In It With Kids

MARY’S MESSAGE ASKING TO MEET FOR LUNCH CAME UNEXPECTEDLY.

It had been five years since we’d last talked; 10 years since she was a middle schooler in WyldLife.

“I just had to tell you that I’ve decided to follow Jesus,” Mary said. “I knew you’d want to know. And to tell you that you were the most influential person in my life in middle school. I’ve never forgotten about the Jesus you told me about. He’s a part of my life now, and I have so much peace and joy!”

Mary, now 23 years old, and I are heading to church together this Sunday. She’s still my WyldLife girl and I’m still her leader. And we are going to keep walking through life together.

— Jessie Oliver, area director, Costa Rica

MEET LARRY BUTT — AN INSPIRATION WHO HAS BEEN

on staff since the early ’90s, faithfully laboring in Piqua, Ohio (and surrounding rural towns) for decades! He’s 63 and he’s all in!

Larry

During our WyldLife weekend last fall he introduced me to some middle school boys who are sons of his former club kids! One boy, Tim, lost his father to a heart attack and his mother to a drug overdose. While Larry drove guys home from WyldLife one night, Tim said it was his 14 th birthday. Larry had to think of something to do for him quickly as he had a committee meeting 45 minutes away. So Larry called a few buddies and had an impromptu party at McDonald’s. Each guy got the pie of their choice and sang Happy Birthday to the beaming middle schooler. A few weeks later, Larry brought Tim on the WyldLife weekend. On Sunday morning this 6-foot2-inch eighth-grade orphaned boy from Piqua stood with Larry at the Say-So to proclaim he’d begun a relationship with Jesus!

I texted Larry afterward and he replied, “Thank you, Gordon. It was a good weekend and confirmed to me that WyldLife is OK for me to do. At times the immaturity of some of the stuff they do annoys me, then I look back and think about what I was like when I was that age and realize I wasn’t any different. Ha!”

— Gordon Anaple, advancement coordinator, Young Life Alumni and Friends

BE LOVED, Believe, keep going

For nearly 50 years a husband and wife have simply “kept showing up,” and it’s made all the difference. By Melissa Johnson

Gretchen and Jack at a Hillsdale College dance during their dating years.

Jack Boyd strolls leisurely down the open hallway, smiling at a group of students as he passes by. His pants are a little baggy, and he’s wearing an old Ohio State crewneck sweatshirt. A sight to see in this northern Michigan high school. He sees his friend Cody down the hall, and hurries as best he can to catch up with him. After a few pleasantries, Jack leans in and asks, “Say, would you want to go fishing this weekend? I want to take the boat out, and the weather is supposed to be just great.” He has to listen closely for the answer, but a glow of excitement comes over the face of his young friend.

Meanwhile, his wife, Gretchen, sits in their home over coffee with a young woman who’s just been through a breakup. This morning she prayed with the Young Life area director, and this afternoon she’ll go for a walk with another woman who’s struggling to make a career decision. She’ll get a call from Jack later about how his “contact time” went, and then start looking through the book of Mark to make plans for the weekly Bible study she leads for a group of young adults.

Jack and Gretchen’s lives reflect a normal, daily commitment to ministry. Club, contact work, Campaigners, committee meetings. Repeat. So what’s the difference between the Boyds and your typical Young Life leaders? About five decades.

TAKING KIDS TO THE KING (AND QUEEN) The Boyds started leading Young Life after first coming to faith in their early 30s. They were adult guests at Saranac in 1971, and soon afterward, they served as leaders in Sylvania, Ohio, for nine years while raising their three children. In 1981, they moved to Blissfield, Michigan, where they started a new area and volunteered as leaders again, for over a decade. Here they met Bryan Shaffer, then a college-aged leader. Bryan, now the area director for Southeast Michigan and associate regional director for the North Coast Region, said, “The ministry (in Blissfield) has since reached thousands of students for the Kingdom.”

Gretchen with her granddaughter, Amelia, and one of her Young Life kids, Joelle.

Jack and Gretchen often reflect on their days as leaders in the 1970s, ’80s and ’90s. Every few months the Boyds get a call, email or visit from a former Young Life kid. Some have come to walk with Jesus, and some have not. The couple wouldn’t trade a single moment spent with their Young Life kids. Their favorite memories to share are the

moments with kids who spent their lunch break smoking in the parking lot, or the teens who cussed them out during club. More than once we’ve heard Gretchen say, “Jack, remember when we took that whole vanload of kids to see Queen?!”

