SYL Rolling 2022

Here is a picture from our first Young Life gathering of the year last week.  Our middle school team will meet with students tonight at Wyld Life for their first function of the year.  The picture below is from this last weekend when we met with leaders from 8 different churches to discuss how to better serve and reach people from Generation Z (people younger than 25 years old). In the near future I will be sharing about our fall fundraiser. Thanks for your faithfulness in prayers and support! 

SYL Gearing up

(Gathering together for a recent leaders meeting)

 We are excited to begin another school year meeting with young people as we work toward our mission statement of "introducing adolescents to Jesus Christ and helping them grow in their faith."  In addition to meeting with high school and restarting our middle school ministry, we will begin reaching out to young people older than 18 years old.  This year we will continue partnering with church youth workers as we try to reach all of the youth in Sitka and beyond.  Thank you for your prayer and support!

First Summer Blast- 2022

 

This past weekend we had kids and leaders from 4 different churches come together for times of laughter, adventure, singing worship, and growing closer to Jesus. We went to the driving range, had Christmas in July, hiked to a remote mountain lake, and talked about Jesus's love and our response to him.  It was a great weekend and we look forward to doing it again. Thanks for partnering with Sitka Young life!

Feeling Good!

Feeling Good! Thanks for your prayers and support.  The first picture is from our weekly club with high school kids, and the next picture is one out of our three campaigner groups.

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Here we go!

 

MEHS girls Campaigner breakfast group

We got cleared that we can do a combined Young Life Clube with Sitka and Mt. Edgecumbe!  This week will be our 2nd combined club in two years and we are very excited. We have also started our campaigner Bible morning Bible study groups.  It is so good to have the ability to meet freely with kids again! Thanks for your prayers and support!

Day 3 SYL Renewed 2021

 

(Link to yesterday's video- click here) In Young Life, we walk through life with kids- through the highs and lows. In this, we have seen that there are a couple of factors that impact a young person’s faith: first, a relationship with a  caring adult mentor, and second, a group of friends who are pursuing faith together. These relationships with other Christians are exactly why we encourage students to connect to a local church. When students leave Young Life, it is vital for them to be included in another faith community.  For the past couple of years, we have been building stronger relationships with leaders in local churches leaders.  This fall, Sitka Young Life is providing a community-wide youth leader training for these local churches. The goal of this group is to equip people to connect with youth in their own churches. So far, we have had some profound helpful discussions and for strategies to reach the current generation.  Currently, we have eight new leaders from four different churches who have teamed up with other Young Life leaders for this training. It has been very exciting and encouraging for all the churches involved. In addition to leader training, Sitka Young Life has been providing a community-wide youth group, where the youth leaders from those 4 local churches bring their students together. The leaders from the churches don’t have to plan the meeting or get supplies, they just show up and connect with the students from their church at the event.  Young Life staff coordinates everything else.  At the end of the night, the students break into groups with leaders and kids from their own church to reflect and share. These gatherings have been fun and encouraging for both kids and adults.  We hope that this collaboration will jump-start youth ministries in churches across town and that those churches can partner together with Young Life to reach the rest of the youth in Sitka. Thank you for partnering with us in this venture. Tomorrow we will be sharing about SYL and young adults. Click Here to Donate

Sitka Young Life P.O. Box 2046 Sitka, AK 99835

Day 2 SYL Renewed 2021

 

Do you remember your first encounter with Zoom? This is an amazing feat of technology, but it doesn’t take long to figure out that as long as you wear a nice shirt, no one has to know you are still in your pajama bottoms!  As COVID slowly evolved, each community had to figure out how they would move forward with their own safety measures. Likewise, each Young Life area had to figure out which action plans would be most appropriate for their community. In Sitka, we adapted to hosting Young Life club and campaigners on Zoom.  We invited students to bonfires and hikes.  We met with kids for bike rides and McDonald's runs, went on walks, and worked on house projects. In December, we even had a month of drive-in Christmas movies.  We sent thousands of texts and beefed up our presence on social media. We made fun memories with young people as we helped them process what was happening during COVID. Sitka Young Life has a group of amazing leaders who have been the “boots on the ground” during these times.  Currently, seven of our dynamic leaders are employed full-time in one of the two local school districts teaching, mentoring, coaching, and advising. There is even one leader working at the community teen center. Our leaders are engaged and amazing. Together we are a strong team.  Overall, things here in Sitka are progressing and we are meeting again weekly with kids. As of now, due to mitigation plans, we are hosting separate gatherings for students of the two school districts.  On the Sitka side of the bridge, we are having game nights and multi-church Bible studies using the Alpha curriculum.  Since Mt. Edgecumbe kids haven’t been able to leave the school while the COVID risk level is on high, we have been given permission to host Young Life club and Bible study campaigners on campus.  SLY is back on the ground running and it feels good.  Thank you for being a part of the team.  Let us know if you have an interest in being a leader. Tomorrow, we will have a chance to share the exciting ways that SYL has been partnering with local churches to reach teens and encourage them in their faith. Donate Here

Sitka Young Life P.O. Box 2046 Sitka, AK 99835