and choosing life after unimaginable trauma.
Recorded on location during the Ambassadors Summit in Israel, Haji shares his journey—from his background in Israeli media and government, his experience of the Nova Festival attack, to the moments where his instincts, quick decisions, and what he credits as God’s guidance helped save his life.
In this emotional and deeply human conversation, you’ll hear about:
• How Haji felt something was “off” even before the festival began
• The moment the morning sky filled with rockets
• Why he left a shelter just minutes before it became a tragic site
• How hundreds of people escaped together across open fields
• What survival mode feels like in real life
• The long road of healing, grief, and processing trauma
• Why he chose to travel the world sharing his story instead of staying silent
• How he learned to live with gratitude, embrace uncertainty, and choose life every day
Haji also speaks honestly about survivor’s guilt, the emotional toll on many who lived through October 7, and why movement, purpose, and telling the story have been central to his healing journey.
This is not a political episode. It is a human story, a testimony of survival, and a conversation about faith, resilience, and hope in the aftermath of trauma.
This episode is especially important for:
• Youth pastors and ministry leaders
• Christian educators and student leaders
• Parents walking with students through anxiety, fear, and trauma
• Anyone helping young people process suffering, grief, and faith
✨ Sometimes the most powerful lessons we can offer students don’t come from a stage—but from a true life story.
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Looking for a new student ministry resource? You can read my book “Burn Up Not Out: A Student Ministry Fire Builder’s Guidebook” here: https://amzn.to/3PtBTIy
Listen to more episodes from the Youth Worker On Fire Podcast here: https://bit.ly/3saDyYq
EPISODE CREDITS
Email us at: youthworkeronfire@gmail.com
Hosted by: Doug Edwards
Theme Song: "The One and Only" by The 808 : Listen to more at https://bit.ly/3FTYIAJ
Intro/Outro Voiceover: Michael Helms: https://www.youtube.com/@MichaelTheSoundGuy
Edited by: Secret Roots Music House
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Youth Ministry, Student Ministry, Youth Pastor, Christian Leadership, Faith and Trauma, Testimony, Nova Festival Survivor, Journey to Israel, Ambassadors Summit, Christian Educators, Next Gen Ministry, Youth Worker On Fire, Faith and Resilience, Choosing Life, Christian Parenting