Mark’s position with Young Life:
I will be the Regional Initiatives Coordinator for Iowa.

My 3 main objectives will be:

1.To develop new Young Life areas throughout the state of Iowa:
Since Young Life began in 1941, Iowa has been an underdeveloped state for Young Life compared to other states. One of my objectives is to help develop new areas and then to mentor and disciple new Area Directors in order to reach more students for Jesus Christ.  I am very excited about the opportunity to bring the gospel to students in new towns throughout Iowa and also to help develop the next generation of youth leaders that will reach students for the cause of Christ.

2. To Form relationships with churches and Young Life:
Young Life has begun to forge partnerships/collaborations with churches in order to bring more effective youth ministry to places that may not be able to afford a full time youth professional.  For over seventy years Young Life has been involved in specialized ministry to adolescents. The partnership is a way to link Young Life’s expertise and a local congregation’s resources together. The institutional church needs the enthusiasm and skills Young Life brings to youth ministry. Young Life needs the stability and ongoing sense of community that the church offers to young people.  I will be helping to develop these new church partnerships as well as mentoring the youth leaders that will be serving both in the church and in their community.

3. To help make discipleship a priority in the lives of the staff, leaders and students in the Heartland Region:
Over the years Young Life has done a tremendous job of reaching students with the gospel but they have at times struggled to really disciple these students that have come to faith.  In recent years there has been a new emphasis within Young Life to put more time and energy into the discipleship process.  My role is to help raise the level of discipleship in the lives of the Young Life staff members in our region as well as helping them to strategize how to best disciple their leaders and students. This will be more of a pastoral role as I seek to help leaders grow in their faith so that they will in turn disciple students that will become mature believers that are growing in their faith and assimilated into a local church.