RelationshipsSPRING 2011

The exciting vision of Developing Global Leaders. pg. 5Seven leaders + decades of ministry = a wealth of wisdom. pg. 15One man’s 1,000-mile bike ride for kids. pg. 20

CONTENTS

2 From the President 3 In Your Own Words 4 Young Life Lite 8 Young Life Online13 From the Grapevine22 Parting Shots

EVERY ISSUE

SPRING 2011

WALKING IN WISDOMSeven Young Life leaders share what they’ve learned (and are still learning) along the way.

FEATURE

ABOUT THE COVERThe royal welcome. Wherever you find Young Life camps, like Pico Escondido in the Dominican Republic, you’ll find kids arriving in every kind of state — nervous, delighted, unsure, skeptical and overjoyed. Stepping out of their vehicles, kids immediately experience dozens of work crew and summer staff celebrating their arrival. With applause, songs, high fives and cheers, these high school and college volunteers greet every camper, signaling this won’t be like any camp week they’ve ever experienced. No small thing, this greeting also shows kids they’ll be celebrated and served all week long — in a way that beautifully reflects the love of Christ.

Photo by Todd Biss.

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SPRING 2011 / 1

A WORLD OF HOPEThe mission and work of Young Life’s Developing Global Leaders. 5

BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU GOOGLE FOR

A quick search and a student’s question spark one teacher’s calling. 9

GRACE IN THE CITYA Young Life-trained pastor earns the right to be heard on the streets of Denver. 10

A LIGHTER LIFE

A MILE OR A MITE

FROM DARKNESS TO LIGHT

The faithful friendship of a Young Life leader, a trip to camp and a supportive new family help a girl’s faith return after a horrendous tragedy.

A ride for campership includes unexpected blessings along the way.

A girl trades a damaging relationship for one of unconditional love.

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20

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ABOUT THE COVER

REACHING A WORLD OF KIDS: AN UPDATE

FROM THE PRESIDENT

ver the course of four days this February, I was on the phone with about 1,000 field staff, leaders, and committee men and women. As you may have surmised,

these were not individual one-on-one calls. In fact, there were four calls only: one per U.S. division. The content of these calls was devoted to an update on our Reaching a World of Kids initiative. If you’d like to listen in on one of the calls, you can. They were recorded and you can simply go to www.younglife.org/RWOK and click on “Conference Calls.” But, while I’m waiting for you to do that, I’d like to highlight the key points that were presented. First, the vision is very simple. We, in Young Life, want to increase the number of kids we impact from one million a year (which was the number when we started the campaign a year ago) to two million a year. In other words, what took us 68 years to do — reach one million kids a year — we want to double in seven years. Why do we want to do this? It’s NOT because we want to be the biggest youth mission in the world, but because kids are lost and we exist to introduce lost kids to Jesus Christ and help them grow in their faith. This is why Young Life was created. We also believe it’s a movement of the Holy Spirit and God has given us this vision and a time-tested approach to kids that crosses culture, ages and time. We believe we’ve been given grace and favor in the eyes of people who want to come on staff, join us as volunteer leaders or committee members, and/or want to give generously to help us impact these kids. There are two other important numbers: 80,000 and 8,000. We know this must be a volunteer-based movement and so we want to recruit, train and retain 80,000 volunteer leaders and make sure we are in more than 8,000 locations by 2016. We have three strategies that are paramount in Reaching a World of Kids (RWOK). One is leadership development. We want to leverage the power of volunteers and staff. We encourage our area directors to minister directly with kids but we also want them to build and lead an all-star team of volunteers with a passion for Christ and kids (visit youweremadeforthis.org). So initiatives like Alumni and

Friends, Young Life College, Latino Student Staff, and Developing Global Leaders are part of this focus. A second strategy is sustaining and starting new ministries. This is all about doing what we do best for more kids in more places. We expect 20 percent of our growth will come just by helping leaders do a better job equipping Campaigner kids to reach their school, and clubs will grow because of that approach. We’re also working hard at raising money for hard-to-fund areas. In addition, we’re training our staff in fundraising and we’ve developed an area help fund to assist areas in financial difficulty. The third strategy is one of the hallmarks of Young Life — camping. Approximately 30 to 40 percent of kids who go to camp meet Christ. The percentage is even higher for kids

internationally. And so we’re building five new camps (two in the United States and three internationally); we’re refurbishing others and adding camper beds; we’re even developing “camp on wheels” where we’ll bring camp in trailers and semis to kids in Third World countries; and we’re raising millions of dollars for camp scholarships so no young person will be left behind because he or she can’t afford camp. If you listen to one of the calls, you’ll hear from area and regional directors talking about what they’re doing locally to reach kids in creative and sustainable ways. And you’ll also hear about our

financial campaign to raise $260 million to provide seed money and capital to pursue kids. The good news is that the Lord has been very gracious to us. Almost $97 million has been given in cash, pledges or commitments in the first year of our initiative, where we went over the 1.1 million mark in reaching kids on our way to two million a year. I encourage you to listen to one of these calls and talk to your area or regional director about how you can get involved in our efforts in Reaching a World of Kids!

2 / SPRING 2011

Denny RydbergYoung Life President

It’s NOT because we want to be the biggest youth mission in the world, but because kids are lost and we exist to introduce lost kids to Jesus Christ and help them grow in their faith.

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SPRING 2011 / 3

Fondest Memories

Turn Back Time

“Young Life was introduced to me at the ripe old age of 6 (1974). My oldest brother had just returned from Woodleaf [a Young Life camp in California] and all he kept talking about was God and Jesus Christ. This was my very first introduction to God and I will never forget it. He was so on fire for God that when he returned home from camp I thought, ‘Wow! I want to go there too!’ Years later, when I attended high school in Carmichael, Calif., in 1982, I got involved with Young Life. I honestly believe, to this day, God used Young Life to guide me during those adolescent years and it helped me to

make better choices during that time. All of my fondest memories from high school revolve around the Young Life activities, especially Woodleaf. Yes, I too was able to experience Woodleaf for myself. Memories of Woodleaf make me feel warm inside all over again. Even after all these years! Thank God for Young Life!”

— Michelle Arnesan, Tempe, Ariz.

“I will never forget the joy that Young Life and their staff brought into my life. Being a teen from Cabrini-Green, it was always good to know that people cared. If I could turn back the

hands of time, everyone from Cabrini-Green would have a story to tell! I wish my children could have that type of environment in their lives! Kids of

Cabrini need some different type of influences in their life! And it is always good to know God.”

— Nicolette Harris, Chicago, Ill.

At Your Service

Our readers share their thoughts

IN YOUR OWN WORDS

Publisher/PresidentDenny Rydberg

Executive EditorTerry Swenson

Lead EditorJeff Chesemore

CoordinatorDonna McKenzie

Copy EditorJessica Williams

Designer/IllustratorLuke FlowersContributing

PhotographerTodd Biss

Young Life is a Charter Member of the Evangelical Council for

Financial Accountability.

younglife.orgP.O. Box 520

Colorado Springs, CO 80901

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

If you’re receiving duplicate copies of Relationships or would like to switch over to the electronic version, please contact the Young Life Mission Assistance team at (877) 438-9572. We can also help you with the change of address or giving information.

