Relationships Fall 2009

Relationships FALL 2009

Bringing hope to hurting kids in Wales. pg. 7 Young Life links arms with Teach For America. pg. 13 A son rebuilds an area his parents started 25 years earlier. pg. 19

CONTENTS

FALL 2009

YOUNG WITH A MISSION How an unlikely leader is changing the lives of teen moms in Tallahassee.

5

FEATURE

13

SHARING A VISION OF HOPE Armed with the Good News, a leader reaches out to kids in darkness.

7

In Young Life, developing leaders means discipling followers.

9

FOLLOW ME

A PLACE TO BELONG An atheist finds his questions answered in Young Life.

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FUELED BY PASSION Capturing the vision for Young Life, a son rebuilds an area his parents started 25 years earlier.

EVERY ISSUE

2 From the President 3 In Your Own Words 4 Young Life Lite 12 Young Life Online 15 From the Grapevine 22 Parting Shots

FALL 2009 / 1

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A CALLING BEYOND THE CLASSROOM

A new partnership between Young Life and Teach For America links ambitious, novice teachers with opportunities to participate as Young Life leaders at their underserved rural and urban schools.

ABOUT THE COVER The Bible is filled with powerful images of people walking through life together and in Young Life that’s what we do — walk alongside kids. Knowing the journey through these critical years can often be difficult and lonely, we want to share their load and introduce them to what it means to walk with God. For many of the kids we work with, this trek together lasts not just through their teenage years, but for decades to come.

Photo by Todd Biss.

FROM THE PRESIDENT THE MISSION WANTS YOU “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.”

— 1 Peter 2:9 (TNIV)

Before we use the normal excuses (I’m too old, I’m too young, I don’t have much time, I’m not very funny, I feel uncomfortable around kids, I’m no longer “cool,” I don’t feel equipped, etc.), I’d like us to consider what kind of workers this mission needs:

he vast majority of people who read Relationships have been involved in Young Life in the past and many still are. But because I know the circulation of this magazine is 195,000 people and because I also know that we have 32,000 volunteers (leaders and committee members) and 3,330 staff, it is numerically evident that about 160,000 of us are not volunteering today. I have a message for us:

• Committee people who support the local work. Women and men who have a vision to see that every kid in their community has a chance to meet Jesus Christ. Providing practical encouragement and support to our staff and leaders. Bringing our financial or fund-raising abilities to the table.

Working on the annual banquet or being part of the prayer team, etc.

• Leaders who work with kids. Age doesn’t matter.

We’ve had high school kids who volunteer with WyldLife ministry and friends in their 70s who lead. We promise to train you. So before you say, “That’s not me,” please pray about this opportunity. And because we now have Young Life College, you might want to mentor a college student or lead a small group.

• Volunteers at the local Young Life office or at our camps or at the Service Center in Colorado Springs.

T

The Mission Wants You. In a past article, I shared with you our new initiative — Reaching a World of Kids (RWOK). We want to double the number of kids we reach each year from approximately one million to more than two million.

Our primary method will not be to recruit thousands of new staff members.

Instead we want to invite tens of thousands of volunteers to join with us to reach these kids in every state in the union and every corner of the globe. We certainly will need more staff and I’m so thankful for the outstanding men and women the Lord calls to full-time or part-time ministry with Young Life. But our staff members will play a more prominent role in recruiting, training, encouraging, equipping, sustaining and deploying leaders who volunteer than they ever have before.

And that’s where you come in. We need you. We want you. We’ve been praying for workers like you because “the harvest is plentiful but the workers are few.” That’s why we’re asking the Lord of the harvest “to send out workers into his harvest field” (Matthew 9:37-38).

We’ve been praying for workers like you because “the harvest is plentiful but the workers are few.”

So I am hoping that you will be the answer to our prayers. That you will be part of the workers who enter the harvest field and personally are touched by what God is doing with kids in a tough, pressure-filled world. Call your local area office or e-mail me at drydberg@sc.younglife.org.

The Mission Needs You.

Denny Rydberg Young Life President 2 / FALL 2009

IN YOUR OWN WORDS Our readers share their thoughts

Fine Memories For most of my nearly 71 years, Christ has been at the center. I owe this mostly to Young Life who helped me to faith long years ago. For five summers I was the head wrangler at Silver Cliff Ranch and I directed Young Life in Mexico City for several years. Many of my current friendships go back to Young Life days. My gratitude for Young Life, and fine memories of Jim Rayburn, are immense.

— Bob Hurlbut

St. Paul, Minn.

EDITOR’S NOTE

Leadership. It has many definitions … influence, direction, servanthood, etc. … Along with these qualities, Young Life leadership always focuses on relationships — relationships between kids and their leaders. And one of the beautiful parts of Young Life is that we are a mission of diverse leadership: diverse in experience, background, life stage and geography. From high school students caring for their WyldLife friends to septuagenarians reaching out to kids more than 50 years younger than them, Young Life leaders invest their time, their money and their lives. Whether caring for kids in the villages of Wales, the classrooms of Los Angeles or the rural towns of Kentucky, our leaders are committed to reaching a world of kids, one kid at a time. The overarching mission which anchors all this diversity? Our love for Christ and kids.

We hope you sense both our diversity and our unity as you read this edition of Relationships, which is dedicated to all our men and women who lead.

younglife.org P.O. Box 520 Colorado Springs, CO 80901

FALL 2009 / 3

is a publication of Young Life, a mission devoted to introducing adolescents to Jesus Christ and helping them grow in their faith.

Reconnecting Through Relationships As I flipped through the spring 2009 issue of Relationships, the words “tragedy, recovery, discovery” jumped off the page at me. As I read the story, “Winning One for the Gipper,” the names and places mentioned began to ring a bell. My first thought was that when my family lived in Gwinnett County, Ga., many years ago, we knew a boy named Gip. As I read the names of Gip’s family members I knew this was the Gip whom we had known.

I was pleased and relieved to know Gip’s ordeal had a positive outcome. We haven’t seen the Gayle family since we moved to Florida in 1996, but we want them to know that the Driscoll family has fond memories of our time together and wish them all the very best.

— Nancy Driscoll Tampa Bay, Fla.

A Video, a Sweatshirt and a Changed Life Recently, I was talking to someone about Young Life, and how I went to camp on a whim and still have the video and sweatshirt as fond memories! It was truly the best week of my life and I still (to this day) watch the video and tell everyone I know that this camp changed my life. It is so wonderful to know that there are people dedicated to enriching the lives of our youth. Thank you, Young Life — you hold a true place in my heart! I recommend this to everyone!

