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  • Liz & Jessi’s story

    At 24 years old, there have been many days I’ve deemed monumental throughout my life. Getting my license, graduating from high school (and almost college too!), getting married, my first real “big girl” job…you know, the kind of monumental days that we all anticipate having in one way or another. But then there have been the monumental days that I have in no way planned for, most of which have a connection to my involvement in YoungLives.

    I joined YoungLives almost 4 years ago completely unaware of the effects that it would have on my heart and everyday life. At first I was skeptical of what I could possibly bring to these teenagers’ lives since I wasn’t a teenager that long ago myself. Then I met Liz and her daughter Melonie. Our first conversation ended in Liz asking me to be her mentor and I was both excited and extremely nervous! Our relationship was shy at first, we had a couple of lunch dates here and there and I picked her up for club regularly each month. Then one day Liz came to me with a question, “Hey Jessi, I have a question for you but you can totally say no.” After failing her driver’s test, she wanted me to teach her how to drive.

    My mind immediately went back to all of the driving tips my dad drilled into my brain when I was learning how to drive. I thought, well my car already has a few scratches on it, what’s the worst thing that could happen? From there, I spent a couple nights a week in an empty mall parking lot teaching Liz everything that I knew about “Driving 101”. When the day finally arrived for Liz to take her driver’s license test, I watched her drive away with the instructor in my little Nissan Sentra. Once the two drove out of my sight, I can tell you that I have never been so nervous in my entire life! If she came back and got out of the car with a smile on her face, that was the sign that she had passed. If she came back and got out of the car with a frown, I’m sure we both would have cried. (Or maybe I would just be the one crying!)

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    We rejoiced when she got out of the car; Liz was a licensed driver! Now fast-forward a couple of years. Since the day she passed her driver’s test, a lot of things have changed for Liz. She graduated high school, is wrapping up her freshman year of college, and Melonie is officially a 5 year old. I am so happy and grateful to have witnessed these monumental days in her life, and this week we added another one to the list.  A few short days ago I handed over the keys to my car (the car Liz learned how to drive in!) to one of the most influential people in my life. Liz now has her own set of wheels to drive herself to college, to pick her daughter up from play dates and soccer practice, and I could not be more proud of the responsible individual she has blossomed into.

    Life is about celebrating each other’s monumental days and I absolutely cannot wait to keep on delighting in all of Liz’s accomplishments! Thank you YoungLives for bringing Liz and I together, and for being the biggest demonstration of what God’s love can do.

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    Warmly,

    Jessi

  • Easter Club

    Every month teen moms, dads and their children gather together with their mentors and other volunteers for a really fun evening! Last week we saw many familiar faces at club (and some new ones too) as we celebrated Easter together!

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    Laurie Bradley, our Club Coordinator, plays a big role behind the scenes every week making sure club runs smoothly. This week she took the podium to share the club talk. She did an amazing job sharing her story in a real and honest way that encouraged us to focus on the cross as we approach Easter. She shared that it doesn’t matter what our past was, Jesus loves us and died on the cross to take the pain of the past away. At the end of the talk, we had an opportunity to nail our “sins” to the cross.

    DSC_0741After experiencing the freedom of nailing our sins to the cross, the girls moved on to a craft – creating Resurrection Eggs! Each DSC_0637egg crate came with 12 plastic eggs and we filled each one with a tiny symbol of Easter. What a great keepsake and reminder of the true meaning of Easter!

     

    While we joyfully celebrated the new life we have in Christ because of His death and Resurrection, we also got to celebrate new life with one of our moms! Congratulations to Cheridan on the birth of baby John who arrived on February 28th.

    DSC_0649Cheridan and baby John

    Every month we continue to be encouraged about the amazing work God is doing in our own lives as well as the lives of the volunteers and teen moms we are so privileged to know. We look forward to Easter with humble and grateful hearts knowing that Christ made the ultimate sacrifice to give us the ultimate gift!

    “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.” I Peter 1:3

     

  • Ice Cream Fundraiser

    Thanks to everyone who came out on a cold and rainy weekend to support YoungLives!

    photo 1We raised nearly $500 selling ice cream bars at Bob’s Old Fashioned Ice Cream Bars at the OC Swap Meet! That’s enough to send one mom and her baby to camp this summer! We are so thankful that we can provide this experience for one more mom and her baby!