“Jeff, I read your article [“Just for Us” in the Winter 2011 Relationships] about the Wonder Twins (Rebecca and Ashley) online today. I’m the food service manager at Oakbridge. The Wonder Twins are now volunteering for work crews and worked here last weekend — they did a great job! It’s wonderful to see kids enjoying themselves in service to the kingdom.”

— Michael Thomas, Ramona, Calif.

“Nothing says the love of God like a camp willing to accommodate a gluten-free, casein-free (and hopefully not more restrictive) diet. I wonder how many lives the camp’s cooks have impacted for the Gospel without even realizing it.”

— Jeanette Coote on Facebook

4 / SPRING 2011

he most expensive birthday party on record was hosted by the Sultan of Brunei in 1996 for his 50th birthday. Together with Michael Jackson’s

$16 million performance, some beluga caviar and free-flowing champagne, the party cost $27.2 million. (Bear in mind, this guy paid his badminton coach $2 million.) By comparison, the $62,121.25 tab for Amy McNamara’s 40th birthday party was a drop in the Sultan’s champagne bucket — but, still, quite a sum for a party that never was. McNamara had the invitations printed, the DJ and caterer booked to delight her 100 guests. She had eight new dresses in her possession while she deliberated on the right one for her Valentine’s Day birthday party. But her heart wasn’t in it. “I was really excited until something inside began telling me something wasn’t right. In the middle of the night, I prayed for guidance. The Lord spoke to me and told me to stop thinking of myself and start thinking of others.” That’s when McNamara thought again about the shootings in Williamsport, Pa., borderig her small town of Montoursville. In early January 2008, a 49-year-old father was gunned down by teenage boys in an apparent gang initiation rite. McNamara thought of the boys and wondered how desperate for acceptance they must have been. “But most of all,” she said, “I thought of the 18-year-old daughter who was left behind without an earthly father. I wondered if she knew she had a heavenly father who loved her.” And then she knew what she had to do. McNamara didn’t sleep the rest of the night as she planned the kibosh on her birthday bash. A week later, instead of party invitations, she sent out letters, a Young Life DVD, and

brochure inviting her family and friends to bring Young Life to Lycoming County. While she and her husband, Tom, redirected their party funds to Young Life, she asked her prospective guests to tally what they might have spent on the party — the gas, new dress, baby sitter, card and fabulous gifts. If they, too, were passionate about kids, would they mail her a gift in the form of a check made payable to Young Life? “Let me tell you, when I put those invitations in the mailbox, it was one of the scariest things I had ever done,”

McNamara recalled. “I had no idea what the reaction would be. Would people think I was nuts? Would they dodge me in the grocery store? I had no clue, but I prayed over every invitation. By the time my 40th birthday rolled around on Valentine’s Day, a little more than two weeks after mailing the invitations, I had received almost $38,000.” McNamara kept receiving checks after that, including a few for $10,000. In total, she received

$62,121.75, enough to bring an area director and Young Life to Montoursville. There wasn’t

a birthday party in Montoursville on Valentine’s Day in 2008, but there was a celebration that day and every day McNamara hears about another Montoursville kid who meets Christ through Young Life. “I think about how one innocent man died and how so many Montoursville kids now have the chance to choose life over death.” Every time a Montoursville teenager makes that choice, Scripture tells us there is a party beyond compare — one hosted not by a self-indulgent Sultan, but by a King — for the kids He longs to call His own.

TSharing the love of Christ through laughter

YOUNG LIFE LITEBy Stacy Windahl

There was a celebration that day and every day McNamara hears about another Montoursville

kid who meets Christ through Young Life.

yna was raised an atheist. Tuvshe withdrew from school so his brother could go. Baccus

survived a violent civil war. Madelin supported her entire family while still a teenager. These anecdotes aren’t typical of the teenagers described on these pages, but their stories are real, woven into the fabric of Young Life that now stretches across countries and cultures. In most every case, Young Life played a part in leading the teens to Jesus. And today, the ministry of Developing Global Leaders serves as His hands and feet, giving each one a world of hope.

DGL definedDeveloping Global Leaders (DGL) began in 2009 and is the piece of Young Life’s Reaching a World of Kids initiative designed to identify, support and equip young adults to make an eternal impact in their home country. Chad Edwards, director of DGL, explained: “Our main aim is to help alleviate the poverty of leadership in the developing world through Christ-centered leaders. We work with many students who could go to college, develop intellectually and make an impact for Christ, but because of their financial situation, they have limited opportunities.” Young Life has 4,647 ministries in 72 countries around the world. DGL targets teenagers in developing countries who’ve graduated from high school, already volunteer with Young Life, and show the potential to lead and serve others well. “DGL enables students to go to college in their own country,” Edwards said. “We equip them to stay there and further the cause of Christ through Young Life in their communities.”

Global partnershipDGL hand-selects qualified students through each country’s local staff. Students submit to a thorough application process; those chosen for the program receive a monthly stipend that pays for tuition, books and some living expenses. While in school, students volunteer with Young Life, meet regularly with a mentor and communicate via blog posts with their sponsors. Leader recruiting and training,

and reporting on their progress in school and ministry are also part of the deal. Currently, nearly 200 students participate in DGL; the program is designed to accommodate a total of 400 students. The hope is a high percentage of graduates either stay in Young Life ministry or enter the field of education and reach kids for Christ through the schools. “What is strategic about the program is that we have the ability to pick the best of the best and really invest in them,” Edwards said. “and they are ready to make an impact wherever they are. That’s pretty exciting to think about.”

SPRING 2011 / 5

“DGL enables students to go to college in their own country. We

equip them to stay there and further the cause of Christ through Young Life in their communities.”

— Chad Edwards

T

The mission and work of Young Life’s Developing Global Leaders.

By Leslie Strader

As of spring 2011 Developing Global Leaders involves:

A picture of DGL ministry from fall 2010:

190 students in 30 countries

6 / SPRING 2011

Tyna was born in Ostrava, Czech Republic, and raised as an atheist. But even as a child, Tyna had a vague sense she was supposed to spend her life helping others. When she was 16, some older Christian friends invited her to Tensing, a rock-gospel choir. Through Tensing and her friends, Tyna accepted Christ. She soon met Al and Stacy Anderson, who started Young Life in the Czech Republic. Tyna has also had the privilege of studying in the United States through Young Life’s Amicus program. This experience led her to return to be a Young Life leader in Ostrava. After high school, Tyna started volunteering with Young Life. Today, she’s leading a club and Campaigner group. She’s built relationships with high school girls who are asking hard questions about Jesus. And her dream is to help begin Young Life in Israel or Palestine. DGL has made all this possible.

“I was really excited (about DGL) because I love the ministry and loved the idea of being on staff,” she said. “DGL has helped me to continue with Young Life. Without

the financial support, it would have been impossible. I can’t imagine life without being a part of Young Life.”

Name: TuvsheLocation:

Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia Major: Education

Field of Study: Social Science/Education

University: University of Education

Name: TynaLocation:

Ostrava, Czech RepublicMajor:

Non-Profit ManagementField of Study: Business

University: University of Ostrava

Tuvshe’s parents work hard casting vision for Young Life in their city of Ulaanbaatar in Mongolia, and they’ve taught their son how to dream big too. In 2001, Tuvshe went to Mongolia’s Young Life camp for the first time. There, he accepted Christ as his Savior. Three years later, Tuvshe served as program director at camp. Tuvshe’s camp experiences inspired him to dedicate his life to kids. In 2009 Tuvshe started college, but had to drop out because there wasn’t enough money to pay for him and his brother to attend. Then he heard about Developing Global Leaders. “Being part of Young Life’s DGL program is fulfilling my desire and dream to serve kids, showing them God’s love,” Tuvshe said. Tuvshe runs two clubs while studying to be an English teacher. He hopes his faithfulness will multiply into blessings for others.

