Skip to main content
Val O'Brien

Val O'Brien

Founder of Aspen Ministry and creator of the 10,000 Questions Project, a ministry initiative collecting and answering questions from young people about faith, doubt, and life.

Sep 21, 2026

Java with Juli - Making Sense of God and Sex

Java with Juli - Making Sense of God and Sex

The Sex Questions Kids are Really Asking, #621

Sep 21 · 38m

Hannah NitzHOST
5:07
rural, all these different types of churches that I wasn't familiar with.
Val O'Brien
Val O'BrienGUEST
5:11
And I started to see themes that no matter where these people were serving in ministry, certain themes kept coming out in where they were stuck.
Val O'Brien
Val O'BrienGUEST
5:20
And one of the ways that they were stuck, and I knew the ways that I was stuck in youth ministry.
Val O'Brien
Val O'BrienGUEST
5:26
And I was wondering, I'm like, is this just what it's like to get old in youth ministry? At that point, I was 33.
Val O'Brien
Val O'BrienGUEST
5:35
But still, you know, I'm like, oh, maybe this is just what it's like.
Val O'Brien
Val O'BrienGUEST
5:39
And then as I started talking to these youth workers, just got the sense that like, no, there was something else in the water here.
Val O'Brien
Val O'BrienGUEST
5:45
A lot of them would say to me, Val, these kids are so different and it doesn't feel like we're connecting with their hearts.

10 MINS LATER

Juli SlatteryHOST
16:02
And that wasn't true.

We value your privacy

We use cookies to understand how you use our platform and to improve your experience. Click “Accept All” to consent, or “Decline non-essential” to opt out of non-essential cookies. Read our Privacy Policy.