Join the Adventure - El Salvador

VIDEO NAME: Join the Adventure

LENGTH 3:53

Note from Video Services: This video was made summer of 2020 by our friend in El Salvador Lucas Martinez.

MESSAGE 

Video with the most clicks-Over 51,000 views

CONTEXT 

• This is an explainer video for Young Life, from 2015.

• Shows the why behind the ministry so your viewer can ask “How? How can I get involved?” Helps show the viewer how YL works.

  • Told through the voices of actual kids and staff.

Young Life is about introducing adolescence to Christ and helping them grow in their faith.

SETTING FOR VIEWING 

This is a perfect video for several settings: 

●  Useful at large or small in-person or online meetings to give a broad overview of what Young Life is.

●  Show to potential church partners

● Can be used in a recruiting setting. 

Volunteer Resources

Your volunteer leaders are the unsung heroes of your ministry. Whether they’re students, young professionals, working adults, retired adults, or somewhere in between, they are busy! They’re also not on Young Life staff and often don’t know what resources are available to them within the Young Life library of resources. So, we pulled together some of the top articles from past 5.4 Friday email blasts to help give you and your leaders some simple tips and ideas to inspire and encourage.

Now Hiring: Committee Developer

We often say that the Committee Chair is the highest ranking volunteer in a local area while acknowledging that the majority of Committee Chairs in the US receive very little training if any at all. We have a strong conviction that the local area committee and specifically the Committee Chair is key to the sustainability of local Young Life ministry.

In an effort to give focused training to the local Committee Chair, in the past 18 months over half of the Regions in the US have engaged in a Committee Chair/Area Director summit or have participated in a training call on resourcing Committee chairs from a Regional perspective. At the end of both the Summits and training calls, the Region is given the charge to continue to own the resourcing of committee chairs from the Regional Leadership team in collaboration with the Regional Board. Where we have seen the greatest traction is when a member of the Regional Board focuses on the development of the Committee.

The  Committee Developer is a Regional Board member whose purpose is to foster shared partnership and ownership of the Health and Growth of the local Committee between the AD and Committee Chair in the Region. They help facilitate the support, training, and leadership to local committee members while working in partnership with RD, RMT, and Board. The Regional Committee Developer gives leadership and support to local Young Life Areas toward:

• Health and Growth:  Of all  5 Core function ministry essentials (Spiritual Development, Resource Development, Leadership Development, Direct Ministry, and Ministry Support)

• Strategic Plan:  Design of a yearly local strategic focus 

• Vision Case:  Funding plan, Leadership Development., Ministry Development, and Camping

The Committee Developer role works toward the delivery of the Young Life Mission within a local committee by aligning Committee purpose toward the YL Mission Vision, Values and Methods and current mission-wide priorities YL Forward as well as committing to general Regional Board expectations that include:

• Participate consistently in all Regional Board meetings as well as Regional functions as requested

• Consistent communication and alignment with Young Life National Committee office

• Cultivate healthy relationships with Regional stakeholders and donors 

• Partner with Regional Director and Regional Leadership Team

• Regular interaction with Regional Committee with emphasis to Committee Chairs

• Development of Committee role within unique ministry contexts (Multi-ethnic, small towns, YLC etc.)

• 3 Year (optional recurring) term 

To learn more about the Committee Developer role click HERE for a full job description. 

YoungLives

VIDEO NAME: Young Life | YoungLives

LENGTH: 4:23

MESSAGE 

Game Changer - YoungLives is an innovation that’s changed the lives of hundreds of teens and their babies

CONTEXT 

●  This is an explainer video for YoungLives

●  Shows the why behind the ministry so your viewer can ask “How? How can I get involved?”

• We are serious about every kid getting the chance to make up their own mind about Christ.

We care about every kid.

SETTING FOR VIEWING 

This is a perfect video for several settings: 

●  Show to committees to get them praying about starting YoungLives in your area.

●  Use as part of a staff meeting to show faces of some hard to see kids.

● Useful for inspiring staff and volunteers to get out there! 

LINK: ​ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i0Swgj8tM6E

PRAYING WITH PURPOSE

Have you ever asked a question not getting the answer you wanted only to find out later it was the answer you needed?

In May, I was in the place where I was saying to the Lord “A pandemic? Really?” He gently directed me to Ecclesiastes 3, “A time for everything under heaven.” Respectfully I continued to ask, “But Lord, why a pandemic?” Not having my full attention, Jesus took me to the second half of the second verse. “A time to plant and a time to harvest” (NLT). Being somewhat seasoned in life, I remembered the song “Turn, Turn, Turn” and the phrase ‘a time to reap and a time to sow.’ Trivia question, who was the band that released this song in 1965? There is a time for everything, you have to read to the end for the answer!

I continued with the Lord, and with a grumbling spirit I said, “I can’t sow. I am an Area Developer and I sow by going and meeting people and building relationships and building teams that start Young Life. I can’t sow right now because of this blasted pandemic.” Thankfully the Lord is patient and I felt like he said to me, “Steve, we sow in prayer.”

So, I got to work and assembled a list of the schools that do not have Young Life in our region. Contacting some nearby staff we scheduled days to pray together onsite, at schools. Ten weeks and ten prayer tours later the Lord had taken me to 118 middle schools, high schools and colleges covering 3,738 miles. I was humbled by the magnitude of the task before us while standing in school parking lots to pray for kids, teachers, coaches, parents, churches and entire communities.

I might never see the full impact of these prayer tours, but the Lord has already connected provided people in two new communities where info meetings are happening. More importantly, we have seen one college junior come to Christ!  