“Now I have two clubs; in five years I see [they] will grow and multiply more, until we have 10 clubs,” he said. “I focus on discipleship now. The result of it will be multiplication.

If God wants, I dream to work in another city to start Young Life there in the future. Maybe it would happen after I first put a very strong foundation where I serve now.”

1,585 in Campaigner groups led

by DGL students

1,965 kidstaken by DGL

studentsto camp

631 new volunteer leaders

recruited by DGL students and trained by

their Young Life areas

Photos of DGL students investing in teenagers.

SPRING 2011 / 7

Civil war has had devastating effects on Baccus’ hometown of Monrovia, Liberia. Through the ministry of Young Life and DGL, Baccus wants to have a different kind of impact on the people in his city. “I wanted to be part of Young Life’s DGL program so that I can … positively impact a generation of lost kids for Jesus,” he explained. “I see myself being able to impact my community and my country with my college education, but most of all … I want to see the lives of young people being transformed through the power of the Holy Spirit.” Baccus is one of eight children raised in a Christian home. His faith became personal in 2004 when he started attending Young Life club. He was part of the first Young Life camp in Liberia in 2007 and has been involved in leadership ever since. The DGL community has been an encouragement to Baccus, and he looks forward to growing more through this ministry.

“Working with a team of people, praying, planning, and being with my mentor, Young Life leaders and kids are the most important things I have ever learned,” he said. “When I survived the Liberian Civil War, I knew it was for a purpose. I want to pursue my studies because it will

enable me to serve God, my family, my community and country.”

Madelin is a nursing student in La Vega, Dominican Republic, and gets excited thinking about the day she can bring care and healing to people who need it. In the meantime, Madelin offers balm for broken hearts and salve for lost souls through the love of Jesus Christ and the ministry of Young Life. Madelin grew up going to church — her big brother, Jose, took her and her siblings every week. She became a Christian when she was 17 at her church, where she heard about Vida Joven (Young Life) for the first time. When her brother died suddenly, Madelin became the breadwinner for her family, rising at 6 a.m. to walk three miles to school and after, going to work. But nearly every evening, Madelin would find time to fill one more role: volunteering for Young Life. Today, Madelin is a student with DGL and loves that she can pursue both her passions at once.

“Through this program I have the opportunity to grow spiritually, to be educated and be prepared as a leader,” she said. “I see myself making an impact in the lives of many people, not just giving medical care as a nurse, but I also want to continue to impact people’s lives with my

testimony and preaching the Gospel of Christ.”

At the crossroad of the world, Young Life has seen character and need intersect. Here, students, impoverished only materially, are equipped to make an impact through DGL, which helps transform mere potential into powerful reality.

And with the click of a mouse, you can help.

Chad Edwards, director of DGL, says one of their biggest needs is people to invest in these future leaders.

“More than half of the 190 students in the program need more sponsors,” he said. “Every student in the program could use a prayer partner as well. The encouragement a student feels when they are selected by a sponsor or a prayer partner is invaluable.”

Edwards believes the return on this investment is seen this side of heaven and beyond.

“The kind of leadership this program attracts is off the charts,” Edwards said. “We know these students. We have seen their gifts. We know their heart for ministry and their country. These are the kind of students you want to invest in and pray for. They are ministry game changers in many of the places where we serve.”

If you would like to know more about how to get involved with DGL by sponsoring a student with your financial or prayer support, visit ylgloballeaders.org or e-mail Chad Edwards at cedwards@sc.younglife.org.

GET INVOLVEDName: Baccus Location: Monrovia, Liberia Major: Biology and Chemistry Field of Study: Health ScienceUniversity: Stella Maris Polytechnic

Name: Madelin Location: La Vega, Dominican Republic Major: Nursing Field of Study: Health ScienceUniversity: Universidad Nacional Pedro Henriquez Urena

8 / SPRING 2011

Connect with the mission @ younglife.org

YOUNG LIFE ONLINE

Celebrating the Lives of Two Young Life HeroesOrien Johnson (1913-2011)The mission lost a faithful friend recently in the passing of Orien Johnson. Beloved by all who had the pleasure of knowing him, Johnson was part musician, comedian, writer, outdoorsman, ministry pioneer and a devoted follower of Jesus. He influenced the lives of kids from Washington to Minnesota to Colorado (three states where he served on Young Life staff), not to mention the thousands he entertained at camp every summer. Roy Riviere (1926-2011)A longtime pioneer with Young Life, Dr. Roy Riviere, went “home to glory” (as he would say) earlier this year. In 1942, he became involved with Young Life as a high school junior in Tyler, Texas. He later joined staff and served from 1948 to 1974, serving in several different capacities within the mission. Not only did Riviere pioneer the work in several eastern Colorado towns, the San Francisco Bay area, Atlanta and Costa Rica, but he also served as Jim Rayburn’s (Young Life’s founder) right-hand man. We also have Riviere to thank for playing a key role in the acquisition and development of Windy Gap, the first Young Life camp built from scratch. Because Johnson’s and Riviere’s contributions to the mission are too many to mention here, you can read more complete tributes to each of the men online at www.younglife.org/Voices/Passages.

a compilation CD, celebrates that we were all made

right, and one day all things will be made right because of God’s

grace and love.

The title track is about Young Life Capernaum. It was written by

Drew and Ellie Holcomb with Young Life Capernaum staffer

Brian “Coop” Cooper (pictured above).

Sara Groves, Drew and Ellie Holcomb,

Ryan Long, PW Gopal, Christopher Williams and Andrew Osenga.

All proceeds go toward helping Capernaum friends

with disabilities attend Young Life camp.

Made Right,

Order today at younglifestore.com

ARTISTS INCLUDE:

Ellie and Drew Holcomb with Young Life Capernaum staffer

Brian “Coop” Cooper

SPRING 2011 / 9

verybody’s doing it … kids, teens and even grown-ups. Googling. Surfing the net. And it’s what Lisa Winchell was

doing one day last summer when she surfed from her hometown of Rittman, Ohio, right to Young Life. A high school teacher on summer vacation, Winchell was enjoying one of the great perks of the profession: relaxing days to think and plan, create and dream. Surfing the net, she started looking for youth groups similar to the one she’d been involved in as a teenager. “I just Googled ‘high school youth organizations’ and ‘Young Life’ was one of the first things that popped up,” she explained. As soon as she started reading about Young Life, she knew she had found what she was looking for. A science teacher on staff at her own alma mater, Rittman High School, Winchell wished her own students had a place to connect outside of school. Rittman is a “small town with a big heart,” so declares the motto of this community of 6,500 residents. This rural town is peppered with a handful of churches, a few stoplights, only a few fast-food options and just one high school. It’s a factory town, home to a Morton Salt facility. Recreation mostly revolves around high school sports and activities. “In a town like ours, there’s not much to do, so kids find trouble,” Winchell said. “Our community needs something like Young Life.” Eager to learn more, Winchell attended the Young Life Teacher Summit and was “overwhelmed, excited and terrified all at the same time. I feel like I was made for this!” she said, unknowingly quoting the Young Life tagline. When classes started in the fall, Winchell was sparked by a curious question from one of her students, Alison “Allie” Lapehn. “Miss Winchell, are you going to start Young Life here?” Surprised by Allie’s question, Winchell compared notes from the summer with her student. Allie explained that on a church mission trip to New Orleans, Young Life T-shirts were everywhere. “It seemed like everyone knew about Young Life except me!” Allie shared. “Kids just kept talking about how

