A SIMPLE WAY TO CONNECT TO TEACHERS

Maybe you’re like us in Lewistown, Montana where the schools are in need of substitute teachers more and more. Lewiston is the geographic center of Montana and is known for our natural spring water, hunting, fishing, and epic ranches. While you may not look exactly like us, you probably have the same need for substitute teachers, and the same need to connect with your schools to grow your Young Life clubs. 

I decided to give it a try and signed up to be a substitute teacher. 

When I got the opportunity to be a substitute, I looked through my club giveaways and office supplies. I was doing a partial day for a history class, and at the end of that day, I left some swag and office supplies with the teacher as a small gift alongside my substitute notes from the day. I thanked that teacher for the opportunity to serve them in their absence, as well as the opportunity to serve their students. After that first day, I decided to try it over and over again each day I substituted. 

A Wow Experience 

In Young Life, we’re all about making fun experiences that have a wow factor and make people want to come back for more. We know that it’s a party with a deeper purpose, so when we can bring a little fun moment to a teacher, why wouldn’t we? Think about how many substitutes leave a little extra gift with their sub notes. Probably not many. 

The Physical Objects Matter 

Everyone loves getting gifts and often those gifts sit around that teacher’s desk for a few days or even weeks. It’s a small visual reminder of that great experience they had with you as their substitute each time they see it. They remember that that was a different substitute teacher experience and they start to get curious. 

Serve 

Go into the opportunity with the mentality that you are there to serve. Our teachers have had a rough few years, and our kids have too. You get a chance to serve all of them when you sub. Taking that quick moment to thank them for the opportunity to serve them and their kids, shows the teacher you care. It also opens up the conversation for bigger needs that teachers may have. 

Long-term Relationships 

By leaving these small gifts and small notes of gratitude with our teachers, I’ve built up relationships and rapport with these teachers. They inevitably ask me about what Young Life is about and what my connection is to the group. This has proven to open the doors of communication with teachers to learn of their potential interest, needs for their classrooms, and students. We’ve seen more doors open just by taking a few small, simple steps as a substitute. Not only that, but we’ve gotten to know more students too, as well as their needs. 

We found a simple way to keep Young Life in front of our teachers in a way of service and support to them. These connections have been invaluable for us as we build our clubs and serve our students. The open door starts with a simple act of service!

Written by: Tim Painter

* While you’re serving, be sure to follow the school’s protocols; it’s not a place to promote Young Life club, but it’s a great way to care for teachers and be seen.

ANSWERING THE 3rd QUESTION

THE 3rd QUESTION IS THE HARDEST!!

All Innovations have two key elements:   

1. Try something NEW.  

2. Bring VALUE.

Daily, we are struck by large and small problems that we are convinced, “someone needs to solve!”  

Some are SMALL:

• Squeezing the last bit of toothpaste out of the tube.

• Designing packing tape that  tears cleanly

• Preventing clothes from getting caught in a zipper. 

• Fixing broken Christmas tree lights.

• Milk cartons not opening correctly.

• The wait time on customer service calls.

• 3 ring binders not clipping together. 

• Pringles potato chip cans opening that are too small for your hands to fit. 

Throughout history, entire Nations have tried to solve problems that are BIG:

• Quality education.

• Affordable Health Care.

• Responding to natural disasters. 

• World hunger and malnutrition.

• Climate change.

• Bias, prejudice, and inequality. 

• Armed conflict.

• Clean Water and Sanitation issues.

• Homelessness.

In Young Life, our innovative culture requires several things to work- collaboration, alignment, and integration across departments and creativity. Perhaps, most importantly, there is a need for strong PROBLEM SOLVING skills to handle the ‘heavy lifting’ of identifying the final steps as we RE-tool, RE-think and RE-imagine how to reach the next kid. Over the 5 year span of YL Forward every pilot that was launched had a multi-step process, input surveys, charters, ‘lead teams,’ and coaches. It’s impressive, but without the final steps of how to make an idea ‘operational’ all the work is wasted. 

Below are 3 questions and a simple ‘DIY’ exercise you can try as you innovate in any context or scope.   

PROBLEM SOLVING QUESTIONS

QUESTION ONE:  What is the problem? 

We answer this question all the time. Before and after meetings, in hallways, and even tossing and turning in our sleep.  Actually, it doesn’t take a lot of talent to spot the problem. Just eyes and ears and some general awareness of your surroundings. This question lives within the world of pet-peeves. Essentially, areas of irritation or frustration that we are committed to addressing.  

TRY THIS! Think of a challenge or pet peeve that has come to mind lately. It can be tied to your job, your home-life or your community, but it has to be something that has some degree of a connecting point to you and have the ability to influence and address it. Now: Write it done on a piece of paper.  Just one sentence, general description. 

QUESTION TWO:  What is the Solution? 

