Relationships Winter 2015

LOSS, COURAGE AND RENEWAL IN MALAWI

Winter 2015 | Vol. 28 Issue 3

PORTRAITS IN HOPE AT YOUNGLIVES CAMP BRINGING CAMP TO THE

CARIBBEAN ONE FAMILY’S YOUNG LIFE

JOURNEY

contents 5 9 13 17

WINTER 2015

BRINGING CAMP TO THE CARIBBEAN How God used a staff person’s passion to produce the first-ever Young Life camp in Eleuthera.

SARAH, WANANGWA, LUSAYO

Loss, courage and renewal in Malawi.

SIMILAR PURSUITS

A persistent leader sees her tenacity reflected in the life of a high school friend.

BEAUTIFUL THINGS

A “cautionary” tale of what God can accomplish through one person’s vision.

ABOUT THE COVER Because “you never get a second chance to make a first impression,” the greeting is a critical part of every camp week.

When campers arrive, they’re welcomed by cheers, applause, high fives and fist bumps from work crew and summer staff.

The celebration communicates “we’re so glad YOU are here and about to experience the best week of your life!”

Cover Photo by Josh Couper

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IN EVERY ISSUE

FROM THE PRESIDENT IN YOUR OWN WORDS YOUNG LIFE LITE PASSAGES FROM THE GRAPEVINE YOUNG LIFE SPOKEN HERE PARTING SHOTS

11 PORTRAITS IN HOPE Capturing teen moms during a week at YoungLives camp.

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fromthepresident FOLLOW THE MAN CARRYING THE WATER

Jesus has prepared a place for us … He is trustworthy … and we are in good hands when we place ours in the hands of the Master.”

— Denny Rydberg

I’m sure there were times in the disciples’ lives when, after Jesus told them to do something, their reaction might have been, “Are you kidding me? You want me to do that?!”

Mark 14:12-16 is one of those times. It’s the Passover — the preeminent Jewish celebration — and the disciples are wondering where they will celebrate the deliverance of the Israelites from the Egyptians by the hand of their loving and powerful God. Jesus tells two of His disciples (Mark doesn’t tell us who they are, but Luke does — Peter and John) to do something that sounds strange from the start. “Go into the city and a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him. Say to the owner of the house he enters, ‘The Teacher asks: Where is my guest room where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?’”

Jerusalem at this time would have been jammed. Thousands of pilgrims came to the city during Passover and the crowds would have been immense. How would you find one specific man in that congested place? They were to look for a man carrying a jar of water. That might have helped some because it would have been highly unusual to see a man carrying water (traditionally a woman’s job in that culture), but it would still have seemed impossible with the thousands of people walking about.

And the man with the water was only part of the solution. They were to follow him to a house and ask the owner where the room was. What if they couldn’t find the man? What if the owner of the house said, “There are no guest rooms available.

Others made their reservations way before you.” Or, “I have no idea who you are. Now get out of here!”

But that didn’t happen. They found the man carrying water, they met the owner of the house and what he had for them was the best: “a large room upstairs, furnished and ready.” It was not a cramped space in a dirty corner of the house. It was large, it was upstairs (maybe with a view and access to a cool breeze), and it was furnished and ready. Jesus had told them “make preparations for us there” but it doesn’t sound like the two disciples would have much to do. So many preparations had already been made!

Jesus could have made this a whole lot simpler. He could have said, “Go to 320 Date Street; you know where that is. Mr. Shadrach is the owner and he’s expecting you.

I’ve paid him in advance and he will have a nice room for you. Make sure it’s ready.”

But He didn’t. He told them to go, and they went not knowing if they’d be able to find the person in the crowd, much less a man carrying water.

I think because Peter and John did what Jesus asked, and because they were obedient, they were able to walk away from this experience saying, “You can always trust Jesus. It happened just as He said it would!” And, “When Jesus does something, He does it well. Can you believe the house, the room, the furnishings, the preparations?

What an amazing person we follow.” And maybe even, “Can you believe what we would have missed if we had said, ‘Jesus, find someone else to do this. We’ve got too much on our plates already.’”

Jesus has prepared a place for us. Now. Later in life. And finally at our death (or “promotion to glory” as our friends in the Salvation Army say). He says, “I have gone to prepare a place for you.” He is trustworthy, He is amazing, He is generous, He does all things well and we are in good hands when we place ours in the hands of the Master.

In Young Life, He is also preparing places for lost kids. And we get to be part of the preparation. Let’s remember to obey Jesus and follow the guy with the water.

Denny Rydberg Young Life President

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inyourownwords OUR READERS SHARE THEIR THOUGHTS

“One of the Originals” In the summer of 2013, I took a “Bro’s Trip” with some of my buddies out to The Grand Tetons. While the mountains, campfires, bears, elk, moose, bison, glacial lakes and forest fires were incredible, my favorite part was easily a conversation I had with an 85-year-old woman.

We had just hiked 10 miles out of the backcountry after spending several days in the middle of nowhere and desperate for anything tasting like regular food. We stumbled upon Colter Bay Village, where there is one convenience store and one gas station.

Inside the store, a sweet lady working there (who could have been my grandma’s sister) asked me, “What is Young Life?” I immediately froze, wondering how she knew so much about my life. How did she know I’ve spent nearly every living hour thinking about Young Life for the past five years? Then, I looked down and realized I was wearing my favorite black Young Life T-shirt.

I stuttered at first, hoping to buy myself some time to decide if I wanted to start preaching or just end the conversation as quickly as possible. I mustered up the sentence, “It’s a faith-based organization I’ve volunteered with for the past five years back home in Michigan.”

She glanced around — making sure the coast was clear of her boss — then leaned in slowly and said, “I know, honey, that’s where I found Christ in 1954.” Immediately I started doing the math, and concluded this woman was around 85 years old. “I’m one of the originals,” she said. “I met Christ at Young Life camp that summer and I’ve been walking with Him every day since. Life is much better with Him, wouldn’t ya say?”

Yep. I would agree with you on that one, Loraine.

We enjoyed a deep 20-minute conversation while the rest of my hiking crew downed their donuts and chocolate milk. That conversation was a religious experience, as if the presence of God was there with us, facilitating the conversation, and laughing and smiling with us as we shared our stories.

