Lakes Area Young Life is turning the big 4-0 this weekend, but there will be no black balloons at this party – just a lot of celebration and thanks. The organization that centers on caring adults “walking in the world of kids” and helping them deepen their relationship with Jesus Christ, is celebrating its big birthday on Saturday night. The annual Lakes Area Young Life banquet is set for 5:30 p.m. at the Holmes Ballroom in Detroit Lakes. “And we always want people to come - it’s a free banquet,” said Peter Paulson, Lakes Area Young Life director. Paulson says the banquet is a great chance for members to get together and for new people to come and find out what Young Life is all about. And for that, we go back to its roots, which were planted long, long ago. The beginning The national organization of Young Life goes back to 1939 when a young Presbyterian youth leader out of Texas started holding weekly meetings with area youth. The idea spread, and other Young Life organizations popped up as a way for adults to connect with teenagers and God. Soon, 20 different summer camps also sprang to life, giving these Young Life teens and their mentors a fun, summer getaway.
So when the Gordon Smith family out of Winnipeg heard of this, they donated their summer home on Pelican Lake to Young Life so that a summer camp could be built there. For 10 years, teenagers from all over the U.S. would come to what was known as “Castaway” on Pelican Lake. But in 1973, the property managers of Castaway - Dave and Mary Carlson - decided there should also be a permanent Young Life ministry created in the Detroit Lakes area to serve local youth. Some fundraising by a group of volunteers raised a small budget that proved big enough to recruit its first director - a man who had worked at Castaway at Pelican while completing Luther Seminary. “My wife, Ann, and I were asked to come,” said Perry Hunter, who moved to the Lakes area with a big challenge in front of them - to introduce Detroit Lakes to the idea of Young Life. “We started hanging out at the high school,” said Hunter, who says being able to name-drop the Carlsons eased the minds of school administrators. “Dave and Mary were well known in the community, so at least I don’t think people thought we were perpetrators preying on kids,” he laughed. They did “pray,” though, as they began building trust and relationships in the community. [[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_original","fid":"1176041","attributes":{"alt":"","class":"media-image","height":"350","typeof":"foaf:Image","width":"750"}}]] Six months later, Hunter and his newly recruited team of adult volunteers, a newly formed board and 15 teenagers launched “Lakes Area Young Life.” Interest quickly grew, as community volunteers learned how to walk with area youth as caring adults, making themselves available at sporting events, schools - wherever teenagers hung out. They held weekly “clubs” and talked about scripture and life. Hundreds of teenagers started showing up for Young Life, and with every demand for its services, there always seemed to be another caring adult willing to supply their time. In 1992, through the efforts of community supporters, Lakes Area Young Life was able to hire its first full-time director. Mark Kirgiss, who was doing ministry in Chicago, had been bringing kids up to the Castaway camp for years. A Minnesota native, Kirgiss was ready to get back closer to his own roots. “And as we were driving in, we were greeted back to Minnesota with an October blizzard,” laughed Kirgiss, who wasn’t deterred. With Perry now leading the regional Young Life organization, Kirgiss took over the local groups, and was walking into an organization that already had some history and a renewed energy for its mission. “I inherited some good adult volunteer leaders when I came, but we wanted to build on that,” said Kirgiss, who also had expansion on his mind. [[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_original","fid":"1176044","attributes":{"alt":"","class":"media-image","height":"350","typeof":"foaf:Image","width":"750"}}]] Having had experience ministering to middle school students, Kirgiss wanted to reach out to sixth through eighth graders in the area as well. And so was born “WyldLife,” a spin-off of Young Life. “Middle schoolers are looking for something to be involved with, but they’re also totally dependent on parental transportation,” said Kirgiss, who says that meant they’d also take care to build relationships with parents as well. “They have to have a belief in what you’re doing with their kids,” said Kirgiss, who says they had to walk a fine line between finding things middle schoolers would want to do and providing adequate supervision to do them. But they did walk that line, and WyldLife was here to stay. Time marched on, and today Detroit Lakes’ Peter Paulson is the new director of Lakes Area Young Life. And while society and children have changed, the mission has remained locked solid. “From its beginning the whole purpose of Young Life has been the introduce adolescents to Jesus Christ and help them grow in their faith - that’s not changed a bit,” said Paulson, “but we’ve broadened our base.” In the past couple of years under Paulson’s leadership, Young Life has expanded its programming to include one called “Young Lives,” which works with teen moms. It is also working in college programs and children with special needs. Today, Lakes Area Young Life doesn’t have hundreds of kids showing up for club like it did in the beginning, something Paulson says is due to the fact that there is “so much more going on in the community that kids get involved with now,” but the roughly 40 adult volunteers continue to enhance