This question goes a bit deeper but is just slightly harder to address. A base-level understanding can equip even the most entry level expert with the knowledge to come close to a solution. Most can get close to the bulls-eye. You can identify someone coming to grips with this solution with the statement ‘You know what we need to do…..” 

TRY THIS! You have listed the problem, now take a guess at the possible solution. What do we need to do? Give yourself some guardrails. We don’t have unlimited resources, time, and funding, but on that same piece of paper, for the next minute, give yourself the freedom to solve the issue and list the solution in your view.  

QUESTION THREE: What are the next steps?

Here is where I have seen groups get stalled. This is the ‘now what?’ stage of problem solving and how your group navigates this space will separate them from the crowd. It requires patience, broad based knowledge and most importantly the ability to not just have a plan but work that plan.  

TRY THIS!   Ask yourself the following 10 questions

1. Make an effort to take apart the problem. What is the core issue?  Not just the symptom symptom? 

2. Who else or what other departments need to be in this conversation? Are there some experts you could learn from?

3. Has someone else tried to fix this problem before?  What happened?  What can we learn?  

4. What do you think will be the cost of fixing this problem? People? Resources? Can we afford it? 

5. Is there alignment? Is everyone on board? What could be some hurdles we could encounter internally?  

6. How long will the potential solution take? Weeks? Months? Years? Will there be stages/phases or benchmarks?

7. What does success look like? What kind of outcome are we looking for?

8. What is our definition of traction?  

9. Engage ‘thought partners’ and create an outline of a plan. How disruptive could it be? How do you make adjustments for it?

10. When does this need to happen? Today? Someday? Do we have the bandwidth to do __X__? 

The reason the 3rd question is the hardest is because it makes you involve others, think through next steps, and count the cost.  That is also the beauty of bringing about change. The work is always hard but if thought through it calls for more patience than effort. Answering these three questions can get you far down the road but as you go through the exercise, share with me your thoughts on the PROBLEM, the SOLUTION, and the NEXT STEPS as you try NEW things that bring VALUE! 

Written by: Ken B. Tankersley

YOUNG LIFE COMMITTEE PURPOSE & EXPECTATIONS

Over the years we have been asked time and time again if there is clarity around the expectations and purpose of the local Committee. There are several documents tied to covenants, and roles and the general purpose but there has been a resistance to being specific about the expectations that surround the local committee and mission community.

Over the past month, we asked a team to put together a simple one-pager that could give clarity to a potential Committee member as they pray and discuss the possibility of serving in this key area role. HERE it is! Simple, clear and short. If you would like to take it and make some edits for your local context, contact Tank and we will get you an editable version. If you have improvements or additions to it, please share so we can continue to serve this key leadership base the best we can.

THE NEED FOR SUMMER STAFF

“More and more we are seeing college students who WANT to go on Summer Staff but NEED to do an internship. We can help them solve this dilemma. Utilizing Summer Staff as an internship will take our summer staff experience to the next level...” –Cat Ryden, Divisional Coordinator for YL College, Central Southern Division

Is Summer Staff still a viable option considering what students have gone through the last 2+ years?  

YES. A THOUSAND TIMES YES. In fact, the need is even greater for them to serve and their need inside them is even greater still. Summer Staff could be what they need to unleash who they are, and set them on a course for following Jesus the rest of their life.  

“I really have to do an internship this summer.”

Have you ever been told this when you are talking to a college student about Summer Staff? Me too. It seems like unpaid internships (free labor for companies) have been increasing each year and now they are hypercompetitive due to COVID shutting many internship opportunities down. 

What if we could say: “I’m so glad you said that. I have the perfect internship for you…and I bet you’re having trouble finding one..”

More often than not, the Summer Staff experience has all the required components of an internship. And so much more! We know how special this experience is. Discipleship, sacrificial service, leadership growth, supervisory skills, a front row seat to many kids deciding to follow Jesus, hard work, teamwork and team building, community, and much, much more are all part of this adventure.

Summer Staff can most likely count as an internship for an employer, university, program, etc. 

We need to be flexible. Creative. Innovative. And take the initiative.  

So here’s the plan:

STEP 1:   Have your potential student find out exactly what is required by your student’s internship

Requirements vary greatly from school to school, job to job, and program to program. Some have almost no requirements and some have stringent standards.

STEP 2:   Send your student this guide and see if you together, with integrity, can craft the Summer Staff experience and description to fulfill the requirements of the internship.

STEP 3:   If there is a specific job that would help with the internship requirements, request that job for your student by calling the camp and the summer staff coordinator. (no guarantees, but make sure that the camp knows that this is a factor)

STEP 4:  Look at this short Summer Staff recruiting best practices list and rally your best students.

Thank you for having a vision for who kids could be.  

Thank you for going the extra mile to help kids have the experience of a lifetime on Summer Staff.