— Inara Coleman

Bridgeport, Conn.

Publisher /President Denny Rydberg Executive Editor Terry Swenson Lead Editor Jeff Chesemore Coordinator Donna McKenzie

Copy Editor Jessica Williams Senior Designer/ Illustrator Luke Flowers Contributing Photographers Todd Biss Jessie Vega

Young Life is a Charter Member of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability.

YOUNG LIFE LITE

By Stacy Windahl

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Sharing the love of Christ through laughter

hile fall is the season to celebrate a brand new school year, spring is the season to celebrate achievement. Award programs, graduation ceremonies and recitals pepper our springtime calendars.

Applause and recognition are the order of the day.

It’s true in Young Life too. Every spring, after months of training in leadership development programs called FirstYear Fellowship (or First-Year Leadership), “first years” are celebrated as they “graduate.” In these ceremonies, first years, most often college freshmen, are assigned to the leadership team and high school or middle school they’ll be serving during the upcoming school year.

In West Toledo, Ohio, this celebration has taken many forms. One year it involved search lights, paparazzi and live video coverage of the first years’ red carpet arrival.

Prospective leaders entered a banquet room to the thunderous applause of current leaders, committee members, friends and family members assembled to hear the audited placement results concealed in large, white envelopes. “And the leader goes to … ”

The next year, the ceremony looked more like the NFL draft where 150 supporters gathered in a room decorated with streamers, balloons and school posters.

Guests enjoyed a dessert buffet as they mingled and watched clips of “scouting combines” featuring prospective leaders as they were timed looking up Bible verses or sprinting through the hallway of a local school. At the designated time, representatives of area leadership teams announced their prayerfully considered match. “And for their first pick, Ottawa Hills selects … ”

In recent years, however, the approach has been more intimate; less silly celebration and more solemn ceremony. Mike O’Shea, area director in West Toledo, says the tone of leader placement changes with the size and composition of the first-year class. Two years ago, leader placement happened in the home of an area donor.

The evening’s events still included great food, laughter, big envelopes and raucous cheers. But it also included a message about the nature of leadership. “I cast the vision of what it means to be a leader. It’s not about us, it’s about Jesus.

And leader placement is about first years giving their lives away for the sake of lost kids. The evening is really about the sacrifice these first years are willing to make for the Gospel.”

One of O’Shea’s newest leaders, a University of Toledo sophomore, understands the sacrifice. Mahamed “Moe” Moubarak, said leadership was something he resisted for a while. Until, Moubarak said, “I looked and focused more on Christ. I felt a strong conviction that God wanted this for me.”

At leader placement, when he heard the words: “And Moe Moubarak is assigned to Ottawa Hills High School,” he was thrilled.

Moubarak’s faith and his decision to become a leader are not embraced by his family. Even so, Moubarak believes faith cannot be inherited like a family name. “It is your own decision,” he said. “I’m hopeful that something positive will come out of this situation with my family and I’m praying that Christ will bring us together.”

“It’s not about us, it’s about Jesus.

And leader placement is about first years giving their lives away for the sake of lost kids.”

— Mike O-Shea Until that time, Moubarak is eager to give Ottawa Hills kids the opportunity to make their own decision about Jesus Christ.

That kind of commitment happens in the spring around Young Life. No wonder we celebrate. “Kids are getting ready to give their lives away to the kingdom,” said O’Shea.

“We want to celebrate that and honor the spirit of their commitment in the best possible way.”

And all of heaven applauded.

4/ FALL 2009

J

ust looking at the facts, you’d never put them together: young, white, single college girls and African-American teen moms living in poverty. On paper, it doesn’t make sense. But Lisa Brown, YoungLives coordinator in Tallahassee, Fla., doesn’t have time to consider the impossibilities. She’s too busy connecting her young mentors and even younger moms with the love of Christ.

And she does it all as a volunteer.

In 2006, Brown was fresh out of Florida State University and thinking about her future. That’s when she first heard about YoungLives, Young Life’s ministry to teen moms and their babies. Her heart was already inclined toward young moms and their children, and when she learned that YoungLives exists to serve them, it resonated.

“I had volunteered with Tallahassee’s Pregnancy Help and Information Center during college,” she said.

“That opened my heart to poverty and single moms. My area director from high school came to Tallahassee to start Young Life after I graduated … and during leadership training he explained all the different Young Life ministries.

When he got to YoungLives, I said, ‘Wait … tell me more about that.’ That’s the moment it all came together.”

Relentless pursuit of relationships

How an unlikely leader is changing the lives of teen moms in Tallahassee. By Leslie Strader

FALL 2009 / 5

In January 2007, Brown, while working full time at FSU, started looking for mentors — women who practice “life-onlife” ministry with the girls, encouraging them spiritually and practically. She pulled from the pool of resources right in front of her: her friends. Their first club was in March.

“It’s one of those things that, if God calls you to it, He’ll bring you through it,” Brown said. “I have a child development degree, but I’m not a mom. At first I was worried they’d think, ‘Who does she think she is?’ but it just works. God has done it. I don’t know what else to say.”

Today, Brown is a 25-year-old graduate student who works full time while volunteering to lead Tallahassee YoungLives. Brown’s relationship with the pregnancy center has been a huge benefit to the ministry.

“We have a great relationship with the center,” she said. “When the director found out about YoungLives, she said, ‘What can we do? How can we help?’

We have all our meetings at the center.

[These young moms] need life skills and it’s so neat to partner with an agency that’s already doing those things and doing them well. They earn Baby Bucks by going to club and can buy bottles, diapers, wipes, even baby clothes.”

In a little more than two years, YoungLives has grown from six moms to a core group of 15-20 moms who each have a mentor. Kristen Cortese is one of them. Like Brown, Cortese, 25, doesn’t bring life experience to the table, but her heart is stirred by the idea of bringing the Gospel to this particular group of teens.

“I love the relational aspect of YoungLives,” Cortese said. “I see God change people through relationships, with myself and the girls. It’s about consistently caring about a person rather than just speaking the words. Christ and the Gospel are central to what we do.

Without the unending source of love from Christ, this ministry would be impossible. He’s clearly Lisa’s motivation for this ministry. He’s what keeps her going. She is so encouraging to us and relentless in her pursuit of those girls.”

Jen Byard, YoungLives director, agrees. Last January, she had Brown lead a workshop on training and caring for mentors during the YoungLives Support Week at Oakbridge, a Young Life camp in Southern California.

“Lisa spends a ton of time and energy pouring into the lives of the girls and mentors. She goes above and beyond,” Byard said.

