Excitement
·
109 DGL students discipling
nearly 500 teenagers
·
4th class of Freshmen
under review
·
1st class to graduate
in 2013
Challenge/Prayer Need
·
Identifying candidates in
developing ministry areas
·
Funding 20 new DGL students in 4th
class
Current Total Students
|
109
|
Current Fully
Funded
|
90
|
Current Partially
Funded
|
8
|
Current Not
Funded
|
11
|
A Sponsor’s Story – Mark Thannisch – Austin, Texas
In December 2011, my good friend, Curtis Olson, and I were visiting and
I asked him how things were going at his new job at Young Life. I have
known about Young Life most of my life but never have had a chance to get
involved as there was no Young Life group in the small East Texas town
where I grew up. Curtis said that things were going great and asked me
what I was doing on January 9th. I couldn't come up with a conflict so he
invited me to join him on a trip to a leadership training in Nicaragua.
Much to his surprise, I called him the next day and told him that I would meet
him in Houston and fly with him to Managua. I really didn't know where
all of this was taking me but there was never a doubt that I was supposed to
go. The Lord works in strange ways!
 |
| Hermes - Business Major |
We
arrived and the next morning met up with Dan Jessup and the staff from Colorado
Springs for breakfast. We heard a moving testimony from Douglas who
related how God had transformed him through Young Life from a gang leader to a
Christian, young life leader and attorney. The light began to flicker.
We made
our way to the camp where the leadership conference was being held. It
was a beautiful place high in the mountains, greeted by 200 leaders and staff
from all over Central America. I must admit that my Spanish is poor at
best, but the language barrier could not hide the fact that Christ was at work
in these leaders lives. After a couple of days, the light came on.
I realized that these young adults were being held back from breaking the
cycle of poverty that they experience because no one had taken a personal and
financial interest in lives, education and spiritual development. I
talked to Curtis about my thoughts and he told me that Young Life has a program
called Developing Global Leaders that provides university scholarships to Young
Life members around the world. I asked him to help me find a student that
I could sponsor. Well, the Lord has brought Hermes and me together and he
now attends a university in Nicaragua.
I
appreciate the fact that Young Life, aka Vida Joven, is able to make an impact
on the lives of youth one at a time. All it takes is for people like me
to slow down long enough to hear and experience the story.
Thanks,
Curtis for having enough courage to ask me to go.
If we can answer any questions you may have, please
do not hesitate to contact us. We are
honored to receive your prayers and support.
Dan Jessup Curtis
Olson
VP, Latin America Development
w. 719-381-1814 w.
719-381-1744
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