Thank you for making that extra phone call, sending that extra text, and going after those “internship” kids.

“Community. Adventure. Significance.  It’s who we are and what our college friends need. They get it all and more on Summer Staff.” –Cat Ryden

Bonus Resource: Resumer Building Tips After Doing Summer Staff

Written by: Pete Hardesty

LENT, The Intersection of Lament & Celebration

 I stumbled upon Daniel Bonnell’s art a few years ago while looking for a creative way to engage the various liturgical feasts in the Church calendar. Now he serves as a regular ‘go to’ for me when I am anxious to revamp, rekindle or re-engage my understanding of scripture. Over the next few weeks we will enter the Season of Lent marking the time period of prayer and preparation before Easter. Here is a print of the painting Lamentation of the Father by Daniel Bonnell to provide some inspiration this season. 

Daniel Bonnell is a working artist, an author, and a teacher. He is known throughout the United States, England and Israel as one of the few noted sacred painters of the 21st Century. Bonnell received his BFA degree from the Atlanta College of Art and his MFA from Savannah College of Art and Design and his paintings are found in churches around the world, and private collections. If curious, his art may be found at BonnellArt.com.

The Lamentation of the Father surrounds both Lament and Celebration, a tension that we have become accustomed to in our current cultural climate.It's intense in the themes of discord, mockery, humility, and loneliness. Bonnell captures it all. Interestingly, he chose to paint this scene on ‘grocery bag’ paper on purpose because the surface is humble, modest and world wide. There is so much to draw from in this painting! 

Bonnell was quoted as saying that “every piece of art is a personal devotional letter or offering to the Lord.” For me, his painting beautifully depicts the breadth of what occurs on the cross. Some elements to note: 

• He had a three step process with his paper canvas 1) paint the painting, 2) ball up the paper, and then 3) gently flatten it again with an iron to depict an aged and weathered texture.

• The earth tones of the painting are contrasted with the funnel of white rain from above and God’s reign pouring out below. 

• The stark outlining of Jesus' body subtly shows how Christ’s humanity is contained within his divinity. 

• The outstretched arms show a savior who has not only been ‘sent’ through embrace but ‘given’ obedience. 

THE CRUCIFIXION- Mark 15: 21-39 -The Message

21 There was a man walking by, coming from work, Simon from Cyrene, the father of Alexander and Rufus. They made him carry Jesus’ cross. 22-24 The soldiers brought Jesus to Golgotha, meaning “Skull Hill.” They offered him a mild painkiller (wine mixed with myrrh), but he wouldn’t take it. And they nailed him to the cross. They divided up his clothes and threw dice to see who would get them.25-30 They nailed him up at nine o’clock in the morning. The charge against him—the king of the jews—was scrawled across a sign. Along with him, they crucified two criminals, one to his right, the other to his left. People passing along the road jeered, shaking their heads in mock lament: “You bragged that you could tear down the Temple and then rebuild it in three days—so show us your stuff! Save yourself! If you’re really God’s Son, come down from that cross!”

31-32 The high priests, along with the religion scholars, were right there mixing it up with the rest of them, having a great time poking fun at him: “He saved others—but he can’t save himself! Messiah, is he? King of Israel? Then let him climb down from that cross. We’ll all become believers then!” Even the men crucified alongside him joined in the mockery.33-34 At noon the sky became extremely dark. The darkness lasted three hours. At three o’clock, Jesus groaned out of the depths, crying loudly, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?” 35-36 Some of the bystanders who heard him said, “Listen, he’s calling for Elijah.” Someone ran off, soaked a sponge in sour wine, put it on a stick, and gave it to him to drink, saying, “Let’s see if Elijah comes to take him down.”37-39 But Jesus, with a loud cry, gave his last breath. At that moment the Temple curtain ripped right down the middle. When the Roman captain standing guard in front of him saw that he had quit breathing, he said, “This has to be the Son of God!”

Lent is a complicated season on the church calendar, embracing both Lament and Celebration at the same moment. Grief, sorrow and weeping are inescapable within the truth of the Crucifiction. Conversely, celebration is demanded when one appreciates the depth and power of what occurred on the Cross. The gospel can be found at this intersection of those two realities. Jesus, promising ‘full life’ (Celebration), while embracing the label ‘man of sorrows’ (Lament). The Lenten season heightens our awareness of both, but offers great hope. The 40 days of Lent begin with Ash Wednesday on March 2, 2022. Let's continue to live at that intersection! If you have your own thoughts on the painting, please contact me.

-Ken Tank. 

In Many Ways, We’re All Just Big Kids!

Similar to building relationships with adolescents and growing a Club or a Campaigner group, building a community of adults “on mission” together in a local area often requires engaging them where they are at, and building bridges of friendship through shared experiences. Over the past several years, this kind of effort has been taking place in several locations for both men and women. Among these is “Man Camp” at Frontier Ranch.

