I remember the first time I ever heard of Young Life. It was
my sophomore year in high school, and I was just beginning to find my identity
as a Christian through a cell group with my friends at my church. It wasn’t
enough though. I found myself slipping into the same harmful routines. I was
introduced to Young Life by a few of my new friends from school, and proceed to
continue with it throughout high school. The first club I ever attended was
ultimately my favorite one. I remember wondering why everyone was so friendly and honestly just weird. For the first time, I realized that I could be around
people that didn’t judge me. People that liked me for me. I was hooked after
that, and knew I would continue going from then on.
The first event I ever did with YL was
summer camp to Frontier Ranch. It was one of the best weeks of my life. Period.
The months preceding the camp, I didn’t know how I would pay for it. Luckily, I
was able to work different jobs and fundraisers to raise some money. We worked at a few different homes just
cleaning, organizing, or doing anything they needed us to. That's when I really started to see the depth of YL and how many hearts Jesus can
reach through it. I had never experienced such a welcoming group of people,
whether they knew me or not. When I got to camp I had an incredible
experience. The things I learned, the people I met, and the relationships I
built from it really helped show me God's love for me. I understood why and
how I wanted to pursue a relationship with him and that I wanted to live life
to the full.
School progressed and the burn to pursue Jesus grew stronger
and stronger. My senior year in high school I saw myself transformed by the people around me. I was realizing that this was something God wanted me to be apart
of. My boy and YL leader,
Carlyle, came up to me one day and told me about an upcoming trip this summer.
He explained it was different than camp and that it would be a handful of senior
guys or veteran camp goers to go backpacking in Colorado at a camp called
Wilderness. I agreed to go and began the ritual worrying of how I was going to pay for it.
I began doing fundraisers and got to go on the trip. From seeing the storm
chasers to sleeping outside of a motel in a van, we finally arrived to
basecamp. I just want to say that this was the best week of my life. I almost died
twice, and learned so much about the nine guys I went with. I was so moved by
the love of Jesus these men shared. I was even more moved by the way we got
through the toughest of situations: Me getting altitude sickness and having no
inhaler for my asthma. Sliding down loose dirt toward a raging river, not
knowing where to go next. The list is endless. My heart felt so warm and full, just from the fact that men
like me were pursuing Jesus.
One of the last things YL led me to was small group. During my
first semester of college I was invited to have small group at my leader’s
house every Monday. Last semester we studied the journey to becoming a better
man. I can honestly say I am a better man. Just by admitting that I have flaws and becoming vulnerable with this group of young men, I took a huge step into
that journey to becoming a better man and the journey to pursue Christ.
Without YL in my life, I fear I would have never gotten to experience these
wonderful people in my life. God used YL to lead me to Him and He succeeded.
Dmitri Love
University of Arkansas, freshman