amazing and fun it is.” So, when Allie got home, she Googled “Young Life” and discovered that the nearest club was in a town several miles away. “Of all the teachers in Rittman, Miss Winchell just seemed like the one who would start it,” she explained. According to Winchell it was Allie’s persistence that got things rolling. “Allie and her friends kept asking what they could do so I told them to bake some cookies and hand them out as invitations and they did.” The cookies worked. A small but faithful Campaigner group now meets regularly with new kids coming each week. A committee is forming and camp and club are on the horizon. Winchell shared, “I feel like it is God’s perfect time for this mission in my town. The kids are excited about it, and it fits into the goals we have of connecting kids when we combine middle and high school into one building next fall.” “I love Ephesians 3:20 in The Message,” Winchell said. “‘God can do anything you know — far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams!’ I feel like God is showing me through Young Life that He can do anything. I’m just trying to be faithful. He has already done more in a short time than I ever dreamed, so obviously this is bigger than anything I could plan for anyway. I just want to enjoy God as He shares this with me.”

“God can do anything you know

— far more than you could ever

imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams.”

— Ephesians 3:20, The Message

EA quick search and a student’s question spark one teacher’s calling. By Toni Morse

Lisa Winchell and Allie.

Front row: Rittman High School Young Life kids at the school’s Winter Homecoming (Allie in red dress). Back row: Teachers and Young Life volunteers Emily Cook and Lisa Winchell.

10 / SPRING 2011

he leader has just concluded his message about Jesus and Peter and the fact that we’re all bound to fall short of our best intentions. The crowd gathered to hear the talk doesn’t look like they would be particularly

interested in listening to a Bible message about how we are prone to mess up and how God loves us anyway. But they have followed every word. After a final song and a couple of announcements about stuff going on in the coming week, the gathering is over. And yet few people head for the door. Instead, they hang out to talk to the speaker or other leaders, or make plans to do something later. They feel safe, accepted and loved in this place. Sounds inviting, doesn’t it? So exactly what is the gathering described above? Young Life club, perhaps? An evening church service? A gathering of 20-somethings who would describe themselves as The Scum of the Earth? The answer, in fact, is ALL OF THE ABOVE. Welcome to the evening service of a church started by former Young Life staff guy, Michael Sares, whose incarnational ministry to what he calls “the left-out and the right-brained” looks a lot like Young Life. More importantly, what goes on at The Scum of the Earth Church in Denver, Colo., looks a lot like what you would imagine if Jesus walked into any urban setting to minister among those who would never darken the door of a more conventional Christian gathering. The church’s name, incidentally, references the passage in which the apostle Paul refers to himself and his fellow apostles as “scum and refuse” (1 Corinthians 4:13, NIV). Sares says that folks in his congregation like the name because they see it as edgy or funny and because of the sense of humility it conveys. In a new book about his ministry, Sares writes: “Our church is not for the faint at heart. We have a meal every Sunday, smack dab in the middle of worship time. More often than not, the long line of people waiting to get food is made up of regular attendees and homeless people, newcomers plus other people who are coming just for the free food. We have officially designated the smokers as the greeters since they are already out front. ‘Don’t scare people,’ I plead.” The book, titled Pure Scum: The Left-Out, the Right-Brained and the Grace of God (InterVarsity Press) tells the story of Sares’s calling, struggles and joys in leading a ministry that has touched many lives. Sares also writes about the impact Young Life has had on his life — from a life-changing moment during a summer Campaigner meeting to college leadership training to his years volunteering and (briefly) serving on staff in Cleveland, Ohio. “Young Life taught me to spend my ministry hours earning the right to be heard,” said Sares. “As a Young Life leader, I was the older guy who spent time with high school students. At Scum of the Earth Church, I’m the really old guy who spends time with young adults. I’m the 1970s folksinger who spends time with punk rockers. I’m the guy who showers every day who hangs out with guys who hardly ever shower. I am used to being uncomfortable in places like a Goth club because I remember being uncomfortable in a high school cafeteria when I led a Young Life club.”

T

To learn more about Sares’s ministry and book, go to www.scumoftheearth.net or contact mikesares@mac.com. Mike Sares is an alumni and friend of the mission of Young Life. Visit the Alumni and Friends website at alumniandfriends.younglife.org to join, update your information and reconnect with your Young Life friends.

A Young Life-trained pastor earns the right to be heard on the streets of Denver.

By Terry Swenson

SPRING 2011 /11

ny bus on its way to a Young Life camp is packed with luggage and kids of

course, each toting some com-bination of things like iPods, cell phones, snacks and sodas. But kids also board the bus with unseen baggage — whether things going on at home, rela-tionship problems, school stress, or simply questions about life and what it all really means. Briana, who was 14 when she headed to Young Life’s Timber Wolf Lake in Lake City, Mich., in 2009, brought with her an unimaginable load. Earlier that year, her mother, Tammy, had gone missing. Several days later, on April 8, she was found dead. To add to the horror, Briana’s father was later charged with the crime. Briana and her three younger brothers lost both their parents that day. It was a load that could have devastated Briana’s hope and her belief in God, which began in childhood. But God had already prepared someone to share that burden and help carry Briana back to Himself. That person was Marlena Fleming, a member of Briana’s extended family and also a Young Life leader.

ABy Aimée Kessick

The faithful friendship of a Young Life leader, a trip to camp and a supportive new family help a girl’s faith come back to life after a horrendous tragedy.

a lighterLIFE

12 / SPRING 2011

The morning police contacted Briana’s family about her mother’s death, Fleming rushed to the home in Westchester, a western suburb of Chicago, where the family was gathering. In an effort to provide a change in scenery, Fleming took Briana, her brothers and younger cousins out of the house. Briana was composed, trying to be strong for her siblings. “Briana had her game face on,” Fleming remembered. “She was in her caretaker role.” It was a role she’d assumed since she was about 8 years old. “Having a single mother who worked forced Briana to be the strong one,” Fleming said.

Like looking in the mirrorFleming had seen that “game face” before — on herself. By the time she was 12, she’d lost both parents. Her father died from leukemia when she was 10, and her mother died several years later from a heart attack. “I discovered my mom about an hour after she’d died,” Fleming remembered. “And then I went to school later that day like nothing had happened.” Briana’s stoic face that dreadful day “was like looking in the mirror,” Fleming said. “I looked the same way. It was like I didn’t want anyone to see that I had a soft spot and that I could hurt.” Fleming grew up with so many questions about her parents’ deaths, not finding many answers or closure until adulthood. However, she made it through adolescence thanks to her cousins, who helped introduce her to Young Life. Fleming spent some of her teenage years in Madison, Wis., where her cousins had started a Young Life club. They knew Fleming’s painful story, and determined that they needed to bring her to Young Life camp. They were right. A week at Castaway gave Fleming the opportunities she needed to unlock emotions and ask a lot of questions. She wondered how a church-going mother could make unhealthy decisions with her own life. And was the God whose presence was always celebrated in church on Sundays with her the rest of the week? “I can still remember the exact spot at Castaway where I realized that God exists in my every day,” Fleming said. “He’s not just in church.” So as Fleming tried to comfort Briana and her brothers in that library, she couldn’t help but think about getting Briana to camp. “I didn’t think about any of the details around getting her there. I didn’t think about the money it would cost. I just knew she had to get there.” Campership funds helped cover Briana’s camp costs. Although she was looking forward to camp, on the day of departure, Briana sat nervously in her seat waiting for the bus to depart. Again, Fleming saw herself, and she was hopeful for what God would do with Briana at camp.