“What is Man Camp?” you might ask. 

According to one past attendee, “Man Camp is an opportunity to invite my friends and my family to come and experience the best weekend of their life once a year.” In the words of another guy, “Man Camp is rest, it’s fun, but it’s being real.” And in the words of Young Life friend, independent artist and Man Camp musician, Christopher Williams, “It’s hanging out with dudes and learning more about Jesus!” (Check out this video for more!) 

The goal of this Young Life weekend camp is to “help men grow in relationship with God, each other and the Young Life mission.” Among the many benefits that flow out of this experience are closer relationships, growth in faith, practical help with life’s challenges, greater understanding of the Young Life mission globally and locally, and a trickle-down of relationships and resources to the local ministry. For many disconnected Young Life alumni, the invitation to go back to Young Life camp is not only an opportunity they have been hoping for, but it is also an opportunity for them to invite those who don’t have history with the mission! Many men are just waiting for Young Life to take the first step by inviting them to a place and an experience that was transformative in their life!

The need for opportunities like this for men cannot be overstated. According to recent Pew Research Center studies, of those who self-report as being religiously unaffiliated (“nones”), 57% are men while 43% are women. In the same survey, when asked about attendance at religious services, 35% of men said that they attend “seldom to never,” compared to 26% of women. Interestingly, when asked about “feeling wonder about the universe,” more men felt this way on a weekly basis than women! What better place to experience the wonder of God’s creation than at a Young Life property! 

Like most Young Life camps, Man Camp features terrific speaking, incredible music, informative seminars, fun activities and plenty of time to rest, reflect and build relationships. (By the way, last year we chose to take Man Camp virtual! You can enjoy Greg Hook’s messages here and here.)

Obviously, Man Camp is just one of many Young Life weekend camps that impact both men and women across the U.S. It is but one example of how mission community can be built while engaging adults at a Young Life property. If you would be interested in learning more about how to establish a men’s or women’s camp in your region or division, reach out to Jonathan at JSchultz@sc.younglife.org. 

For more information on our 2022 Man Camp weekend, go here.

*Survey Quotes from https://www.pewforum.org/religious-landscape-study/gender-composition/ 

“HELP! MY NIGHT JOB JUST BECAME A DAY JOB TOO”

Let’s face it, the demands of the Area Director job have changed. There is far more administrative work, training, meetings, and far more pressure to market what you’re doing in your area. 

I am seven  years removed from the AD role (and miss it every day because it truly is the best job in YL), and during these years I have been able to watch the changes happen slowly. All of the more stuff… is really good stuff. 

We have great things happening for us in the mission. 

• Our training for core and focus ministries improves daily, 

• our cultural intelligence as a mission is getting sharper by the minute, 

• Donor retention is improving due to our skilled communication and excellent care.

• We are Innovating.

•  We are experiencing the fruit of better supervision for staff. 

• We have identified some areas of growth regarding mission-wide belonging.   

…..I could go on and on about the benefits of more opportunities, trainings, initiatives and resources

However, there is no denying that more is simply more. Where do you find time for it all?  Wherever you area around this Global mission, our plates are full- Day & Night!.  How do you run a club on a Monday night, New Leader Training on a Tuesday night after you’ve already been at the JV game, Campaigners on Wednesday night, the varsity game on Thursday night, and Leadership on Friday night? 

You know you’ve all had weeks like that in your own unique context. That is the work we’re passionate about. Being on the campus, with people, meeting new kids, engaging leaders… that’s the work we love.

Is all of the more crowding our days so much that we no longer have energy for the night job … the actual job that we signed up for? Have we made our days so busy that we now have day jobs and night jobs? Or even worse… are you giving more effort to the day job and growing more and more frustrated with the sacrifices involved with having a night job?

In interviews, I now find myself looking for unicorns. People who have a deep love for Jesus, a passion for reaching lost kids, admirable character, high capacity, gifts of leadership, and incredible self discipline. You can be the total package but lack self discipline and this job will drown you. You’ll be tempted to work around the clock, becoming a terrible version of yourself. Your answer to everything will be yes and you’ll give your time to everything that feels urgent regardless of how important it is. 

If we want to do this job … really do this job… we have to be disciplined. Plan our time. Prioritize how we’ll spend our time and with who. Make sure we have plenty of margin to “waste” time with people. We have a job that requires a “ministry of presence,” as Henri Nowen calls it. Being with people is our work. Are we doing it? Please don’t let our day job crowd out the night job. 

Here is a PERSONAL EXERCISE to try:

1. Keep track of your week. Write down every appointment, Club, Contact Work,  Meetings, Office time etc. The only way you can assess your time accurately is if you are tracking it. 

2. Count up the hours and designate the day commitments and the night commitments. Take a hard look to see what tasks are truly ones YOU need to be doing and if there are others who can/should be involved. 

