The Young Life Leader Blog

Two years ago we started #YLTeamTuesday. Since then thousands of you have shared pics of your YL teams, many which have been featured every Tuesday on the @YoungLifeLeader Twitter and Instagram accounts.

This semester we're adding another chance for you and your YL friends to be featured: #YLFreshFriday.

We're looking for new ideas to share with thousands of Young Life leaders around the world.

Below are some fresh ideas to get you started. Think outside the box. Young Life people are known for their creativity! Who knows, your idea could be used in hundreds of Young Life clubs next week?!

Post any day of the week and use the hashtag #YLFreshFriday. You can also email us your ideas here.

Each Friday we'll post some of the best!

YL T-shirt Ideas

Post a pic of you and your friends sporting your freshest YL t-shirt design

New Club Songs

Post a video of your club singing
Email us chords and slides
Post a pic of the name of the song or the song lyrics

Fresh Club Games/Skits/Mixers

Video of the game happening at club
Instructions on how to play
Live action photo

Contact Work Ideas

You decided to have a spontaneous shaving cream fight in the school parking lot
You got filet mignons delivered to the school cafeteria
You threw a YL flavored Pinterest Party

Cutting Edge Campaigners

A unique and memorable Campaigners activity
A pic of Campaigners being held in an unusual location
A video clip illustration you showed your group

Fresh Resources

An article you read that would be great to share with other YL leaders
A movie you saw/book you read that's worth passing along

What other new ideas can you pass along?

Post using the hashtag #YLFreshFriday on any day of the week. Then be sure to check social media on Fridays to see if your idea was reposted.

This video from Sara Neese is HILARIOUS!

Written by Mark Kirgiss, WyldLife Representative of the Midwestern Division.

Perhaps one of the most difficult questions for WyldLife leaders to answer is when their WyldLife friends ask, “What are we doing at WyldLife club this week?”

It's a fair question that some WyldLife leaders avoid, not wanting to give away the “surprises” of club and so leaving WyldLife teens unsatisfied with our answers. Knowing that our middle school friends are still navigating life with the need for concrete answers, having themes for WyldLife clubs can provide both answers to their questions and direction in our planning of club – while still allowing for surprises.

Themes can provide momentum, excitement, anticipation and conversation around each club – for both leaders and young teens. They also provide “dress-up/costume” opportunities along with contact work moments to help our friends design their costumes (a trip to the thrift shop, for example) and be a part of club before they attend.

Starting points for your leadership team in planning theme clubs are as simple as Movies: Star Wars, Peanuts, Avengers; Music: Taylor Swift; and Culture: lumberjacks and bacon. Being aware of current trends and upcoming releases will provide you with resources to consider for theme clubs.

Themes we have used for recent WyldLife clubs include:

Superhero Club
Donut Club
Wyld West Club
Glow-vember Club
Jersey- Sports Club
Ninjas vs. Pirates Club
Hunger Games Club
Disney Club
Denim Club

Theme clubs can provide direction for your leadership team as you plan club games and mixers. However, not every game needs to tie into the theme. Themes can also set the tone for creating memories with your WyldLife friends.

For more themed club ideas click HERE.

What themes have been successful in your WyldLife club? We would love to hear from you.

Our featured YL Camp Musician for the month of January is John Jackson. If you attended YL75 (or any of the last four staff conferences and three pre-conferences), or if you’ve spent any time over the last 15 years at Windy Gap, Southwind, SharpTop Cove, or Camp Buckner, you’ve likely met and been blessed by John’s gifts – gifts that he shares generously with Young Life.

John encountered Young Life in 1999 when Emily Huck, who was heading up urban ministry in Knoxville, invited him to help with music at club. It was an urban school with about 25 kids attending and John remembers singing “Fresh Prince” and “Parents Don't Understand.” But it was Emily’s invitation for John to attend a week at Windy Gap as an adult guest that John says, “changed his life.”

“Dennis Pete was leading music for the weekend and he heard that I was music director at a church in Knoxville. Dennis shows up in Knoxville at my choir practice pursuing me to do music with him for the summer of 1999.” Eventually Dennis moved north, and John started leading YL Urban music for camps in the south.

John has led music teams for YoungLives, WyldLife, and camps with Latino, urban and multicultural emphases. “I have been fortunate to lead music for some of the most diverse camps in Young Life,” he says. “Taking the Gospel through music, embracing culture and ethnicity is what I’d say Young Life has done for me as a musician. Music in Young Life, really breaks down walls and allows kids to hear the Gospel. I feel really blessed to lead music for Young Life camps.”

John has shared his musical gifts with Young Life and he’s shared his family as well. His wife, April, has been on staff with Young Life since 2000. She also leads YoungLives in their area. The Jacksons have two children, Jahson, a sophomore in high school, and Jalan, a junior at King University where she serves as a leader.

Connect with John on Facebook.
Follow John on Twitter: @john007john
Email John to play at your Young Life camp or banquet.

