Bainbridge Island/North Kitsap
Young Life testimonies written by students

For about a year before going to Malibu, I had been questioning religion, God and my place in it all. I went to Young Life club and Campaigners (small group Bible study) once a week which helped out a lot, but then I was brought to Malibu. This place is one of the most gorgeous places I have ever been. Not just because it’s surrounded by mountains and the water, but because of the atmosphere you find there. The clubs and cabin times helped me so much in my decision I made to follow Christ at the “coming home club.” Throughout the week there was a goal put into all that chose to accept it, “going for it.” To do everything you’ve ever wanted to do, everything that’s ever scared you. I put that idea into effect when I was there and it hasn’t left me since then. It all started one day when my group headed down the zip line. It looked like more fun from down on the dock, but when I got up to the top of the trees I was terrified and refused to go down by way of the zip line. The “zip line boys” refused to let me walk down and did as much as they could to convince me to go down, even sang to me. I finally did after a long half an hour and went 15 times after that.

That is only one example of the amazing love I experienced at my week at  Malibu. Buy everyone else shared that same kind of encouraging, heartening love. The brochure stated that Malibu would be the best week of your life, and that is certainly no understatement. All of the cabin times, obstacle courses, talks, and olympic games helped me leave a much wonderfully changed person, and walk away with the strength to conquer my dreams. 

Angie Potter
Bainbridge High School – class of 2003

The week of July 4 th-11th was the best week in my 18 years of existence.  Being a person who wasn’t fully aware of where their religious feelings were I went to Malibu mostly to have a good time.  For some reason I felt that there was something awaiting me up there.  Since I started going to Young Life, my friends had told me about Malibu.  “Come on Tony go it’s awesome.” they would say, but I always had something come up on that week or whatever so I could never go.  It didn’t break my heart but I always felt like I had missed some great time when I would hear the stories at Young Life.  Man had I been missing out. 
Malibu must be the greatest place on Earth.  There is no doubt in my mind that god created us all, and that he is a skillful worker.  Being up there in the middle of the Canadian wilderness forty some odd miles away from the nearest person with phone, you realize how much more simple life is when there aren’t any distractions.  You realize how much T.V. you watch, how much music you listen to, how much time you spend on the computer.  With out those distractions life is a lot more meaningful.  It’s a lot easier to think, and plan out what you want to do with your life.  Thanks to Malibu and Young Life that’s what I was able to do.
 Let me take you to one day at Malibu.  For me, the most important day.  The day I decided to give my life to the Lord and accept him into my life for the first time.  There is wake boarding, water skiing, enertubing, swimming, kayaking, canoeing, basketball, volleyball, pool, the list goes on and on. After dinner there was club.  Where Bill Page our speaker would try to explain the Bible in
(Cont. on pg. 2)    real life terms.  Like what someone must have been thinking while watching Jesus perform all the miracles.  Well at the end of club on July 10, Bill passed the microphone around to those campers who have decided for the first time that they were going to walk with Jesus Christ. 
The last thing my Leader said to me before club started was “go big or go home”.  All throughout club I kept repeating those words in my head.  Go big or go home, go big or go home. Over and over again I repeated them in my head.  Finally, when Bill told us what we were going to do I finally realized what Jack was saying.  “ Go big or go home, what do I have to loose”.   So I stood up and the mic was passed to me.  I stated my name and where I was from like everyone else before me, and pronounced in front of the whole camp that, that day, that week I had decided to walk with Jesus Christ.  Then I passed the mic and sat down. 
 As soon as those words came out of my mouth I felt like a whole person for the first time in my life.  I didn’t need to party or get in trouble to fill the void.  All I needed was to confess my sins to the Lord and to accept him into my life.  I have never been so happy in my entire life.

Tony Mirkovich
Bainbridge High School – class of 2003

 
While the mission and center of Young Life’s ministry is to reach out to kids and show them the love of Christ, it also serves as a powerful tool for growth in its leaders lives. I came to Jesus through a Young Life camp, and shortly after joined Wyldlife student leadership. Ever since then I have developed and matured as a Christian, mostly through the opportunities that Young Life has opened up for me.
 First of all, there is the simple fact that when you are a leader, there is a constant and important mission in your life. Otherwise, it would be very easy to slip into complacent Christianity; a Sunday’s only kind of deal. Instead, every week you go serve your peers or younger kids. This keeps you focused and on the right track. Also, there is a camaraderie and encouragement that you receive from the leadership team. Being in the ministry with committed, wise, and fun-loving people is very supportive and uplifting.
 Area leadership meetings and leadership conferences are another fabulous resource for growth and development. Area leadership meetings give you a chance to be exposed to all of the leaders in North Kitsap and Bainbridge Island, not just your particular group. These are always teaching times too, a chance to hone your contact work and other abilities. Leadership conferences, such as the recent one in Tacoma, keep you firmly grounded and real. The speakers are always excellent and inspiring, making
 you search deeper and be more committed.
 Last but not least are the opportunities in the day-to-day ministry itself to grow, expand, and take risks. Young Life forces you out of your comfort zone and makes you do things that you wouldn’t normally do, such as reach out to unknown kids or deliver a talk in front of a group at an event. A particularly daunting task for me was to deliver my testimony at the annual fundraising banquet. While I was extremely nervous beforehand and felt like stepping out of it, everything went well once I actually started delivering it. This showed me how faithfully God responds to prayers and broke down my fear of public speaking. All in all, Young Life serves its leaders as much as its kids, offering them a place to grow and blossom.