It may seem like every Young Life leader has had a season where they’ve thought to themselves, “I’m getting too old for this.” That doesn’t seem true for Jack and Gretchen. When they moved to Traverse City, Michigan, nearly 10 years ago to be near family, they were in their mid-60s and thought they’d retire from their work with Young Life. In a few short months, helping grow the existing Young Life ministry in the Grand Traverse region became their top priority. For a season, Jack made it his full-time job to meet with donors throughout Grand Traverse and Leelanau counties. His efforts resulted in the area hiring their first area director, Erin Wanschura, in 2015.

“I’d never had a Young Life leader until I became the area director for Grand Traverse,” Erin said. “Gretchen shows up in my life, remembers the mundane details, prays for me, cries and laughs with me.” As a “retired” marriage and family therapist, Gretchen continues to walk alongside Erin and dozens of other young women in her Young Life and church community. She’s the first to ask about the work of the Lord in teens’ lives, the loudest voice of encouragement for leaders and perhaps one of the most constant voices of prayer for the area.

OPEN TO THE MYSTERY Each time Jack pulls into the Traverse City High School parking lot he prays, “Lord, let me be open to the mystery.” What Jack might be too humble to see is that at age 78, every time he opens the door to this world of broken teenagers and turns up his hearing aids to make sure he can learn their names, he is himself a living mystery. In spite of the vast array of complex differences between Jack and these students, for Jack, the ministry of Jesus is simple: “Keep showing up.” And for the students and leaders around him, the hope is profound.

Enjoying the dunes near Traverse City, Michigan.

Bryan reflected, “The Boyds are one of the most significant spiritual influences in my life. Their primary concern has always been knowing Jesus and making Him known.”

The call of Jesus through the Boyds is clear: believe, be loved and keep going. Jack and Gretchen are living proof that if we keep following and serving Jesus, we’ll look more like Him and become more truly ourselves. They’re living examples of lifelong faithfulness in ministry, a true picture of fulfilling retirement. The Grand Traverse community and countless others are grateful to call them their Young Life leaders.

Every four years Young Life staff from around the globe come together to celebrate all the Lord is doing in the mission.

In January, 5,500 gathered in Orlando, Florida, for a time of worship, laughter, prayer and inspiration to return home and continue giving their lives away to Christ and kids. We hope you enjoy seeing our staff being cared for with the same love they give to kids …

35,000 buttons involved in the Great Young Life Pin Trading game

5,500 Scripture journals / conference T-shirts / drawstring bags / Sackcloth and Ashes blankets (with 4,000 also donated to the local Orlando homeless shelter, and 1,500 distributed to our international camps)

115 nursing babies in attendance

67 videos created for the conference

55 buses to transport everyone to Disney’s Animal Kingdom park

7 Young Life clubs

1 HUMBLE AND GRATEFUL MISSION

SHARING A Sacred Story

Ian speaking to Young Life staff at YL2020.

How wounded healer Ian Morgan Cron brings reason and heart to those in pain.

By Jeff Chesemore

Titles like bestselling author, Dove award-winning singer/songwriter, speaker, Enneagram expert and therapist make for an eclectic (and long) business card. Ian Morgan Cron has found success in each of these occupations, drawing people to Jesus through this unique mix of gifts and abilities.

He’s also starred in some roles that might surprise you: hurting child, angry teen, recovering addict and Young Life volunteer/staff. This second list has informed the first, helping Ian to minister out of a healthy, honest heart to countless kids and adults.

“When I think about it,” Ian said, “all the things I do are in service to the same end: helping people enter into conversation with the mysteries of faith and their own lives.”

In many ways, he’s in the perfect position to help. For as long as he can remember, Ian has been engaged in his own mysterious conversations.