John also loves arranging music for Young Life -- taking folk or guitar-driven songs and arranging them to appeal to kids who've grown up in more diverse backgrounds. Take a look at his many arrangements on John’s YouTube channel and enjoy this Young Life treasure:

You're Blessed

What other Area Directors are saying about John:
I have had the privilege of serving at camp with John Jackson for several summers. Every year as we're planning for camp staff eagerly ask, "Do we have John Jackson?!?" and if you've ever been around him you know why! John has an amazing gift of leading others with great energy. If you were at YL75 you experienced this when he led us in worship one afternoon. He's a talented musician and I've seen him transform a room of disinterested kids over and over again to enthusiastically doing hand motions and singing at the top of their lungs having the time of their lives. We've also had John lead worship for staff and volunteers -- what a gift John is to the mission of Young Life! -Lisa Fiedler, YoungLives Southern Division Coordinator

John has the an incredible range of connecting with 'every kid', but he has such a heart for Worship that when I was asked to serve on the YL75 Planning Team and Worship Experience, John was my first and only choice. He was then asked to lead a General Session at YL75 leading worship. John has a heart to serve people, but a strong desire to teach, train and serve a 'budding' YLleader who has a desire to lead music and serve kids in the area of praise and worship that they can fully connect with as they are connecting with Jesus in a deeper way. John has been a gift to the ministry of YoungLife and to kids EVERYWHERE that will forever be changed by his ministry of connecting through music, his humility and his LOVE for Jesus! - Veronica Tutaj, YoungLives Regional Coordinator/MC/U Ministry

In all my years leading Young Life, one of the highlights has been the YL Expedition spring break trips I took during college. Hunter Lambeth and Bart Scarborough took a handful of us leaders from UNC-Chapel Hill and East Carolina University to volunteer at Pico Escondido Young Life camp in the Dominican Republic. Do whatever you can to get on one of these YLX trips! -Drew Hill

What Is Young Life Expeditions?
by Colton Parks, Regional Coordinator for YL Expeditions Latin America.

Welcome to the Global Era, where we are no longer confined by the borders we’ve always known. We are living in a time where the Kingdom of God is visible advancing across borders, cultures, and continents. Young Life Expeditions is an answer to the gospel call in Mark to “go out into the world”. Expeditions acts as a vessel to send out high school kids, college kids, and adults who have said “yes” to serve and partner with Young Life ministries in over a hundred countries worldwide.

This new global perspective on ministry is having a resounding impact in areas and cities across the map. The relationships formed during these short term service trips are designed to be ongoing; connecting areas and Young Life leaders that are thousands of miles apart. It is an outreach tool, an opportunity for discipleship, and a chance to explore a new frontier. Whether it's a campaigners group, a Young Life College area, a donor trip, or a volunteer leader spring break trip, these trips are changing lives, shifting perspectives, and leaving a lasting impact on both those who go and those who host in international countries.

Young Life Expeditions allows people of all ages, languages, backgrounds, cultures, and histories to say “yes” to serve, partner, and proclaim the gospel united as one in countries across the world!

Testimony

In August of 2015, I led an expedition to a country in South America and one of the trip participants brought one of his YL club kids along with us. We were a group of 8, all of us over the age of 25 except for Alex*, the 16-year old high school kid.

Alex had just had a tough year. He almost failed out of school, had been branded by his whole grade as a screw-up, was told he would never be able to play contact sports again due to concussions, was in the throes of addictive substance abuse, and to top it all off, was charged with a DUI two months before the trip. Alex was at the end of his rope, and the thought of traveling to South America with 7 older guys who “had it together” was no doubt daunting.

We served for 5 days at Young Life club sites in the city, meeting staff and high school kids, and working to improve the places they do ministry, before taking a bus to remote mountains for a climb. This week turned Alex’ life on his head. “I have never felt more OK with myself than when I’m with you all.” As Alex started to re-think home life, he was able to spend an entire week with his Young Life leader with no cell service and no escape from the conversations that eventually came. Alex and his YL leader hashed through the year of challenges and setbacks, and talked about the peace and fulfillment that only Jesus brings. Alex came up a new person. He had a new perspective on serving others, on looking beyond himself, and accepting Jesus as the only true answer.

There are many, many stories like this in Expeditions- stories of kids seeing the Kingdom of God clearly in environments where need, poverty, and brokenness is rampant. Expeditions levels the playing field – it puts all of us in a vantage point where Jesus becomes evident as the only redeemer, answer, and savior.

If you're interested in putting together your own expedition or joining an already existing expedition, go to YLexpeditions.com.

I absolutely love this video from Steve Chesney.

Does it Matter? - Steve Chesney from YL Access on Vimeo.

I first saw it a few months back when I was browsing Young Life Access. If you're not yet familiar with this incredible resource, you're about to be blown away. - Drew Hill

What is Young Life Access?

Written by Brian Summerall

Director of Young Life Ministry Strategy

Would you like more training on how to give a YL talk from some of best speakers in the mission?

Would you like some pointers on leading Campaigners from leaders who've been doing it well for a long time?

Young Life Access (www.younglifeaccess.com) ensures that you as Young Life leaders have access to the best training on the devices you carry every day… smart phones, tablets, and laptops. It's 24/7 access to online interactive training posts covering Contact Work, Club, Campaigners, Camp, Wyldlife, Young LIves, Capernaum, and more.

On the site you can find interactive training posts that include readings, scripture, questions, and short videos like Steve Chesney's above.

In order to log in to the site, leaders need to contact their staff person. Staff need to simply go to younglifeaccess.com to learn how to access their area account and add their volunteers.

Here's a helpful 3 minute video that will show you the basics of Young Life Access and all it has to offer.

Young LIfe Leader Blog Promo from YL Access on Vimeo.

Learn more about Young Life Access here.

Written by Steph Raubenheimer, Greater New York WyldLife

Have you ever been listening to Spotify or Pandora when that song you listened to on repeat in seventh grade comes on, and you find yourself singing along to not only every single word, but harmonizing with every background vocal, knowing exactly when the key is going to change? Of course you do. It’s as if these songs are imprinted on our brains. You might also have a memory attached to when and where you listened to this song, your surroundings, even smells and emotions. It’s part of how the brain works. And let’s not forget: God created the human brain.