Leo Keliher
North Kitsap High School – class of 2006

When I think about Wyldlife, Student Leadership, Young Life and being a leader; I think about how God has changed me. Growing up in a Christian family, church was always something we did. So naturally when my family and I moved to Bainbridge Island in 1996 we became involved with Cross Sound Church. Immediately I started going to Wyldlife being the youngest there. I loved everything about it! The people, the games, fun times, everything. When the time came that I was old enough to be a leader I jumped at the opportunity. I started volunteering for anything that I could get my hands on.  Planning events, calling kids, making flyers, help buying food, etc. You could see that after a while I got pretty burnt out. I soon realized that back then my focus was not on God. I was poring out all of this energy, time, and love but nothing was feeding me. Since I had realized this, during my second year being a leader for Wyldlife, I took things much slower and tried to focus more on God. I still kept myself busy by doing Student Leadership. I was memorizing verses, meeting new kids, reading books, and meeting with a mentor. Again I went over my head and got that familiar feeling of being stressed out. Meeting with my mentor really saved me. Through this whole year, meeting with her was my favorite part!

At Breakaway, Wyldlife’s summer camp where I was a leader, I came to a new level with god. It is hard to explain exactly what happened but I realized that whatever I do in Wyldlife, big or small, it is because
I love God. For the first time in my life God was feeding me. My energy and my love were coming from him. The joy that I have felt from this is incredible.

I am ecstatic for this year to begin. My plan for the year is to meet with some 8th grade girls and lead a campaigners group. I know that God is going to challenge me immensely and I am excited for the new changes in my life. I have been so blessed through Wyldlife and the people who have been there for me. Being in Wyldlife is the best thing I ever did. It has allowed God to change me so much and to show me my gifts. I am so thankful to have this opportunity. This year in Wyldlife it has been incredible watching kids grow and have fun. Knowing that what I am doing is really making a difference means a lot.

Jen Jones
Bainbridge High School – class of 2005
 
Over the past five years, my walk with the Lord has been exciting and challenging in so many ways.  The reason for this, I truly believe, is because that is when I began my involvement in Young Life.  I started in junior high and moved up to a student leader for both the junior high and high school Young Life.  Now, I am currently involved in Student Staff, a discipleship training program put on by Young Life.  I am also part of a team who has been called to begin Young Life ministry in North Kitsap.  Looking back on these past nine months alone, I am utterly amazed at how the Lord has blessed our efforts in His name.  He has already begun to lift up a strong group of girls to carry on the leadership and ministry when I leave.  God has particularly blessed my relationship with many of the girls and has helped them to trust me.  I am so excited and blessed to be a part of these girls lives and the wonderful plan God has for them.  I know this is only the beginning, and that makes me all the more enthusiastic for what lies ahead.

Vara Rommen
North Kitsap High School – class of 2001

When I started Young Life as a freshman in High School, I didn’t go for spiritual direction but for a fun place to hang out with and meet new friends. That summer I went on the houseboat trip. It wasn’t a life altering experience but it taught me more about God than I had ever discovered. It was because of the environment that we were in, which was fun and free form, not rigid, that helped me discover more about God. After being involved with Young Life and going to some ski camps as well as Malibu I have become a new person. I have come to realize that religion isn’t about rules, but about a relationship with God. Young Life has given me a fun place to hang out and grow spiritually over the past 3 years and I hope I will grow even more over the coming year.
Kjell Breiland
Bainbridge High School – class of 2003

I have been involved in Young Life since I joined Wyldlife in sixth grade and it has had a huge impact on my life. I grew up in the church, but the Wyldlife campaigner group I got involved in opened up the world of Christ to me and I began to understand what living for Christ was all about. Through campaigners and Wyldlife I grew more and more and became a student leader in 8th grade. Leadership increased my knowledge and love for Christ and gave me a chance to show Christ's love to others. Now as a junior, I attend Young Life on Monday nights and do Wyldlife on Friday nights. This is a great time to be silly and have fun, but at the same time serve and love kids as Christ loves me. I now co-lead a campaigners group (bible study with a group of kids) and have come full circle. Hopefully I will be able to impact kids in the same way my leaders have impacted me.

