January and February Update

So Cal Trifecta: Surf

All of our clubs are back at it, and there is a ton of excitement in the air!

Our Capernaum club (club for kids with special needs) is meeting every 1st and 3rd Wednesday and have been having a blast. For March they are starting things off with a Movie Night tonight at Laguna Niguel Presbyterian Church, starting at 7. If you would like to learn more about this ministry, please email Rachel Antoun, our amazing interim team leader here. They are in need of guy leaders and helpers!

The WyldLife Marco Forster club kicked things off with a pizza party at Ballpark Pizza. It was a great time and we got to meet one of our amazing new leaders, Nancy Harris! She just moved here from Indiana where she did WyldLife for 4 years. She is super excited about getting back into things here and getting a chance to meet and build relationships with some girls from Marco. Marco had their first club last night, where 4 new kids came, had a blast, and then heard Bailey tell some of his story and share about the Prodigal Son. 

Marco WyldLife last night!

This story captures so much of what Young Life is about. We are for the kids that have wondered away. We LOVE the kids that have searched out the foreign land, and spent everything they had on partying and "wild living!" We love getting to be the people that meet them where they are, and help them find their way back to an incredibly loving Father, that runs to meet them, and embraces them in a way that is beyond comprehension.

The Ladera Ranch WyldLife club is doing amazing! They just got back from one of the most action packed days ever: the So Cal Trifecta! This was a day that started with snow, moved to the surf, and then ended with pizza at the Ladera skate park. What a memory for these kids... and leaders! Grant is trying to do something that will create a life-long memory for these kids once a month. He wants them to see how amazing life can be, and how a life with God is truly an adventure! Friday @ Founders has been incredible, and all the leaders have been getting the opportunity to share about Jesus on Friday mornings. Doughnuts, games, friends, and Jesus just doesn't ever get old! Grant has also started a small group with 8th grade boys that meet on Wednesday mornings to talk about life, read a verse from the Bible, and walk to school together. 

So Cal Trifecta: Snow

The high school club is going through some big changes! While club on Monday night was a ton of fun last year, we started to feel that we were spending so much time on club, and not enough time going to meet kids on their own turf. Because meeting kids where they are is the heart of Young Life, we are making some changes. This semester, we are going to be focussing on Contact Work, Campaigners, and Events. 

First, we are going to have Study Hall @ Starbucks every other Wednesday. This will be a time for kids to bring their homework to Starbucks and work on it with friends and leaders. We had our first one last week, and it was awesome! We will also be going to games as a leadership team together several times a month. This is all in an effort to show kids at SJHHS, Tesoro, J Serra, Dana, and SM that we care about what they care about... but mostly, that we care about them. 

Study Hall @ Starbucks

We will be starting a new format for Campaigners on Wednesdays. Campaigners will be on the Wednesdays where there is not Study Hall @ Starbucks. Guys and Girls will meet together for pizza and meal time questions before hearing a short talk and then breaking up into small groups, guys with guys and girls with girls. All of the leaders and I are really excited for this new format this semester, and truly believe that we will see some amazing things happen through Young Life in the High Schools in South Orange County this semester!

Campaigners

Lives are changing, and kids are meeting Jesus right now in South County Young Life! If you know someone  that would be a great leader, or are someone that would be a great leader, please contact me! We are in need of leaders for both middle school clubs (Marco Forster and Ladera Ranch) as well as in our Capernaum club (special needs ministry). Getting to walk with kids that don't normally attend church, or have much interest in Jesus is truly a gift. We get to be the love of Jesus in their lives, and then often get to begin a journey towards Jesus with them. 

Please call or text me, Luke Bright, at 949-293-6443, or email me: LukeBright.YoungLife@gmail.com. 

Friday @ Founders

Ladera WyldLife: SO CAL TRIFECTA!

This last Saturday may have been one of the most action packed days in the history of days... well maybe that's an exaggeration, but it was glorious!

