fun fact friday!

A little history lesson...

DID YOU KNOW???

In 1938, a minister challenged youth leader Jim Rayburn to develop a way to reach kids at the local high school who had no interest in church.  Rayburn started a weekly club for kids to meet in Gainesville, TX.  It was fun and energetic, with skits, songs, and a simple message of Jesus Christ.

After seminary, on October 16, 1941, Rayburn officially established Young Life with four others.  We still use his club model today, showing kids that life with Christ is fun, adventurous, and life changing.  (Planning weekly Clubs will be one of my primary responsibilities while in CR.)

In 1946, YL staff included 20 men and women in several states.  That year, its headquarters moved to Colorado Springs, CO, where it still is today.  Volunteer leadership started at Wheaton College in the late 1940s and has expanded to over 19,000 volunteer leaders today!  

In its early years, YL was primarily a ministry focused on suburban high school students.  In 1972, it expanded to nearly 25 multi-ethnic urban areas.  Today there are more than 700 multicultural ministries reaching more than 18,000 inner-city, racially underrepresented and poor young people.  WyldLife for middle schoolers and Capernaum for kids with disabilities started in the 80s.  Reaching kids in rural areas was next through the Small Town Initiative.  Most recently, YL has expanded to include YoungLives, which focuses on pregnant teens and young mothers, and Young Life College, which focuses on college students.    That's a lot of kids, from a lot of backgrounds, who get to hear the Good News of the Gospel!!

Young Life is not just in the US.  (Obviously, as I will be in Costa Rica.)  Currently, there are American and national staff and volunteers reaching kids through more than 700 ministries in more than 70 countries!

Over the years and across the globe, Young Life's mission remains the same:  to introduce adolescents to Jesus Christ and to help them grow in their faith.  Grateful to have experienced the transformative power of this mission first hand, as I met the Lord through YL as a high schooler.  And now I am both excited and humbled to be a part of this ministry in Costa Rica.  Praying that all kids in San Jose come to know the Lord!