what Paulson calls a “mind-boggling” number of young lives every single day. Jon Mickelson is one of those adult volunteers. “I really enjoy spending time with youth, and watching them grow in their faith is huge,” said Mickelson, who agreed to take the place of his wife when she was pregnant with their first son 20 years ago. “And I’m still here,” laughed Mickelson, who says he’s now got two sons going through the program as he continues volunteering for something that has become unexpectedly meaningful to him. “To be a part of this and to possibly help change kids’ lives - you can’t beat that,” he said. “It’s been a life-changing experience.” Jessica Pudwill is living proof of how Young Life can work. “It changed the trajectory of my life,” said Pudwill, who joined WyldLife in middle school. “I probably was heading down a typical high school student’s road where I was very focused on myself and the sports I was in and didn’t care about much else, but this opened up my eyes to a different world -one that wasn’t revolved around me but something much bigger.” Today Pudwill is a staff associate with Young Life and spends her time giving back in the same way she received. “It’s just a bunch of fun people who really want to dig into something different - something other than sports or musicals - but life,” said Pudwill, who says although the adults read a chapter in the Bible and pose a question or two, it’s the students who end up helping each other find the answers to things. “We find ourselves blown away by some of the things they say,” said Pudwill. “It’s just so amazing to just sit down and really dig into some hard stuff and ask some hard questions and just look at scripture through many lenses, which is beautiful.” To check out what Young Life is all about, banquet tickets can be picked up at the Lakes Area Young Life office in the Washington Square Mall or by calling 218-847-3567. Tweets by @DLNewspapersLakes Area Young Life is turning the big 4-0 this weekend, but there will be no black balloons at this party – just a lot of celebration and thanks. The organization that centers on caring adults “walking in the world of kids” and helping them deepen their relationship with Jesus Christ, is celebrating its big birthday on Saturday night. The annual Lakes Area Young Life banquet is set for 5:30 p.m. at the Holmes Ballroom in Detroit Lakes. “And we always want people to come - it’s a free banquet,” said Peter Paulson, Lakes Area Young Life director. Paulson says the banquet is a great chance for members to get together and for new people to come and find out what Young Life is all about. And for that, we go back to its roots, which were planted long, long ago. The beginning The national organization of Young Life goes back to 1939 when a young Presbyterian youth leader out of Texas started holding weekly meetings with area youth. The idea spread, and other Young Life organizations popped up as a way for adults to connect with teenagers and God. Soon, 20 different summer camps also sprang to life, giving these Young Life teens and their mentors a fun, summer getaway. [[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_original","fid":"1176040","attributes":{"alt":"","class":"media-image","height":"350","typeof":"foaf:Image","width":"750"}}]] So when the Gordon Smith family out of Winnipeg heard of this, they donated their summer home on Pelican Lake to Young Life so that a summer camp could be built there. For 10 years, teenagers from all over the U.S. would come to what was known as “Castaway” on Pelican Lake. But in 1973, the property managers of Castaway - Dave and Mary Carlson - decided there should also be a permanent Young Life ministry created in the Detroit Lakes area to serve local youth. Some fundraising by a group of volunteers raised a small budget that proved big enough to recruit its first director - a man who had worked at Castaway at Pelican while completing Luther Seminary. “My wife, Ann, and I were asked to come,” said Perry Hunter, who moved to the Lakes area with a big challenge in front of them - to introduce Detroit Lakes to the idea of Young Life. “We started hanging out at the high school,” said Hunter, who says being able to name-drop the Carlsons eased the minds of school administrators. “Dave and Mary were well known in the community, so at least I don’t think people thought we were perpetrators preying on kids,” he laughed. They did “pray,” though, as they began building trust and relationships in the community.
Six months later, Hunter and his newly recruited team of adult volunteers, a newly formed board and 15 teenagers launched “Lakes Area Young Life.” Interest quickly grew, as community volunteers learned how to walk with area youth as caring adults, making themselves available at sporting events, schools - wherever teenagers hung out. They held weekly “clubs” and talked about scripture and life. Hundreds of teenagers started showing up for Young Life, and with every demand for its services, there always seemed to be another caring adult willing to supply their time. In 1992, through the efforts of community supporters, Lakes Area Young Life was able to hire its first full-time director. Mark Kirgiss, who was doing ministry in Chicago, had been bringing kids up to the Castaway camp for years. A Minnesota native, Kirgiss was ready to get back closer to his own roots. “And as we were driving in, we were greeted back to Minnesota with an October blizzard,” laughed Kirgiss, who wasn’t deterred. With Perry now leading the regional Young Life organization, Kirgiss took over the local groups, and was walking into an organization that already had some history and a renewed energy for its mission. “I inherited some