I tried to quit Young Life last year “because I was too busy,” but after a summer off, I just couldn’t do it. I lost so much purpose during my time off. I’ve got too much love to invest and Loraine reminded me of that.

— Spencer Vanderheide Grand Rapids, Mich.

younglife.org P.O. Box 520 Colorado Springs, CO 80901

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

Relationships magazine is published three times a year (spring, fall and winter) by Young Life.

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

Publisher/President Denny Rydberg

Copy Editor Jessica Williams

Executive Editor Terry Swenson

Lead Designer Rob Huff

Lead Editor Jeff Chesemore Coordinator Donna McKenzie

Contributing Photographers Chuck Jamison Chris Lassiter Mark Schulz

Young Life is a Charter Member of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability.

younglifelite

BY STACY WINDAHL

BIGGER OR BETTER

Mitchel and his Bible.

What’s a paper clip worth? That depends. If you’re a club kid at Skyview High School in Billings, Montana, one measly paper clip can get you a box fan or even a small sofa. For one Skyview freshman, a paper clip unlocked the words of eternal life.

Themed clubs are the norm in Billings. Leaders there have planned and promoted an Awesome ’80s Club, a Breakfast Club, an Ice Blocking Club and even an All-City Jello Wrestling Club. So a St. Patrick’s Day club themed “Bigger or Better” should not have caused leader Thomas Staffileno any stress. But it did.

The club was going to feature a scavenger hunt game in which teams scatter, going door-to-door to trade an insignificant item, like a paper clip, for something bigger or better or both. The team that manages to parlay the insignificant item to something of greatest value, size or weight, wins. Despite the enthusiasm of his three fellow leaders who are also his roommates, Staffileno was apprehensive. “I couldn’t picture kids, in the dark and cold — on St. Patrick’s Day — knocking on doors and asking for stuff going very well.” The game went far better (and bigger) than Staffileno expected. His group scored a loveseat, while another traded up for a dishwasher. The winning team of guys, including a freshman named Mitchel, managed to trade up for the unknown miscellany in three, 30-gallon garbage bags — the unsold remnants from a garage sale. When the team dumped out their loot in the club room, Staffileno said, “It covered the floor. Stuff went everywhere.” Retro clothes, VHS movies, a toy train, a Marine’s uniform and a guitar. All of it was shared among the group.

That night, everyone went home a winner.

Especially Mitchel. Unbeknownst to any of the leaders, Mitchel had spotted a black leather Bible in the pile of discards. This Bible, given to “Susan” by her grandparents in 1959, Mitchel claimed for himself. A few weeks later Mitchel told Staffileno he’d been learning more about God and spending more time with Him. “Why is that?” Staffileno asked. “Well, I’ve never really had a Bible of my own before, and I took a Bible home from Bigger or Better and it’s been really special to me. I’ve been reading it every morning. Having a special Bible has helped me develop a relationship with God because it’s fun to read and I’m understanding it more.”

Mitchel continued, “I’ve been praying and reading and it’s made me more excited about Young Life!”

Young Life leaders employ all kinds of gimmicks, games and tools to get kids’ attention and focus it — if just for a lingering moment — on something bigger and better than they can imagine.

Bigger than a loveseat.

More valuable than a dishwasher.

For the price of a paper clip, bartered for a leprechaun’s hat, traded for three garbage bags, Mitchel pulled a forgotten Bible from someone else’s trash and discovered for himself an everlasting treasure.

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Bringing Camp to the

Caribbean

How God used a staff person’s passion to produce the first-ever Young Life camp in Eleuthera.

BY CHRIS LASSITER Like all Young Life leaders, Sarah Starr wrestled with how to get all of her Young Life kids to camp.

There was only one small barrier.

The Atlantic Ocean.

Then Starr, who is on staff on the Bahamian island of Eleuthera, had a great idea.

She wouldn’t take the kids of Eleuthera to camp. She would take camp to the kids of Eleuthera.

“I’m in love with these kids,” Starr said. “I wasn’t willing to settle for just, ‘Oh, let’s throw a couple of hours together and call it a day.’ So we started dreaming about what it would look like to run a large-scale camp like in the U.S. We asked a lot of people to pray with us and dream with us.”

Sarah and her husband, Ben, enlisted the help of a 25-person work crew. Each volunteer came from the United States through the Young Life Expeditions program.

Together, they turned the Eleuthera Bible Training Center into a Young Life camp for a week.

Complete with beautiful beach excursions, lovable run-on characters, field games, high-energy songs and nightly club talks, the firstever Young Life camp A joyous time at camp. in Eleuthera was a smashing success.

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A LONG TIME COMING It wasn’t the pink sand beaches or the picturesque blue waters that made Sarah Starr fall in love with the 110-mile island of Eleuthera.

It was — and remains — the people.

In 2009, Starr was a 19-year-old who had come on a mission trip between her sophomore and junior years at the University of North Carolina. When she returned to the states, a large piece of her heart stayed on that island.

She began wondering how she could combine her love for Young Life with her love for the people of Eleuthera.

A phone call from Lee Corder, the senior vice president of Young Life’s International North Division, came on the day when she had to make a decision about her future.

“He said, ‘We know that you love Young Life and we know that you love Eleuthera. What do you think about starting Young Life there?’” Starr said, remembering back.

Her answer, of course, was yes.

Ten days later, Starr met with Corder and the rest of the Caribbean Young Life staff, and signed on to start Young Life in Eleuthera.

It’s the hardest and most rewarding thing she’s ever done.

“I had no idea what I was doing,” Starr said, admittedly. “I thought, ‘Oh, since I’ve been coming here off and on for so long, I’ll have plenty of friends.’”

Eventually, but not immediately.

“I cried myself to sleep for the first month,” Starr said. “I’ve never been so lonely but not lonely. I was totally away from people, totally away from my support system, totally at the mercy of whatever the Lord was going to throw at me next. And, oddly enough, the people He threw at me were teenage girls. Those were my friends until Ben and I were married a year later.”

Slowly but surely, Young Life started to grow as well. Through trial and error, Starr found an effective time and place for clubs at several of the high schools. She was able to train leaders, and kids began coming to club. That momentum carried over to the first-ever camp on the island.

