NEWBERRY — Newberry Young Life will start its weekly club meetings for high school students beginning tonight with nine leaders serving as mentors to the youths.
Rebekah Clevenger and Hanna Luther are two of those leaders. Clevenger has been a leader for three years, but was a student in the club before that.
“I joined while in high school. My best friend dragged me, I did not have a choice,” Clevenger said. “When I got into the heart of what Young Life is, I really enjoyed it. It is really about bringing God to people who do not care about God. We want to tell you about God.”
Luther, a student at Newberry College, joined because it was something she was always interested in.
“I heard about Young Life when I was in high school, but my area did not have it. It sounded like something I was interested in,” she said. “When I was in high school I wish I had someone to be a mentor to me, and now I can do that for someone else.”
Young Life will start off tonight by letting students know they are welcome. The leaders will form a tunnel and high five the youths as they come in. There will also be live music and a period for games.
“We will sometimes do skits, and lip sync battles, just to have some fun and show what we are all about,” Clevenger said.
After the games, one of the leaders will talk about something they learned while following Jesus. The night will end with Christian based live music.
“Young Life is like a family. Friends can come hang out and feel welcome,” Clevenger said. “On a spiritual level, Young Life can answer questions.”
Young Life meets every Monday night, but also meet on Wednesdays for Connections, where members talk about what was discussed Monday.
“This allows the kids to dig a little deeper into Jesus,” Clevenger said.
Throughout the year Young Life has different themed clubs, from 1980s Club to Valentine’s Day Club. Young Life also will go to Camp Windy Gap, a Young Life camp in Weaverville, N.C.
Young Life will hold multiple fundraising events including Sonic Night and Zaxby’s Night, will sell doughnuts and sell Young Life discount cards.
Clevenger thinks that this year Young Life will have around 100 students, even though they had a lot of members graduate last year.
“Leaders will go to sporting events to support kids and reach out to other kids,” Luther said. “We go to whichever school we have students. That includes Whitmire, Mid-Carolina, Newberry High and Newberry Academy.”
The leaders will also go to plays, band performances and drama clubs.
“We are looking to develop a culture of sacrifice for our leaders. The leaders will sacrifice their time because we believe the kids and others are worth our sacrifice,” said Eddie Long, area leader.
Leaders in Young Life are typically college age and are not allowed to attend meetings until the end. This is done so youths do not get attached to a leader, and they never show up again.
“Young Life is not a program commitment, it is a commitment to the kids,” Clevenger said.
The doors to the Young Life building, 1529 Main St., will open at 7 p.m. every Monday there is school. The meeting will begin at 8 p.m. and end around 9 p.m.