Hi everyone!

Some exciting news to update you on! Camp, Club, Chi-Town Cabin Time, and Kelvyn Park High School! Thank you for all of your prayers as this has been an exciting start to our second year.

Camp
Camp was amazing; it always seems to be! This year we took 17 teens to Saranac Village Young Life Camp in New York state. 4 of those teens were saved and two recommitted their lives to Christ! And, 13 guys made a commitment to follow Christ! Praise God!! During the whole week at camp, relationships were birthed and deepened between our leaders and the teens as well as between some teens that didn’t like each other when camp started. Taking them away from their natural environment was a great way to jazz them up about life and for them to hear the still voice of God.

To see camp pictures go to this link: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?

Chi-Town Cabin Time
This is a weekly Friday afternoon after-school Bible study that the guys from Kelvyn Park High School and I have at my house. Young Life traditionally calls this bible study a campaigner, but we felt that our camp cabin went so well that calling it that gave these teens, which all but 3 have never been in a Bible study, a better idea of the atmosphere and expectations of our time together. I conveniently live a 5 minute walk from the high school so it’s relatively easy to get the guys to come to my house for after school snacks and a conversational Bible study. They love it! They horse around as guys can do, but it’s all part of the community aspect of our Bible Study. Sometimes, when I teach on community, we intentionally hang out as we learn to deepen our love for each other and for God. We are currently going through James. Some times we only get 2 verses done in 1 hour! But I love how it’s going because those 2 verses takes us into deep discussion as to what those verses mean and how those verses can be directly applied to change our high school! It’s amazing to see their faces when I tell them that Christ in them is unstoppable and that He wants to change their high school through them! Currently there are an average of 10 guys coming to this Bible study. Praise God!

Club
Club is our weekly program night where we use fun, games, laughter, and music to break down walls that the teens walk into our Club room with in order to be able to present Christ to them at the end of the night. While camp is labeled the best week of their lives, club is said to be the best night of their week. If you have ever been to a church youth group, this is not it. This night is tailored specifically for kids that are disinterested in the Gospel and in life altogether. This night is the one night of the week where those kids are in our turf and the point is for them to feel the love of Christ to the point where He is the reason that they want to come back. We have Club every Tuesday night from 7 to 9. In the first two clubs of the year, we had 30 teens, and then 22. We feel that one the word gets out at the schools as well as having the consistency of having club every week will be factors into quick growth. Our goal and dream is to have 75 to 100 teens at club every week, hearing about Jesus as they have a blast. The first club we talked about what Young Life is: being young, and having life to the fullest as Christ wants us to have. The second night we talked about who Jesus is, and who Peter said He was, the Messiah.

Kelvyn Park High School
We have a HUGE praise report on Kelvyn Park High School. Last year all non-profits were not allowed to go back into the school because the new principal ran a tight ship. Just a couple of those non-profits are now allowed to go back into the school and that’s because those non-profits were related to after school tutoring. Due to the sheer grace of God, we are now not only being able to be in the school, but we have been asked to be in the school by the principal herself! Our staff were at our guys’ football game two Saturdays ago and they happened to be sitting behind the principal. After chatting with her, she was really impressed at the commitment that we had to be where our kids are. In this case, it was a Saturday night, 7pm, in a rainy stadium without many parents or Kelvyn Park supporters. We met with her last weekand now we are able to also have an office in the building! Praise God! This has been an answer to a year and a half of prayer!

Prayer Requests
We have a lot of things going on and we need your prayer!
-Club: That more new kids get the opportunity to hear about Christ
-Chi-Town Cabin Time: That those that have made a decision to follow Christ deepen their faith
-Camp: We are going to Polar Bear Weekend November 5-7. It’s in Timberwolf Lake in Michigan. This camp is also tailored for non-believer, so please pray that we are able to take 24 new teens to hear the Gospel
-Fundraising: That we continually partner with people in order to keep the ministry going

Thank you guys so much for being such a huge support!!

Pablo Otaola
Area Director
Northwest Chicago Young Life
2100 N. Kildare Ave.
Chicago, IL 60639
cell: 805.698.1615

Hi everyone!

I’m so excited about what the LORD has done in our area. As you read before, the Lord provided the funds for us to go to camp through our golf tournament. So, we are going to Young Life Latino Week at Saranac Village in New York state (http://www.facebook.com/l/9ae79Z-LeBn-nS_Jfi7Mws4UYZg;saranac.younglife.org).

We are taking 15 teens that do not know Christ and 2 teens that do know Christ andhave brought friends that do not. We are so excited to have the opportunity to give these kids access and exposure to new things, new states, and above all Christ!

