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Anna Aldridge
Mrs. Fielding
WRTC 103
20 September 2015
I was Made for This
A room filled with 150 loud and energetic middle school kids is not most peoples idea of
a content environment, but, for me, this is my happy place. Every Friday night, middle school
kids from all over the county gather at our local Boys and Girls Club for a night filled with
games, skits, singing, dancing, and, most importantly, a message on Christs love. The games are
messy, the music is loud and the energy level is over the top. Somehow, I manage to find comfort
in all of the chaos. I had the privilege of being a part of these weekly events because I was a
leader for WyldLife, a Christian outreach program for middle school students. I became a
WyldLife leader by first being involved in a more commonly known organization called Young
Life, a ministry that is best known for its high school outreach program. However, Young Life
has several sub-ministries, WyldLife being one of them. Young Life provides a carefree
environment that exposes teens to Christ in an exciting and nonjudgmental way. You were made
for this is the Young Life motto. This phrase is referring to abundant life; meaning that we are
created to live an exciting and adventurous life with Christ. Through my involvement with
Young Life, I am able to fully understand and believe in this way of living. Young Life has
helped me to examine and understand the person that God has called me to be and to pursue my
passion of outreach ministry with middle and high school kids.
In 1939, a local minister in Gainesville, Texas encouraged Jim Rayburn, a Presbyterian
youth leader, to attempt contacting kids who were not interested in attending church. The

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formation of Young Life was a result of his success. Rayburn saw the importance of reaching out
to high school students to help them find their way, as they seemed lost between who they were
and who they wanted to be. Rayburn created an event that came to be known as club, which
was a weekly gathering for teens filled with songs, games, skits, and a message about Jesus. As
attendance started to increase each week, the planning for something greater began. After much
collaboration with other seminarians, Young Life was officially established on October 16, 1941.
Over the past 70 years, Young Life has experienced tremendous growth and established multiple
new ministries (Young Life).
Young Life was founded on the mission to introduce teens to Jesus Christ in an exciting
way and to help teens grow in their faith. One of the most important aspects of this mission is the
relationship between teens and their leaders. Young Life leaders believe in the power of
presence- in being consistent companions to teens as they go through high school and make
important life choices about who they are and what they believe. In addition to building
relationships, Young Life is driven by weekly club meetings, small group bible studies, and
camping trips. Much of this is made possible by the Young Life committee, a group of adults in
the community that provide guidance and financial support to their local Young Life
organization. Although Young Life may look different across the 91 countries that it serves, these
founding principles remain timeless and constant (Young Life).
My family has been involved with Young Life for as long as I can remember. I have three
older siblings who all participated in Young Life when they were in high school. My parents are
also involved in Young Life and have served on committee for almost twenty years. I remember
sitting on the stairs in my home when I was little and watching our living room come to life as
teenagers filled the room to sing loud songs and play messy games. Nights like these, where my

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home was used to host club, were my favorite nights. Having this prior knowledge about Young
Life, I was super excited about getting involved when I entered high school. Not long after
freshmen year started, my consistent involvement in the ministry labeled me as the Young Life
kid, a title I was proud to have. As I continued attending weekly clubs and growing close with
my leader, I learned a lot about the type of person I wanted to become. My leaders name was
Hannah and words can not accurately describe how influential her presence in my life has been.
She taught me so much about how to love and serve people just by allowing me to witness her
live so selflessly. We had a special relationship. She was more than just a leader to me; she was a
best friend. With Hannahs encouragement, I decided to start leading WyldLife my junior year.
As I nervously began leading middle school girls, I quickly realized how this new role
would completely alter the way I lived. Middle school girls were counting on me to be present in
their day to day lives, a responsibility that didnt exactly fit into the high school experience I had
imagined. Unexpectedly, a high school dance became a pivotal moment which would shape the
rest of my high school experience. As I made plans to attend the Fall Formal with my boyfriend
and all of my friends, I learned the first WyldLife camp retreat of the year fell on the same
weekend and I immediately knew where I was called to be. As my friends dressed up and
attended their first dance of our junior year, I packed my bags and hopped on a bus full of middle
school students. A weekend full of laughter, chaos, lots of Jesus, and little sleep was all it took to
convince me that leading these girls was exactly what I needed to be doing. In order to be a
dedicated leader, I had to change my priorities. My weekend plans turned into ministry
opportunities and my Friday nights were no longer focused on football games and social events
at my high school. Leading caused me to gain a new confidence that I never knew I was capable

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of obtaining. Being a leader helped me to discover my passion for outreach. I began to find
myself among these young girls who were allowing me to be a part of their lives.
I continued leading WyldLife my senior year while also still attending weekly Young Life
events with my high school friends. The summer after my senior year, I decided to take my
involvement in Young Life a step farther by volunteering to be a part of work crew. This meant
that I would spend a month of my summer working at a Young Life camp in Colorado along with
50 other high school kids from all over the country. My job on the work crew was titled,
Tawashie, which meant being a part of a group of 15 girls that spent 12 hours a day cleaning
the camp facilities and folding laundry. Sleep deprivation, the Rocky Mountain altitude,
scrubbing toilets, aching feet, and contracting lice were just a few of the challenges that made
this such an exhausting month. Although my work crew experience was one of the hardest
months of my life, it was also the most fulfilling. I made the most incredible, long-lasting
friendships. I started work crew with 50 strangers, but left with 50 new best friends. These new
friends were willing to be vulnerable- willing to be real. The relationships I formed were so
unlike anything I had ever experienced. Apart from the incredible people I worked with, there
was another aspect that made working so rewarding: the campers. Although the work crew often
worked behind the scenes, we would still have the opportunity to observe campers from afar.
Witnessing their joy and excitement made all the work worth it. Even more rewarding was being
able to witness campers choosing to give their lives to Christ. Serving on the camp work crew
was such a fulfilling experience because we were working for something greater than ourselves.
The spiritual growth I have experienced through my involvement with Young Life has
been the greatest factor in shaping the person I am today. Young Life has allowed me to grow
socially, personally, and spiritually. It allowed me to discover my ability to lead, my passion for

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outreach, and my identity in Christ alone. I feel called to continue leading within this ministry
and am excited for what the future holds. I plan to continue pursuing people, but more
importantly, to continue pursuing Jesus. As I walk with Christ and my Young Life community, I
am constantly reminded and made confident in the fact that I was indeed made for this.
Believing in the truth of this motto has allowed me to live freely, joyfully, and nothing short of
abundantly.

This picture was taken on September 19, 2015 in the driveway of

my home. If you look closely at my hand, you can see Im
proudly flashing the Young Life YL hand signal. Through this
picture I hope to portray the childlike joy that I have found in
Jesus. I chose to include the Young life motto You were made for
this to convey the message that life is meant to be lived
abundantly with Christ

Works Cited
YoungLife.N.p.,n.d.Web.15Sept.2015.<http://www.younglife.org/>.

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