Young Life’s history rests on prayer. Clara Frasher and her prayer circle were critical to Jim Rayburn’s first club at Gainesville HS. Every kid we desire to know Christ is moved by prayer.

Here is a confession. I only prayed at schools in the western and central part of our region. I plan to get with the staff in the northern part of our region to pray with them at the remaining 80 schools that are without Young Life.

This leads me to wonder if as a mission could we possibly pray at every school this school year? I don’t know what this might mean for our international partners but in the US there are roughly 22,000 high schools, 16,000 middle / junior highs and 4,400 colleges. That is 42,400 prayer opportunities for our staff, leaders and committee in the US. 200 down, 42,200 left. Let’s Go!

Oh, the band that released “Turn, Turn, Turn?” The Byrd’s.

Written by: Steve Schmitt (steveschmitt57@gmail.com)

DECEMBER TRAINING

2020 has brought many longstanding and beloved elements of daily ministry to a grinding halt. It’s been a year filled with maybe, maybe not, who knows, we’ll see, hard to tell, no decision yet, change of plans, probably not, definitely not and … well, you get it.
We could probably all compile a lengthy list of “Why 2020 Was Not My Favorite Year.”
We might even be tempted to say that 2020 has been our worst year ever. Except for this: Jesus still reigns. The gospel is still true. And we still have work to do.

One bright spot of 2020 has been the growth of YL’s digital discipleship resources on our Bible Project partner site, Instagram, and the Bible App. During the early days of Covid quarantine, thousands of people joined “3-in-1," our 30-day dive into basic trinitarian truth on both the Bible Project and Instagram. Our Bible App reading plans now have over half-a-million subscribes, and over 300,000 completions.

We still believe face-to-face, in-person, real-time relationship is the sweetest context for ministry and discipleship. But we also believe that technology provides amazing opportunities to connect with kids even when we are separated, whether by quarantine rules or global miles.

We want to continue growing our digital discipleship library, and we want you to help. Would you consider digging through the stack of resources you’ve created during these past months (and years) and sharing them with the larger mission? It would be a gift of eternal and global proportions. Perhaps you are fluent in more than one language and would be willing to translate our current resources.

The links below provide basic writing guidelines for all three of our digital resources. Please read them carefully and then consider joining our efforts to help resource and equip our staff and leaders with solid and engaging truth about Jesus Christ — our Lord and Savior, the King of Kings, the beginning and the end, the first and the last, the incarnate God, the long-awaited Messiah, the Savior of the world, the creator-redeemer-rescuer, the One in whom we live and breathe and have our being. Amen.

• Bible App Reading Plans

• Bible Project content

• @yl_discipleship

• Writing Guidelines for Bible App

• Writing Guidelines for Bible Project

• Writing Guidelines for Instagram
  
  
  
  

LIVING AT THE INTERSECTION OF VOCATION AND AVOCATION

The day before I came on Young Life staff, I made three observations that I referenced in my journal. “This is incredible, I get to tell kids about Jesus. I get to grow deeper in my faith and... I’ll get paid for it!” Maybe you have felt or written something similar. Basically, two of my favorite things- Christ and Kids- were in one place. From that day on, I have been privileged to live at the INTERSECTION of my Vocation and my Avocation. 

AVOCATION:  A passion or hobby

VOCATION: A career or calling

Over the years, I have witnessed the up-side and downside of living in the intersection.  The gift of doing what you love and the challenge of loving what you do.  There is the challenge of navigating personal boundaries, work schedules that go far beyond 40 hours and emotional and physical fatigue.  Ultimately, it is the gift of living into CALLING.  Not necessarily to an organization like YL or even a community or a zip code but to a person- Jesus Christ. That is why Frederick Buechner is famous for observing, ‘The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet.’

I was lucky to receive the following counsel in my first year in occupational ministry. “Make sure your ministry flows out of your life in Christ.”  It seemed logical and simple to me until I experienced the opposite of having “my life in Christ flow out of my ministry.’ Now,If you have made it this far into the article, reflect on the question below. 

(Question) Take two minutes to write down one personal example of how you have lived in the guidelines of the first statement above vs. the second statement. Draw some personal observations and conclusions. 

This may help, ROBERT FROST, the Pulitzer Prize winning American poet, known for his realistic depictions of rural life and his command of American colloquial speech wrote a 9 stanza poem in 1934 called ‘Two Tramps in Mud Time’  which represents a beautiful celebration of work as your joy.  In the 9th stanza he highlights the complementary nature of the two words we have been discussing. 

My object in living is to unite

My AVOCATION and my VOCATION

As my two eyes make one in sight.

Only where love and need are one,

And the work is play for mortal stakes,

Is the deed ever really done

For heaven and the future’s sakes.

It’s all there. Deep gladness and deep hunger, task and hobby, & love and necessity. We are spoiled people who live at the intersection between Christ and kids. I would be lying if I did not acknowledge, at times (and perhaps in this current season), that our calling can feel like a job, and the day to day tasks that were a joy could now feel futile. That is a dangerous place for people in ministry to live because if mission becomes a job then suddenly there are requirements, boundaries, and limits. Conversely, if it is a Calling, there is no hurdle too high, no challenge too extreme and no disruption to encompassing.

Let’s encourage each other to live in the middle of the intersection between Vocation and Avocation. The privilege is ours and nothing compares to the view from the middle of an intersection. Traditionally in the Church, intersections are the place that SACRAMENTS live. The cross between the earthly and the divine. We should be able to see further into both worlds.  I’ve included a morning prayer (morning resolve) that I say every day. It has been helpful to me to remember the uniqueness of Calling. 

