21 minute read
Alumni Awards
2019 SERVICE TO YOUNG LIFE AWARD By Shannon Harrell
Sam and Linda Bradshaw with their kids, Kent and Carol.
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In John 13, Jesus declares, “As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” Sam and Linda Bradshaw have lived lives marked by love and are known for their generosity and commitment to loving and serving those near and far so that they may hear the good news of Christ. In 1979, Sam and Linda’s extensive service to Young Life began when their son, Kent, started attending Young Life as a sophomore in high school. The Bradshaws then joined the local committee in Houston. Since their first encounter with the mission, Sam and Linda have served in a variety of critical roles as adult guests, donors, local volunteers and banquet hosts. They’ve also had significant impact in Young Life International, the Young Life Foundation, Young Life Military–Club Beyond and Developing Global Leaders. family marked me. I believe I’m a ‘bolder’ leader because of their influence. And their investment in me and our regional vision allowed us to reach thousands of kids, ALL kinds of kids, for Jesus Christ.” While their passion for local ministry is contagious, Sam and Linda have also had farreaching impact through several branches of Young Life ministry internationally. This has led the Bradshaws to generously support regions worldwide and to fund several Developing Global Leaders (DGL) students. DGL offers educational funds, life-skills mentoring and Young Life ministry training for the leaders of tomorrow in over 30 countries around the world. Since 2016, the Bradshaws have supported 15 different DGL students. The Bradshaws also have a heart for military families. Young Life’s Club Beyond provides ministry to middle school and high school students worldwide. Sam and Linda have also been champions for Military Family Camp at Trail West and faithfully supported scholarships for these families. In 2009, this passion for Young Life’s military ministry THE HEAD COUNT IN HEAVEN WILL BE HIGHER BECAUSE OF THEM.
After retiring as the president of Triad Energy Corporation, Sam lives in Houston, Texas, where he and Linda still actively support the local Young Life ministry and advocate for multiethnic Young Life where there is less local giving.
Field Senior Vice President James Rockwell said, “Sam and Linda are my role models. Many years ago when I was asked to move to Houston, it was my lunch with Sam that turned my heart toward Texas. He and Linda had such a deep understanding of calling and leadership. The love and support the Bradshaws showed me and my led to Sam joining the MCYM Board of Directors.
In the words of Executive Director of the Young Life Foundation Jeff Rudder, “Anyone who knows Sam and Linda knows they exude joy, love, commitment, faithfulness and generosity! I have personally been blessed by their desire to follow Christ and to serve Him through Young Life and the Young Life Foundation. The head count in heaven will be higher because of them.”
2019 DISTINGUISHED YOUNG LIFE ALUMNI AWARD By Jonathan Schultz
Verley and Pearlean Sangster
In late 1960, Verley Sangster was a young businessman who had recently lost his tavern due to revenue issues. At a crossroads, Verley met Bob Biehl, a man from South Bend, Indiana, who saw potential in Verley and asked to train him in the insurance business and organizational leadership. Here Verley first encountered the mission of Young Life through a breakfast club led by Chuck Lahman.
Following this initial introduction, Verley began serving on the South Bend Young Life committee, one of the first organized committees in Young Life. In 1971, Chuck Raymond arranged for Verley and his wife, Pearlean, to be adult guests at Frontier Ranch, in Colorado. The Sangsters were blown away by what they witnessed at camp that week, and came away with a passion to see more urban kids experience what they had seen.
It was October of 1973 when Verley made the transition from volunteer to Young Life staff person, becoming the director of the Young Life Center on Chicago’s west side. This center provided many resources to the community, including legal and medical aid, and urban youth development work. The center ran four Young Life clubs, including two high school gatherings run by area director Jim Chesney; while Verley led a Thursday night club for high school kids and a Friday night club for middle school kids. Some might argue these were the forerunners of our present-day WyldLife programs.
Under Verley’s leadership, his assistant, Amy Mannier, and former Young Life kid and volunteer, Angela Reeves, started one of the very first clubs for teen mothers. Angela joined Young Life staff following that, while Verley became area director in late 1970.