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    A special shout out to all the teen moms and dads who came to help promote sales – you made all the difference! Who knew we could sell so much ice cream on cold, rainy days?! Everyone made the best of the day and it was a fun way to tell people about YoungLives and raise money for the ministry at the same time!

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    Even some of photo 3the kids got in on the action – selling AND eating ice cream! 🙂

    Many thanks to the graduated moms who came to help as well! Because of their great experiences at camp in the past, they were eager to help provide for other moms to have the same experience this summer!  It was a blessing for me to see these moms have a chance to give back to other moms. And I think it was pretty special for them too!

    This was the first of several micro-fundraisers we have planned to support the ongoing ministry of YoungLives. Stay tuned for info on other upcoming opportunities to support the ministry!

  • YoungLives is Life Changing!

    We had such a great club in February! We have been seeing a consistent group of teen dads as well as a group of teen moms and mentors from Santa Ana. When I look around the room full of moms, dads, babies, and volunteers my heart leaps with excitement.


    This year we have several male mentors mentoring teen dads.

    We played a hilarious game where pairs fed each other ice cream while laying down on their backs. Everyone laughed so hard.

    ice cream game

    For the craft we worked on a scrapbook! The goal was to have the teen moms and dads take a moment to think about what YoungLives means to them. The moms and dads were so creative! One quote that stood out to me was one of the graduated moms that wrote “YoungLives is life changing” and she said that that was all she needed to write to express what YoungLives means to her. I can’t wait for all of you to see the finished scrapbook!

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    “YoungLives has really made a difference in my life…”

    The talk this month was about sin. I was a little bit nervous about how I would bring truth yet also being sensitive. The scripture I shared was the woman caught in adultery. One thing I remembered as I prepared was something my Pastor, Andrew Schey, shared with me once in discipleship training- when you speak with the authority of the Word, you don’t have anything to worry about.

    When I was in high school I had a falling out with a close friend over a miscommunication. Although we resolved our differences, things were never the same after that incident. The misunderstanding that we had separated us from that point forward. In a similar way our sin separates us from God.

    In John 8 Jesus took the time to see the woman caught in adultery and show her that she was valuable. The townspeople were their with stones in hand to condemn her and Jesus reminds them that we all are sinners- white lies, sleeping around, betrayal, stealing, cheating, lying… the list goes on. Standing their completely exposed, the woman watches each stone drop to the ground as her attackers walk away one by one. She looks up at the one left standing, the one that doesn’t have any sin, and Jesus tells her he doesn’t condemn her either. He then tells her to go home and leave the life she is living. He gained her trust by defending her and he also helped her move towards a more satisfying life.

    At club, I used an illustration to show the group how God sees our value despite the sin and messiness that we bring. Oftentimes I feel like the woman in this story, I feel like what I have done, where I have been, and what I have experienced is too gross for Jesus, and even others, to handle. In the illustration I asked the group to picture a crisp one hundred dollar bill as us and a plastic bowl as our life. I then proceeded to dump a can of spam over the 100 dollar bill- to represent the hatred and anger in our lives, then a bottle of mayo- to represent the lying, cheating, and stealing, then sardines- to represent each of the things that we do that we know we shouldn’t do, then single serve containers of green mush- to represent the sins that others have committed against us. It was a smelly, gross-looking, completely inedible mess. I proceeded to throw it away and stopped midway and asked if anyone thought I should keep it. A few said no and a few said “THERE IS ONE HUNDRED DOLLARS IN THERE!”

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    With all of the sin and junk in our life and the sins of others that impact us, we are still valuable. Just like the one hundred dollar bill our value does not change. Jesus sees us and he reminds us that he has a more satisfying life in store for us. He says you can be free of guilty, shame, and fear. You are not alone. You are loved, beautiful and perfect.

  • Christmas Boutique 2014

    Christmas Boutique

    At our annual Christmas Boutique, 45 moms, 15 dads and over 70 volunteered gathered together for fun, food and shopping! This was our biggest club gathering to date! Teen moms and dads heard about the true meaning of Christmas before spending time shopping for themselves and their children. It was a great start to the Christmas season!

