Posts by Young Life Leader
Bro Breakfast: A Young Life Tradition
Originally posted Aug 2012. Maybe it feels too early to start an official Campaigners group. Maybe you’re waiting until after fall camp. If you feel like you don’t yet know kids well enough to dive into a Bible study, here’s an idea for you. A leader in our area started a tradition with some sophomore…
Read MoreToday Is A Mission-wide Day Of Prayer For Young Life
Today is a global Young Life Day Of Prayer. On the first Tuesdays in March and October we as a mission join in prayer for our Reaching A World Of Kids initiative. The goal is to increase the number of kids we reach from one million to two million a year. Currently Young Life is reaching…
Read More50 Contact Work Ideas
Starbucks and Pinterest Kick field goals Find a radar gun and clock guys throwing baseball pitches after school Volunteer to sign in students at the late sign in desk Offer free hair buzzes (check with parents first) Picnic in the park Be a substitute teacher Run with the cross country team Take guys fishing Have…
Read MoreContact Work Accountability Questions
Last year our Area Director asked us to talk through some helpful questions with our YL teams: How many times was your team at the school this week collectively? What ‘outside of school’ contact work was done this week? How many ‘one on one’s did your team do? What have you done to encourage senior…
Read More150+ Young Life Club Songs With Downloadable Chords & Slides
Below are 150+ club songs with: Guitar chord sheets PowerPoint slides A link to listen to each song. Special thanks to Sean McGever at YLHelp.com for helping make this club music resource a reality! Pictured above is Sean’s club music sets for this Fall 2014 semester. You can also download these chords and slides through…
Read MoreThe Shrink Wrap Candy Ball Game
This game would likely work best for WyldLife club or Campaigners. It could be used around Halloween or at a Christmas party. To Play The Game A player holds the shrink wrap candy ball and starts removing layers. The player on their left is rolling 2 dice (in a pan) as fast as possible…
Read More2 Ways To Quickly Make Club Recap Videos
The Magisto Way Last year I made a one-minute recap video of club each week. I posted it on Twitter an hour after club. It was an easy way for folks who didn’t make it to see what they missed. Here’s a video I made after our first club 2 weeks ago. It took me…
Read MoreHow To Make Hilarious ‘Good Morning Young Life’ Videos
One of my favorite YL traditions is waking kids up before school with a video camera. “Good Morning Young Life” videos seem easy enough to pull off, but there are actually lots of ways they can go wrong. Hopefully these tips below will help you not make the same mistakes I have. PICK THE RIGHT KIDS TO…
Read MoreFree Krispy Kreme This Friday, Sept 19th: Talk Like A Pirate Day
Friday, Sept 19th, is International Talk Like A Pirate Day. In honor of the parodic holiday, Krispy Kreme is giving away free doughnuts. If you show up to any Krispy Kreme on Friday and talk like a pirate, you get a free doughnut. Ahoy Matey! There she blows! Yo Ho Ho! Shiver me timbers! If you show up fully dressed…
Read MoreIngredients Of A Fun Pre-Club: What Happens From 7:27p-7:47p
As kids arrive for club, there are a few strategic ways to help them feel comfortable and welcomed. Our club officially starts at 7:37p but kids typically arrive around 7:27p. We don’t open the doors to club until 7:47…so here’s what happens in those first 20 minutes… Music It’s vital to have good music bumpin’…
Read More8 Tips For Your Pre-Club Young Life Photo Booth
If you’ve been to a wedding lately, you might have taken some photo booth pics. It’s fun, makes it feel like a party, and everyone loves to see themselves in a photograph. As the new semester begins and we meet new middle and high schoolers, a helpful way to remember their names is to do…
Read MoreThe Young Life Leader Version Of ‘Meet The Parents’
I look back at my first year leading Young Life in college and feel sorry for my poor Area Director. God bless you Bart Scarborough. I’m sure he received many phone calls from concerned parents wondering why he allowed me to represent Durham/Chapel Hill Young Life. Have You Ever… Got A Speeding Ticket With Kids…