**BONUS  If you are one of the first 10 YL areas to respond by EMAILING ME then we will send morning resolve cards to you for each of your Volunteer leaders including Committee. If you are interested in the Robert Frost poem in its entirety, you can find it HERE.

Written by: Ken Tankersley kenbtank@gmail.com 

November 2020 Innovation

Volunteer leaders are the backbone of Young Life. Without a leader inviting us to coffee, or club, or camp - and ultimately into a relationship with Jesus - many of us would not be in ministry today.

The leaders we have in Young Life are incredible! They have busy lives, jobs, families, school- and yet they go above and beyond to do something that very few adults do - pursue relationships with kids. 

What if we could make their jobs easier so they could actually spend even more time with kids?

What if we could create one single place, with our best resources and training – so they no longer have to go on internet scavenger hunts to find what they need?

Here’s a picture of what it currently looks like for a leader to try and find resources and training:

• Google searches

• Searching regional and area Dropbox folders

• Checking the Young Life Leader Blog and YLhelp on Mondays at 5pm for last-minute club ideas 

• Logging in to Right Now Media and YL Access training

• Listening to old Young Life podcast episodes

• Signing up for Volunteer 101 training and a Brilliant at the Basics cohort

It’s a ton of voices spread across a lot of platforms… 

But what if we could create a reliable one-stop-shop that brought together our best resources, innovation, training and encouragement for leaders? And what if we had a diverse team, representative of the global mission, that was laser-focused on SERVING THE VOLUNTEER?  

That’s the vision of The Storehouse.

For decades, The Storehouse was a place at Frontier Ranch where leaders could go to get what they needed: t-shirts for kids, songbooks, Campaigner handbooks, or even sunscreen for the hike. Over the years, Storehouse became a camper cabin where kids and leaders had life-changing conversations. 

We need a place in Young Life where leaders can come to get what they need. 

A place where significant conversations can take place and ideas are exchanged. 

A place not to stay, but that equips and sends our volunteers back into the world of kids.

I sensed this need in 2010 and it led me to start The Young Life Leader Blog. At the time I was a middle-aged, white, volunteer leader and youth pastor living smack in the middle of the Bible belt. Over the past decade, I’ve written 1500+ articles and used a dinosaur of a platform called Blogger.

Over the past six months, with the help of your donations and money raised through The Next Big Thing, we’ve rebuilt the site using WordPress. It’s far from done, but it’s a step closer to making the dream of The Storehouse become a reality. 

Over the next year, our plan is to continue to gather the best of the best resources and training into a single one-stop-shop where you can quickly find what you need when you need it. 

In order for this to happen, The Storehouse needs YOU! It can’t be a solo effort. It has to be a chorus of unified voices representing the breadth of the diversity of the mission. 

If you’re willing to help, please fill out this quick 10-question form: The Storehouse Team.   

Written by Drew Hill (yldrew@gmail.com)

The Three R’s Inspired by a Pandemic: RESET, RESTART and REDEFINE

I heard these three words from the Lord while being forced to be still and know that He is God. As I witnessed a global pandemic erase all ‘my’ plans off the calendar I had on my wall adjacent to my desk:  The words are RESET, RESTART and REDEFINE.

Beyond the C’s of Young Life, I was prompted by the Holy Spirit to use this non-rushed space to take assessment and evaluation of where things were in my life spiritually, personally, and professionally. As a track sprinter prepares for a race, it’s really important how you correctly position yourself in the blocks. Sometimes a coach will tell the runner to position themselves differently...RESET. How you do this will affect your take off...RESTART. How you start could determine how you finish and your ranking in this event...REDEFINE.

It’s no secret we’re all a work in progress, so thanks be to God that He’s always a motivating coach, wanting the best from and through us.

I put a large dry erase board on my office wall and have three columns vertically and three horizontally. The vertical columns are SPIRITUAL, PERSONAL, PROFESSIONAL. The Horizontally ones are RESET, RESTART, REDEFINE. As I’m hearing the Holy Spirit and desiring to be a better ‘ME’ in all these areas, I’m writing it on my board and frequently looking at it as a reminder to stay on course with God’s REBRANDING sanctification process (...hmmm, another R).

See the attached document (Kairos 2020) to start your own journey of self examination. Remember, it’s not a matter of quickly filling in the categories but it's making a decision to be still and listen intently to the one who holds the tomorrow and “knows the plans He has for you, for a good future and hope.”

As I’ve embraced this self assessment, It has resulted in some stronger disciplines in my life. This has helped me in my pursuit to keep the main thing the main thing and to more often be LED than DRIVEN. My hope is to minister out of an overflowing vessel, rather than one with only a sip of water. 

“He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his belly will flow rivers of living water.” John 7:38

Action Steps 

• Print out the attached PDF

• Spend time asking the Lord to shine light on the areas He is calling you to grow and mature.

• Set a goal for yourself to commit the first day of the month to review the R’s and evaluate your progress.  

Written by: Sam Coleman

SO RETRO, IT'S CUTTING EDGE

In May we knew that gathering 400 people for our fall banquet was unlikely. Several non-profits in our community pivoted to virtual events and experienced success. Thinking this was our only option, we began planning one ourselves. We quickly realized that we are not great at virtual anything which led us to ask:  What are we good at? As co-area directors, we both had done numerous summer camp program assignments. We make people laugh by dressing up in elaborate costumes attempting to draw out child-like wonder in the process. Our events are unique because we are good at making characters come alive. 

