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        <title>Christian Daily International | United States</title>
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        <copyright>Christian Daily International © 2026</copyright>
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                <title><![CDATA[Global study finds a third of young people have an AI companion as close friendships narrow]]></title>
                <link>https://www.christiandaily.com/news/global-study-finds-a-third-of-young-people-have-an-ai-companion</link>
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                                                            <dc:creator><![CDATA[CDI Staff]]></dc:creator>
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                            <media:title><![CDATA[A young woman using a smartphone. AI. technology. Mobile phone.]]></media:title>
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                                    <![CDATA[ A global study released Sept. 10, 2026, by the Christian youth ministry Young Life found that 35% of adolescents and young adults surveyed across 11 countries report having an artificial intelligence companion, and that 60% of those users say they are more comfortable confiding in it than in some friends or family members. ]]>
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                                                                            <pubDate>Fri, 11 Sep 2026 12:26:00 -0400</pubDate>
                <description><![CDATA[More than a third of adolescents and young adults surveyed across 11 countries say they have an artificial intelligence companion, and most of that group say they find it easier to confide in the software than in some of their friends or relatives, according to research released Thursday by Young Life.]]></description>
                <content:encoded><![CDATA[
More than a third of adolescents and young adults surveyed across 11 countries say they have an artificial intelligence companion, and most of that group say they find it easier to confide in the software than in some of their friends or relatives, according to research released Thursday (Sept. 10) by Young Life.
The RELATE Project 2026, the second wave of a global study by the Christian youth ministry, surveyed 7,105 people ages 13 to 24 online between November 2025 and January 2026 and followed the survey with 22 focus groups involving 97 participants, most of them Young Life volunteers or staff. Young Life said the findings point in two directions at once: the number of close relationships young people report has fallen since 2023 and conversational AI has moved into part of that space, yet the same respondents say they increasingly prefer to meet in person.
Nearly all those surveyed — 89% — said they use AI in some form, most often for practical tasks, the report said. About one in three use it relationally. Within the full sample, 35% said they have an AI companion, a figure the study reported at 45% among 13- to 15-year-olds and 29% among 22- to 24-year-olds. Young men were somewhat more likely than young women to report one, 38% to 32%.
Of those with an AI companion, 60% agreed strongly or somewhat that they are more comfortable with it than with some friends or family members, according to the study. The report also said roughly one in 10 adolescents manage stress by talking with an AI companion.
Spiritual questions put to chatbots
The survey asked for the first time whether young people treat AI as a source of religious guidance. Across the sample, 41% agreed that AI is a reliable source for spiritual questions and 30% disagreed, the report said, with the youngest respondents the most willing to trust it in that area.
Identity questions showed a smaller but notable shift. Asked whom they trust most when working out who they are, two-thirds of respondents named friends or family. Teachers, coaches, pastors and other religious leaders ranked at the bottom of that list. Eight percent named AI.
Young Life cautioned in the report that AI companions are built to supply constant validation, simulated empathy and immediate availability, and that leaning on them in place of people may leave young users without practice in conflict, disappointment, apology and repair. The organization described the technology as functioning for the next generation as a low-risk substitute or supplement for human relationships.
That concern was echoed by young people themselves. In focus groups, older members of Generation Z said they worried about how readily their younger peers accept AI and wished they were more skeptical, according to the report.
"The RELATE Project tells us that while young people are constantly connected online, they are craving authentic, in-person community," said Newt Crenshaw, president and CEO of Young Life, in a statement accompanying the release. He said respondents were looking for "trusted, consistent adults" who would earn and keep their trust and listen.
What counts as listening
One of the study's more pointed findings concerns how young people define good listening. Asked what matters most, 42% chose giving full attention and putting devices away, and 33% chose responding without judgment. Asking follow-up questions came last, cited by 19% — a break from the active-listening model taught to earlier generations, the report said.
Those criteria closely match what chatbots are designed to do: express empathy, keep what is said private and withhold judgment. The report drew the comparison directly.
Fewer people to turn to
The average number of close relationships young people reported fell from 5.3 in 2023 to 4.4 in the latest wave, Young Life said. On average, respondents said they had two people they could talk to about things that really matter.