Grant Waggoner had a dream, a dream of snowboarding, surfing, and skateboarding all in one day. Saturday, he along with 8 lucky kids from Ladera Ranch Middle School, 1 lucky sophomore from SJHHS, 2 lucky Young Life leaders, and an amazing dad, Mitch Needleman, made this dream a reality!

Watch the video for some highlights!

This is a big part of what Young Life and WyldLife is about! Making memories with kids! Taking them to do things they never thought possible, with leaders who are for them, encouraging them, and loving them because these leaders know and love Jesus.

So often this opens the door to deep conversations. On on of the lift rides, Grant was asking kid about his classes. This kid said that he has a hard time paying attention because they are so boring. Then Grant asked him how he felt during the part of WyldLife when we talk about Jesus... the kid's face lit up, and he said that he loves hearing about that because he wants to know more about Jesus! This kid does not come from a church background, and has heard most of what he has heard about Jesus through his experience in WyldLife!

I love getting to be a part of this mission! I love getting to be a part of God's love story for these kids... especially when it involves snowboarding, surfing and skating all in one day!

To learn more about Young Life South County, and Ladera Ranch WyldLife, please text or call Luke Bright: 949-293-6443, or Grant Waggoner: 702-533-8324. You can also email Luke here or Grant here.

What is Young Life?

High School Campaigners

"What do you do?"

I get this question a lot. It is usually followed by, "What is Young Life?"

If you look at the mission statement of Young Life, "Introducing adolescents to Christ, and helping them grow in their faith," it seems pretty straight forward... Young Life seems to be like any other youth ministry. We are trying to share Jesus with kids, and help them develop and grow in relationship with him.

To a very large degree, this is correct. We are like most church youth groups. We try to develop an atmosphere that is attractive to kids, and will foster their growth in Jesus.

But, at the same time, we are different than most local church youth groups.

We primarily seek the lost sheep that don't seem to have a flock, or have wondered away from home. We are going after the kids that aren't going to one of the many amazing youth groups that are all over South Orange County.

In Luke 15, Jesus tells a few stories of lost things. He tells the story of a lost sheep, and then a story of a woman who lost a coin, followed by the story of a father who loses a son. In the first two stories, the shepherd and the woman drop everything they are doing and seek after what they have lost. Jesus says that the shepherd would leave 99 sheep to just find the one that got lost.

Young Life is this shepherd. We are a part of the arm of the Church that goes out from the pen in search of the lost sheep. We do not have a building, and when we go out doing Young Life, we are leaving the flock behind in search of sheep that have gotten lost, or even sheep that just never seem to have found home. We go to these sheep, meet them where they are, earn their trust by showing them that we like them just the way they are, and then begin to bring them home through a loving and caring relationship.

This takes a lot of time, and, often times, it doesn't look pretty, doesn't look flashy, and can be incredibly hard work. More times than not, it might not be much to look at, there might not be a huge crowd, flashy program, or loud music. Sometimes it might just look like someone surfing with someone else, or getting coffee, or going to a movie, or weird adults showing up at freshman games. It can be exhausting and can test the patience of even the best leaders... but just like in the stories Jesus told, when we get to bring one of these sheep home... ITS TIME TO PARTY!

So, what do I do in Young Life? I get to search for God's lost sheep, his kids that seem to have wondered away, and begin the journey back home with them... even if it takes years, and even when its costly.

Please email me if you would like to be a part of this search and rescue mission! We are currently looking for leaders for all our clubs. There are opportunities to work with middle school students, high school students, and special needs kids.

Marco WyldLife

Ladera WyldLife Bonfire

Ladera WyldLife

October in Young Life South County!

South County rolling hard at the all Orange County YL skate night!

October was a great month for South County Young Life!

We started with an all Orange County Skate Party, and ended with an epic Halloween club. 

Pie in the face trivia: USA vs Canada

We started having "normal" clubs this month and saw the group grow in size every week in October. We had 14 kids at our first club of the month, and had 25 at Halloween club. We have seen more kids from both Ladera Ranch, and San Juan come out, and we have kids from SJHHS, Tesoro, Dana Hills, SM, and J Serra coming on a regular basis.