With our strengths in view, we asked a second question:  Who do we know? As our team looked at the community, we recognized that we had a strong relationship with the owner of our local drive-in movie theater. We also knew multiple talented videographers who understand the vision of Young Life.  

As we combined our answers to those questions we uncovered an idea to make our own Young Life mockumentary and show it at the drive-in for our fall fundraiser. We rallied our staff, leaders, committee, and students to fill in the cast and crew. Weeks of pre-production, three days of filming and 200 snack bags later we premiered our film for our community. We treated the entrance like a camp welcome and had leaders distributing glow sticks, balloon animals, and playing tic tac toe on car windows. The skills we learned from camp translated to this event and we leveraged that experience to our advantage.

This is what we learned:   The laughter and whimsy of Young Life are some of our best assets.  No matter the medium, highlighting the friendships between leaders and kids is the best story we can tell our community. Folks loved sharing the ‘banquet’ experience with their kids. The community was thankful for a night that felt almost normal. We also released the movie on YouTube that night for non-local attendees. We can now use the movie indefinitely to share the vision and raise funds.  

We also discovered that the peer pressure to give around a banquet table is more powerful for potential donors than it is snacking on popcorn in the back of a hatchback. We only raised $30,000 of our $65,000 goal that evening. Strategic and consistent follow up the next week generated another $10,000. 

You don’t have to have access to a drive-in theater or be experienced in program to do something similar. The point of this article is to compel you to gather your team and ask these questions. Your next event could be uncovered by simply asking: What are we good at? Who do we know? 

Your area has a story worth telling and worth funding.  How will you tell it this year?

Written by Jodi Green (jodi.younglife34@gmail.com) & Greg Hook (greg.younglife@gmail.com)

THE MISSION GOES ON

VIDEO NAME: La Misión Continúa - The Mission Goes On - Young Life El Salvador

LENGTH: 1:02

Note from Video Services: This video was made summer of 2020 by our friend in El Salvador Lucas Martinez.

CONTEXT 

●  Remember why we do what we do. Nothing is preventing us from talking to kids about Jesus. It just looks different.

●  Every kid has the right to know Jesus and follow Him.

• Don’t let circumstances keep you from spreading the good news to people who need to hear it!

● We are still all about Jesus and Kids. 

SETTING FOR VIEWING 

This is a perfect video for several settings: 

● Use with your volunteers and staff to remind them to not give up.

● Use as part of a staff meeting to show the Mission Continues!

● Useful for re-centering staff and volunteers on what really matters. 

October 2020 Committees

As we navigate ministry in this new season and in a new normal, we need to be having honest conversations about not only the overall ministry in the local area but also about the health and growth of the Committee/mission community. 

As a Committee Chair I needed a tool that would help guide my conversation with my Area Director that looked at an area Committee/Mission Community in a holistic and comprehensive approach through the lens of the five core functions of ministry: Spiritual Development, Leadership Development, Resource Development, Direct ministry, and Ministry support. 

The mid-year/end-of-year report card gives Committee Chairs and Area Directors an opportunity to give valuable and specific feedback on their Committee/Mission Community. 

Wondering how to use it? IT’S SO SIMPLE.

FOR YL STAFF:

• Click HERE for the PDF version of the mid year/end-of-year report card.

• Print it out

• Take 15 minutes and fill it out

• During your next face to face meeting with your Committee Chair compare notes, take notes, and celebrate what the Lord is doing in your local area and determine action steps moving forward.

FOR COMMITTEE CHAIRS:

• Click HERE for the PDF version of the mid year/end of year report card.

• Print it out

• Take 15 minutes and fill it out

• During your next face to face meeting with your Area Director, compare notes, take notes, and celebrate what the Lord is doing in your local area and determine action steps moving forward.

The Committee Chair and Area Director partnership is vitally important in the midst of this unique ministry season. As I sat down with my area director, this evaluation tool allowed us to celebrate, dream, and plan as we look ahead to the future impact of Young Life in our local area. It has also allowed us to shift our focus to areas of greater need and invite people into conversation aligning the needs of our area with the gift set of our Committee/Mission Community. As a Committee, we are committed to a rhythm of celebration, planning, and evaluation. We are excited to utilize this tool to identify areas of great traction and significant need in our local area and live up to YoungLife’s rhetoric of reaching every kid.

Written by:  Kimberly Silvernale & Johnell Moody

THE VALUE OF A RESET! VOLUNTEER 101 TRAINING

“Then there are the leaders. We maintain a high standard for our leadership; all of them are carefully trained in our own approach to evangelism… trained, skilled, dedicated people.” 

Jim Rayburn - 1952

The number of our volunteers has grown exponentially since Jim Rayburn said the above quote creating the problem that we cannot easily guarantee what Rayburn says about our leaders is still true today.  Dedicated and skilled?  Absolutely.  But well-trained? Every kid deserves a well-trained leader and that is what we all want to ensure.

Obstacles to good volunteer training include time, busy schedules that cause leaders to miss meetings, and distance from training opportunities.  

In the beginning of 2020, another obstacle showed up… COVID-19. But, where some people see an obstacle, others see an opportunity. A pause in our hectic world gives time to regroup, reset, and find true north again.  

A rocket traveling to the moon that is off course by just one degree will miss the moon by 4,169 miles. We don’t want to miss the mark by even a foot when it comes to the training of our volunteers.

Thankfully, the new Volunteer 101 training course available on Young Life Access allows you to reset your training compass and points all of your volunteers in the same direction when it comes to contact work, club, camp, and Campaigners.

