Trinity Men’s Ministry title="Trinity Men's Ministry"

Young Life

This month’s spotlight article on local Christian charitable organizations is about Young Life.

No longer children though not yet adults, they stand at the edge between yesterday and tomorrow, between their parents and their friends, between their hopes and their fears, between truth and consequence. They stand at the moment of vital uncertainty in their lives — excitement and confusion, conviction and doubt, hope and worry. This moment will shape the rest of their lives. And the moment is right now.

High school and Middle school have been called the “wet cement years,” the vital time when children emerge from under their parents’ wings, when decisions carry a heavier weight and today’s casual choice becomes tomorrow’s lifelong pattern. Just as young people are developing a separate identity from their parents, the issues they face become more serious — much more than they’ve ever faced, and often more than their parents faced at the same age. For any youth, these years pose big questions — who am I? why am I here? — and the answers can shape a lifetime.

Young Life’s mission is to introduce adolescents to Jesus Christ and help them grow in their faith. It is founded on reaching middle school and high school students in their own environment — at school, football games, among friends. Locally, Young Life has a team of 45 volunteer youth leaders that work among students from eleven schools in Charlottesville, Albemarle, Greene, Madison, and Orange counties. Supporting the effort is a Central Committee and a network of Boosters for each school, parents that commit to help facilitate ministry as well as pray for the work of Young Life in their school. But the volunteer leaders, provide the backbone for Young Life’s one-on-one ministry to students.

Young Life is woven into the fabric of a student’s life with leaders continuing to show up in kid’s lives day in and day out. Leaders run high-energy meetings call Club to engage kids and proclaim the good news about Jesus Christ. Through weekly Campaigner meetings and special Camp experiences, Young Life seeks to invest deeply into the lives of students. While Club meetings reach out through high-energy fun, Campaigner meetings reach in, offering consistent Bible study to help the student learn “to love God completely, love yourself correctly and love the world compassionately.”

Camp experiences are aimed at getting the student away for a special time — para sailing or rope climbing during the day, followed by a gospel presentation at night. Billed as “the best week of your life,” they often are just that: a truly life-changing experience. Each of the last seven years over 200 kids have gone away to a week of summer camp with Young Life.

This summer we will be taking kids to Saranac Lake and Lake Champion. Details can be found at our website.

For more information about Young Life visit www.charlottesville.younglife.org

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