The Kingdom Impact of Young Life

Young Life is an incredible ministry, and its kingdom impact is almost hard to explain because of how incredible it is. When reading stories about the way Young Life has had an impact on people one of the main ways Young Life is impacting students is in the way that they “meet students where they are at”. One of the main ways they do this is by going to High Schools and Middle Schools and spending time with the students there. This means leaders in the ministry go to the school’s sports games, theatre productions, and even meals. One past Young Life leader explained in an article about its impact that she specifically loved that model because of how it was similar to the way Jesus did ministry “Where His followers were at”. I believe this is an incredible model for ministry and one that should be focused on.

Additionally, the same leader who discussed the strength of the ministry also elaborated on the way that Young Life effectively uses “humor an fun” to create relationships. She says that “laughter can often break through tough emotions” which is one of the major reasons Young Life is so effective. Some might be concerned that Young Life is too focused on the “fun” but actually in an evaluation of the ministry from a few years back it was found that when students were asked what the primary focus of Young Life is on the majority said “Jesus” which is incredible.

As a model for ministry, I believe Young Life is a great ministry to look at. They clearly know how to approach our ever-changing society to effectively reach youth. In 2019 1.1 Million adults said that they credit Young Life as the MAIN influence in developing their faith.