ARC 2013

This past weekend we had the privilege of attending ARC , the ArkLaMiss Regional Leadership Celebration in Monroe, LA. We brought a busload and a few extra cars of staff, committee, and volunteer leaders to join 400 other Young Lifers from Arkansas, Louisiana, and Mississippi.

It was a weekend to celebrate and worship; to be encouraged. It was a weekend to be challenged; to walk away different than the way we came (Ezekiel 46:9). We reunited with old friends. We made new friends. We even got to visit Duck Commander!

The semester is halfway over. It’s easy to feel burnt out and to start dragging our feet. The Lord is always gracious in giving us rejuvenation just when we need it. We were able to walk away from this weekend with full, joyful, and excited hearts.

Some tweets over the weekend from leaders of the ArkLaMiss Region:

“So thankful for this weekend at @YLARC2013 Definitely the spiritual rejuvenation I needed! And confirmation that I’m doing the right thing!”

“So blessed this weekend. Thanks to everyone @YLARC2013 for your hard work…”

“Pretty much the best weekend ever.”

“Always super impressed by these staff and volunteers.”

“Young Life and Duck Dynasty! What else could a girl want?!”

We also made a Harlem Shake video while on the party bus down to Monroe!

Everyone Has a Story

Gregg Stutts is an executive pastor at the Church at Arkansas in Fayetteville. He is also a good friend to Young Life. As we continue telling individuals' stories in our area, we want to share this blog post that he wrote a few months ago. To see Gregg's full blog, click here.

I went to lunch today at a friend’s restaurant. Last week at this time, he was in Houston at MD Anderson waiting for the results of his latest scan. Unfortunately, he found out the next day his cancer is back.

While at his restaurant, he pointed out a guy who has a similar type of cancer that’s even more advanced. The doctors told him there’s nothing more they can do. If you were to see my friend or this other guy, you’d never know they had cancer.

After lunch, I was in Wal-Mart and got into a conversation with the greeter that probably lasted thirty minutes. As we talked, she told me she started singing in bars in 1958 at the age of 13. She’d make more money in two nights than her dad did in two weeks working for Philips Petroleum. At one point, she and a guy named Harold Jenkins won a singing competition. Harold later changed his name to Conway Twitty.

She also knew Janis Joplin who called her one day and told her to get to Love Field (Dallas) where she’d pick her up. In a plane. Janis said they were going to a concert in upstate New York. The year was 1969. The concert was Woodstock.

This woman has a story. So does my friend. We all do.

Everyone has a story.

Some of us are in a good part of the story. Health is great. Job is going well. Finances are in good shape. No major relationship problems.

But others are in the midst of a story they never wanted.

The person who cut you off in traffic has a story. Maybe he’s been unemployed for two years and is embarrassed every time his wife and kids have to go to the store to buy groceries with food stamps. And now he’s late for a job interview that could change everything. He didn’t mean to cut you off. He was just in a hurry and didn’t see you.

The girl who sits near you in class has a story. She’s friendly, pretty and smart. But her dad is an alcoholic. Sometimes things get out of hand. That’s when he hits her mom. Like he did again last night. They’re too scared to call the police.

The man in line behind you at the store is addicted to pornography. The shame and guilt are killing him.

The woman in front of you buying the diapers isn’t buying them for her baby. They’re for a baby shower she’s going to. She has no children and recently miscarried for the third time.

I’m as guilty as anyone when it comes to forgetting all this. Someone was tailgating me the other day and it made me furious. Later, I thought about how I should have stopped in the middle of the street and had a “talk” with the person. I felt wronged and wanted revenge. But what if it was someone who was late for something important or just had to go to the bathroom really bad?

That person had a story. I just didn’t care.

What if I did care though? What if rather than being angry, I just pulled over so I was no longer in the way? And if pulling over wasn’t an option, what if I simply took the time to remember that everyone has a story. Including tailgaters.

What if my prayer for others was the same as Paul’s greeting in Ephesians 1:2, “Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”

Isn’t that what we all want and need? Grace. And peace. From God our Father. And from Jesus.