Ben, who teamed with Starr for a hilarious “Dancing With the ‘Starrs’” run-on, thought camp was perfect.

“I loved seeing all the kids so excited,” Ben said. “Walls were broken down, and they stepped outside of their norm as the tough guy or tough girl with an attitude and just had fun and let loose.”

WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM MY FRIENDS Of course, it takes more than Young Life leaders to run a camp.

Starr was able to recruit a work crew through Young Life Expeditions, a program that utilizes short-term ministry partnerships to assist international Young Life ministries.

San Diego State junior Dorothy Dumitru’s initial plan to serve with Young Life fell through for the summer, but that’s when a friend told her about Young Life Expeditions.

Dumitru made the trip all the way to the Bahamas to be part of Eleuthera’s first-ever camp. The kids were picked up and dropped off each day of camp. When the bus arrived each morning, the first thing campers would see would be the smiling faces of Dumitru and the work crew inviting the kids to participate in some type of crazy game.

“It’s been great being able to bring joy to people in that way,” Dumitru said. “It’s amazing, just watching the Young Life kids build relationships.”

Stephanie Dunn is a volunteer leader at Deep Run High School in Richmond, Virginia. She served as work crew boss for the week.

Even though camp was tailored to fit the kids in Eleuthera — such as transporting kids to and from camp daily — Dunn could immediately recognize the Young Life DNA that makes camp special.

“What I love is that we’re coming back and doing stuff that is the heart and soul of Young Life,” Dunn said.

It’s amazing, just watching the Young Life kids build relationships.

Sporting their new Eleuthera Young Life camp shirts.

Continued on page 7

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Continued from page 6 Eleutheran kids enjoy their time at the beach, playing games and being with Sarah Starr, the leader who envisioned this camp week.

“Walls are being broken down during the day, and they are getting to hear the Gospel at night in a way that a lot of them haven’t heard before. It works because it’s the Gospel, and it works because it’s relational.”

Keith Doster is the on-the-ground missionary director for the Eleuthera Bible Training Center. He also plays a large role in Young Life flourishing on the island. Doster was impressed with Young Life’s concept of work crew.

“This was completely different than what we do when we facilitate short-term mission teams here,” Doster said. “The campers really accepted what we were doing and understood it, even though it was different than anything they’ve ever seen. That was surprising to me.

It worked out well, and it was because of the work crew we had.”

BEST WEEK EVER Sixteen-year-old D.J., a rising junior at Central Eleuthera High School, heard about Young Life camp on the island, and it made him curious.

He decided to sign up and see for himself.

And he’s so glad he did.

“It turns out that it was awesome,” said D.J., one of the best dancers at camp who loved the beach excursions. “I’m very glad I signed up. I probably would have just been home relaxing and chilling.”

Because the kids were bused to and from camp each day, the discussions with leaders after the club talks were referenced as small groups instead of cabin time. The small group discussions were the best part of camp to Kes, an 18-year-old who recently graduated from Windemere High School. One of the highlights of camp was a spoken word piece Kes shared at the final dinner of camp.

“I really like expressing how I feel about certain situations and seeing how other people feel about it,” the Eleuthera teenager said.

The only thing Kes would change about camp is the length.

“I love it,” she said. “It needs to be longer. Maybe a month.”

Starr was equally excited about the first-ever Young Life camp in Eleuthera.

“It went way better than I could have ever imagined,” Starr said. “For us to have kids who are ready and waiting at the bus stops and don’t want to go home at night, that has never happened in the whole history of what we do. It’s not culturally something that happens. That is something I’ve never seen before, and it makes me excited for what our year will look like.”

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passages JAMES “FROG” SULLIVAN 1927 - 2014

BY JEFF CHESEMORE

thousands of kids through the mission of Young Life.

One such kid was Mal McSwain, who would also go on to become a beloved longtime Young Life staff member.

McSwain remembered his first encounter with Sullivan, when the high schooler arrived at his first club. “Frog got up to lead singing, and I had seen him everywhere but I didn’t know he was the Young Life leader. When I walked out of club, Frog, whom I had never talked to once, turned and said,

Frog Sullivan, a legend in the early days of the mission, has joined his beloved Savior. His is one of the great stories in Young Life.

Sullivan grew up a rebellious kid in a hard part of Memphis. In 1946, as a high school junior, he met a Young Life leader named Howard Kee. “He knew me,” Sullivan said in a 1998 interview.

“He knew every kid in that high school. That’s what made the difference, because when he met somebody he knew them.

“He knew if he could change my life, he could change the school. I was drawn to him. He was a very warm and caring person and I didn’t have that.”

On a Young Life weekend camp, the gang leader did his best to disrupt the proceedings.

Murray Smoot, who shared speaking duties with Jim Rayburn on this particular weekend, remembered Sullivan’s strategy. “Every night when I would bring the message, Frog would wait until he knew I really had the gang, when they were listening. Then he would get up and yell some dirty thing and just wreck the whole club meeting. Time after time, he did that.”

Smoot recalled the Say-So on the last night.

Kids were sharing their newfound faith in Christ, he said, “and Frog Sullivan gets up, and you could just sense it all around. This is going too well and here he’s going to … and he got up, and he said, almost word for word, ‘You guys know me.

You know what I’ve been doing all weekend long.

There’s one thing you don’t know, and that is, I just gave my heart to Jesus.’”

Kee and the others’ love for Sullivan hadn’t escaped the teenager’s notice. Nor did Rayburn’s message. “He said there was a guy who lived in his town who was a half-wit,” Sullivan remembered, “and he could cuss for 30 minutes without using the same word twice. That was me. He nailed me that night.

Frog Sullivan pours malts for teens in Memphis, 1946.

“After that was over I went out by myself and opened my heart to Christ. I had never gone to church. I didn’t know anything about Jesus. It wasn’t ‘Hey, Mal, I’ll see you later.’ It affected me so much that he emotional, there wasn’t anything incredible about it, no knew my name that I never missed club again.” lights went off, but from that moment on my life was For two and a half decades, Sullivan served faithfully totally different.” in the mission’s work in Denver, Oklahoma City and Corpus After Sullivan graduated high school in 1947, at Jim Christi. In 1972, he began ministering as the executive Rayburn’s invitation, he lived a year in the Rayburns’ home at director of the Laity Lodge Youth Camps in Kerrville, Texas, Star Ranch, Young Life’s first camp, in Colorado Springs. where he served for the next 37 years. Frog Sullivan is Sullivan was quick to reach out to kids in the same way survived by his wife, Carolyn, son, Scott, daughter, Cathy, and Kee did to him, spending the next 25 years of his life loving their families.