Please join us in prayer for the kids and I would ask that you pray by name for them So, here are their names:

1. Justin
2. Joevanny
3. Jecola
4. Eddie
5. Eric
6. Gabriel
7. Fabian
8. Damian
9. Sheena
10. Paul
11. Johnathan
12. Jonathan
13. Matthew
14. Fatima
15. Antonio
16. Aileena Gray
17. Ray Nathan Gray

Also, please pray for our leaders to continually be rooted in Christ and filled with the Spirit in whatever they say, do, or think. Our leaders are:

1. Angel Rivera – Latino Student Staff
2. Jasmine Ruiz – Latino Student S
taff
3. Dan Hofford – Young Life Volunteer
4. Damaris Perez – Young Life Volunteer
5. Pablo Otaola – Area Director

This will be an amazing week for everyone. I cannot wait to share the fruit that the LORD prepared and produced through this camp!

Blessings!!
Pablo Otaola

Wow… as I laid there in my apartment, exhausted from a night of programming, music, games, skits, kids and more kids with never-ending candy-infused JR-high-type energy and thought to myself, “This is great!” Unfortunately my wife wasn’t able to be there to rejoice in this with me since she’s back in Santa Barbara, CA working, but I called her right away to share how the night went.

Can I share a bit about the night with you?

If you’re reading this, then I assume you’ve given me permission… if you didn’t give me permission then WHY ARE YOU READING THIS?

It was 7 o’clock. The Hip Hop music was loud, the lights were off in the gym and the kids were outside wondering what was going on as they have not experienced the craziness that is a Young Life Club. We snatched a kid (Gio) inside and locked the door to the other kids. They went crazy trying to come in, but couldn’t. All they wanted to do was come in a see what was going on in there. We had them just where we wanted them.

Once we instructed Gio to go outside and have them all run in screaming we let him loose. We gave it 30 seconds and let them in. They came in running and screaming into the loud darkness as they got pelted with candy, inflatable balls and more candy. They didn’t know what to do except run around, find us (all dressed in military fatigues) and tackle us. It was a great start!

We had a whole military theme that first night. We did this to show them that they were on a mission that night to make it through basic training, on a mission for the next week to bring kids in order to make it more exciting, and on a mission for the school year that end with Young Life camp. We showed them the YL camp video and they could not contain themselves in thinking that they would get to do all the things at camp. A handful of kids throughout the night asked me where they need to sign up to go to camp. Perfect!

So we started with a skit where I was Col. Temper, a colonel that’s always mad because a volunteer, Matt Sollie, aka Private Goofs, always messed everything up and was not able to to salute correctly, do a pushup correctly, or anything. We had kids participate and get prizes to encourage them to participate. They all wanted a prize and all wanted to participate.

We move on to a game of duck, duck, goose, which we renamed Navy, Navy Seals. Instead of touching the kids’ heads, we gave them a cup of water and on “Seal!” the kids sitting down got wet and they ran around trying to catch the person that got them wet. While this game took place, we had music blasting, and we had 2 of us running around, jumping and diving into the kids yelling things like, “I’m training!” and “get down!” I felt that I might be having more fun than the kids themselves!

Then came Skydiving. This is a classic YL game where we blindfold 2 kids and play a joke on them. We told them that they would be blindfolded and jumping off a table that Matt and I would lift up above our heads. However, the screaming kids and the wobbly table that was only 2 inches high tricked them into thinking that they were indeed up about 8 feet! Haha. When they jumped off they were super scared. Just think back of those times when you think that there was an extra step as you walk down the stairs and how awkward you look and you’ll get the picture We of course gave them prizes since they were a good sport about it. They loved it.

Once Skydiving was over, Private Goofs grabs the microphone and starts telling his “military stories” and in the middle of that I chuck a rubber ball from behind the crowd and smack him really hard. Private Goof falls and the machine gun sound blasts off of the speakers. All the leaders yell, “get down get down!” as we grabbed youth and pulled them to the ground. We directed kids to low crawl to two different sides of the gym in order to get them to play Prison Ball / Dodge Ball. The only 2 things that were different was that when you got hit, you staid dead on the spot. All this happened while the leaders continued to run around and dive into “fox holes,” screaming military type commands and doing emergency field treatment on the wounded soldiers. It was great. Kids yelling for us to heal them, kids running all around trying not to get hit while trying to not step on us and other fellow team members.

We then calmed them down… at least a bit… since we wanted to remind them about the missions. Once private Goofs reminded them of the missions and gave them more candy (sorry parents for the super hyper kids that night ) he introduced me as Pablo instead of Col. Temper and I gave the talk. The kids listened and I know that 2 of those kids heard of Jesus for the first time. We have a pretty diverse group as we have some church kids, some kids getting to know Young Life, and some kids that have never heard of Jesus nor want to. But they were all there listening intently because we have started to be their friends and they care about what we say.