These memories stick with us because they are meaningful and had connections to our memory that made sense. Cognitive neuroscience tells us that in early adolescence, the human brain is undergoing a process in which the brain sheds what it doesn’t need – what isn’t useful or meaningful - and solidifies what does make sense and is meaningful. The implications of this for our ministry to middle school kids is intriguing: You get to literally craft --- through prayer, through your insight, out of your heart and creativity --- an experience with WyldLife that will make sense and be meaningful to kids, such that they decide “Yes, of course I want a relationship with Jesus.”

The kids you are reaching out to are in a developmental stage where they will filter a ton. And you know what? They might keep the crap. Some pain or even thinking about compromising choices might stick because it makes sense to them and it’s significant. Thank goodness you are here: You get to help truth stick. You get to bring meaning.

Isn’t it amazing that God designed us to go through such an internal process, and that He’d allow mankind to discover this about humans? To me it seems loud and clear from God: Go after my young teenagers. I want them to keep real meaning.

So, what can you do with this information?
Scroll down for an excerpt about this study of the adolescent brain

Probably a whole lot – but here are two quick “inventory” questions to ask yourself or your team:

Reflect on your WyldLife ministry environment: Is what you and your team doing providing meaningful experiences, and does what you’re doing/providing kids make sense? If not: How can you tweak those areas?
What do you personally want to stick with kids that they experience, hear or learn from you? How can you help spiritual truths be embedded into your WyldLife friends’ heads and hearts?

An excerpt on cognitive development from How the Brain Learns:

"The richer the environment, the greater the number of interconnections that are made…As a child approaches puberty, the pace slackens and two other processes begin: Connections that the brain finds useful become permanent; those not useful are eliminated (apoptosis) as the brain selectively strengthens and prunes connections based on experience. This process continues throughout our lives, but it appears to be most intense between the ages of three and twelve. Thus, at an early age, experiences are already shaping the brain and designing the unique neural architecture that will influence how it handles future experiences in school, work and other places."
(p. 24, How the Brain Learns, David Sousa)

Written by Andy Davenport.

Training your Capernaum friends to lead in their ministry is crucial. We should view them as the leaders who will one day replace us. Here are a few thoughts and ideas on why and how you can begin to make this an essential part of your ministry.

Nuggets to help your friends succeed up front

Start by treating club planning like you would a typical club
Focus on your friends natural talents
Help them discover their gifts by helping them get outside their box
Let them have a hand in picking the songs, character names, dance moves
Costuming is key
Teach them to celebrate everyone
Make their disability a strength
Come prepared - Many can’t improvise well
Walk through EVERY step with them
Teach them how to get the crowd involved
Repetition. Repetition. Repetition.
Explain the WHY

Ways to bring your friends up front at club

Leading singing
Assist with club talk
Giving club talk
Running games/mixers
Giving announcements with you
Hand out prizes
Raffle person
Lead shoutouts
Lead 30 second dance party
Melodrama
Scores of the Week
Banana for the “Banana Song”

Top 10 excuses you make to keep from putting your friends up front?

“I’m not creative”
“My friends aren’t funny”
“I’m not funny”
“We only have 5 kids at our club”
“But I’m not Sean Mann”
“No one can understand what they are saying”
“Everyone else will want to be up front”
“We don’t play games at our club”
“It will take so much longer”
“I don’t know how to put them up front”

Character Ideas

Dancing Janitors: Fresh and Clean
Toni and Tonii: Coming at you unplugged, uneducated and totally unrehearsed. Oooooh, baby baby!
Coaches: Bring it in. 1,2,3 Whammy!
Roller Coaster Operators: They lead the crowd in acting out a roller coaster ride
Extreme Walkers (Rollers): (Video) Make video during the week doing “extreme” walking moves
(skateboard moves without the skateboard). Give funny names to tricks. “Stick It or Miss It”
Misdirection (in lieu of One Direction): Let’s be honest, this is just another chance to dance
Game Show Hosts: From Timbuktu to Kalamazoo, we play the games that make you go WOOOOO, so if your games get boo-ed, you’re gonna call who?
Magician: Knock down the wall, poke your head thru the ring, cracker disappear
P90Owen: Basically, dance along with Owen until you pass out
Referizzles: Referizzles from Capernaum-izzle and our games are off the hizzle!
Host “Sink or Float”: (Video) Dropping things in a pool and the crowd guesses if it will sink or float
Good Morning Young Life: (Video) Wake up kids dressed in costumes and ask them funny questions

This post first appeared on YL Capernaum Everywhere.

Last week we took a ski trip with our senior guys Campaigners group. While I was on the chair lift I started asking one of the guys about his experience with Young Life over these last 4 years. He gave me great feedback and insight from a student's perspective that I might never have heard if I hadn't asked.

Here in the middle of the school year, it's important to step back and ask questions. Jonathan Bowman, a staff associate in Amelia County, VA, recently shared a Campaigners survey he did with his group. For a downloadable copy of his survey, click here.

Below are some questions he asked his Campaigners group to answer. Tweak them as needed and make them your own. Invite your Campaigners group to give feedback and give them voice in shaping this last semester. -Drew Hill

Campaigners Survey Questions via Jonathan Bowman

What is your favorite thing about Campaigners?
My definition of a Christian is:
Do you desire to hangout with a leader outside of campaigners? (Yes or no)
How would you describe the atmosphere of campaigners?
Is there anything we could do to make your involvement with Young Life more enjoyable?
What would you like to do differently at Campaigners?
What topics would you like to see covered in Campaigners?
Where would you say you are on your spiritual journey?
What role(s) would you be interested in helping with club? (ex: skits, leading songs, making people feel welcome, leading games)
In one sentence: Jesus to me is:_______

Super Bowl 50 is coming up on Feb. 7th and some of you just might be having a super bowl themed club this week. Here are a few ideas you can kick around!

