Langley Youth Unlimited

“I want to be friends with her but I need some space right now”.
“I thought I was doing the right thing by pushing them to get help”.
“He is sooo cute”.
“None of my classes that I wanted fit into my schedule for next year”.
Giggles…lots of giggles.
And tears...lots of tears.
This has been the reality of conversations between myself and any combination of the six girls that I work closely with at the school. I began working at the beginning of this year with these grade 8 girls by the request of a school counsellor. My role is to be an extra support for them, a listening ear, and a healthy adult in their lives. These six girls have tested my patience, hardened my listening skills and really, at the end of the day, tugged at my heart. 
Through my time spent with each of these girls, both individually and as a group, they have taught me so much about the value of being a part of their day-to-day lives and simply listening. Supporting them as they process the ups and downs of friendships…

Now with teenagers, how you get in touch with them is always a hit or miss. You have to deal with wifi versus no wifi, is their phone number working, do they receive texts and if they do, what app do they actually use to communicate with versus what their parents think they use. So setting up plans can sometimes be challenging.
As I was pulling up to the high school to spend time with a young guy I was mentoring, it dawned on me that I hadn’t gotten a message from him since the day before. This meant that I didn’t have any way to get a hold of him to confirm. Turns out that, little to my knowledge, the Lord had a plan for that time anyways. I decided to go out and look for him and instead ran into three of our young friends waiting to be picked up. We went around the school until we ended back at the same place - on the curb next to the portable. One by one they got picked up by their rides until it was just Carly and I. It became obvious her ride was never coming, she was just tryin…

Here’s a few highlights of the cool stuff I’ve been a part of lately.

Gift Cards:

Over the Christmas season, we had over $3,000 worth of gift cards donated to us. We were able to give several cards to one of the high schools we have a presence in. A few days later, we received an email from one of the teachers reflecting back to us the impact these gift cards were able to make.

“A student I work with comes from a family of 7 (5 kids) and I recently overheard her speaking with her younger brother about how they were planning on pooling their bus money in order to buy their sister a birthday gift (the family did not have the means to buy a gift otherwise). They were
debating between surprising her with a present or with a trip to the local swimming pool. Through your generosity, I was able to bring the student to Walmart in order to purchase a gift for her sister, plus they were still able to take her swimming. Later that evening, I received a text from my
student telling me that her s…

Hi there. My name is Kim and as of May 14, I will officially be taking over as the Administrative Assistant to Langley Youth Unlimited while Megan, the usual administrator, is on maternity leave. I have served in a similar capacity for the past couple of years in both professional and volunteer settings. I am so excited for this opportunity to work alongside and support the staff here. Working with youth has always been a passion of mine and what a blessing it is to now call it my occupation. 
Having met this group of amazing people before, it is so exciting to be there to ensure all the details aren’t missed so that they are able to serve the youth to the best of their abilities without worrying about the little things.  
I was told that I don’t have to be crazy to take the job, that such things will be taught along the way, and I have no doubt that will be true! I already may be one step closer as I brought a little crazy in with me. 
Currently I am working alongside Megan to gain …

This newsletter marks the last time I will be updating you on my ministry with Youth Unlimited before I begin my Maternity Leave on May 14th.
The last couple of months have been busy and exciting. Personally, Matt and I enjoyed celebrating my sister, Kim’s, marriage to her husband, Nathaniel. Matt thoroughly enjoyed his week-long trip to Guatemala where he was able to be a part of two home builds, food and clothing distribution and the assembly of 47 wheelchairs for those in need. I was able to enjoy a week of ‘staycation’ where I spent time resting, getting things ready for the baby and prepping for my sister’s  wedding.
The pace at work slowed down substantially as we took a three-week break from our programs for Spring Break. During this time my co-workers spent a lot of their time meeting with students, taking them on field trips, which included a trip to Castle Fun Park as well as a local monastery, and preparing for the final three months of the school year.
One of my favourite…