The Great Divide

Young Life: A Party With A Purpose

By: Lauren Allen
aThEENs staff

 

Young Life leaders gather to pray before their weekly club meeting.

It is 7:30 am on a Wednesday morning at Jittery Joe’s coffee shop in the five points area of Athens. Scattered about are people drinking their coffee and reading the morning paper in solitude. The only noise heard above the hum of the cappuccino machine is the buzz coming from a group of nine high school aged girls huddled around a table. If the conversation were overheard, one would soon find out who was still dating their summer fling, what teacher is impossibly hard and who just applied to college. Why are these high school students choosing to spend their morning over lattes instead of finishing their homework or catching a few extra minutes of sleep? Because Wednesday morning coffee is just one of the weekly traditions of the girls’ Acad YoungLife team that brings them closer together to each other and to Jesus Christ.

According to their website, YoungLife is a non-denominational Christian ministry that reaches out to adolescents through volunteers, staff, club meetings, and camps. Ansley Richardson, a junior at Athens Academy, says YoungLife is a place to “jam for Jesus.” In agreement, Anne Lanier Gilbert, a senior, says, “Yeah, it’s just a big party…with a great purpose.” That purpose being to get establish a relationship with Christ.

Many people have a misconstrued idea about what YoungLife is. It is not a church group and no one pressures members to believe something they are not ready for. Leaders are taught to measure where each student is in their relationship with Christ. Their main focus is to build a relationship with each member of their team. Each team participates in weekly club meetings, and many hold other weekly traditions—like the Acad team’s weekly coffee outing. Club meetings are designed to, once again, strengthen relationships between members and their leaders. Despite negative things that are often said about the group, the girls in the Acad team (short for Athens Academy), say YoungLife provides them with a safe, free space to come together and have a good time.

As the girls are leaving the coffee shop, headed to school, one of the team leaders, Brittany Bass, promises, “I’ll definitely be seeing you girls tomorrow. Good luck!” Some of the girls on their team are on the volleyball team, and their leaders are often found in the stands. Again, this is what YoungLife is all about: building strong, lasting relationships.

Another leader of the Acad team, Rachel Rafferty later says, “These girls are my family, and I love each and every one of them.”

Rafferty, now a senior at the University, was also a part of YoungLife in high school with a great leader who inspired her to become one in college. She understands that she is so much like the girls she leads and can use her own experiences to guide her girls to God.

She said, “Getting to see how God used my personal testimony to relate to one of my high school girls was one of the most moving moments I’ve experienced since I have become a leader.”  She says she knew she was meant to become a YoungLife leader when, “[God] used the darkest moments of [her] life to bring glory to His name.” Her own personal experiences are what allow her to bond with the members of her team because she has been in their shoes and can relate to their problems.

In addition to weekly traditions of the individual YoungLife teams, every team holds club each week. Club is a time for team leaders to meet with YoungLife members and students who have just become interested in YoungLife. For the Acad team, the leaders meet at a leader’s house each week just before club to pray for the upcoming event and finalize any plans about the lineup.

Colton Parks, a senior YL leader, arrives smile on face and ice cream sundaes in hand. Lively chatter takes over the room. Each leader greets the others with jokes and fun banter. From the outside, it probably looks like these are just nine college students hanging out on a Monday night. And in many ways, that is exactly what it is. But just as everyone is finishing off their ice cream, Parks says, “Alright guys, let’s lift it up.” And everyone bows his head in prayer.

Young Life leaders pray for their upcoming club meeting.

Each leader takes a few seconds to say a word about the club they are about to attend. Many ask for strength and energy to show the kids how God is working in their lives. Because Rafferty is the speaker at this particular club, the leaders also pray that her words would really affect the students. Rafferty prays, “I just hope my words will give [the students] hope. And it will make them want to come back to hear the whole story.” Each week at club, a team leader speaks on a different topic. This particular week, Rafferty is speaking about our need for God. Topics in the following week will be on sin, the cross, and resurrection.

When the prayers wrap up, Parks hands out the club itinerary to each leader. He asks Robert Armstrong, a sophomore, and his partner in putting on the game this week if he was able to get goggles and flippers. They will be dressing in bathing suits, goggles, flippers and other miscellaneous scuba equipment to bob for a random assortment of Halloween items. Following the game YL leaders Laura Feder and Caroline Luke will perform a skit, a mock Public Service Announcement about the importance of brushing your teeth after eating candy.

The games, skits, and songs performed at the beginning of club are all for the purpose of bringing the students’ focus on the leaders for the talk at the end. They want everyone to have a great time at each club and they work so hard to ensure they do, but they still want the students to know they are all there for a greater purpose–to get to know Jesus Christ.

The influence Young Life has on each of the students and their lives is immense. There are 12 Young Life teams with over 100 leadesr from the University of Georgia community in the Greater Athens Young Life district. They serve many high schools in Athens and in surrounding counties. Leaders dedicate a large amount of time and are passionate about their students. Many leaders started their YoungLife experience as members in high school and understand the importance of the influence a leader has on members. Between camps, sporting events, and weekly club meetings, Young Life brings its members closer to God by providing a good time with friends and great role models.

The organization serves as a basis for which a teenager can start or strengthen a relationship with peers and eventually with God. On a daily basis though, it serves as a place to get together with friends in a healthy and fun environment. Members of YoungLife often consider their teams a family and are always seeking new members.