Four in 10 said they were not fully confident that any adult in their life is genuinely interested in listening to them. Satisfaction with friendships has held steady, with 58% rating their contentment at eight or higher on a 10-point scale, but focus group participants described relationships as central to their lives and, at the same time, unreliable.
Trust is conditional. In every country surveyed, confidentiality ranked as the first priority in building trust, with 73% calling it extremely or very important. Loyalty was the trait most respondents wanted to be known for, chosen by 53%. Focus groups defined both as not repeating someone's story without permission — a definition shaped, participants said, by growing up with parents and peers who post about them without asking.
"This starts with proving we are safe enough to listen — protecting their confidentiality and offering space for them without immediately trying to offer advice or judgment," said Kimberly Nollan, director of research and practice at Young Life.
Preference for face-to-face contact rose over the same period. Sixty-four percent named it as their preferred way to communicate with close friends, up from 54% in 2023. Yet 63% said they find it easier to express themselves online than in person, a pattern the report said was strongest among the youngest respondents.
Stress, sleep and mental health
More than a third of respondents, 35%, said they feel a lot or a great deal of stress regularly. Their most common worries were thinking about the future, cited by 57%, money at 49% and school at 42%. Mental health ranked as the top concern across the full sample and among the top three in nearly every country surveyed.
Sleep was short almost everywhere. Only 40% of 13- to 15-year-olds reported eight hours or more, falling to 25% among those ages 22 to 24. Music was the most common way respondents said they relieve stress, chosen by 57%, ahead of time with friends, exercise and time outdoors.
Faith described as lived rather than inherited
Across all countries, 71% said they follow their family's religious affiliation. More than four in 10 expressed a commitment to faith and a desire to grow in it, the most frequent response in every country surveyed, regardless of religious background.
Among respondents who identified as Christians, 71% said they believe they are important to God and the same share said their faith is important in their life. Fewer reported having a relationship with God, at 55%, or having made a commitment to follow Jesus Christ, at 57%. Only 26% felt strongly that their beliefs help them understand the world and how to live in it.
The report found a link between feeling important to God and believing oneself worthy of being loved. Sixty-two percent of respondents rated their worthiness of being loved at eight or higher; among those with no religious affiliation, the figure was about half. Religious adolescents also reported a greater sense of being able to make a difference in others' lives than those who identified as atheist, agnostic or unaffiliated, 42% to 45% against 28%.
Focus group participants described faith less as a fixed system of belief than as something practical and tested, and said Generation Z has little appetite for a faith that is inherited or taught in the abstract. They judge the credibility of Christianity, according to the report, by whether adult leaders live out what they preach.
On forgiveness, 36% said they almost always forgive someone who makes a mistake and 39% said they often do. Some focus group participants questioned those numbers, suggesting their peers may prefer to think of themselves as forgiving while avoiding the work of repair. The report connected that pattern to the premium placed on staying calm and avoiding conflict.
The survey covered the United States, with 1,672 respondents, the United Kingdom, 880; India, 822; Mexico, 804; Hong Kong, 706; Ethiopia, 426; Nigeria, 400; Kenya, 356; Argentina, 353; Liberia, 345; and Zimbabwe, 341.
Young Life, founded 85 years ago, works through volunteers who build friendships with adolescents and introduce them to Christianity. The ministry said the RELATE findings are already shaping how it trains leaders and equips parents. The full report and regional breakdowns are available at relate.younglife.org.]]></content:encoded>
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                <title><![CDATA[Rule change allows Brazilian pastor to resume Texas pastorate]]></title>
                <link>https://www.christiandaily.com/news/rule-change-allows-brazilian-pastor-to-resume-texas-pastorate</link>
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                                                            <dc:creator><![CDATA[CDI Staff]]></dc:creator>
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                            <media:title><![CDATA[Albert Oliveira baptizes a new believer at First Baptist Church of Gordon, Texas, in July.]]></media:title>
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                                    <![CDATA[ First Baptist Church of Gordon ]]>
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                                    <![CDATA[ Albert Oliveira baptizes a new believer at First Baptist Church of Gordon, Texas, in July. The Brazilian pastor resumed his ministry there in April after a change in U.S. immigration rules ended a one-year wait abroad for religious workers. ]]>
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                                                                            <pubDate>Tue, 08 Sep 2026 07:25:00 -0400</pubDate>
                <description><![CDATA[A Brazilian pastor who left the United States in late 2025 rather than stay beyond the expiry of his visa is again leading his congregation in Texas, after a change in U.S. immigration rules ended a one-year waiting period for religious workers seeking to return, Baptist Press reported.]]></description>
                <content:encoded><![CDATA[
A Brazilian pastor who left the United States in late 2025 rather than stay beyond the expiry of his visa is again leading his congregation in Texas, after a change in U.S. immigration rules ended a one-year waiting period for religious workers seeking to return, Baptist Press reported.