3. Now break down the time even further and see regain some margin to your day:

   • What can you cut out?  Make changes. 

   • What can you delegate?  Make changes. 

   • Are you taking on tasks that are another person’s responsibility? 

   • Is your week out of sync one way or another? Make adjustments.

   • Are there some tasks that can be done more efficiently or scheduled strategically (For example, combining fellowship dinners with committee AND leaders together from time to time to make one evening in a week, rather than two). 

4. Lastly, redesign your upcoming week with some specific changes designed to have a healthier tension between your  ‘day job’ and ‘night job’ and give it a try while making tweaks over the next several weeks to hopefully identify a healthier rhythm.  

Bonus: Find a mentor or member of your committee (maybe it’s your committee chair!) who can check in from time to time to see how you are doing with this balance. 

All the responsibilities we juggle over a 24 hour day are important but we can improve the way we carry them out.  It will require discipline and creativity. You will find yourself spending more time doing what you love: putting Christ and kids together!  

Written by: Ashley Flowers 

Why a Day of Prayer?

It all started (and continues) with prayer.

When telling the history of Young Life, it’s tempting to start with Jim Rayburn. As the founder he is the preeminent figure, yes, but chronologically he comes a little later in the story.

Prior to Jim’s arrival in Gainesville, Texas, a group of elderly women led by Clara Frasier faithfully prayed for six years for God to reach the teenagers at Gainesville High School. Jim arrived in 1939, and when he later learned of the praying ladies, he joined them!

“I was there a year before I heard about that prayer meeting. I used to go over there with those five or six old ladies and get down on my knees with them after that club started to roll. That was the thing the Lord used to start it.”

Let’S face it, in Young Life we’re often drawn to those we see up front: the charismatic leader, the commanding speaker, the hilarious program team and the gifted musician. No doubt each is important and has a critical role to play. 

However, only the Lord knows how much has been accomplished in the lives of kids (and adults) over the last 80 plus years through the humble prayers of women and men who may never garner a spotlight.

So why a missionwide day of prayer? 

There are many reasons we could list of course, but let’s focus on this one: it’s a beautiful reminder. Prayer acknowledges we are not in control of this precious work He has entrusted to us. 

Our mission statement declares we’re all about “Introducing adolescents to Jesus Christ and helping them grow in their faith.” We can introduce and we can help but we know only the Father can draw a person to faith in Jesus (John 6:44) and bring about growth in their lives (1 Corinthians 3:6). 

That allows us to simply be faithful, and one of the best ways is through prayer. God delights when we come to Him — in praise of who He is, with thanksgiving for all He’s done, in repentance of our sins and to intercede for others and their needs.

In Young Life this means pleading on behalf of kids. Jim Rayburn once said:

‘If we don't pray for these kids, who's praying for them? We may be the only person in that child's life that breathes their name in prayer.’" 

What a privilege, what a joy, what an opportunity to praise the Father and breathe the names of kids up in prayer alongside our brothers and sisters scattered around the globe! Yes, we pray throughout the year, but for two days every year we can raise up our voices in unison to the One who invites us to approach His throne of grace with confidence.

The theme for this spring’s Day of Prayer is “Restore.” On March 1, may you sense great restoration personally and corporately as part of this wonderful worldwide calling. 

Young Life Day of Prayer Resources

Written by: Jeff Chesemore

Can I Do “All Things?”

There is a sneaky, devious, and—I dare say—evil distortion that tells us that our human limitations are “bad” or wrong. We all like to think we can do it all, but we don’t always have a healthy, or right, approach. 

I don’t presume to know the motives behind those who promote these messages. Yet these messages are dangerous, unhealthy, and untrue. Most of the time they are a call to walk in faith and meant to encourage risk-taking. They grow from promises that we can do all things, that nothing is impossible, and that if we trust God, we will be able to do what we never could otherwise. 

While these promises are true, this type of thinking is a deceptive lie that encourages us to think our created limitations are wrong. It confuses our sinful lack of faith in God with our God-given, created limitations. The most easily identifiable of these Christian messages comes from an isolated and out-of- context Bible verse: Philippians 4:13. It’s usually shortened to something like, “I can do all things.” 

This all-too- common tendency is ultimately rooted in a wrong understanding of Jesus and of ourselves. As I show in the book, all of us—including many Christians—look at the life of Jesus Christ, and we assume we are meant to be his equal in every way. Jesus Christ is human and we are human, so we should strive to be like Jesus, right? But this (false) Christian logic neglects an important difference. While Jesus was fully human, he was also uniquely God. And even though we should seek to be like Jesus, that does not mean we become like God in every way. In some ways we become like God, but in many other ways we remain subject to God’s created limitations. The faulty logic works like this: 

God has no limits.
Jesus is God.
Jesus has no limits.
Jesus is human.
I am human.
I have no limits (through Christ). 

