Relationships Spring 2016

CELEBRATING 75 YEARS OF YOUNG LIFE!

Spring 2016 | Vol. 30 Issue 1

contents 3 7 9 13 15 17 11 1

SPRING 2016

MEET YOUNG LIFE’S NEXT LEADER!

ABOUT THE COVER

The mission names Newton “Newt” Crenshaw as its next president.

In January, 5,000 staff, spouses, volunteers and friends of the mission met to celebrate what the Lord is doing through the mission. Captured during our night at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, this picture represents just a sliver of the attendees present. (For a wider view, see the photo on pages 11-12!)

WEATHERING THE TEST OF TIME

A 30-year Young Life veteran pours into kids the same love poured into her.

A BOND RESTORED

Through his own rich experience, one pastor joins together Young Life and the church.

Cover photo by Scott Iskowitz

A KINDRED SPIRIT

Sitting down with author, speaker and Young Life fan, Jen Hatmaker.

SIXTEEN PRECIOUS SOULS “How do you be a leader?”

BECAUSE OF HIM

Honoring a volunteer’s 40 years of faithfulness.

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IN EVERY ISSUE

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

YOUNG LIFE 75 CELEBRATION! A look at some of the memories from the recent gathering in Orlando.

inyourownwords OUR READERS SHARE THEIR THOUGHTS

Many (Mini?) Mentors Elizabeth was 19 when we met at the YoungLives club dinner. She barely spoke and never made eye contact. I asked if I could hold her one-year-old, Liam, while she ate. She nervously consented, but her gaze never left him as I paced with him around the room.

Then I didn’t see her for three months. She came to the May meeting and I asked if she’d be interested in having a mentor. She said “yes” and that’s where my story really begins ...

I decided I’d try to get together with Elizabeth and Liam once a week. My four children were thrilled! They’re always so excited to pick them up and take them on park outings, walks, coffee stops, Ladies Bible Study and church. They’ve come to our home to play and make muffins. All seven of us pile into my minivan on each adventure.

I’ve watched my children slip right into Elizabeth’s heart. They make her cards and letters. She laughs at the outrageous and sweet things they say to her and Liam. Elizabeth is still somewhat reserved, but they’ve definitely drawn her out of her shell. Because my two daughters watch me pray for Elizabeth and Liam every time they’re dropped off, they now ask to pray aloud for them, too.

Sweeter, more pure prayers have never been uttered!

What began as a tug on my heart to mentor and love on teen moms has turned into an entire family outreach. Now my kids love taking turns helping in the nursery once a month at our club dinners. It’s such a joy to serve together. When we pour ourselves out, we’re refilled.

Thank you for making Young Life possible. It’s such an amazing ministry to youth!

A Prescribed Pursuit I was the camp doctor at Saranac last summer. State law mandates that every camper’s prescribed medication be administered by a healthcare professional. A camper missed her evening dose of her prescribed medication, so the camp nurse appropriately determined he would administer the medication, and found out her group was at a cabin campfire in the woods. As we walked in the dark we commiserated with each other about the New York state laws. We gave the girl her medication, and promptly left them to continue their campfire.

After we left, the girl who was previously happy abruptly began sobbing. When asked, she told her group that no one had ever pursued her or gone out of their way to care for her.

Just goes to show — God can use state laws for His glory!

— M.C. Culbertson III, M.D.

— Carrie Shore, Shawnee, Kansas

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

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

Senior Editor Jeff Chesemore

Contributing Photographers Todd Biss Autumn Bland Jessica Walker

Coordinator Donna McKenzie

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

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MEET YOUNG LIFE’S

NEXT LEADER!

The mission names Newton “Newt” Crenshaw as its next president.

Last fall, Denny Rydberg announced his plans to retire as Young Life’s president after 23 years in his role. “Marilyn and I have known from the time we responded to God’s call in 1993 there would be a time when we would leave this position and someone else would become responsible,” he explained in his letter to the Young Life community. “We knew we would need to one day ‘pass the baton’ to someone else. For us that time is now.”

Over the last year, a search committee comprised of members of the Young Life Board of Trustees has sought the Lord’s leading in choosing a new president. After a thorough, prayerful process, the committee unanimously recommended Crenshaw, and on April 15, 2016 during its spring meeting in Chicago, Illinois, the board named him Young Life’s next president.

In a letter announcing the board’s selection, Board Chair John Brandon wrote: “Newt has served as a volunteer, donor, committee chair and member of the Board of Trustees.

His parents were involved with the mission at many levels, and Newt and his wife, Susan, continue to carry on that passion and support. Professionally, he has built an impressive career as a senior executive with Eli Lilly, based in Indianapolis, Indiana. Newt is a person with intelligence, drive, compassion and, most importantly, a profound love for our Lord. Having lived and worked for Lilly in Kobe, Japan (where he helped establish Young Life), he brings significant international knowledge and experience to his new role.”

Following the board’s decision, the Rydbergs hosted a gathering of senior mission leaders to begin introducing Newt and Susan to the mission, and vice versa. In reflecting on this first meeting, John Vicary, executive vice president over U.S. field ministry, wrote: “I left our time with Newt and Susan so encouraged about how God has answered our collective prayers over the search for a new president. Hearing their heart for Christ and kids, seeing the blend of humility and leadership strength, his commitment to diversity in leadership, and his high value for trust and transparency among those he leads only increased my confidence in God’s provision for us. He is an impressive and proven leader. I’m looking forward to getting to know him better and learning from him as we work

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BY TERRY SWENSON

closely together in the months and years ahead.”

Vicary’s counterpart over international field ministry, Marty Caldwell, agreed: “I met Newt and Susan while they were living in Japan 10 years ago. Seeing them again confirmed what I sensed 10 years ago — genuine, authentic, servant leaders with humility and confidence, who have a demonstrated heart for Christ and kids in this mission.

I am hopeful about this season and anticipate more of God’s fruit in our mission community.”

As the mission prepares for the transition, we’re reminded of how greatly indebted we are to Denny and Marilyn for their contributions over the past two-plus decades of service.

Rydberg will “pass the baton” to Crenshaw on July 15 and make himself available to Crenshaw as needed beyond that point.

Crenshaw will become the mission’s sixth president, following in the footsteps of Rydberg (1993-2016), Doug Burleigh (1987-1992), Bob Mitchell (1977-1986), Bill Starr (1964-1977) and Jim Rayburn (1941-1964). He is passionate about carrying on the rich tradition of his predecessors while guiding the mission through future growth.

