We plant mango trees,
not tomato plants
We Go.
We don’t invest in buildings, properties or events. We invest in people – leaders, kids, families, communities – in order to build relationships with them, and model the love and hope of Jesus in their lives.
We Lift Up Jesus.
We believe there is nothing more powerful and transformational than to introduce young people and their families to Jesus.
We Partner.
We are ruthlessly committed to finding, equipping and coming alongside local men and women to reach kids in their countries. We are convinced that God has prepared leaders everywhere we go, and He will direct us and them.
We’re Patient.
We want to reach every kid and every country, but we know the way to reach the continent is to reach one kid and one neighborhood first. The slow way is the fast way in our ministry. We go slow and deep and the Lord honors and multiplies His people.
We Disciple.
We know we are called not to make believers but to make disciples who in turn make more disciples. Our visual guide is our Leadership Tree, which we prepare and expect every volunteer and staff to be planting in their countries.
We Live.
We laugh, sing, welcome, accept, risk and persevere. These are the marks of a full life, and these are the marks of our lives, which we share with kids. This is the life we feel Jesus is inviting them to be a part of, and we give them a taste of that in all we do.
We Rely.
We hold onto a strong interdependent partnership between Young Life Africa and Young Life in the United States – a sharing of gifts and resources. We believe God has blessed the Young Life Africa family with unique gifts (faith, love, life in the Spirit) which are desperately needed in the United States – we want our friends in the U.S. to experience these and grow together.
Young Life Africa has reached over
a million kids by going slow
There’s an African proverb: “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” Our discipleship model includes a staff person or leader getting to know a kid, introducing them to Jesus then helping them to grow in their faith once they make a commitment. Then that kid might choose to become a volunteer leader and possibly receive a scholarship to attend university through the Developing Global Leaders program and then come on staff with Young Life. The cycle begins again as that staff reaches out to one kid and so on.
How we work
We go to where they are and build friendships
We care for kids by meeting them where they are, as they are, and believing in who they can be. We call this “contact work.” We find them in their schools, their soccer games, their neighborhoods and we build friendships. Africa is home to over 500 million kids between the age of 12 and 27. There are over 2,000 tribes and languages in some of the hardest spiritual and political places to live on the planet. Already at 1.24 billion people, Africa has the fastest growing population in the world and the largest percentage of people below the age of 25 years. Many of them are lost, lonely and longing for something more. This is where we come in.
We invite them to our events.
Our outreach clubs are put on weekly in a central location – schools, soccer fields, neighborhoods and even outside under trees. It’s controlled chaos that’s almost impossible to describe, but kids know it when they see it. We welcome kids in by playing games and singing songs. At the end of it all, we share a simple message about God’s love for them. After all, that’s what the celebration is all about.
We answer their questions through discipleship
We call these Discipleship groups Campaigners, a weekly meeting for kids who wish to learn more or grow in their faith through study, service and leadership. Young Life leaders also encourage these kids to celebrate their faith through participation in a local church.
We invite them to Camp
Kids consistently tell us that Young Life camp is the best three days of their lives. That’s because kids, some of whom have never even left their neighborhood, pile onto buses and off to a place of welcome, of good food, of games and dancing, of small-group time and of revelation. Here, kids hear the gospel story in its entirety, many of them for the first time. They ask hard questions of their leaders and peers. They learn what sin is. And many of them meet their Savior Jesus Christ during those three days, and their lives are forever changed.
Our ministries
Our middle school ministry is called WyldLife. Here, we reach out to middle school students, build friendships and get connected in their schools and neighborhoods.
Young Life University is one of Young Life Africa’s new ministries, which officially began in fall of 2016. Young Life University is modeled after Young Life College in the states (but higher education is referred to as university in Africa). Young Life University offers a fun, accepting community for students to be a part of while exploring or deepening their faith. Some of these students even become volunteer leaders for Young Life and WyldLife.
In countries where young women experience hardship on a daily basis, our teen mom ministry – known as YoungLives – reaches out to young moms, offering hope for the future.
In Mark 2, the Bible records the story of four able-bodied men and their friend with a disability. Eager for their friend to see Jesus, the talk of the town in Capernaum (kuh-per-ney-uhm), the men carried him on a mat to a home where Jesus was teaching. Moved by their bold faith, Jesus restored the man with a disability to wholeness and health. We call Young Life’s ministry with adolescents with disabilities “Capernaum,” because we don’t think intellectual or developmental limitations should keep anyone from the presence of the One who promises fullness of life. Young Life Capernaum gives young people with intellectual and developmental disabilities the chance to experience adventure, friendship and the love of Christ.
In Africa, Young Life leaders are responding to large-scale challenges within the region, which are taking our leaders to refugee camps and internally displaced persons. As reported in global media, severe drought has led to full-blown famine across widespread regions of Africa. Young Life leaders are going to these camps, reaching out to the teens who have little to do there, getting to know them, hanging out and hearing their stories and the stories of their families.
Our prison ministry developed in Ethiopia in May of 2016. During this time, the government declared a state emergency due to political tensions, putting restrictions on large-scale public gatherings of young people. Many young people have been arrested and imprisoned because they oppose the government. These prisons are often understaffed and under-resourced, which is where we step in. In July of 2017, Young Life leaders in Ethiopia put on a day camp in an Addis Ababa prison that had 150/200 kids attend. Leaders made delicious meals, put on four clubs, played field games and even had small group time for the students. Seventy-six kids accepted Christ, and 50 kids have been released early due to “good behavior” since this new Young Life ministry began.
Our leadership programs
We make disciples who in turn make more disciples. Our visual guide is our Leadership Tree, which we prepare and expect every volunteer and staff to be planting in their countries.
Developing Global Leaders
Developing Global Leaders (DGL) is a Young Life program that grants a college education – free of tuition – to international students around the world who serve in Young Life. Not only does it provide a college degree, but DGL provides an unimaginable opportunity for growth, for learning, for challenging and for changing an entire generation.
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