“It’s a challenge to keep the mentors going when the going gets tough, but she’s so good at it. She understands Young Life as a ministry and understands how to care for people.”

“She has a vision to see YoungLives grow all over her part of the country and is willing to do whatever it takes to make that happen — all as a volunteer.”

— Lindsey Patchell Ministry success = go and tell

Brown’s effectiveness is seen not only in the growth of the ministry in Tallahassee, but as far away as Champaign, Ill. When Erin Grace, a 25-year-old Tallahassee mentor, moved back home after college in 2008, Brown asked her to commit to starting a YoungLives club there.

Since then, Grace, while working full time, has started two clubs as a volunteer. With support from a strong committee, Grace says there are plans to grow even more.

“Building relationships with the girls is key,” Grace said.

“I’ve seen the difference someone can make in a teen mom’s life.

God uses YoungLives to do powerful things, and Lisa is such an encouragement. She’s a great resource for anything I need.”

While there are challenges in this ministry, Lindsey Patchell, YoungLives divisional coordinator, sees God working through Brown and her friends all the time. Patchell believes Tallahassee YoungLives is successful because these leaders have what truly matters: a Christlike willingness to go and tell.

“There are very few people I know who give their lives away like Lisa Brown does,” Patchell said. “I have seen her heart break over the lives these girls are entrenched in. I have seen her weep over their sin, rejoice in their salvation and celebrate in the chains God is breaking in their lives. It is a true picture of Jesus ... He identified with our pain and entered into our sin. Lisa does just that. She loves a population that is hard to serve at times, but is in the exact place Jesus longs for us to be — with the lonely, hurting, broken and desperate.

“She has a vision to see YoungLives grow all over her part of the country and is willing to do whatever it takes to make that happen — all as a volunteer.”

6 / FALL 2009

From Top: Lisa Brown with teen mom she mentors and her two children at 2009 Mother’s Day picnic; Mentors Lisa Brown, Whitney McLean, Erin Grace and Jennifer Wilson at the Grand Canyon after camp in 2007; Young mom with her son at Lost Canyon 2007; Kristen Cortese with teen she mentors headed to Lake Champion in 2008; YoungLives moms, mentors and volunteers at an Applebee’s Pancake Breakfast fundraiser in April 2009.

Armed with the Good News, a leader reaches out to kids in darkness.

By Ninie Hammon

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estled in the mountains of north Wales, the Vale of Clwyd is an achingly beautiful valley where herds of sheep graze in green pastures beside picturesque stone cottages, and where 23 people in the village of Ruthin have committed suicide in the past three years.

FALL 2009 / 7

Only 8,000 people live in the village.

Eighty-five percent of them are unemployed, have been out of work for decades and, since 2006, almost two dozen of them — mostly teenage boys, aged 16-19 — have killed themselves to end the despair of their hopeless lives. The suicide rate for American teenagers is approximately one death in every 14,250 young people; in Ruthin, it’s about one death in every 50. With the highest suicide rate in the United Kingdom, the story of Ruthin made national headlines.

In June 2008, a young Welshman named Rich Kendrick started Young Life in the Vale of Clwyd.

“Every kid I meet knows somebody who has committed suicide,” said Kendrick.

“Somebody in their neighborhood or in their class in school. These kids have never known anything but life in this valley and that life is crumbling. Their heritage is being swept away.

The Welsh coal pits have closed, agriculture is on its knees, businesses are shutting down.

The kids have watched their parents lose everything. They feel trapped. They don’t see any way out. There’s a darkness here, an oppressive sense of hopelessness that is absolutely heartbreaking.”

Five kids showed up at Kendrick’s first club. They were quiet and seemed unresponsive. But Kendrick struck a chord somewhere. The next week, those five brought their friends.

Two months after he started Young Life in Ruthin, Kendrick took 17 teenagers to the Young Life/Urban Saints camp, built in the shadow of an ancient Welsh castle near Welshpool, Wales. Their camp fee was only £20, about $40, and many of them had to dig behind the cushions in furniture to find enough money to pay for it. But Kendrick believes it was the best money they ever spent. That camp changed their lives. “They saw something they never see at home — hope,” he said. “They laughed and did crazy, fun things. They were loved, and that love made a huge impression. And they learned they are incredibly precious to God. I don’t think they’d ever heard and understood that before.”

Six kids who became Christians during their week of camp were so fired up about their newfound faith that they asked to become part of the work crew for the second week of camp.

“One week they were campers, the next week they were scrubbing pots and pans,” Kendrick said.

Beacons of joy

When Kendrick cranked club back up after camp, it was an entirely different experience. The kids who had leaned against the wall with their arms folded across their chests, refusing to participate, had been transformed. Their joy was a beacon to their friends.

“After camp, they were clapping and standing on chairs, singing their hearts out. And laughing. You should have heard them laugh! They went from death to life. Other kids saw the difference and they wanted to be a part of whatever it was that had changed their friends,” remembered Kendrick.

Senior Regional Director Tom Hammon said that Rich Kendrick “lives what we say we’re about. He works with kids who are so far out there that, apart from his ministry, they would have no chance to hear about Jesus.”

A Young leader Hammon pointed out that “RichLife became a Christian as an adult in his 30s. He understands what it means gets creative as heto face life’s difficulties without Christ. He can relate to the pain in the lives reaches kids of the kids in his ministry.

He’s beenout whereto they are. And they thereal.midst their know it. They know Richin is for He’s notof flashy.

In fact, he’s a quiet man. But the kids can see a passion for Christ in demanding schedules. everything he does.”

During the fall and winter, Vale of Clwyd Young Life continued to grow. The club that began with five kids now averages about 60 a week. Kendrick plans overnights, game nights and regularly takes young people to sing for the residents of a local senior citizen facility.

He said that, looking toward the future, he plans to develop more mentoring groups and to establish a discipleship program. And he will work hard to integrate the new believers into the churches in the community.

He will also work to train his 12 leaders — most of whom are 17 to 18 years old. What they lack in knowledge of Young Life, they more than make up for in enthusiasm.

Above: Rich and Leigh Kendrick are shown with the team of indigenous staff working in the United Kingdom — Moira Frew, Jack Scarfe, Rich and Elaine Youngman, Rich and Leigh Kendrick, Luke and Jenny Wilkinson, and Glyn Watkins.

“We have a core group of young people who are committed and dependable, and they are the rock we build this ministry upon.”

For the long haul

A month ago, Kendrick sent out a prayer e-mail that began with a quote from Young Life Founder Jim Rayburn: “Young Life is something far more than the ordinary youth movement. Not only do we earn a hearing among the most difficult and hardest to reach, but after reaching them we stay with them, as a true missionary should. The winning and establishing of a soul for Jesus Christ cannot be done on a hit-and-run basis.”