A place of peaceAt Timber Wolf Lake, Briana enjoyed outdoor activities she’d never experienced before, and she loved meeting campers from other places while hanging out in the game room. “Camp was like a place of peace,” Briana said. “The opportunity to go to camp was a life saver, I forgot about everything that had happened.”

Throughout the week Briana and Fleming also talked a lot — about God being inside of a church and everywhere else, about mothers who made mistakes and the forgiveness and grace God offers. “God does not call us to be fully transformed first,” Fleming recalled telling Briana. “We’ll never be perfect, we have flaws, but we’ll be transformed in Christ.” For Briana, that reassurance was key. “Briana is like a lot of other kids who grow up going to church, who know church culture, they even know Scripture. But when life takes a turn, they don’t know how to handle that.” After her mother’s death, Briana said she was angry with God. “I turned my back on God,” Briana said. “I couldn’t believe that He just took my mother from me, my brothers and family.”

However, thanks to the week of camp, her Young Life leader’s friendship, as well as the support and guidance from her guardians, Briana’s trust in God gradually grew. Now she sees God as her own personal confidant. “When I have personal troubles, when I feel I can’t go to anyone else, God — some way or somehow — gives me an answer.” That’s exactly the God Fleming wanted Briana to see at Young Life camp, a personal God who can carry even our most heavy burdens and whose faithfulness never ends.

Briana’s trip to Timber Wolf Lake was made possible by Young Life’s multicultural/urban campership fund. If you would like to help kids like Briana have the greatest week of their lives by giving to this fund, go to younglife.org and click on the Camp Scholarship Fund graphic.

“When I have personal troubles, when I feel I can’t go to anyone else, God — some way or somehow — gives me an answer.”

— Briana

Above: Marlena (far left), Briana and friends at camp. Right:

Briana and her brothers.

SPRING 2011 /13

A fruitful selection of stories from the field

FROM THE GRAPEVINE

Steve Roloff hated life in middle school. Born with cerebral palsy — a collective neurological disorder that affects movement and muscle coordination — Roloff’s legs often refused to cooperate; when he spoke, he slurred his speech. “People get rejected when they are not able to conform to society’s demands,” he said. A teacher invited Roloff to a youth event at a local church. The speaker that night also suffered from a disability. He spoke about strength, and Roloff found he needed some too. “I needed to start a relationship with Jesus Christ,” Roloff said. “That [was] when my life changed and I got more confident in myself and started to focus out, instead of focusing in.” The challenge to fit in, however, followed him to high school. Used to sitting alone at lunch, he was surprised when one day someone sat down next to him. That someone turned out to be a local Young Life leader. “He befriended me when no one else would,” Roloff said. Soon after, Roloff started attending club and hanging out with the leaders when they did their contact work. “This not only gave me social skills,” Roloff said, “but [the] confidence to interact and reach out to my peers who needed Christ.” Fast forward more than 20 years to the fall of 2010, where Roloff has completed the first stages of opening a church aimed at building those same relational bridges to the broader disabled community. Based in Denver, Colo., Broken Tree Community Church will not only minister to an often-ignored segment of the population, but help network community efforts to assist them as well.

Achieving this vision rides the coattails of a life that has already defied the odds. In 1995, Roloff married his wife, Jill, whom he had known sporadically since childhood. Jill, also born with cerebral palsy, complements her husband in more than just his vision. Though his arms are weak, hers are strong; though her legs are weak, his are strong. Jill also gave the new church its name. “Everyone is broken,” Roloff said. “The only way we could ultimately be healed of this brokenness is a relationship with Jesus Christ, who was broken for us by dying on a tree.” Nine months after getting married, amid pressures to abort the pregnancy, their son Dylan was born. Three years later, another son, Colby, followed. Neither suffers from a disability, yet both have taken hold of their parents’ vision.

Dylan, now 15, regularly volunteers for Capernaum (Young Life’s ministry with kids with disabilities) in Denver. He went to Young Life’s Crooked Creek Ranch last summer to help leaders minister to teens with disabilities. “You can never say what it’s like [to be disabled],” Dylan said, well aware that imagination and empathy can only offer limited insight. “We’re here to make a difference with the disabled community and help them make a real connection with God.” “Of course,” said Roloff, “whatever big brother does, little brother does too.” Colby, 11, attends WyldLife in nearby Castle Rock, Colo., and helps with Capernaum as well. Now, at the beginning of a new ministry, Roloff wants to continue to extend the grace first shown to him all those years ago. “People who are disabled have dreams, visions and callings too,” he said, “and it’s our desire at Broken Tree to do everything we can to see those dreams, visions and callings fulfilled.” For more information about Broken Tree Community Church, please contact Steve Roloff at roloff1999@yahoo.com.

An Able Legacy By Travis Johnson

The Roloff family: Jill, Colby, Steve and Dylan.

“The only way we could ultimately be healed of this brokenness is a relationship with Jesus Christ, who was broken for us

by dying on a tree.”

14 / SPRING 2011

It was spring of 2010 and the end of the school year in Yelm, Wash. Shannon Gubser, part-time Young Life staff and part-time teacher, had in mind to celebrate junior high graduation with the Campaigners from Yelm and Ridgeline middle schools. Together with other leaders and staff, Gubser planned a special evening, intending to pray individually for each of the girls they’d walked with through their years in WyldLife. As the leaders welcomed girls in, Gubser was surprised to greet an unexpected guest. “In walks this girl I’d never seen before,” Gubser said. Brittney had come with her best friend, but was a stranger to Gubser and the other Young Life leaders. “So, we start praying for each of the kids,” she said. “In the middle of it, our area director said, ‘Brittney, I think it’s time that we prayed for you.’” That very evening, Brittney decided to begin a relationship with the Lord. Gubser was overjoyed, cherishing her time with Brittney leading up to their week of summer camp. A fun time at Washington Family Ranch culminated with Gubser sitting beside Brittney during the presentation of the “Broken Heart” play. The play follows the story of a girl who walks through life hardening her heart because of hurtful experiences. At the end of the play, Jesus appears to the girl, heals her heart and assures her He’s been with her throughout her life. The play’s message resounded with Brittney. When she was able to put words to her tears, Brittney turned to Gubser and simply said, “This changes everything!” “I think she had this piece of the truth,” Gubser said. “She understood that this truth changes relationships with boys, it changes relationships with parents, it changes relationships with people at school and every area of life. We came back from camp, and the best way I can describe her is like the woman at the well, who went back to her city telling people about this man who knew all about her. Brittney came back to school, and back to Yelm and started telling people about this Jesus, about this guy who could change lives.”

