I was about to be a sophomore in high school, and my summer was drawing to a close. I received a text from my friend asking me if I was going to something called "Campaigners" that night. I wasn't quite sure what it actually was, but I responded with a "yes" and asked for more information. I knew it was associated with something at my school known as "Young Life," but I wasn't exactly sure what that was either. That night, I showed up at 8 o' clock sharp just as I had been told, slightly nervous of what I was about to walk into. But, as soon as I did walk in, I was instantly welcomed with open arms by a lot of wonderful and energetic people, most of whom I recognized from around school. I had already committed my life to Christ, but was never very verbal about my beliefs, and my first Campaigners was the beginning of a change. That night, we sang songs about our love for God, spent time in the Word and prayed together. It was a night that I won't ever forget -- my first experience with Young Life.
For those of you who don't know, Young Life is a ministry that aims to spread the love of God within schools, universities and communities all over the world. They do this with the help of Young Life leaders, who help to set up opportunities to invite more and more people to learn how much God loves us, and to have fun while doing it. These leaders don't just teach us -- they've also become our friends and love spending time with all of us. I've found a close friend in my leader, Hannah -- she's always there to talk, share some laughs and obsess over our mutual love of coffee. All of our leaders are people who genuinely want to know us and help us get involved, and I think they play a big role in what makes Young Life so awesome. They are so full of joy and so full of Jesus, and it's really wonderful.
After my first Campaigners, I learned about weekly Young Life "club," where we all would come together to sing, play games, hear our leaders give talks about Jesus and spend time in scripture. I started attending these weekly, and even had the opportunity to help lead the music at club (which helped me come out of my shell more as a singer!)
At club, our leaders started talking about a "fall weekend" camp in Rockbridge County, Virginia. I'd never been, but I was excited to be going. That weekend left a large impact on me that I'll never forget. We spent time with other students from all over our county, and some from other places. I played games, ate some delicious food, and on top of that, we got to have Young Life club three times everyday. I had the opportunity to be a volunteer for one of the games at club, which was such a cool experience. But despite all of the fun I had, that was not what this camp was about.
On our final night spent at camp, we had a talk about just how much God loves us and wants to be a part of our lives. I saw my friends who didn't previously know about Jesus' sacrifice for us overwhelmed with the Holy Spirit. Imagine a room full of bubbly and social teenagers going completely silent. We felt God's presence. We were shown a video depicting just what Jesus went through on the cross to the song "Beautiful Scandalous Night," a song I now know by heart. We then were all asked to go outside and spend time by ourselves in quiet reflection for a few minutes. I sat down on a patch of grass, accompanied only by the sound of running water and the wind. I wrapped myself in my blanket scarf and burst into tears, and spent that few minutes just with God. I finally understood the love He has for us all and it overwhelmed me. For years I had just brushed it off, "oh yeah, God loves us." I would say this as if it were no big deal. At this moment though, I got it. I realized that God's work is no small feat, and He placed me there in that moment for a reason. I went back inside with a tear-stained face and a smile as I watched my friends stand up in front of everyone and fearlessly declare that they'd decided to have a relationship with God; let me tell you, it's the most amazing thing.
I left camp the next day with Jesus in my heart and I was inspired to tell everyone I possibly could about God's love for us. I went from being shy in faith to openly willing to share with anyone willing to listen. I really believe that Young Life has helped me to become closer with God and make Him the central focus of my life. God's love is really present and I know Young Life is representative of that. At one Campaigners bible study last year, we wrote down the names of four people we knew from school that we would pray for throughout the year, and invite to events. Our leaders were also given the names to pray over. I thought it was a cool idea, and told my friend from school, Hannah, about it. She responded to me, "You know, we did that last year too, and I wrote your name down." She told me that she'd been praying for me, and I was in awe of how God had brought me to that point just a year later. Because of Young Life, I see God at work every single day and recognize it.
In short, Young Life is fun. Young Life is life-changing. Young Life is amazing.
Young Life is God's work being done.
