Seeing the Unseen

Before you read this, watch the video above. Somebody once told me that whatever you focus your attention on will determine what you are missing most. Last summer, when I was on my sabbatical, I asked the Lord for a scripture that would be our Young Life region’s theme for the year. He gave me 2…

Read More

A 40-Day Experience For Your Young Life Team or Campaigners Group

This year (2023) Ash Wednesday falls on Wednesday, February 22nd. It’s the beginning of the ancient church season of Lent. I wanted to offer some thoughts that might be helpful for your Campaigners group or Young Life team. I didn’t start practicing Lent until I was in college and our Young Life Regional Director taught on the…

Read More

Collaboration: Help Teach an Old Dog New Tricks

My name is Sean Michael Murphy and I am an Area Director who is looking to learn from others. I would love to get an idea of what leaders are planning for this semester’s clubs.  I’m not only interested in new songs, skits, games and illustrations, I’m also interested in how you’re tracking/planning your semester.  I’ve…

Read More

How To Help Your Teenage Friends Face Their Biggest Questions

Life is all about questions. And wow, are there so many questions. Your teenage friends are starting to wrestle with more and more questions—and bigger and bigger ones. It’s easy to get overwhelmed—and many teenagers feel a lot of pressure to have everything figured out. Maybe they even think the point of life is actually…

Read More

The 4 H’s of the Gospel

Recently I have had occasion to spend time reflecting on my own personal history with Young Life. It was in 1974 at a Young Life club on a military base in California where I first experienced what I am calling the “Four H’s” of the gospel. Today I want to encourage you to help kids…

Read More

You’re Invited to Club Beyond’s Global Celebration Presented by Young Life Military

Join us on November 9th @ 10AM PT / 1PM ET for Club Beyond’s Global Celebration Presented by Young Life Military. Join viewers from around the globe as renown comedian Jeff Foxworthy hosts our inaugural global experience celebrating Club Beyond! In this program, you will learn how, since 1959, Young Life has been reaching military…

Read More

The Whys Behind Mr. Christmas Tree

When: October 12th from 2-3 pm CSTWhere: ZoomCost: FREE The Mr. Christmas Tree Pageant or similar event can create great contact work for your leaders and kid ownership of your club! But without knowing all the “whys” behind it, it can also be a great miss for your area. Join us for this live webinar…

Read More

6 Keys To Your Summer Camp Sign-up Night

When: October 5, 2022 from 2-3 pm CSTWhere: ZoomCost: FREE Many say it’s “the best week of their life,” which I’m sure you know to be true. But how do you get kids to that week? How do you set up a successful camp sign-up night? Join me for this webinar to hear how to…

Read More

Alongside Jesus: A Brand New Devotional for Teenagers

As another school year begins, it’s a perfect time to enter into new rhythms. If you’re looking for a devotional to read alongside your teenage friends, “Alongside Jesus” was written for you. The book is designed to help middle and high schoolers experience the presence of Jesus, alongside a caring adult. Each day includes: A…

Read More

A Daily Prayer Guide for Summer Camp

Below is a Daily Prayer Guide for Summer Camp that our area (Raleigh, NC) put together. If you’d like to create a personalized prayer guide for your area, here is an editable template. Prayer isn’t just preparation for ministry, prayer is ministry. Prior to Camp (John 1:14 NLT, 1 Corinthians 11:1 ESV) Theme: “PRAYERFUL &…

Read More

Dance Through The Decades

We hosted an epic dance party that began with a 50’s style Sock-hop followed by a “Dance through the Decades.” Below are some helpful details, along with a MP3 of the music that you can download if you want to pull off a similar event. Could be a great way to kick off the new…

Read More

Understanding the Culture & Earning the Right to Be Heard

When I attended UNC-Chapel Hill as a college student, the legendary Dean Smith was our basketball coach. He’s arguably one of the greatest coaches of all time, in any sport. This past weekend, I saw a lot of Tar Heel fans sharing a story about Coach Smith on social media. When I watched the video,…

Read More

Making the Most of the Bus Ride To WyldLife Camp

Kids will make memories at camp – new adventures, friends, laughter, and hearing the Gospel in ways meant just for the hearts of middle schoolers. We’re so intentional about these elements of camp, but have you thought about how to be intentional on the bus ride? We asked some WyldLife experts to share how they’ve…

Read More

The YL DNA

As a Young Life leader, you will likely often hear the phrase: “Young life DNA.” If you visit any international Young Life clubs, you’re going to see how the ministry may have some differences, but when you see the leaders in action, you’ll notice that the DNA of the leaders looks quite similar because, no…

Read More

What Do Catholics (Really) Believe?

What do you do when a Campaigners discussion suddenly takes a left turn, and you’re now fielding questions about confession? What do you do when your cabin time conversation gets embroiled in a debate about Mary? Given all the misconceptions about Catholicism, you may feel like you’re navigating a theological minefield when there are Catholic…

Read More

“Craig” by Walker Hayes

A friend recently shared a Walker Hayes song with me called “Craig.” It reminded me a lot of Young Life leaders. It’s based on a true story! Craig and Walker actually put the story into a book that comes out in a month. You can get it here: “Glad You’re Here: Two Unlikely Friends Breaking…

Read More

Thank You, Women of Young Life!

March is Women’s History Month.  For this reason, I want to dedicate this post to all of the women in the mission of Young Life. In the Bible, we can see the participation of women all over the gospels. The participation of women was a integral part of Jesus’ strategy from the beginning. Women interacted…

Read More

Launching WyldLife in a Catholic Setting

When we began to pray for a WyldLife ministry at St. Paul the Apostle, we had no idea that soon we’d be hosting monthly clubs with more than 60 kids. We had no idea we’d have 10 volunteer leaders, or be doing contact work in the parish school, and offering Campaigners and summer camp trips!…

Read More

Discipleship Focus: A Summer-long discipleship experience

Do you have a desire to know Jesus more intimately, be discipled, live in community with like minded college age students, all while getting paid? Consider spending your summer at Young Life’s Discipleship Focus! Discipleship Focus is a summer long discipleship experience focusing on living in an abiding relationship with Jesus. We combine the elements…

Read More

The SPONTANEOUS CONGA LINE

We just had our 80’s theme club and we tried something that ended up being a huge hit! As I looked through Spotify playlists of 80’s hits, I saw the Conga continually pop up. I had the idea to do “Spontaneous Conga Lines” at random points during club. We did it three different times throughout…

Read More

Earning the Right to Listen

Just the other day I was watching a Cultural Intelligence training video and I heard Cesar Castillejos, the Director of the Servant Leadership Project, say “let’s not just earn the right to be heard, we first need to earn the right to listen.”   Thinking about this concept reminded me of the song “Show Up” by…

Read More

Hill Twins’ Birth Update

It’s Saturday evening, August 7th, and today has been absolutely nuts. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for praying. I’ve not been able to reply to most of my texts today, so I’m writing up one summary that I can just copy and paste. I also may post this on The Young Life…

Read More

5 Bikes + 1 Country

A story of 5 Young Life leaders who biked across America to help start Young Life Capernaum in Charleston, SC. The question: What do you get when you add: 1 country + 5 friends + 10 inflated tires + 30 flat tires + 44 days + 4,000 miles? The answer: $11,000 of donations to help…

Read More

25 Person of Christ Club Talk Ideas

1. Jesus Is Human, Yet Divine The high priest said to him, “I charge you under oath by the living God: Tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God.” “Yes, it as you say” Jesus replied. Matthew 26:63-64 The Word (Jesus) became flesh and made his dwelling among us. -John 1:14 God became…

Read More