Langley Youth Unlimited

What does it look like to be a Youth Worker?

It looks like walking the hallways of a high school and connecting with students throughout the ups and downs of their day.

It looks like attending an awesome early morning breakfast club for youth who do not get fed breakfast or families who can’t afford a strong meal for their kids to start off the day. It may look like hanging out and serving bagels, but it means having the opportunity to interact with hundreds of students each week. It means that these youth have a familiar face to connect with and, as we build trust, I may be that someone who can walk alongside them through the hard times.

It looks like joining the humanitarian club at the school, to help interact with youth about issues facing our world and to work alongside them to help make positive changes as we give back to the community.

It looks like leading new projects.  In September, I began leading our new Student Life initiative.  Our team recruited students from across th…

‘Thanks to Youth Unlimited, I can now make eye contact with men. I never had a safe male figure in my life before.’
‘Wednesday’s are my family. This is my safe space.’
‘Church isn’t safe. [The hangar] is safe.’
‘I stay at school as long as I can because it’s too hard to be home.’
‘I guess I should start considering that God may be real.’
A few weeks ago, I had the privilege of praying for a student who wanted healing from their childhood relationships with their family. They did not believe in God but felt they were at a place where they didn’t know what else to do. That same night, I listened to a student share with me how home was no longer a place where they wanted to be. The situation there had become too overwhelming and they chose to stay at school as late as possible in order to avoid facing home.
A week earlier, a co-worker of mine helped to diffuse an anxiety attack a student was experiencing as they felt as though all of their safe places were crumbling around them. When it…

Several times per week I find myself thinking about how much tenacity and patience it takes to dedicate one’s life to working with youth. That’s how often I find myself thinking of my Youth Unlimited friends: Danny, Derian, Jon, Savannah, Rachel, Amy and others who have gone before them... they might not all know it, but they are family to me.

My friendship with Danny Ferguson dates to 2009. He has walked alongside me through many of the most difficult moments of my life, always listening, praying for me and challenging me. My life would be in shambles without his friendship.

At some point in 2015, Danny asked if I would be interested in volunteering with youth at “The Hangar”. He noted to me, “it might not be your thing”, warning me ahead of time of some of what I might experience; raw and uncensored, broken families, abusive situations, self-harming, angry, confused, depressed, the gamut. Undeterred (I spent a chunk of my youth growing up in a trailer park of prostitutes and heroin…

- please pray for our Spiritual Life program as we walk through the Just Us training videos
- prayer for a student whose Grandpa and Uncle are dying
- prayer for a student who had a unique encounter with God - pray that they continue to be curious rather than run away or ignore
- prayer for the students going through our Student Life program - pray that the students would be challenged to grow and encouraged with how far they have come
- prayer for a number of us who are currently fundraising

This last month has been a season of firsts for me in the world of youth work.

Several weeks ago I had the privilege, so to speak, of entering into a student’s home to mediate a conversation between them and their parents. This was my first experience as mediator. There are times when teenagers are not sure how to communicate the deep emotions they are encountering and it can come out in the form of misbehaviour or not caring, which can often create frustration in the home. I was able to spend an hour with the family as they unraveled their emotions and thoughts and the parents listened. I was used as a bridge between them and their family, reiterating what they were saying in different words so both parties could clearly understand each other. The family was thankful for the open conversation and the student was able to move a little bit closer to a healthier state.

Another first for me was to have the privilege of attending and speaking at a Community Partner meet and greet at the …

After a recent night of programs, my coworkers and I sat around a camp fire to debrief. With it being October now, the cooler weather gives us an excuse to pull out the propane heater after all the dust has settled on the busyness and craziness of the evening.

It had been a full night to say the least:
-A group art project
-A yelling, cursing, chasing match between two teenage girls
-My car getting toilet papered by my kids from Grove
-A talk about grace for teens who have experienced none
-A bad anxiety/panic attack
-Tons of laughter and fun
-3+ hours of bus driving around Langley getting teens home

Like I said, a full night. However, not entirely unusual.

