Transitions and Growing Up

This Fall is going to be a bit different for Capernaum in South County Young Life. This is the first semester with our Beyond Capernaum Club being part of Mountain View Church.

Our hope and dreams for this happening come back to what Young Life's whole goal is for every kid. Young Life is here to reach the furthest kid, build a relationship, share the Gospel with them, and help them get plugged into a church body.

This is something we have been trying to do for years with our able-bodied students and last year we were asked to try this with our older Capernaum friends. This Fall marks the first year of our friends getting plugged into a church body, allowing them to be able to grow in their faith beyond what Young Life can do for them, and lastly give them a place they can belong to FOREVER.

Please continue to pray with us for this transition. That this transition will truly be a blessing to not only our friends with special needs but the families involved.

For more information please click the link below

Refuge at Mountain View Church

-Dave

MARCO WYLDLIFE KICK OFF!!

Hello all!


I have a  few updates for the upcoming EAT THE MENU club as our first kick off for the 2014 year! We are super excited about this year and are so looking forward to hanging with the middle school kids of this area. FIRST CLUB OF THE YEAR IS OCTOBER 13TH! Location for the eat the menu club is TBD we will send an update for that.

Club will be on Mondays this year from 5:27-6:27  and will be in different homes of our middle schoolers throughout the San Juan area. if you are interested in hosting club this year please let us know! you can sign up here to host a club

if you have any questions please contact Dustin Martnick

email: dmartnick@gmail.com
cell: 949-292-6940


Dustin Martnick

The Long Slow Road

What we do in Young Life is often something that requires a great deal of patience. We don't set out to invade kids' lives and change their minds about Jesus and/or make them more obedient or better behaved. We go where they are, ask to be invited into their lives, and then love them in the Name of Jesus.

This is no quick job.

Sometimes I ask myself if what I am doing is making a difference, or if I am doing anything worth doing. I wonder if all I am doing is providing kids with "fun" experiences and nothing more. I am tempted to think that I must create something with dramatic and fast results. Something that shows that kids are meeting Jesus and that their lives are being changed.

Sometimes this does happen fast in Young Life, but, more often than not, it takes a LONG time, and us leaders may not ever get to see it happen. We might just be the ones planting seeds for someone else to harvest... but we stay in there. We love kids, and we do our best to walk with them, showing them the love of Jesus. It's a long and often trying journey. Fast results are intoxicating. Watching Jesus grab a kid's life and turn it around is one of the greatest things ever... but it's not my job, it's Jesus'. 

So please continue to pray for us over in Ladera Ranch. Pray that God would gift us with patience, desire, and discernment. Pray that we would find fulfillment in simply loving kids, and trust that he will do the rest. 

Marco club at Oakbridge Younglife camp!

What an amazing week!!! Our Wyldlife crew just got back from 6 amazing days at Younglife's Oakbridge camp tucked away in the hills of Ramona California. This camp is such an amazing place! There are tons of activities to do every day and Games and skits through out the day. Most importantly every night at Club we here from one of our Younglife speakers about who Jesus is and what he did for us while he was on this earth and what he did for us on the cross. Amidst all the craziness and games and fun Jesus is what's at the core of Younglife camp. Our crew had some super fun times and created great memories but we all learned more and grew closer to God at this camp and it was such a joy to be a part of. Attached are just a few pictures. hope you enjoy!

Dustin Martnick

Wyldlife south county 

Oakbridge!

Last week we took 15 kids from Ladera Ranch to Oakbridge, a Young Life camp outside of Ramona CA.

It was amazing!

For most of these kids this was their first camp experience, and for all of them it was one of the best weeks of their lives. From the food, to the rides, to the funny skits and games, the kids were totally overwhelmed in the best ways.

This was also a chance for these kids to connect with us leaders, and more important, Jesus. The speaker did such an amazing job making the Gospel accessible to middle schoolers, and had illustrations that really let them see how much the Creator of the universe loves them. 

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.