We all know that the work we’re doing has a long-term impact, but so often we actually have very near-sighted vision. We look at what is right in front of us during the teen years (and rightly so!), but we forget that there’s a whole lifetime that happens after a student leaves our clubs. But, what if we put on a new pair of lenses to look through and consider what would happen if we intentionally engaged our students for their entire lifetime?!
In YoungLives, we’ve recently started dreaming and considering what it looks like to engage our club kids beyond just the years we have them in our traditional clubs. It makes sense, when our leaders are highly engaged in not just the students’ life, but their child(ren) too. The mentoring that happens in YoungLives is often deeper and wider than it is with traditional Young Life contact work because we’re talking about parenting, housing/resources for their families, emotions, faith, and all of the other things you’d expect from a teenager. So, it was a natural fit for our leaders to start seeing ways to engage our moms beyond their teenage years.
As a result, we’ve built up a focus around our YoungLives Alumni. We’ve seen these informal groups popping up all over the country - and often without even realizing that the other similar groups existed already! We don’t have a formal program, or a formal name for this, but we’re engaging our moms with discipleship, personal development, and service beyond just high school or college age.
Here are some first hand stories from the field of these new blessings and experiences:
“We have doubled our Next Generation leaders of YoungLives Alumni! Growth has spurred on motivation to fundraise for the opportunity to diversify our Childcare teams so that we can see more YoungLives alumni serving in that capacity. Teen moms are meeting Jesus in the Southeast. Tennessee and Georgia joined together for a weekend camp recently, 24 teen heard about the extravagant love that Jesus has for them.”” – April Jackson, Divisional Coordinator SE
“Braelynn Cooper, former YoungLives participant now leading a metro area in North Puget Sound, WA. Inviting her into more, to expand her influence in this region and beyond. She is continuing to develop the pipeline of teen mamas through "Beyond" - ongoing discipleship and development for young women, age 21+. Can't wait to see how the fruit of ministry over 18 years in her community will continue to flourish!”
- Heather Hoglund Divisional Coordinator NW
You don’t have to minister to teen moms to see the catch the same vision, and what we’re doing is something anyone could do. You have kids who never went off to college, are home from on a break, or who live in other places but you have this thing called the Internet keeping you connected. Consider how you could be discipling them, growing with them, and engaging with them more. They might become mentors to your current students, members of your committee, or a shoulder you turn to when you’re in need.
There’s richness and longevity to the work we’re doing here. We just have to be willing to look a little bit beyond the people right in front of us and we’ll see there are huge opportunities for us to pour into others and for them to pour right back to us.
Some Questions to Consider as You Think About Your Own Multi-Generational Impact:
- How are you staying connected 'beyond' your formal ministry years?
- What is your vision for the students you know now 5,10,15 years in the future?
- How are you staying connected and making sure you don't lose touch?
- What would be one strategic idea you could implement to have a significant effect on this group? a. A committee person keep track. b. Alumni event c. Reunion. d. consistent communication and encouragement in their faith e. a small group for graduates? f. partnership with churches etc.
Written by Karil Connor