“Young Life has exhibited a constancy of purpose like no other organization with which I have been associated,” Crenshaw wrote in his Letter of Interest to the Young Life board. “The collective commitment that Young Life leadership, staff and volunteers have demonstrated in introducing Jesus Christ to young people is inspiring. I would be honored to lead this organization to remain unswervingly focused on that single goal and to stand firm for the mission’s purpose and purity in the midst of a fallen and uncertain world.”

Read more and view a video greeting from Newt and Susan Crenshaw at www.younglife.org/newt-crenshaw.

fromthepresident A LIVING LETTER I received an email on Jan. 9 from a Young Lifer whom I’ve never met. At the time he wrote, I was in the midst of the last night of YL75 — our every-four-year celebration. When I finally read it, I was profoundly touched.

He’d seen reports of YL75 and decided to contact me. I want you to read it too. I’ve omitted some parts to protect his privacy: Dear Mr. Rydberg,

… when kids meet Christ and begin to grow in their relationship with Him, transformation takes place.”

— Denny Rydberg

Before a couple days ago, I’ll admit I didn’t know Young Life even had a president, much less who you were.

As my Young Life leaders have told me about this conference and I follow the hashtag associated with it, I’ve found out about you, and how you’ll be retiring this year. I’m one of the eight million and something kids who’ve been reborn since you took office, and I’d like to tell you my story. I’m 17, a junior in high school and I’ve been a believer for close to two years, with the anniversary being June 18. Both Young Life and WyldLife have a strong presence [in my old town], but I never sought it out. Despite my parents coming from religious families, we only went to church once or twice every couple of years, and my only true religious experience came from Vacation Bible School at church when I was six, where their goal was to “scare straight” non-believers. I moved to (new city) after years of bullying, and I’d become a very broken person because of it. It left me depressed to the point of considering at best, drinking my pain away, and at worst, suicide. I now believe God brought me here for a reason — to bring me to Him. However, I didn’t just get on my knees and praise God the second I stepped in my new school. Ironically, the first time I met Jonathan, I didn’t like him. He teaches freshman biology, and he had the misfortune of ending up with me at my most broken. I’d developed a “trust no one” attitude in life. Every time Jonathan tried to help me, be it with school or getting my life together, I not only pushed him away, I lashed out at him.

Just as I thought he’d given up, he brought up Young Life. At this point, I wasn’t as cold towards him, so I told him I’d think about it and see if my mom would drive me (my excuse for everything I didn’t want to do). It was by God’s will that my sister had been invited by her friends also, so I ended up going. What struck me the most wasn’t the music, the skit or the talk at the end; it was that despite my attitude for an hour of the day every school day for three months, Jonathan treated me like an old friend. I left club that night changed, and since that day, I’ve gone from a broken boy to a man with purpose.

Like any broken thing though, it still has cracks when it’s fixed, and I struggle with stress and fighting off depression every day. But it’s because of Jonathan and my other leaders that I’m fixed at all. I tell you this because without everything you did in your years as president to expand Young Life, there would be no Young Life here, no Jonathan the Young Life leader and no renewed me. It’s because of my leaders and you that my future looks bright, and I want to thank you. I’ll be praying for you and your life post-retirement, and I hope to meet you one day and thank you in person. I’m sure the leaders would love having the president at club sometime to play foursquare.

Have a great day, week, month and year.

Steve*

Why did his letter touch me so much?

He perfectly described the kids we’re pursuing. They’re all different but they all have stories, pain and needs. And their greatest need is to meet Jesus. In Young Life that introduction to Christ most often happens when a human does the introducing. In this case, it was his Young Life leaders — particularly Jonathan. And when kids meet Christ and begin to grow in their relationship with Him, transformation takes place. It’s not instantaneous.

It still may have a few cracks. But it’s life-changing for now and eternity. And it’s why we push forward to the next kid, school, community or country; start Young Life, and introduce ourselves, and then Jesus, to adolescents, one kid at a time.

Denny Rydberg Young Life President

*Name has been changed

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younglifelite

BY JEFF CHESEMORE

UPLIFTING LIZZY “Senior Project.” The words can spark fear into the heartiest of students. So why then would Lizzy Overton, a recent graduate from Broadneck High School (BHS) outside of Annapolis, Maryland, voluntarily decide to undertake a “personal” senior project of epic proportions?

“Lizzy is the sweetest girl of all time,” said Andrew Boyd, Lizzy’s area director at BHS. “That seems like an exaggeration, but it’s true. Everyone would say she’s the nicest, most genuine person ever. Lizzy writes thank you notes to the parents who host Campaigners and club. When she would babysit at our house she would write us a thank you note. She once returned babysitting money because she felt sitting for my kids was benefit enough!”

Young Life started at BHS during Lizzy’s sophomore year. “It was the best experience of my life,” she said. “In school, I really felt like an outsider, but at club and Campaigners I didn’t need to worry about my insecurities.” The newfound strength emboldened Lizzy to help others. “I noticed so many people at school struggling and it made me sad. I thought, ‘Why don’t I do something to brighten their day?’”

Early in her junior year Lizzy handed out encouragement cards to nearly 100 students. “I couldn’t believe how happy people were to receive them. I thought, ‘Wow, God, you’re really using me to do something here.’”

That spring she sensed another prompting. “I felt God saying, ‘Lizzy, you know you have the gift of encouragement. Why don’t you write a book?’”

So Lizzy saved up money for a year to pay for the book, which would be a graduation gift to her 450 fellow classmates. By the spring of 2015, she had 600 books ready to pass out to her class, teachers, friends and even strangers — anyone who needed a lift. Entitled The Encouragement Project: Make a Difference, the book included inspirational quotes, pictures, humor, Scripture and Lizzy’s personal story.

The first 50 went to her Campaigner group, and the reaction was spectacular. “They were so thankful,” Lizzy said. “Some offered to help with the cost and others asked for copies to give to their friends.”

Over the years, Lizzy’s reputation had spread throughout the school and the encourager was about to become the “encouragee.” The week of prom, Lizzy discovered her fellow seniors had nominated her for Prom Court — this from the class that had already voted her “Most Likely to Make You Smile.” Speechless over the recognition, Lizzy, as the saying goes, was “thrilled just to be nominated.”

Flash forward to prom night where — as if on cue — the DJ announced, “And the BHS class of 2015 Prom Queen is … Lizzy Overton!”

“When they called my name, everyone started chanting ‘Lizzy! Lizzy!’ and patting me on the back. It was the most wonderful moment of my life. It was like a Cinderella story.”

“When they announced the results,” Boyd said, “my phone did not stop blowing up for an hour with kids texting me how awesome it was she had won.”

