Over Young Life’s 80 year history as a mission, the heart for the ‘furthest out’ kid has been beautifully evident. Recently, there has been a growing conversation to coordinate an effort among YL staff to share insights and best practices of ministries for kids served by various social service systems. Although these efforts haven’t always been widely known, they represent the heart of the mission’s desire to reach ‘Every Kid’ and address a growing crisis in our culture.
As the dialogue grew, God moved through the heart of a generous group of women, who invested in the development and resourcing of these ministry types as they develop in scope and presence and that’s how YOUNG LIFE ONE was born! As a mission we say we want to love all adolescents and YL1 aims to honor that posture by reaching out to kids who have been impacted by our cultural challenges. There are currently four different demographics we aim to reach out to: teenagers impacted by homelessness, trafficking, incarceration, and/or the foster care system.
It has been clearly evident that the Lord has affirmed Young Life’s presence in serving students in these unique contexts over the decades and chosen our current season as an opportunity to provide structure, systems, and resources as we move into coming years.
Our goal is to train leaders and staff in how to love and care for kids in these governmental systems in an effort to communicate the message that tells each teenager “we love you, we believe in you, and we want to see you survive and thrive now and into adulthood.” We want these teenagers who are so often overlooked or misunderstood to know that the God we know and serve loves them beyond comprehension.