Often our program nights can leave me asking ‘what just happened?’, as if a wind storm just swept me up. Over the course of the night it feels like my role adapts depending on who I’m talking to. With Brendan, I’m a big brother. With Alex, a safe caring male in her life while all the others aren’t. To Lanna, a voice of experience …

For the last nine years I have had the opportunity to speak in Planning 10 classes. This week I spoke to approximately 250 grade ten students at Mountain Secondary School. It took me 3 days to get through all of them with each presentation taking about an hour. It is some of the hardest but most rewarding work I do.

I always tell the students I’m not interested in telling them what choices to make but rather in helping them understand why they might be making choices that don’t fit with their own convictions. A significant part of my presentation is making it safe enough for students to anonymously share their struggles with the rest of the class. It usually boils down to fear and insecurity:

“I’m afraid my boyfriend will break up with me if I don’t…”
“I’m afraid of disappointing my parents so I…”
“I’m afraid my friends won’t like me if…”

Because fear’s greatest weapon is secrecy and isolation, it can be incredibly powerful to speak your fear out loud for others to hear and even more…

With school starting in the last month and programs beginning, it has been a whirlwind of craziness. I am involved in a few programs while being at the local middle school. It has been hard to find balance in my schedule, learning what things need more time and which people need more attention.

This last week was like any other week at our weekly program. We had a few games and activities running for the students that had shown up. Some weeks I wonder, in between all the craziness, like toilet paper dodge ball and push up competitions, do these young people realize the presence of love in this place? Do they know they are cared for and that there is hope for their future? This week I was reassured of this while speaking with a few students. Nearing the end of the night, during Spiritual Life, a student began to have a panic attack. She sent her friend to come get me from our small group time and we sat outside and had a long conversation about life. I was happy that they had chosen m…

- pray for our new program, Student Life
- pray for staff health as we enter into cold and flu season - pray for our bodies to be healthy and refreshed
- pray for Rachel, who will be coaching basketball at Langley Secondary School. She will also be assisting the team in fundraising for tournaments
- pray for Philippa, who will be apprenticing with us this year. Pray for her to feel encouraged and renewed as she continues to fundraise. Please pray that her funding would come in quickly

It is our dream that the youth of Langley would have the means to live healthy lives: physically, emotionally, intellectually, socially and spiritually. We desire to provide youth with the opportunity to live a holistic lifestyle and give them the tools to develop themselves as a person. We are always looking for ways we can take our relationships with youth to the next level. While sitting on a couch playing Mario Kart is beneficial to the overall growth of a friendship, it is easy as youth workers to get stuck. This is why when our team came across the program Ambassadors of Compassion, we knew we wanted to incorporate it into our work.

Ambassadors of Compassion (AOC) is a leadership project that helps youth discover new and exciting aspects of their life that will equip them with the skills to navigate and succeed through life’s critical challenges. It is a weekly program that is designed to help youth become self-sufficient and compassionate individuals who take responsibility fo…

This summer was a busy but fulfilling adventure. In July, Youth Unlimited teamed up with Walnut Grove Secondary to run a summer school program called Gator Shades. The goal of this program is to help youth transition from elementary school to high school. We were able to spend three weeks with a group of 25 kids, helping them become familiar with the high school and accompanying them on educational field trips.

This was a great start to the summer as it gave us the chance to connect with grade eights. Since they are already familiar with us it will be easier to connect with them once school begins. This program can be exhausting, but it will be worth it when I walk through the hallway this September and see their faces light up because someone recognizes them in the crowd.

This September is the first time in five years that I am not going back to school which means I can now fully devote all my time to Youth Unlimited and take on more hours. Although I am not going back to school mys…

A booth set in the middle of a retro diner. The place is quiet. A waitress roams the restaurant, checking on the happy customers.

Two days in a row I had come to this little hole in the wall, each day with a teenager I had been spending a lot of time with. I hadn’t really expected to have the conversations that I was about to enter into. I had been considering when would be a good time to tell these students about a man called Jesus and this diner seemed to be the place that was sanctioned for this divine meeting of sorts.

