Banquet speakers to highlight Young Life

Young Life, a nondenominational Christian organization, will host a fundraising dessert banquet from 7 to 9 p.m. Thursday at The Concourse (former Teamster building) at 429 N. Broadview St. in Cape Girardeau

The main goal of the banquet, according to organizers, is to raise money to support Young Life and provide attendees with a better understanding about the ministry.

"Our hope is to gather people together and share all that is going on in the ministry," said Bill Reazer, Young Life area director. "This is a great place to find out more about Young Life for the first time."

Tom Job

Young Life is an international Christian outreach ministry to local high schools. According to Reazer, the Young Life staff and volunteer leaders strive to build relationships, earn the right to be heard, and share the Gospel with high school students.

Young Life has three ministries. High school club meetings are held every Thursday night with music, games and a message. Wyld Life has club meetings and events for junior high students. Young Life Capernaum is a ministry for teenagers with special needs.

Reazer said banquet attendees can expect to hear about Young Life's effect in the community and throughout the world.

The banquet will feature speaker Tom Job, pastor of Christ Community Church in Oak Ridge, Tenn. Job has planted churches and spoken at Young Life functions around the world. He will be speaking on his experiences with Young Life and why it is important.

"I think Young Life is one of the most important things in the world today," Job said.

Nationally acclaimed musician Ryan Long will perform at the banquet. Long was the musician at Crooked Creek, a Young Life camp in Colorado where students from the area attended this past summer. He has been performing at Young Life camps, retreats and other functions since he was in college.

"Any day I can help Young Life do what Young Life is attempting to do is a good day," Long said. "Anyone attending will hopefully get to hear some honest songs. And my hope is they'll come away with a better understanding of what Young Life is doing in their town, under their noses, and will want to be involved with it."

Sam Stahly, a senior at Cape Girardeau Central High School, said Young Life has played an important role in her life.

"Young Life has had made a big impact on my life," Stahly said. "It has made me want to spread the word to get more people to come and hear about the Word of God. And it has been one of the best places to make new friends, and I always have a good time. I don't think I have ever been to Young Life and not had a good time."

Reazer said Young Life began in Southeast Missouri in 1983 because parents saw a need for kids to learn about Jesus Christ in a new and different way: through relationship building and sharing.

Young Life International began in 1941 when Jim Rayburn, a youth pastor in Texas, was challenged to see the neighborhood high school as his mission field and develop ways of connecting with teenagers who had no interest in the church.

"Within a 20-mile radius of Cape Girardeau, there are over 5,000 junior high and high school students who are not in local churches and don't have an adult actively pursuing them or playing a significant role in their lives," Reazer said. "That is what Young Life does and those are the kids we are going after. There is a need here. These students are the future of our community."

Those interested in attending the dessert banquet can make reservations by calling the Young Life office at 587-6116. Though there is no cost of admission, donations and pledges will be taken at the end of the event.

More information on Young Life can be found at www.southeastmissouri.younglife.org and www.younglife.org. To learn more about Ryan Long, go to www.ryanlong.com.