This four-part course ensures that we are passing on the DNA of the mission and excellent training to the next generation of leaders. Today’s volunteers desire to feel confident, equipped, and well-prepared the first time they walk into the school, club, or camp. This generation of leaders wants to impact the world and will give their time to the organization that best prepares them to do that.

One Area Director remarked, “After the completing Volunteer 101 training, new leaders became self-starters for campaigners, contact work at the school, and speaking at Club. I believe this is because they fully understood the ministry and its vision and mission along with how they could make it happen for kids in our community. They got excited to serve!”

Each section of the training covers one aspect of Young Life:

• Part 1: We Go After the Unreached

• Part 2: We Go Where Kids Are

• Part 3: We Share the Gospel in Terms Kid’s Understand

• Part 4: We Follow-Up; Helping Kids Grow in Their Faith

The idea behind Volunteer 101 is to create a blended approach (both face to face and online) to volunteer training that includes a trackable, standardized training piece that every volunteer can complete before they ever set foot on campus or become a leader. In no way should this course take training out of the hands of the area, but rather it gives the staff person a foundation to build on.  

Areas can send the training to each leader individually to complete on their own time, or complete the training as a group at a weekend retreat or over a series of leadership meetings as part of their blended approach to training. The training can be streamed easily to a TV or projector.

The bottom line is that with Volunteer 101, we will be able to ensure that every kid in Young Life has a well-trained leader and that these leaders will have Kingdom impact. Beyond Kingdom impact, easily accessible, quality training helps our recruiting and retention of volunteers and increases their likelihood for immediate effectiveness.  

After having every volunteer in his region complete the training, Regional Director Billy Suess said, ”The Volunteer 101 course came at a great time for our region as we were looking for ways to inspire our volunteer leaders to reach deeper into their communities and engage students from every walk of life. God has opened so many doors, but we needed better volunteer training so our leaders would take hold of the foundations of relational ministry and feel more confident to step out in faith with students. The Volunteer 101 course hit the mark and has led to more students in our region encountering Christ through a volunteer Young Life leader." 

The four-part Volunteer 101 course is available on Young Life Access (younglifeaccess.com) and also translated into five different languages. Don’t have a Young Life Access free account? Contact your staff person or email laura@younglifeaccess.com. Your account will give you access to great Young Life training along with video Bible studies from Francis Chan, Tony Evans, Jeanie Allen, Jo Saxton, and so much more.

*A collaboration of staff from around the globe, organized by Brian Summerall and team.

THE BIG DREAM

VIDEO NAME: Young Life – The Big Dream
LENGTH: 2:00

Note from Video Services: This video is from an audio  recording of Jim Rayburn’s last talk to staff in 1970. I love that you can hear his care for Jesus, staff and kids in his voice.

CONTEXT 

• Remember why we do what we do. Take it back to the beginning. These truths from Jim Rayburn in 1970 are just as true today.

• Everyone needs Jesus Christ is a main theme

• It’s tempting to see our differences, but look instead to Jesus.

Hear this voice from the past reminding us why we do what we do.

SETTING FOR VIEWING 

This is a perfect video for several settings: 

• Use in online or in-person events to showcase  how Young Life has always been about kids and Christ. About every kid. About giving kids an opportunity to make a decision of their own. We have not swerved from the Mission in 79 years.

• Share with new committee and volunteers so they can see that Young Life is all about Jesus.

• Useful for re-centering staff and volunteers on what really matters. 

Seven Things To Consider As You Strategize A Virtual Club

Wanna get your Region/Division/State all in One Room? (virtually)

Here are seven things we learned doing the All-U.S. Young Life College Club

Here are seven things to consider as you strategize a virtual club for your own state, region, or division. 

1. IDENTIFY THE WHY - Do your kids, leaders and staff need this tool? Have they not been able to have a club? Have they tried and it’s difficult? Would leaders love to have deeper conversations with students? Are they tired and could use a tool like a virtual club? Do they struggle to have the time or resources to put on something like this? Would this help them reach students they know and maybe some they don’t?

2. STRATEGIZE THE TIMING - If yes, then when? When the pandemic hit, many of our staff were asking “how do we finish the semester strong?” We scheduled our All-U.S. Club to provide closure as students transition into summer. Our next club came in August, the most strategic month of the year for meeting new students during “welcome” weeks. Timing is everything!

3. DEFINE YOUR AUDIENCE - Our audience was college students seeking community, adventure, and significance. It was also graduating high school seniors and incoming freshmen all across the country. For you, maybe it’s your state, region, or your entire division? Maybe you engage incoming 6th graders or high school freshmen? While you define a certain audience and direct production accordingly, know that it can also be used to bridge incoming students or even reach donors, adult support, friends, and families.

4. UTILIZE SMALL GROUPS - This was our biggest “why!” The small group post-club discussion is crucial for utilizing virtual clubs to launch relationships! Our videos ended with a prompt for groups and questions on the screen. All our best stories from our two virtual clubs came out of discussion during post-club small group time! Staff and volunteers must be prepared to lead these conversations.

5. PLAN THE PROGRAM - Plan everything (music, humor, games, skits, and talk) with your entire audience in mind including kids that don’t know Young Life or Jesus. Get as many faces and people involved as possible. Think through the use of live interaction through social media, Zoom, commenting, or texting and aim for less than an hour in length.

6. MAKE IT ACCESSIBLE - We pre-recorded the Club and streamed live on YouTube through OneStream.com. We utilized Instagram to provide the direct link and make it easy to access 15 minutes before the start. The video went “live” with pre-recorded “commercials” 15 minutes before advertised start time to allow a window for accessing the direct link.