Eight years later, Young Life President Bob Mitchell promoted Verley to the position of National Urban Training director, a role he served in from 1978 to 1989. In 1989, President Doug Burleigh appointed Verley as the vice president of U.S. Field Ministries.
“In this role Sangster oversaw the six field directors, the Ministry Resources director and the associate field director for women. Over the course of sixteen years, Sangster had come a long way from his first position as an area director in Central Chicago. Doug Burleigh said he sensed in Sangster, ‘A man deeply committed to a prayer ministry with this mission and one who draws from significant spiritual resources in his own personal life. I believe Verley is uniquely qualified to hold together and unite this diverse field team in the United States Leadership’” (Made for This: The Young Life Story, p. 104).
As Denny Rydberg took the helm as president of Young Life, Verley’s influence in the mission continued, even as his title was changed to director of Multicultural Ministries.
In 1994, 21 years after coming on Young Life staff, Verley left to become president for the Center for Urban Theological Studies (CUTS) in Philadelphia, which he held until retiring in 2004.
Verley Sangster is a great leader, whose legacy lives on in and through the mission. His pioneering courage and visionary insight served to shape the mission’s work with multicultural and urban youth, teenage mothers, middle school and high school kids, and significantly impacted the training and equipping of countless staff and volunteers. Verley Sangster has been a gift to many within and outside of the Young Life mission.
JD Gibbs moved to Northern Virginia in 1981, when his father (Joe) accepted the role of head coach for the Washington Redskins. It was during this season he was introduced to Young Life, often hosting club at his house. In the words of longtime friend, Moose Valliere, “Because of JD’s personality and charisma, the biggest clubs were often at JD’s house; in fact, the only reason I decided to visit Young Life was because it was going to be at JD’s house. If it was OK for JD to go to Young Life, then Young Life was OK for me! I trusted JD that much.” From overseeing a giving ministry that sends funds to over 75 organizations in over 50 countries, to mobilizing a team of in-house chaplains to do “contact work” inside of Joe Gibbs Racing, JD knew how to treat his business as his ministry. Throughout, Young Life remained dear to JD’s heart, as he chaired the local committee, hosted countless Young Life banquets and events at the team headquarters, and even turned the Joe Gibbs Racing Christmas party into a Young Life club!
JD Gibbs
In the same vein, Dave Alpern, lifelong friend and current president of Joe Gibb’s Racing, said, “Arguably the most popular kid in our high school, JD would show up in the cafeteria and randomly sit at different tables, usually with the less popular kids, with his signature smile and a ‘Hi, I’m JD.’ It made the kids who needed it most feel valued and important. I know because I was one of those kids.”
Upon college graduation, he moved to Charlotte and co-founded Joe Gibbs Racing with his father. In the midst of all of this, JD became a volunteer Young Life leader for a few years, until recruiting Moose to come and start a new Young Life area in Norman, North Carolina. JD was on committee in this area until the day he got too sick to continue serving. Most importantly, JD knew his primary ministry was to his boys (Jackson, Miller, Jason and Taylor) and his wife; and he was exceptional with both. JD married Melissa, his middle school sweetheart, in 1993 and, according to Moose Valliere, “As a parent, JD was THERE for his kids and his wife. In the crazy world of pro sports when the job is the ‘end all, be all,’ JD always did his best to step away and be with his family.”
In 2014 JD started showing symptoms of a neurological problem; he had a degenerative brain disease that was incurable. JD passed away on January 11, 2019, at the age of 49, and his impact was clearly seen at his funeral. Thousands attended to pay their respects, from old friends, to the NASCAR family, to
Professionally, JD treated his business career much the same as he did the rest of his life: building others up and using his influence to point people to Jesus. As Joe Gibbs Racing grew from a start-up family business with barely a dozen employees, to a world-class championship sports organization with nearly 600, JD never changed. Everyone at Joe Gibbs Racing knew that an interaction with JD was going to include a laugh, probably a bear hug and a meaningful exchange about something significant to that person. Redskins players and coaches. JD’s dream was to help Windy Gap and to bring Young Life to every kid in the Charlotte Metro area, focusing on hard-to-fund schools, YoungLives and Capernaum. In his memory, the JD Gibbs Legacy Foundation was born in January 2019. Since JD’s death over $1 million has been raised. JD MADE THE KIDS WHO NEEDED IT MOST FEEL VALUED AND IMPORTANT. I KNOW BECAUSE I WAS ONE OF THOSE KIDS.