The first conversation stemmed out of the importance of each person’s life. Do we have purpose? How did we get here? As we tackled these questions throughout the day we came to the diner at the peak of conversation. Now was the time. I asked the teenager what he knew about Jesus and he said not a whole lot, just random information. I asked him if he wanted to hear the story of God and Jesus. Over our lunch we discussed who Jesus is and how he wants a relationship w…

In June we hosted our annual Art Show which a lot of my time, effort and planning went in to. This year we had an overwhelming number of entries from students and it was encouraging to see the smiles on their faces as they watched others bid on their pieces at the event.

Matt and I took off shortly after the Art Show for some much needed vacation time. We spent 10 wonderful days (2 weeks for Matt) in Naramata, BC with his parents where we did nothing. It. Was. Wonderful. As a detail-oriented-plan-everything-ahead-of-time person, having no concrete plans was a welcome relief. We came home feeling rested and, somewhat, ready to go back to work.

The rest of summer was fairly low-key. Summer is always a strange time with Youth Unlimited. Our programs end, school is finished and most of the youth and staff scatter for vacations and family time. I found myself quite lonely at work as a lot of coworkers were on holidays, leaving me by myself quite often in the office. I ended up bringing Mav…

Have you ever experienced the equal parts of joy and terror that come with starting a renovation project? The thrill of the sledgehammer demolishing that ugly, leaky, old shower and the sleepless nights of wondering if you can actually put this thing back together. The excitement of picking out new fixtures and the horror of hearing a toilet flushing after you’ve cut away the drain. The feeling of accomplishment as you check tasks of the list and the sinking feeling you’ll never get your house clean again… seriously, living in the same space you’re renovating is the worst!

This summer I set out to renovate our Master bathroom and bedroom - it was a project that was not for the faint of heart. You see, it wasn’t just a new coat of paint but a full, “to the studs”, gut job. It took most of summer to complete. Actually, if I’m honest, I still have some finishing touches left before its really done but I figure once you are nailing up the crown molding and touching up nail holes, you’re …

For a good portion of the summer the sky throughout the lower mainland of BC and the Pacific North West of Washington was overcast with dense smoke from the forest fires raging throughout the region. There were threats of destruction by world leaders and hurricanes ravaged through Texas and Florida.

There were many conversations I overheard this summer that spoke to the apocalyptic feel of the world.  I make no claim to know how the world will end, but in these times one can see the mystery of the human experience.  A group of people made a human chain through rapidly moving water, risking their lives to rescue a stranger. Meanwhile, looters took opportunities to steal valuables from empty houses and businesses.  Images were shared across social media of the disasters to illicit a compassionate response, only to find that some took the opportunity to create false pictures to promote political agendas or induce fear and panic.

As if these incidents are not concerning enough there are …

While at Gator Shades one day, I had a new Grove student open up to me in a meaningful way.

We were walking to a cafeteria because he had forgotten to pack a lunch for our trip to the Armada Ropes Course at Trinity Western University. I bought him some snacks and a drink and we started walking back to the others. While we were walking back he turned to me and said, “You know, I don’t have any friends. I’m bullied often. You know, when Derian was giving his presentation and said that his ‘friends’ at school called him the follower? That’s me.” I asked him some of my normal follow up questions, we got sidetracked, and when we came back to it he told me about a few people he was starting to get to know and I had the opportunity to respond with this:

“You know that I’m one of your new friends too, right? I’m going to be there when school starts in September and I’ll be there for you throughout the year. I’ll find you.”

This is pretty normal in my job, but the speed of the
openness caught…

Hey, I’m Wes!

I’m a youth that is involved with YU. I met Amy for the first time when I was 9 years old and I went to Nights Alive. For the next 3 years after that, Amy constantly said hi every Friday night and she never stopped. I never really understood why, but a few years ago I realized that she cares - she really cares and it’s amazing! And all I did was run and play games. A few years later, at the age of 14, I began to speak more and Amy and I began hanging out a lot. We soon became closer than before and now she is like family to me.

I have always been the last person to be picked and never really liked by many people. When I was introduced to YU my life was completely changed and it was amazing.

Amy is literally a life saver. May was a really rough month and she saved my life. Amy has helped me through so, so much and I am eternally grateful! I do not know what I would do if I hadn’t met her when I was 9 - I believe I would not be here today.

I have been involved with YU for…

-  our programs began on Sept 13th - please pray for stamina for the staff as we begin the long stretch until Christmas - we are grateful for another year of ministry at Hangar 17!