good adult volunteer leaders when I came, but we wanted to build on that,” said Kirgiss, who also had expansion on his mind. [[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_original","fid":"1176044","attributes":{"alt":"","class":"media-image","height":"350","typeof":"foaf:Image","width":"750"}}]] Having had experience ministering to middle school students, Kirgiss wanted to reach out to sixth through eighth graders in the area as well. And so was born “WyldLife,” a spin-off of Young Life. “Middle schoolers are looking for something to be involved with, but they’re also totally dependent on parental transportation,” said Kirgiss, who says that meant they’d also take care to build relationships with parents as well. “They have to have a belief in what you’re doing with their kids,” said Kirgiss, who says they had to walk a fine line between finding things middle schoolers would want to do and providing adequate supervision to do them. But they did walk that line, and WyldLife was here to stay. Time marched on, and today Detroit Lakes’ Peter Paulson is the new director of Lakes Area Young Life. And while society and children have changed, the mission has remained locked solid. “From its beginning the whole purpose of Young Life has been the introduce adolescents to Jesus Christ and help them grow in their faith - that’s not changed a bit,” said Paulson, “but we’ve broadened our base.” In the past couple of years under Paulson’s leadership, Young Life has expanded its programming to include one called “Young Lives,” which works with teen moms. It is also working in college programs and children with special needs. Today, Lakes Area Young Life doesn’t have hundreds of kids showing up for club like it did in the beginning, something Paulson says is due to the fact that there is “so much more going on in the community that kids get involved with now,” but the roughly 40 adult volunteers continue to enhance what Paulson calls a “mind-boggling” number of young lives every single day. Jon Mickelson is one of those adult volunteers. “I really enjoy spending time with youth, and watching them grow in their faith is huge,” said Mickelson, who agreed to take the place of his wife when she was pregnant with their first son 20 years ago. “And I’m still here,” laughed Mickelson, who says he’s now got two sons going through the program as he continues volunteering for something that has become unexpectedly meaningful to him. “To be a part of this and to possibly help change kids’ lives - you can’t beat that,” he said. “It’s been a life-changing experience.” Jessica Pudwill is living proof of how Young Life can work. “It changed the trajectory of my life,” said Pudwill, who joined WyldLife in middle school. “I probably was heading down a typical high school student’s road where I was very focused on myself and the sports I was in and didn’t care about much else, but this opened up my eyes to a different world -one that wasn’t revolved around me but something much bigger.” Today Pudwill is a staff associate with Young Life and spends her time giving back in the same way she received. “It’s just a bunch of fun people who really want to dig into something different - something other than sports or musicals - but life,” said Pudwill, who says although the adults read a chapter in the Bible and pose a question or two, it’s the students who end up helping each other find the answers to things. “We find ourselves blown away by some of the things they say,” said Pudwill. “It’s just so amazing to just sit down and really dig into some hard stuff and ask some hard questions and just look at scripture through many lenses, which is beautiful.” To check out what Young Life is all about, banquet tickets can be picked up at the Lakes Area Young Life office in the Washington Square Mall or by calling 218-847-3567. Tweets by @DLNewspapersLakes Area Young Life is turning the big 4-0 this weekend, but there will be no black balloons at this party – just a lot of celebration and thanks. The organization that centers on caring adults “walking in the world of kids” and helping them deepen their relationship with Jesus Christ, is celebrating its big birthday on Saturday night. The annual Lakes Area Young Life banquet is set for 5:30 p.m. at the Holmes Ballroom in Detroit Lakes. “And we always want people to come - it’s a free banquet,” said Peter Paulson, Lakes Area Young Life director. Paulson says the banquet is a great chance for members to get together and for new people to come and find out what Young Life is all about. And for that, we go back to its roots, which were planted long, long ago. The beginning The national organization of Young Life goes back to 1939 when a young Presbyterian youth leader out of Texas started holding weekly meetings with area youth. The idea spread, and other Young Life organizations popped up as a way for adults to connect with teenagers and God. Soon, 20 different summer camps also sprang to life, giving these Young Life teens and their mentors a fun, summer getaway. [[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_original","fid":"1176040","attributes":{"alt":"","class":"media-image","height":"350","typeof":"foaf:Image","width":"750"}}]] So when the Gordon Smith family out of Winnipeg heard of this, they donated their summer home on Pelican Lake to Young Life so that a summer camp could be built there. For 10 years, teenagers from all over the U.S. would come to what was known as “Castaway” on Pelican Lake. But in 1973, the property managers of Castaway - Dave and Mary Carlson - decided there should also be a permanent Young Life ministry created in the Detroit Lakes area to serve local youth. Some fundraising by a group of volunteers