“I still get goose bumps thinking about it,” Lizzy said. “I guess I kind of made a difference because I can’t think of any other reason why they’d nominate me. I think people saw God’s love shining through me.”

The next week Lizzy returned to her preferred role: queen of encouragement. After the graduation rehearsal, Lizzy stood at a table with her mom and friends passing out the encouragement books to the senior class. The books were an immediate hit, Boyd said. “Lizzy touched her entire graduating class.”

Today Lizzy’s preparing for a counseling career, Lizzy passes out The Encouragement Project to fellow where she’ll treat everyone God brings her way as seniors after graduation. anything but a “project.”

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GIVE SMART!

BY JEFF RUDDER, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE YOUNG LIFE FOUNDATION

“Man, who appointed me as judge between you?”

That’s an interesting question coming from Jesus, the Savior of the world, who will one day judge all of mankind. What brought this terse response from Jesus was a request that He insert Himself into an argument over an inheritance between two brothers. Jesus addressed this dispute by telling the story of the rich fool who had so much wealth he didn’t know what to do. So he enacted a plan to build bigger barns to store all of his wealth, take it easy and live on the accumulation. We know how that story ends … not well.

In contrast, Jesus often spoke of building the kingdom of God and how this approach to material wealth would pay dividends forever!

One of the great blessings of being the Young Life Foundation’s executive director is working with so many people doing all they can to leverage their worldly wealth into God’s kingdom. Our number one objective at the Young Life Foundation is to help you along this journey. With this in mind, we’ve created a series of communications pieces focused on how you may arrange your financial opportunities to help accomplish your personal goals AND build the kingdom.

We call this communications series “Give Smart” and it’s designed to help communicate complex strategies with simple, easy-to-understand language and illustrations. The series tackles a variety of subjects like “how to handle the sale of major assets” and “gifts that create income streams” to “end-of-life giving.”

On the back cover of this edition of Relationships you’ll see an ad promoting this series. If you’d like to receive any of these articles, simply clip off the back panel, indicate which articles you wish to receive, mail back to us and we’ll send them your way. We won’t send mass mailings or stuff your mailbox / inbox with things you don’t want, so we invite you to let us know which of these you wish to receive.

It’s our privilege to serve you!

NONPROFIT ORG

US POSTAGE

PAID

YOUNG LIFE

P.O. Box 520 Colorado Springs, CO 80901 ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED

Let us know which FREE articles you’d like by responding to the ad on the back cover.

Give Smart!

It’s not just a financial objective. It’s also the name of a series of Foundation designed informative pieces to address specific from the Young Life opportunities you may have to Give Smart!

Values over Valuables Pass down more than

just your possessions.

Continue Your Life’s Story Five ways the average person can leave a legacy gift.

Smart Selling A strategy for minimizing taxes due upon the sale of a major asset.

Smart Legacies for Taxable Estates How to give more to your family and charities you care about while giving less to Uncle Sam!

Life Income Gifts Create a lifetime income stream AND give to charity when you die.

Oil, Gas and Mineral Rights What to know about gifting these kinds of assets Stocks/Bonds/Mutual Funds/Stock options How to give these assets.

For more informati on and your own custom illustratio contact Jeff Rudder n, at: 800-813-1945 | jrudder@sc.younglife.org Or, you can write Jeff at Young Life, Box 520, Colorado Springs, CO The information contained 80901. herein is for explanatory

The Young Life Foundation

Spring.2016_1.indd

recommends that you

purposes and is not intended to be used as tax or contact a professional tax advisor who can provide legal advice. you with information on how the

use of techniques and

ideas in this piece may

apply to your personal

tax situation.

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3/3/16 7:53 PM

Trying to Plan the Perfect

er VaurcaFatimion Summ ly? u and Yo for yo

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We have just the one for you! There are a handful of spots still available at Trail West Lodge for Young Life’s only national Family Camp program.

Family Camp is not just a vacation. It’s a life-changing, family-bonding, aweinspiring, action-packed, God-honoring, Jesus-filled, all-inclusive adventure, nestled among the Collegiate Peaks in Buena Vista, Colorado. A week at Family Camp will breathe new life into your family. It draws you together like no other summer vacation you’ve ever taken.

Make your reservations now while you still can! Check our availability at trailwest.younglife.org, then call Brenda at 719-395-2477 to ensure you and your family experience the best week of your lives!

e h t g n i r e h t Wea of Time Test

A 30-year Young Life veteran pours into kids the same love poured into her.

BY CHRIS LASSITER

The words spoke life to her.

On the outside of the folded manila card, there’s a vintage hand-drawn sketch of Windy Gap’s Hoedown Barn.

The inside features a Scripture passage from the Gospel of John along with the Windy Gap banquet dinner menu: grilled ribeye steak, broccoli with cheese sauce, whole wheat rolls, baked potato with sour cream and beverages.

None of that, however, explains why Cassandra Shed still owns the tiny place card she received in 1984. Nor does it explain why it remains one of her most prized possessions three decades later.

It wasn’t the card itself. It’s what was written on the card. Affirming, live-giving words penned by her Young Life leaders.

Words like: “You are a leader.”

“Your smile is so bright that it lights up a room.”

“You are kind.”

“They were words that would make anyone smile,” Shed said. “It was vision-casting; helping kids see who they could become. They spoke about some characteristics of me that propelled me beyond myself. That was inspirational.”

And so the card became a keepsake, just like her first Campaigner notebook, which she still has in her possession.

“When I look back some 30 years ago, and I think about that trip, there’s not much from it that I don’t still have and that I can’t go put my hands on,” Shed said. “To me, those are memories that have made me and shaped me. I dare not get rid of them.”

Memories are crucially important to Shed, the area director of Southwest Dallas County. The date June 21, 1984, for instance, is forever etched in her memory. On that day — during the 20 minutes of silence at Windy Gap — Shed started her relationship with Christ.

Not only did the Windy Gap trip have a huge eternal impact on Shed, it also set a course for how she would live.

What started with Young Life leaders like Lola Steward pouring into Shed has led to Shed pouring her life into the students at Duncanville High School.

“If I could give to someone that one thing given to me,” Shed promised herself, “then I want to give my all to that. I want to be connected to that.”

From left, Cassandra Shed in 1986 with her leaders, Lola Steward, Clyde and Jewel Stearns; the Windy Gap banquet place card; the student leadership team at Serious Pizza in 2014. Opposite page, Shed with Steward in 2015, the 1986 Young Life western tour.

The Connections Continue

Understanding Religion and Relationships

Early in her teenage years in Oak Cliff, Texas, much of Shed’s life centered around religious activity.