I am really excited about next week, more contact work, and bringing more kids to Christ. Please pray that the LORD reveals Himself as He gives us vision as to how to integrate church and un-churched kids together into Young Life. Please also pray as we plan out our first Benefit Dessert this upcoming November 16, 2009. And also please pray as we seek God to give us vision of how this ministry in NW Chicago YL Humboldt Park – Hermosa should look like.

Thanks to you guys for all of your prayers and for taking the time to read this.

Blessings,
Pablo Otaola
NW Chicago YL
Area Director

Relationships Magazine – Spring 2003

• • There are more than 35 million Latinos in the United States today.
  • One in every five teenagers is Latino.
  • From 1993–2002, the Latino teen population grew 30 percent, compared to an 8 percent growth in the number of non-Latino teens.
  • In the United States, there are 1,543 high schools and 1,429 middle schools with a 40  percent-plus Latino population. The 1,543 high schools alone account for more than 1.5 million Latino kids.
  • The sad news is that in those 2,972 high schools and junior highs, Young Life is doing ministry in only 219 schools. The good news is that in those 219 schools, there is an opportunity to meet Jesus.

Relationships Magazine – Winter 2009

Instead of panicking, they began praying.

The four leaders for Young Life’s outreach to Hispanic teens at Harrisonburg High School — called Vida Joven (Spanish for “Young Life”) — were in real need of a miracle. During the fall weekend trip, volunteer leader Claudette Monroy and her teammates noticed how linguistic and cultural differences had impacted the camp trip. Together, the team decided to take kids to a Young Life camp week custom made for them.

For the second year in a row, Young Life’s beautiful Saranac Village would host a camp week catering to Hispanic kids. “They’ll get to eat guacamole at dinner and listen to reggaeton,” volunteer leader Luisa Henao said. “It was just a better environment for our kids.”

There was just one problem. This custom-made camp session was scheduled for late August. Located in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley, Harrisonburg City Schools would already be back in session. That’s when Monroy, Henao, Vicky Julian and Kyle Smethurst began asking the Lord to intervene.

Together, the group began praying and fasting. If God could part the Red Sea, surely He could help the four volunteer leaders get their kids to Saranac. A decision was made to cancel a club and spend the time in prayer. Monroy and others sent e-mails asking others to pray as well. The group fasted the day before Smethurst addressed the Harrisonburg School Board.

After a few anxious weeks, the Young Life team received their answer. Because of numerous requests from various people — the Young Life team’s petition was just one of many — Harrisonburg City Schools would start later, allowing the leaders to take their kids to camp.

Their crisis was big.
Their God was bigger.

“I was crying,” said Monroy, remembering her own reaction to the good news. “This is really important to me, because I know what these kids go through, and I know how camp changed my life.”

A Volunteer’s Vision

One of the most diverse high schools in Virginia, Harrisonburg school board vice-chair Tom Mendez said 40 percent of the students in Harrisonburg City Schools are English as Second Language (ESL) students. That percentage is the highest in Virginia.

Young Life’s outreach to Hispanic teens at Harrisonburg started two years ago when Vanessa Cisneros, a former volunteer leader, befriended many of the Hispanic students at the school. Pete Hardesty, the area director of Harrisonburg-Rockingham County, believes Young Life’s presence at Harrisonburg High School is a constant reminder of God’s sovereignty. “That’s been one of the most incredible parts to me,” Hardesty said. “When God wants something to happen, it happens.”

Beginning the work in Harrisonburg’s Hispanic community wasn’t easy. “It was pretty tough, because there was no concept of Young Life established,” Julian said. “It was really hard for parents to let their kids hang out with us. They didn’t understand why we were doing this.”

Now, Young Life is a huge part of the lives of Harrisonburg students like Genesis and Aracely. “It’s something for us to do,” said Aracely, a junior at Harrisonburg, “and it’s one of the only places I’ve heard about God.”

The leaders have seen example after example of God’s faithfulness. “It’s really encouraging,” Henao said. “We’re starting to see a little bit of fruit. It’s like, ‘Finally, something’s happening.’”

After hearing about the faith of these leaders, a private donor gave the Harrisonburg-Rockingham County area a sizable financial gift to help scholarship potential campers. “It’s definitely increased my faith and trust in the Lord,” Monroy said. “It’s given me a bigger revelation of God.”

Julian believes God’s provision for the trip is part of a bigger purpose. “We believe that kids are going to know the Lord,” she said, “and it’s going to happen at camp.”