-  praise God we have Philippa working alongside us as an apprentice this year! Philippa interned with us last year. Please pray that her fundraising would go well so that she can begin with us soon

-  pray for two of our students who are wanting to know more about Jesus - pray that we would seek wisdom from God in how to answer their questions and lead them closer to a relationship with Him

I was 17 years old when I first began running the JR. High Sunday School at my church. I was ready to make a difference in the lives of these young people the way that my youth leaders had done for me. I recruited parent volunteers, planned ridiculous games and prepped in-depth bible studies. I quickly found out that things do not always go according to plan. My parent volunteers quit and one of the girls pulled me aside one week to tell me that everyone in the group hated me.

  I had to figure out something else. The next week I decided to ditch my lesson plan and coordinated some rides to the local McDonalds. Skipping church that day and sharing greasy French fries was apparently the trick to winning approval of this particular group. From that point on, things were better.

  Twenty-two years later, I still use this experience to train the young youth workers on my team and shape my own approach.  So many adults in the lives of youth stop engaging or showing up.  We have to be will…

Students: the money has been counted! If you had a piece of art in the Art Show this year, contact a youth worker to see if it sold and to collect your earnings. A little extra cash for 🎤 summa summa summa time🎤
http://ift.tt/1xSCcvc

The nature of youth work is pouring your time and heart into teenagers, often not knowing the true impact you have on their lives. Occasionally, students who we have intentionally loved decide to invite us in on how we have influenced them.

It was a Tuesday afternoon as I walked into the local high school and saw Garrett’s* familiar face, usually so bright and warm, seeming scattered and worried. Before I could even ask how he was, he asked me, “Savannah, what are you doing after this break? I have a spare class and I really need someone to talk too.” We set up a time to meet and I took him out for lunch that afternoon. He was going through some tough times with his family, feeling like no one really cared about him. He was lonely and overworked at home. I assured him that us youth workers care and, most importantly, Jesus cares.

This can be a typical conversation for us youth workers, hearing stories over and over about brokenness and difficult relationships. What happens next durin…

Well, Kirstie and I are excited to announce the birth of our first son, Roland Harold Pue. He was born on May 16 in the afternoon and weighed in at 9lbs 3oz. Kirstie did incredible and I am so proud of her.

I took 8 days of work off afterwards to be at home with Kirstie and Roland. It was much needed as we began adjusting to this new life of ours and starting to figure out what this whole parenting thing is all about! Along with the precious time being together, and getting to know Ro, we were so lucky to have so many friends and family surround us with visits. He is well loved already and we are so grateful for our community that now surrounds wee Roland as well.

Prior to the arrival of Roland, Kirstie and I spent lots of time being together, having fun and spending time with friends. We took advantage of this last season as a family of two by going out on lots of dates and enjoying every minute of it. Our place was also recently renovated by our dear friends (and coincidentally, ou…

“This place is pretty awesome,” she said to the new boy sitting beside her at our Wednesday programs. It was his first week and he had just moved to the area. His guardian had called me earlier in the week, asking about our programs as she was looking for a place for the boy to come as he was struggling to fit in elsewhere.  Four weeks later he was still attending our programs and had
begun to bring a friend.

Success is a difficult thing to measure in youth work. What success looks like typically depends on the individual. For some, it means making eye contact when they had avoided your eyes before. For others, it means taking a visible step towards a relationship with Jesus. For this boy, it meant coming back a second week because he felt welcome, safe and included.

On May 31st we ran our last Wednesday evening program for the 2016-2017 year. It was loud, it was chaotic, and with 45 youth in attendance (our average is 25-35), our team was consistently moving and engaging in conversa…

“I used to want to save the world, this beautiful place.
But the closer you get, the more you see the great darkness within.”
The above quote comes from the opening lines of the new Wonder Woman movie and I found myself connecting with the sentiment.  When I started in this role with Youth Unlimited I felt that I could change the world.  I felt that the mission was simple and I just needed to be brave enough to do it. I remember a defining moment back in 2003 when I saw a young person walking down the street suddenly rage, throw his back pack down on the street and kick a fence panel down at a house along the street.  I did not know this young guy, but I pulled over and talked with him, brought him to McDonalds, fed him and brought him back to the school with the task of confessing to his wrong doing or I would.  I called the school later and they assured me that they had connected with the student and were resolving the issue.  I had never done anything like that before and I realize…

