High school football games. Dairy Queen stops after Young Life club. Sneaking out of the cabin after “lights out” for an important one-on-one. The smile on a kid’s face when the fireworks explode after the camp carnival. Watching a leader “get it” for the first time. Swaying to Free Fallin’ Read more…
In this guest post written by Erin Iafrate, Area Director of Grand Traverse Young Life, she reflects on her summer role as Camp Speaker at Timber Wolf Lake in August. “I could have called anyone, Erin, but I called you simply because I want to be with you,” the Lord said to Read more…
The dream for Kentwood Young Life was rekindled in 2013 as Mayor Stephen Kepley was running for office. He was campaigning door-to-door in the Kentwood community when he met Kori and Julie Youngblood. After some small talk about the city, the Youngbloods brought up the subject of Young Life. “If Read more…
Growing up in West Michigan as a pastor’s kid provided Caryn Schierbeek with opportunities early on in life which fostered her spiritual growth and prepared her for a future in ministry. “I feel fortunate to have had the opportunity to attend the middle and high schools that I did and Read more…
It is a time of growth for Grand Rapids Urban Young Life. Lateefah Gofoe has been named the new Area Director of Grand Rapids Urban Young Life. Lateefah is no stranger to the Grand Rapids community, having been born and raised there, and a proud product of Grand Rapids Public Schools. Read more…
Young Life Area Directors wear a lot of hats. Here’s what some of those hats look like: sharing the vision of Young Life in their community, partnering with local churches, fundraising, budgeting, planning events, organizing trips, recruiting/training leaders and showing up in the lives of leaders and students alike. On Read more…
Today we’re bringing back the Volunteer Spotlight with a glimpse into Young Life leader Emily Deadman’s story. Emily is a volunteer leader in the Northeast Grand Rapids area and graduated this May from Kuyper College with a degree in Intercultural Studies and TESOL. Thanks, Emily, for writing and sharing your #YLstory Read more…
Today we’re pleased to share with you a guest post written by Cristy Lindstrom. Cristy and her husband Erik are YL team leaders at Traverse City West Senior High School (TC West), part of the Grand Traverse Area. There was no history of Young Life at TC West until this year. Read more…
Seven decades ago a group of Young Life kids in Gainesville, Texas wanted to dig deeper into what it means to be disciples of Christ. They wanted a space to pray for their school and discuss ways to reach more of their friends through club. They referred to themselves the Read more…
Meet Spencer, a Young Life kid-turned-leader. Never in his wildest dreams did he envision himself paving the way for a brand new Young Life club to emerge in the Western Great Lakes Region. Especially one bursting at the seams and reaching over 100 kids each week. Here’s how it happened; it’s an Read more…