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SARAH, WANANGWA, LUSAYO

BY TERRY SWENSON On Dec. 6, 2013, a car accident in Zimbabwe claimed the lives of three members of Young Life’s staff: Sarah Adams, Wanangwa Sanga and Lusayo Mhango. Two others were injured, including Evans Chintedza, who was in critical condition and has had a long road to recovery since the accident. The following is a tribute to the lives and legacy of these three remarkable people whom we have lost but will never forget.

EVERYDAY LOVE CHANGING EVERYDAY LIVES SARAH ELIZABETH ADAMS

Sarah Adams lived a life of steadfast love and deep commitments. Sarah’s love for family and friends was epic.

“Sarah was a great friend,” remembers her mother, Jan Adams. “She made people feel as though they were special

perhaps most at home. “She was the glue on our Young Life Malawi team,” said Steve Larmey, Young Life’s senior vice president of Africa. Sarah not only drew people together, she also invited people into service, organizing work crews from the United States to help prepare for and support Young Life camps. As a volunteer field hockey coach at St. Andrews International School in Blantyre, Sarah earned the admiration and respect of the school community; at the time of her death she was preparing to start the first-ever Young Life club at the school.

For a person with such a big personality and impact, Sarah had a simple life motto: Everyday Love Changing Everyday Lives. In fact, her “everyday love” spanned two continents and has left a lasting impact on countless lives.

A DREAM THAT LIVES ON WANANGWA SANGA

Mphatso Sanga, Yamie, a leader, Sarah Adams and Chimwemwe Mhango.

to her. And they were.” Mphatso Sanga remembers the night before her wedding when Sarah hosted her and her bridesmaids. “She also organized my hen party and spoiled me silly! Then on my bridal shower there weren’t enough chairs so the whole time she sat on the floor. Sarah was like the living Gospel.”

Serving in a staff role with Young Life Africa since November 2012, Sarah combined her love and compassion for children, her larger-than-life personality and her drive to make a difference. Having first visited Africa during a summer mission trip to serve in an orphanage, Sarah never lost her commitment to orphans. She became part of the lives of the children at Samaritan’s Trust, an orphanage in Blantyre, Malawi, organizing movie nights and sleepovers, and inviting others in the Young Life community (including supporters in the United States) to get involved as well.

But it was in her role with Young Life that Sarah was

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Steve Larmey remembers Wanangwa for his “infectious enthusiasm and passion. He was a person you wanted to be with.” Mphatso Sanga, his wife of less than a year, described Wanangwa as “the type of guy who could come to a room full of people and in three minutes he will have you laughing and dancing. He loved people so much. He was the type of person who could pray for you in the middle of the street.”

Wanangwa was also a visionary. With a degree in architecture from the University of Malawi, he could have chosen a more lucrative career. But his hope was in something greater for the young people of Malawi. In the early morning hours of Dec. 6, 2013, Wanangwa had a dream of sacrifice and of hope. Unable to sleep and away from home at a gathering of the Senior Africa Leadership Team (SALT) in Zimbabwe, Wanangwa called Mphatso, at home in Malawi. “In his dream, he saw himself in a dry and desolate land,” Mphatso later recalled, “a desert with no life or growth. He looked up and saw heaven open and down came a rope. And he heard a voice say, ‘I will make all of this green and bear abundant fruit. And I will heal the land if you will grab this rope.’” In this dream, Wanangwa shared with Mphatso, he had grabbed the rope and then two others, including his best friend and Malawian staff colleague, Lusayo Mhango, grabbed hold as well. As the three were pulled upward, the dream ended. When he finished relaying the dream, Wanangwa concluded that grabbing the rope meant making greater

sacrifice — more holiness, more commitment, more laying down his life. He was willing to say “yes” to this new challenge, Wanangwa told his wife during that early morning phone call, and she said “yes” with him.

As she thinks of her last conversation with Wanangwa, Mphatso Sanga now understands the call to “grab this rope” in a way that she could not have understood on that December morning. She knew then that the promise of renewal for kids in Malawi was inextricably bound to great commitment and personal trials. But of course she did not know what suffering lay ahead, for her, for Chimwemwe, for the family of Sarah Adams, for Evans.

In the months following the accident, Mphatso has continued to say “yes” to Wanangwa’s hopeful vision, gradually assuming greater leadership roles with Young Life in Malawi. Mphatso now serves as area director in Lilongwe, Malawi, where ministry is thriving.

Wanangwa

HE WOULD NOT LET YOU GO ASTRAY LUSAYO MHANGO

Lusayo Mhango was a perfect complement to his visionary, charismatic friend Wanangwa. He “was gifted, articulate, steady and incredibly humble,” remembers Steve Larmey. To Mphatso Sanga, Lusayo was that person who had earned the right to take you aside and speak truth into your life. “Lusayo was like a brother,” she remembers, “He was the one person who could scold me. He would not let you go astray.”

And like his friends Wanangwa and Sarah, Lusayo was deeply committed to the ministry they shared. Chimwemwe Mhango, Lusayo’s bride of just over a year at the time of the accident, describes her husband’s determination to get on with his ministry even as he was trying to complete his university degree. “He said, ‘You know I’m going to finish my degree but I don’t think I’m going to use it because I don’t think that’s what God wants me to do.’ That determination moved me so much.”

That determination now lives on in the ongoing ministry to which Chimwemwe has dedicated herself. “Young Life was Lusayo’s calling,” said Chimwemwe in talking about her decision to take on an administrative role for Young Life’s ministry in Malawi.

“Something had to be done in order for the ministry to move on.” For Chimwemwe, the turning point in stepping into her late husband’s legacy came when she, Mphatso and others had to lead three weeks of Young Life camp in late August. “We were overwhelmed,” she remembers, “but we pulled everything together — all by the grace of God. Now the leaders have stepped up, people are trying to find their positions, and God has been amazing.”