This line of thinking tempts us not to think twice when we read, “I can do all things through Christ,” and to assume this statement means that as Christians our human limits have been expanded or redefined. But this assumption ignores a key difference between Jesus, who has two natures, and you and me. 

We don’t become God. We remain human, with all our created limitations, and learn to follow Jesus by faith, walking in the power of God’s Holy Spirit. Grasping this difference is one of the keys to embracing our God-given limits as good limits.

In The Good News of Our Limits: Find Greater Peace, Joy, and Effectiveness through God’s Gift of Inadequacy, I urge us to embrace the blessedness of our limitations and adopt a few key biblical and practical skills to better balance our lives.

Written by: Sean McGever, PhD smcgever@gmail.com

THERE IS ALWAYS MORE THAN ONE WAY!

We have all had to become inventive over the past few years. Our routine has been hijacked, our discomfort level pushed, and our plans disrupted so just like that, we became INNOVATORS. Now, entering another calendar year of the new normal, words like disruption, epidemic, pivot, ‘super-spreader,’ and herd immunity roll off the tongue…sort of.  

In Young Life, I have had the privilege of working with a group that has been tasked with thinking about Innovation and how Young Life not only survives, but thrives during this season. We see hope and are convinced that if we are aware of the innovative opportunities in front of us we could ultimately be more relevant in engaging adolescents as a mission over the next several decades then ever.  Recently, it has been encouraging to witness how staff around the mission are ‘finding a way’ to reach more kids, the next kid and especially the furthest out kid. 

Innovation is foundational to our faith and rooted in our mission’s history. The Incarnation and the Cross are both innovations that changed the world.  Jesus is an innovator:   the  39 Parables and 37 Miracles found in the New Testament Gospels are in some sense, his way of using creative means to reach humankind.  

What is unique about God’s methods is his desire to include us in the process. Jesus’s plan for reaching the world is men and women. An example of the role we all play in sharing the good news can be seen in Acts 10 through the interaction between a roman soldier, a disciple and an angel.  The Roman Centurion, Cornelius, was living in Caesarea. He’s described as a good man, disciplined, responsible and courageous. He had a heart that sought God and had questions. Through an encounter with an angel, he was instructed to send for Simon Peter as a person who would  be able to answer his questions. Interestingly, the angel arranged the meeting but the disciple shared his message. Perhaps God knew that a man would be able to relate, connect or empathize. Whatever the reason, God seems to like to reach people through people.

Whatever current definition you embrace around the culture of Innovation, FINDING A WAY seems to say it all.  It is exactly what Jim Rayburn was ‘charged’ to do in Gainesville, Texas 80 years ago and what we passionately continue to do today. 

The  team I serve with have had success in discovering new ways  to reach every kid.  Below you will see three short videos on how WyldLife, Young Life College, and The YL Leader Blog are serving the Field by partnering in innovation.  Watch the videos and feel free to contact the staff through the link provided if you are interested in learning more. 

A God who can transform water into wine, would also like to transform communities and hearts. Finding a way may mean that the traditional ways are  blocked. It also implies that a new opportunity is there, just not seen  yet! It is our privilege to see them and share them. That is hope! 

WyldLife  (Julie Clapp)

Young Life College (Kenny Nollan) 

YL Leader Blog (Drew Hill)  

Written by: Ken Tankersley

THE 3 MINUTE VIDEO YOUR AREA WILL USE FOR THE NEXT 3 YEARS!

What would be the perfect video for your Young Life Ministry? 

Seriously. Think about it. 

If there was one video that had the qualities you needed all year long what would that look like? If you’re anything like the Young Life staff we have made videos for here is what we know. 

- You would love a tool that can share what your Young Life ministry does, moves the heart of the viewer but doesn’t confuse them. 

- You would want it to not only ask for donations but also be used to recruit leaders or committees. 

- You don’t like the one size fits all approach because your Young Life ministry is unique in who it reaches and where it does ministry.  

That is why we made this guide to The 3 Minute Young Life Overview Video.

Direct download here: missionaryfilms.org/ylov

After helping hundreds of Young Life Ministries over the past 15 years I found that this flow works best in creating your video to meet most of the needs of a Young Life ministry throughout the year. 

With this guide of an overview video you can partner with your local videographer, film it all on your phone or DSLR, give it to your intern, or hire me to do it. The video will work great for fundraising events as the audience is geared toward people who don’t know about Young Life or are just too busy to notice. This step by step guide will give you a clear vision for what the video needs to look like. 

Having a video like this will help you share your ministry at:

• Banquets

• Online fundraising events

• As a link in your email signature

• On the landing page of your website

• Sent as primer for a meeting with a donor

• Sent to a leader for recruitment or a candidate for committee. 

• Or used in a church to share what your ministry is doing. 

After you make it, then you will have a unique ministry overview video that doesn’t confuse the viewer but shares your mission with your visuals and your people speaking the parts.

