Mentor Spotlight (April): Matt Yriarte

Matt Yriarte

Age 25
Town: Aliso Viejo
Church: South Shores,
Dana Point
Group: 20 plus guys - skate, surf, snowboard, Bible studies, concerts, working out
Meet: Mondays and sometimes all other days





From Matt himself:

The reason i think this style of ministry is so effective is because of the kids I've seen changed because of it. One example of this is in a kid named Patrick. Patrick came to church for an overnight event we were doing. He had just moved and didn't have a lot of people he knew. We hung out a lot that night and connected. From there we started going to concerts and having lunch with the other guys which got him connected to a larger group of friends. He became a regular in our group and found Jesus. Shortly after that Patrick was convicted for crimes he had committed before he started coming to the group and was put in juvenile hall for 3 months. The day he went in, his mom called me and told me that he was ministering to the other inmates about Jesus. Patrick is doing well now and still apart of our group. One of the things I learned from Patrick was that kids want relationship and someone they can hang out with and trust. I have found that when I am willing to meet them on their level they are in turn willing to trust me more, thereby opening up a relationship where I can minister more as a friend than as some guy that counsels them. I feel that the most effective way for me to have an impact on the lives of my boys is to be real with them, hangout by going to shows, snowboarding, lunch, and by praying with them. Stay gold!

Lifestyle Mentor Training/ How to get involved

When we partner with a church or university we will come in and make a pitch to its members. Those interested will get an application and go through an interview process. If you don't need to hear the pitch, but are already interested we can send you an application via mail.

Once accepted and background checked we have about 7.5 hours of training. This is such a great way to help you start living a missional life. We teach how to initiate, live a life that is invitational and how to live out of your strength zone and passions. We believe we can teach you how to feel alive and fulfill the call that Jesus has given us: Follow him and make disciples.

Our training is an eye opener to God's will for our lives! It's broken up into three easy parts. Training session 1 & 2 (spread a month apart), a take home part we call "ownwork" and quarterly refresh sessions based on the Truth Project.
email me with any questions: rz@projecthangout.com

History Of PH

In The Beginning…
The Lord gave me a seed of an idea in the summer of 2000. One particular show at the Glass House in Pomona changed my world. On the trip home one of my son’s friends asked, “Hey, did you see that guy in the stairwell? He was all by himself, sitting on the stairs and doing drugs!”
That statement hit me hard. How could this kid be surrounded by so many people, some of them Christian, and not be helped? It troubled me that this kid was screaming for help but no one came along side of him to engage.

The Seed Is Planted …
For over a year, I talked about my idea, looked for other ministries with a similar mission, and presented the idea to any one or group willing to listen. With the help of the Barnabas group, Project Hangout established itself as a non-profit organization and the first Board meeting was held the evening of September 10, 2001 .

And The Seed Sprouted …
In 2004 we began to look for possible Lifestyle mentors. The first group established was a guy’s skateboarding group lead by Nate Klein. Later on, we added a guy’s surfer group lead by Josh Lloyd and a gal’s surfer/skateboard group headed by Mandy Eschenmann. As we entered 2005 we had well established groups and we saw God moving in the hearts and minds of those participating.
By the end of 2005 we had added a fourth lifestyle group. I have called it the, “coff(ee) & talk” group lead by Jenn Zeulner. Jenn meets with a dozen young ladies on an individual basis at a local coffee shop and talks about their lives.
As we entered into 2006 God lead us to Cornerstone Church in Anaheim, CA. With their help we started the Backyard in the summer of that year. This was a monthly event that included bands and a great environment that included food and video games. At times we had 40 people show. At other times we had 300 people crowding the room. All in all, we were able to show that this type of event could draw a good size crowd and that the unchurched would come.
On September 15, 2007, Ryan officially became the Director of Operations for Project Hangout in order to expand our lifestyle mentoring model into churches and facilitate community events.

With A Bright Future Ahead Of Us.
In the future, as God guides us and provides the means, we desire to one day operate our own facility. A building in the middle of the local community that provides after school programs, summer activities, weekend events all focused on the Lifestyle Mentoring model.

Written by founder: Dale Hedges

What is a Lifestyle Mentor?

Project Hangout builds the church and reaches the unreached. We do that by training college and young adults how to be lifestyle mentors. We believe that God has made us all unique individuals with our own passions and desires.

We teach people to use their passions to develop relationships with the next generation. So lets say I like surfing. I need to surf every week just to feel alive - so I spend 2-3 hours a week surfing. Our model is to find a HS Student in the youth ministry that also likes to surf and to invite them along. Build that relationship. Disciple them. When there is a firm foundation their then explain to them how you want to help reach their friends. You have three more seats in your car when you go surfing - so you say I bet you have three friends at school that would love to come surfing. Over the next couple months you are now mentoring 3 people that would never step inside a church. The 5 of you are living life and you are loving on them connecting over coffee or bagels or mountain biking, painting, cooking, snowboarding - whatever it is. That is the gist of it (there is more).

There are benefits to becoming a lifestyle mentor that I can tell you about. Its really great. I'll be speaking at churches, so stay posted if you are interested in hearing more about it. Or we can talk via email or the phone. The (PH)one number is 714.602.1032 - or just press the call button on the blog. We are looking to partner with as many churches as we can to spread lifestyle mentorship - after all its how jesus worked. Maybe you and your church or University would be interested?
-Ryan Z

What is Project Hangout?

A group of us who believe that the way to reach the next generation is to do what God has created us to do and bring along side those who love it as well. This is the definition of lifestyle ministry. Its a passion based ministry that transcends generations through discipleship and mentoring.

Project Hangout is a non-profit mentorship umbrella that aids the church in the training, supporting and the encouragement of lifestyle mentors. Our Life-style mentorship groups are passion based with a relational emphasis to model the way of Jesus Christ. Project Hangout strengthens the church through young adult and college leadership development, lifestyle mentoring for relational impact and community events.

(To find out more about lifestyle mentoring, please read "What is Lifestyle Mentoring")

Our community events are a chance to get everyone together for a great time! We pull off concerts in places that have space to relax and experience a healthy environment. We don't just stop there, but we are also working on broom ball nights, fashion shows, dodgeball tournaments and the like.