More details about his Legacy Fund can be found at jdgibbslegacy.com.
FILLING beds+hearts A window into Lost Canyon’s team of servant leaders.
by Leslie Strader
Glendale, Arizona, girls on an LCAT weekend.
Mark Booth, manager of Lost Canyon, Young Life’s camp in Williams, Arizona, believes it’s never been harder to reach kids, and never more important. He and his staff will do anything to make sure there’s never an empty bed at the camp when the gospel is being proclaimed.
With a long history on staff, working to bring every kid everywhere face to face with Jesus, Mark first felt this burden while serving as Lost Canyon’s marketing and development director. He knew the financial piece was one of the biggest obstacles to getting the furthest-out kids to camp.
From this burden came a vision. And this vision became a hands-on, God-ordained strategy that’s since provided thousands of Arizona teenagers — kids who have disadvantages and barriers to overcome in every aspect of their lives — a wide open door to experience life inside the kingdom. In this case, God’s provision has a name: LCAT, the Lost Canyon Advance Team.
MULTIPLE WINS LCAT was born in 2009, Mark explained, as most successful ideas in Young Life are: as an invitation to do life together.
“Development was a solo job, and I’m a team guy,” Mark explained. “So I put together a group of people to walk alongside me. These are friends of Young Life who would not be interested in being on a committee, but were excited about being a part of a team.”
included building the mountain bike trail system, chopping down trees and, most recently, renovating a staff cabin. The LCAT is also committed to caring for the Lost Canyon staff. They’ve provided meals, Christmas gifts and faithful prayer.
Then in 2011, a practical need and spiritual opportunity collided.
“There were two issues,” Mark said. “We needed to get economically disadvantaged kids in Arizona to camp, and we had empty beds in mid-December. I presented it to this team, and we started to figure out a way to get those kids to camp.
“We were looking for multiple wins — a win for the region, a win for Lost Canyon and most importantly a win for kids to encounter Christ.”
The LCAT began securing in-kind donations from food vendors and bus companies and inviting friends of Young Life and Lost Canyon to partner with them financially. Then areas invited kids based on need, from schools that had a high percentage of students who qualify for free and reduced lunch. That first year, 500 kids came for one weekend. After their initial efforts and partial funding, LCAT’s dreams grew, and their fundraising strategies became a little more intentional.
GENERATIONAL CONNECTIONS Mark Malouf, a home builder in Phoenix, is LCAT chairman this year and has been a part of the group from its inception.
“Young Life has always been a part of my life. My parents started a club in Phoenix; there was club in my house since the day I was born,” he said. “I’ve always had an affinity for camp and what goes on there and how the Lord changes lives in unique ways.”
Personal giving and inviting others to give are part of how the camp funds are raised, Mark said. But events are what makes the biggest difference. Every two years, LCAT hosts an adventure games weekend, which raises close to $35,000. A road bike race from the Grand Canyon to Williams also generates revenue. And adult guests help spread the word and enthusiasm. “We get people to come to camp who have never been before, and get people involved with Young Life who weren’t before,” Mark said. “We hope to raise money to send kids to camp and at the same time, we want to tell people about what we’re doing. We ask them to donate, and to serve on that weekend. They stay involved, and they invite more people to be a part of it.”
Mark Booth added, “We want people connected to Lost Canyon and Young Life generationally. We want them to have ownership in what’s happening at camp and in our region for the long-term health of the ministry.”
In December 2019, full scholarships provided for more than 500 kids to attend one weekend. The remaining funded spots were spread over other areas so kids with a need could come with their own schools and leaders. A total of 900 kids came to camp on full scholarship in one month last year.