Our Spiritual Life group continues to be a highlight in our weekly programs. Recently one our Interns shared their story with our students. They spoke of how they’d struggled with depression for many years and how their faith had actually deepened through this battle. An interesting thing to note is that their depression hasn’t actually gotten better. They shared how God has not healed their depression but that they had found Jesus “at the bottom of a lake.” This was life changing for them to know that they were not alone in their struggle and that Jesus wasn’t just in the sunshine and hilltops of life. It was quite amazing to see this intern courageously share their story. It was even more amazing to see our students hugging him and thanking him afterwards.

  That night it was my turn to lead the students in a prayer exercise. I reiterated to the group that when we seek Jesus in prayer, sometimes his answer is to take away our pain, like with the 2 youth who had been healed recent…

Jesus
  It has been one year since I started working for Youth Unlimited Langley. Working with teenagers means experiencing the world through their eyes.  Many days are filled with a multitude of ups and downs and it can be difficult for them to cope. As they come to me for help and care it creates in me the necessity to have a life that maintains my own balance. To function best in my job, my life must be peaceful. The risk is that I try to take on the pain of my young friends, but I realize that my effort alone will not help them heal. I want to see them transformed through the peace and strength of Jesus, the way I have been.  Christ has been a pillar for me to lean on in times of distress and my peace comes from him alone. No matter the outer situation I am facing I am able to remain stable because his steadfastness and strength are always enduring. Many of these youth feel alone and the idea of God is very far away and foreign to them.  In these times, the peace that I experience…

I first wanted to start off by sharing some exciting news.  Over the past few years I have worked in a contract role for Youth Unlimited, providing program support.  As of May 1st I have been hired as a permanent youth worker in Langley.  My goal is to raise support to increase my time and to be full time by September. This is exciting and I am so thankful to be part of such an awesome team.

Over the past few weeks, I’ve had a few people ask me “so, what do you actually do?”  There are so many answers that I could give to this question, but how does one fully explain the role of a youth worker?

If our goal as a team is to make sure the youth of Langley have the means to live a healthy life, physically, mentally, spiritually, socially, and emotionally, what does that mean? How can we best serve the youth of Langley in these 5 ways? What is it that I do to help foster these areas of life? What is the best way to encourage holistic health for each individual?

Fostering each of these are…

Our annual Art Show fundraiser is coming up on June 17th from 12pm - 3pm.

Art displays, art silent auction (bid on your favourite piece), live music, food (cash only), raffles and other activities will take place during the show. The Silent Auction will end at 2pm.

Mark your calendars! The show will be located at Hangar 17 at the Langley Airport (5225 216th Street, Langley).
Cash, cheque, Visa and MasterCard are accepted forms of payment.
All proceeds go towards youth artists and our Creative life program.

Spiritual Life is an intentional time set apart on Wednesdays for us to engage in meaningful and deeper conversations with the youth who attend our programs. We set up our time to introduce topics about faith, Jesus, and life.

  There are three evenings that stick out so far:

  1)  Our Lifeteams student, Philippa, opened up about rejection in her life - she prepared an exercise for our teens to write down rejections that they’ve experienced. We then gave permission to burn them in a fire pit as an act of letting it go to God. One teen after doing this exercise said “Woah, I actually feel like my shoulders are lighter. Like something got lifted off of them”

  2) Danny led an imaginative prayer night where he led us through an exercise using our imaginations as a way to pray.
     “In this imaginative space I asked the youth to picture themselves and Jesus doing a gift exchange.  The youth would imagine something that represented their lives and Jesus would give them
something in retur…

If you’ve been around for the last two years or so, you may be familiar with our partnership at Walnut Grove Secondary School during summer time called GatorShades.

