Posts by Young Life Leader
Leading Young Life As A New Mom With Cancer
A Guest Post by Amy DiBias Patwa Volunteer Young Life Leader in North Carolina Leading Young Life this past year has been strange. Lots of changes. New leaders, close friends graduating, a new group of freshmen coming in, and… a cancer diagnosis. I wasn’t embarrassed to be bald, necessarily, but i wasn’t comfortable heading to…
Read MoreKung Fu Volley Soccer
Tired of summer movies? Looking for something fun to do with your high school friends tonight? How bout putting together a lil game of Kung Fu Volley Soccer!
Read MoreJunk In The Trunk: Twerk Contest
It’s essentially a ‘twerking’ contest with some tweaks. Either attach a kleenex box filled with ping pong balls to their belt… or a pedometer to the back of their belt. Get 4 guys (more appropriate than girls) to come up front. 2 guys go first and see who can either shake the most ping pong…
Read MoreWould You Write A Guest Post?
The initial idea for The Young Life Leader Blog was to create a space where Young Life leaders can share ideas and encouragement with one another. Would YOU be willing to share any creative ideas, crazy club games, encouraging stories, lessons learned, hot new songs, a strike of contact work genius, or anything else you…
Read MoreA Life Worth Sharing
Thanks to the wonderful world of Google Reader, its easy to regularly follow some helpful youth ministry blogs. This week I read a guest post on youth pastor Doug Field’s blog that I thought was worth sharing. It was written by David Hertweck who serves the Assemblies of God in the state of New York…
Read MoreHousekeeping
Thanks so much to those of you who give input on how the blog can be improved. To respond to some of that feedback, I’ll be making some aesthetic tweaks over the next few days to hopefully make it easier to read. Please feel free to leave any feedback in the comments below. I want…
Read MoreHappy Birthday Jim Rayburn
Jim Rayburn Jr. was born in Iowa on July 21, 1909 and lived a short 61 years in which God used him to start the incredible movement of Young Life. The lives he has impacted are countless. One of the most impactful books I have ever read is “Dance, Children, Dance.” It is written by…
Read MoreCele-blog-tion: Morning Starters
In response to the post from last week, here is a “cele-blog-tion” (celebrating someone in the form of a blog post) of another leader. For the past 3 weeks since her area returned home from camp, Ashley (from North Carolina) has been meeting with her cabin of girls EVERY weekday morning at 7:30am. They meet…
Read MoreI Lost Control
Three weeks ago I had a lot ofcontrol. I worked hard to get my high school friends on that bus to camp. With enough persuasion and nagging, I couldcontrolwho went, to some extent. I busted my tail to help them raise thousands of dollars. With enough begging, weed-pulling, and carwashing I couldcontrolif they got the…
Read More54 Hours Of Adolescent Insight
Tonight NBC will air the final episode of, in my humble opinion, the best TV show of all time, Friday Night Lights. You can already watch the 5th and final season on Hulu Plus and DVD, because it originally aired on DirecTV, but tonight finishes the show for most of the viewing world. I myself…
Read MoreA Chance To Celebrate Other Leaders
Hearing about other Young Life leaders laying their lives down for their high school friends encourages me to do the same. Summer is a time when its easy to get slack and “take a break” from really investing in kids, but few things motivate me more than watching my friends who are YL leaders really…
Read MoreFree Slurpees TODAY At 7-Eleven Gas Stations
It’s an annual tradition every July 11th for the 7-Eleven gas station to offer free 7.11 ounce Slurpees at any of their locations. Easy, fun, and free contact work. Find a 7-Eleven near you here.
Read MoreWhen You Least Expect It: Jack’s Story
I met Jack eight months ago. He didn’t give me the time of day. He’s the football star, the ladies man, and way too cool for Young Life. I became friends with many of his friends, but the most I could ever expect from Jack was the typical head nod. Not even a “What’s up?.”…
Read MoreNavigating Summer Boredom, Part 3: A Better Story
I recently read Donald Miller’s book, A Million Miles in a Thousand Years. In it he tells a powerful story about his friend Jason who was having some trouble with his 13-year-old daughter. She was dating a loser, into drugs, and Jason didn’t know where to turn. After hearing Jason’s story, Don made the offhand…
Read MoreNavigating Summer Boredom, Part 2: Money
High schoolers tend to believe that money equals happiness. How can you possibly have fun if you don’t spend lots of money? Here are a few random and inexpensive ideas for helping high schoolers kill their boredom without breaking the bank. You will probably have to lead these activities the first time around, but take…
Read MoreNavigating Summer Boredom, Part 1: Movies
The Young Life Leader Blog has been on vacation these past few days and the down time got me thinking about down time. Part of being a leader is teaching kids how to use their large amounts of summer free time wisely. It’s been said that “Idle hands are the devil’s workshop,” and these three…
Read MoreIce-Cube Cowboys
Set-up Kids should break off into pairs. With WL kids, we usually tell them they should be on the same gender because one person will be the “horse” and one the “rider.” The horse gets on their hands and knees and the rider gets on their back. Before the game starts, a large bowl of ice…
Read MoreA Better Bus Ride To Camp: Part 3
This is the third and final post explaining a sample Bus Program you can use on the bus ride to camp. In case you missed them… Link to first post. Link to second post . Spread out your Bus Program scenes depending upon the length of your bus ride. A few hours after your first…
Read MoreA Better Bus Ride To Camp: Part 2
As as a follow up to yesterday’s post,here are the details for the Bus Program we attempted on our way to camp last week.Remember, its intentionally lower quality than we’re used to in club for the sake of humor.3 Characters:If you have different schools on your bus, get a leader from different schools to play…
Read MoreA Better Bus Ride To Camp: Part 1
I’ll never forget my first time seeing “Bus Program.” A dark curtain hung from an extended shower rod across the back of the coach bus. The six seats closest to the bathroom were blocked off and something was going on back there, but I was honestly paying more attention to the ladies sitting around me.…
Read MoreYou Know You’re At YL Camp When…
We just returned from an amazing week at Sharptop Cove. After one of the leader meetings, a few of us came up with the list below. Feel free to add to it in the comment section.You Know You’re At Young Life Camp When… You can’t start your day without Honey Nut Scooters and CoCo Roos.…
Read More“Total Young Life Move”
There’s a pretty hilarious Twitter account out there that all Young Life leaders need to follow. It’s call “Total Young Life Move” and you can follow it@totalYLmove on Twitter. Here is a little sampling from their Twitter feed: “After 4 years of leading yl in college I realize I have more gear from the high…
Read MoreWork Crew/Summer Staff Package-Less Packages
Do you have any friends doing work crew or summer staff this summer? I’m sure they would love to get a letter or package in the mail. You can find all the camp addresses right here. Make sure to mail it in time so they get it before they leave. Here are a few things…
Read MoreMy Boy Cee Lo Green
Some of my high school friends were riding along in my sweet minivan last week. It was a windows down kind of afternoon. Although I’m not in college anymore, I still like to think I’m cutting-edge-cool, so I was rockin’ some 105.7 Jamz, and even cocked my hat a lil to the side. The same…
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