raised a small budget that proved big enough to recruit its first director - a man who had worked at Castaway at Pelican while completing Luther Seminary. “My wife, Ann, and I were asked to come,” said Perry Hunter, who moved to the Lakes area with a big challenge in front of them - to introduce Detroit Lakes to the idea of Young Life. “We started hanging out at the high school,” said Hunter, who says being able to name-drop the Carlsons eased the minds of school administrators. “Dave and Mary were well known in the community, so at least I don’t think people thought we were perpetrators preying on kids,” he laughed. They did “pray,” though, as they began building trust and relationships in the community. [[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_original","fid":"1176041","attributes":{"alt":"","class":"media-image","height":"350","typeof":"foaf:Image","width":"750"}}]] Six months later, Hunter and his newly recruited team of adult volunteers, a newly formed board and 15 teenagers launched “Lakes Area Young Life.” Interest quickly grew, as community volunteers learned how to walk with area youth as caring adults, making themselves available at sporting events, schools - wherever teenagers hung out. They held weekly “clubs” and talked about scripture and life. Hundreds of teenagers started showing up for Young Life, and with every demand for its services, there always seemed to be another caring adult willing to supply their time. In 1992, through the efforts of community supporters, Lakes Area Young Life was able to hire its first full-time director. Mark Kirgiss, who was doing ministry in Chicago, had been bringing kids up to the Castaway camp for years. A Minnesota native, Kirgiss was ready to get back closer to his own roots. “And as we were driving in, we were greeted back to Minnesota with an October blizzard,” laughed Kirgiss, who wasn’t deterred. With Perry now leading the regional Young Life organization, Kirgiss took over the local groups, and was walking into an organization that already had some history and a renewed energy for its mission. “I inherited some good adult volunteer leaders when I came, but we wanted to build on that,” said Kirgiss, who also had expansion on his mind.
Having had experience ministering to middle school students, Kirgiss wanted to reach out to sixth through eighth graders in the area as well. And so was born “WyldLife,” a spin-off of Young Life. “Middle schoolers are looking for something to be involved with, but they’re also totally dependent on parental transportation,” said Kirgiss, who says that meant they’d also take care to build relationships with parents as well. “They have to have a belief in what you’re doing with their kids,” said Kirgiss, who says they had to walk a fine line between finding things middle schoolers would want to do and providing adequate supervision to do them. But they did walk that line, and WyldLife was here to stay. Time marched on, and today Detroit Lakes’ Peter Paulson is the new director of Lakes Area Young Life. And while society and children have changed, the mission has remained locked solid. “From its beginning the whole purpose of Young Life has been the introduce adolescents to Jesus Christ and help them grow in their faith - that’s not changed a bit,” said Paulson, “but we’ve broadened our base.” In the past couple of years under Paulson’s leadership, Young Life has expanded its programming to include one called “Young Lives,” which works with teen moms. It is also working in college programs and children with special needs. Today, Lakes Area Young Life doesn’t have hundreds of kids showing up for club like it did in the beginning, something Paulson says is due to the fact that there is “so much more going on in the community that kids get involved with now,” but the roughly 40 adult volunteers continue to enhance what Paulson calls a “mind-boggling” number of young lives every single day. Jon Mickelson is one of those adult volunteers. “I really enjoy spending time with youth, and watching them grow in their faith is huge,” said Mickelson, who agreed to take the place of his wife when she was pregnant with their first son 20 years ago. “And I’m still here,” laughed Mickelson, who says he’s now got two sons going through the program as he continues volunteering for something that has become unexpectedly meaningful to him. “To be a part of this and to possibly help change kids’ lives - you can’t beat that,” he said. “It’s been a life-changing experience.” Jessica Pudwill is living proof of how Young Life can work. “It changed the trajectory of my life,” said Pudwill, who joined WyldLife in middle school. “I probably was heading down a typical high school student’s road where I was very focused on myself and the sports I was in and didn’t care about much else, but this opened up my eyes to a different world -one that wasn’t revolved around me but something much bigger.” Today Pudwill is a staff associate with Young Life and spends her time giving back in the same way she received. “It’s just a bunch of fun people who really want to dig into something different - something other than sports or musicals - but life,” said Pudwill, who says although the adults read a chapter in the Bible and pose a question or two, it’s the students who end up helping each other find the answers to things. “We find ourselves blown away by some of the things they say,” said Pudwill. “It’s just so amazing to just sit down and really dig into some hard stuff and ask some hard questions and just look at scripture through many lenses, which is beautiful.” To check out what Young Life is all about, banquet tickets can be picked up at the Lakes Area Young Life office in the Washington Square Mall or by calling 218-847-3567. Tweets by @DLNewspapersLakes Area Young Life is turning the big 4-0 this weekend, but there will be no black balloons at this party – just a lot of celebration and thanks.The organization that centers on caring adults “walking in the world of kids” and helping them deepen their relationship with Jesus Christ, is celebrating its big birthday on Saturday night.The annual Lakes Area Young Life banquet is set for 5:30 p.m. at the Holmes Ballroom in Detroit Lakes.