“I really thought — as naïve as I was at 13 — that the Christian walk was something old people did,” Shed said. “I didn’t know the God of the universe wanted a relationship with me.”

At Windy Gap, Young Life leaders helped her process the Gospel, and for the first time she understood clearly that Christ desired her more than her behavior. One leader helped crystalize the personal relationship aspect of salvation to her.

“He explained to me that giving my heart to Jesus was like a house,” Shed said. “Jesus wasn’t asking me to clean the house first. He was just asking me to let Him in the door. One by one, He would go in each room and help me clean it up.”

It’s a message Shed has shared with countless teens as a Young Life area director in Southwest Dallas.

Time-Tested

As a teenager, two things really struck Shed about Young Life: the way leaders built meaningful relationships and made Jesus seem so personal.

In Shed’s case, relationships with leaders like Steward that started back at Windy Gap in the 1980s have weathered the test of time.

“Lola is the one I would say just poured into me,” said Shed, then added remarkably, “I still meet with her every two weeks for Bible study.”

The Young Life leaders helped Shed connect to Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship Church, led by world-renowned author and Gospel communicator Dr. Tony Evans. Shed is still a member of this church.

“The relationships I’ve built with my Young Life leaders have withstood the test of time,” Shed said. “You talk about going to college, coming back, getting married, having children.

All of the journeys and things you have in life.

They have prayed for me, loved me, watched me fall and get up, look healthy and not so healthy. Through all of life’s ups and downs, these people have been in my life.”

Relationships aren’t the only thing Shed knows well. She also knows her pizza.

And in the same way her Young Life leaders built relationships and introduced Jesus over steak and potatoes at Windy Gap, Shed connects with Duncanville students over Serious Pizza in Dallas, Texas.

The entrée may have changed. The method has not.

With an enrollment of 4,000 students, Duncanville High School is one of the largest and most innovative high schools in the nation. Here, kids can earn “Panther Points” to have their nails done at school, or get their car’s oil changed at the school’s automotive department. Resource officers patrol the campus on bikes and Segways.

Although high school has changed a great deal since Shed graduated, the greatest need of high school kids has not.

“They’re still confused about who they are and where they belong,” Shed said. “Sometimes you can become a number.

Sometimes you can get lost in the school. Peer pressure is still peer pressure, and you can still feel disconnected.”

One of many students Shed has helped feel connected is Shay, a junior at Duncanville.

“She’s a good Young Life leader,” Shay said. “She’s very good with kids. She tries her best to understand any situation they come to her about. She lets them know that it’s OK to have fun with God. She’s very, very cool.”

Shed’s ability to connect — the same way leaders connected with her 30 years ago — is what makes her a treasure to the Young Life mission and “very, very cool” to countless kids in Texas.

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A Bond Restored Through his own rich experience, one pastor joins together Young Life and the church.

“My parents had the first divorce in the church I grew up in and nobody there knew what to do with it.” For then 12-yearold Ross Strader, that response sent him spiraling downward.

Growing up in Abilene, Texas, Strader came to a child’s faith through the little Bible church. The oldest of five kids saw his “picture-perfect family” fall to pieces when his dad left in the middle of the night. He didn’t see or hear from him again for years.

The inability of his church to care for him in this fragile time left him confused and angry. “It was just weird,” he said. “So, very early on I fell out of love with the church. I figured, ‘This is not the place for me,’ and never had any intention to go back. I don’t know that I left Jesus; I still felt affection toward Him. But that’s where I was.”

Soon he was working to support the family, becoming, in essence, the man of the house. “My mom hadn’t graduated high school, and so we went from having a great family life straight to poverty.” Meanwhile, he continued to wrestle with what life had dealt him and his family. “The divorce informed and defined who I was,” Strader said. “And who I was, was rebellious.”

A DRAMATIC HOLD OF MY HEART At this point, Jud Jones, the Young Life area director at Abilene Cooper High School, made it a point to pursue the freshman. By this time, Jones said, “Ross was the classic cocky, party guy, trying to prove himself all the time.” That of course didn’t deter Jones.

“Jud was there,” Strader said. “He loved me and somehow always found money for me to go on Young Life trips.”

On one such Wilderness camping excursion in Colorado, Strader said, “walls began to break down” for Strader. “Moving into my senior year, the Gospel had a dramatic hold of my heart

BY JEFF CHESEMORE

again. It didn’t translate to church, but I spent a lot of time in my Campaigner group and with my Young Life leaders.”

“The new Ross began to get serious about Jesus,” Jones said. “By his senior year he was talking with me and praying about how to reach his friends.”

After graduation, Chuck Rodgers, the new area director in Abilene, picked up with Strader where Jones left off.

Rodgers mentored the college student, who went on Young Life student staff his junior year. In a few years, Strader met Leslie, whom he married in 1995.

Soon they moved to Sand Springs, Oklahoma, where Strader served as the Young Life area director. It didn’t take long before the young married couple with a newborn realized their desperate need for the church. “The Lord was gracious — although He’d been doing it for years — this was the place where it became most tangible He was wooing me back. I hadn’t been a member of a church for 15 years; I thought Young Life was all I needed. I was wrong.

“For the next two years we found ourselves in a church that loved Young Life. A great turmoil began to stir inside of me.

‘Where am I supposed to be? What am I supposed to do next?’”

Sensing God’s call, Strader enrolled in Dallas Theological Seminary where God brought restoration and reconciliation.

“At seminary I went back to the church I had grown up in and served in an internship there. The community embraced me and it was a real healing time for us. I knew then God was calling me to pastor.”

AN ALL-OUT, HONEST, FULL PURSUIT In 2006 Strader became the head pastor at Bethel Bible Church in Tyler, Texas. While Gainesville is the actual birthplace of Young Life, Tyler now holds the position as the

Bethel’s coffee shop in downtown Tyler.

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longest active area in Young Life — a fact not lost on Strader.

“Young Life in Tyler is very healthy. It’s beautiful when you see it in action. And just as Young Life wooed me back into the church, I brought Young Life with me.”

Strader trains his church staff the same as he once trained Young Life leaders. “I share with them, ‘It’s a sin to bore people with the Gospel.’ ‘We have to earn the right to be heard.’ ‘Let’s make memories with people.’ ‘Let’s introduce people to Jesus in the context of relationships.’”

Both Rodgers and Jones believe this is where Strader shines. “Ross just gets relationships,” Rodgers said. “He’s beloved by people.” Jones added, “One reason he’s a great pastor is because he loves people well. Ross is an incredible husband and father, who’s deeply in love with Jesus.”

