Young Life of the Midlands

Young Life is a multinational organization for adolescents. Our staff and volunteers enter the world of kids, focusing on what matters to them - fun, adventure, friendship and a sense of significance. In doing so, we earn the privilege of talking to them about something that we think matters most of all - the truth about God and His love for them. While Young Life has existed in Columbia for over 56 years, the last 15 years has been a season of unprecedented growth. This growth has enabled us to reach all types of students: public school, private school, high school, middle school, inner-city, suburban, college-age, those w/ disabilities, teen moms and even those who are incarcerated.

We're blessed in the Midlands to now have ministry in 23 schools (and growing). As a result, over 24,000 students attend a school where Young Life mentors are present. Our 14 staff and 120 volunteer mentors spend approximately 65,000 hours per year investing in the lives of students. Would you believe that they know over 3,750 kids by name!

It's cliche. but kids often don't care how much you know until they know how much you care. So, before we ever invite a student to "our activities," we seek to show up in their world: sporting events, school plays, performances, etc...  We also eat more than our fair share of fast food (Chick-fil-a in particular).  As we get to know students, we appreciate the opportunity to invite them to one of our weekly club meetings in the afternoon or evening. Additionally, we have weekly small-group Bible studies available. In total our mentors lead 720 afterschool clubs and 2,160 Bible studies a year. We estimate that collectively they drive over 6,700 miles each week in order to invest in the lives of students. Of course, one of our favorite things to invite students to is weekend or week-long camp. Believe it or not, in 2025 alone, we reserved 24 charter buses in order to get kids to camp! While we love the adventures we experience at camp, what excites us most is that more students make a decision for Christ at camp than anything else we do!