Once you have this video you will be able to use it for at least the next 2-3 years. And even after that you can update it as needed to make it last longer. 

Here are some examples of the flow in use:

Desert Cities Young Life: http://younglife.missionaryfilms.org/video/529148403

Gallatin Valley, Montana: http://younglife.missionaryfilms.org/video/490255726

Tricities, Washington http://younglife.missionaryfilms.org/video/451373406

Liberia, Africa: http://younglife.missionaryfilms.org/video/343575121

Phillippines: http://younglife.missionaryfilms.org/video/296225052

If you need help with this, a custom video, or are confused by part of this, reach out to Young Life creative services, or to me directly.

Ashley Maddox (wam@missionaryfilms.org)

Onboarding with Intention: Growing Your Committee

Your prospective committee members probably know enough about Young Life to be interested and they have probably a foggy idea of what a nonprofit board is all about. But, what’s next? How do you onboard them in an efficient (we’re mostly volunteers here, right?), yet effective way. 

Many times, we bring people onto our committees and they have no clue what our purpose is, what we’re working toward, and what their role is in the group. While we have good intentions to make our committees organized and moving together to support the Area, it can feel clumsy at best. 

Our committee has been at a point where we need to grow our committee. We’d been laying the groundwork for a couple years after hiring a new Area Director in our area and in our committee. So, we thought we’d share a few elements of our current process to onboard new members to our committee. 

1. Confirm committee structure. We worked with our NEW Area Director to ensure what structure and roles work for the staff, Area goals, and needs. We spent time to ensure we had buy-in on all key players on the direction we’re going.

2. Date our Committee: Get to know Us. Invite committee members to “date” our committee for six months. During this time, the goal is to get to know each other and see what roles the prospective member might best fit in.

This document is intended to share with prospective committee members. It includes the following sections:

1. Activities to do to get to know the Area in the first six months

2. Young Life’s Statement of Faith

3. Our Area’s Top Areas of Focus

4. Purpose of Young Life Committees

5. Our Staff - Overview

6. Our Current Committee Members - Overview

7. Our Committee’s Biggest Needs Currently and our Current Subcommittees

*We also created separate documents that lay out more specifics around some of the main subcommittees. Examples are RCE Crew, and Leader Care Crew. 

1. Six Month Checkpoint: Prospective Committee Members will follow up and meet with Area Director and Committee Chair to discuss if they want to dive in as an official committee member and what core role on the committee might be right for them. 

2. Committee Immersion: We set up this document to organize information about who we are as a committee. It includes the following sections:

   1. Activities we expect committee members to participate in outside of our monthly committee meetings. These are ways to get to know Young Life, our leaders, local ministry, and more! 

   2. Committee Expectations

   3. Committee Core Values

We want to provide committee members with some foundational information, yet not overwhelm them! We are still very much IN-PROCESS with these documents, procedures, and content here, but we hope it’s helped give ideas for your own framework or process. If you have any tips of what’s worked for your own committee onboard, please send them my way!

Written by: Valerie Morris (valerie.l.morris@gmail.com, Committee Chair, Douglas County, CO

Fundraising with Millennials in Mind

This Barna study on Millennials is a great resource, and we can learn a lot from it - especially in terms of fundraising. I was asked to give a ‘Young Life Development & Fundraising’ response to this study. A lot of interesting things came up from our discussion around how to engage Millennials. 

First, we need to make sure we reframe how we think of the term “millennial” because they’re no longer the “kids” just getting out into the world. The largest segment of American society, the Millennials (born 1980-2001) are coming of age, and are actually now a huge base of the adults around our Young Life communities (from leaders, to committee members to donors, and even staff). 

They will receive the largest intergenerational transfer of wealth in American history (estimated 58.1 trillion dollars).  Nonetheless, compared to previous generations, they are more likely to be religiously unaffiliated and less likely to believe in God.  Thus, the impact of this on how Millennials give and to whom is a growing issue for Young Life staff & committee’s seeking to raise funds from this generation.  

Here are several characteristics of Millennials that affect their philanthropy:

• They give impulsively

• They want their contribution to achieve results for a cause.

• They prefer events and peer-based giving.  

Peers are a significant influence for Millennials:

• They prefer to learn about opportunities from peers.

• They are willing to help raise funds for causes they care about, usually by calling on friends and family.

• The influence of an individual on his friends is substantial.

So, how do we approach Millennials in our own fundraising efforts? 

• Get moving: As Young Life Staff and Committees, consider teaching and mentoring Millennials on biblical generosity, but do this in the context of action. (Challenge – have your committee do a Journey of Generosity ‘JOG’ and then spin out and do smaller ones with groups of Millennials) https://generousgiving.org/events/jog/ We have facilitators in YL who can do this. Having Millennials on your committee engaging their friends will be a critical strategy with this generation.  

