Young Life Reaches Out to Youth of San Angelo

Around 200 high school students are abuzz with excitement, engrossed in impassioned conversations with friends. As they shuffle into the spacious "Clubroom," they soon easily fill it in its entirety. These young people have not gathered here for an everyday party, however. They have come to join in Club, a program dedicated to the worship of Jesus Christ.

Club is just one event hosted by Young Life, an organization that reaches out to young people with biblical values and a Christ-like attitude.Young Life is a nonprofit, nondenominational Christian youth ministry that has spread across the nation, including to San Angelo. The program focuses on ministering to young people, from high school to college age students and young mothers as well.

One of Young Life’s main ministries is its high school program. Starting in the fall, high school students gather each Monday for Club; kids are treated to music and games, then participate in a time of worship before they are presented with a lesson about Jesus. Young Life offers "Campaigners" as well, a more in-depth bible study held throughout the week.

“One of my favorite things that we stand for is that we are for every kid, everywhere, for eternity,” staff associate for Young Life Colby Chesshire said. “That just means God puts the kids in front of us that we are supposed to serve and love on. We always start out by being their friend, and we know that hopefully the Lord will lead us into a deeper place to really share God’s love with them.”

Young Life also hosts many camps and events during the summer. These events include a freshman beach trip, a camp for sophomores, juniors and seniors, and a backpacking trip in Colorado.

The college ministry runs much like Young Life’s high school program, incorporating their own Club and Campaigners programs. However, college students also have the opportunity to get involved with Young Life’s camps; each year, these young adults travel to camp sites in Colorado and prepare them to be filled with kids from around the nation.

Young Lives is a related ministry that reaches out to teenage mothers. They have programs of their own to cater to their spiritual and physical needs. Chesshire pointed out the importance of sitting down with the moms and eating a home-cooked meal as a family, an activity Young Lives often provides for the mothers.

“This is likely something that they’ve never done in their life,” Chesshire said. “A lot of times, families don’t really sit around the table anymore and talk about their day or their week and eat together. Our hope is that we are providing that for them and they can take that home and do that with their own kids.”

Whenever moms participate in a Young Lives event, childcare is provided for them; therefore, they are able to focus solely on the message presented to them about Christ. They are even able to attend Young Life camps during the summer.

“They go with their babies, so not only are the moms being poured into spiritually at camp, but their babies are being cared for and loved on as well,” Chesshire said. “This is an opportunity for them to go and experience Jesus in a setting outside of San Angelo.”

Although Young Life provides many opportunities for the youth to spend time in worship and participate in Christ-based activities, Chesshire made it clear that the program was never meant to be a replacement for church. Furthermore, Young Life also coordinates with several youth pastors in order to inspire kids to go to church.

“One of our great hopes is that we can plug kids into church, because a lot of the kids that we have at young life are unchurched or hesitant to go to church,” Chesshire said. “So we really hope that we can point them towards churches in town and getting them plugged into youth groups.”

Although Young Life is finished with camps for the summer, the organization is priming for a banquet in October. Testimonies from students about Young Life’s impact on their lives are among the activities planned for the banquet.

“It’s our big fundraiser, but more than anything, it’s a time that we get to gather people in the community and show them and tell them what we’ve been doing,” Chesshire said. “That’s a really big night for us; we want to continue to grow in San Angelo and make people more aware of what we’re doing."

According to Chesshire, Young Life has discussed possibly working in cooperation with Rust Street Ministries. Although Cheshire said that he couldn’t give specific details yet, he said that there may be some ideas “in the works.”

Young Life encourages ministry-minded individuals to join their program. Thirty volunteers are needed to make one night happen for the Young Lives ministry alone. Those who are interested should contact Chesshire at (432) 288-7028 and area director Jason Bush at (325) 262-5490.

“If people feel like they want to serve, then we certainly think that this would be a great place for people, and we’re certainly in need of that,” Chesshire said. “We can always find a place for somebody.”