Read MoreHow To Be An Ineffective Young Life Leader
Don’t remember kids’ names. Teach your Campaigner group spiritual disciplines you don’t personally practice. Always send mass text messages. Never call kids individually. Depend on your own ability to win kids to Christ. Retweet all tweets by your high school friends that could get them grounded if seen by their parents. Don’t ask anyone to…
Read MoreAdvice For Young Life Leaders From A Real High School Principal
This post was written by a real high school principal who wishes to remain anonymous. Special thanks to this friend of Young Life who took the time to share valuable insight with us leaders. Hopefully it will help your Young Life team as you begin the new school year. (Originally posted fall 2011) As a long-time friend…
Read MoreInstagram Tips For Young Life Leaders
When I first became a YL leader we handed out paper flyers to promote club. That was way before everyone had a smart phone. While we still do use paper flyers for special events, word is now typically spread through social media. At our high school we use Twitter and Instagram to announce themes for…
Read MoreBaby, Backpack, Bunkbed: An Easy, No Prep Mixer For Club
Need a fun, easy, no prep mixer for club? Explain the game from upfront, then ask folks to stand up and mingle while the music plays, similar to musical chairs. When the music stops, a command will be given. At that point, grab a partner and form whichever command was given. BABY: One person standing…
Read MoreStoplight Club: How Wearing A Green Shirt Can Open A Heart
***After talking with quite a few friends about this, I’ve landed on Stoplight Club not being the wisest choice for us to do in club. You can still use some of the ideas below for a type of ‘Love Club’ but my final recommendation is to not do this club.*** I posted this ‘Stoplight Club’…
Read MoreJesus Wants The Rose
Originally Posted Aug 2013 Being a Young Life leader is hard. As much as we love high schoolers, many of them are just difficult to love. Apart from Christ in us, it wouldn’t make much sense to love them. They reject us. They ignore our texts. They’re mean. They lie. They have terrible habits. They don’t…
Read MoreContent Songs For Young Life Club (Download Slides, Chords, etc…)
Below are 40+ content songs to sing at club. By clicking on the links below you can download good guitar chord sheets, slides (PowerPoint & Keynote), mp3s and listen to the song on YouTube. Let me know if there are other content songs you sing at your club and I can add them. The starred…
Read More10 Ways High Schoolers Can Take Ownership At Club
One night last semester, right after club, our newest leader asked me how it compared with a typical club. “Was it better than normal, average, or not quite as good?” I turned to one of my high school friends and asked, “What do you think Christian?” His response surprised me, in a good way. “I…
Read MoreThe Most Important Text Message You’ll Send This August
Many of our friends recently graduated high school and are starting college this month. What happens during those first weeks of college will significantly influence, not only their next four years, but the very direction of their lives. Andy Stanley says “Direction, not intention, determines destination.” He illustrates, “If you’re going north on I-85, you’re not…
Read MoreWhat I Found At Frontier Ranch
Taken on our assignment at Frontier Ranch this summer. A guest post from Ali Smith. Normal 0 false false false EN-US JA X-NONE At some point during my three years as a volunteer and my four years on staff, serving with Young Life became a “have to.” Even fun things like going to camp felt…
Read MoreHow I Failed On The First Day
Originally posted August 2012. It was 3:15pm, the first day back to school for my high school friends. I was excited but nervous and tried to talk myself out of going to the school. I made excuses. “No other leader can go do contact work today. It’s not worth it to drive all the way…
Read More123 Theme Club Ideas To Help Your Young Life Team Plan The Fall
A new school year is upon us! Below are 123 theme club ideas to help you plan clubs for the fall. What new theme club ideas do you have for this fall? Please share any ideas or club plans in the comments below or email me here. Over half of the theme club ideas below have…
Read More