LAST Young Life until FEBRUARY!

Well Young Life fans, we've worked hard this semester, club has grown, more students and leaders are coming and our ministry is on the verge of taking over the whole high school. It's been an incredible semester and it had an incredible end with our All Area Young Life at Salem Alliance Church in their high school room! There were a couple hundred students from all over the city and there was SO much energy! We really have some incredible young people in this city, did you know that? They're pretty much the best! Anyway, tonight was definitely a collaborative event: West Salem MC'd, South Salem did the big group game, Vida Joven (our spanish speaking Young Life) did the up front game, and I spoke. Tonight I shared the story of the Great Banquet in Luke 14. I Shared that though some of us have felt like we are outsiders that aren't welcome around Jesus the opposite is true. Jesus is all about bringing in the smelliest, loneliest, most awkward, dirty people He can find. In fact, Jesus is about bringing everyone to Him because that's where we all belong. I showed the music video for, "I must Belong Somewhere" by Bright Eyes and asked the group to consider joining Jesus and realizing He's where they've always belonged. All in all tonight was amazing. In fact, I got choked up thinking about where we've come in such a short time. This time last year, a couple Sprague Young Life leaders invited a couple students to check out this thing called Young Life at the All City event. There were only a handful and this year we probably had 25 of our own students there (we were competing with a choir concert! what a bummer!) and had 8 of our leaders there. Goodness, we are blessed and God is good! We'll be back in February and our leaders will be very present in the school all throughout January rebuilding momentum to get the spring semester off on the right foot! Thank you all for your prayers and your support this past year and a half! You are a community that is an answer to prayer!! -Mat