Getting started...

Jorge Rojas, the man with the plan, has recently moved to Arequipa with the sole purpose of bringing Young Life to the kids of our city!! Young Life has been in Lima for close to 40 years, but never before has it left the borders of the Peruvian capital. Now, for the first time Young Life is looking to expand througout this Andean nation, starting in Areuipa, Peru's second-largest city.

Wait a minute!! What is Young Life? For a detailed (and accurate) description and understanding, visit the official website at http://www.younglife.org/. In the meantime, let me explain it like this: Young Life (Algo Nuevo, for those of us south of the equator) is a non-denominational organization with the sole purpose of bringing the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the youth of the world. They are not affiliated with any one church, group, or doctrine. Rather, Young Life is a Bible-based ministry concerned with teaching kids who Jesus is, and how it's possible to have a personal relationship with Him so they can pass it on to their peers, parents, siblings, and community.

Working as close to the public school system as the law will allow, Young Life in the U.S. focuses on kids who generally have no association with God, the church, or spirituality. Young Life leaders and volunteers are not pastors. Rather, they are friends to the kids who need them, role models for our youth to look up to, to turn to in time of crisis, need, or question.

Here in Peru we are not faced with the same legal concerns regarding school grounds and spiritual influence. However, our school system has many of it's own challenges. For example, there is no one public school system. Instead, the school system consists of several public and semi-private schools, and children (or their parents) have the choice of which they attend. Because the school system is not centralized a new challenge exists for Young Life in Peru. Jorge, our sole leader in Arequipa, thus relies on meeting individuals who have or can make contacts in the one of the local schools, such as Kayla and myself. As teachers we have the opportunity to reach out to kids every day, and now through Young Life we can further this outreach.

We are facing our own struggle in this mission, as even in our own school we are not welcomed warmly to put a new program into play. However, as I am confident God has His hand in this I have decided to work around the school, rather than with it, by simply inviting kids to join us in my home for Club, beginning sometime around the first of November. I hope you all will join me as we pursue this new and exciting venture. We will need plenty of support to get things going right, your prayers most of all, along with anything else you can offer. I look forward to sharing this journey with you all...