GatorShades is a transitional program for students in grade 7 that are going into grade 8. It runs for 3 weeks in July, all day, Mon-Fri. It is aimed at the students who are most likely to get lost in the transition of coming into a big high school. The students are set up to learn some practical pieces, like learning your way around the school, how to use your locker, and how to read your timetable. These are intermixed with fun activities (which we are largely in charge of) intended to build relationships between the students and us, and challenge them with new experiences. In the past we have taken them to try a ropes course, salmon farming, riding our segways, or a local petting farm.

My first GatorShades experience was last year, and now that I’m on the other side of that year I can’t begin to explain how valuable th…

Over the past three years with Youth Unlimited I have learned about the process of relationship building. Our goal as youth workers is to be a safe adult in their life that won’t leave when things get tough. Trust takes times to build. If you were to eavesdrop on some of the conversations I have with youth, they would sound very surface level. This is an intentional part of relationship building and our hope is to foster relationships that will grow to something deeper.

 When I first started meeting with Aaron, our conversations would never go beyond his favourite band or the homework he had due next week. He would display a tough exterior in order to protect himself but over the years I have been able to peel away the layers and dive deeper into his life. He
began to share with me his experience with church and I was able to ask questions about religion and faith. From there we entered into conversations that had deeper significance.

 This teen has shared with me the desire to foll…

Goodbyes really suck. I have said a lot of goodbyes in my life, but making the decision to say goodbye to Youth Unlimited has been one of the most difficult decisions to make. I care so deeply, and I know that you too care deeply, about the youth of Langley. That’s why you’ve partnered with me so faithfully.

 My time at YU has been full of wonderfully happy and hopeful moments juxtaposed by sad and difficult moments. For every discussion about suicide or homelessness there were ten discussions of good days or first steps, or celebratory ice creams. Thank you for helping me make all of those moments happen.

 The Langley team of youth workers has been an amazing support for me these last nearly two years. While a part of me wishes I could do youth work forever, through much thought and prayer I have come to realize that my time here is done and it is time for the next chapter in my life story. I have already begun my transition from YU to my next job but am making sure the youth you h…

Meghan has dark hair, bright eyes, and a warm smile. She likes animals, the obscure reptiles especially, and will always look you in the eye and engage in conversation with you. Typically, whenever I see her walking down the hallways these days she’s quick to smile and say hello before
continuing on with her day.

  Meghan used to attend our programs quite faithfully last year. We have had a lot of good conversations and she has shared some meaningful connections with myself and other staff members. She would sometimes participate in our art projects, but mostly was just happy hanging out on the couches and chatting with other friends, volunteers, or my coworkers. Slowly over the course of the year her social circles started changing, she started getting busier at school, picked up a job as a hostess, and we saw less and less of her around.

  Demographics constantly change and that’s normal. Sometimes seeing less of a student is a good thing as it means they’ve come to a place where…

A co-worker was recently sharing a story of a student who lost a parent earlier this year. The student has been very closed off, but after a year of openness and patience on the part of my co-worker, the student began to share how hard it has been over these past few months.

  At times I can feel as though I am ‘just an admin’ and do not contribute to our outreach in the same way as everyone else. While everyone else is in the field, coming back with success stories of kids making positive steps forward, I am in the office doing email correspondence, running errands, writing up expenses, etc.

  I may not have success stories with youth in the same way my coworkers do, but I am beginning to believe that if God had not given me the position of ‘just an admin’, my coworkers would be stuck in the office, doing what I am doing, rather than meeting with youth and sharing Jesus with them.

  I think any job can begin to feel mundane after awhile. For me, losing sight of the purpose of my r…

Taylor:
 “You think you are dumb, don’t you?” With tears in her eyes she walks down the stairs away from her math class. “I know how it feels,” I explained to her, “Math was the straw that broke the camel’s back for me” I shared with her how exactly that looked in my life when I was in high school. She calmed down as we walked to the counseling office. As we began working through her math worksheets I could see the struggle in her eyes. The frustration and negative belief in herself was hindering her from focusing. If she didn’t instantly get it she would blurt out “I am too dumb for this” or “I can’t do this”. I assured her she wasn’t dumb, just frustrated, and the reason she was in school in the first place was to learn. If she knew it already she wouldn’t need to be there. To her amazement, she caught on quickly but still didn’t think she was capable even after completing the majority of the work. The following day we continued the math lessons.

Struggle:
The problem does not lie wi…