Young Life seeks to build friendships

Since 1941, the national Young Life organization has used college students to minister to adolescents through club meetings, camps and social events in order to “share God’s love with them.” At GCSU Young Life dedicates their time and efforts to building relationships with high schoolers in Baldwin and Putnam counties.

Since Young Life is a non-denominational Christian ministry, the only requirement to become a leader is to be a believer in Jesus Christ. Brittany Stathes, a senior health education major, has chosen to invest herself in Young Life ministry. Stathes has been tied to the organization since she was in elementary school.

“My dad actually was an area director when I was a little girl, so I grew up with Young Life,” Stathes said. “But I was also involved heavily in high school. For many of our leaders, their involvement is due to a Young Life leader at their school investing time into their lives and introducing them to Jesus.”

During her freshman year here at GCSU, she became a part of Young Life College, a branch of Young Life for believers to fellowship with other Christians in the community. It was during this time that she found herself questioning whether or not she really wanted to be a Young Life leader for high school outreach, or if she was just doing it because she was familiar with it.

Stathes said this questioning led her to the Bible’s four gospels.

“I started exploring how Jesus did ministry, because if I am a follower of him I should probably do things the way he did,” Stathes said. “And as I read I noticed something that had never stuck out to me before. Over and over again it is recorded that ‘Jesus went…’ He did not love people in one place and ask them to come to him, but was constantly on the move going to where people were. I realized that I wanted to be a part of how Young Life does ministry.”

Different from many other Christian evangelical approaches, Young Life seeks to build a relationship with the high schoolers before asking them bluntly about their perception of God. They hope that the high schooler will eventually open up and mention it to them.

“We do life with high school kids and hope that one day we will earn the right to be heard and have the honor of telling them about Jesus. Telling them about what he did and what he has to offer,” Stathes said.

GCSU Young Life leaders often visit their assigned school when the students are eating lunch or at a sports game or practice. As friendships are founded, leaders like Stathes may take a group of the girls to ice cream.

Leaders undergo training before being placed in schools. The area director, Phil Heilig, discusses the different aspects of being a Young Life leader. He teaches trainees about Young Life Club (the weekly organized interaction with the kids) and Young Life camps (a week long trip in the summer.)

Scathes personally knows it is a lot of work, but finds volunteering meaningful.

“Being a Young Life leader is a big time and energy commitment. It requires dedication and that is why we have training as well as the interview portion of college life. The way I view it is this, being a Young Life leader is more than an activity, it’s a lifestyle,” Stathes said.

Posted by Lauren Davidson on Oct 1 2010. Filed under Close Up, Special Sections. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.