“When we enter the world of a young person, we are doing so for the long haul, committed to making a lasting investment in their lives.”

— Rich Kendrick

Kendrick said that those involved in Young Life must be committed to living out the Gospel in a culture of young people.

“When we enter the world of a young person, we are doing so for the long haul, committed to making a lasting investment in their lives.”

Then he listed 11 names: Sara, Abigail, Esther, Daniel, Luke, Kirsti, Alys, Eli, Sam, Stuart, Kenny.

“These 11 young people made a commitment in front of their friends and peers to follow Jesus Christ after the club talk on Friday evening,” Kendrick said. “It’s a tough world out there for a teenager — please pray for them by name. Please pray for us as we continue to work alongside them and make disciples.

God is moving in the lives of young people here in Ruthin!”

Above: Kendrick shares a laugh with the kids in Ruthin; Left: Kendrick gathers the kids for a farewell picture on the last day of camp in Wales.

8 / FALL 2009

Their leadership is the result of intentional love of another leader, more accurately, another follower of Christ. In response, they’ve followed Christ into a world of kids within their reach.

Ministry mathematics

In Young Life, developing leaders means discipling followers.

By Stacy Windahl

W

hen most of us think of Young Life, we think of a person. We think of a person who embodies the Young Life experience for us. That’s by design.

Jim Rayburn began Young Life to introduce kids to “the most wonderful, most attractive, most gracious, most loving person the world has ever seen.” Likewise, the development of leaders within Young Life is a deeply personal undertaking, replete with touch points of “life-on-life” training, and not primarily a process defined by programs and procedure.

At its best, leadership development in Young Life models what Jesus did when He launched his earthly ministry. “His concern was not with programs to reach the multitudes, but with the men whom the multitudes would follow” (Robert E. Coleman in the Master Plan of Evangelism, 1963). So too, most Young Life leaders, including the 3,330 staff members and the 21,000 leaders who volunteer their time, have been loved into “followship.”

FALL 2009 / 9

Meeting the thousands of kids in our reach, however, is an insurmountable task for staff alone. Sean McGever, leader and area director in Paradise Valley in northeast Phoenix, has done the math. For Young Life to effectively reach the 20,000 kids in his communities with paid staff, he’d need to employ 1,800 people.

There are only two problems with the equation as McGever sees it. It’s not sustainable, or biblical. “We’ve got to focus on the few who will reach the multitudes.” And this is the essence of multiplied ministry.

Imagine a club of 20,000. It’d be great, right? Pete Hardesty, leader and area director in Harrisonburg, Va., would ask you to think bigger. Imagine running a Young Life club every night of the year with 1,000 new kids professing faith each night. That’d be exciting. And newsworthy. But it would take you thousands of years (and supernatural genetics) to reach the world for Christ using that model of ministry by addition. And it wouldn’t be Young Life.

Imagine instead, a leader or a Campaigner kid earning the right to share the Gospel with a friend. Think of that student introducing another friend to Christ. In this scenario of ministry by multiplication, the world could meet Christ in little more than 32 years.

“I’m still staggered by those numbers,” said Hardesty, who heard the example from a professor of economics.

“The quiet work of a multiplier gets much less notice, but it proves to be far more effective. And it’s what Jesus did.

He ministered to the masses, but he invested in the few — the friends who were his disciples.” That is what staff members around the mission do. They raise up leaders, the vast majority unpaid, who show kids how they, too, can be disciple-makers.

Disciple-making starts early

Rick Scherr, leader and area director in Northern Kentucky, considers disciple-making an easy concept. “Discipleship is just friendship with a vision. Jesus didn’t ask us to make converts,” Scherr said. “He asked us to make disciples. If we develop a real friendship with a kid then we must have a vision for the disciple-maker they can become in the world.”

A leader’s vision for their kids goes beyond the high school experience. “Can we love kids until they’re 18 and then forget about them?” Rob “Crock” Crocker, former director of Ohio’s Buckeye Region, doesn’t think so. For him, leadership development starts early, as early as their freshman year, and doesn’t end there. Crocker, now senior area director in the Durham/Chapel Hill area of North Carolina, says “we ask kids to reach their friends first, and then look to their peer group.

And we encourage and equip some to reach into the middle schools through WyldLife. By the time these high school kids get to college, they’re already leaders.”

“Can we love kids until they’re 18 and then forget about them?”

— Rob Crocker “These leaders are our best friends, not extra friends on the fringe of our life. They are active partners in the Gospel with us.” Scherr says he asks his leaders not to water-ski through life, but to dive deep in one place to discover the riches there.

Leaders are asked to limit volunteering to Young Life, and to “move into the neighborhood” (John 1:14, The Message), living near the campuses they serve.

Kevin and Kayla Warnick and Guy and Andrea Domec have done just that. These one-time Young Life kids in Scherr’s Connor High School club now live and lead clubs in communities near their hometown.

GROW DEEPER

CONNECT Home grown and deeply rooted

Some may consider Crocker’s former region, surrounding The Ohio State University campus, the ideal place to recruit leaders. But leaders emerge from high school campuses as well as college campuses; it just may take a little longer.

In Scherr’s area (part of the Buckeye Region), there aren’t large college campuses nearby to draw from. All but one of his leaders were once kids in his clubs. Twelve years ago, Scherr was the only staff member and leader in his area. Today, he is still the only staff member and his leadership team of 69 runs 17 clubs. Leaders include 14 married couples and four families with small children. They are teachers, business owners, moms and administrators. Technically, they are volunteers, but Scherr calls them missionaries, doing life together for the sake of lost kids. They spend every Friday night together in Scherr’s home, built expressly with a large basement and ample parking to host all 69 and their families for weekly leadership meetings.

Above: Northern Kentucky leaders, Paul and Danielle, dig into Scripture; Left: Dinner is served for 69 leaders at the Scherrs’ home.

Kevin Warnick has no regrets about their commitment.

“There is nothing I’d rather do, or could do with my life but ministry and making disciples; and Young Life works — it reaches those who I can completely relate to, because I was once in their shoes.”

Andrea Domec’s experience is similar. Serving as a junior leader at Rockbridge during her senior year in high school was all she needed to recognize a call on her life. “There is something so sweet about being vulnerable with my friends and I knew that I wanted to be a Young Life leader and give my life away to high school students. After prayer, I felt that God had affirmed my decision and here I am, almost 10 years later, still a Young Life leader.”

