Young Life Explodes

While Scott remodels cars and fights for justice, I have found a thing or two to keep me busy!

There are lovely new friends from all over the world. I’m in a book club and a couple of women’s groups. Friends have lived and served all over the world. Conversations are fascinating and I learn new things from everyone I meet.

But of all the things that I’ve discovered here (besides Scott’s work), the highlight has been investing in Uganda Young Life. As I’ve written before, Young Life is an organization that has shaped my life for the past 45 years.

Uganda Young Life is going strong. There are currently 35 paid staff (with approval to add 10 more this next year) and hundreds of volunteers. Young Life struggled through COVID as meetings and schools were shut down for two years. Since the COVID curfew’s lifting in late January this year, Young Life has exploded.

The senior Uganda staff and a number of US based donors and supporters meet on zoom monthly. We hear stories of encouragement and life transformations. We meet new younger staff and volunteers. We end our time praying for the local ministry.

As I’m the only member of the US support team in Uganda, I’ve been invited to participate in a number of staff gatherings including the recent commissioning of three new senior staff. It was the first time all 35 Uganda staff had met in person since before COVID. I was honored to be with this Young Life family for the day.

These staff are truly heroic, faithful, hardworking, creative servants of God. We laughed and sang and danced (the later two I did very poorly). We were even honored to have a few staff join us from the more rural part of Western Uganda. They are doing ground breaking work in a part of the country that has been very politically unstable. They have very key roles as peacemakers in this part of the world.

All over the country – even in these remote regions, thousands of kids have been to camp since early February. Nearly every Saturday and Sunday night, I find stories pouring in through our Uganda Team What’s App group. Leaders and staff post pictures, videos and stories from the weekend camps. They are using a “Camp-In-A-Box” concept with fun activities purchased for the region and then moved from community to community as transit for kids is expensive and difficult.

There has been a big investment in outreach to the young women who were especially hard hit during COVID. Between 15 – 20% of girls ages 14 – 18 became pregnant during covid. Most will never go back to school. The streets of Kampala are filled with young girls with babies begging on the street corners. Young Life is growing “Young Lives” clubs for these new moms and we’re praying hard for more women leaders and staff to walk with them.

Young people are thirsty for truth and meaning. They are finding it through the message of hope in Jesus that they hear at camp and from their leaders in their community or at a local club. The number of kids who left a life of brokenness to find new purpose is staggering. The stories are truly miraculous.

The young man in this video is Yahaya (Ugandans list their last name first). William, the Associate Regional Director who serves about 2 hours from Kampala took this video and also translated it for us.

“My name is Mukasa Yahaya of Buwenda. I was a drug addict. I smoked weed and I had a dread but now you see I cut my hair off. One day I was there and I met Yusuf who told me about Young Life and I asked him what was Young Life (as we drug addicts tend to ask) and that was when I was invited to attend their club. I also attended for some time but it did not interest me all that much, but I was again invited for the camp. I went to camp. I found a man called William, who kept on speaking to us and he actually kept on sharing more of my life style and character. I now said to my heart, why don’t I now choose Jesus as Lord (he did that) and now I am thankful to God because I did not remain the same and I now plan to go back to school. Thanks to Young Life for what I am now because they are the ones who have made me what I am today.”

The young man in the white coat is Andy. He is currently a Young Life leader and in Medical School as a recipient of a Young Life college scholarship. Augustine, a Young Life Regional Director of Southern Uganda (including Kampala) shared that “he comes from a small town in Western Uganda. I met him as a club kid during one of the camps in the west. He is a great leader from a hard background. After high school he stayed home for two years but because he’s had had good grades, I submitted his name to the DGL (scholarship) program and he’s now studying medicine at Kampala International University in western Uganda.”

Andy adds, “After being cloaked during the white coat ceremony back in March 2022, I humbly appreciate the support and love I have continuously received on this journey. May the almighty God bless you abundantly, and may He bless me with the gift of wisdom and understanding. Amen.”

Many of you gave financially toward sending kids to camp this year – This is for you! Thank you and be encouraged to see just a slice of what God’s doing through your generosity.

Let me know if you want to sit in on a monthly call.