Posts by Young Life Leader
He Saw Me In The Stands: God’s Gift In My Time of Burnout
An Anonymous Guest Post By the time Christmas Club arrived I was done. Burned out. Ready for a break. Not sure I even wanted to give it another go in the spring. Being a Young Life leader is hard on my family, takes so much time, and I honestly haven’t even seen much ‘fruit’ in…
Read MoreThe Second Year Wrap Up
Happy Birthday to The Young Life Leader Blog. Two years ago I decided to create a website to help YL leaders connect and share ideas. What started out as a lonely brainstorm has turned into an encouraging community. Thanks to the many of you who’ve sent in ideas and guest posts over the past…
Read MoreThe Day Creation Held It’s Breath
Today we remember the moment when creation held it’s breath. God is with us. Merry Christmas from all of us at The Young Life Leader Blog. Gather ‘Round, Ye Children, Come by Andrew Peterson (from Behold the Lamb of God) Gather ’round, ye children, come Listen to the old, old story Of the pow’r of…
Read MoreShe Made Them Cookies
We have a spunky leader on our Young Life team named Wendy. She’s an empty-nester with a mama’s heart and a tattooed past. Last week she gave the talk at Christmas Club. As she told the good news of Jesus’ birth, she shared specific ways of how Christ had transformed her own life. She spoke…
Read MoreExpired Registration: A YL Talk Illustration
As you’re preparing talks for next semester, here’s a true story that happened this week in Texas. It’s a powerful illustration of grace. Grace isn’t God saying, “It’s okay that you sin, don’t worry about it.” Grace is God saying “Sin is not okay and you are guilty, but I’m going to pay your fine.”…
Read MoreFree Copies of ‘Wild Grace’ For Campaigners
A Guest Post from Nashville YL Leader Kristen Baird. Did you catch my guest post back in August about Max Lucado’s new teen book, Wild Grace? I was really excited to offer some free copies to a lucky leader out there, and I’d like to share some more free copies now! This book, perfect for…
Read More6 C’s Banquet Video From Newburgh, IN
Chris Neal recently shared this helpful 6 C’s banquet video from Newburgh, IN. You can find more banquet videos here. If you’d like us to add your banquet video, please comment below with a link. Thanks Chris! Newburgh Young Life 6 C’s from Chris Neal on Vimeo.
Read MoreGuest Post: His Love Covers My Inadequacy
This guest post is written by an anonymous leader in NC. Being a Young Life leader pushes us to come out of our shell. To break away from our comfort zone. To step into the darkness. I knew all of this when I started leading a few years ago, and while I am well…
Read MoreGuest Post: It Was Always About Jesus
This guest post is written by Erin Green, a sophomore at the University of Texas and a Young Life leader at McCallum High School. She loves adventures, coffee, and kids. You can find her blogging at www.likewaterthesea.tumblr.com. Since my sophomore summer at Crooked Creek, I have dreamt of someday being a Young Life leader. I…
Read MoreGo Shopping…Support YL
This tip came from Pat Meenan, on YL staff in Ohio. If you are looking for leader or committee member gifts…or if you are shopping for anyone (including yourself!), take a look at Richwood Creations, a non-profit whose proceeds all go to support YL in Richwood, WV, an extremely poor area. Brad Weckesser, a former…
Read MoreMr. Christmas Tree Pageant: Training Video, Flyer & Runway Script
Apologies on not sharing this sooner, been a busy last week. If you haven‘t held your Mr. Christmas Tree Pageant yet, here are a couple things we used that were big hits. Above is a poster we hung around the school. We also gave mini-flyer-versions of it to each senior guy and had them autograph…
Read MoreEasy Way To Decorate For Christmas Club
We just had our Tacky Christmas Monday and did something that transformed our club and it is sooooooo simple. We emailed committee and YL friends and got 6 tacky Christmas inflatables to fill the clubroom! It was awesome. The kids had no idea and were stunned to walk in the club room and see a…
Read MoreKarama for Christmas