• Diversify your donor base: Anticipate (and strive for) smaller dollar amounts from a larger number of Millennial donors. The high-net worth individual giver model will likely not be effective with this population segment.

• Focus on impact: Consider engaging Millennials around a strategy or vision of IMPACT and not a financial need.

• Incorporate participation, not just a donation: Consider a spectrum of ways for Millennials to participate in ministry, starting with small, even virtual, but not insignificant ways, leading to larger, more co-creative ways.

• Transparency: Make sure our ministries are open and transparent in all financial activities.

• Encourage them to share: Since Millennials are influenced by peers and family in significant ways, encourage sharing and provide clear and accurate ways for donors to bring friends and family along in the process. Activities like our family camps, women’s retreats, and men’s retreats can be a great way to engage this population. 

• Relationships still matter: Do not focus overly on technology as if it alone defines this group. They use technology, almost seamlessly, but mostly as a means to relationship.

• Build trust through relationships: They value and desire authentic, trusted relationships. (Relationship Centered Engagement).  This is Young Life!!

“Millennial giving to efforts of evangelism and discipleship will involve building trust by helping Millennials see the true impact of their gifts, as well as opportunities to give beyond the financial. If a Millennial donor sees their giving as accessible, engaging, and meaningful, more than likely they will let their peer networks know. When this happens, giving becomes timeless, transcendent of generations—when a friend invites us to come along, we follow.”  This is RCE!  

When it comes down to it, the Millennial adults in our communities are not that different from any other adult we’ve encountered. Honestly, they’re not that different from any other kid too! We all want relationship and human interaction. Sitting face to face with a donor and inviting them to partner will always be the most effective way to fundraise - with ANY generation.  

Written by: Jamie Hanson, jhanson@sc.younglife.org

s:ne (Young Life is simple not easy)

I want to be a Do It Yourself (DIY) guy but I’m not. I don’t think I have the gifts and I am pretty sure I don’t have the patience, so when I do venture into the rough waters of taking on a project I want it to be ‘as advertised.’ If it looks simple, let's keep it simple. Nothing is more disruptive to my schedule and damaging to my ego than having something simple be surprisingly hard. There are countless things in our everyday lives that seem simple but are not easy. I’ve listed a few below:

• Waking up without an alarm

• Matching sock

• Inserting a USB stick

• Untangling headphones

• Folding a fitted sheet

• Replacing tiny screws on reading glasses

• Investing in the stock market

• Using the motion sensor on a bathroom faucet

• Replacing windshield wipers

• Getting the last bit of dust in a dustpan

• Asking someone out on a date

• Remembering a grocery list

• Studying online

On paper they look doable but a few moments later, no instruction manual, YouTube tutorial or step-by-step process seems to help. I’ve been a Young Life leader for decades on all types of teams and contexts and several times a year I reach the same conclusion. Doing good Young Life is SIMPLE but not EASY!

Now, when I say Young Life is simple, I mean elegantly simple!

After 80 years as a mission, we have refined the elements of the Young Life mission down to a fine point.

We know three things:

1. We know CHRIST.

2. We know KIDS.

3. We know HOW TO PUT THEM TOGETHER!

And our methods seem reasonable too!

● We PRAY for them.

● We GO where they are.

● We EARN the right to be heard.

● We PROVIDE opportunities to experience Christ.

● We INVITE them to respond.

● We EQUIP them for a life of faith.

● We WORK alongside a mission community.

So what’s the problem? Why does a goal that seems simple not seem easy? I think it is because we are in the business of relationships, faithfulness, transformation, brokenness, forgiveness and PEOPLE!

This work of Young Life is not like tying your shoes. It is hard, costly, slow and will change you and anyone you come in contact with. We are talking about the long journey from repentance to belief. It makes sense to me that the most common phrase from the mouth of Jesus is “follow me.”

Simple.

In the Gospel of Mark, you can find that phrase 17 times. Up to Mark chapter eight, “follow me” means one thing: “Give me your PRESENCE.” After Mark 8:34, “follow me” means something totally different: “Give me your LIFE.”“Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said:‘Whoever wants to be my disciplemust deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.’” — Mark 8:34, NIV Now that is not easy! Through the 16 chapters in Mark, I think Jesus might be saying, “I told you it (faith) was simple, but it (discipleship) is going to be hard.”

Basically:The simplicity of the gospel makes it ATTAINABLE.The challenge of embracing a faith for a lifetime makes it VALUABLE. So let's do something hard. Let’s share the gospel with our presence and our whole lives today! I would love to hear your thoughts.

“Following Jesus is simple, but not easy. Love until it hurts and then go love more.”— Mother Teresa

By Ken “Tank” Tankersley, Senior Vice President, Community Networks

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5.4 Friday Discipleship/Training Archive

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Finding a Way with Military Students