Best Week Ever

A group of Hispanic teenage boys rushed the blue and white CrossTours charter bus as soon as it entered the Harrisonburg High School parking lot. The guys raced through the door, jostling for the “cool” seats at the back of the bus.

Just minutes before midnight, a group of people gathered to pray for the trip. Tim Hartin, on Young Life staff in Harrisonburg, prayed in English. Henao prayed in Spanish.

Then, bus No. 33 pulled off. After months of praying, fasting and pursuing kids — watching God repeatedly remove obstacles in the process — Harrisonburg Vida Joven was on its way to Saranac.

Literally seconds after the bus transporting the 20 Harrisonburg teens arrived at Saranac, Luis, Sammy, Manny and Arlinton were rushed off the bus and on to the tubes.

“They were blown away,” said Smethurst, the lone male leader for Harrisonburg Vida Joven. “It was an incredible experience for these kids. They just kept telling me, ‘We didn’t know it was going to be like this.’”

That introduction to Saranac was just a microcosm of the week, as the Harrisonburg teens found themselves consistently amazed at the Young Life camping experience. “I liked everything,” said Juan, a sophomore at Harrisonburg High School. The only part our kids didn’t like was leaving. “That was the best week of my life,” one of the Harrisonburg girls, Yeri, said of the trip. “You learn so many things about God, and you meet so many people.”

Even volunteer leaders like Henao were overwhelmed by this camp week custom-fit for Hispanic kids. “It was so much better than I expected,” said Henao, who believes the cultural relevance made a huge difference in her girls’ camping experience. “It was just more natural to them. The kids all looked like them.” This year, a special dance featuring merengue, salsa and bachata was offered.

“The kids went nuts,” said camp director Jen Gros, Young Life’s staff person on point for Latino outreach in Stamford, Conn. “It was well-supervised, fun and clean. It was done respectfully.”

Carlos Dimas, the speaker for Latino camp week both last year and this year, thought year two was even better. “It was amazing,” said Dimas, who also brought a group of his kids from South Arlington. “I didn’t think it could get any better, but it did. There were more than 50 kids at the new believers’ walk who had never responded to Christ before. That in itself is a big deal.”

Being away from the normal distractions back home also gave many of the girls Monroy has invested in a chance to process the Gospel. “Our kids have really hard lives. We had really good conversations,” said Monroy, who witnessed the Lord doing amazing work in the hearts of the girls she knows. “We had one girl who just moved here from the Dominican Republic a week before camp. She ended up meeting the Lord.”

With stories like Monroy’s emerging from the camp, Gros is already excited about year three. “I’m excited to see the potential and growth for the mission,” Gros said. “Kids will be impacted and lives will be changed as the mission stays committed to a bilingual week of outreach.”

For Every Kid

The Latino camp week at Saranac is a viable option for Young Life areas reaching out to Hispanic kids, thanks in large part to the New York Metropolitan Region’s tireless pursuit of in-culture ministry. That pursuit is spearheaded by Mac McNally, regional director for the New York Metropolitan Region as well as vice president of strategic growth with Young Life. The region launched an Hispanic initiative in 2006.

“The Latino population is certainly on the rise,” said McNally, who sees great diversity in the five million school-age children in his region. “We started breaking into new communities and starting club. And they enjoyed the traditional style of Young Life. They loved coming together as a culture. They loved coming out en masse to club.”

In 2007, a decision was made to turn a week at Saranac into the first Young Life Latino camp on the East Coast. “All it took was an empty week at Saranac and the risk from the staff,” McNally said.

Gros thought the inaugural camp was incredible. “The entire camp was first-time kids and leaders,” Gros said. “Every kid who went continues to share that it really was the best week of their lives.”

The week provided the typical excellence of Young Life camp, as well as a cultural sensitivity to the Hispanic teenagers. Small gestures such as fresh guacamole with dinner or empanadas for dessert went a long way in making the kids feel welcome.

“Latinos had always come to camp and someone else had been the dominant culture,” said Jim Dyson, vice president of Field Ministries in Young Life’s Eastern Division. “This was the first time their culture was celebrated. There was just a festive feel about that. The message was done by Carlos Dimas, and it totally focused on speaking to kids within their culture.”

Dimas felt honored

to be part of Young Life history. “There aren’t many firsts left in Young Life,” Dimas said, “and this was a first.” But not the last.

Based on feedback from the 2007 camp, a week custom-made for Hispanic kids found a permanent spot in the Saranac camp schedule and was offered to areas outside the New York Metropolitan Region. Harrisonburg and South Arlington, both located in Virginia, signed up to join five groups from New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.

“In three years,” said McNally, barely hiding the excitement in his voice, “we’ll have the camp full.”