Chimwemwe’s final thoughts perhaps capture this moment in a painful journey of losing and embracing the legacy of three remarkable people. “We miss them,” she said. “We miss their support. We are trusting.”

Lusayo

Wanangwa, Mphatso, Chimwemwe and Lusayo.

Sarah

To learn more about or support the ongoing work of Young Life in Malawi, go to: africa.younglife.org — Here you’ll find current information about Young Life in Malawi and throughout Africa, as well as a tribute page honoring Sarah, Wanangwa and Lusayo. sarahadamsfoundation.org — This site has been established to honor Sarah’s memory and to invite support for the causes about which she cared so deeply. The site carries Sarah’s life motto: Everyday Love Changing Everyday Lives

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P rtraits in Hope Capturing teen moms during a week at YoungLives camp.

Mark and Marilyn Schulz have been married for 40 years and for more than half that time they’ve served behind the scenes in Young Life. This summer “behind the scenes” meant behind a camera, taking pictures of 86 teen moms and their babies.

The Tustin, California, couple has served in several capacities: area and regional committee members, adult guests/hosts at camp, and babysitters for their area director’s children for 14 years’ worth of club nights! Today they run face-to-face photo ministry, which delivers high-quality pictures for ministries. Their gifts for photography fed their desire to encourage YoungLives moms in a special way.

“I’ve had this dream of photographing teen moms as soon as I heard about YoungLives, and learned camp was

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Mark and Marilyn Schulz

the perfect opportunity to do it,” Mark said.

The shoot lasted all week, (there were more than 25,000 image views in just three days!) and the couple couldn’t think of a better way to spend their time at Lost Canyon, Young Life’s camp in Arizona. “It gives you a feeling like you’re accomplishing God’s work in the lives of these moms. They will rarely be in a position to go and have somebody sit with them for a while and offer professional portraits.

The couple gave out about 600 prints to the overjoyed moms. “So many of the moms were grateful and found us on the last day of camp to thank us,” Marilyn said. “A lot of the pictures ended up on their Facebook and social media sites so that was a little bit of proof they were thrilled with having those pictures with their babies.”

“MARILYN’S LARGELY RESPONSIBLE FOR ALL THE SMILES YOU SEE IN THE PHOTOS,” MARK SAID. “SHE BROUGHT HER ‘A’ GAME! PHYSICALLY, SHE WORKED A LOT HARDER THAN I DID.”

“I HOPE OTHER PHOTOGRAPHERS COME TO THE PARTY. IT’D BE NICE TO SEE THIS HAPPEN AT OTHER YOUNGLIVES CAMPS,” MARK SAID.

“WE’VE BEEN TO HIGH SCHOOL CAMPS BEFORE,” MARILYN SAID, “BUT WHEN WE FIRST ARRIVED AT YOUNGLIVES CAMP AND OPENED THE DINING HALL DOORS, WE SAW EVERY TABLE HAD THREE HIGH CHAIRS! IT REINFORCES HOW HARD THEIR LIVES ARE AND WHAT A SPECIAL OPPORTUNITY CAMP IS FOR THEM. THEY LOVED BEING THERE, HAVING FUN. IT WAS JUST ANOTHER FACET OF YOUNG LIFE WE HADN’T SEEN BEFORE.” Continued on page 13

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Similar Pursuits

BY LESLIE STRADER

A persistent leader sees her tenacity reflected in the life of a high school friend.

On the outside, Garner Lesley was the girl everyone wanted to be in high school — beautiful, blonde and popular, with a boyfriend by her side and a bouquet of homecoming court roses in her arms.

But on the inside, the teenager was broken. She partied on the weekends so she wouldn’t have to think about the pain and anger growing in her heart. And she spent a year doing everything she could to avoid Laura Timmons, a Young Life leader in Memphis, Tennessee, who knew Garner needed something more.

Garner used her busy social calendar to hide from Timmons, but she couldn’t hide from Jesus. He used Timmons to pursue the hurting teenager and draw her into a relationship with Him. And now, Garner is watching God work the same way in the lives of her young friends, healing familiar hurts with His infinite love.

A SLOW START Garner first met Timmons her sophomore year at Germantown High School’s homecoming bonfire, the perfect setting for Timmons and her husband, Kevin (area director in Memphis), to meet new high school friends.

Garner was on the homecoming court, giving Timmons an easy opening to introduce herself.

“I just thought they were random people introducing themselves to me,” Garner said. “All I was concerned about was what party I was going to go to that weekend. I didn’t really want anything to do with her. But it always stuck with me. I couldn’t help but wonder: Who are they? Why are they here? What do they want with me?”

While Garner blew off their first encounter — and many others after that — Timmons persisted; she had something bigger in mind.

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“I was excited to have a chance to interact with her and learn her name,” Timmons said. “After that I prayed for the chance to get to know her, and I started looking for ways that I’d get to see her again.”

Garner readily admits she spent most of her sophomore year avoiding Timmons “at all costs.” But Timmons continued to pursue Garner, and finally, on Halloween night her junior year, Garner attended her first club.

There, Garner said, the leaders “talked about Jesus in a way I had never heard before that actually made sense to me.” That night, she signed up for Winter Camp at Windy Gap in North Carolina, and also started attending Campaigners every week at Timmons’ house.

It was the answer to Timmons’ prayers.

She said, “Garner loved Campaigners; she loved sharing her life and being open and honest. Winter Camp was rough because she had broken up with her boyfriend and was in a needy place, but it was that weekend that she really saw her need to follow Jesus.”

“God used Laura that weekend as a support system to me,” Garner said. “She held me when I cried, she reassured me that she’d be there every step of the way as we went home and continued to help me grow in my relationship with Christ.”

SOMETHING DIFFERENT While grateful for her transformed heart, Garner said the everyday life of high school was hard. She still struggled with her old lifestyle, but remembers the moment she decided she was ready to give everything over to Jesus.

“The beginning of my senior year, the leaders had a meeting where they gave us a vision for impacting the school for Jesus,” Garner said. “The things they described sounded more fulfilling and exciting than the things I had been holding on to.