“And we always want people to come - it’s a free banquet,” said Peter Paulson, Lakes Area Young Life director.Paulson says the banquet is a great chance for members to get together and for new people to come and find out what Young Life is all about.And for that, we go back to its roots, which were planted long, long ago.The beginningThe national organization of Young Life goes back to 1939 when a young Presbyterian youth leader out of Texas started holding weekly meetings with area youth.The idea spread, and other Young Life organizations popped up as a way for adults to connect with teenagers and God.Soon, 20 different summer camps also sprang to life, giving these Young Life teens and their mentors a fun, summer getaway.
So when the Gordon Smith family out of Winnipeg heard of this, they donated their summer home on Pelican Lake to Young Life so that a summer camp could be built there.For 10 years, teenagers from all over the U.S. would come to what was known as “Castaway” on Pelican Lake.But in 1973, the property managers of Castaway - Dave and Mary Carlson - decided there should also be a permanent Young Life ministry created in the Detroit Lakes area to serve local youth.Some fundraising by a group of volunteers raised a small budget that proved big enough to recruit its first director - a man who had worked at Castaway at Pelican while completing Luther Seminary.“My wife, Ann, and I were asked to come,” said Perry Hunter, who moved to the Lakes area with a big challenge in front of them - to introduce Detroit Lakes to the idea of Young Life.“We started hanging out at the high school,” said Hunter, who says being able to name-drop the Carlsons eased the minds of school administrators.“Dave and Mary were well known in the community, so at least I don’t think people thought we were perpetrators preying on kids,” he laughed.They did “pray,” though, as they began building trust and relationships in the community.[[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_original","fid":"1176041","attributes":{"alt":"","class":"media-image","height":"350","typeof":"foaf:Image","width":"750"}}]]Six months later, Hunter and his newly recruited team of adult volunteers, a newly formed board and 15 teenagers launched “Lakes Area Young Life.”Interest quickly grew, as community volunteers learned how to walk with area youth as caring adults, making themselves available at sporting events, schools - wherever teenagers hung out.They held weekly “clubs” and talked about scripture and life.Hundreds of teenagers started showing up for Young Life, and with every demand for its services, there always seemed to be another caring adult willing to supply their time.In 1992, through the efforts of community supporters, Lakes Area Young Life was able to hire its first full-time director.Mark Kirgiss, who was doing ministry in Chicago, had been bringing kids up to the Castaway camp for years. A Minnesota native, Kirgiss was ready to get back closer to his own roots.“And as we were driving in, we were greeted back to Minnesota with an October blizzard,” laughed Kirgiss, who wasn’t deterred.With Perry now leading the regional Young Life organization, Kirgiss took over the local groups, and was walking into an organization that already had some history and a renewed energy for its mission.“I inherited some good adult volunteer leaders when I came, but we wanted to build on that,” said Kirgiss, who also had expansion on his mind.[[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_original","fid":"1176044","attributes":{"alt":"","class":"media-image","height":"350","typeof":"foaf:Image","width":"750"}}]]Having had experience ministering to middle school students, Kirgiss wanted to reach out to sixth through eighth graders in the area as well.And so was born “WyldLife,” a spin-off of Young Life.“Middle schoolers are looking for something to be involved with, but they’re also totally dependent on parental transportation,” said Kirgiss, who says that meant they’d also take care to build relationships with parents as well.“They have to have a belief in what you’re doing with their kids,” said Kirgiss, who says they had to walk a fine line between finding things middle schoolers would want to do and providing adequate supervision to do them.But they did walk that line, and WyldLife was here to stay.Time marched on, and today Detroit Lakes’ Peter Paulson is the new director of Lakes Area Young Life.And while society and children have changed, the mission has remained locked solid.“From its beginning the whole purpose of Young Life has been the introduce adolescents to Jesus Christ and help them grow in their faith - that’s not changed a bit,” said Paulson, “but we’ve broadened our base.”In the past couple of years under Paulson’s leadership, Young Life has expanded its programming to include one called “Young Lives,” which works with teen moms.It is also working in college programs and children with special needs.Today, Lakes Area Young Life doesn’t have hundreds of kids showing up for club like it did in the beginning, something Paulson says is due to the fact that there is “so much more going on in the community that kids get involved with now,” but the roughly 40 adult volunteers continue to enhance what Paulson calls a “mind-boggling” number of young lives every single day.Jon Mickelson is one of those adult volunteers.