This love is evidenced in how he models what he first learned back in high school. “Young Life was never ‘come to us’; it was ‘go out and get ‘em.’ That has forever marked me in ministry. Here at Bethel it’s been an all-out, honest, full pursuit of Jesus, but hopefully in a wildly attractive way.

We want to do this with excellence and make Jesus look as beautiful as He is, with the joy of our lives.”

Bethel now has multiple campuses, including a location in downtown Tyler. The church bought and renovated an old building, with the upper floors serving as church space and the first floor providing an inviting place for the public to come and connect over coffee and pie. “We spare no expense to make this the best place in Tyler,” Strader said. “People come in for various reasons: concerts, art shows, real estate meetings and everything you can imagine. Half the people who walk in don’t know it’s part of a church. We’ve trained our baristas like Young Life leaders with the vision to create the best space to do contact work with them.”

Strader continues to play a critical role in connecting Bethel with Tyler Young Life. “When I was in town,” Jones said, “I visited Ross’s church and was blown away by how he balances pastoring with supporting Young Life. At one point he was the interim Young Life committee chair — how rare is that! On top of that, Bethel has a great relationship with Young Life in Sierra Leone.”

Strader recognizes the complementary ways in which Young Life and the local church can serve one another. Young Life is part of the church, he said, “and yet, Young Life leaders can go places church leaders cannot. Young Life helps extend the reach of churches in a community. It’s a catalyst that may impact people for a few years, while the local church can be the mechanism God uses to help people walk in Christ all the rest of their days.”

Rodgers put it another way, “What the local church offers, Young Life can’t. What Young Life offers, the local church probably shouldn’t. Ross has married the two so well.”

It’s been three decades since Strader encountered the ministry God would use to direct him back to the church.

“I’m 45 and for the past 30 years I’ve seen God’s grace in this thread of Young Life. From this awkward, insecure high school freshman to where God has led me now, Young Life has been there every step of the way.

“This story is not about me; God has been so gracious. Jud and Chuck will tell you I’m the most unlikely kid to get to do what I’m doing. There’ve been a million stories like this over Young Life’s first 75 years and I pray there’ll be a million more!”

Ross Strader 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 alum.yl.org.

Ross, Leslie and kids at Young Life’s Trail West.

Ross preaching at Bethel.

Ross and longtime friend, Chuck Rodgers.

During the conference over 6,000 #YL75 hashtag mentions on Instagram; 1,500 mentions on Twitter • 5,000 pairs of TOMS sunglasses / drawstring

Every four years, Young Life staff and friends gather to celebrate what the Lord has done and will do through the mission.

During t 2016, 50 Orlando laugh, p Birthday 75 years just som the four

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Joyful attendees included Joni Eareckson Tada (top row, second from right), Denny and past presidents with spouses (top row, far righ

bags / water bottles / 41 & Change coffee bags • 93 buses to transport everyone to Hollywood Studios • 84 vid

ht) and the mission’s third president, Bob Mitchell, with wife Claudia (far left).

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staff to YL75 • 38-foot-long Legacy Wall with hand-written Young Life moments from the attendees • 1 enormous birthday cake • 1 thankful mission

the days of January 6-9, 000 gathered again in o, Florida, to worship, pray, cry and sing “Happy y” to a mission that’s now s old. Here’s a fun look at me of the memories from r day experience …

deo projects completed for the conference • 40 staff volunteered 240+ hours at the airport to welcome their fellow

A Kindred

SPIRITQ&A Jen Hatmaker is an author, speaker, wife and mother of five, whose books include For the Love and Interrupted.

Before she spoke at the Young Life Celebration in Orlando, she sat down with Jeff Chesemore, senior editor of Relationships, to talk about grace, laughter and a shared passion for kids.

WHAT’S YOUR HISTORY WITH YOUNG LIFE? Right out of college my husband, Brandon, and I went into church youth work in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and we had a vibrant relationship with the Young Life crew there. Young Life was thriving, so we worked closely with the staff and volunteers and asked how we could serve each other. Some of these kids needed a church; some needed Jesus and they wouldn’t come to us. So we were like, ‘Let’s trade around!’ We thought it was a phenomenal ministry to kids, especially those a traditional church ministry couldn’t get to.

Our own kids have been in Young Life since middle school. I would drop them off at WyldLife and bless the workers, ‘Go with God!’ Honestly, 200 middle schoolers … I cannot!

Our kids have come up through the Young Life pipeline, we’ve gone to camps and I volunteered with YoungLives. It’s been a long road with Young Life and it has my highest respect and honor.

WHAT DID YOU LEARN ABOUT JESUS AND YOURSELF THROUGH YOUNGLIVES? The list is so long. I worked in the number-one high school for teen pregnancy in central Texas, so we had a lot of young mommas.

At first I was nervous, and I’ve worked with teens my whole life. I was nervous because we were in their setting, in their school. And then I realized they’re just kids like all of ’em. So we moved from what was a sterile mentorship space to just loving those girls and their babies to death. I think for me it was another reminder that God is very much paying attention, He’s very much at work, He’s very much in the margins, He’s very much in the high schools with them and their pregnancies.

I’ve been in church work my whole adult life, so a lot of my experience with God early on was very sanitized. Everybody behaves in church. So as we’ve gotten older and found God way outside the walls, it increases my faith and reminds me how far and wide and high God’s love is for us. It made me feel more loved to see the lengths God would go to reach these girls, who never in 20 billion years are going to walk into our youth group. He’s a good God and He’s after us, that’s for sure.

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WHY IS IT SO IMPORTANT TO MINISTER OUT OF RELATIONSHIPS? I grew up just this side of fundamental. So the way I was trained to connect with people evangelically was apologetics. Those were the tools put in my hands. How to defend my faith. Well, I was

good at it, but it was funny to find that with my skillful apologetics and Christian T-shirts (really awesome), people were not falling down around me getting saved! It was quite a painful deconstruction process to unlearn all that. We live in Austin, which is incredibly unchurched. We’ve lived here 15 years and raised our kids here. We have no other option, honestly. Even if I wanted to go around defending my faith, no one’s listening. We learned in the field what it looks like to connect with people as friends, as neighbors, and we discovered, ‘Hey, this is much more fun than arguing with them. I prefer this!’

What an amazing front door to talk about God. I don’t worry about having the right answers or great talking points to walk somebody through the Christian faith. When you love them and they know it, it bubbles up constantly.