“I decided to stop my old ways and the typical high school life. I lost friends over it, but I wanted something different. I felt the Lord calling me to reach out. I wanted to try to open up my friends’ hearts as well. I watched the Lord strengthen and mold me into something completely different than I was.”

Timmons said Garner stepped up as a leader to her peers in ways she never imagined. And their relationship continued to grow and deepen.

Garner decided to attend the University of Memphis after graduation, and there, her pursuit of “something different” continued. She went through Young Life leadership training that fall and, in a step of faith, requested a school that would challenge and stretch her.

“I’ve always been in a suburban school around the same types of people,” Garner explained. “I wanted to be outside my comfort zone. I wanted the Lord to show me what I’m made of and really use me in a community.”

After much prayer and conversation, Garner was placed as a volunteer leader in Central High School, an urban high school located in midtown Memphis.

she pursued her has only grown as her own ministry begins. And Garner wants to continue the pursuit — both of Christ and of relationships with those hard to love who need Him most.

“I called Laura from camp one night overwhelmed, just thanking her for putting up with me,” Garner said. “If I could have a relationship with just one other girl like mine is with Laura, it’d be worth it.

“It looks different everywhere, but Young Life is about meeting kids where they are. The Lord is going to do the rest. We are just the vessels He uses. He’s the one who softens their hearts.”

CONSISTENT AND PERSISTENT While it has had its challenges, Garner said she has more in common with her high school friends than it might appear.

“It was hard with the girls at the beginning,” Garner said. “They were very skeptical about if I would stick it out or even try to get to know them. But I wasn’t very trusting in high school either.

“I see all that Laura was able to accomplish with me, with how hard my heart was and how I was always rude and pushing her away. But she continued to pursue me. A lot of my girls are the same way I was. Laura was consistent and persistent with me, and I want to be that way with them.

Because girls are girls; we share the same problems, just different scenery.”

This past summer, Garner and other Central leaders took 18 girls to SharpTop Cove, a Young Life camp in Georgia. Lesley calls it “one of the most challenging experiences of my life.”

“The first night of camp, I told the girls everything Garner and fellow leaders from the University of Memphis. about my life. I wanted to be real and honest with them so that Timmons and Garner serving at camp. they would feel comfortable being real and honest with me,” Garner said. “Once upon a time, I was a hardened teenage girl going through boyfriend struggles with crazy parents. It was intimidating and scary to share, but I saw the walls completely break down. It got the wheels turning. Even their silence was enough to know they heard me.”

Timmons said watching Garner, now a college sophomore, obediently follow the Lord has been a huge blessing, and a beautiful reminder that nothing — and no one — is too difficult for God. “I’m so impressed with how well Garner understands the mission of Young Life and how much she wants to share her story, because she knows Jesus has changed her,” Timmons said. “It’s been really fulfilling to see it unfold.

I think the message is, don’t ever overlook a kid and think they aren’t interested. You never know how the Lord is going to speak to someone’s heart and how they will respond. No one is too far out for Jesus to step in and heal all of the broken places.”

Garner said her love and gratitude for Timmons and how

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WHAT LOVE LOOKS LIKE, FAMILY STYLE

BY ERIKA JAY

The Horrocks family at a Halloween carnival. Top: John and Elise.

Bottom: Jack, Jane, and Nathan

John and Jane Horrocks know what the Father’s love looks like. For them, that means passionately pursuing every kid, and doing so as a family.

The Horrocks are Young Life Capernaum leaders in Tustin, California, where they have spent the last seven years loving kids with disabilities.

Their family of five attends every Capernaum event, and from a young age, the Horrocks children have served alongside their parents to share the love of Jesus with their Capernaum friends.

Elise, John and Jane’s youngest, attended her first club at just four months old. Five years later, she may still be small, but she has a huge heart. Elise and her brothers, Nathan (7) and Jack (9), are amazing helpers, and their love never ceases to amaze their parents and the rest of their team. Kara Louie, volunteer team leader, said, “Over the years, the kids have grown to have a heart for their Capernaum friends and love being around them. It has been a huge joy having Elise and her brothers at every Capernaum event!”

A few months ago, Elise was riding in the car with her mom when she suddenly lit up with excitement. They were listening to the radio and heard an advertisement for free One Direction concert tickets. Elise immediately thought of her Capernaum friend, Anthony, who loves One Direction.

“Mom — we need to stop!” she said. “We need to call in for those tickets for Anthony!” Elise’s reaction to the announcement, wanting to bless Anthony, is just one of many occasions where the Horrocks children have put Capernaum friends before themselves.

John and Jane’s desire to serve kids involved with Capernaum has not only been a gift to their friends, it has been significant in showing their children what the Father’s love looks like. Kara shared, “In the last five years, we have watched the Horrockses’ kids grow physically, mentally and, most importantly, spiritually.”

John and Jane have inspired their community through their decision to make Young Life a family affair. “We are so thankful for the whole Horrocks family and their years of service!” said Kara, expressing her heartfelt gratitude. Their story testifies that even the littlest of helpers can carry the fullness of God’s love to others. In Tustin, love looks like a family serving kids with disabilities, giving of themselves to see every kid encounter the heart of the Father.

Elise and her dad leading songs.

The kids have grown to have a heart for their Capernaum friends … it has been a huge joy having Elise and her brothers at every Capernaum event!

Elise and Jack hanging with Capernaum friends and leaders.

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YOU JUST NEVER KNOW

BY STEVE CHESNEY

I received a phone call recently from Holly Scurry. You probably do not know the name. I certainly did not … but Holly Scurry is changing the planet for Christ. Literally.

Holly is a 32-year-old woman from Dallas, Texas, who joined a startup ministry called Family Legacy Missions International as their first full-time employee 10 years ago.

She is now vice president and leader of this ministry, which rescues orphans in Zambia. Her story is stunning to me — currently touching more than 7,000 homeless and orphaned children annually by introducing them to Jesus Christ through their Camp LIFE ministry; establishing 43+ homes housing 522 children; and on and on. If you are curious, just Google it up.

Holly called to bless me. Those were her words, “I want to bless you.” If my tears were a measure of her blessing, she succeeded.

Apparently, 17 years ago in 1997 Holly was a 14-yearold camper at Frontier Ranch. I happened to also be there.