(Continued on pg. 11)

10 / FALL 2009

(Continued from pg. 10)

“If I’d paid attention to Scripture and other leaders, I’d have understood, but I had to get to the end of myself before I really got it.

Do I have more experience than my leaders? Maybe. But each of them can do things I can’t. Each one is uniquely called and qualified to reach kids I won’t.”

— Pete Hardesty

Leadership, Harrisonburg, Va.

The end of myself

The Warnicks and Domecs, and leaders like them, are the lifeblood of the mission. Young Life leader “developers” have learned through experience that ministry can’t be done alone. Pete Hardesty said it was an epiphany when he understood that. When, as he said, “I got to the end of myself.”

“If I’d paid attention to Scripture and other leaders, I’d have understood, but I had to get to the end of myself before I really got it. Do I have more experience than my leaders? Maybe. But each of them can do things I can’t. Each one is uniquely called and qualified to reach kids I won’t.”

Sean McGever understands the value and necessity of shared leadership. He constantly asks himself, “Am I stealing a ministry opportunity from a leader?” Years ago, under the tutelage of his senior leader Marty Caldwell, now a senior vice president for Young Life’s international ministry, McGever was asked to lead in important times and places. “Marty’s a legend. He was always better than I was, but yet, he’d ask me to give key club talks. I’ll never forget that.”

Andrea, Guy and Braylen Domec.

FALL 2009 / 11

LOOK IN MIRROR. SEE SELF AS CHRIST SEES YOU.

Mirrors and crowns

So much of leadership development is holding a mirror up to a leader, helping him or her see the gifts that others see. Pat Goodman, a mission training associate, would say just as often it means holding a crown over a leader’s head and letting him or her grow into it. “People grow into the crown when we help them see what Christ can do in them, often what they can’t imagine for themselves,” Goodman said.

A crown is an apropos image for Young Life leaders, the majority of whom are unpaid. They are “amateurs” in the oldest and truest sense of the word; a word which literally means “a lover of, a devotee.” Like Olympians who once received crowns for their courageous efforts as lovers of their sport. So many Young Life leaders make a living in varied fields of endeavor, and a life by giving their own away to kids, for the sake of the Gospel and a crown that will not perish, all because someone once said to them, “Follow me.”

YOUNG LIFE ONLINE Connect with the mission @ younglife.org

Young Life’s New Home Page for International Ministry We’ve recently changed the face of Young Life on the web. Because we know that a quality, culturally sensitive web presence is important for our ministries around the world, we wanted to provide something that would serve our international staff.

The new site communicates the basics about Young Life for a multitude of cultures and shows our global presence. The site will ultimately point users to specific country websites that will present Young Life to people around the world “in terms they can understand.” To view the new international home page, non-U.S. visitors can go to younglife.org, while U.S. visitors should go to www.younglife.org/us and then type “go IWS” in the search feature.

Moved Recently?

If you’re one of the many who have moved to a new city, state or even country over the summer and looking to reconnect with Young Life in your new location, please click on “Find Young Life” at the top of the home page (younglife.org). From there, you can search for the nearest Young Life club or office.

FOR MORE INFORMATION, AND TO SIGN UP, CONTACT YOUR LOCAL YOUNG LIFE STAFF PERSON.

12 / FALL 2009

A new partnership between Young Life and Teach For America links ambitious, novice teachers with opportunities to participate as Young Life leaders at their under-served rural and urban schools.

By Aimée Kessick

T

hanks to the growing popularity of a non-profit organization called Teach For America, Young Life is finding more possibilities to start and sustain ministries in rural and urban communities.

Teach For America hires college graduates of all academic majors and young professionals to make a twoyear commitment to teach in rural and urban public schools.

The organization, which has a selective hiring rate of 15 percent, trains these top-notch grads to be competent teachers in tough classrooms with limited resources.

Not only are the Teach For America “corps members,” as they are called, becoming gifted teachers, but many are also becoming great Young Life leaders. With a new partnership between Young Life and Teach For America under way, talented teachers who are passionate followers of Christ are getting introduced to, and hooked on, Young Life.

For years, Young Life has witnessed the powerful role that teachers play in the mission, helping Young Life reach kids at a school “working from the inside out,” said Lee Finch, Young Life’s Teachers in the Mission representative.

“But one of the amazing things about this new and developing relationship between Young Life and Teach For America is not just who it’s drawing to the mission — highcaliber believers who want to make a difference in kids’ lives — but also where it’s bringing Young Life,” said Josh Griffin, Young Life’s assistant director for Field Initiatives.

“Teach For America is placing teachers in under-resourced urban and rural schools, making them an incredible answer to prayer for staff in those same communities.”

That was true for Kyle Cummins, a Young Life staff person in south central Los Angeles tasked with starting a club at the 5,000-student Fremont High School. He approached a Teach For America English teacher named Morgan Altizer and asked her to consider becoming a Young

FALL 2009 / 13

Life leader. He knew that, as a teacher, she was primed for Young Life leadership.

Doing Young Life may have come pretty naturally for Altizer but, more importantly, it gave her a way to exercise her spiritual call to teaching.

A natural overlap

Surveys conducted by Teach For America several years ago reveal that Altizer is part of a substantial number of Teach For America members who point to a spiritual motivation for teaching in disadvantaged schools. Among the 50 percent of teachers identifying themselves as “people of faith,” 80 percent of them indicated their faith was their main motivation for doing Teach For America — because they felt that as part of their faith, they were called to make things like education equitable for all, said Nicole Baker, vice president of Faith Community Relations for Teach For America.

“We noticed a natural overlap in the goals of Teach For America and the values of people of faith who were participating in the organization,” Baker said. “In addition, among applicants who were people of faith, Young Life was, and remains, one of the top 10 organizations that these applicants were involved in as college students.”

So two years ago, Teach For America started building partnerships with faith-based organizations like Young Life.

The relationship has definitely been mutually beneficial, Baker said, because it’s helping Teach For America identify high-quality applicants. Those with Young Life experience have already gained a reputation for having strong leadership qualities, as well as the ability to connect with and motivate young people, she said.

In turn, Teach For America identifies teachers who are people of faith and attempts to connect them with Young Life opportunities, through surveys, a website advertising

From top left: Kids at an after-school club at a public charter school in Los Angeles; Students enjoy a sunny afternoon at Woodleaf this summer; TFA teacher and Young Life leader Mindy Cheren at a football game with one of the students; Cheren with students at Woodleaf; Students from Young Life at Fremont High School in LA, one of the city’s largest high schools; Cheren, with students from her Campaigner group, at her TFA graduation.

“We noticed a natural overlap in the goals of Teach For America and the values of people of faith who were participating in the organization.

