Missouri Young Life celebrates 25th anniversary

A Cape Girardeau ministry created to reach teens celebrated a milestone Saturday.

Missouri Young Life reached 25.

Steve Pickard, the founding director, returned to Cape Girardeau. He said the hardest part was recruiting the first few young people. "We couldn't have a meeting until we knew some kids," he said.

At the first meeting they'd managed to find more than 30 interested teens, but it required patience.

"There was a time we weren't too sure. We used to drive around and try to figure out how we were going to make a connection with the kids," said Denny Sivcovich. He and his wife, Diane, were the first Young Life volunteers.

Among the first to join was John Kinder, now an ophthalmologist.

"It was a great. safe place to be and hang out," he said, recalling camping and backpacking and rapelling outings.

The self-described Christian said it was "a really effective ministry. Kids that were maybe seekers, that were maybe intimidated by church, found a friendly face."

He'd arrived at the picnic with his wife, Stacy, and the couple's three children, Luke, 12; Katie, 10; and Matt, 8. Luke is about to enter junior high, his father said, and can't wait to get involved in Wild Life. The elder Kinders have remained active as adult volunteers in the program.

More than 150 alumni of the group gathered at Cape Girardeau County Park for one part of a weekend-long reunion, held in conjunction with Central High School's class of 1988 reunion.

Rick Rivera, Southeast Missouri Young Life area director for three years, chatted with visitors as his wife, Jami Rivera, helped at the welcome table, offering name tags and brochures about each teen group as well as adult volunteer opportunities.

"We can always use more volunteers," she said.

High school students from Cape Girardeau and Jackson meet every Monday; junior high members meet every other Tuesday. Rick Rivera said the goal is nondenominational Christian fellowship.

"It's free. There's no fees or dues. Our funding is provided locally through gifts," he said. During summer breaks, trips are organized to places such as Timber Wolf Lake in Lake City, Mich., or Frontier Ranch in Buena Vista, Colo.

Those trips opened up new horizons for Shawna Gilmore, who joined in 1984 as a ninth-grade student.

"I did not grow up in a church, I was not from a church family," said Gilmore, who now lives in Asheville, N.C. "Young Life had such an impact on me that it's kind of what I've loved doing ever since."

That's exactly the effect Charlotte Edwards hoped for when she and Polly Kinder decided one day over a cup of coffee to find a way to start a local Young Life center. The only stumbling block she recalled was a hesitancy on the part of some churches, out of a fear that Young Life might draw teens away from established church programs. But, she said, Young Life enhances other church youth groups.

"When you have a vision of what God wants, and you see he's going to do it ... you feel like, 'OK, I want to be a part of this,' she said. As she reminisced, she smiled broadly.

"It was fun. Great memories."

To learn more about Missouri Young Life and Wild Life, visit sites.younglife.org/sites/southeastmissouri.

pmcnichol@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 127

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