Albert Oliveira came back in April to First Baptist Church of Gordon, in a small town in north Texas, together with his German-born wife, Caroline, and their 4-year-old son, Elliott. Under the earlier rules he would have had to remain outside the country for a full year before applying again for an R-1 visa, the temporary category used by foreign-born clergy and other religious staff working in the United States.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced the change on Jan. 14 and published it two days later as an interim final rule, which took effect on publication. Religious workers who reach the statutory five-year maximum in R-1 status must still leave the country, but the department removed any minimum period they must spend abroad before seeking readmission for a further five years.
DHS said the change was intended to reduce the length of time congregations are left without their clergy. The department described priests, nuns and rabbis as among those affected, and said in a statement attributed to a spokesperson that such workers are "essential to the social and moral fabric of this country." The rule was issued in support of an executive order signed by President Donald Trump in February 2025 establishing a White House Faith Office.
Behind the change lies a bottleneck in the separate EB-4 immigrant visa category, through which many religious workers pursue permanent residency. Demand there has outstripped supply for years, and DHS said adjustments made by the State Department in 2023 lengthened the wait considerably for applicants from certain countries. Workers caught in the backlog frequently exhaust the five-year limit on their temporary status before a permanent visa becomes available.
Oliveira told Baptist Press the amendment had removed a significant obstacle without resolving the underlying problem. "It did make things a lot easier," he said. "But it's definitely not a solution. But it at least allowed for me and everyone involved to be able to make long-term plans with their churches, to be able to dream together."
He said congregations that struggle to recruit qualified pastors should be able to look abroad without committing years to administrative processes, and framed the question partly in terms of religious liberty. "I believe that churches should be able to have the option to have a pastor from a different country if that's what they believe that they need," he said, calling for an immigration system that is both fair and secure.
Oliveira kept his position while in Brazil, preaching online and holding meetings by video. His return to Gordon was marked by a public welcome, with fire and police vehicles escorting the family and residents gathering along the streets.
According to the Baptist Press report, the congregation has continued to grow and to baptize new members, prompting it to form a committee on church growth and to look for larger premises. "Everybody's just playing musical chairs with the rooms, trying to find a place for everyone," Oliveira said.
He argued that pastors born abroad bring experience that congregations focused on mission cannot easily obtain otherwise, and pointed to his own background. "I for example accepted Christ by the work of missionaries from North Carolina in Brazil," he said. "I know what it's like to receive a team of American missionaries in my house, and I know the challenges of the local pastor after they leave."
Employing pastors from other countries also signals to a community that a church welcomes different cultures, languages and accents, he said.
Oliveira compared the family's experience to that of the first Christians. "If the challenge is immigration, and if the challenge is government changes, those are things that the early Christians had to deal with too," he told Baptist Press. "It's nothing new."
DHS said about 19,000 people were in the United States on R-1 visas when the rule was updated. Because the measure took effect as an interim final rule, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services accepted public comment until March 17 and has not yet issued a final rule. In June the agency published guidance for staff applying the change.
Separate legislation that would allow religious workers to remain in the country until decisions are reached on their applications for permanent residency, the Religious Workforce Protection Act, has been introduced in both chambers of Congress with cross-party sponsorship but has not been passed.
Galen Carey, vice president of government relations for the National Association of Evangelicals, welcomed the effort, saying: “Religious communities unite and serve believers of multiple nationalities. It is important that our leaders have the freedom to serve across national boundaries, and that our churches have access to staff with the expertise they need. The Religious Worker Visa Program has served our country well and has been a blessing to our churches.”]]></content:encoded>
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