In addition, among applicants who were people of faith, Young Life was, and remains, one of the top 10 organizations that these applicants were involved in as college students.”

— Nicole Baker, TFA volunteer opportunities, and meetings for Teach For America teachers with area and regional Young Life staff. That’s where Finch is starting to step in. He helps all kinds of teachers, whether they are with Teach For America or not, find Young Life leadership teams to join or begin clubs of their own.

The reason I teach

Although the life of a Teach For America teacher is very busy — teaching demanding class loads in under-resourced schools by day, and then attending credentialing classes at night — Young Life has greatly enriched the overall teaching experience, said Altizer. Her two-year commitment to Teach For America ended in June but she is hoping that her next teaching job — at a ninth-grade continuation school in South Dakota — will bring another chance to be a teacher and a Young Life leader.

She’s motivated to continue her spiritual calling to the classroom because of students like Julia*, a girl whose tumultuous, abusive past threatened her belief in a better life for herself. After a trip to a Young Life winter weekend at Oakbridge, Young Life’s camp in Southern California, Julia began to blossom both academically and spiritually.

“Julia has become such a leader for our club. She’s there every week and really growing. She’s also participating in an academic program that, after completing it successfully,

could grant her free tuition to one of California’s top public universities.”

Working with these students can mean “small victories and large defeats” as students confront pressures from family and friends, as well as the temptations of drugs and alcohol. Meanwhile, teachers must deal with very limited classroom resources. But the possibility that students like Julia can unearth academic potential and discover their worth in the eyes of their Creator keeps Altizer going.

That lure of possibility is just as strong for Teach For America corps member and Young Life leader Mindy Cheren, who teaches students dealing with an array of learning disabilities at a public charter school in Los Angeles. Like Altizer, Cheren had no prior Young Life experience but the opportunity to “give these kids what I know they ultimately need” was a challenge she couldn’t resist. “It’s brought teaching to life in a way I never imagined,” Cheren said.

That’s obvious as she talks about a student named Teresa*. Within the past two years Cheren has witnessed Teresa’s successes in the classroom, but also her resistance to God. Consequently, this often means giving Cheren the cold shoulder. “All her friends are going to camp this year, but she’s not. She’s the one I really want to go. Every time she tries to ignore me it’s like God is telling me, ‘She just wants to know if you’ll still love her.’ She’s the reason I teach.”

And as this partnership between Teach For America and Young Life develops, more teachers will discover their “reasons” for teaching, transforming more of America’s toughest, underserved classrooms into places where possibility and hope reign. *Name has been changed.

For more information on Young Life’s Teachers in Mission initiative, contact Lee Finch: finch_leland@smc.edu.

To find out more about Teach For America, contact Daniel Grant: daniel.grant@teachforamerica.org.

14 / FALL 2009

FROM THE GRAPEVINE A fruitful selection of stories from the field

Jesus on the Mainline

By Ned Erickson

Every morning — not five days a week but seven, not 9 a.m. but 5 a.m. — YoungLives (Young Life’s ministry to teen moms) Washington DC Director Sharon Holland and six other devoted prayer warriors dial up the prayer line. “The primary focus is kingdom building. We pray for the nation, families, marriages, teenagers and the babies,” said Holland.

Three years ago when the morning conference call began, Sharon Holland was overwhelmed. After working in youth development for 20 years and YoungLives for more than five, the problems were outweighing the solutions. “No answers, no leadership.

We needed the power of prayer. We had to cry out because if there was no YoungLives what was left was cocaine, prostitution and prison.”

Holland knows. She, too, was a teen mom. Without a father around, she was “looking for love in all the wrong A Washington places; DC YoungLives mom and her looking for two sons. guys to provide what my father did not.” Marrying hastily, two years later she found herself divorced at 21. “Life went spiral … when you are in a life of brokenness and hurt, there is a lot of darkness.” But Jesus met her there.

Clothed in Confidence

“No answers, no leadership. We needed the

power of prayer. We had to cry out because if there was no YoungLives what was left

was cocaine, prostitution and prison.”

— Sharon Holland

She went to school, took a job at a university, and began working with youth and singles. Holland is well aware that she is a success story.

Sharon Holland, “God, my Father, has redeemed Alia Smallwood, and restored.” Her son is Brittney Clarke and Ann now 27 years old and Cunningham serves in the Air Force.

“He is a fabulous husband and father.”

Holland’s grandson “is the joy of my life.”

Her story and her prayers are the source of much hope for the more than 200 moms involved in YoungLives DC. Eighty-five percent of these moms are court ordered, meaning that Child Protective Services is involved with their case. The courts have given YoungLives the opportunity to provide life skills, mentoring and parenting classes.

“It’s the system or us,” said Holland. “The name of the game is survival.” This incredible challenge is what brings her and her team to their knees. “Prayer is our glue. It keeps me sane and gives us hope.”

By Cory Bordonaro

CariAnn Litz and Jessica Savard, leaders in Lakeland, Fla., were at SharpTop Cove (Young Life’s camp in Georgia) with a group of high school girls when they noticed a need. “These girls barely [had] enough clothes for a week at camp,” Litz said. “We wondered, ‘How do they have clothes for school?’” Upon their return home, they decided to write letters and raise the money to take four or five girls on a back-to-school shopping spree. “God knew the need,” Savard said, “and He just happened to show us how to meet it.”

The night before the big excursion, they hosted a sleepover, featuring a What Not To Wear-inspired fashion show. Together, they also watched a few episodes of the TLC Jessica Savard and television show. More important than the clothes, Litz and Savard desired to give the CariAnn Litz girls a better understanding of what messages their clothes were communicating.

“Respecting their bodies wasn’t high on their priority lists,” Savard said.

(Continued on pg. 16)

FALL 2009 / 15

(Continued from pg. 15) “It was: ‘What attention can I get, and how can I get it?’”

“We just wanted to extend to them that if you take the time to find things that fit well, you can really transform how you look and feel about yourself,” Litz said. “If you are dressing for your body, then that’s when you’re the most beautiful.”

The shopping trip lasted eight hours, and proved to be quite exhausting. “We learned a lot of nice ways to say no,” Litz said. But, the experience was instrumental in helping the girls understand that clothing can both express and invite respect.

“A lot of them [had] put up walls,” Savard said. “‘People are going to notice me for this.’ In reality, they were making up for something else. It’s just been cool to help them come through that. It was definitely something that God did, and I was so happy to be a part of it.”

Lunch Encounters

CariAnn (far left) and Jessica (far right) with two of the girls.