The next time you and I are tempted to get angry or defensive or ignore someone we cross paths with–what if we at least took the time to ask God to give them grace and peace?

Because everyone has a story.

What’s yours?

Living in Real Community

This past week at Young Life College Late Nite, we had the honor of hearing from guest speaker, Matt Mooney, founder of 99 Balloons. To read more about this foundation, click here.

Matt shared briefly with us the importance of real community. We have an innate desire to be relational, to live in community. But often in this busy, independent world we isolate ourselves. Real, rich community is a choice. Proverbs 27:17 compares it to “iron sharpening iron.” It can be challenging and painful at times. But it is always full of joy and freedom. And it is good. When we live in community we are living life to the full.

As the semester picks up and you get busier and busier with your schedules, we want to encourage you to choose community that will strengthen, encourage, and sharpen you. And we hope that Young Life can be a place where you find that. 

A UA Student's Story

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

A Wyldlife Leader's Story

     Where do I even begin? I guess I could start with the fact that I grew up in a warm, loving Christian home, but the truth is that I did not know Jesus personally until very recently. I lived life with Jesus in the back seat, only going to him when I needed him. I knew there was something missing in my heart. Throughout high school I tried filling that hole I felt with popularity, good grades, material possessions… But I never felt whole. No matter what I did, I always felt worthless. The comfort and self-worth I got from my successes never lasted more than a few weeks. All along I knew exactly what I needed, but it wasn’t until my life completely flipped upside down that I truly met Jesus. 

     Toward the end of my freshman year of college at Texas Christian University, I found out that due to finances and the increase in tuition, I could no longer afford to stay. During this time my dad lost his job, my mom was diagnosed with diabetes, and I was about to leave the country for 2 months on my own. I got on a plane to Costa Rica, so overwhelmed and stressed and clueless of what I was going to do with my life the following year. To make matters worse, I landed and met my mama tica (Costa Rican mom I lived with) and she didn’t speak a word of English. While in the mountains of Costa Rica I remember coming to terms with what had previously happened back in the States. I knew change was needed, and so I asked Jesus to come into my heart and transform me. From then on, God has been in the driver’s seat and my life is changed forever. I no longer feel the weight of it all on my shoulders and I feet a part of something greater than this world.

     God was with me when I decided to attend the University of Arkansas and He was with me all the way through that transition. I had been involved with Young Life back in junior high and high school and absolutely loved it. When I came to Arkansas, I immediately started leader training and was placed on the Wyldlife team this past semester. I am so pumped to start next semester sharing God’s love with junior high kids; a love and a presence that is so persistent and perfect. It’s no surprise that I have been the happiest I’ve ever been since meeting Jesus. He is always good.  He is always kind, forgiving, mighty, wise, compassionate, understanding, merciful, sovereign - you name it. My God is everything. And I’m so excited about what He has invited me to be a part of here at Arkansas!

Logan Marx,

Wyldlife

 

A YLC Leader's Story

     This semester we’ve had a series of blog posts highlighting each ministry. As the semester wraps up and we enter Winter Break, we want to switch gears and tell individual’s stories, of both leaders and kids, of how Young Life has changed their lives.

     My mom went on Young Life staff when I was 5^th grade. My dad became a pastor when I was in 9^th grade. Needless to say I grew up in a Christian home, going to church, going to Young Life. I went to camp every single summer, as a staff kid on my mom’s assignments and as a camper with our area. I also worked at a camp for a month my sophomore year of high school. I always heard amazing stories of God transforming lives at camp. And I was jealous that that wasn’t me. I wanted to want it, and when I didn’t get it, I grew resentful and angry. My freshman year of college I went through training to be a Young Life leader and was placed on the Young Life College team at the end of that spring semester. I was completely absorbed in the Christian culture, but it didn’t mean anything to me.  I had my “other life,” making more than my fair share of mistakes.  It wasn’t until my sophomore year of college that I genuinely started walking with Christ.

     Summer after my freshman year, I begrudgingly spent ten weeks at Discipleship Focus in Branson, MO. Growing up in a Christian home, I expected a lot of the material to be familiar to me. And a lot of it was. But the more I spent time in the program, the more God whispered secrets into my ears; secrets that every Christian should know. But few do.

