Happy 70th!

Dear Friends,
        Happy Birthday! Just two weeks ago, Young Life officially celebrated its 70th birthday.  In 1941 Jim Rayburn and some other folks in Texas had a great vision for how to reach out to teenagers who weren’t interested in the church and started this mission….what a wonderful thing to celebrate! They discussed how to live out Colossians 4:5 “Walk in wisdom to them that are without” and John 1:14 “And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us” (KJV) with teenagers to help them hear the gospel with new ears and be discipled by a loving Christian. It’s how they formed their plan to reach teenagers and it’s what Young Life is still doing—going where kids are and helping them hear and experience the gospel for themselves. But, while Young Life is still very true to its roots, I like to think the mission has grown even more than Jim and his friends in Texas could originally have imagined.
Camp in Colombia
Jim and his friends started with the desire to reach teens in Texas, which quickly grew into a vision for teens in other states and that soon grew into a vision for teens around the world. One of Jim’s big prayers was ““Dear Lord, Give us the teenagers that we may lead them to Thee” and I know Jim would be excited to see how world-wide that prayer has become. Young Life is now impacting over 1,000,000 kids each year in over 70 countries around the globe, and we feel really led to pray those numbers will grow larger in the next few years (I’ll tell you more about that in another note soon).   
     Over the course of those 70 years there has been an awful lot of fun in Young Life— crazy games, ridiculous skits, terrible costumes, etc. (somewhere out there are some pictures my kids will not be proud of— oh well). While it can be a lot of fun to be a Young Life leader, one of Jim’s charges to his leaders was to not forget “that the only thing that really lasts that you can impart to kids isn’t your humor, your clever antics, or even your best talks; rather, what really stays with them over the years is what you imparted in word and deed about the Savior.”
Club in Mexico
      I think that means Jim Rayburn would smile when Edgar, a 14 year old in Mexico talks about why he is excited about Young Life: “I have never felt love this way, no one in my family has ever said to me I love you, not that I can remember.” Edgar is experiencing Jesus’ love for him through his leaders in a way he’s feeling and understanding for the first time…and he’s one in a million :), what an exciting thing to celebrate. Thanks for your prayers and support that help make this possible,
Scott
 
Scott with Alberto
Some ways you can be praying for us:
--- Give thanks for the 70 years and all the ways God has blessed and used Young Life.
--- Alberto Martínez is on Young Life staff in Puerto Peñasco, Mexico (where Edgar lives) and is one of the leaders I get to work most directly with. Unfortunately, Alberto's mother is in the hospital in very serious condition with a kidney and liver infection that’s now impacting her brain. The prognosis is not good, and Alberto says “we’re just hoping for a miracle.” Please pray for Alberto and his mom and for God to work as only he can.
--- I’m busy helping plan our first major on-line training course for our YL leaders in Latin America for 2012. The course will be about how we proclaim the gospel in camp and club talks. It’s exciting and daunting all at the same time. Please pray for wisdom in how we present this course.
--- Pray for our fundraising and for the fundraising of the leaders we work with, that God would provide the needed resources.
 

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