  • Winter Camp

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    We were able to take 4 moms and 2 dads to Winter Camp. We had a great weekend experiencing God’s creation in the mountains. We had many great conversations about who Jesus is and what it means to have a personal relationship with Him!

  • Bowling Night

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    We had a great kick-off this fall with our Bowling Night! Nearly 50 moms and dads and 20 volunteers spent a fun night bowling! We had several new teens come who have since connected at Club.

  • Running for a Cause

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    When I first committed to participate in the Surf City Half Marathon to raise funds for YoungLives, I thought, I will try to run most of it and then walk the rest – whatever the rest would be.  After all it was a great cause, and if I was on the streets for hours and hours, so be it.  So the training began.  A group of us began running every Saturday morning on the boardwalk in Huntington Beach.  It was our weekly “long run.”  And even though my husband Fred and I ran during the week together, I really looked forward to running on Saturday.  I was excited to see what this 49 year old body could do and the  opportunity to hang out with good friends.

    Soon the miles began adding up and I thought, wow, if I can build this quickly, I think there’s a chance I can run the whole 13.1 miles without stopping. And stopping to me, meant no walking.  This was a personal challenge, I mean after all, I put it out there on Facebook and had all my friends cheering me on – some financially, some emotionally and I was content with either one.

    Race day came and our small group met up to pray and cheer each other on.  We stayed together for the most part except for the young and super athletic who blew past us right from the start.  I got reenergized every time I saw a fellow Younglives runner with our specially made shirts.  Slow and easy I told myself.  I felt pretty good except for the last 4 miles which is when we turned around on PCH and the wind was blowing pretty hard against our bodies.  There were times I wanted to stop.  At one point my husband could see how difficult it was becoming for me, so he started running in front of me to block the wind.  I wanted to stop but I told myself I would not, could not.  I tried to keep my mind off the run by listening to my music, and thinking.  Thinking about the YoungLives Moms and how hard their lives are at times, and for some, its hard all the time just like this race.  No, I will not stop.  I won’t stop for them and I won’t stop for me. I kept thinking, I got this, I got this. Then, I began praying to the Lord over and over again, please let me finish this.

    I will never forget running the race that day.  It was a victory for our human spirits and whatever personal challenges we made to ourselves. We pushed ourselves farther than we would have because we were doing it for something bigger than ourselves.  Just like the teen moms who raise their kids.  Putting something or someone before self. I remember throughout my training, sometimes I would get confident and say oh next week I’m going to run two miles more.  Then, I would stop and listen to that quiet voice that would gently remind me of the scriptures I had read on November 20th in my 365 day bible. James 4:14-15, (14)“How do you know what your life will be like tomorrow?  Your life is like the morning fog – it’s here a little while, then it’s gone. (15) What you ought to say is, “If the Lord wants us to, we will live and do this or that.” Then I would say, yes God.  If it is your will God.  Suddenly the impossible becomes possible because with God all things are possible.

    Tamara Cianciolo
    YoungLives Mentor

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  • Christmas Boutique 2013

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    Having volunteered for YoungLives Huntington Beach since the spring of 2012, I had had the opportunity to participate in the Christmas club event of 2012 and knew what to expect this year: The story of Jesus’ birth, gifts for each mom, and the opportunity to “shop” for both mom and baby in our “Christmas Boutique” was in store.

    A few days before club, as other mentors and I sorted through and organized seemingly endless amounts of donated clothing items in preparation for the 2013 Christmas Club, I couldn’t help but get excited to see the faces of the teens we serve when they claimed these wardrobe pieces as their own.

    Christmas Club of 2013 has recently come and gone and I have such a full heart with memories of the events that took place and the clear knowledge that God’s hand was ever present in each aspect of the evening. Club started with volunteers serving us a (delicious!) meal that they had graciously prepared.  To see the teens be waited on in this way was such a blessing.

    After a time of feasting and fellowship, the children were signed into childcare and the teens and mentors together sat for a time of worship, followed by a brief message: our “Club Talk.” Colleen, a YoungLives volunteer and committee member, shared with us her own testimony of coming to Jesus.  She shared with the teens that as she was a mother of young children when she accepted Christ, she essentially learned the Bible with her children, while reading a children’s version of the Bible to them. As a gift of encouragement, each young mom received her own Children’s Bible, with the prayer that they will both read the word of God to their children, and plant the word in their own hearts.

