How Young Life retains is best leaders

One of the challenges Young Life faces throughout the developing world is how to retain quality volunteer leaders when, in order to study at the university level, they must work to be able to pay for it. Mostly their families cannot afford to pay for their college, and their are few options for scholarships or financial aid. Those of you who have been a Young Life leader know that to really invest in a young person's life requires a significant time commitment.

2014 DGL Students in the Dominican Republic

So how do you help these bright young students get a good college education without having to cut their involvement in Young Life? With this question in mind, a program was started in the Dominican Republic in 2002 which provided four-year college scholarships and practical training in direct ministry with the hope that after graduation these students would either work full-time in ministry or support ministries from a platform of a secular job.

We saw huge benefits of the program here in the DR, and now it has grown into what is called Developing Global Leaders. Young Life offers hundreds of scholarships throughout the developing world. We have seen a huge impact of the program here in the Dominican Republic. The biggest impact is on direct ministry, where these student leaders play key roles as head leaders for clubs or even volunteer area directors in some cases. They advance the ministry beyond what economic limitations would otherwise allow. For me as a camp manager, the DGL program is an incredible resource for us, giving us a pool of young people who have a good education, practical experience, and love for this ministry. Our most recent hire is a former DGL student.

If you want to know more about this program, watch the following video or go to the DGL website. Each student is sponsored directly by one or more supporters in the US.  Please consider giving this opportunity to a capable student in the developing world.