7. MAKE IT WORTH IT - Create a budget that includes high quality video editing. Prioritize buy-in from staff and leaders. Plan to use the virtual club video after for virtual banquets, newsletters, etc. If you’re going to do a large-scale club, maximize value and excellence!

More questions? We’d love to help! JOIN OUR VIRTUAL CLUB COHORT! 

**We are offering a cohort Limited to  6 teams within a Regional/Divisional/National/International Ministry Models.

Review the criteria below and respond to Bill Reazer (BillReazer@gmail.com) to be included.  We will offer one Zoom training session and upon completion you will receive money to go toward your production! 

Cohort Criteria

1. Virtual Club must be Metro/Region/State-wide or larger geographic context. (US or International) 

2. Completion of the Club is overseen by the supervising National office (Regional or above)

3. Virtual Club must be launched before February 1, 2021. 

4. Team members must attend 90 minute zoom cohort training. 

5. Additional ‘input’ or coaching dependent on teaching team availability.

6. $1000 transfer to designated MU to help offset expenses after launch of virtual club

THE ARRIVAL OF ADVENT

Five, ten, fifteen, twenty, twenty-five, thirty…ninety-five, one hundred…Here I come, ready or not. Of course, that’s the way our familiar game of Hide-and-Go-Seek begins. I wonder if God said those very words about 2,000 years ago as He entered our world on that first Christmas Day?

The pastors and Sunday School teachers had been teaching the Bible where it says that a Messiah (God’s Rescuer) was coming. One group called the Pharisees loved God so much that they wanted to be sure they obeyed all of God’s Laws. They were so focused on their behavior to honor God that they had grown out-of-touch with God’s Heart, so they weren’t ready. Another group called the Sadducees wanted to have all their beliefs and theology (which means “the study of all things about God”) exactly right, so they weren’t aware, nor ready. Another group called the scribes and the priests were too concerned with their religion’s place in society, with preserving their traditions, and with their status among the people, so that they weren’t ready. Joseph, Mary’s fiancée, wasn’t ready; it took an angel to convince him. The regular person living in that day wasn’t ready either. Too much time had gone by with too much confusion about God and when His Promise to Come and deliver their nation from the Romans who ruled them would come true.

Each year we do many things to GET READY for Christmas. We buy gifts, prepare meals, go to parties, travel to gather together with loved ones in the family, and more. Sometimes, in all our getting ready for Christmas, we aren’t so ready for the remembrance and celebration of the what, why, and how of Christmas, the promise that the God Who came in history as Jesus, comes to us each day, and will one day come in the future. 

The four Sundays and weeks before Christmas Day, we call The Season of Advent. Advent simply means “a coming into view”, or “coming into being”, or “arriving.” God’s Advent means His coming into being (arriving) on our Earth as Jesus. In other words, Jesus is God’s Advent.

Luke 2:10 records the angel speaking to the shepherds about Jesus’ Coming saying, “I bring you GOOD NEWS of a GREAT JOY, which is for ALL PEOPLE.” What is that JOY the angel announced? That God was not content to be a concept, like we simply acknowledge there must be a Creator because there is so much design and beauty. The JOY is what great lengths God went to so that we could know Him personally. What kind of God leaves heaven to pursue us sinners? Our God. 

This is not a fairy tale; it does not begin, “Once Upon a Time…” Our God became a fertilized egg in the womb of a poor teenager. Any concept of God as a dispassionate observer of our lives here on earth is smashed to pieces with God’s Advent…Jesus.

How can we prepare our hearts for Christmas? By observing The Advent Season, which begins November 29th, the Sunday of Thanksgiving Weekend; so, it can sneak up on us. I wrote a Family Advent book to capture the season as a family. I commend it to you. It also is an inexpensive gift to campaigners, leaders and Committee. God’s Blessings on your Advent!

Order at Saltresources.com or the YL online store.

Written by: Ty Saltzgiver

NEED $6,000 FOR YOUR LOCAL AREA? NO PROBLEM

I was an Area Director for 19 years in Ohio and I used 41 & Change in my town.  I had our committee, leaders, and champions each get one subscription for our area. Everyone did a little work with a great payoff.  We had 57 subscriptions, generating a little over $500 per month. I wasn't touching the $$$ or the coffee and it was committee led.  Plus, kids in Nicaragua got a percentage.  t was a no brainer for us and ultimately, more kids heard about Christ because of it. Over our first three years, $17,000 came into my little town from 41 & Change.

During these unprecedented times, many people are looking for creative ways to fundraise for Young Life  in their local area.  As you know, many fundraisers have been postponed or cancelled and our staff have been innovative and creative in approaching these obstacles.  With that spirit in mind, I wanted to share with our staff that 41 & Change coffee could be very instrumental in this time. 41 & Change exists only to serve Young Life and much of their product comes from La Finca, our camp in Nicaragua. Subscriptions through 41 & Change are a way for areas to raise a continual revenue stream and NOW that money can go to operating.

This is huge! During a time of uncertainty, we (committee, leaders, friends and staff) could work together and make a huge impact on our area. 

 Let me tell you how it works.  

• 41 & Change gives us a custom link and people purchase coffee from that link.  

• Each time they buy, we get a percentage of the sale.  

There are many Young Life areas who have raised $6,000 or more in a year with coffee subscriptions and their example looks like this: 50 households purchasing coffee on monthly subscriptions, averaging a $9-$10 giveback to your area would receive around $500 per month. That’s $6,000 a year!  

 There are so many great things about it. Here are a few: 

• We don’t touch the coffee or the $$$. 

• It’s grown on our Young Life Camp in Nicaragua.

• The product is great.  It ranks in the top 3% in the world.