    Next on the agenda was the boutique! Each mom was given a pack of diapers, a pack of baby wipes, and thirty tickets to spend on boutique items (1 ticket per item) for herself and her child. To see the looks on the faces of the moms as they entered the boutique rooms was enough to bring tears to my eyes.

    These girls were not just given clothes for their children to wear; they were given the opportunity to “shop” for them: to feel pride in providing their babies what they need. They were given the opportunity to put a gift under the Christmas tree for their children that they otherwise would not have had the means or opportunity to do so.

    Likewise they were not just given clothing and accessories for themselves; they were given a chance to be carefree, of cost or otherwise, while they browsed the racks and filled up their bags. They were given a chance to feel beautiful again in a body that has been transformed by pregnancy. They were given a chance, if only for a moment, to just be teenage girls again!

    The teens left that night with gift cards, diapers, wipes, overflowing bags of clothing, and Children’s Bibles. But more importantly, they left with the knowledge that they are worthy of being served. They left knowing that the Lord can work through them as disciples, while working on their hearts as children of God. They left with a sense of pride in their appearance and a sense of independence as providers for their children. They left knowing that they are loved.

    –Megan Bell
    YoungLives Volunteer

  • Jazmine’s Story

    We recently sent out our year end newsletter and it highlighted the story of Jazmine one of the first teen moms we met when we started YoungLives in Huntington Beach a little over a year and half ago.   This video starts out talking about YoungLives in whole and ends with Jazmine sharing about how YoungLives changed her life forever.

    I want to share with you one of my favorite situations that happened through Young Life this year…

    It was her senior year of high school when she got pregnant. Jazmine was 17 years old, attending Oceanview in Huntington Beach.

    She was quiet as a mouse, didn’t believe in herself and spent most of her free time taking care of her younger siblings.  Her mom worked outside the home, leaving Jazmine with the responsibility of raising two kids.  Jazmine’s mom and dad never got married. Her dad was living out of state.  In Jazmine’s eyes, no one was really cared about her except her boyfriend Adrian.

    When she found out she was going to have a baby, Jazmine transferred to Valley Vista High School.  She was 4 months behind the other kids in her grade. If she had any hope of graduating on time, she would need to get some tutoring.  My friend Myrna, a local YoungLives leader, met Jazmine a couple months after she had her baby. Myrna was doing contact work at Valley Vista and volunteering as a tutor.  Myrna told me “Jazmine was sitting at the back of the classroom and I could tell she needed help but was too shy to ask. So, I went back and talked to her. ”

    Mjazmine1yrna continued to meet with and tutor Jazmine for three months. With Myrna’s help, Jazmine graduated and got a job! This was a huge step for her.  She started coming out of her shell.   Jazmine came to YoungLives Club for six months and decided to go to a Young Life weekend camp where she accepted Christ! She was no longer the shy and quiet girl in the back of the room. After camp, Jazmine joined a Campaigners Bible study for other teen moms.

    I started to see Jazmine and her baby coming to church with Myrna. Then, Adrian, her boyfriend started coming to church too! They were both reading the bible and growing in their faith. It was awesome to watch. Then one day, Jazmine and Adrian decided they wanted to get married!

    Many people in our church had gotten to know Jazmine, Adrian and their baby, Wyatt. They even got baptized during our services on the beach. Everyone in the church was so excited and wanted to help make the wedding possible.  Our church and the YoungLives leaders basically put together the entire wedding. I even volunteered as the MC and DJ for the reception! It was an incredible day that meant so much to me.

     

    jazmine2Jazmine’s road to Christ is similar for so many of us. We go through tough circumstances that cause us to reach out for help and to reach out for adults who care.  Today, Jazmine and Adrian are starting a strong family of their own and reaching out to kids and sharing God’s love with them. Myrna would not have gone into Valley Vista if it wasn’t for the unique opportunity and doors opened through the relational ministry and caring adults of Young Life. Will you consider supporting Young Life Surf City this holiday season? It might just be one more donation on your list or one more check you write, but your gift is opening big doors for people like Jazmine.