Let the Heart Be UnbrokenBy Cory Bordonaro

Brittney (right) and friends at Washington Family Ranch.

Heading into her senior year of high school, Diane wasn’t sure where she’d call home. She certainly didn’t expect it to be with her Young Life leaders, or in a place called “Narnia.” At the age of 12, Diane received a phone call that her mom — who was raising Diane by herself — died in a tragic car accident. The news rocked Diane’s world. She moved around several times in her teen years, and a judge ruled to emancipate her to live on her own before her senior year of high school. With her future living conditions uncertain, Diane’s Young Life leaders intervened. “One time at house prayer, I said, ‘Hey, my friend Diane — just pray for her. She has this situation that’s really tough,’” said Emily Wynn, a Young Life leader at Fort Defiance High School in Virginia. “It wasn’t even like, ‘Hey, can my friend move in?’” One by one, the roommates started approaching Wynn. They all had the same idea. “They asked, ‘How would it be if we asked your friend if she wanted to stay here?’” Fort Defiance Young Life leader Kara Smith accompanied Wynn to Home Depot, and the two leaders set about making a loft for Diane. That was the easy part. Convincing Diane to accept their offer figured to be tougher. They soon invited Diane to move in to “Narnia,” the name of their James Madison University college apartment. While initially a bit reluctant, Diane decided to give Narnia a shot. Looking back, she knows it was the right decision. “The first night I actually stayed in Narnia was a Sunday night,” Diane said. “When I first opened the door, there were 12 girls screaming and jumping up and down. I just felt so loved. It was great. I couldn’t explain this year in a sentence or in a word. It’s just been unbelievably unpredictable and amaz-ing. I would have to say it was the best year of my life.” Whether eating brownies, pranking friends during snowstorms or having heart-to-heart conversations, Diane’s life in Narnia has been an unforgettable experience. It’s also been an unbelievable, faith-building experience for Wynn. “I really feel I learned about taking steps kind of blindly in the direction I know the Lord has provided,” said Wynn, adding that Young Life truly is about relationships. “I didn’t know how any of it would go, but it’s cool because God gives you one step at a time.”

At Home in NarniaBy Chris Lassiter

Emily Wynn and her Narnia roommate, Diane.

SPRING 2011 / 15

What excites you most about working with kids?The opportunity to influence and share Christ with the first generation of kids who have grown up without communism. Communism fell 21 years ago. Before that time in the Czech Republic, there was very little sharing or knowledge about who Jesus is. Now we have the opportunity to plant the seeds for a new generation of Christians. According to a recent European Union (EU) study, the Czech Republic is the country in the EU where people believe in God the least and Poland is the country where people believe in God the most. So things are much different between Czech and Polish kids, but they all need to have a real relationship with Jesus. It’s been amazing to watch Czech teenagers, who say they never even thought about the idea of a God until they started coming to Young Life, then come to know Christ over a two- or three-year process. Almost every Czech student who has met Christ has atheist parents. It’s great when an atheist parent comes to us and says, “I am so glad my son or daughter is involved in Young Life; it has been a great experience for them.”

What unique opportunities do you find in working with kids in the Czech Republic?It takes longer to get to know Czech kids, but once you’re a friend, you’re in. Czechs don’t hop around and change their friends very much. Almost all Czech teenagers want to

know English. As an American, this is a great opportunity. Even our summer camps usually have an English teaching component so kids can get to learn English. Living internationally expands my understanding of God. I get to interact with Christians who read the same Bible as I do, but help me see God in an even wider, deeper way because of their experiences and how they see God at work in their life. As an American I didn’t really understand what persecution was until I talked with people over here who were really persecuted for their faith during communism.

oung Life is a mission built on a firm foundation. Over our 70-year history we’ve learned much about the ever-changing

culture of kids (clothes, music, media, etc.), their never-changing needs (to be loved, known, accepted unconditionally, etc.) and the importance of building relationships so they may know the Savior. We’re thankful for the more than 3,100 staff and 29,000 volunteers who spend months, years and, in some cases, even lifetimes, working with kids. What follows are the thoughts and observations of seven “Young Life veterans.” The men and women in this interview have a combined ministry experience of 167 years, working faithfully with kids from all over the world, in all kinds of circumstances. This article is the first in a two-part series focusing on leadership in the mission. In the fall issue, we’ll hear from leaders who are relatively new to Young Life about what they’re experiencing. Due to space constraints, we could only share portions of their responses. For a look at their complete interviews, go to www.younglife .org/Voices and click on “Interviews with Young Life Leaders.”

Y

Seven Young Life leaders share what they’ve learned

(and are still learning) along the way.

By Jeff Chesemore

AL ANDERSON – OSTRAVA, CZECH REPUBLICArea Developer for Czech Republic, Poland and Slovakia20 years ministry experience

Al and Stacy Anderson

16 / SPRING 2011

What excites you most about working with kids?Working with kids is a joy for me. I enjoy their friendships and just get to love them. Being on the other side of parenting has allowed me different perspectives. Situations that look scary can become manageable with the help of God. Today kids need adult mentors who care and listen. Each year kids are different because seniors graduate and we get new freshmen. Being a volunteer leader is never dull!

What unique challenges do you encounter as a volunteer area director?We’re part of the Heartland Region, which covers three states: Iowa, Wisconsin and Illinois. I’m more than four hours from the regional office in Mt. Horeb, Wis., but never feel alone. Al Jackson, our regional director, has been affirming and supportive. He does monthly conference calls with all of us leaders and includes me in all regional events, which helps to keep me empowered and fulfilled. I treasure those Young Life friendships.

What’s your greatest desire for the ministry?My dream is for Young Life in Fort Dodge to continue into

the future, perhaps for 50 years as the La Grange, Ill., club has. We would love to have a paid staff person. I believe it will happen. Right now, many of my Young Life alumni are getting more involved. Many even have kids of their own. It’s so exciting to see how this continues to grow and expand. I love being God’s instrument to seek and save.

What excites you most about working with kids?I love kids because they have an energy no one else has. They’re creative, bright and have all kinds of new ideas. But I especially like kids because I think they see the world differently — probably more clearly than I do, so they’re my entrance into what the world is today. They keep me going; they keep me happy. We do a number of different programs in Stillwater and 15 years ago we started to concentrate on alternative populations — under-resourced kids, at-risk kids who spun us into kids in shelters, teen moms ministry, etc. … I find that all kids bring the similar energy of youth and I’m excited to walk alongside kids in this new era.

Are alternative kids more or less receptive to attempts at building relationships?They’re harder — you have to spend more time earning their trust. We feed kids in our tutoring programs and our at-risk programs, and when they come in they’re testing us to see if we’re really serious about serving them. But once you build trust with them, they’re very receptive to the Gospel, because they know they have needs. It’s not like some kids who build this façade that they can handle everything themselves. These kids know they’re broken.

What has experience taught you that you didn’t know when you were younger? My advice to younger people doing ministry is to give themselves a lot more grace. Really trust God and trust the relationship. Our primary focus is to build friendships and meet needs and that gives us a platform to proclaim the Gospel. If we’re building friendships and meeting needs, the Gospel is going to have a place to nest, a place to roost.