Everyone wants God. Everyone’s looking for meaning and salvation and hope; they just don’t trust organized religion to give it to them. And if they’re not coming to us, then we’re going to them with love and grace, not because they’re a project or agenda, but because we love them and God loves them. I’m so deep in that camp we even tell our people, ‘Don’t invite people to our church, just invite them to dinner. Let’s start there. Be a good friend; earn a hearing for the Gospel.’ We’ve seen this be so incredibly effective and meaningful, when people can find a safe space to wrestle it out with God. IN FOR THE LOVE YOU WRITE “YOU CAN SAVE HEARTS AND LIVES WITH GRACE.” SAY MORE ABOUT THIS. I wrote that initially to my kids in an essay about all my dreams for their lives. I’ve always had eyes and ears and a real burden for the weird kid, the lonely kid, the sad kid, the broken kid. I know how incredibly hard high school can be.

So I was talking to my kids about what it means to extend grace. It can be small. The right word, the right phrase.

It’s not magic. It’s not a monumental thing. But these small kindnesses you can extend to people who are so lonely and

isolated can pull them right out of the mire. They can give somebody a reason to go on, to get out of bed, to walk into school, and of course that applies to grown-ups, too.

I remember little one-liners people have said to me at the right time, just when I was on the brink of throwing in the towel. I hope as a mom I’m training my kids to walk around and find those moments. One of the easiest things we can do for the Gospel is to just be kind and seed a little grace, especially for people we know for sure are not going to have much more that day.

HUMOR IS BIG IN YOUNG LIFE AND YOU OBVIOUSLY HAVE THE GIFT! HOW DOES HUMOR GIVE YOU LIFE? I appreciate the question, honestly, because I spent a great deal of my adult life in ministry. I come from funny. It’s in our gene pool. We grew up in a funny house. Humor was a real value. When I moved into ministry — and I’ll tell you right now I still struggle with this a little bit — I thought, “This makes me silly. No one’s going to take me seriously.

It’s probably a liability.” So to this day I have to overcome that voice in my head that says this is nonsense, this is a waste of time, because it’s not. I learn better when someone has made me laugh and it makes me feel good, it makes me feel connected. Humor is good for us and there’s a place for it, and it doesn’t displace the Gospel and that’s what I had to finally come to terms with. It doesn’t take up space where something better should be residing. It’s a complement. It goes together.

So I’ll just always be that person, and I’m glad Young Life will always be that ‘org’ that makes room for fun and laughter. Life is already hard. We don’t need to inject nothing but somber spiritual sobriety in everyone else’s life. I’m glad you put a value on this. Kids don’t have to be taught this; it’s adults who get it all wonky, like, ‘Let’s just keep this deep.’ Well sometimes we just need to play a dumb game. I’m afraid it can’t be helped with me! Even if I wanted reform here it’s too late!

“Jen-Sights!”

Some quotes from Jen’s talk at YL75 …

“The next generation of kids that are growing up entirely postmodern, the soundbite for their generation would be, ‘I don’t have all the answers and neither do you.’”

“Be a loving spiritual parent that kids want to imitate one day. It’s your very best offering.”

“I promise you, for this generation, well done trumps well said.”

“May we reach the next generation for Jesus by any means, wherever the Gospel rises, however and through whomever!”

“Heaven is going to be so much more crowded because of the faithful work of Young Life for 75 years, and may there be another 75 more.”

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SixteenPreciousSouls

BY ALEX HECK

I remember my Young Life leader reading me the Burr Nichols story from the book Dance, Children, Dance. Burr began a relationship with Jesus after hearing Jim Rayburn, the founder of Young Life, speak about the Savior in club.

A few months later the high schooler was killed in a car accident. As my leader read the story, he couldn’t finish it through his tears. He kept getting caught on Rayburn’s line, “Burr was a precious soul for whom the Lord died.”

Recently this story has taken on new meaning.

This past summer, another leader, Travis, and I took a cabin of 16 young men to SharpTop Cove. Most came from tough backgrounds; a lot of single-parent homes, rough neighborhoods.

Maybe a quarter of them had a father who was around at all, let alone one whom they lived with or would tell them he loved them.

On the third night of camp, the speaker, Devon Accardi, left us with the question: “Have you ever asked, ‘Jesus, where were you? If you had just been there ...’” These guys certainly had a lot of pain. This cabin full of tough football players, who dismiss feelings and insecurities, guys who believe vulnerability equals weakness, was quickly filled with tears. There was Bryce, who came to camp a day late because he had to bury his four-year-old cousin. There was James*, who was constantly told by his mother he would never amount to anything. Each one could tell a story, many stories in fact, that would break the Savior’s heart. None more poignant than Isaiah, however. The sobs stifled for a moment, as he quietly told the story of coming home and finding his mom dead on the floor.

Later in the night, Nick, the star running back of the football team, stopped me and asked to talk. He said, “How do you be a leader?”

“What, like a Young Life leader?”

“Yeah ... I mean no. How do you lead people to Jesus? I’ve never understood before tonight, but people’s stories are real. I’ve heard Isaiah’s story before, but it’s never clicked. That’s his story. That’s his life. How do I help him? How do I show him Jesus?”

We eventually walked to a bench, and he continued questioning me. “How do I lead my brothers?” Nick has many younger brothers and cousins who look up to him. “My dad was never around for me. He’s lived in this town for three years. He hasn’t come to one of my football games. Not one. They don’t know that. They haven’t seen that side of him yet.

How do I lead them?”

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Nick and Alex after a game.

My heart burned with his against the brokenness of this world. I found myself wondering, “Jesus, where were you? How could you let all this happen?” Then Nick spoke again, this time the deepest question of his heart surfacing, as he asked me, “How come he doesn’t want to father me?”

This cabin full of tough football players, who dismiss feelings and insecurities, guys who believe vulnerability equals weakness, was quickly

filled with tears.

What do you say to that? No leader is prepared for that. Heck, no human should have to answer that. I was scared to answer. What if I couldn’t come through for him? What if I failed him, just like his father so many times? But I found my voice, and told him I didn’t know why his father wasn’t around. That I hated it too. That I didn’t have answers. But I knew one thing. God wanted to father him. He wanted to pour His love on him. God wanted him to know, more than anything, that he is His beloved, His son.

I told him about Romans 8:15 (NKJV), which says, “For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, ‘Abba, Father.’” I told him how we can be sure of the promise of God’s desire to father us because of Jesus on the cross. And I told him how this empowers us to be there for others, and share this same life-changing news with them. We talked for over an hour about what it looks like to lead other people, to pray for them, and mostly, to be loved by and fall in love with Jesus.