The Young Life Bowl

Start an annual tradition before Super Bowl club of having the Sr./Freshmen Guys play the Jr./Soph Guys in a pre-club game of two hand touch football. Call it the YL Bowl. Award an actual bowl that you've decorated to the winning team. You can go all out with this with referees, team uniforms, cheerleaders, etc. Last year we played on a dark field so we pulled lots of cars around the field and turned on headlights.

Costumes

Encourage everyone to dress football-y or to wear the attire of their favorite sports teams. Have leaders wear ref shirts.

Decorate

Matt Sloan, YL AD in NC, duct taped a football field in their club room and made 2 goal posts from PVC pipe and yellow spray paint. Great visual!

Start Club: Sing & Flip

Have an American flag flying on your screen and begin the night by singing The National Anthem. Follow the song with a coin toss between two legit fans of each team playing in the actual Super Bowl.

Mixer "Don't Fumble"

Give everyone a single brown balloon. Once they blow up their balloon, they're only allowed to hold it in one hand. They use their other hand to try and pop other's balloons or force them to fumble. Once your balloon hits the ground, you're out. Last one standing wins.

Games

Hot dog Hike and Toss
Superbowl Trivia It would be awesome if someone could make a current Super Bowl Trivia Power Point game to share with the thousands of leaders who use The YL Leader Blog. If you make one and email us, you might find a sweet YL shirt in your mailbox.
Or this game, which is straight baller.
Bowling with real bowling pins using a football
Football Toss (through a hula hoop, blindfolded, opposite hand, while being tackled)

Extras

Plan a dance routine ahead of time with a small group of kids to perform a "Half-time Show."
Pre-make funny Super Bowl commercials.
Show actual funny Superbowl commercials from previous years.
Show the "NFL Bad Lip Reading" video (via Matt Michael, YL AD in Carroll County.)

Video Promo

Young Life leader Jason Talley shared this video he made to show at their first club of the semester. He put pics from last semester to an NFL style promo video.

What other ideas would you add? Email me here and I'll add them in to the post. Thanks! -Drew Hill

Next Wednesday, Feb. 10th, is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent. I didn't start practicing Lent until college when our Regional Director taught on the spiritual practice at a YL leadership meeting. With each year, this Lenten season grows more personally significant and is consistently a time of deeper intimacy with the Lord.

The term 'Lent' comes from the English word Lenten (lengthen), referring to the season of the lengthening of the days, the spring. Ash Wednesday, the first day in the Lenten season, traditionally has been a day of repentance.

Ben Witherington writes "The remorse for sin is symbolized by the imposition of ashes (on the forehead), but in that imposition is the sign of hope, for the ashes are imposed in the sign of the cross—the means by which our sins were atoned for."

In our Campaigners group we have been preparing for the season Lent. Understanding a relationship with a God they can't see or touch often feels intangible to a high schooler. Yet, it seems the concept of Lent is something they can wrap their minds around, something they can actually do.

At Campaigners we discussed the concept of Lent through the metaphor of athletic training, one quite familiar to most the guys. In order for an athlete to excel, they must prepare. When you watch an Olympian break a record, you know they didn't just walk out there and get lucky. Their performance happened because of years of repetitive behavior.

Lent also involves preparation, prepping our hearts to grasp the power of the cross (Good Friday) and the hope of empty tomb (Easter). One way we can prepare is the same way athletes prepare, with repetitive behavior. We can set our mind to do almost anything for 40 days.

Suggestions I Gave To My Campaigners Group

A Nightly Time Of Written Confession
Create a 'locked' document on your laptops or phones, or in a hidden journal. Three sections of specific confession each night, "Thoughts,""Words," and "Deeds." (based on the Book of Common Prayer general confession)

Give Up A Bad Habit
Pick something hard, but doable. Some guys are giving up porn, alcohol, masturbation, sex, weed, etc... (things that should be given up anyways, but hopefully Lent will be a catalyst to developing some better life habits following these 40 days.)

Giving Up A Comfort
Some guys are giving up things that aren't necessarily "bad," but things they consistently run to for pleasure instead of God. Ex: desserts, fast-food, soda, Netflix, iPhone games, video games, Twitter, hitting the snooze button, etc.. I also saw that someone was only wearing 1 pair of shoes for all of lent in order to remember how wealthy they are and how a majority of the world doesn't have 'shoe options.'

Taking On A New Habit Replacing An Old One
Instead of playing iPhone games or reading Twitter before bed, reading a chapter of the Bible on the YouVersion app on their phone. Memorizing a verse of scripture each week. Calling people instead of texting them.

So...is Lent just a behavior modification program?

Not at all, but it is still important to modify behavior because behavior often influences belief. By choosing to purposefully give up a comfort or habit of pleasure, we take our eyes off of ourselves, our needs and our wants. Before we can fix our eyes on Jesus, we must stop being so preoccupied with the idol of our own flesh.

"Lent...is an intentional season...where we’re challenged to arrange our lives in such a way as to be daily frustrated. As people addicted to comfort and convenience, we’re often unaware of how we live to feel good about ourselves, to gain a bit of affirmation, to exert influence, to maximize our own pleasure, to satisfy our immediate needs. Lent invites us to intentionally frustrate ourselves, to engage in a season of deprivation, which actually makes us more aware of the depth of our dependence on any number of things – a substance, our reputation, control, achievement, being right, being comfortable, being secure....Lent is not about going off chocolate or caffeine or alcohol. It’s about frustrating what Thomas Merton calls our 'false self'....Lent strips us of everything that is not us. In that sense, Lent is not a chore. It is an opportunity for profound grace by a God who longs to love us at our core, not in our false projected self which desire influence and accolades, but in our truest, most humble and dependent self, once lost but now found in the wilderness of Lent." Read the full post from Dr. DeGroat's here.

