Young Life is a worldwide, non-profit, Evangelical Christian organization. Young Life operates and supervises many different branches of ministry, including the original Young Life, which is geared towards High School students, Wyldlife, which focuses on Middle School Students, Young Life Capernaum, which is a ministry towars mentally and physically handicapped youths, Young Life Military, which focuses on children of active military personnel, and, finally, Young Lives, which is unique amonst the rest of Young Life's ministries, as it ministers only to Middle and High School girls that are pregnant or raising children on their own. Young Life also offers college students and adults oppurtunities to participate through volunteering at either a Young Life camp or a local Young Life club.
Young Life is very different from most churches, and represents a definitively new movement in Christianity, which is geared not towards members of the church, but at everyone who is not a member of the church. It is also different from most churches because of its widespread use of comedy and pop culture references to lighten to mood and promote a comfortable atmosphere (for exampe, many Young Life Clubs begin by singing popular songs of the specific area of the club, including pop, hip-hop and love songs).
Young Life is headquartered in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
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Young Life has many different camps, including camps in 14 American states as well as two camps in British Columbia, Canada and a camp in the Dominican Republic. [1] Commonly referred to as "The Best Week of Your Life," these camps are well attended and incoporate Christian messages into a fun, safe environment, with many secular activities mixed in to allow even non-Christians to have a great week. Although the camps vary tremendously, many camps include a waterfront or lake, hiking, mountain climbing, mountain biking, ropes courses and many other activities. These camps are attended by students from around the world, and are staffed by a mix of full-time Young Life employees and student, young adult and adult volunteer, with the average camper to staff ratio being about 5:1. Young Life camps' claim to fame is that they show potential Christians and non-Christians alike the essential beliefs of Christianity using comedy and pop culture, which help to attribute to the very comfortable atmosphere one can find at a Young Life Camp.
Young Life Club is a meeting of High School students and their leaders, and serves both as an oppurtunity to relax and spend time with friends and to learn about Christianity. There are more than 700 Young Life Clubs around the world, and these are located on every continent besides Antarctica. Although the structure of Young Life Clubs vary around the world, the general format is a long period where students can relax and talk with friends and their leaders, followed by a short period that includes prayer and a short religious message, often accompanied by a personal anecdote to lighten the mood and to make non-Christians feel comfortable.