Young Life Kenya

Young Life Kenya

Young Life Africa: Kenya Country Video from MissionaryFilms.org on Vimeo.

Reaching the young people of Kenya

Since beginning in 2005, Young Life in Kenya has spread the gospel of Jesus through 375 ministries, including high school/middle school students, teen moms, teenagers with disabilities and college students!

In 2023, leaders knew 111,260 teens by name in Kenya.

Kenya summary

Kenya is named after Mount Kenya, the second tallest mountain in Africa. The land that is now considered Kenya was first settled around 2000 BC. In 1890, the British colonized the land until 1963, when Kenya officially became an independent republic. Kenya’s population of approximately 53.5 million is made up of mostly Christians: 47% Protestant, 23% Roman Catholic and 12% other. However, about 10% of the population identified as Islamic and another 5-10% participates in their indigenous religion. 45% of the population is under the age of 18. English is the official language of Kenya, yet almost every Kenyan speaks Swahili. The Kenyan people are a diverse mix of urban and rural, traditional and modern. In Nairobi, one will experience a bustling business district, yet if one travels to a more rural area one will commonly experience warriors armed with spears, driving their cattle to protect them from lions at night.

Kenya is in its 18th year in ministry and is one of the largest in Young Life Africa. They pioneered Hands on Training (HOT) which has been replicated in other countries as a way to help leaders see and do Young Life ministry in all its forms – contact work, club, discipleship group and camp. In 2023, there were in total about 24,000 kids at outreach club and 13,000 involved in discipleship groups! Praise God for the work He is doing in Kenya!

Stories from Kenya

Shots from the field

Friends at camp!

Thankful for our Kenya YL leaders

Volleyball at YL camp

YL club skits always bring out laughter

YL is about relationships!

YL Olympics!

Our impact

	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023	Growth (2023)
Kids Known By Name		114,539	25,087	75,168	111,260	48%
Avg. Kids at Clubs	16,362	23,815	9,224	16,126	24,023	49%
Avg. Kids in Campaigners	9,431	10,975	4,848	9,045	13,094	45%
Number of Ministries	182	252	349	375	426	13%
National Staff	27	32	35	41	54	32%
DGL	32	25	24	18	–	–
Kids & Leaders to Camp	17,602	8,088	7,787	16,785	15,884	-5%

Our ministries

Young Life

Because not all teenagers attend school, Young Life in Kenya is community-focused, and leaders reach out to teens within their own neighborhoods. The Lord is doing incredible things through Young Life Kenya. Every single week a total of about 24,000 kids attend outreach clubs in their communities, and nearly 13,000 of them are involved in small group Bible studies.

Wyldlife

We have WyldLife clubs run by volunteer leaders and senior Campaigners. Most of the WyldLife clubs are in primary schools and others are in neighborhoods.

Young Life University

Currently we have active college and university ministries.

Kids with Disabilities

We have ministries in Nairobi that are reaching out to teenagers with disabilities. In some other places, teenagers with disabilities attend other regular clubs and participate alongside other kids. We are looking forward to having special initiatives for the Capernaum ministry in every metropolitan in the coming years.

YoungLives

We have active neighborhoods that are engaging themselves with teen moms’ ministry. Leaders who are helping with this important ministry are receiving hands-on training.

Prison

We have leaders who visit the prisons, especially the juvenile section. This is mostly during the month of May when we engage our generosity month. Leaders and Campaigner groups get to visit these facilities and offer services there. We are praying and looking forward to organized ministries in these facilities!