Crises can come in many forms. We typically think of glamorous media-reported crises when we consider the events that transform our lives, such as Columbine, 9-11, or the earthquakes in China. What about the individual crises that hit us?

Those who suffer from the trauma of childhood sexual abuse no longer have to remain isolated and ashamed. Authentic community and healing is available.

The Hands & Feet Project, a children's village in Jacmel, Haiti, that was started by Grammy-winning band Audio Adrenaline in 2004, has suffered severe damage from the latest hurricane to hit the area. To make a donation online to help Hands & Feet Project, click here. Contributions via mail can be sent...

The phone rang at 12:30 a.m. It was 17-year-old Maggie. She’d cut herself again and thought she needed stitches. Because she lives more than a thousand miles away, I didn’t know how to help her. Finally, she woke her mom to take her to the hospital. I was worried, because I intimately knew the pain Maggie...

The Youth Worker’s Guide to Helping Teenagers in Crisis Rich Van Pelt and Jim Hancock Youth Specialties/Zondervan, 2007, 291 pp., $14.99. www.youthspecialties.com A Parent’s Guide to Helping Teenagers in Crisis Rich Van Pelt and Jim Hancock Youth Specialties/Zondervan, 2007, 272 pp., $12.99, www.youthspecialties.com

Last winter, a young friend of mine named Rob gave up on his faith. I’ve seen people drift away from God before— me included—and I’ve seen people wilt in the face of hardships, doubt and tempta­tion. But this guy’s experience was unlike anything I had faced. He just gave up—knowingly, willingly and without...

Next time you see a young person with a tattoo, why not ask him or her to share the story behind it?

We need to bet­ter enable young people to encounter the significant losses they will experience ... As pastors and youth ministry workers, young people look to us to help them deal with their grief and shock. We offer a listening ear, plan a service of remembrance and participate in ritualis­tic acts...

All Justin Berry was looking for were some friends online. At age 13, with an absent father and clueless mother, he signed up for a social networking site and, because the site was running a special promotion, received a camera to clip onto his computer screen. People throughout the world could look...

Whenever tragedy strikes, it is always a wake-up call. In my last parish, Danielle, a popular high-school junior, committed suicide. Her friends attended the funeral Mass; but over time, many in the youth ministry stopped coming to church. I asked why. They told me it was too painful; it was the last...