I realized at camp, outside of Travis and me, many of the guys have never had an older male tell them he was proud of them. That he loved them. Medical school has forced me to stop leading Young Life, but I still get to run with these guys. I watch their football games, and tell them how proud I am of them. I tell them I love them, and sometimes even hear it back. And mostly, largely due to the mission of Young Life, I get the chance to tell Nick and those 15 other “precious souls for whom the Lord died” about the love of Jesus. And for this, I will always be thankful. *Name has been changed

BY LESLIE STRADER When Rick Monroe first started hanging out with kids as a Young Life leader, a text was something you read inside a book, and no one ever put the words “social” and “media” together in the same sentence.

Unimaginable change has emerged in the world over the last 40 years, but Monroe says nothing compares to what he’s seen Jesus do to transform hearts and lives through Young Life.

Monroe was 22 years old when God called him to volunteer in Savannah, Georgia, and after 40 faithful years, God has called Monroe to step down. While his time as a leader may be complete, Monroe says he’ll never give up his passion for kids to know the love of Jesus.

The Call

Monroe grew up going to church every Sunday, but laments the experience was “boring as a brick.” He connected with a campus ministry while attending the University of Georgia and loved the games, singing and winsome message about Jesus. But their evangelism strategy was “a real turnoff.”

“It wasn’t relational,” Monroe said. “I wanted to win friendships, not spring Jesus on people out of the blue.”

The summer of 1974 before his last quarter in school, he gave a children’s sermon at a church where he had once served as youth director. Later that day, he received two phone calls from people who heard him speak — one was a job offer from a bank; the other was an invitation to be a volunteer leader at a place he’d never heard of before: Windy Gap. He said yes to both.

After graduation in December 1974, Monroe loaded everything in his Ford Maverick and drove from Athens to Windy Gap. “When I saw the camp, and how they presented Jesus as exciting, not boring, I knew I’d found what I was looking for.”

Monroe attended his first club as a volunteer leader in January 1975, the same day he started his new job and joined the Young Life committee. He’s been impacting teenagers for eternity ever since.

For 25 years, Monroe was a volunteer leader at Windsor Forest High School and after that, Country Day High School.

Offers to come on staff never tempted him. He said his specific call was to volunteer.

“Things happened to let me know that wasn’t what I was supposed to do. I was already doing Young Life. I just never felt led (to go on staff). It was always an offering.”

Monroe has also continued working with students at his church, connecting it with Young Life as much as he can.

“I see Young Life as a maternity ward — babies are born at club, Campaigners is the nursery where they learn to walk,” he explained, “and church is where we connect with God’s family to help us grow to maturity. I always told kids

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that someday, they will be too old for Young Life, but they will never be too old for the church.”

Evolution of the Teenager

Monroe has witnessed more than just evolutions in technology over the years; he calls what he’s seen “the evolution of the teenager.”

“In the early years you could tell a kid was from a divorced home, but not anymore,” he said. “ Used to be, any given weeknight when calling about camp, nine out of 10 kids were at home. Now, no one’s home.

“Kids try to focus on so many things, they can’t focus on anything. Young Life calls them to focus on the One that matters. What hasn’t changed is the truth of the Gospel and the need for kids to know it. There’s always a new group to tell. You’re never finished with that.”

While the need is always there, Monroe said he had to step away before he became “that guy” at the high school. “They respect you,” he said, “but don’t want to hang out with you.”

Though Monroe is stepping out of the world of kids, he said he plans to continue serving on the Young Life committee and support the mission in every way he can. He has persevered as long as he has because ministry gives him purpose and builds his faith.

“I think everybody ought to be involved in something with eternal value, something that lasts,” he said. “Because really, we are in the seed-planting business more than the results business.

“When you plant a seed, you don’t see anything for a while. I’ve gotten phone calls from kids in their 20s and 30s telling me they came to Christ through Young Life. You never know on a Monday-to-Monday basis. You go by faith and trust God to do what He is going to do.”

The Next 40 Years

Ward Barnes is area director of Savannah Young Life and beneficiary of Monroe’s wisdom and experience. He said Monroe’s impact over time there is immeasurable.

“The word that comes to mind for Rick Monroe is faithfulness,” Ward said. “He’s seen some high highs and low lows, and forgotten more about Young Life than I will ever know. He’s given away more Bibles, prayed for more students, given more club talks, and seen more sports practices and games than anyone I know.

“Rick has benefited the whole community in unknowable ways. Dozens of staff, hundreds of leaders, thousands of kids have been impacted. It’s hard to measure this side of eternity. He’s part of the great cloud of witnesses in Savannah.”

When Monroe told Ward he was stepping down last May, Ward wanted to honor his friend’s legacy.

POW!

TH E THE S TU RES EN A DVENTURE ADV O FRICK OF

MONROE

With the blessing of the committee and help from the Young Life Foundation, Ward set out to raise $8,000 — enough to send one student to a weekend camp at Windy Gap every year for the next 40 years.

“I contacted former club kids, leaders, committee and staff,” Ward said, “and everyone I called said yes. We ended up raising $11,000, and a very generous donor matched that. Now, we are able to send two Savannah students to Windy Gap for the next 40 years through the Rick Monroe Legacy Scholarship.

“We told him, ‘You’ve taken care of Young Life in Savannah for the last 40 years; we’re committed to the next

40 years.’ That’s an 80-year legacy for Savannah Young Life, thanks to Rick.”

But Monroe’s take on his legacy is a little different. In his view, he was simply a vessel.

“Anything people have seen in me that they like or that draws them has been Jesus in me,” he said. “The only reason I’ve had any affect has been the Holy Spirit working through me. All I’ve ever done has been because of Him. It’s been an honor to have been entrusted to give kids instruction about the only thing that really matters.”

We need Your help

Help us increase our work around the globe

Local ministry is always the highest priority, but if you’re able to give an extra gift to support ministry in areas where resources are scarce, please consider these opportunities: Multicultural/Urban Campership Fund — Helps kids in underresourced communities throughout the United States experience the best week of their lives at a Young Life camp near them. To give online or learn more, go to kids2camp.younglife.org.

International Fund — Vital for continued ministry to kids in more than 99 countries around the world. To give online or learn more, go to globalsupport.younglife.org.

passages SAM ADAMS

JEFF STABLES

BY JEFF CHESEMORE

BY LEE CORDER, SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, INTERNATIONAL MINISTRIES

JULY 25, 1928 - NOV. 13, 2015 From his first meeting with Jim Rayburn at a high school assembly in 1943 to his passing at the age of 87, Sam Adams was an original. Throughout his life, he moved through a variety of roles: from rebellious club kid to professional football player to Young Life leader and trainer.