Aaron Frease
Bainbridge High School – class of 2004

-“Being involved opens your mind to try new things and makes you open up to experience more. It strengthens you spiritually.”

-“I love the crazy.”

-“The thing about young life is your always living in the moment. Its a great way to get your mind off things and have a great time.”

-“Without the regular Monday club my week is incomplete.  Club is so fun, when I miss it I feel like my week is not going to be very fun.”

-“Young Life is always exiting...never a dull moment. It sets my attitude for the whole week. I like the bonds and relationships created at in Young Life.”

Freshman quotes
Bainbridge High School – class of 2007
 

I am a Young Life Mentor and I LOVE it! 
This year the Lord has given me the opportunity to be a Young Life Mentor.  This means that I am able to walk with a student YL leader as she faces joys, defeats, frustrations and miracles in her Christian walk.  Together we spend time sharing our lives, as we learn what it means to abide in Christ.  We meet once a month to study scripture, explore questions, enjoy laughter and most of all go to prayer.  We’ve shopped together, thrown a dinner party together and spent many hours in cyberspace as we stay in touch through e-mail.  I am able to share some insights and experiences from my 33-year relationship with Jesus and she is able to share her enthusiasm and passion of youth.  Through mentoring I have gained a valuable friend and the amazing privilege of investing time and energy into a much-loved young woman in Christ.  I am humbled by her faith and commitment and encouraged by her spiritual growth.
Claudia Rengstorf
Mom of North Kitsap Student

I got tangled up with Young Life and Wyldlife in 7th grade. It didn't take too many nights of frozen turkey bowling or banana splits in the gutter to get me hooked. I couldn't believe the insane things these insane people did, but I loved it!  I was raised in a very Christian home but didn't actually figure anything out until the end of 7th grade, when God finally clicked in my life and I became a Christian. When I was a freshman, Tom got me onto the Wyldlife leadership team. This turned out to be an awesome opportunity to learn about real-life faith and how to come out of my shell and reach out to my friends. (Now I get the idea they're trying to put me back INTO my shell!!) I've kept up with Wyldlife leadership for the past 3 years, and it's been incredible. I spend lots of time just hanging out with "my girls", leading a campaigner group and doing all sorts of crazy things with them at Wyldlife. Between listening to Tom, Will and Linnea talk and being challenged with things like campaigners and camp, I've learned more about God in the past 3 than I ever thought imaginable. I can't wait to see what God has for this summer!

I t never fails to make me laugh… “What POSSESSES you to work with jr. high kids????” Yes, one way to make people instantly fall off their chairs in astonishment is to bring up my involvement with Wyldlife. But when people ask me about my life, and when one of the biggest parts of my life is this group of 20 middle school girls, this part always manages to come out in conversations at school.
 Call me crazy, but the Wyldlife ministry is to die for. Where else can you play crazy chair fighting games under a black light with 50 of your closest friends? What really blew me away was the intense devotion to the task of cramming 8 people into a single phone booth, then going through the McDonald’s drive-through on foot ordering Thai food. But this is only a taste of what went on at our crazy video scavenger hunt earlier this month. As everyone squeezed into a small living room to watch the videos made by the scavenger hunt teams, there was an incredible energy. The kids were so excited, because they were the heroes of the night. I don’t think anyone who left that night wasn’t laughing and talking about the experience.
 As for my group of girls, you’d be hard-pressed to find a more fun-loving group. They are very accepting and we have an awesome campaigner group that meets every Sunday. On the side, we’ve done all kinds of fun nights out, including going out to dinner, having picnics and going to plays. Many of my girls are student leaders for Wyldlife, so they have the added accountability of meeting outside of our usual leader meetings.
I also have to mention the incredible adventure of working with Tom and Will. These guys are so creative, and their heart for God and for kids is insanely contagious. The rest of the team is awesome, and so far this school year has brought huge numbers of new kids to Wyldlife and some great experiences for the leaders. It’s also brought loads of big, bug-eyed stares from my friends at school, but what do they know? I bet they’ve never bowled a frozen turkey...

Merilee Ogard
North Kitsap High School – class of 2004

T he summer of 2004 was such a blast for me. After participating in Young Life events for almost 3 years, I finally went to Malibu. I had always heard how so many lives are changed by going there, though I didn't think that could happen to me. Upon arrival it was so sunny and peaceful. Throughout the week I just prayed and prayed that I would be changed and had others pray for me. With a couple days to go, on an emotional night I accepted Christ for the first time in my life. I am currently a Young Life Student Leader. I have also got plugged into my local and I am currently the Media Director for our Youth Group called Remnant.

Brandon Hines
North Kitsap High School – Class of 2005