Juan with a HUGE smile!

Clubs have been super fun. We typically have three games, a raffle, and a talk about Jesus.

It has been incredible to watch kids let go and have a blast doing everything from trying to smash balloons tied to their feet, to racing to see who can unravel two rolls of TP the fastest.

While these games get crazy, and it may seem chaotic, they have a purpose. Games show kids that we want them to have fun. They show kids that we care about them by showing we spent time trying to plan something they would enjoy. The crazier the game, often times, the more accepted kids feel, and the more they are ready to trust us.

Club can get a bit crazy at times!

Club is also a time to just be with our high school friends. We do a lot of hanging out in Young Life because we believe that one of the greatest gifts we have to give our young friends is our time. We come to club early and leave late, often giving kids rides home, or meeting with them after. When leaders spend time with kids, they let them know they are valuable. We let them know that we think they matter, and that we think they are worth spending time with.

Mummy wars at the Halloween Club.

The last thing we do at club is the talk. We have the opportunity to share about Jesus. This is, without a doubt, my favorite part of club.

This month I have gotten the privilege of giving the talks. I believe, with all my being, that Jesus loves every single kid that comes to Young Life. I believe he loves each of them, the way they are right now. I love getting to share with them stories from the Bible where Jesus loved people, and made things new, better, and more full.

Jesus brings life wherever he goes. Whatever he touches is made better, from turning water into wine, to making a crazy person sane, Jesus makes things better. He has the unique ability to fully restore anything to the way it was created to be. He does this with us as well. Jesus doesn't wait for us to clean ourselves up, or get our act together, or do something good before he loves us. Jesus loves us the way we are. He loves the people others don't love, and he loves the people others have forgotten. This is incredibly life giving to our high school friends. To know that God loves them regardless of the way they act, or how they feel about him. Realizing this brings freedom, the freedom to love, and the freedom from shame.

Luke sharing the Good News of Jesus' love.

Young Life is about helping kids meet Jesus and then growing their relationship with him... but first we just seek to show kids we care about them, and then, because Jesus did this for us, we love them no matter what.

Halloween Club was a blast.

South County Young Life Celebration & Fundraiser

The Annual South County Banquet is just around the corner! Please join us for a fantastic evening filled with great food and drink, a wonderful silent auction, inspirational stories from the ministry this year, and some great entertainment in true Young Life fashion!

 

CLICK HERE to register for the event online, or text Luke, 949-293-6443, for more details. Every penny raised at this event will help continue the ministry of Young Life in Southern Orange County.

Pray With Us

Orange County Dodgeball Tournament 2015

Throughout each semester, we have a number of events that add some adventure into our group.  Last year, the annual OC Dodgeball Tournament was a fantastic night of games, team building, and winning (of course).

This year, we were able to take a group of 15 students and 5 leaders to represent South County.  The guys dressed to kill, the girls dressed for style.  We arrived early and began sizing up some of the other teams: San Clemente, Irvine, Tustin, and so on.  After some verbose trash talking, we began the fun of throwing rubber balls at one another as hard as we could.

In the end, we didn't win any championships, but we did all win free ice cream!  It was an evening to remember, and a great night to be in YoungLife.

Friendship Lived Out

I know a high school student named David*.  David is a good student, a decent athlete, and a fun guy to be around.  Most of his teachers don’t know his name, but he has a group of guys that he hangs out with during lunch.  By all appearances, David leads a normal life for a teenager filled with academics, sports, and social gatherings.  However, David doesn’t have many people in his life that he feels close to.  In fact, there are only a handful of people on the entire planet that David trusts enough to talk about his feelings, his doubts, and his painful times.

