How Jim Rayburn’s Adventures with Kids Inform Ours Today
Rattlesnake and armadillo hunts. Jeep rides and gravel slides.
These adventures of the 1940s Young Life teen were a little different from today’s. But adolescents, be they members of the greatest generation or today’s Gen Alpha, have always been full of energy, exuberance, and a hunger for life. Over the course of eight-plus decades, we’ve tried to meet these needs in a variety of activities …
- Backpacking
- Horseback riding
- Parasailing
- Rappelling
- White-water rafting
- Ziplines
Rocky Mountain High
Young Life Founder Jim Rayburn spent his graduate school days studying mineralogy at University of Colorado – Boulder, but his love of nature can be traced even further back — all the way to his childhood when his family vacationed in Colorado. He once told a roomful of kids at Frontier Ranch:
“I’ve loved these mountains for a long time — none of your business how long … I’ve made 54 ascents to the 14,000-footers and I like to get up in this high country … But, gang, I never thought half as much of this big high country before as I do now. The turning point came when I got personally acquainted with the One who made it … When you get personally acquainted with the One that made this great country — Ah! — that makes it ten times as good. It makes everything about life that way.”
A man who thrived in the great outdoors and couldn’t wait to share it with kids, Jim was introducing them to adventures years before the first Young Life camp. In the early ’40s, Jim took kids like Bob “Mitch” Mitchell out camping east of Dallas.
Mitch picks up the story from here:
“There was not a lot to do in those East Texas hills. The ‘program’ consisted mostly of hunting rattlesnakes and armadillos, and taking a few hikes. Each night after our supper, which Jim prepared, we sat around the campfire. These were special times, when Jim would take out his New Testament and beautifully and powerfully tell us the stories of Jesus. No one I have ever heard could tell those stories as he could! And, of course, there was much laughter sprinkled through it all.” (From Letters to a Young Life Leader by Bob Mitchell)
Would parents today allow their kids to go on a rattlesnake hunt in East Texas?
More importantly, Mitch’s memories didn’t end after the line about rattlesnakes, armadillos, and hikes. He discovered what Jim already knew. These experiences led right to the next: times of fellowship, Scripture, and joy. And he knew they were the work of a loving Father, who abundantly gives us each of these:
- The glory of the natural world
- The enjoyment of food
- The encouragement of friendship
- The truth of Scripture
- The warmth of laughter
- And the list goes on …
As Young Life camps came on the scene, Jim recognized activities like horseback riding at Frontier Ranch or waterskiing at Malibu were, for many kids, the best entrance into all the other gifts found in a relationship with the Father.
Today, it’s still activities like waterslides and parasailing that get a lot of kids on the bus to camp. And we’re great with that, because we know how these activities can ultimately lead to eternal life!
Three Ways Adventure Points Kids to God:
CREATOR. When kids are out in nature, away from the distractions of everyday life, they come into contact with the peace and beauty of creation, which in turn, point to a peaceful, beautiful Creator. Jim knew this to be true and made it clear to kids after a day spent together in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado:
“We’ve ridden these beautiful trails today. We’ve had fun in that rip-roaring old wild west town. We’ve crossed the roaring stream and we’ve looked at all this beauty around us. But you know, we’ve also, all of us, thought a lot about the One who made all of this. This great God of ours didn’t care about time. He was making this for us. Didn’t make any difference how long it took to get it ready, we were the main purpose for all this wonderful creation.”
Today, more than ever, kids see adventures as digital in nature: exploits in video games, finding relationships via social media, putting themselves “out there” through influencer reels. These often occur indoors, on couches in artificial lighting. While these are not bad, they miss out on the physical, full-bodied adventure that can clearly point to what we’re all longing for — life with the King.
COURAGE. While we take great pains to keep kids safe at camp, we also use adventures to help kids out of their comfort zones. These new challenges help them see they’re capable of achieving far more than they think, whether hiking a mountain, rappelling down a cliff, or conquering a ropes course suspended 50 feet in the air. This physical revelation, in turn, soon allows them to consider other fears they can overcome in their lives: mental, emotional, and even spiritual fears.
In the long run, playing it safe is, of course, much easier, and well, safer. But life is neither easy nor safe, especially during adolescence. Better, then, to give kids opportunities to experience what they’re meant for — the abundant life Jesus promises. The life that is full of highs and yes, lows, but always full nonetheless. It’s a reminder of this telling quote:
“A ship is safe in the harbor, but that is not what ships are built for.” — Author John A. Shedd, 1928
No one wants to look back and say, “I lived a careful life.” We are each built for far more, and a life in Jesus promises this.
COMMUNITY. Adventures provide opportunities for kids to help each other along the way. Consider this story of one girl with a physical disability on the day of the mountain climb at Frontier Ranch:
“While Bill Starr was organizing an expedition to the Continental Divide he saw the girl’s disappointment. She could not climb. Of course, she would be left behind, conscious of her disability, maybe wondering what she had done to merit such discrimination on the part of God. Bill summoned some of the biggest, strongest boys among the teenagers and some of the sturdiest of the camp counselors. A dozen of them had been football players, and they looked the part.
Then he announced, ‘Fellas, Kathie’s going with us. She’ll need you to carry her over the rough spots and up the steep hills. Okay, Kathie?’
The disbelief, the wild happiness that leaped inside her made all of them grin as they set out with Kathie on their shoulders. Hours later, as they rested on a hillside, Kathie said to Bill, ‘Nobody knows how I prayed and prayed in my heart to come along!’” (From It’s a Sin to Bore a Kid by Char Meredith)
Throughout the years, this scene has been repeated many times over, from camp to camp, around the globe, especially as we have specific programs today to ensure kids with disabilities experience all God has to offer.
The adventure was made available to Kathie, but also shared with all who made her climb a reality. This paints a beautiful picture for kids of the Kingdom, and the King who invites everyone in. Not only does Kathie have a new sense of accomplishment and love, but the young men have a new appreciation of their own ability to serve, and the satisfaction in knowing they played a part in her joy. All of these benefits, in turn, point to the way Jesus interacted with and cared for people — inviting all to participate.
The Greatest of All Adventures
“This resurrection life you received from God is not a timid, grave-tending life. It’s adventurously expectant, greeting God with a childlike, ‘What’s next, Papa?’” — Romans 8:15, The Message
“Adventurously expectant.” The desire for this kind of life isn’t limited to just adolescents; it’s what we all long for, no matter our age, background, or ability. As with any expedition, risk is inherent, but isn’t that what draws us in the first place?
Here’s to a life spent following Jesus, which has always been the greatest adventure of all!