By Travis Johnson

Hall monitors keep a wary eye as 2,300 kids eat their lunches across four intervals at Henderson County Senior High in Henderson, Ky. For Area Director Chris Dillbeck, it’s the perfect time to introduce his new leaders to contact work. “I tell my leaders the Lord has a group of kids with your name on it,” Dillbeck said.

With a new school principal, as well as a host of teachers new to the faculty, Dillbeck started the school year facing a school staff unfamiliar with Young Life, suspicious of strangers lurking in their hallways.

Treece with

“Every year, teachers challenge me,” “That is what a student Dillbeck said.

“We start off wearing name at Frontier we want to be in badges and visitor tags, but by the end [of Ranch. schools, where the the year], most of the staff recognize why we’re there.” school identifies

The challenge failed to deter Dillbeck’s newest leader: 47-year-old Steve Treece. us as being a Dillbeck and Treece spotted a group of black-clothed alternative kids hovering valuable part of around a table outside. Treece recalls that Dillbeck prompted, “Why don’t you go out there and start a conversation with those guys?” He felt a little scared, but Treece the community.” summoned his courage, and marched outside to introduce himself. Dillbeck quickly found a school administrator and showed him Treece’s encounter.

Later that afternoon, Dillbeck received an e-mail from the administrator. Many of the teachers who monitor the lunch periods were away for training that day. The vice principal had expressed some concern, and asked the administrator if he needed more help. “We’re all right,” the administrator assured her, “Young Life is here.”

Treece has remained connected to some of the kids he met that day, and remembers that first encounter as a watershed event.

“Some weeks it’s hard, other weeks it’s like the Young Life tagline says, ‘You were made for this,’” he said. “You ask yourself where God wants you to be and, for me, this is exactly where He wants me to be.”

Treece (left) with

Over the past year, the school administration has learned that it Dillbeck (middle) has a new partner. “That is what we want to be in schools,” said Dillbeck, and another “where the school identifies us as being a valuable part of the community.”

Henderson, Ky., leader.

16 / FALL 2009

“I

s Young Life anything like church?” the freshman camp trip to Washington Family Ranch, Young Life’s camp asked. “Because a friend invited me to youth in Oregon, and the self-proclaimed atheist continued to group once and I don’t believe in God.” This was be one of the most regular attendees at club on Monday Michael Marczewski’s immediate response when Beka nights. While away at camp, Michael took a lot in; this Marcille invited him to Young Life. sponge-like process continued through the fall.

Marcille, the team leader at Tahoma High School, part “God must have been working in his heart over the of the Glacier Valley Young Life area in Washington, and next few months,” Marcille explained, the other Young Life leaders first met Michael at a school“because one night after club he sponsored overnight retreat where the leaders served as pulled Tim Jahn (one of the chaperones. After bonding over group activities and events, leaders) aside while holding a several kids asked the leaders why they would volunteer their time to chaperone the overnight. Together the team explained how they cared about high school kids, and then told them about Young Life.

An atheist finds his

Then came Michael’s questions answered insightful question. in Young Life.

“We were up-front with our answer,” Marcille said. “We explained that we did talk about Jesus after games, skits, competitions, songs and more fun stuff, and encouraged him to come check it out once for himself. But of all the kids we met and invited, he was the one we thought would never come.”

Two days later Michael

By Jeff Chesemore showed up by himself to club, where everyone warmly welcomed him. He continued to come every single Monday, even inviting kids and leaders out for ice cream after club one night to celebrate his birthday. Michael’s father later told the leaders that it was his choice to go to Young Life for his birthday and hang out with everyone afterward.

Michael became one of Young Life’s biggest advocates at school, despite “not believing in God.”

“He was the kid who would push to invite more people,” Marcille said. “He was very encouraging, and would come up with new ideas for Young Life special events. Michael notebook and a Bible. Michael had decided to start reading would always invite the Young Life crowd to anything he through the Bible and was keeping a notebook with all his wanted to do. That became his circle; he totally embraced questions and thoughts, and wanted to discuss what he Young Life and our group.” was reading.”

“That was totally a God thing,” Jahn said. “Michael was Thinking it through curious. He told me, ‘We have required reading at school, Later that year Michael was the first kid to sign up for the so I decided to start reading the Bible — and I have these FALL 2009 /17

questions ... ’ We went out to Dairy Queen that week and went over his questions. Michael and I just talked about Jesus. It was awesome.”

That summer Michael returned to Washington Family Ranch, where at the end of the week he answered God’s call on his heart and began a relationship with Jesus. “The thing that strikes me,” Marcille said, “is that Michael was very thoughtful and intentional in the process [of exploring the truths of Christianity].”

Michael with leader Tim Jahn at camp in 2008.

Proper care and feeding

The leaders weren’t the only ones involved in caring for Michael, however. Early on, Jahn told his mother about “this Michael guy” and she began praying continually for her son’s friend. “Mom’s a big prayer warrior,” Jahn said, “and she was excited and praying every chance she got and always asking for updates — ‘What’s Michael up to now? What’s he learning?’ She was really, really excited when she heard he came to Jesus. That’s big too — the power of prayer and having other people praying for these kids.”

Michael, who is beginning his senior year this fall, has seen many changes in his life since beginning a relationship with Christ. “I have become much more outgoing and that really allows me to excel at school.

Not only that, but getting to know the Young Life leaders and Christ also changed my entire outlook on life!” Since his decision to follow Christ, Michael and Jahn have met weekly for one-on-one discipleship to help encourage him in his faith. Michael has also expressed an interest in helping out with a junior high club in the future as well as serving at Young Life camp on work crew next summer.

Furthermore, he’s taken the initiative for his personal growth by attending a local church. “I have become very much involved with the church and looking into the values that the Bible sets out for all to follow. The Bible is a learning tool that also helps guide you in the steps of creating a full relationship with Christ.”

Jahn has noticed the changes too. “Michael has more joy, more confidence and more purpose in life. There’s an excitement to tell other people about Jesus.” Michael echoes these sentiments. “Right now I am most excited about getting to know God and Christ even better. The more you get to know Christ, the more you find out about how you should live life.”

“God loved Michael long before Michael ever believed or knew Jesus,” Marcille said, “and it is an amazing privilege to witness the work of God’s truth and Christ’s love.” Through the care of leaders like Marcille and Jahn, Michael experienced the truth which Jesus so powerfully demonstrated 2,000 years ago: here you can belong before you believe.

“That was totally a God thing,” Jahn said. “Michael was curious. He told me, ‘We have required reading at school, so I decided to start reading the Bible — and I have these questions ... ’”

A beaming Michael with leader Beka Marcille at Washington Family Ranch.

