Young Life Blog
1933 Ladies start praying across from Gainesville (Texas) High School
1939 Rayburn begins the first club in Gainesville
1940 “Miracle Book Club” becomes the “Young Life Campaign”
1940 Tent meetings (summer evangelistic outreach events for teenagers)
1940 Young Life Board of Directors formed (known today as the Board of Trustees)
1940s Say-So begins at camp
1941 Young Life Incorporated on October 16
1941 Rayburn becomes first president
1942 Campaigners begins
1944 Contact work begins
1946 Volunteer leaders come on board at Wheaton College
1946 Star Ranch (Colorado), Young Life's first camp, acquired (also serves as new headquarters until 1961)
1950 Committees begin in Portland, Oregon; first fundraising banquets also begin
1950s Twenty Minutes begins at camp
1951 Frontier Ranch (Colorado) acquired
1951 Andy “Goldbrick” Delaney comes to work at Frontier Ranch
1953 Young Life goes international with work in France
1953 Malibu Club (Canada) acquired
1956 Urban work begins in Newark, New Jersey
1959 Early military ministry begins on American bases in Germany
1963 Young Life book published
1963 Castaway Club (Minnesota) acquired
1963 Marc Atger, the first indigeneous staff person, hired in France
1964 Bill Starr becomes 2nd president
1964 Trail West Lodge (Colorado) acquired
1965 Praz de Lys (France), Young Life’s first overseas camp, acquired
1966 Windy Gap (North Carolina) and Woodleaf (California) acquired
1968 Camp's "The Night That Never Ends" begins
1968 Focus on Youth cover of “I Am a Man” issue published; declares Young Life's inclusiveness to all kids
1968-1975 Young Life owns buses to get kids to and from camps!
1969 Middle school ministry (later called WyldLife) begins
1969 Saranac Village (New York) acquired
1971 Time for Living film released
1970 Beyond Malibu (Canada) begins
1971 Dale House ministry (Colorado Springs, CO) begins
1972 First woman on Board of Trustees: Marge Peterson
1972 Southwind (Florida) acquired
1973 Pioneer Plunge (North Carolina) begins
1974 Fazenda Salto (Brazil) acquired
1977 Bob Mitchell becomes 3rd president
1977 “Headquarters” becomes “Service Center”
1978 It’s a Sin to Bore a Kid published
1978 Wilderness Ranch acquired
1979 Trinity Ranch (Philippines) acquired
1980 MCYM begins
1985 My First Thirty Quiet Times published
1986 Capernaum begins
1986 Lake Champion (New York) acquired
1987 Doug Burleigh becomes 4th president
1990 Trail West begins family camps
1991 YoungLives begins
1991 Back to the Basics published
1992 Rockbridge Alum Springs (Virginia) and La Finca (Nicaragua) acquired
1993 Denny Rydberg becomes 5th president
1994 Crooked Creek Ranch (Colorado) acquired
1996 Service Center moves to 420 North Cascade in Colorado Springs
1997 Frontier Ranch (Philippines), Lost Canyon (Arizona), SharpTop Cove (Georgia), Washington Family Ranch (Oregon) acquired
1998 Young Life reaches its 50th state (Wyoming)
1998 Pico Escondido (Dominican Republic) acquired
1998 New Mission Statement: "Introducing adolescents to Jesus Christ and helping them grow in their faith."
1999 Small towns ministry officially begins
1999 Timber Wolf Lake (Michigan) acquired
2000 Teachers in Mission begins
2000 Junior high ministry officially called “WyldLife”
2000 Clearwater Cove (Missouri) acquired
2001 Carolina Point (North Carolina) acquired
2002 Rock Ridge Canyon (Canada) acquired
2004 Young Life first impacts 1,000,000 kids per year
2005 Young Life College begins
2005 Young Life reaches 50 countries
2007 Office of Alumni and Friends (now known as the Community Network) established
2008 New Logo and Tagline: "You were made for this."
2009 Developing Global Leaders begins
2009 Washington Family Ranch Creekside (Oregon) acquired
2011 First-ever Middle East Camp at Dead Sea
2012 Young Life launches national Catholic relations office
2013 Camp on Wheels (Central America) begins
2014 Pioneer (Armenia) and Cairn Brae (Scotland) camp acquired
2015 Made for This: The Young Life Story published
2015 Wild Ridge (West Virginia) and Rapadou (Haiti) acquired
2016 Newt Crenshaw becomes 6th president
2016 Young Life reaches 100 countries
2016 Young Life reaches 2,000,000 kids per year
2019 LoneHollow Ranch (Texas) acquired
2020 Young Life One established
THE BEST YOUNG LIFE WORK IS YET TO BE DONE!
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