Over the last seven years, thanks to LCAT’s efforts, nearly 6,000 kids have attended the December weekends who wouldn’t have been able to otherwise. And part of the provision is also a future investment.
“Area directors typically charge the kids something — whether it’s $25-$50 — so they have skin in the game,” Mark said. “Since the camp is paid for, area directors take those funds and leverage them for kids coming to summer camp. It’s easier to get them to sign up later because they have a head start on their fundraising.”
THE LONG GAME The fruit from these weekends has been abundant, with more yet to come. On one level, it’s growth in numbers. And on another, it’s growth in the Kingdom.
Rick Wilson, associate regional director in Arizona and 44-year staff veteran, said LCAT’s
continued on page 24 Kids from all over Arizona having a blast at club.
“When the LCAT money first became available, Metro Phoenix was immediately able to double the number of kids going to weekend camps,” he said. “These LCAT weekends have seen some of the largest responses of all our weekends. There is a hunger in the kids and a responsiveness to the gospel.
“I look at what they are doing as strategic generosity. It is my hope that we continue to partner with Lost Canyon to find ways to grow the number of kids reached as we grow the number of weekends.”
Mark Malouf said LCAT is planning toward the future and right now, the sky’s the limit.
“We are committed to going however long the Lord leads us,” he said. “We’re a bunch of 50- to 60-year-olds talking about bringing in the next group of leaders to help keep this going. There will always be projects to be done at camp, and the need to raise money. But we want to grow into something a little bit bigger in the future. We’re dreaming pretty big at the moment.”
But Mark Booth said the greatest multiplier has been the kids who return home and tell their friends and families about their experience.
These camp weekends have been happening long enough that kids who met Christ the first year are now serving as leaders and bringing their own teenage friends to camp and to Jesus. That’s the kind of “win,” he said, that echoes into eternity.
“The longer I’m around, the more I see all of this as a long game. There are so many stories of kids going home and impacting their families, their friends, their schools and their communities. That’s part of the fruit of all this.
“It’s never been harder to be a kid or to reach kids. But it’s never been more important to reach kids. The efforts of the LCAT are impacting the Kingdom and that’s a win for everyone.”
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STACKING HANDS How God is building an alliance to reach kids in the Rio Grande Valley. By Sherri Nee
Joe (second from right) and his staff team Danny, Lizette and Reyna.
When Area Director Joe Wilson talks about Protestants and Catholics working together under the banner of Young Life, he compares them to the Cajun Navy, the diverse band of boat owners from the South who quickly organize to rescue thousands from floods after a hurricane.
In an urgent situation, these fishing enthusiasts, water-skiers and recreational cruisers don’t sit around and talk about who has the bigger or better boat, Joe said.
“It’s all hands on deck! Likewise, thousands of kids are drowning down here in Texas. They don’t know the love of Christ. So when it comes to rescuing kids, you don’t sit around and talk about little differences in Christian doctrine. You get a rope, you launch your boat and you start searching!”
This vision of stacking hands on the gospel in the Rio Grande Valley wasn’t Joe’s idea. An agreement between Young Life and the Catholic Diocese of Brownsville was formed a few months before he arrived in July of 2015.
Joe admits he was an unlikely candidate to lead this collaboration since he’s white and raised Baptist, and the Valley is 90% Latino and overwhelmingly Catholic. But he
has an urgency to reach “every kid,” and his alliance with Catholics is now producing fruit along this stretch of the U.S. / Mexico border. Joe has recruited and trained three Catholic Latino Young Life staffers and is building a pipeline to hire more. continued from page 25
Hugo De La Rosa, assistant principal at Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic School in McAllen, said Joe may have felt like an unlikely candidate for the region, but he’s turned out to be the perfect area director. “Joe dove right in. He tries to understand the Catholic worldview. He’s willing to listen and find a way to work together. I can’t imagine we could have gotten anyone better suited to this area.” another approach. “A white Baptist is not the best salesman for Young Life in the valley,” he said. “We needed some inside advocacy. We needed a Catholic.”
