The car decal, countless T-shirts, water bottles and stickers on my computer tells any stranger that I’m involved in something called Young Life. So often I get asked the question, “What is Young Life?” A question that deserves an answer far better than the one that I can usually give on the spot. Quite honestly, it’s an answer that can’t be told. It’s an answer that must be seen or experienced.

My usual answer to this question is, “Young Life is a Christian organization that goes into high schools and middle schools to share the gospel of Jesus and do life with the kids in those schools.” It’s a pretty textbook answer, but Young Life is so much more than that.

Young Life is a tool to share with others the truth and salvation we have gained through Jesus Christ. It’s a place where these kids get to come, be loved on, and just be kids again. It’s “a party with a purpose,” and it’s “controlled chaos.” It’s a place of acceptance but guidance. It’s about relation and not religion. It’s a place for the messy to learn that they are worthy of being made clean.

One thing that Young Life isn’t is Jesus, but instead it is an amazing tool the Lord has blessed to reach so many people and point them to Him. This organization is nothing and holds no importance without Jesus as its center and provider. It is rooted in the truth of the gospel and strives to point people to the gospel, the truth, to salvation.

Young Life is a place for kids to come, have fun, sing songs, play games, and let go of whatever is going on in their life for a little bit. This world causes kids to grow up so fast, but here they get to be kids again. It’s so cool to see the that big, tough football player to sing his heart out to a One Direction or Taylor Swift song with his arm around that skinny math genius. It’s breaking down walls that have been built by so many things. It’s showing kids the joy that Jesus has died for us to receive.

Young Life is made for every kind of kid in every walk of life from the avid youth group-goer to the hardcore partier. It is often deemed hypocritical, but that is what it’s created for. It is to bring kids in to hear about this guy named Jesus in an environment that isn’t intimidating and leaders who are willing to meet them right where they are to do life with them. These leaders come from all different backgrounds and have a vast variety of life stories but that all have one thing in common: their love for Jesus and their willingness and want to share it. These leaders are a glimpse of God’s love to their young friends. They love every kid and get to know them on a personal level no matter what the kid does on the weekends. They are living examples of Jesus’s love and grace and they are there to love and guide kids through every phase and aspect of life.

Young Life focuses on a relationship and not just religion. Jesus came to this earth and formed relationships with people. He didn’t come down just to preach and tell everyone what they are doing wrong. He came, made friends, loved, and lived by example. That is an image this organization strives for. They send leaders into schools to befriend students, to develop deep friendships, to love them, and to live as an example to these kids. Actions will always speak louder than words. By loving and living for Jesus, then forming these awesome relationships and friendships with kids, you are preaching God’s word without having to say a single word.

Young Life isn’t just for a specific type of person. It is for everyone and they achieve this by having multiple branches to reach as many people as they can. Young Life is for high school students while Wyldlife is for middle school students. There is College Life for college students, Capernaum for those with disabilities, and Young Lives that reach teen moms. On top of that, they have a ministry to military kids, and they have even spread internationally to share the love of Jesus in other countries.

I have been involved with Young Life for seven years and have been an avid club-goer all throughout high school, I have served on a volunteer staff at two of their summer camps, and I am now a leader at a middle school in Auburn Alabama. Recently I was asked the question “does this actually work?” Having seen and experienced how this amazing organization called Young Life affects lives, I can say that yes, it actually works, and even more than that, it changes lives because of an extraordinary God. This organization is one of a kind and I encourage you to learn more about it is new to you. God has done amazing things through Young Life for 75 years, and he continues and will continue to do incredible things through it.

Go to www.younglife.org for more information or contact your local Young Life to learn about it in your community.