“I really enjoy spending time with youth, and watching them grow in their faith is huge,” said Mickelson, who agreed to take the place of his wife when she was pregnant with their first son 20 years ago.“And I’m still here,” laughed Mickelson, who says he’s now got two sons going through the program as he continues volunteering for something that has become unexpectedly meaningful to him.“To be a part of this and to possibly help change kids’ lives - you can’t beat that,” he said. “It’s been a life-changing experience.”Jessica Pudwill is living proof of how Young Life can work.“It changed the trajectory of my life,” said Pudwill, who joined WyldLife in middle school.“I probably was heading down a typical high school student’s road where I was very focused on myself and the sports I was in and didn’t care about much else, but this opened up my eyes to a different world -one that wasn’t revolved around me but something much bigger.”Today Pudwill is a staff associate with Young Life and spends her time giving back in the same way she received.“It’s just a bunch of fun people who really want to dig into something different - something other than sports or musicals - but life,” said Pudwill, who says although the adults read a chapter in the Bible and pose a question or two, it’s the students who end up helping each other find the answers to things.“We find ourselves blown away by some of the things they say,” said Pudwill. “It’s just so amazing to just sit down and really dig into some hard stuff and ask some hard questions and just look at scripture through many lenses, which is beautiful.”To check out what Young Life is all about, banquet tickets can be picked up at the Lakes Area Young Life office in the Washington Square Mall or by calling 218-847-3567.Tweets by @DLNewspapersLakes Area Young Life is turning the big 4-0 this weekend, but there will be no black balloons at this party – just a lot of celebration and thanks.The organization that centers on caring adults “walking in the world of kids” and helping them deepen their relationship with Jesus Christ, is celebrating its big birthday on Saturday night.The annual Lakes Area Young Life banquet is set for 5:30 p.m. at the Holmes Ballroom in Detroit Lakes.“And we always want people to come - it’s a free banquet,” said Peter Paulson, Lakes Area Young Life director.Paulson says the banquet is a great chance for members to get together and for new people to come and find out what Young Life is all about.And for that, we go back to its roots, which were planted long, long ago.The beginningThe national organization of Young Life goes back to 1939 when a young Presbyterian youth leader out of Texas started holding weekly meetings with area youth.The idea spread, and other Young Life organizations popped up as a way for adults to connect with teenagers and God.Soon, 20 different summer camps also sprang to life, giving these Young Life teens and their mentors a fun, summer getaway.[[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_original","fid":"1176040","attributes":{"alt":"","class":"media-image","height":"350","typeof":"foaf:Image","width":"750"}}]]So when the Gordon Smith family out of Winnipeg heard of this, they donated their summer home on Pelican Lake to Young Life so that a summer camp could be built there.For 10 years, teenagers from all over the U.S. would come to what was known as “Castaway” on Pelican Lake.But in 1973, the property managers of Castaway - Dave and Mary Carlson - decided there should also be a permanent Young Life ministry created in the Detroit Lakes area to serve local youth.Some fundraising by a group of volunteers raised a small budget that proved big enough to recruit its first director - a man who had worked at Castaway at Pelican while completing Luther Seminary.“My wife, Ann, and I were asked to come,” said Perry Hunter, who moved to the Lakes area with a big challenge in front of them - to introduce Detroit Lakes to the idea of Young Life.“We started hanging out at the high school,” said Hunter, who says being able to name-drop the Carlsons eased the minds of school administrators.“Dave and Mary were well known in the community, so at least I don’t think people thought we were perpetrators preying on kids,” he laughed.They did “pray,” though, as they began building trust and relationships in the community.
Six months later, Hunter and his newly recruited team of adult volunteers, a newly formed board and 15 teenagers launched “Lakes Area Young Life.”Interest quickly grew, as community volunteers learned how to walk with area youth as caring adults, making themselves available at sporting events, schools - wherever teenagers hung out.They held weekly “clubs” and talked about scripture and life.Hundreds of teenagers started showing up for Young Life, and with every demand for its services, there always seemed to be another caring adult willing to supply their time.In 1992, through the efforts of community supporters, Lakes Area Young Life was able to hire its first full-time director.Mark Kirgiss, who was doing ministry in Chicago, had been bringing kids up to the Castaway camp for years. A Minnesota native, Kirgiss was ready to get back closer to his own roots.“And as we were driving in, we were greeted back to Minnesota with an October blizzard,” laughed Kirgiss, who wasn’t deterred.With Perry now leading the regional Young Life organization, Kirgiss took over the local groups, and was walking into an organization that already had some history and a renewed energy for its mission.