MARTHA BICE - FORT DODGE, IOWAVolunteer Area Director17 years ministry experience

VERN HILL - STILLWATER, MINN.Senior Area Director 40 years ministry experience

Vern Hill

Martha Bice

SPRING 2011 / 17

What excites you most about working with kids? When I see them reach their true God-given potential. To see kids really understand the true love that God has for them, no matter what their surroundings may be. When they really understand the God of the universe is madly in love with them.

What is your most difficult challenge at this point? The largest challenge I see is lack of family structure and values. Most of our kids are being raised by single parents. They don’t know what it means to live and be loved in a real Christian family with value.

What has sustained you and kept you in ministry through the years? The fact that I was one of the kids I mentioned earlier. It was mentors and my Young Life leader who helped save my life with the help of my Christian praying mother.

What is your greatest desire for the ministry? That every kid, everywhere would have the opportunity to hear the good news of Jesus Christ.

What excites you most about working with kids? What has sustained you and kept you in ministry through the years?At the risk of sounding cliché, I’ve been sustained through my call from God for kids to have the opportunity to experience His love through a pursuant relationship. The opportunity to mirror the Incarnation is exhilarating for me! I so believe one person can make all the difference in the life of another, especially during the teenage years, that I continue to be sold out daily to be a catalyst for this to happen both on a small scale (encouraging one-on-one mentoring relationships) and a large scale (expanding Young Life to the next town, state or country). I’ll also add that God has always provided a supportive group of friends/partners to share in the journey. These relationships have helped sustain me through their godly encouragement and sacrificial partnerships.

What unique opportunities do you find in working with kids throughout Africa?There are so many opportunities to work with amazing partners in ministry who teach me so much. Once unknown names like Fereselam, Nkosi, Hildegren, Lusayo, Tiowa, Mungai and Egide are now names of sojourner friends. The staff and volunteers of Young Life Africa are in the homes, cafés, shade of a tree or a daladala (bus) ride with kids. I’m in the background trying to help these hero leaders love kids in their neighborhoods, villages, towns and cities. I feel like

my life is in the middle of a great big epic love story and God keeps introducing more amazing characters to get to know, love and learn from. Being a part of that story and its ever-unfolding theme of redemption is so humbling and beautiful. For eight years the setting has been in Africa. That makes it extra special, but I believe the stories are unique and beautiful wherever the scene is set. I still enjoy running a WyldLife club and raising up 12th-graders as the leaders. I love hanging out with international school junior high kids and talking about life’s most important questions. Being with third-culture kids presents opportunities to affect the world through a single school.

BEBE HOBSON – LARGO, FLA.Field Vice President for the Southern Division20 years experience in multicultural/urban ministry

DYAN LARMEY – TANZANIA, AFRICAArea Developer / Women’s Initiative for Young Life Africa26 years ministry experience

Bebe Hobson

Dyan Larmey

18 / SPRING 2011

What’s one perennial problem all leaders face, and how can they address it?Discouragement — it eliminates people. One of my heroes, Tom Raley (longtime Young Life staff), told me if you stay around long enough in ministry, you’re going to go in the valley, where many people quit. But if you stay, you’ll come out of that valley and end up on a mountain. Then, if you stay long enough, you’ll come back to another valley! One little verse I’ve come to love is in Acts 14:22. After their first missionary journey, Paul and Barnabas go back to the churches to strengthen and encourage them, and they said to them, “We must enter the kingdom of God through many trials and hardships.” Recognize that. Don’t expect a smooth road; expect an absolute war zone.

What excites you about Capernaum and reaching kids with disabilities?With Capernaum, I feel like we’re reading the book of Acts. It’s a Holy Spirit wave. We’ve gone from one ministry in 1986, and for [the next] 14 years consisted of five ministries. In the last 10 years, we’ve grown from five to 148 in 14 countries. I’ve been told several times we’re the largest ministry for teens with disabilities in the world. Families are used to agencies and services; they’re not used to volunteers coming in and reaching out to kids with no agenda.

Leaders involved with camp weeks say the same thing: “This is like ‘reverse camp.’ It’s affecting all of us!” I believe God calls us to any disability ministry to heal, transform and grow the body of Christ. We are so disabled. The real disability is not in our friends with disabilities. We tend not to recognize our own, because we can see theirs so vividly. The simplicity of kids who can’t walk or talk impacts everybody. What a message to us that it’s not about doing, it’s about being. I’ve really seen how incredibly disabled I am in terms of addiction to performance, achievement, people’s opinions. If a non-verbal kid was talking to me, he’d say, “What the heck are you worried about? God loves you! Just be.”

NICK PALERMO – SAN JOSE, CALIF.Founding Executive Director, Young Life Capernaum 25 years ministry experience

EMILIE SCHREIBER – EUGENE, ORE.YoungLives Western Divisional Coordinator19 years ministry experience

What excites you most about working with kids?First, I love the challenge of connecting with hard kids and/or kids who wouldn’t go to church. Kids you really have to seek out and engage. Secondly, I love the conversations after you’ve earned the right with them. I love how they have such good questions and want to know the truth. Funny thing is, right now, I’m leading a Campaigner group at a sorority and then I hang out with teen moms. One group is confidently pursuing the world, while the other is haphazardly navigating survival. The first seems to know all the answers, while the second is actually fulfilling their dreams (in parenting).

What unique opportunities do you find in working with teen moms?I find these girls are really honest and raw. They’re real with nothing held back. I’m humbled by their authenticity as well as their selflessness in parenting! It’s a unique opportunity to witness God shape and influence their lives in powerful ways. I’m blessed beyond anything when a girl surrenders her life to Jesus at camp, with her baby on her hip, and her mentor at her

side. With the tears of absolute surrender cascading down her cheeks, a whole family’s path is changed. Working with teen moms has propelled me into understanding how, as it says in James 1:27, “religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” [For me that means] to serve widows and orphans HERE in my city, in my country, and be changed myself by being there with them. I know that I have no experience that relates to the depth with which these girls have experienced loss, but I know where I lack, God makes up for it. By simply showing up, I’m blessed and my life is changed!

Emilie Schreiber

Nick Palermo

FROM DARKNESSTO LIGHT

Above: Rainwater with Midland

Campaigner group. Left: Jill Rainwater

at Frontier with husband Ben, a

volunteer leader.

“I told my boyfriend I was going to Young Life camp and he told me to

go to hell instead.”hose were the first words I heard from Laura* when I met her on the bus to Frontier Ranch (Young Life’s camp in Buena Vista, Colo.). I was new to the area

and this was my first event with kids. I hadn’t met Laura until that day, but immediately liked her for her candor and willingness to open up to me. I was pretty sure I wasn’t so wild about her boyfriend, though. The more I found out about this boyfriend, the more concerned I was. Laura shared that he was emotionally abusive toward her, and she worried he might hurt her physically. She said he was really jealous, wouldn’t let her talk to other guys, and would get really angry if she did something he didn’t like. I was in a tough spot, because I hadn’t had a chance to build a friendship with Laura like we normally do before taking kids to camp, and so I hadn’t “earned the right to be heard” yet. I decided to love her with no strings attached … to try not to say anything judgmental about her boyfriend, and instead just listen and support her, and meet her exactly where she was. Over the course of the week, I also learned Laura’s friends had tried to intervene throughout the years Laura and her boyfriend had been dating, and while she agreed there was nothing good about the relationship, she felt trapped and couldn’t get out. So I decided to talk to the one whom Young Life is all about: Jesus. I prayed, and prayed, and prayed some more for Laura. I remember the night the camp speaker gave kids 20 minutes to spend alone with God. I sat on the side of the mountain under a beautiful starry sky, and asked God to intervene in Laura’s heart. She had been to church much of her life and made the decision to try to follow God early