She was a poor kid in a rich town, abandoned by her father, living with her mother and three siblings, helping pay the monthly bills with her babysitting money. The only reason Holly came to camp was someone had paid her way in full.

On night five of camp, Holly came to club carrying a brandnew Young Life sweatshirt she spent all of her money on earlier that day. “You will need something warm tonight,” her leader, Kristen, had told her. That night Holly heard the message of the cross of Christ, of God’s deep fatherly love for her, and like thousands of kids over the past 70 years, she went out in her new Young Life sweatshirt and sat on a rock under the stars on a chilly night. And she believed. And she surrendered.

Caught up in the joy and tenderness of 15 minutes of quiet, Holly inadvertently left her new sweatshirt on that

rock. And when she returned to find it later that evening, it was gone …

The next day Holly was back in the camp store just wandering around, a little tearful in front of the sweatshirts.

I don’t know, maybe it was just an innocent conversationstarter, or maybe I caught a glimpse of her tears, honestly I have no true memory of the moment … but as I passed by I apparently said, “Hi there, buying a sweatshirt?” “Well, no, I already bought it but I lost it. I’m just looking …”

You can guess the rest. A few moments later I stood with Holly at the cash register and spent the best $30 of my life. Holly now remembers it this way: “In that moment God’s Spirit whispered in my ear, ‘See there? I will take care of you. Forever. You are mine now, my princess. I am your Father and I will never leave you.’”

And now Holly is spearheading a ministry to rescue thousands of fatherless street orphans and HIV-ridden, abandoned children in a faraway place. Her plane left yesterday for another four months in Zambia. Oh my …

I guess we never know, do we? The kid whose way you pay at the last second … the shirt or Bible you buy in the camp store … the passing word of kindness or even a simple touch … the one-on-one conversation with a boy or girl in the grass on day six … you just never know. You never know who it is exactly who stands in your path or sleeps in your cabin or sits beside you each night at club.

You just never know.

Holly Scurry is one of thousands of alumni still intimately involved with Young Life. To visit the Alumni and Friends website, join, update your information and reconnect with your Young Life friends, go to alumniandfriends.younglife.org.

Holly and friends in Zambia.

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Beautiful Things

BY JEFF CHESEMORE

Chris and Cook during the flour game.

Meredith Cuddihy had a dream. In 2011, the Glenville, New York, junior returned from Saranac Village a new believer in Christ. That fall she began bringing her younger brother, Chris, to Young Life club.

These weekly trips to club had their challenges. Chris is profoundly autistic, and while he likes to try new things, he is also uncomfortable in crowded, noisy places — an apt description of most Young Life events.

This didn’t deter Meredith, however. “It was important to her because she wanted Chris to experience what other kids do and to know about Jesus,” explained Glenn Cook, the Young Life area developer in Eastern New York and Western New England. It took about a year, but eventually Chris did adapt to the energy and excitement which go hand in hand with club.

And now the dream — Meredith wanted Chris to go to Young Life camp. In Meredith’s eyes, this was the greatest place on earth, and she wanted to share that experience with her brother. She spent months trying to convince her father to let Chris go.

For Paul Cuddihy, plenty of roadblocks seemed to loom in front of his daughter’s idea: the cost of sending a third child to camp (Meredith and youngest daughter, Maggie, were already going to camps), a buddy would be needed to accompany Chris, and a week at camp would be too long for his son.

They cleared the first hurdle when scholarship money came in for the cost of Chris and his buddy. The second hurdle — the buddy turned out to be Meredith’s number-one candidate; Paul would go with his son. The third hurdle?

Easily solved — Paul and Chris would go to camp for three days and two nights. Meredith’s wish was coming true.

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FLOUR POWER The time had arrived, and once at Lake Champion, father and son crammed as much fun into their abbreviated week as they possibly could. Paul accompanied Chris on the boats, down the zip line and across the ropes course. They were side by side at club during the night and field games in the morning.

One of the games involved flour bombs, a.k.a. napkins with just enough flour inside to make a very messy weapon. However, Chris invented a new game with the bombs, Cook said. “He didn’t understand flour bombs are meant to be thrown — he just kept breaking them in his hand. Then he got an idea: he broke one over my head, spilling the white flour all over my short, thinning hair. He took his hands and made sure it was rubbed in well. Then, somehow, he got ahold of a water balloon. He broke that over

“ALTHOUGH I WAS ONLY THERE FOR TWO FULL DAYS, BY SUNDAY NIGHT I THOUGHT, ‘I WANT THIS.’” my head, too, and kneaded the mixture into a thick dough.

Chris laughed like it was the most fun he had ever had.”

Chris’s laughter was contagious. “His joy made me laugh uncontrollably,” Cook said, “and in that moment on the field, with dough in my hair, laughing with Chris, I experienced a sense of joy and happiness that I knew was a gift from God. I understood God’s grace a little better than I had before and,

inexplicably, I felt His pleasure. I have to admit I don’t know how a nonverbal, autistic teenager comes to understand who Jesus is, but I hope it has something to do with flour bombs and water balloons.”

Meredith smiled as she took it all in. “I can’t explain how beautiful that moment was,” she said. “It’s very hard to bond with Chris, even for me, his sister. That moment is something I’ll always remember.”

As Paul and Chris’s time at camp drew to a close, Meredith was thrilled that her wish had been granted.

Unbeknownst to her, though, God was only getting started on His work with the Cuddihy family.

“I WANT THIS” Paul Cuddihy grew up in a churchgoing home, but wandered away from this upbringing when he hit his 20s.

For the next two decades, he showed little interest in things of faith. Paul liked what his kids were experiencing at Young Life and he arrived at Lake Champion content in his role as his son’s “buddy.” But Cook also wanted to ensure Paul had the opportunity to experience the “behind the scenes” part of camp, by bringing him to the leaders’ meetings each day.

“Glenn did something I’m not sure even he realizes,” Paul said. “He let me come on the trip even though I really didn’t belong, and he invited me to leader meetings to sing and pray with them. I was blown away by how cynical I was.

These leaders were not trying to sign people up for a church or a political party or some donor list. They just poured their hearts into bringing these kids to Jesus with no ulterior motives. I almost couldn’t wrap my brain around that.”

