Ridge Burns, author of five books on youth ministry, is the founder of the Center for Student Missions and the executive director of American Missionary Fellowship, the oldest home mission agency in the United States. The Center for Student Missions is one of the largest urban short-term missions program in the United States, taking approximately 10,000 students to nine cities each year.His work with student missions grew out of his service as high school pastor at three churches -- the Evangelical Free Church of Walnut Creek (now NorthCreek Church) in California, where he worked closely with the leaders of Azusa Pacific University's Mexicali missions program; Wheaton Bible Church in Illinois; and Ocean Hills Community Church in San Juan Capistrano, California. During his tenure at Wheaton Bible Church, the church won Guideposts Magazine's Church of the Year Award for the youth ministry's latchkey program, which was completely run, funded, and staffed by the church's 300 high school students. Ridge was a member of Youth Specialties' Resource Team, producing one-day seminars for youth ministry, and wrote a column, "First Person," in Youth Worker Journal for ten years. Campus Journal, Christianity Today, and Moody Monthly have also published his work. He currently blogs at amfmission.org/burns.