• It’s super fresh!  They roast to order.

• It’s simple.  Share the link, tell the story and your friends and family can subscribe.

• Committee, leaders and champions of Young Life in our area can help.

• You can do this from anywhere.

• Kids will meet Jesus!  Every ounce of profit from 41 & Change goes to Young Life.

INTERESTED IN BEING IN THE FIRST EVER 41&CHANGE PILOT?

Be one of the first 15 Young Life staff or Committee to email Ben, and start a subscription (no commitment) and be a part of the first ever 41 & Change pilot that takes a disciplined approach to  launch this in their area. Just by being a part we will also send a ceramic mug, a 12 ounce bag of coffee to give away to a friend or donor, and the travel mug. A $50 value.

Written by: Ben Bonham ben@41change.com

CAN THE ANSWER REALLY BE AS SIMPLE AS GOING FOR A WALK??

The following article is written by YOU.  Hundreds of YOU from around the US and around the Globe. We curated the answers from all the responses last month’s (August 2020 5.4 Friday) email and identified the following ‘buckets’ of ideas on how to continue to foster a training, discipleship, and missional community among your leadership team in the midst of a disrupted school semester.  Bottom line:  Comply with Young Life, State, and local CDC guidelines but continue to find a way to develop volunteers and reach kids. Below is the question we asked and some of the best, creative answers.  (*denotes the answer was given several times!)

The results are in. Here was the QUESTION:  Aside from zoom calls, what is one creative way you are ENGAGING VOLUNTEER LEADERS and helping to foster leadership development this fall?

THE ANSWERS- 

*****Taking my dog on a WALK WITH A LEADER

*******Meeting for OUTDOOR WORSHIP

*****AFTER SCHOOL TUTORING at a local church

********CALLING EACH AND EVERYONE. Listening to their good things and bad things and in between things.

*******Lots and LOTS OF WALKS! One walk with a leader a day! 

***Leadership MOVIE NIGHTs that related to ministry

*********Instilling an Acts 2:42-47 vision in our time together, and going through MULTIPLE BOOKS together.

*****We're doing a PRAYER AND PRAISE wall with hand cut outs at our fall kickoff

*****gathering, walking, playing and praying in OUTDOOR SPACES!!

****Study Groups, Study PODS, Tutoring 

******Team dinners with our MISSION COMMUNITY to foster a Total-Area community culture!

*LEADER FLOAT TRIP ON INNER TUBES on a local river next month. Colder weather?  Meet in small groups.

*****Giving them WEEKLY TASKS/GOALS to accomplish.

******LEADER BOOK CLUB, Prayer Partners, Double Dates to do Contact work with teen mom and baby

*****PRAYER WALKS  AROUND THE SCHOOLS at our leadership training day

*********DINNER & GAME NIGHTS, going through the principles laid out in the book Margin

***We BOUGHT EVERY LEADER TWO LAWN CHAIRS to keep in their car. Being a leader this year is going to mean showing up to kids' world (their drive way even) pulling out some chairs, and sitting down to talk about life, faith, and hope in Christ. 

Thanks EVERYONE for your simple, practical and helpful input!  These ideas work in almost every context.  Gather your team, take a moment, and choose a few ideas and start in your context.  Take a walk, talk, and watch lives change.  Go on a walk with a purpose! 

-Written by 127 Staff around the Globe.  

THE PERSON YOU MAY NOT HAVE NOTICED IN THE CROWD: TEACHERS

Background:  Within every school, there are teachers who love Jesus and who have chosen their career (at least in part) because education allows them to impact students in the name of the Lord.  Teaching, coaching, etc. giveS them daily opportunities to spread the gospel through their actions.  They have an active ministry in their classrooms. Some venture out into outreach ministries and some choose to simply live out their ministry daily as a part of their job. We, as Young Life staff and volunteers, can grow our ministry team and exponentially increase the impact of our ministries by acknowledging and supporting these missionaries. Our gospel outreach efforts are not novel nor foremost in the schools we enter. There are teachers attempting it every day.  We must listen, learn, and invest first before we ever invite them to take part in the pieces of ministry we implement. Our tools (Club, Campaigners, and Camp) might indeed be a blessing to their personal ministries, but that should be a secondary goal. Our primary goal should be to help grow a community of believers set on reaching each kid with the gospel of Jesus.

Avengers Unite

I have a confession to make. I wasn’t comfortable crying until my daughters were born. My oldest is one of the 2020 graduates who tires of being told that COVID-19 will make her stronger one day, so my acceptance of public personal tears turned eighteen this year. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not moved to tears every day, however, I consistently cry in front of others weekly.  

Needless to say, I’m okay with it.

However, there is one time of tears that somewhat shames me. I took my twins (now sophomores in high school) to a midnight showing of Avengers: Infinity War, and during the iconic scene where Captain America, Tony Stark, and their team of failing heroes is about to fall at the hand of Thanos and his cohorts and the sky opens in seemingly countless spinning time portals of hope and all of the heroes, once thought dead, came back to life . . . I lost it. Openly. Loudly. Bawling. Ugly crying.

That vision of the entire team, united, back together moved me.

Fast forward to March of 2020. The reality of COVID-19 quickly spread from the coasts to the plains, and my state, Kansas, made a firm and decisive decision to close schools for the rest of the year. I was shocked, stunned, and saddened. And yes, I ugly cried - numerous times. Having taught in the same district for almost twenty years, my routine, my friends, my way of life were all hurting, almost as bad as the Captain, Tony, and the gang in Infinity War. I needed rescue, a group of heroes to save me.

