The thought of restarting local Young Life contact work, campaigners, and club is even sweeter than it is typically in the fall. I keep thinking about one of the best descriptions of Young Life I have ever heard: “Young Life in a community is a social movement empowered by the Holy Spirit.”
“Social movement” is foundational; it’s incarnation. Intentional invitations. Real friendships. Leaders and campaigner kids being the aroma of Christ in the halls and the stands. Generous amounts of time with kids.
“Empowered by the Holy Spirit” is life changing: New kids are pulled in weekly. Love of God invasion. Total life transformation. Complete forgiveness. Eternal celebration. 2 Timothy 2:2 is a model for how multiplication changes a school and keeps on multiplying through the world.
In my humble opinion, to re-start this fall we will have to simplify and focus on what is critical and most important:
1. Let’s meet as many kids as possible and start genuine and real friendships! (a social movement)
2. Let’s seek the Lord on behalf of kids and pray for the Holy Spirit to empower our ministry! Paul said it this way from a prison cell. Colossians 4:2-4 – “Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should.”
Here is a great question to consider as we get restarted this fall:
What if our campaigner kids were at the center of “a social movement empowered by the Holy Spirit” in their school!? Just leaders at the center is OK. Leaders AND campaigners students would be amazing. Campaigner kids have 100% access to the social heartbeat of the school and they have the Holy Spirit in them! Campaigner-centered ministry is hands down the most energizing, discipling, multiplying, faith-infusing, joy-inducing, future-leader-producing endeavor that I have ever been a part of. How can we put our campaigners in the very center?
As I start my 34th year as a Young Life leader in our local club, I keep trying to help kids learn how to PRAY and to seek the Lord to join with the Holy Spirit to impact lives. Here are two practices that I keep coming back to:
1. Having a weekly prayer meeting (additional to campaigner meetings) with our most motivated campaigners. “Friday morning prayer” at 6:30 am will be starting its 10th year running. We pray for each other AND for an ever-growing list of friends we want to know the Lord.
2. At the end of Campaigners pray in a CIRCLE FACING INWARD for each other, and then pray in a CIRCLE FACING OUTWARD to pray for our friends in our school.
**TRY THIS: I have found that when we physically gather to pray (additional to campaigners) AND when we physically face IN AND OUT when we pray, our campaigner kids join with the movement of the Spirit and catch a vision for ministry for the rest of their lives. Teaching kids to pray and praying with kids has become a consistent best practice for me. We have seen many of our “kids who pray” become Young Life leaders and future world changers. In the picture around the table, six of the kids I can see are currently Young Life leaders in college.
Written by: Rich Dargenio