By Jonathan Gramling

       What do you get when you mix together a recreation room at Blackhawk Church on the far west side of Madison, about 200 teenagers and some whacky,
extroverted counselors? A Young Life All Area Club night. There was only one way to describe the scene, controlled chaos, as the teens participated in a
number of games and exercises designed to get them to leave their small groups of friends behind and socialize with fellow teens who may come from a
different background. After about two hours of pandemonium and shrieks of laughter, the teens return home having gotten a lot of energy out of their systems and
received a soft-sell message about Christianity.
       Young Life is a national, nondenominational Christian organization that was founded in 1941 by five seminary graduates. Since then, it has grown to a
$164 million organization that serves over 300,000 youth in more than 4,600 schools through locally based affiliates of Young Life.
       For the past two years, Tracey Russell has been involved with Young Life. “I was approached due to the work that I do out in the community with the youth
through Nehemiah Community Development Corp., Russell said in a phone interview with The Capital City Hues. “Right now, the initiative Young Life has been
working on is making it more multicultural. In the past, it has reached out to middle and upper-class White youth. Here in Madison, they were definitely interested
in looking at how they could reach across cultures with staff and individuals to help support the initiative that national was implementing. Their mission is ‘Every
Kid, Everywhere.’ To be true to that statement, they are now more intentional about ‘Every Kid, Everywhere,’ and making that so.”
       Russell works with the Madison youth who are involved with Young Life. Groups are held at Neighborhood House and on Winnebago Street near Easy High
School. While the groups are Christian-oriented, there is no pressure placed on the youth to become Christians. “It’s sort of like a mixer,” Russell explained.
“There is always music. It’s not necessarily Christian music. It’s positive music. The goal is to meet kids where they are. We are definitely intentional about
meeting youth where they are and not pushing anything on them. Typically, it is always music involved and games and mixers because we want the kids to get
to know one another and interact with one another, especially when you are dealing with youth whom you are bringing together from different classes and
cultures. You want to help them navigate in getting to know one another. So there are always a couple of games that involve the group breaking up and
spreading out and getting to know one another. And there is always an opportunity to share a scripture or a word from the Bible or even personal testimony.”
       For some students, that is as far as it goes and they are always welcome to attend the clubs. But if a youth wants to go deeper into the faith aspect of the
club, then there is an opportunity for them to explore it in a more formal way. “These youth are invited out to what is called The Campaigners,” Russell said.
“That is when, unlike the club, they get together for an hour and the intention is to go and study the Bible. Kids can take the Christian message as far as they
want to take it. We don’t hide the fact that we are faith-based. But I have youth with whom I have been working with over the past two years and they still haven’t
made the commitment. But we still love on them. And they still come because it is a safe place. It is an alternative, something else that they can do. And it is
more about building that relationship.”
       During the All Area Club held at Blackhawk Church, the counselors mentioned summer camp and many of the youth in the audience erupted into cheers.
Summer camp is a big thing with Young Life. “The camps are very extraordinary,” Russell emphasized. “It’s like nothing that I have ever seen before. The
properties are just gorgeous and wonderful. They are well maintained in beautiful areas. To me, when I think of camp, I’m thinking out in the woods with your
sleeping bag and your flashlight. These are properties where there are a gym, water sports, activities and a huge dining hall where they stay. And they are served
on dishes and served three hot meals while they are at camp. There could be a cook-out outside. We’re talking 500-800 youth at this camp at one time. They
have dorms. We’re talking about huge facilities. You go in and have one room that is set up bunk bed style. You might have 12 bunk beds in it. They are nice
bunk beds. They have showers. And in the middle, they have a lounge area. That was my first introduction to Young Life when I was approached, I had gone for
a fall weekend. So in October, the youth are out earlier and have a long weekend because of the teachers’ convention. During those times, they take the youth
to a winter camp, which they call a fall weekend. I was invited to fo out there as a guest and experience it. I stayed in a guest lounge, which was just gorgeous. I
would have loved to go back there and just vacation. It’s kind of like the club scene, except on a larger scale. They get the kids together for games. We’re talking
about hundreds of kids out on this lawn playing all of these different games. You have program people who are a part of putting on the games. They may be
dressed up in different characters. And there is music. And at the end of the night, you’ll have a speaker who will come in and speak to the youth for a few
minutes. They keep the talk to around 15 minutes. They share and expose the youth to Christ.”
       While it is a Christian organization, Russell emphasizes that it is all about the youth. Many of the leaders work with the youth on their homework before the
group begins. “The real point is loving the youth and giving them an alternative and showing them positive ways to engage in the community,” Russell said.
“Especially with Madison, it really recognizes that there is a problem with youth and gangs. Young Life is an alternative to that. Where we are lacking is that we’
re not having enough programs, enough areas where kids can go and have positive influences and have a safe place to go and have fun. So you have to create
an alternative and this is what Young Life is doing.”
       In addition to the youth, Russell is also seeking adults to become engaged. They need volunteers to cook meals and help with transportation as well as tutor
and interact with the youth. For more information about Young Life, call Tracey Russell at 437-7116 or e-mail her at tmrussell5@madison.younglife.org. Their
next meeting will be May 11, 6:30 p.m. at Neighborhood House, 29 S. Mills Street.
Young Life provides a positive alternative to
teens
A spiritual mixer
Photos were taken at the Young Life All Area Club held at
Blackhawk Church in March 2009