Adams met Christ through Jim Rayburn’s club in Fort Worth, Texas. He shared his testimony in Young Life magazine in 1946: “I went [to club] for a while and gave Jim all kinds of trouble — like throwing books or pushing his car [10–15 blocks down the street!]. All this time he had been telling us about a person named Jesus. … Since I already knew about Jesus, I didn’t need to listen to Jim. So I didn’t.”

At one club, Rayburn called out Adams for “cutting up” on the back stairway and had him come down front to sit. “It sure burned me up, so I sat there and stared at him. While I was sitting there, I noticed he was still talking about Jesus. This time I listened.

Jim told how He had loved us so much He died on the cross for me. Why should He die for me, I wondered?

Then came Camp El Har, and there I found the Lord.”

Over the years Adams led club in Pullman, Washington, and trained countless numbers of Washington State University students. Like so many of his contemporaries, Adams’ faithfulness helped grow the mission of Young Life, not only in Washington, but around the world. His love and service in Young Life lasted for nearly five decades.

Sam Adams at Whitworth College.

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JUNE 6, 1978 - DEC. 7, 2015

Jeff Stables, with wife, Becca, and sons (left to right), Levi, Ian and Luke.

Our brother, Jeff Stables, served with great distinction by starting a new area in Culpeper, Virginia, 15 years ago before moving on two years ago to begin Young Life in St. Andrews, Scotland. Jeff, Becca and the great Stables “men” went, entrusting themselves to Jesus and experiencing a favor that was beyond remarkable in that beautiful setting.

Our brother Jeff, who decided with Becca and their sons to stay in Scotland in mission until he was no longer able to function, ran the race to the finish. Jeff’s verse for the year became, “‘Wake up, sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.’ Be very careful, then, how you live — not as unwise but as wise” (Ephesians 5:14-15, NIV).

So while we’re looking for understanding, we cling to their faith and the incredible gift of knowing our brother Jeff has been set free, a young and vigorous man again, in the presence of his Lord Jesus, where our lionhearted brother worships in the presence of Aslan Himself.

For we remember that “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his faithful servants” (Psalm 116:15, NIV). Well done, faithful brother. You have taught us well, shown us the way and invited us to join you in this journey of faith.

Lord Jesus, receive our dear brother and your beloved son Jeff. May he hear your voice saying, “Come forth, Jeff, lay down those grave clothes and enter into the joy of my rest.”

ELIEZER “MANOY ELI” M. YASI

MARTIE SHEFFER

BY JEFF CHESEMORE

BY JEFF CHESEMORE

MARCH 22, 1933 - DEC. 7, 2015

OCT. 24, 1919 - DEC. 21, 2015

On Monday, Dec. 7, Eli Yasi went home to be with Jesus, the very one he had told thousands of Filipino youth about for more than five decades. Yasi started Young Life in the Philippines and that part of his journey is told below: In 1965, a young Filipino named Eli Yasi traveled to the United States as the coordinator for the Philippines Crusades. He was looking to adapt a program for those Filipino youth who were difficult to reach. He visited many youth programs across the nation, but always concluded, “This isn’t right.” Everything changed when Yasi arrived at his first Young Life club. “When I saw kids smoking cigarettes and deflating tires of the cars parked outside I said, ‘This is it! I’ve found it! These are the ones I want to reach!’ Then we went inside.

The kids sang songs and shouted, and then the leader, Jim Shelton, told the story about the Good Samaritan. And the kids listened. After that I said, ‘This is the concept that’s been in my mind.’” Yasi returned to the island of Mindanao, and after two months of contact work, witnessed three hundred kids pack out the first Young Life club in the Philippines. (From Made for This: The Young Life Story, p. 59)

Pioneer. If there’s one word that epitomizes Martie Sheffer’s faithful journey in Young Life, it would be this one. Through five decades, Martie, alongside her husband, George, helped begin various ministries to all kinds of kids throughout the United States and beyond.

The couple always felt called to new work, and after working in suburban schools in Tyler, Texas, and Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, from the early ’40s until 1961, they began reaching out to kids in Dallas’s inner city.

They soon moved to the west side of Chicago, where their ministry in the midst of a turbulent decade was legendary. In the 1970s they helped their son, George Sheffer III, start the Dale House, a refuge for hurting kids, in Colorado Springs.

After their “retirement” in the 1980s, they considered yet another type of ministry in Martie and George Sheffer another new place. Martie, 64, accompanied George, 65, to Nairobi, Kenya, where they trained African youth workers in Young Life’s incarnational ministry.

Following George’s death in 1987, Martie continued ministry at the Dale House, at prisons with her small group and at her retirement home. Her genuine warmth and sweet spirit will be missed by the many lives she touched.

October 16, 2016, will mark our ...

75th BIRTHDAY! Young Life has released a 220-page book celebrating the mission, titled Made for This: The Young Life Story.

Features include: • The story of the mission from the very beginning • Great photography from the last seven decades • Young Life personalities, camps, artifacts, a fold-out timeline and so much more!

Order your copies now! younglifestore.com

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younglifespokenhere YOUNG LIFE’S MISSION IN

THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC While ministry in the Dominican Republic (DR) dates back to the late ’80s, a “modern miracle” of growth started in 2011. That summer Pico Escondido, Young Life’s camp here, hosted 298 leaders and teens. Rafa Alejo, the national director in the DR, became convinced God was calling the team to set 540 kids and leaders as the goal for 2012 — the largest number each club in the country could bring to camp.

The first time he shared this dream with key leaders, they were convinced it was impossible — how could they almost double what had been their biggest summer ever? They united around the plan, however, and amazing things happened — God moved in a mighty way and 576 teens and leaders went to camp!

More teens in club and Campaigners led to even more involvement. Last year the team felt called to another audacious camping goal and called the dream “Every teen counts x 1,000.” The goal: bring 1,000 teens and leaders to Pico Escondido.

But when the dust had settled, 1,098 leaders and teens attended camp in 2015! Much of the growth has been led by college students in Young Life’s Developing Global Leaders program and volunteer leaders.

6,970 Kids Reached

Volunteer Leaders

Number of National Staff

6

Pico Escondido

Developing Global Leaders

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210 Ministries

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partingshots Leaders and kids from Greenville High School in Greenville, South Carolina, couldn’t be more thrilled for Young Life club!

1.

2.

1. The YoungLives Charlottesville, Virginia, group enjoys their time at Rockbridge.

2. Rwanda International School Young Life leaders and kids at Lake Kivu for Young Life camp.

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