David lives in my neighborhood and we hang out multiple times per week.  He comes to YoungLife events, we go to the movies with other guys, he visits my house for dinner.  One afternoon, David told me that he had something important that he wanted to talk about.  He came to the door, looking nervous.  We sat at my dining table and I asked him, “What’s up?”  David went on to tell me that he had met a youth pastor who had invited him to their youth group meeting.  David wanted to go, but was scared that if he went he would no longer be welcome at YoungLife.  I chuckled a bit and explained to him that we are here for him, and that I would gladly drive him to that youth group, which happened to be led by a friend of mine at a local church.  We went on to talk about faith, life, and what it means to love yourself as Jesus loves you.

As David headed for the door to leave, he turned around with another nervous look on his face.  “Josh?  What are we?  Like, what is this that we’re doing?”  I laughed a little more and told him simply, “This is called being friends.  I learn from you, and you learn from me.”  He liked that.  David told me that he doesn’t have many friends that act like this.  “Well,” I said, “we’ll just have to find you more friends.”  As David left my house, I realized that this act of understanding and caring for my friends is what ministry is.  This is what YoungLife is.  This is what love is.

*Name changed to protect identity.

-Josh

Pizza Olympics and Young Life

High school is such an interesting stage of life.  More responsibilities are given to each student, but they are still told that they are not adults.  They want to grow up, stay young, and define themselves as individuals all at once.  They want the most out of life, but they also want to feel needed and safe. These students are told that they are no longer children, but they still want to have fun.

It is into this space that we bring YoungLife.  We want to give these teenagers a fun place where they can express their desires, be cared for by adults, and where they can simply belong.  We build all of this in order to show each student the love of Jesus.  Sometimes it looks a little wacky, like having a race between three different pizza delivery guys, but everything we do is in order to build a place for high schoolers to feel welcome, know that they are loved, and hear about the life that Jesus Christ is offering them.  

In our Pizza Olympics club, we had 29 high school students, games including human musical chairs, a Pizza Delivery Champion named German, the biggest ice cream sundae you've ever seen, and a talk about who Jesus introduced himself as.  All of these pieces seem separate, even disconnected, but each leader and I plan these events around the simple fact that we are building a time and place where teenagers will have the best time of their week.  It's about caring for them, and introducing each and every high schooler to Jesus himself.

Winding Up- Young Life Club

Winding Up

The first day of school is a pretty big deal.  Classes begin, athletes train, friendships rekindle.  The school campus comes back to life and bells start ringing.  I’ve been preparing and praying over the San Juan Hills campus for months now, recruiting leaders and calling kids.  It’s all leading up to the start of Club, the start of fun, games, friendships, and sharing the Gospel. 

We’re starting with a pool party tomorrow night, September 30^th.  The goal of the night is to get as many high schoolers as possible in one place, to have a great time, and to gain momentum for the year as we host more events and clubs.  I’m excited to start this process of winding up to new beginnings, a new school year, and a new YoungLife club!

-Josh G

Welcoming Summer

Welcoming Summer  

      The last few weeks of the school year are filled with anxiousness, excitement, and endless waiting. Walk into any San Juan Hills classroom in June and you will find plenty of kids stealing glances at the clock, the smell of sunscreen filling the room. With finals approaching and freedom close at hand, plans are made for camping, surfing, traveling, and even for sleeping.

       When we considered how to finish off our year of club, the Dana Hills and San Juan Hills leaders decided to do the ultimate Summer Welcome Party - the beach barbeque night. It was a great way to have kids show up and enjoy the first fruits of the season; hot dogs, watermelon, and ice cold sodas. We had over 35 kids come and enjoy games, food, and the sunset over Salt Creek Beach for our celebration of the end of school and the beginning of summer.

       It was a great time to congratulate these kids. They had made it through another year, and there was a sense of victory for all of us. Several of the students thanked their leaders for the encouragement and the investment that we made in their lives this school year. I was amazed at just how much my own life has been impacted by sharing time with these kids. Their struggles, successes and their questions of faith have enabled me to see how God is working in their lives and my own. As the sun went down on our beach barbeque, and I realized that this summer was going to be where I would be continuing to share my life with these kids. I have never been more excited to work over the summer months.