Paul absorbed everything he could in his short time at camp. The times in club were especially meaningful to him.

“The first night the speaker talked about God. The second night was on Zacchaeus, which was a beautifully striking story for me at the time because I was at the top of the club with Chris. So I felt kind of like Zacchaeus, just standing up in a tree, being drawn, asking, ‘What is this?’

“I’m a very musical person,” he added, “and in club they sang ‘Beautiful Things.’ I had never heard the song before and it spoke powerfully to me — as if I could hear God personally calling to me, saying I could just leave my pain, I could be reborn.

“Although I was only there for two full days, by Sunday night I thought, ‘I want this.’”

On the car ride home, Paul sensed something was different.

“It was apparent my entire life had just changed. I didn’t even know how to pray yet, I didn’t even say a prayer like ‘I’m giving my life to you, Lord,’ but my soul was a thousand pounds lighter.

The things that used to worry me, depress me or tangle me up, they were just all gone. It was amazing.”

Continued on page 19

The Cuddihy family: Nancy, Maggie, Paul, Chris and Meredith

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Continued from page 18

ALL IN It didn’t take long for others to notice the changes in Paul, but in all honesty, he certainly helped the cause! Paul recounted a now “legendary tale” among friends and family. “The very next day I was back at work and walking down an empty hallway. I was just so happy, having been freed from my old life, I had my hands up in the air and I was singing ‘Beautiful Things’ to myself. One of the guys I work with suddenly came around the corner. It was kind of awkward and he asked me, ‘What are you doing?’ and I blurted out, ‘I just got back from Jesus Camp and I’m having a hard time keeping my hands down!’”

Needless to say, his bewildered coworker was speechless.

Understandably, the Cuddihy family was in awe of the changes they, too, were seeing.

“My plan,” Meredith said, “was that Chris would enjoy a week at camp like other teenage boys and grow from his time there.

What I couldn’t believe when I returned home was how much my dad had changed!

“After camp he was overfilled with joy. And my mom saw this, and said, ‘What in the heck did they put in the water at Lake Champion?!’”

A few days after the camp, Glenn Cook was in need of a male leader for the upcoming WyldLife trip, and invited Paul to go. Paul jumped at the opportunity, took the kids to camp and returned even more on fire in his newfound faith. It was at this point, he said, that his wife, Nancy, declared, “OK, I’m all in.”

Fast forward a year, one Paul describes as “the most amazing year of our lives,” and the Cuddihys have a new outlook. The family serves together at church, Chris continues to come to club and flourish in the love of his parents and sisters, and Maggie, the youngest, serves alongside Paul as a WyldLife leader.

Meanwhile, Meredith attends Le Moyne College in Syracuse, while volunteering with Young Life and inviting more kids into a relationship with Jesus. Apparently, she still has more dreams to share.

“I WAS JUST SO HAPPY, HAVING BEEN FREED FROM MY OLD LIFE, I HAD MY HANDS UP IN THE AIR AND I WAS SINGING.”

Celebrate 50 life-changing, family-building years at Young Life’s Trail West Lodge with this commemorative book.

Through photographs and stories, we recognize: Trail West’s history, its significance today, and the many ways this special place offers its guests the Young Life experience.

To learn more and order your copies, go to trailwest.younglife.org.

• Make one-time gifts without registering • Create an account to make recurring gifts and access your giving records

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Meredith, Chris and Paul at Lake Champion.

younglifespokenhere YOUNG LIFE’S MISSION IN

THE PHILIPPINES

267 volunteers

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The Philippines, officially known as the Republic of the Philippines, is a country in Southeast Asia. It comprises 7,107 islands in the western Pacific Ocean. As the world’s 12th most populous country, the Philippines is home to more than 92 million people.

clubs on seven different islands

5,300 More than

kids impacted annually

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2

Operates

staff, almost all having met Jesus in Young Life

Young Life camps

Young Life officially started here in 1970 when 300 kids packed out Eli Yasi’s (pioneer of Young Life in the Philippines) house for the first club in the Philippines.

Today, all-city clubs in Cebu sometimes have more than 1,000 kids in attendance.

In Cebu, Young Life has established a Young Life Training Center to help new staff develop their skills in reaching kids all throughout Asia.

The Developing Global Leaders program has been very successful here. Currently, 24 DGL students have either graduated or are currently enrolled in the program. Of the eight graduates, four serve as Young Life staff and two as volunteers.

CEBU ISLAND Cebu City

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partingshots Jeff Huber, area director of West Snohomish County in Washington, sent in this picture featuring five generations of Young Life relationships. From left, we see Cooper, a WyldLife leader; his leader, Anthony; Anthony’s leader, Brent; Brent’s leader, Jeff; and Jeff’s leader, Dave. “It’s such an honor to be a part of Jesus’ legacy of discipleship,” Huber said. “Life on life — the BEST part of Young Life. I had no idea when I started this journey of leading and making disciples as to what it would look like over time. I am amazed.

Glory to God.”

1.

1. Kids from Owatanna, Minnesota, on top of Mt. Antero in Colorado, during their annual Wilderness trip.

2. Dayton, Ohio, campers enjoying (?) the swing at Rockbridge.

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2.

YoungLives I N V I T E S

Y O U

June 6-12 : Camp Buckner - Week 1 – Burnet, Texas June 13-19: Camp Buckner - Week 2 – Burnet, Texas June 27-July 3: WFR-Canyon – Antelope, Ore. July 12-18: Lost Canyon – Williams, Ariz.

July 19-25: Timber Wolf Lake – Lake City, Mich. en, Va. July 28-August 3: Rockbridge Alum Springs – Gosh N.Y. Spey, Glen – pion August 7-13: Lake Cham

WE’D LIKE TO HELP YOU reach kids in small towns, the next town, the place it will “never work.”

Contact scottberg@wv.younglife.org

Join us as a childcare volunteer this summer and experience a mission trip like none other! Find out more at ...

YoungLives.YoungLife.org

It’s not too early to be thinking about your family vacation next summer. Especially when Trail West’s Family Camp is already more than 70% booked for the summer of 2015!

Get your registration and deposit in ASAP to ensure the best week you and your family have ever experienced together!

For more information, call us at 719-395-2477.

Or, check out our website at trailwest.younglife.org.

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