About Young Life
Young Life is the organisational name for groups of adults from different communities and backgrounds coming together with the expressed purpose of bettering the lives of teenagers. We help youth discover and develop life skills, equipping them to face challenges with confidence, deal positively with pressure, bounce back from disappointments and adversity, achieve realistic goals and treat themselves and others with respect.
Mark and Lera Hamilton are the founders of Young Life in Belarus & the Baltics. Mark, originally from Australia and Lera, originally from the USA both started traveling overseas to this part of the world in the early 1990’s. They first pioneered Young Life in Belarus on September 8, 2001 when Young Life Australia commissioned them to establish Young Life internationally.
Since then locals have expanded the work to 4 out of the 6 Belarusian States. Young Life is now in Minsk, Mogilev, Vitebsk & Brest states.
Having successfully built an indigenous model of the work which is maintained and grown through locals, Mark & Lera moved to Vilnius, Lithuania to pioneer Young Life in the Baltic countries in October 2008.
There are currently 4 staff and 42 volunteers.
When asked, “why Belarus & the Baltic countries?” they respond, “we fell in love with the people, culture, and history of this area; there is a great need here with very few groups working among youth. It is our hope, with God’s help, that we can introduce Jesus Christ to every young person and give them an opportunity to follow Him”.
Young Life has been around long enough to have made a very real difference in the lives of many millions of young people all around the world.
The foundations for the organisation were laid in Texas in the United States of America in 1938. Jim Rayburn was a gifted youth leader in Gainesville in his late 20’s, when he had a life changing moment of clarity and a burning desire to work with disinterested teenagers, instead of those who already attended church services.
Jim’s philosophy was an instant hit. His weekly youth club was loaded with music, funny skits and exciting games, plus easily digested positive messages that connected with the kids. Young Life was founded in 1941 and it didn’t take long for the movement to gather momentum.
Jim Rayburn encouraged his young staff in the forties to "walk in wisdom towards those who are without." Jim wanted to help teenagers by providing hope, identity, and purpose; an understanding as to who they are, where they come from, and most of all, where they are going.
Soon Young Life was reaching out to youth all over the USA and then Canada, and then other countries further afield, offering teenagers an entertaining and compelling mix of understanding, guidance, mentoring and positive values, without judgement, and without talking down to the kids either.
Today, the organisation operates in over 100 countries around the world and has nearly 5,000 staff and 50,000 volunteers globally, who work directly with young people or who serve as local committee helpers.
Young Life is a group of Christian adults from a broad diversity of church traditions, committed to the purpose of communicating to young people, in simple and understandable terms, who Jesus Christ is and his relevance to their lives. Our focus is on the disinterested and unchurched young people of our community.
Young Life seeks to carry out its purpose through the building of personal relationships between Christ-centred adults and young people. As we enter the world of youth we share our lives and common experiences, and Jesus becomes real to them.
In dealing with real people in real situations we look to not only better the person, but also bring justice to unjust situations. Our Humanitarian program, "Young Hope" brings tangible aid, such as food and clothing, and practical support, such as work shops.
By connecting youth with young adults offering positive models in a safe environment as well as meeting physical needs, Young Life builds resilience for Life, hope and freedom.