Dear Friends,
This is a very special day in Young Life’s history. It’s our birthday! We are 67 years old. So run down to your local grocery store, buy a cake, ice cream and some candles, and invite some friends over to celebrate.
Sixty-seven years ago, our founder, Jim Rayburn, and a small board formed a non-profit corporation in Texas called Young Life. And now, all these years later, we get to be part of this incredible outreach to kids.
I was thinking about what it means for us to be this old. Some of my thoughts:
Seniors in Jim’s first club are now 85 and 86 years old. In fact, many of the kids, staff and volunteers involved in the early years have already gone to meet Jesus face to face.
Literally hundreds of thousands (even millions) of kids have met Christ through the vehicle of Young Life.
These young believers grew up and made a difference wherever they have lived, whatever they have done, however they have served.
God has been faithful to us in all kinds of situations so the current economic climate shouldn’t phase us in the least. In those 67 years, we have been through World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam Conflict, the Gulf War, 9/11, the War on Terrorism, inflation, recession, economic booms and busts, Woodstock, the ’60s and ’70s with the change in the sex and drug culture, the Jesus Movement, the Internet, blogs and a dozen U.S. presidents to name a few.
So let’s celebrate our birthday and give God thanks. And let us remember that the Lord is on His throne and we will serve Him with a joyful heart, a buoyant spirit, a disciplined body, and a sound mind dedicated to the mission that Jim and the board began 67 years ago: to introduce kids to Jesus Christ and help them grow in their faith.
Happy Birthday.
In Christ,
Denny (this is our YL President!)
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