This was our unlikely team.

A retiring high school librarian.

Two tired high school counselors.

A weary special education teacher.

Three reenergized middle school math, science, and history teachers.

Five veteran high school English and history teachers.

A second-year band teacher.

A first-year PE teacher.

A displaced paraprofessional.

And a newly valued online technology director.

Not quite the appearing Avengers coming to the rescue in the climactic scene of Infinity War. But we were ready for battle.  Our battle plan was prayer. No swords, no superheroes. A Friday morning Zoom call to pray was our weapon against the undefinable effects of the COVID-19 shutdown.

Somewhat skeptical of corporate prayer over Zoom, I was joyful after our first meeting. Grace, faith, passion, and transparency ruled the day with this group of Jesus-loving-kid-loving (JLKL) educators.  I knew (or at least knew of) all team members. However, I didn’t anticipate the impact of the volume of our resounding cry to the Lord.

Entering school buildings across our Young Life region for the last decade, recruiting teacher staff and volunteers, my defined goal was to headhunt the educators who were willing and able to fill a role. While success stories abound, this consumer-mindedness blew right past this treasured team of educators, and others like them. Besides myself, none on our team is on Young Life staff, yet each has a powerful ministry, alive and active, in his or her classroom.  

Our Friday Zoom calls revealed that JLKL educators have a profound personal, daily impact on every student in our school district - over 5,000 students. Every student is prayed for by an educator who loves them in the name of Jesus.

Do you, as Young Life staff, realize that in every school across your city resides teachers who chose education to impact kids in the name of Jesus?  

Not all of them will choose to partner with Young Life to reach them; however, we can choose to partner with them to reach kids.

I’m sure you’re aware that next year could be overwhelmingly complicated for those in education.  Pour into them as they pour into their students, families, and community. Like the returning Avengers, step into their world and engage in battle with them.  Clouds of uncertainty envelope the fall of 2020. Schools may not allow any outsiders inside. JLKL educators may very well be the only points of contact with daily access to the very kids we’re trying to reach. 

May we, all who love Jesus and seek to love students in His name, come together to create a ministry community, a team, of heroes.

Resources and Tips for Talking to JLKL Teachers:

First - Pray for all teachers

Always - Spend time doing contact work with teachers

Regularly - Offer to partner with them in their personal ministry

When/If right - Offer Young Life as a vehicle to further their mission

Want to continue the conversation?  Contact your regional Young Life Teacher Champion or contact Tanya Huber at tanyahuber76@gmail.com or Mark Fleske at markfleske@gmail.com.

Written by: Mark Fleske

HOW OUR INTERNATIONAL TRAINING INCREASED 600% DURING A PANDEMIC

Four months ago I began a new role as the Asia Pacific Training Associate at the height of Covid. Perfect timing! All my trainees were dispersed among eleven countries, thousands of miles, speaking different languages and quarantined! Our original plan this Fall was to have two trainings:

• A two week New Staff Training 

• Week-long Emerging Leader Cohort(s)

Like so many, we were forced to move all our training online. This highlighted challenges ranging from setting to teaching to length. This shift made the event a team effort more than ever and the unexpected positive result was that student participation increased 600% from 30 students previously to over 180 this year! Now this is a ‘new normal’ that I can get used to! In a season where virtual platforms seem like a poor replacement of in-person training, I witnessed four key improvements in our model that could only have happened virtually. These pivots can happen in any context so here is what we learned:

1. EVERYONE BECAME A TRAINER: While hoping to decentralize training with the introduction of local trainers in each city, the hybrid online/in-person format allowed this to happen immediately. Our prediction of 20 cohorts quickly increased when 53 people from 11 countries signed up to be Trainers!  Interest and ownership changed everything. Working in small groups in accordance with local COVID restrictions allowed each trainer to show creative hospitality and host their groups like a cabin leader at camp. After each zoom teaching session, the in-city cohort would discuss contextualization. After three days of online NST, new staff were looking to their trainers for leadership, and wisdom. I couldn’t hope for more. 

1. BROAD ACCESSIBILITY: Making training online, allowed for more people to attend. Part time staff and  long-term volunteer leaders felt honored to participate. Language is always a challenge at Int’l trainings but the online model allowed for more translators to be involved, easier clarification via text, and no need for clunky headsets. A wider range of teaching voices were heard as senior staff living in several different cities participated in teaching sessions.

1. FINANCIAL STEWARDSHIP: A group gathering of almost 200 people with flights, hotels, food, can be financially prohibitive  for an International Young Life area. Online reduced costs drastically! Local trainers and online teachers worked to make things as hospitable as possible providing food, gifts, and significant ‘touches’ and communicated excellence, without incurring additional costs. I learned hospitality is vital to relational ministry but does not need to be expensive.

1.  IT WAS FUN! Our training umbrella name is “Better Together” and that is true! We are better when we are together. Small groups were just thankful to be together, even though it was online. Humor, connection, encouragement, and community were priorities. Each participant was reminded that they are not alone! While each team and staff are tending to the plants the Lord has given to them, this week they got to see the bigger picture of the Garden! 

Lastly, virtual platforms will never replace in-person gatherings in quality however they can be a significant compliment when done well. For Young Life’s Asia Pacific staff, the disruption that led us to an on-line model allowed us to ‘reach and teach’ more staff and leaders, broaden the ownership, lessen the cost, and feel more connected than ever before. How could these four pivots look in your context? I would love to share what we learned. Please feel free to contact me to talk more. 

Written by:

Suzanne Sittko, Young Life Asia Pacific Training Associate (suzanne susittko@gmail.com )