Helpful resources for Lent.

Prayer: 40 Days of Practice by Justin McRoberts.

Justin wrote a series of discipleship posts in the fall. In his brand new book he has partnered with visual artist Scott Erickson to combine fresh language and imagery for the practice of prayer. They wrote and designed the book to be a resource for people who want to reimagine and strengthen their spiritual practice.

Ty Saltzgiver's "40 Days of Lent"
Many of you have read Ty's book, "My First 30 Quiet Times.""40 Days of Lent" is the same small size that fits in many Bibles, easy to read in the daily format, and a helpful tool to hand to your Campaigners group. You can get it here for only $1.99 in hard copy or as an e-book.

Henri Nouwen's "Show Me The Way"
Henri Nouwen is one of my favorite authors. You could really pick up any of his books to help prepare you for Easter during the Lenten season, but "Show Me The Way" is specifically designed for that purpose. If you haven't read Nouwen yet, be prepared to encounter Jesus in a fresh way.

Written by Drew Hill.

Written by, Becca Covington, YL Staff, Fredricksburg, VA

Cabin time after WyldLife club gives middle school kids the opportunity to further digest and talk about what they’ve just heard. Middle schoolers may need more time to piece together the content of the lesson, ask questions, or realize how the talk relates to them. Cabin time at the end of a WyldLife club gives them a unique opportunity to meet these needs.

Here are some helpful tips for a cabin time after club:

Set aside a specific time for cabin time.
As you plan the details of club, decide how much time you want for cabin time at the end – 10 minutes? 20 minutes? 30 minutes? Work backwards to plan the rest of club.

Split up into guys and girls.
Immediately after the club talk, separate kids into guys and girls. For larger clubs, consider breaking up into smaller groups within each gender. Make sure there is at least one leader in every group.

Prepare cabin time questions for leaders.
The leader who gives the club talk can print out questions for leaders. In addition, leaders should pay close attention to the club talk and make mental notes of additional questions they can ask.

Start off with a question everyone can answer.
Whether it’s an icebreaker question or a recap of the talk, we want all kids to know they are on the same playing field. Ask a few kids to paraphrase the club talk or have everyone share one thing that stuck out to them.

Ask open-ended questions.
Lead kids through the process of discovery by asking open-ended questions with the end in mind. Middle schoolers are more likely to absorb information and find meaning in material if they come up with it on their own. However, we want to make sure they come to the correct conclusions about who God is. Avoid yes or no questions by asking questions that require them to think for themselves.

Create space for questions.
Middle schoolers want a safe place where they can voice questions or concerns they may have. Consider giving them a few minutes of cabin time to ask their own questions.

We just heard about a super creative way that Nashville Young Life is raising money for summer camp! A group of volunteer leaders are recording an EP and 50% of all the proceeds support Nashville Young Life.

The EP includes five different artists, each contributing one original song to the record. All of the artists on the project have served as Young Life leaders: Ryan Scott Travis, Stephen Day, Emily Kozacek, Matt Wright, along with Andrew & Haley Conner. Learn more about these artists here.

The title of this project is “HOPE: Songs To Benefit Nashville Young Life”. A pre-order crowdfunding campaign is being hosted by Lost Harbor Music. LHM is a site dedicated to serving artists and supporting missions by making good music. This site was started by record producer, audio engineer and YL leader Zach Hughes.

Pre-order the album here and help send kids to camp!

Do you have a unique way you're raising summer camp $? If so, send us an email so we can share your ideas with leaders around the world.

Below are a few different directions you can go if you're planning a Valentine's themed club.

Call It...

Battle of the Sexes Club
Ms. Valentine's Pageant
Anti-Valentine's Day Club
Dating Game Club
Red Club
Love Club

Battle of the Sexes
One year we did Battle of the Sexes Club on Valentine's day and it was a big success. Gals wore pink. Guys wore blue. They entered through different tunnels. We had contests singing love songs the loudest. We did the giant pyramid mixer. We played Battle of the Sexes trivia and a few other fun games. Get all of the Battle of the Sexes Club Ideas here.

Ms. Valentine's Pageant
This club is very similar to the Mr. Christmas Tree Pageant done with the guys in December. Get ideas here.

Anti-Valentine's Day Club
I've actually never done this club but I've heard a few folks say that it's gone well for them. If you have ideas, send them in here and I'll add them to this post.

Dating Game Club/The Blind Bachelor
Have "Antonio Amore" host your evening. He enters to the song “That’s Amore” and is dressed in a suit with red hearts pinned all over him, a mullet wig, mustache, top hat, anything over the top. He has a French accent and repeatedly says:

“I do not push, I do not shove, I am as sweet (sweet is said in a high pitched voice) as a turtle dove, I get my looks from the man above, my name’s Amore, my name means love.”

In the past we've borrowed a male and female senior leader from our rival high school and had them serve as our guest 'bachelor' and 'bachelorette' for the night. The 'bachelor' went first and entered blindfolded while the bachelorette was hidden in another room. 4 girls (one from each grade) competed to win the date with the bachelor. The bachelor asked the girls a series of questions like these:

If you were a candy, what would you be and why?
Describe your perfect date? What would we do?
What are you looking for in a future spouse?
If you were to write me a poem, what would it say?

Ex: "Contestant #1, if you could change anything about the world, what would it be?"

After a series of questions the bachelor makes his decision and writes it (still blindfolded) on a piece of paper placed in a sealed envelope and handed to Antonio Amore. The female contestants all wait in suspense while the Bachelorette enters along with the 4 male contestants, one from each class.

I like to prep the freshmen guy ahead of time with good answers so he's the hero. It's funny when the senior girl wins a date with the freshmen guy.

