Our story is one of miracles
It’s a story of God raising leaders in Africa and placing a holy desire in their hearts to make Jesus known to the youth of their countries. It’s a story of prayer, of worship, of lament and of rejoicing. It’s a vision. It’s a movement.
What can happen when 17 people climb Mt. Kilimanjaro with the sole purpose of praying for teenagers, the largest population in Africa? In 2001, this very undertaking occurred, and the continent hasn’t been the same since.
In the days leading up to the climb, a man by the name of Deodatus Peter Kiara attended a large prayer revival in Arusha, Tanzania, at Sheikh Abeid National Stadium. Nearly 10,000 intercessors from almost every Christian denomination met to lift up the young people of Africa. Once the prayer event had concluded, Deodatus, along with 16 other concerned adults, began the ascent up Mt. Kilimanjaro.
“We carried 52 stones on our backs,” Deodatus said, “each stone representing a country in Africa, which we had already spent seven days individually covering in prayer. At the summit of the mountain, we presented the stones to God, praying over each African country and asking God to send faithful men and women with a heart for teenagers. We also prayed for peace across the continent and for young people to embrace the gospel within the suffering they are experiencing.”
There Deodatus and the group saw a vision from the Lord. “We saw a large map of Africa with young people popping through the map. These young people were smiling and laughing, and then the vision expanded, and we could see the map of the entire continent of Africa, stars began popping up all over the continent — a few at first, and then they covered the map.” After returning from the mountain, Deodatus had another vision from God of the stars turning into fires, lighting up all around the continent: The Lord was going to spread the gospel to teenagers across Africa. This vision motivated him to start befriending young people in his area, who gave him the nickname “Papa Deo” because they saw him as a father figure in their life.
Three years after returning from the climb, Deo met Steve, a leader with
Young Life Africa. The two were introduced at a youth ministry event in Hong Kong through a mutual friend. Steve invited Deo to a Young Life leader training in Addis Ababa to experience the ministry. After spending three weeks in an intensive training period, Deo realized the Lord would use Young Life to fulfill the vision he had on the mountain.
Papa Deo returned home and started the first Young Life club in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. “What started as one club meeting under a coconut tree, with just a handful of leaders, has exploded into a huge movement for the Lord.”
Papa Deo became one of the first five indigenous leaders who helped pioneer Young Life in new countries in Africa. His leadership helped translate Young Life methodology into an African context, using music and games to attract teenagers in Africa and bring them to a place where they could hear the gospel.
As Papa Deo started Young Life in Tanzania, he invited other adults who had the same passion for teenagers. Irene Mwasanga, fondly known as Mama Irene, was serving as a youth pastor in
her church when she met Papa Deo. They began to pray together for the movement of Young Life in Tanzania. Irene accompanied Papa Deo to that first leadership training in Ethiopia. “When we started,” she recalled, “I never imagined it could go to this extent. One of the challenges we had was that our culture could not accept an elder befriending a teenager; it is not common for adults outside of family members to be interested in the lives of young people around them. Though a challenge, we made it, through Jesus.” Mama Irene served on Young Life staff for a time and is now a supportive mentor and mother figure to students in the Developing Global Leaders program (a sponsorship program that offers Young Life leaders in the world’s developing countries the opportunity to attend university and impact their community with the gospel).
Our Mission
Introducing adolescents to Jesus Christ and helping them grow in their faith.
We accomplish this mission by:
- Praying for young people.
- Going where kids are and building personal relationships with them.
- Earning the right to share the Good News of Jesus Christ.
- Providing fun, adventurous, life-changing and skill-building experiences.
- Inviting kids to personally respond to the Good News and walking in friendship with them regardless of their response.
- Preparing kids for a life-long relationship with Christ and a love for His word, His mission and the local church.
- Working in community alongside like-minded adults.
Our Vision
Together we have set our eyes Forward, joining in a movement that compels us to go deeper in our walk with Jesus while helping young people grow deeper in their faith; to welcome a diverse team of men and women to all levels of leadership; to innovate new ways to reach and teach; and to grow — building relationships with more young people all over the world.
Our Values
- The Gospel — Living according to and communicating the whole gospel of Jesus Christ.
- Scripture — Acting under the authority of Scripture and relying on the Holy Spirit to empower our ministry.
- All Kids — Reaching adolescents of every ability and all economic, cultural and ethnic backgrounds.
- Ecumenical — Collaborating with followers of Christ from various traditions and local churches worldwide.
- Diversity — Welcoming those whom God calls to our mission — men and women of all ethnicities and abilities who are committed to the common purpose of introducing adolescents to Jesus Christ and helping them grow in their faith.
- Health — Encouraging our staff and volunteers in their personal and spiritual health so we may minister out of a consistent and growing relationship with Christ and His followers.
- Stewardship — Observing the highest standards of stewardship of all the resources placed in our trust.
- The Next Kid — Developing innovative approaches to reach uncommitted, disinterested young people around the world.
Leadership development is critical to the mission of Young Life Africa, which pioneered the Leadership Tree as a tool to train and develop volunteer leaders through intentional Bible study and mentoring. “Pamoja, Pamoja” (“Together, Together”) has defined our culture with leaders training and leading together. Senior volunteer leaders are trained at Rika, an intensive 17-day immersion to expose all aspects of the ministry and prepare them to be disciple-making disciples. Leaders mentor volunteers through Hands On Training (HOT) to give practical experience and instill confidence. Moving forward, we will: significantly increase women in leadership and the number of volunteer leaders; challenge leaders to raise substantial local funding; significantly expand our U.S.-based Young Life Africa Committee; enhance our performance review and compensation structure; and fully implement the Three-Legged Stool plan (infrastructure of field operations, bookkeeping and logistics).
Young Life Africa has been an innovation leader. Tools like the Leadership Tree and the Staff Sponsorship model have been widely adopted within Young Life. A few years ago we rolled out (literally) Camp On Wheels, HOT training techniques, and Three-Legged Stool infrastructure. This year we developed the Data Portal to enable our staff to plan, manage and oversee camp operations using smartphones. We will continue to innovate: an Incubator Program will partner key leaders with mature counterparts from the United States to share ideas, train and experience cross-cultural fellowship; our “Big City” Program will jumpstart ministry in key capitals across Africa; teaching English online will enable access to kids in closed countries; and programs for Muslim-background kids, kids in youth prisons, and kids in camps for refugees and internally displaced people.
Doubling in size every three years, growth has been our norm. We anticipate this growth to continue as we will focus on outreach clubs, Campaigners, discipleship ministries and innovative camp experiences. In addition, we will expand ministries including YoungLives (Young Life for teen moms), Young Life University and Capernaum (Young Life for kids with disabilities). Moving into new places. Training more leaders and expanding our tent.
Shots from the field
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