INTOXICATING Born in 1960, Ian’s early years growing up in Greenwich, Connecticut, reflected the tumultuous times of what many call the “decade of discontent.” He writes candidly in his memoir (see sidebar on page 18) about his father’s alcoholism and the repercussions for the entire family. Trying to find some semblance of normalcy throughout a “train wreck of a childhood” left Ian lonely, confused and eventually battling dependency like his father. Wondering where God was in the pain, Ian’s story was marked by anger, rebellion and tears. It was during these turbulent years his best friend invited him to club. “Tyler picked me up and took me to Young Life. Despite my efforts to not look amused, the ridiculous stuff going on up front made me smile from time to time. I’d forgotten the goodness of laughter when it wasn’t tethered to cynicism.”* His initial impressions of club were mostly positive, but the real hook for Ian became the relationships he made at club, most notably with the leaders. What brought me back to Young Life every Tuesday were Mike and Derek. Mike was the area director. Derek was a carpenter by day to support his work as a volunteer. I couldn’t wait to see the two of them every week because they made me feel as if they couldn’t wait to see me. In a room filled with 100 kids, one or both of them sought me out. It was intoxicating to have two older men see me — I mean really see me. If they’d just left out the talks about Jesus, club would’ve been perfect. Disillusionment with God plus severe trust issues with his parents and the downward spiral into alcoholism made the journey a slow one. Over the next several years, the Father patiently wooed his child through the relentless love of Ian’s leaders and friends in Young Life and the church. Their gentle care proved to be a soothing balm for his blistered soul. After graduating high school, Ian’s heart softened to the message of Jesus’ love and he began walking with Christ during his time at Bowdoin College. As he processed his newfound faith, Ian began thinking about his career, and what God might do in this next chapter of his life. BECOMING A PERSON Upon graduation from Bowdoin, Ian floundered until Mike invited him to volunteer with Young Life in Greenwich. For the next two years, the other leaders on the team poured into Ian, as he learned to pour into kids. Mike became my champion. He tended the long-neglected garden of my talents with great love. He blew on the glowing embers of my passion for writing and performing music, my gift for communicating the gospel with humor and my increasing love for God. What I thought would be a brief stint helping out a youth group turned into a vocation. Ian sensed the Lord calling him to more, so he joined Young Life staff in 1984. “The transition from volunteer to staff person came about because the first men who really loved me cast a vision for my life. They encouraged me and saw my particular gifts and said they were valuable. Their deep care for me catapulted me in that direction.” These years proved formative — Ian’s love for songwriting found an outlet and Dick Bond, the area director in Greenwich, encouraged this gift. “Dick was so invested in me; he was my biggest fan. I can remember being on a Young Life weekend at the Harvey Cedars Retreat Center in New Jersey. He had me play a one-man concert of songs I’d written. I remember him telling me the particular gifts I had were special and in the hands of God could be used for some good things. I so desperately needed to hear that. He was one of the many people who loved me toward becoming a person.” I’D FORGOTTEN THE GOODNESS OF LAUGHTER ...

Ian spent eight years (1984-1992) on staff — two in Wilton, Connecticut, and six in New Canaan. Here he learned the slow, beautiful skill of building relationships with kids. Often it happened far outside his comfort zone. continued from page 17

“I remember trying to play basketball with kids and being a complete failure. I was the comic relief on the court, but it gave them a chance to teach me what to do. I didn’t care if I was good or not and I think that helped them not take themselves too seriously.”

Alongside his growing relational skills, Ian grew in the art of communication, specifically speaking and listening to kids with empathy and compassion. “One of the things I did well was I knew how to sit with kids in pain and be OK with it. I didn’t have to come up with solutions or fix them.

Upon leaving Young Life, Ian followed the call to pastor a church in New England. Since then, among his other aforementioned roles, he’s become a volunteer Episcopal priest who now calls Nashville his home. Neither age, nor geography have proven to be barriers to his ability to connect with people in need. “I just did Young Life for adults and it wasn’t much different,” he said matter-of-factly. HIGHLY ATTUNED Ian has been in recovery for more than three decades. Over the years he’s learned the importance of his story — of every person’s story — and how we’re all longing to be known and loved. He’s quick to share this memory:

“I was in a 12-step recovery group meeting once where a woman spoke and her story was so sad. It involved selling her children for crack. When she finished, her story brought the room to silence. Normally there’s applause, but the people were so stunned by how far this woman had gone.

“This poor speaker is standing up there in shame and an old woman sitting in the back of the room broke the silence. She yelled out, ‘The Word of the Lord.’

“And all the Catholics and Episcopalians in the room replied, ‘Thanks be to God.’ “That old woman understood the gospel of this woman’s story — the good news of her life. In saying what she did she recognized her story’s sacredness in all of its brokenness and beauty. And it brought us to our senses.

Ian speaking to Young Life staff at YL2020.

“I think our stories are sacred and we don’t fully understand the power of the stories we inhabit. Often our stories are supported and perpetuated by wrong beliefs about ourselves and the world that we need to root out.”

These are truths he shares today through podcasts, sermons, seminars and songs. He’s thankful for his lifelong connection to a mission that was there for him during those critical years.

“Young Life taught me how to talk about faith in ways highly attuned to the audience. I learned how to present the gospel in ways winsome and heartfelt. I could read a room and speak directly to people’s objections and also to their pain. Through Young Life I learned how to bring reason and heart to this message.”

*Italicized text taken from Jesus, My Father, the CIA, and Me (Thomas Nelson, 2011).

CRON-ICLES