Experience with YoungLife camp

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What is wrong with YL? Why do people on DCUM not like it? Would love feedback from other Christians that don’t like it

Gay Christian mom here.
They teach kids that my family is wrong.

[Anonymous]

I go to church on Sundays and Wednesdays. My husband has been a deacon multiple times and we lead our church marriage ministry. So those are some of my “Christian credentials” for lack of a better term. I’m also a Christian who does not think my non-Christian friends are going to burn in hell. And I believe that being Christian doesn’t mean you are inherently a “good person.”

YL would not be reflective of my values system. I currently attend a Methodist church that is LGBTQ affirming and focused on social justice issues. I would not send my kid to a YL camp because it is not reflective of how I want to raise my kid. My kid has done various church camps/retreats over the years. I do also believe that YL targets the pretty and the popular, which I don’t think is in the spirit of WWJD.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I go to church on Sundays and Wednesdays. My husband has been a deacon multiple times and we lead our church marriage ministry. So those are some of my “Christian credentials” for lack of a better term. I’m also a Christian who does not think my non-Christian friends are going to burn in hell. And I believe that being Christian doesn’t mean you are inherently a “good person.”

YL would not be reflective of my values system. I currently attend a Methodist church that is LGBTQ affirming and focused on social justice issues. I would not send my kid to a YL camp because it is not reflective of how I want to raise my kid. My kid has done various church camps/retreats over the years. I do also believe that YL targets the pretty and the popular, which I don’t think is in the spirit of WWJD.

Let me add that if my kid was begging to go to this camp, I would talk to her about why I didn’t think it would be a good fit. Honestly, I would be shocked if she still wanted to go. But if she still, really, really wanted to do it, I guess I might cave. But we would have discussions when she returned about what she did and did not agree with and how that fits into our values and the values she is developing on her own.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I go to church on Sundays and Wednesdays. My husband has been a deacon multiple times and we lead our church marriage ministry. So those are some of my “Christian credentials” for lack of a better term. I’m also a Christian who does not think my non-Christian friends are going to burn in hell. And I believe that being Christian doesn’t mean you are inherently a “good person.”

YL would not be reflective of my values system. I currently attend a Methodist church that is LGBTQ affirming and focused on social justice issues. I would not send my kid to a YL camp because it is not reflective of how I want to raise my kid. My kid has done various church camps/retreats over the years. I do also believe that YL targets the pretty and the popular, which I don’t think is in the spirit of WWJD.

My kid goes to the Arlington/McLean young life and what you’re saying cannot be further for the truth. Many of these kids INCLUDING MINE have family members, friends in the communities you say young life is disparaging and they would not put up with that for two seconds. Especially my kid who is an activist ! You are stating this as truth, while you have never even personally experienced it- yikes- and it’s not reflective of everyone’s experience. I agree with you that many evangelical environments are terrible when it comes to human rights, but you’re painting young life with a broad brush that isn’t reflective of many of our experiences.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I go to church on Sundays and Wednesdays. My husband has been a deacon multiple times and we lead our church marriage ministry. So those are some of my “Christian credentials” for lack of a better term. I’m also a Christian who does not think my non-Christian friends are going to burn in hell. And I believe that being Christian doesn’t mean you are inherently a “good person.”

YL would not be reflective of my values system. I currently attend a Methodist church that is LGBTQ affirming and focused on social justice issues. I would not send my kid to a YL camp because it is not reflective of how I want to raise my kid. My kid has done various church camps/retreats over the years. I do also believe that YL targets the pretty and the popular, which I don’t think is in the spirit of WWJD.

My kid goes to the Arlington/McLean young life and what you’re saying cannot be further for the truth. Many of these kids INCLUDING MINE have family members, friends in the communities you say young life is disparaging and they would not put up with that for two seconds. Especially my kid who is an activist ! You are stating this as truth, while you have never even personally experienced it- yikes- and it’s not reflective of everyone’s experience. I agree with you that many evangelical environments are terrible when it comes to human rights, but you’re painting young life with a broad brush that isn’t reflective of many of our experiences.

Well, I also live in the south and do have some actual YL experience (although I did not attend a full camp). My guess is that you get YL lite in the DC area. And all I was doing was explaining my personal anecdotal thought process. Church stuff is tough. The fact is that no church organization has been immune from sex abuse, misogyny, etc. We all have to try to pick what is most reflective of our values. YL is not reflective of my values.