     At the end of the summer, I moved back to Fayetteville to begin my sophomore year at UA. I stepped into my new leadership role with confidence and excitement. It didn’t take long before the life I had previously known started creeping back in. I got frustrated at how easy it was for my fleshly, worldly desires to take control again. It was the perfect opportunity to take what I had learned that summer and put it into practice. But it was hard. I failed over and over again, but God was always faithful to remind me of who I am and bring me back to Him.  

     I also grew frustrated with my leadership abilities. How was I supposed to lead a group of girls when I was either being a hypocrite or simply had no answers, no idea what to do? I felt incredibly inadequate and unqualified, and often that translated into passivity and failure.

     There was no defining moment or event where things turned around. But somewhere along the way, over the last year and half of being a Young Life leader, God has confirmed that, no, I’m not qualified for this. But that’s when His glory is revealed. When I am having to depend on Him through my weaknesses, He is able to show His strength. It’s still a process. But as I make myself available for Him to use me in His ministry, I am continually blessed with a transformed heart. I couldn’t tell you when it happened, but I am not who I was a year and half ago. I’m not who I was six months ago. God has used Young Life, specifically Young Life leadership, to transform me more to the likeness of Christ. He took something I was bitter and resentful of… and made it beautiful.

Amy Stutts

Area Admin, Young Life College Leader

Polar Bear Weekend!!!

     Last weekend I drove to Baum Stadium parking lot to find dozens of kids and leaders dancing around cars as they waited, giddy to head to Castle Bluff for a retreat called Polar Bear Weekend.  For two days each Fall, leaders all over Arkansas get to spend intentional time with the kids we’ve been chasing after all semester.  I was especially excited on Friday when I saw that two high school girls I’ve been meeting with had sleeping bags in hand and playlists ready for the drive.  

     Over the next two days we sang (yelled, really) at club together, shared dry shampoo (showering is overrated), took a ton of selfies (http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=selfie), all mainly while talking in accents.  I love how fun Young Life is, but I also love the fact that you get so “real” with people.  Sometimes I think the kids teach me more as a leader than I teach them.

     One of Jesus’s most challenging commandments is to love others.  It sounds so simple, and I would say most Young Life leaders genuinely want to love people (or else they wouldn’t do all that they do).  However, this becomes really difficult when the theory of loving people is actually a reality, especially if those people are different than you.  I am always very humbled when I realize I will say I want to love the poor, but when the poor aren’t victims in a far-away place but are people who are around me so much, who test my boundaries, who annoy me, or seem to poke right at my insecurities, I quickly realize I have a very big need for the Lord.  

     So, this weekend there was one of those moments.  A very precious high schooler from another area started gravitating toward our kids.  Angel* was an outcast among her peers as she did not have the social etiquette that some are taught at home.  She was sweet and excitable and absolutely genuine.  All Saturday afternoon we had free-time at camp, so our kids wanted to do outdoorsy things, but Angel really wanted to play a game.  As she thoroughly explained the rules, hoping peers would want to play, and as she sang Disney songs all afternoon, you could see high schoolers make snide remarks and want personal space.  But then that moment happened.  As others were backing away and finding other things to do, Alex invited Angel to do the ropes course with her.  Angel was scared to do it, but Alex patiently listened to her talk about games and sing songs, and then helped her overcome her fear afterward.  Alex genuinely met Angel where she was.  Alex got it. Alex was not only a believer in Christ, but a follower.  Alex loved the poor in spirit, and she was an incredible example to her peers.

     Moments like that are the reasons why I will go through a hundred moments of sacrifice for a kid.  Jesus changes people, and I believe it. He loves people for who they are, but He also knows the people they were meant to develop into. It is a joy to be a part of that—to see a kid changed by the Gospel; to be a new creation.  Alex is just one of a ton of kids in Fayetteville who are EXPERIENCING Jesus.  Praise the Lord.

*All names are substituted to protect kids.

Katherine Haworth, Fayetteville High School Leader