The Young Life Blog

Culture is changing. The next generation is searching for friends, hope, truth — and much more. We live at this intersection, offering insight, encouragement, and practical ways to show up in the lives of students.

What Coachella Taught Me About Finding Jesus

Next Gen Culture

Listening is an overlooked form of love. I went to Coachella for the first time this year and for the three days I was there, I kept returning to this account from the eighth chapter of Acts: 29 The Spirit told Philip, “Go to that chariot and stay near it.” 30 Then Philip ran up to the chariot…

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From AI: How It’s Shaping the Next Generation of Adolescents  

Next Gen Culture

What follows is a conversation with AI — on AI, how it’s influencing the next generation, and what adults can do about it. Below are questions given to AI, along with its responses.  What should adults who care about adolescents know about AI that they probably don’t? Most adults underestimate how personally integrated AI already is in adolescents’ lives — it’s not just a tool, it’s becoming a thinking partner….

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Ukraine’s Hidden Crisis

Stories of Transformation

What Young Life is doing to save marriages. Prior to 2022, Ukraine consistently ranked among the countries with the highest divorce rates in the world. This was before the war. In the past year, divorce rates have jumped up by another 50%.* Today, separation rates are staggering, fueled by military draft, economic hardship, trauma, and…

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They Graduated High School. Now What?

Next Gen Culture

Helping young adults find what they most need in this moment. Imagine you have just graduated high school. For years, your life has been shaped by familiar rhythms and relationships — classmates you have known since grade school, familiar hallways, and a community that feels like home. But now you are taking your first step…

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The Plane Truth

Legacy and Impact

Alaska bush pilot found her wings in Young Life. “It was hard for me as a kid. I would just be wandering in the dark, not knowing what to do, or my purpose, just looking for love or people to accept me … Those kids who are in the middle of nowhere — in these…

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Swinging into Action

Next Gen Culture

How a backyard project changed everything. In 2020, Zac West’s daughter asked him to build her a playhouse. Zac jokes that he’s “crafty enough to be dangerous,” so he pulled out his tools and got to work. When the playhouse was finished, his wife, Hannah, had another idea. “Why not build a few swings for…

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Influencing Gen Z Amid All the Distractions

Next Gen Culture

Beyond the algorithm, what it really takes. It was 7:37 p.m. on a Monday. I was onstage at Young Life club, with an itchy fake mustache barely holding on to my sweaty upper lip, when I looked up to see a student staring — not at me, but at their phone. For a brief moment,…

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If the Boss Wants Us to Have It, We Will Have It!

Legacy and Impact

The amazing story of how Young Life acquired the majestic Malibu Club. By 1952, the mission had a wonderful “problem”: all three Colorado camps were filled beyond capacity. Young Life’s founder, Jim Rayburn, recognized the need to have a camp in the Northwest, since so many of the kids coming to Colorado were from Washington…

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Mark Gomez

In Memoriam

August 20, 1951 – March 5, 2026  Mark Gomez’s heart beat for Jesus, and he faithfully followed his Lord’s call back and forth from both sides of the continental U.S. From Oregon to Washington to Florida to Arizona, he cared for kids in very different geographies, but all with the same need — a relationship with the Savior. He worked tirelessly in the mission for nearly six decades, devoting himself to the…

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Romeo Semambo

In Memoriam

July 24, 1991 – March 2, 2026 A bright light in our ministry in Uganda is now shining in the presence of his Savior. Romeo Semambo’s influence in his country is profound. As an area director in charge of the work in Southern Uganda, he oversaw the rapid growth of the ministry there, which at…

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WWJD? Or WIJD? — Remembering the Ascension of Christ 

Faith and Life

Let me begin by asking you a few questions … What do we celebrate every year on December 25? Similarly, did you recognize Easter this year or do anything special to remember it?  When was the last time you received an Ascension Day card? When is Ascension Day and will you do anything special to…

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Why Loving Jesus Should Be Fun: Jeff Foxworthy on Young Life’s Secret Sauce

Ministry Playbook

Jeff Foxworthy has spent 42 years making people laugh. But ask him about his greatest professional moment, and he’ll tell you about the night he made Johnny Carson laugh.  Ask him about his most meaningful work, and he’ll tell you about the wild game dinner where everything went wrong: no microphone, no spotlight, just a comedian…

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The Savannah Bananas And Young Life Camp: 5 Secrets To Unforgettable Experiences

Next Gen Culture

You’re comfortably in your seat, enjoying your all-you-can-eat meal that’s included in the price of admission, when the infield comes alive with a senior citizen female dance team (the Banana Nanas) and the dad-bod cheerleaders (the Man-Nanas) getting down to “Footloose” and “Dancing Queen,” while an inflatable banana mascot is cutting it up with the…

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