In case you missed it in the Young Life ‘Monday Morning’ email… Some Karama Artisans Karama for Christmas! Looking for unique gifts that also support changing lives? Then you’ll want to check out Karama. Begun by Dyan Larmey, Young Life staff in Africa, Karama assists and encourages local African artisans. Proceeds from the sale of…
Read MoreHow To Speak To Students By Mark Driscoll
Last week @TroyFarley shared this article with us via @TheResurgence. Thanks Troy! 9 Tips For Teaching Students You can find the full length post by Mark Driscoll here. START STRONG You have to get their attention the moment you step up to teach if you want to keep their attention. Start with high energy,…
Read MoreWhat You Missed in November
For those of you who are new to this online community of Young Life leaders, welcome! My name is Drew Hill and I’m a YL leader in Greensboro, NC. (About Me) YoungLifeLeaders.org was created to be a place for sharing ideas, encouragement and resources. Currently thousands of Young Life leaders around the globe interact here…
Read MoreThis Game Is Straight Baller
A few weeks ago at our banquet we did a simple game that was visually hilarious. I thought it was worth passing along. It takes a little prep work, but the prep work could easily double as contact work. One of my favorite things Brian Summerall drills in leaders heads during his seminars is ‘to…
Read MoreChristmas Club Ideas
Below are tons of ideas to help make your Christmas Club a merry ol time. If you have any other ideas to share, please comment below. Decorations Ask friends for BIG inflatables and borrow Christmas lights. Click here for more details. Songs Rudolph, Feliz Navidad, and Jingle Bells are good fast ones. ‘What Child…
Read MoreLetters To A Young Life Leader
Dear Young Life Friends, Bob Mitchell is a true Young Life legend. “Mitch” was Young Life’s third president and one of Jim Rayburn’s original club kids. Not a day has passed since 1940 that Young Life has not been on his mind. Whitecaps Media is thrilled to announce the publication of Mitch’s first book,…
Read MoreIf I Could Write A Letter To Me: 9 Lessons Learned From A 3rd Year Leader
A guest post from Ashton Fenster, a volunteer leader in Richardson, Texas. This is my third year leading now and I am completely different leader than when I started. Every year, I begin the year by realizing how crappy of a leader I was the year before. First off, I was eighteen when I…
Read MoreThe Welcoming Prayer
Last week a team of folks in our city set up a 24/7 Prayer room. Some right-brained ladies did an incredible job of creating a space to connect with God. The sounds, the lights, the smell, the paint, the different stations of hands-on prayer…all helped usher us into the presence of the Lord. Funny how…
Read MoreChristmas Club Idea: Awkward Family Christmas Cards
What do you get when you combine matching knitted holiday sweaters, bad hair, some tacky Christmas props, and maybe the family pet? This. Or this. Or maybe this. Everyone loves an awkward family photo, so give your high school friends an opportunity to make their own at Christmas club. Set up a photo booth, complete…
Read MoreA MUST ADD To Your Thanksgiving Themed Club: Nicole Westbrook, ‘It’s Thanksgiving’
This brand new video is a MUST ADD to your Thanksgiving themed club. Move over Rebecca Black, Hello Nicole Westbrook! As painful as it is, hang on til the 3 minute mark. Yep. She uses a turkey leg as a microphone. For the past 70 years Young Life has had zero Thanksgiving-themed pop songs to…
Read MoreThanksgiving Club Ideas
We actually are not having club during Thanksgiving week this year. Lots of kids are already going to be out of town and it seems a good week to rest before we gear up to finish the semester strong. If you are having a Thanksgiving themed club, here are a few ideas you can steal. …
Read MoreLittle Nemo: Gangnam Style
This guest post is written by David Freels, YL leader in Knoxville, TN. We put a new twist on a classic Young Life skit: “Little Nemo”. I saw Nemo as a club kid 30 years ago and it was so funny that it was areason I wanted to come back to a club. So I…
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