After the bachelorette makes her decision, Antonio announces both winners. The music plays, rose pedals are thrown down, and the blindfolds are removed. The two winning couples are escorted to the door where the limo awaits! (See if you can get an area limo service to donate or give discounted service. Typically a Monday night isn't too busy for them!)

In the limo, the couples are joined by Antonio and another friend of YL who is the videographer for the evening. The two couples leave club before the talk and head to a local dive like What-A-Burger or Sonic. Have silverware, flowers, placemats, etc... Antonio helps the date along prompting conversation with pre-planned questions and instructions like "feed your date a bite of that milkshake with your left hand.'

Show the video at club the following week!

Other Dating Game Club Ideas From YLHelp.com

The Talk
I recommend using Love Club to address sex & dating. I know its not in our typical YL talk progression, but its something teenagers are dealing with daily and we owe them the truth.

In the past I've done a light-hearted talk, explaining the difference between lust and love. It's important to help our high school friends understand that we desire more than just what our hormones tell us we want. We long for intimacy, way more than just physical affection. We long to be completely known and yet completely loved- accepted and unashamed, without fear of rejection.

Gen 1:27, 2:18-25, and 1 Corin. 6:16-19 (from the Message).

Quotes I Love To Use When Speaking About Sex & Dating
-Purity paves the way to intimacy. (Andy Stanley)
-They don't make condoms for your heart. (Lots of folks)
-You don’t have to shop at Victoria Secret and do poll dances to be a desired woman. (Ken Tankersly)
-I'm no sexpert, but... (Can't remember who I stole that from.)
-God loves sex, He's the inventor of sex. Do you think Adam & Eve we're just walking along and bumped into one another? (Mike Ashburn, maybe only Ash can pull that off.)

If you have any other ideas to add, please comment below, or email me here.

Below are 11 posts that might be helpful to your team here in the early stages of this new semester.

10 Ways To Welcome New Leaders To Your Team

Questions To Ask In Your Post Club Team Meeting

How To Host a YL Wing Eating Contest

4 Ways to Build Momentum in your Campaigners Group

How to Make Your Run-On Skit the Talk of the School

33 Creative Ways to Serve Your School

The Keys to Making Hilarious "Good Morning Young Life" Videos

When Club Isn't Working

Club Talk Progression with Scripture References

Contact Work Accountability Questions

Young Life Coffee House

You might have seen this Shia Lebeouf "Just Do It" Young Life camp promo on the @YoungLifeLeader Instagram account. Thanks to the creative genius of Steven Ball, you can now download a "Just Do It" promo for almost every Young Life camp!

Download "Just Do It Promos"

On Your Phone

There's got to be an easier way to do this, but I can't figure it out. If you know, email me here and I'll update the post.

Click this link to open the "Just Do It" folder on Google Drive.
Tap the video of your camp.
Then leave your browswer and open your 'Google Drive' app.
Sort by 'last opened by me' and the video should pop up
Click the 3 vertical dots on the right
Click "Send a copy"
Click "Save video"
It's now in your Camera Roll and ready to post on Instagram.

On Your Computer

Click the link to your specific camp below. Then click the download button at the top (a downward facing arrow over a line.)

How I Made the "Just Do It" Videos

by Steven Ball, YL leader in Jefferson City, MO.

Step 1

First you will need to get editing software that allows for green screen editing. You may already have a program with these capabilities, but if not, I used a very user-friendly, free (for a limited time) program called trakaxPC. You can download the program here.

Step 2

After you have the editing software downloaded, you will need to get your videos to work with. There are two different videos you need for this—the “Just Do It” speech and the camp Instagram promo video (Which Young Life has so graciously provided for us all HERE. The video of Shia is over 30 minutes long. Just for your information, the “Just Do It” segment is at approximately 9:00 to 10:00.

Step 3

You now have your editing software and videos needed to put it all together. Open trakax and click “New Mix.” Drag your two video files into the mixing window, and you should have four segments: Shia VIDEO and AUDIO, and camp promo VIDEO and AUDIO. Now, there are a series of things you will have to do to prepare it. Luckily, you can use the length of the camp promo video as your benchmark for how long you can have Shia speaking.

The first thing you will want to do is cut the Shia video to the length of the promo video. You will have to pick a 15 second segment of the speech, and then cut everything before and after that segment. You can cut by placing the play cursor at the beginning of the segment, right clicking on BOTH the video and audio segments and choosing the option “Split segment” or “Split selected segments at play cursor.” Align your camp promo with your Shia video, then repeat the same cutting process for the end of the video to make all four segments the same length.
Line up the four segments you now have so that they are all at the same length and have the same starting point. On the VIDEO segment of SHIA, click the option “Always On Top” just to the left of the segment. Then, click “Colour adjust” that is ON TOP of the segment in the bottom left-hand corner. This will bring up a menu. Click on the green screen tab.
Click the X next to the words Green Screen towards the bottom to turn it into a check mark, then your picture should show up. Drag you cursor onto any part of the SOLID GREEN BACKGROUND, then click OK on this menu to close it.
Click MUTE on the CAMP PROMO AUDIO, then reset the play cursor to the beginning of the video. Click play, check to make sure it all looks right, and you should be done!

Step 4

If you are satisfied with your video, save your work, then click export and choose the format you would like to save in. The best option (in my opinion) is to export in the default YouTube Full HD format. Any other version I’ve tried I ran into Shia’s legs being cut off and him floating in midair on top of the camp promo video. Make sure you take note of the location where you are exporting this file to. Then you can plug in your phone to save the video from your computer to phone, and you should be all set to post anywhere!

