Since 1941, the international Christian ministry Young Life has reached out to students from middle school to college age.
The faith-based organization established its Greensboro chapter in 2022 and works with students from both Greene County High School and Lake Oconee Academy throughout the county.
Young Life of Greene County held its annual banquet on Sept. 16 at Festival Hall, where multiple leaders described their experiences working with students and the local chapter’s mission to “bridge the gap” between students throughout the county. Students from both participating schools also shared testimonials about their experiences in the program and growth in their faith.
Early in the evening, EJ Council, the Young Life Leader for Southern Gwinnett, spoke to attendees about some of the struggles that many high school students face daily, such as depression and bullying.
“About 20% of kids ages 12 through 18 are experiencing bullying,” Council said. “Between 25 and 30% of [kids in that age range] suffer from this thing called maladaptive perfectionism, which means they try so hard to be perfect, and when they don’t hit that mark in the middle, it causes them pain; of that percentage, 60% of them are girls.”
During his speech, Council mentioned that nearly 80% of kids “believe that they are just not good enough in general.” He additionally noted that approximately 11 million U.S. children currently live in poverty, and “a quarter of kids live without knowing one of their parents.”
“Could you imagine going through school, living your life day in and day out, and believing that you were anything less than beautifully and wonderfully made by the one who knows you best and loves you most? It’s real, it’s their reality, and it’s what a Young Life leader sees every single time they walk into high school.”
With the statistics he stated, Council explained that Young Life is therefore a necessity in the community, and that its leaders will do “whatever it takes to get their friends in front of Jesus.”
“Young Life leaders know that to get their friends in front of Jesus, they obviously have to do some crazy and wild things,” Council said. “But they also know that Jesus deals with the heart first because that’s how we know change happens.”
Kyleigh Grosvenor, leader of Young Life of Greene County, also spoke during the evening event and shared her prior experience with the Christian ministry, as well as her role in bringing the organization to Greensboro. She took the position nearly four years ago, following her graduation from Georgia College & State University in 2022.
“I can truly tell you that my time as a volunteer leader in Milledgeville changed my whole life,” Grosvenor said. “A few folks from your community decided that they wanted to bring Young Life to their town [Greensboro]. My hope is that as you guys hear stories and see pictures and be here tonight, that you would see that this dream that they had has been really thriving in this ministry.”
During her speech, Grosvenor credited “the power of invitation” for helping the ministry thrive, stating that many students began their involvement after being invited by friends.
“We invite high school kids to come and see what life with Jesus is like. We invite them to come to our [weekly meetings known as] club every single Monday night, where we play fun games and do silly skits,” Grosvenor said. “But we do that so that they would experience the true joy of Jesus, and then at the end of the night, the leader gets up and talks about a story from the Gospels.”
Grosvenor also spoke about the leader’s mission to “model Christ for kids” and how she has the opportunity to grow in friendship with the children involved in the organization.
“Our part [as leaders] is that we can create friendships with teenagers, so that we would then earn the right in their lives to tell them about Jesus. “Our hope as Young Life leaders is that kids would be curious about what’s so different about us, and that this curiosity would stir up a curiosity for Christ.”
For more information about Young Life of Greene County, including upcoming events, camps, and financial needs, please visit their website at greenecounty.younglife.org.