Mixed in with the joy comes a great deal of sadness. In October a heart-broken 10th grader wept in my passenger seat as he told me about how he got sucked into selling drugs as a freshmen. It lasted until he was robbed at gunpoint this summer. He shook as he told the story. In November I spent half a day in meetings at the Department of Social Services to help determine the best living placement for one of my high school friends. He couldn’t go home because he was being abused by his father. A couple months ago the PTA asked me to lead a prayer vigil for the school after two of our seniors passed away in a car accident, being thrown from the bed of a truck.
Each day of being a Young Life leader seems to be filled with shadows and light. It constantly forces me to depend upon our Heavenly Father. The burdens my high school friends carry are just too heavy to bear without Him. Because being a Young Life leader is often so hard and discouraging, in December of 2010 I started “The Young Life Leader Blog.”
My hope was to create an online space where leaders around the country could share encouragement and ideas. Over the past three years, what now is called YoungLifeLeaders.org has grown into an online resource that is used regularly by more than 15,000 leaders around the world. I’ve absolutely loved running this site but as the volume of users has increased, so has the demand on my time. I currently spend around 15 hours each week operating the site. It’s grown beyond what I can continue to manage in a volunteer role, so this fall Young Life began conversations with me about coming on part-time staff with the Service Center. On December 1st I officially started as a ‘Communications Specialist.’ Sounds fancy, huh?
Would you consider financially investing in me? When I get to help other leaders reach more kids, I’m right in my sweet spot. I’m confident this calling is from the Lord and a worthwhile investment of my time and gifts. I’m also convinced it’s a worthwhile investment of your money. My hope is to raise 20K/year to support the operating budget for YoungLifeLeaders.org so I can continue to provide timely resources for the 15K+ Young Life leaders that regularly use the site. A couple weeks ago we received a $10,000 matching grant from a foundation in Tennessee! Now, we only need to raise 10K/year. All we need are 5 folks to give $100/month, 5 to give $50/month, & 5 to give $25/month.
Thank you for your friendship and for considering investing in me and this ministry. If you need any more incentive to give, we just found out Hill baby #3 is due August 14,2014!
Gratefully yours, Drew, Natalie, Honey, Hutch, & #3
HOW TO GIVE A TAX-DEDUCTIBLE DONATION
Visit DonateToDrew.com to set up a one-time or recurring gift.
It will direct you to a link for the Young Life giving site, with my number ‘1900’ already entered in.
If you write a check, please make it payable to ‘Young Life’ and include “1900- Drew Hill” in the memo. Checks can be mailed to Young Life: 420 N. Cascade Ave., Colorado Springs, C0. 80903.
If it’s easier, just call or email me and I can help you set up a monthly draft. THANK YOU!!!
What Others Are Saying About The Site
YoungLifeLeaders.org is hands down THE BEST RESOURCE for Young Life leaders. It’s the first place I direct our leaders to go as they’re looking for YL ideas, resources, encouragement, and philosophy. It’s such a gift to me as an Area Director! I use it almost daily. -Joel Kennedy, Area Director, Tallahassee, FL
YoungLifeLeaders.org is the best resource for club, campaigners, contact work ideas, and discipleship. I am so thankful for it and don’t know what I’d do without it! -Emily May, volunteer leader, Dallas, TX
As a Regional Director I’m always looking for quality resources to pass on to my team. They have to be brief, useful and "authentic YL" in order for me to do so. YoungLifeLeaders.org is all three. Many of my staff and their leaders regularly use this site and love that this content comes directly from the field and from someone currently involved in ground level ministry. -Alan Smyth, Regional Director, Greater Los Angeles
I’m very excited & encouraged by what Drew has done with the Young Life Leader Blog & Twitter feed. Not only has he helped us get better as mission by sharing resources, he has also done it in a way that fits our culture & continually points us to Christ and kids. -Chris Theule-VanDam, Regional Director, Western Great Lakes
- Over 1 Million Pageviews
- Over 11K Twitter Followers
- Over 60K pageviews/month
- Over 15K regular monthly users
- Over 100K Unique Visitors (60% Returning)
- 650+ articles posts over last 3 years
- Average of over 4 posts/week
- Over 2K hours invested on the site
A Sampling of the 650+ articles on YoungLifeLeaders.org
• 121 Theme Club Ideas • How To Create Camp T-Shirts Kids Will Love To Wear • Our Club Song Schedule For The Fall • How To Give A Young Life Talk • Popular Club Songs • How To Earn Parents’ Trust As A Young Life Leader • Tips On Leading Young Life From A High School Principal • How To Be An Ineffective YL Leader • The Complete Guide To A YL’d Bus Ride • 8 Ways To Give High Schoolers Ownership • 25 Popular Pre-Club Activities • Why So Many Freshmen Came To Club • The Lies We Believe- A Campaigners Discussion • How To Make Hilarious ‘Good Morning Young Life’ Videos • 4 Tips To Begin Club With A Bang • How To Thrive At Young Life Camp As An Adult Leader • 40 Reasons To Pursue Sexual Purity • Find Your Leader Mall Hunt Tips • Camp Fundraisers That Work • The Best Club Games You’ve Never Done • 7 Keys To Having A Rockin’ YL Band • How To Recruit New YL Leaders • A Rite of Passage For Seniors • How To Take Your Campaigners Group Deeper • 15 Camp Essentials: A Leader’s Packing List • How To Get Kids To YL Camp: Eliminating The 5 Excuses • How To Do A Mr. Christmas Tree Pageant Teaching Campaigners To Memorize Scripture
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