“I inherited some good adult volunteer leaders when I came, but we wanted to build on that,” said Kirgiss, who also had expansion on his mind.[[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_original","fid":"1176044","attributes":{"alt":"","class":"media-image","height":"350","typeof":"foaf:Image","width":"750"}}]]Having had experience ministering to middle school students, Kirgiss wanted to reach out to sixth through eighth graders in the area as well.And so was born “WyldLife,” a spin-off of Young Life.“Middle schoolers are looking for something to be involved with, but they’re also totally dependent on parental transportation,” said Kirgiss, who says that meant they’d also take care to build relationships with parents as well.“They have to have a belief in what you’re doing with their kids,” said Kirgiss, who says they had to walk a fine line between finding things middle schoolers would want to do and providing adequate supervision to do them.But they did walk that line, and WyldLife was here to stay.Time marched on, and today Detroit Lakes’ Peter Paulson is the new director of Lakes Area Young Life.And while society and children have changed, the mission has remained locked solid.“From its beginning the whole purpose of Young Life has been the introduce adolescents to Jesus Christ and help them grow in their faith - that’s not changed a bit,” said Paulson, “but we’ve broadened our base.”In the past couple of years under Paulson’s leadership, Young Life has expanded its programming to include one called “Young Lives,” which works with teen moms.It is also working in college programs and children with special needs.Today, Lakes Area Young Life doesn’t have hundreds of kids showing up for club like it did in the beginning, something Paulson says is due to the fact that there is “so much more going on in the community that kids get involved with now,” but the roughly 40 adult volunteers continue to enhance what Paulson calls a “mind-boggling” number of young lives every single day.Jon Mickelson is one of those adult volunteers.“I really enjoy spending time with youth, and watching them grow in their faith is huge,” said Mickelson, who agreed to take the place of his wife when she was pregnant with their first son 20 years ago.“And I’m still here,” laughed Mickelson, who says he’s now got two sons going through the program as he continues volunteering for something that has become unexpectedly meaningful to him.“To be a part of this and to possibly help change kids’ lives - you can’t beat that,” he said. “It’s been a life-changing experience.”Jessica Pudwill is living proof of how Young Life can work.“It changed the trajectory of my life,” said Pudwill, who joined WyldLife in middle school.“I probably was heading down a typical high school student’s road where I was very focused on myself and the sports I was in and didn’t care about much else, but this opened up my eyes to a different world -one that wasn’t revolved around me but something much bigger.”Today Pudwill is a staff associate with Young Life and spends her time giving back in the same way she received.“It’s just a bunch of fun people who really want to dig into something different - something other than sports or musicals - but life,” said Pudwill, who says although the adults read a chapter in the Bible and pose a question or two, it’s the students who end up helping each other find the answers to things.“We find ourselves blown away by some of the things they say,” said Pudwill. “It’s just so amazing to just sit down and really dig into some hard stuff and ask some hard questions and just look at scripture through many lenses, which is beautiful.”To check out what Young Life is all about, banquet tickets can be picked up at the Lakes Area Young Life office in the Washington Square Mall or by calling 218-847-3567.Tweets by @DLNewspapersLakes Area Young Life is turning the big 4-0 this weekend, but there will be no black balloons at this party – just a lot of celebration and thanks.The organization that centers on caring adults “walking in the world of kids” and helping them deepen their relationship with Jesus Christ, is celebrating its big birthday on Saturday night.The annual Lakes Area Young Life banquet is set for 5:30 p.m. at the Holmes Ballroom in Detroit Lakes.“And we always want people to come - it’s a free banquet,” said Peter Paulson, Lakes Area Young Life director.Paulson says the banquet is a great chance for members to get together and for new people to come and find out what Young Life is all about.And for that, we go back to its roots, which were planted long, long ago.The beginningThe national organization of Young Life goes back to 1939 when a young Presbyterian youth leader out of Texas started holding weekly meetings with area youth.The idea spread, and other Young Life organizations popped up as a way for adults to connect with teenagers and God.Soon, 20 different summer camps also sprang to life, giving these Young Life teens and their mentors a fun, summer getaway.[[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_original","fid":"1176040","attributes":{"alt":"","class":"media-image","height":"350","typeof":"foaf:Image","width":"750"}}]]So when the Gordon Smith family out of Winnipeg heard of this, they donated their summer home on Pelican Lake to Young Life so that a summer camp could be built there.For 10 years, teenagers from all over the U.S. would come to what was known as “Castaway” on Pelican Lake.But in 1973, the property managers of Castaway - Dave and Mary Carlson - decided there should also be a permanent Young Life ministry created in the Detroit Lakes area to serve local youth.Some fundraising by a group of volunteers raised a small budget that proved big enough to recruit its first director - a man who had worked at Castaway at Pelican while completing Luther Seminary.