18 / FALL 2009

By Erika Jay

Capturing the vision for Young Life, a son rebuilds an area his parents started 25 years earlier.

FALL 2009 / 19

J

oshua Neff is no stranger to Young Life. In fact, he made his club debut at 4 months old. “I’ve known him all his life. He was the baby in our enlarging skit* at club,” recalled Bill Loy, metro director for Young Life in Lee County and Immokalee, Fla. “Josh grew up with us.”

More than 25 years ago, Neff’s parents started Young Life in Cape Coral, Fla., as volunteer leaders. After leading, they continued to support the mission by serving on committee for more than a dozen years. “My parents have always been passionate about sharing Christ with kids though Young Life,” said Neff.

Passion and adventure

Through his parents’ involvement, Neff fell in love with Young Life at an early age. And, as he grew, God gave him his own great adventure in the mission — bringing Neff’s experience with Young Life full circle. “Josh has been a club kid, Campaigner kid, full-time volunteer leader and now part-time mission staff as well,” Loy shared. Like his parents, Neff has a passion for reaching kids with the news of Jesus’ love.

Stepping up and stepping out

After restarting WyldLife in West Palm Beach with six other leaders during college, Neff returned home to Cape Coral where he found Young Life was no longer active. He immediately set out to rebuild the ministry his parents had helped launch two decades earlier.

Loy remembers talking with Neff about volunteering in the winter of 2006. “He was committed to see Young Life reach middle school and high school kids in Cape Coral again. After talking and praying, we decided to move forward and watched to see what God would do as we stepped out in faith.”

And how God moved! In just a short amount of time, a WyldLife ministry took flight at Neff’s old middle school.

By the summer of 2007, Neff, along with other volunteers he recruited and trained, took a group of WyldLife kids to camp.

At the end of the summer, Loy and Neff met again to talk about plans for the coming school year.

“I was ready to bring him on as part-time staff for WyldLife because ministry had really taken off, when he shared that he felt called to restart the high school ministry,” Loy said.

Again, the two stepped out in faith and watched to see what the Lord was up to.

Off and running

Neff set out to build a team of leaders — teaching them about the mission of Young Life and training them to walk with kids. He also began volunteering at the high school as an assistant soccer coach and substitute teaching whenever possible — helping build relationships with faculty and spending time with kids.

While focusing on contact work and laying a solid foundation for ministry, God brought a last-minute opportunity for Neff and his leaders to take a group of kids to Polar Bear Weekend at Young Life’s Southwind in January 2008. Working in one of the most diverse and impoverished communities in the country (Cape Coral has a 17 percent unemployment rate, high crime rate and one of every three families lives in a home under foreclosure), Neff was given 15 full-scholarship spots to fill.

Through his parents’ involvement, Neff fell in love with Young Life at an

early age. And, as he grew, God gave him his own great adventure in the mission — bringing Neff’s experience with Young Life full circle.

“It only took him five days to get 15 kids signed up,” Loy laughed. “God, as He always does, hand-picked each and every one of those kids.

“They had all gotten into serious trouble. Josh had to get permission from all their probation officers just so they could attend the camp.”

Attending winter camp opened the door for club to start. “We hadn’t planned on starting club until the following school year, but God made it so (Continued on pg. 21)

*A decades-old Young Life skit where objects (frisbee, ball, flower, etc.) enter a very large box that looks like a machine. When the objects come out the other side of the machine, they are much larger. For the last item, you put a baby doll in (or a real baby like Neff!) and out comes a high school kid dressed in a diaper …

Upper Left: Joshua Neff gets the energy flowing; some of the many faces enjoying music in club.

20 / FALL 2009

(Continued from pg. 20) obvious we needed to move on His timing and not ours ... it just happened His was sooner rather than later,” Neff shared.

The group arrived home from camp on Sunday and had their first club Monday night. Kids from camp showed up and brought friends. “It really took off and grew from there,” said Loy.

God’s faithfulness and favor

Fall 2008 was just as wild, with God bringing kids of every background imaginable. “The kids at Josh’s club are Mexican, Nigerian, Puerto Rican, Vietnamese, Sudanese, Anglo, Colombian and other nationalities,” Loy said. They are the ‘furthest-out kids,’ kids who are caught up in gangs and all kinds of trouble, kids from suburban neighborhoods, kids from all ethnic and economic backgrounds.

“It’s really amazing,” Neff shared, with a laugh. “It seems leaders typically draw kids who are comfortable with them because they are similar somehow, it’s natural. These kids don’t look, act or dress anything like me [or any of our leaders].

Here I am, Caucasian with more of a skater or grunge look and these kids are hard core. It’s really cool.”

Top: Bill Loy (middle), Joshua Neff and the rest of the team in Cape Coral, Fla. Right: Kids enjoy the hilarity and depth of Young Life club.

“We hadn’t planned on starting club until the following school year, but God made it so obvious we needed to move on His timing and not ours ... it just happened His was sooner rather than later.”

— Joshua Neff God is using Neff’s incredible love for the Lord to bring kids to the feet of Jesus. “Josh isn’t your typical, super-outgoing and loud Young Life person,” Loy explained. “He is pretty reserved and quiet. But he’s so good relationally.

He’s approachable, warm and passionate about Jesus.”

Neff’s passion transfers to kids in countless ways, and his desire to connect kids with the local church has helped many find fellowship and opportunity for growth in their walks. Loy shared, “They have had at least a dozen kids meet Christ this year outside of club and he has done an incredible job of getting kids plugged into the local church. Almost 100 percent of the Campaigner kids are now active in local churches!”

There is no doubt God has and will continue using Neff to share Christ with all kinds of kids.

Little did his parents know that volunteering their baby boy for a club skit more than 25 years ago would eventually lead to another generation of powerful ministry through Young Life in Cape Coral, Fla.

FALL 2009 / 21

PARTING SHOTS A collection of photos from the field 1. NHRA driver Mike Edwards (dark blue shirt) stands beside his Young Life Pro Stock GTO as kids from Young Life Las Vegas look on. Mike Edwards Motorsports partners with Young Life to send disadvantaged kids to Young Life camps across the country.

2. Courtney Lancaster, Raleigh, N.C., area director (far right), with five senior Campaigners at the Young Life house in Pallisa, Uganda.

3. Two leaders from Vida Joven in Puerto Panasco, Mexico.

4. Craig, Colo., campers excited for games at a WyldLife week at Quaker Ridge in Colorado.

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FEATURE PHOTO

Young Life Thomas County: The Frisbee Men of Thomas County, Ga., on the 15th hole at SharpTop Cove!

22 / FALL 2009

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