End of the Season

When I first visited the San Juan Hills High School Campus, it was odd.  I didn’t know anyone, yet I was setting out to build friendships here.  I was only allowed on campus because it was after school, but I was supposed start up conversations with tons of kids.  Most of all, I had no idea what I was doing, or even why God had called me to San Juan Capistrano.  It seemed like a bad plan to just show up to an empty school, but here I was walking around empty classrooms praying for people I hadn’t even seen yet.

Fast forward a few months, and I can’t walk from parking lot to the office without being stopped three or four times.  Some kids want to say hello, some want to hang out later.  Some coach wants to meet after class, some staff person wants to shake hands.  The principal waves from within his office and the custodian gives me a salute.  You’d think that I had done something quite amazing to earn all of this respect and to meet all of these people.  In fact, all I ever did was show up.  My ability to be present for kids is extremely important for them, and therefore it is also important to their teachers, coaches, parents and friends.  

I once told someone that if I could choose to do anything and have it be my “job”, I would be a friend.  Just that.  Young Life is enables me to be exactly that for these high schoolers.  If they need a ride, if they want someone to listen, if they need to vent, if they want encouragement; I get to give it to them.  Of course, I’m not their only friend, but I can be there for them if they would like.  I invite them to things - weekly Club, laser tag, pool parties - and I continue to invite them even if they never come.  I want these students to feel wanted, and I want them to see Jesus who loves them more than anyone ever could.

My main reason for being on campus is that I help coach Track & Field.  Our season was ending and the question I kept hearing was, “Will you still be around?”  That means a lot to me, that these teenagers even care whether or not I will see them multiple times a week.  It means that these kids want what God has given me to offer.  It means that I get to keep showing up.  Most of all, it means that I can continue to witness Christ at work in the lives of my friends each day.

All In

A simple rule of thumb that I use when working with people: don’t ask anyone to do something that you are not willing to do yourself.  There are many reasons for this, but the main one is simply that leading by example is the best way to get people to stop hesitating.  We all build up walls between ourselves and pain.  We avoid embarrassment, discomfort, and being the focus of negative attention.  But what if we could be free of these worries, and simply act out of a desire to be ourselves, to have fun?  What if we did things because they were enjoyable rather than for the applause?  

Choice is a huge deal for high school students.  As they hit their teenage years, they begin to step away from their parents and move out into the world.  School, work, social life, sports, driving, and leisure time are suddenly their choice to make.  This gives them a chance to try new things, become responsible, and begin to mature.  It also gives them a chance to hurt themselves, get involved with any number of conflicts, and to fail.  We all fear failure, and we all try to avoid it, but high schoolers are especially fearful of being exposed with their vulnerabilities shown to everyone else.  So, many kids do the same thing I did in high school, they wear a mask.  No matter what it is, a mask is safer than showing your heart to others.  It could be filling a stereotype, it could be adopting new (cooler) interests, it could be “faking it” through whatever commitments they have in a given day.  The point is, there are very few safe moments for a teenager to be free from these pressures, to be themselves, to be a kid.  

So, recognizing these things, we do crazy things at Young Life Club - including diving face first into chocolate pudding.  We socialize, play games, and sing silly songs with one main purpose - to show these students that it’s safe here.  They can be themselves, they can be goofy and imperfect, and they can fail.  No matter how small that failure is, that’s a significant departure from their daily life.  Grades, athletic achievement, work, even time with family often come with expectations of success.  One failed test, one missed catch, one late timecard, one messed up argument can lead to many consequences.  The ability to fail and be human for one evening a week is a precious thing.  

This time of vulnerability leads directly into the talk where kids hear about Jesus, a Savior and God who lowered Himself and spoke to people as they were - broken, sinful, diseased individuals.  Yet, He loved them, touched them, healed them, forgave them, and died for them.  He gives His grace to even the biggest failure.  Suddenly, this adolescent realizes that maybe unattainable perfection isn’t the goal in life after all.  Maybe this Jesus has some answers.  Maybe He will love me too.