“My wife, Ann, and I were asked to come,” said Perry Hunter, who moved to the Lakes area with a big challenge in front of them - to introduce Detroit Lakes to the idea of Young Life.“We started hanging out at the high school,” said Hunter, who says being able to name-drop the Carlsons eased the minds of school administrators.“Dave and Mary were well known in the community, so at least I don’t think people thought we were perpetrators preying on kids,” he laughed.They did “pray,” though, as they began building trust and relationships in the community.[[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_original","fid":"1176041","attributes":{"alt":"","class":"media-image","height":"350","typeof":"foaf:Image","width":"750"}}]]Six months later, Hunter and his newly recruited team of adult volunteers, a newly formed board and 15 teenagers launched “Lakes Area Young Life.”Interest quickly grew, as community volunteers learned how to walk with area youth as caring adults, making themselves available at sporting events, schools - wherever teenagers hung out.They held weekly “clubs” and talked about scripture and life.Hundreds of teenagers started showing up for Young Life, and with every demand for its services, there always seemed to be another caring adult willing to supply their time.In 1992, through the efforts of community supporters, Lakes Area Young Life was able to hire its first full-time director.Mark Kirgiss, who was doing ministry in Chicago, had been bringing kids up to the Castaway camp for years. A Minnesota native, Kirgiss was ready to get back closer to his own roots.“And as we were driving in, we were greeted back to Minnesota with an October blizzard,” laughed Kirgiss, who wasn’t deterred.With Perry now leading the regional Young Life organization, Kirgiss took over the local groups, and was walking into an organization that already had some history and a renewed energy for its mission.“I inherited some good adult volunteer leaders when I came, but we wanted to build on that,” said Kirgiss, who also had expansion on his mind.
Having had experience ministering to middle school students, Kirgiss wanted to reach out to sixth through eighth graders in the area as well.And so was born “WyldLife,” a spin-off of Young Life.“Middle schoolers are looking for something to be involved with, but they’re also totally dependent on parental transportation,” said Kirgiss, who says that meant they’d also take care to build relationships with parents as well.“They have to have a belief in what you’re doing with their kids,” said Kirgiss, who says they had to walk a fine line between finding things middle schoolers would want to do and providing adequate supervision to do them.But they did walk that line, and WyldLife was here to stay.Time marched on, and today Detroit Lakes’ Peter Paulson is the new director of Lakes Area Young Life.And while society and children have changed, the mission has remained locked solid.“From its beginning the whole purpose of Young Life has been the introduce adolescents to Jesus Christ and help them grow in their faith - that’s not changed a bit,” said Paulson, “but we’ve broadened our base.”In the past couple of years under Paulson’s leadership, Young Life has expanded its programming to include one called “Young Lives,” which works with teen moms.It is also working in college programs and children with special needs.Today, Lakes Area Young Life doesn’t have hundreds of kids showing up for club like it did in the beginning, something Paulson says is due to the fact that there is “so much more going on in the community that kids get involved with now,” but the roughly 40 adult volunteers continue to enhance what Paulson calls a “mind-boggling” number of young lives every single day.Jon Mickelson is one of those adult volunteers.“I really enjoy spending time with youth, and watching them grow in their faith is huge,” said Mickelson, who agreed to take the place of his wife when she was pregnant with their first son 20 years ago.“And I’m still here,” laughed Mickelson, who says he’s now got two sons going through the program as he continues volunteering for something that has become unexpectedly meaningful to him.“To be a part of this and to possibly help change kids’ lives - you can’t beat that,” he said. “It’s been a life-changing experience.”Jessica Pudwill is living proof of how Young Life can work.“It changed the trajectory of my life,” said Pudwill, who joined WyldLife in middle school.“I probably was heading down a typical high school student’s road where I was very focused on myself and the sports I was in and didn’t care about much else, but this opened up my eyes to a different world -one that wasn’t revolved around me but something much bigger.”Today Pudwill is a staff associate with Young Life and spends her time giving back in the same way she received.“It’s just a bunch of fun people who really want to dig into something different - something other than sports or musicals - but life,” said Pudwill, who says although the adults read a chapter in the Bible and pose a question or two, it’s the students who end up helping each other find the answers to things.“We find ourselves blown away by some of the things they say,” said Pudwill. “It’s just so amazing to just sit down and really dig into some hard stuff and ask some hard questions and just look at scripture through many lenses, which is beautiful.”To check out what Young Life is all about, banquet tickets can be picked up at the Lakes Area Young Life office in the Washington Square Mall or by calling 218-847-3567.Tweets by @DLNewspapers