Guest post written by Emily Johnson WyldLife staff in Bradenton, FL

It’s not usually that hard to convince a middle school kid to go to WyldLife camp, but it can be more challenging to get their parents on board. At this age, parents are still the “keepers of the schedule” so it’s important to involve them when inviting kids to camp. Below are some things to consider as you sell WyldLife camp in your area.

Do “contact work” with parents. Talk to them at games, concerts, in the grocery store, etc.
Communicate with parents often. Mail a letter or camp flyer. Send emails. Post information on Facebook and your area’s website.
Give parents the dates early! As soon as you know your summer camp dates, get the word out.
Ask other parents (your parent support team, if you have one) to help you sell camp. Parents whose kids have gone to camp in the past lend great credibility to your camp sell.
Communicate that you have campership money or fundraisers to help them out financially if they need it.
Reassure parents that kids will be well-supervised and well taken care of at camp.
Host a parent’s club or a parent’s meeting to give parents the details.
Greet parents while they are dropping off and picking up kids from club or Campaigners. Give them a flier. Ask if they have questions about camp.

Parents of WyldLife kids can be your greatest asset in recruiting kids to go to camp. It’s crucial that you involve them and keep them informed.

Written by Stafford Craymer.

Our friends in Capernaum can experience the gospel in deeper ways when we consider engaging as many senses as possible during a club talk. It's for this reason that visuals are so important for our friends. When you have clear scripture, great visuals and an engaging talk that follows the YL talk progression- you're shooting for excellence in your club talk and honoring your friends, no matter where they are.

Here are some great examples of how to engage your friends' senses during a talk...

Jesus Healing Leper
Rub peanut butter or dirt on your hands and ask if kids would give you a high 5 or hug. This is the way the leper felt, but Jesus went and touched him and changed his life.

Jesus feeding 5000
Get a TON of pizza boxes. Have 1 pizza box on one side and a TON of others on the other side. Ask if everyone could eat enough pizza from one pizza box. Jesus took a little bit of food and fed a ton of people (and even had leftovers - point to the other side with all the pizza boxes).

Jesus calming storm
Have a boat there of a cardboard cut out of a boat. If you are able, use the storm soundtrack and turn it off when you say "quiet, be still".

Jesus healing blind man
Use a bandanna. Talk about how this man's life was always in the dark. Once he meets Jesus he is able to see light, but not only that, he meets the light of the world.

Creation
Use a big globe or mirrors - We were created in God's image so we all look a little bit like God.

Water into Wine
Have a glass of dirty water and a glass of grape juice. The first glass was what the water looked like before Jesus (would you want to drink it?) and the second glass is what it looked like after Jesus (would you want to drink it?)

Miraculous catch of fish
Have a big net (you can use a bed sheet) up there with you. When you get to the part when it talks about the nets breaking and splitting, actually rip the nets.

Capernaum story
Have 2 cut out hearts (one black and one red). Talk about how when Jesus says your sins are forgiven, he was looking and talking to his heart which was black (like all of ours). Jesus is offering him and us a new heart (red). Then you can talk/act out the rest of the scene as well.

Need
Have props of what are the things that we go to for life (basketball, dress, money, cell phones). These things will never fill you up or satisfy you.

Sin/Cross
2 chair illustration. I also do a box illustration. You have one medium box that says "You". You have 2 big boxes (one with "Sin" and one with "God") and 2 small boxes (one with "Sin" and one with "God"). You put the small "God" box in the medium "You" box and then put both of those in the big "God" box - We were created to have God inside of us and we were created to be in God. Then you take those out and talk about how we have placed sin inside of us and we are inside of sin...There is nothing that we can do on our own to get sin out of us and there is nothing we can do on our own to get ourselves out of sin...we are in need of a rescue.

Sin and Cross
Get charcoal or dirt and smear it all over your hands and face. This is what sin does to us. When we try to get rid of it on our own, it just gets worse. We need someone who will help us and wash our sins away (have wipe).

Resurrection
Have a tent to represent the tomb.

Have some other great visuals that engage your friends senses? Send them our way!

In many Young Life areas around the country it's that exciting time of year when new leaders are being placed on teams. What are some creative ways to welcome, 'initiate,' and introduce them at club?

Egg Roulette
You could follow in the footsteps of Jimmy Fallon, Peyton Manning and Magic Johnson and have your new leaders play Egg Roulette in front of club. See video here.

Bad Lip Reading
Check out this 'Bad Lip Reading' video that Bull City YL made to introduce their new leaders at club. It's quite hilarious!

Below are some more suggestions from leaders around the country.

Delivery Guy/Gal

"Order pizza during club the "pizza guy/girl" shows up and decides to stay for club... and it's really your new leader." -Lucas Westblade

Leader Choice Awards

We did "Leaders Choice Awards" (like an awards show) and it was great! Leader teams announced the "winners" - it was a hit! -Elizabeth Cox (@Elizabethmcox)

Random Traditions
"When we got new leaders my first year we forgot to get them a gift, so we went to Walmart and got them 99 cent fish. On the way to the high school, we stopped by a bridge and threw the fish into a lake. We did that throughout the 3 years I was a leader." -Brett Eckler (@Breckler23)

Prayer
"Walk through a wall of leadership (pictures of previous leaders), pray over them, then surprise with a fun celebration." -Chris Schneider (@Truth101)

Other Ideas

Have kids roll their car during club.
Syrup or Ketchup chugging contest. (via Danny Oulette)
Get baby pictures of them to show at club.
Stalk their Facebook profile and show any embarrassing pics of them.
"Go with the classic pie to the face." (Brad Schmitt)
Set them up to be heroes. Find out if they can do any stupid human tricks or cool skillz and set them up to show it off at club.
My personal favorite idea is The Random Bus Passenger. If you get a new leader at the right time to pull this off, ideally before weekend or summer camp. You could also tweak the idea and do it in town, taking kids to Mickey D's after club one night.