Recruiting and training a local Catholic to become an area director would take too much time, Joe said, so he decided to recruit some Catholic student staffers. He set up booths at colleges and Catholic conferences, asking students if they wanted training on how to be a missionary. Twenty signed up, and out of that group four had “Young Life DNA.”
The next year produced 30 students, and the following year 40 more. Each trip has
PERSEVERANCE IN RECRUITING There are 7,000 kids at the five Harlingen, Texas, high schools. A majority are Catholic, but most are disconnected from a church, and most of the Catholic churches don’t have the resources for youth ministry. The initial vision was to gather Catholic volunteers as Young Life leaders for these high schools. The hope was to re-engage these students and activate the faith they were born into.
LEFT: The Rio Grande team with officials from the Diocese of Brownsville.
Joe and a committee from the diocese held informational gatherings that attracted 140 Catholic adults who ranged in age from 35 to 75. But only 40 of them attended the leader training that followed, and most couldn’t commit the time needed to lead Young Life. A few were willing but lived 45 miles from the nearest high school.
“At the end of leader training, more people knew what Young Life was, but nothing in terms of leaders,” Joe said. So he tried generated a pool of Catholic Young Life volunteers, and each year, another volunteer enters Young Life’s Developing Future Leaders (DFL) program, which creates a pipeline for staff in underserved areas.
RIGHT: Joe, in back, hanging with the guys.
Reyna Conde, now on mission staff, was hired in 2017 and leads Young Life at a public high school. Lizette Hernandez, hired in 2018, and Danny Acosta, hired last year, both lead WyldLife at Our Lady of Sorrows. Their salaries are being covered by the local area, the South Texas Region and the Diocese of Brownsville.
“These leaders are from the Valley. They can speak the language. It’s magical. They can do in five minutes what it would take me five years to do,” Joe said.
THEY NEED BOTH In addition to this Latino/Catholic leadership pipeline, the Diocese of
Leaders and kids enjoying WyldLife camp. Brownsville last year began a pilot project with WyldLife at Our Lady of Sorrows. The afterschool club competes with sports and academic competitions, but six to 14 students come regularly. “It’s a small start, and we are hoping to keep it going,” said Hugo, who loves seeing the WyldLife leaders at morning assemblies and sporting events. “WyldLife has a special charism — the willingness to get into the messiness of kids’ lives and tell them and show them they are loved. When our kids go to WyldLife, they see a different experience of what it means to follow Jesus. They go to Mass and take religion classes, and Young Life brings that to life. They need both.” The school, the parish, the diocese and Young Life Rio Grande Valley are all hoping this WyldLife group will grow. The school would like to open the club to some nearby public schools. SERVING THE FATHERLESS “I would never have put myself in this position of leading Young Life on the border with Mexico and leading a Catholic initiative,” Joe said. “When I started with Young Life, my goal was learning how to play the guitar.” The 15-year staff veteran was drawn to Young Life because of a loss in his own life. His father committed suicide when Joe was 10 years old. “My heart for the fatherless is what keeps me going,” he said. “So many kids are walking around, looking for validation and ready to give themselves away. That’s why we need to join our Catholic brothers and sisters in this great rescue mission.” “We need to enter into friendship based on the commonality of our faith — Jesus came, died and rose again. And we need to figure out how to enter into mission together.”
To see a video on Young Life’s work in the Diocese of Brownsville: vimeo.com/311265338
YOUNG LIFE MILITARY HERO FUND A Sacrifice Worth Doubling
While John is serving overseas, his teenagers navigate the challenges of fear for their dad, making new friends and figuring out who they are in their ever-changing world.
Knowing caring adults invest in his kids while he is away, John gives sacrificially to Club Beyond.
TO DOUBLE YOUR GIFT, GO TO ... giving.younglife.org/herofund
Now you can double John's gift by investing in the Hero Fund. The Hero Fund will match every dollar an active duty service member contributes to Club Beyond.