on. But her relationship with this boyfriend was so full of darkness and fear that it left little room in her heart or life for God — she felt so far away from Him. Laura was also talking to God that night. She admitted that only He could get her out of this downward spiral and this relationship that was destroying her. She told God she was ready to live completely for Him, and spent time listening to God about what that would look like. The response she heard was that she needed to break ties with her boyfriend. I remember crying with Laura that night as she shared in cabin time about what God had told her and the commitment to a new path she had made to Him. The other girls in the cabin cried too — many had been praying for years for these two to break up. I also remember crying with Laura the day they broke up. But an amazing thing happened the day after … Laura had peace and joy like never before. She felt free, because she was free. She had moved from darkness to light, and she looked great in the light. It’s been a year since they broke up, and Laura is out of high school now and one of my best friends. I can’t wait to hopefully sit at her wedding someday when she marries someone who treats her with kindness, respect, love and dignity. In the meantime, I love watching her relationship with God grow. She’s become very involved with Young Life and worked hard to give back to the ministry that made such a difference for her. Her example has led countless other students to take steps in their lives from darkness to light. It took so much courage for her to change, but she followed God’s leading and has tried to never look back. I admire Laura so much, and sometimes, when I feel like the darkness is trying to overwhelm so many of the people around me, I remember the end of Laura’s story: God won. Light had victory over darkness, and things will never be the same again.*Name has been changed.

A girl trades a damaging relationship for one of unconditional love. By Jill Sahajdack Rainwater, area director in Midland, Mich.

T

SPRING 2011 / 19

20 / SPRING 2011

rad Aldridge, a former Young Life staffer and now pastor at Christ Community Church in Paris, Texas, set out on his bike from Paris and traveled more than 1,000

miles (climbing 20,285 feet) to Young Life’s Frontier Ranch in Buena Vista, Colo., raising nearly $11,000 in camp scholarships for area kids. Aldridge pedaled his way to Frontier over 13 days in a ride that was both physically depleting and spiritually exhilarating. And along his route, Aldridge met old friends of Young Life and new supporters too. Aldridge met one Young Life alumnus, Todd, at the Dairy Queen in Shamrock, Texas. Todd is a 39-year-old with Down syndrome. The two were talking about Aldridge’s ride when Todd asked if Aldridge had a gun to protect himself from bad guys. When Aldridge shared that his defense was prayer for God’s protection, Todd responded, “Well that’s good, but if that doesn’t work, you need to shoot them!” Aldridge went on to tell him that he was riding to a camp in Buena Vista owned by Young Life. At the mention of the name, Todd jumped up and gave Aldridge high fives and hugs, saying, “I LOVE Young Life. I do Young Life. I go to camp called Woodleaf. They even made me a junior leader! Me and you, we be Young Life buddies!” Like Todd, Aldridge has special memories of Young Life camp. He met the Lord at Windy Gap (a Young Life camp in North Carolina) in the summer of 1978 because of a leader who persisted, telling Aldridge, “I’d do anything for you to go to camp.” Thirty-two years later, Aldridge was doing all he could to make certain that kids like Todd could go to Young Life camp. He was explaining that goal to a waitress at the La Junta, Colo., Pizza Hut unaware of two diners listening in. Later as Aldridge was at his bike organizing his gear for the next leg of his journey, two elderly ladies quietly approached, startling him.

“Excuse me,” said a petite woman. “I wasn’t trying to listen to your conversation with the waitress, but I overheard what you said. I think it’s wonderful what you are doing. More kids today need to know Jesus.” With that, the woman reached into her pocketbook and pulled out two crumpled dollar bills. “I know it’s not much, but I want to help those kids hear about the Lord.” Aldridge was touched by this simple gesture.“I could tell by her attitude and actions, if she’d had more,she’d have given it. Of all the generous gifts I received, nonewere more significant than hers. She gave what she had.” Aldridge had hundreds of miles ahead of him to consider her generosity. “It was a sacrificial gift like the widow’s mite or boy’s sack lunch that Jesus used to feed 5,000. Two dollars isn’t enough to change a kid’s life until it’s placed in the hands of the Lord.” Aldridge replaced the donation with two dollars from his wallet. He’s framed those two crumpled bills with the photo of the donor. Aldridge said, “It’s a reminder to be faithful, trusting that it’s not what we do, it’s what the Lord does with what we give Him — whether that’s two dollars or a thousand miles. We’re just called to do what we can.”

B

Top: Brad Aldridge with his fellow contributors; Right: Rejoicing at the finish line with son Ryan outside the entrance to Frontier.

“It’s a reminder to be faithful, trusting that it’s not what we do, it’s what the Lord does with what we give Him — whether that’s two dollars or a thousand miles. We’re

just called to do what we can.” — Brad Aldridge

A ride for campership includes unexpected blessings along the way.

By Stacy Windahl

A MILE OR A MITE

SPRING 2011 / 21

ATTENTION YOUNG LIFE STAFF AND VOLUNTEER TEAM LEADERS

IN SMALL TOWNS AND RURAL AREAS!

FOR MORE INFORMATION AND TO RESERVE YOUR SPOT, CONTACT J.C. BOWMAN AT AF43@MINDSPRING.COM.

TRAINING SEMINARS WILL INCLUDE: 9HOW TO FUND YOUNG LIFE IN SMALL TOWNS

9HOW TO BUILD OWNERSHIP OF THE MINISTRY IN YOUR COMMUNITY AMONG ADULTS AND KIDS

9RECRUITING TEACHERS AND COACHES 9HOW TO REACH MORE KIDS AND TAKE A FULL BUS TO CAMP 9AND MORE!

Join us for the 2012 Small Town Summit, a training conference designed especially for you to help transform Young Life

ministry in your small town.

Jan. 22–24, 2012The Rosen Plaza in

Orlando, Fla.$295 for full-time staff.$200 for volunteers and

part-time staff. Price includes lodging, meals, speakers, airport shuttle and

fun surprises!

22 / SPRING 2011

A collection of photos from the field

PARTING SHOTS

1. Darien, Conn., WyldLife kids enjoy a broomball tournament.

2. Denny Rydberg with kids from Cebu, Philippines.

3. Providing childcare for the YoungLives week at Washington Family Ranch in Antelope, Ore.

4. Oxford, Miss., kids all wrapped up in club.

FEATURE PHOTO

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In the spring of 1959, Young Life had a staff conference at the newest camp, Mailbu Club in British Columbia. Below, Young Life founder Jim Rayburn shares with the staff about how the mission came to acquire what is now our second oldest camp. Thank you to Dick Eckhardt, from Cambridge, Md., for submitting this great shot.

P.O. Box 520Colorado Springs, CO 80901

ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED

At Trail West, we help your family grow stronger and healthier, both spiritually and relationally. We provide programmingand activities that include every memberof the family, and that honor God in theprocess. At Trail West’s Family Camp, each member of your family will strengthen their relationship with Christ, as well as with each other ...and experience the “best week of their lives” in the process.

Call us now at (719) 395-2477 to

reserve your week.

Trail West. Bringing

Families Closer Together,

Closer to God.