How do you 'welcome' new leaders in your area? Email us here and we'll add the ideas to the post.

February has become known as "The Love Month." It's a time of year when the temperature drops and people want to cuddle...especially around Valentine's Day, when loneliness feels magnified.

Last night at Campaigners we looked at 1 Corinthians 6:16-20. The senior guys were surprisingly mature, but reluctant to go deep. I asked them why they thought we should pursue sexual purity. Grasshoppers chirped outside.

During our family's recent spring cleaning I discovered an old journal. Inside I found a list I'd written years ago entitled "40 Reasons to Pursue Sexual Purity." I shared it with the guys during Campaigners.

I debated posting the list on the blog because it's personal, but I felt the Lord's prompting to share it. Hopefully it will help some of you out there in Young Life Leader Land, either personally or as you lead your Campaigner groups.

The list isn't organized neatly. It's just as a stream of thought that came out of some time with the Lord as I wrestled with my own sin.

40 Reasons To Pursue Sexual Purity

1. Out of obedience to God, because He commanded it.
2. Because I know God has my best interest in mind.
3. So I can be filled with the power of the Holy Spirit instead of filled with lustful thoughts.
4. Because I am no longer a slave to sin, but now a slave to righteousness.
5. So I can be a man of integrity.
6. So I can be honest with my wife/future wife.
7. Because I'm cheating on my wife/future wife when I have lustful thoughts.
8. Because lust always leaves me feeling empty.
9. So I don't have to live in fear of being "found out."
10. So I can be a Godly father to my future kids.
11. Because an impure thought life leads to impure actions.
12. Because impure actions lead to regret.
13. Other men that have cheated on their wives didn't just fall into temptation, the cheating began with their thought life. I don't want to end up like that.
14. God calls us to take every thought captive. (2 Corinthians 10:5)
15. What goes in must come out. I want to overflow God, not lust.
16. So I can honestly speak truth to all those I lead.
17. A pure thought life makes married sex life even better.
18. When I lust after another woman, that's someone else's daughter, sister, future wife or wife. (1 Timothy 5:2)
19. I don't want guys lusting after my wife, my sister or my daughter.
20. Obedience to God brings blessings, disobedience brings conflict.
21. Purity leads to intimacy with God and others. I desire intimacy.
22. I have no right to lust after another woman.
23. Being two-faced sucks...and is exhausting.
24. I want my life to be an open book.
25. I can't live however I please, squandering what God paid such a high price for.
26. Women are God's daughters.
27. Sexual impurity will eventually catch up to me.
28. I am more fulfilled when my mind is on Christ.
29. Lusting is a waste of valuable time that God has entrusted me to steward wisely.
30. Images are not quick to leave and will haunt me for a long time.
31. Porn is disgusting.
32. I desire a life of peace, not of fear and guilt.
33. God's boundaries are there to protect me and provide for me.
34. The devil is a liar.
35. I want to be a man who honors women.
36. Choosing purity exalts the truth of God and silences the lies of the world.
37. It gives God more reign in my life. I can hear his voice more clearly.
38. My body is His temple.
39. Lust never satisfies. It is dead water. He is the Living Water.
40. Pursuing sexual purity forces me to be dependent upon God and not myself. I can't do it on my own strength.

1 Corinthians 6:16-20 (MSG)
There's more to sex than mere skin on skin. Sex is as much spiritual mystery as physical fact. As written in Scripture, "The two become one." Since we want to become spiritually one with the Master, we must not pursue the kind of sex that avoids commitment and intimacy, leaving us more lonely than ever—the kind of sex that can never "become one." There is a sense in which sexual sins are different from all others. In sexual sin we violate the sacredness of our own bodies, these bodies that were made for God-given and God-modeled love, for "becoming one" with another. Or didn't you realize that your body is a sacred place, the place of the Holy Spirit? Don't you see that you can't live however you please, squandering what God paid such a high price for? The physical part of you is not some piece of property belonging to the spiritual part of you. God owns the whole works. So let people see God in and through your body.

1 Thess 4: 3-8 (Phillips Translation)

God’s plan is to make you holy, and that entails first of all a clean cut with sexual immorality. Every one of you should learn to control his body, keeping it pure and treating it with respect, and never regarding it as an instrument for self-gratification, as do pagans with no knowledge of God. You cannot break this rule without in some way cheating your fellow-men. And you must remember that God will punish all who do offend in this matter, and we have warned you how we have seen this work out in our experience of life. The calling of God is not to impurity but to the most thorough purity, and anyone who makes light of the matter is not making light of man’s ruling but of God’s command. It is not for nothing that the Spirit God gives us is called the Holy Spirit.

Written by Drew Hill. Originally posted May of 2012.

Introducing #YLFreshFriday

When Young Life Leaders Get Their Wisdom Teeth Out

WyldLife Wednesday: Theme Clubs

Camp Musician Of The Month: John Jackson

You Can Experience Young Life In Another Culture: YL Expeditions

The Best Training Resource For Young Life Leaders

WyldLife Wednesday: What's Happening in Their Brains

YL Capernaum: Helping Capernaum Friends Lead In Club

Inviting Feedback: A Campaigners Survey Idea

Young Life Super Bowl Club Ideas

Practicing Lent With Campaigners

WyldLife Wednesday: Cabin Time After Club

Buy New Tunes, Send Kids To Camp

Valentine's Day Club Ideas

11 Helpful Posts for the Beginning of the Semester

Shia Lebeouf "Just Do It" YL Camp Promo Videos

Getting Kids To WyldLife Camp

YL Capernaum: Helpful Visuals For Club Talks

Welcoming & Initiating New Leaders

40 Reasons To Pursue Sexual Purity