[Anonymous]

I think it’s fine- if you are Christian and if she has friends going. Yes, there will be a lot of talk about Jesus, being “saved,” and such. But if that aligns with your beliefs, I don’t see the problem. It isn’t a hate convention. Kids are focused on their own religious and personal growth. I think you would need to reach out to them regarding specific safety plans/procedures.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I go to church on Sundays and Wednesdays. My husband has been a deacon multiple times and we lead our church marriage ministry. So those are some of my “Christian credentials” for lack of a better term. I’m also a Christian who does not think my non-Christian friends are going to burn in hell. And I believe that being Christian doesn’t mean you are inherently a “good person.”

YL would not be reflective of my values system. I currently attend a Methodist church that is LGBTQ affirming and focused on social justice issues. I would not send my kid to a YL camp because it is not reflective of how I want to raise my kid. My kid has done various church camps/retreats over the years. I do also believe that YL targets the pretty and the popular, which I don’t think is in the spirit of WWJD.

My kid goes to the Arlington/McLean young life and what you’re saying cannot be further for the truth. Many of these kids INCLUDING MINE have family members, friends in the communities you say young life is disparaging and they would not put up with that for two seconds. Especially my kid who is an activist ! You are stating this as truth, while you have never even personally experienced it- yikes- and it’s not reflective of everyone’s experience. I agree with you that many evangelical environments are terrible when it comes to human rights, but you’re painting young life with a broad brush that isn’t reflective of many of our experiences.

You don't know what goes on in YL. So don't assume because other people have made the mistake of letting their kids get involved in it, that it's safe.

[Anonymous]

I never went. But a lot of popular kids- several whom I was friends with- went in my high school and seemed to love it. This was a public school and I wouldn’t say these kids kids were evangelical or into extreme religion. Mostly a mix of Christian denominations- some didn’t even go to church regularly, had boyfriends, and were very much normal teens.

[Anonymous]

Yikes, OP. I hadn't heard of this group so I looked it up.

I guess you're OK with their overall approach? If you have safety concerns, address those to the camp.

The last time I went to a Bible based camp, I had a herniated disc in my back. Nobody would call my parents or take me to a doctor. They told me I wasn't praying hard enough.

You might want to add medical emergencies to your list of questions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I go to church on Sundays and Wednesdays. My husband has been a deacon multiple times and we lead our church marriage ministry. So those are some of my “Christian credentials” for lack of a better term. I’m also a Christian who does not think my non-Christian friends are going to burn in hell. And I believe that being Christian doesn’t mean you are inherently a “good person.”

YL would not be reflective of my values system. I currently attend a Methodist church that is LGBTQ affirming and focused on social justice issues. I would not send my kid to a YL camp because it is not reflective of how I want to raise my kid. My kid has done various church camps/retreats over the years. I do also believe that YL targets the pretty and the popular, which I don’t think is in the spirit of WWJD.

My kid goes to the Arlington/McLean young life and what you’re saying cannot be further for the truth. Many of these kids INCLUDING MINE have family members, friends in the communities you say young life is disparaging and they would not put up with that for two seconds. Especially my kid who is an activist ! You are stating this as truth, while you have never even personally experienced it- yikes- and it’s not reflective of everyone’s experience. I agree with you that many evangelical environments are terrible when it comes to human rights, but you’re painting young life with a broad brush that isn’t reflective of many of our experiences.

Does your activist kid know that YL’s policy is that LGBTQ folks can have no leadership positions? Because that is absolutely their policy. Again. You have to decide what is reflective of your values. Just because YL in Arlington doesn’t say this out loud doesn’t mean it isn’t true.

[Anonymous]

There is a very active Young Life chapter at my kids' NoVa middle school/high school. It is saturated with many of the sporty/popular kids. My kids have all had varying levels of involvement over the past several years mostly due to the fact that they have friends who are very involved and they offer fun activities. One of my kids has gone to a weekend retreat with the group and my youngest has gone twice to an overnight excursion. Here is my takeaway:

They absolutely do promote anti-LGBTQ ideology (my kids are staunchly pro-LGBTQ and this bothers them immensely - some of their friends eat this stuff up too). This is the #1 reason why all of my kids have lower levels of involvement with the group despite the fun activities that are regularly planned and the amount of friends that they have that are involved

When it comes to overnight retreats or camps with the high school ages, I would not worry about the things you outline above, I would worry much more about the sexual activity that occurs between the campers. My 17 year old who tells me pretty much everything has said that almost all of her friends who go to YL retreats and camps have had sex or lost their virginity during YL excursions. Apparently it's rampant and there is plenty of unsupervised time for the kids to go off and do their thing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I went to a Young Life retreat/camping during my sophomore year of high school. I was raised Catholic, had Jewish friends and refused to say they were going to hell during a small group discussion one night in our cabin. Leaders took me out by myself into the woods to tell me I was going to hell if I didn't change what I was saying, and kept on me the entire weekend if I wanted to go to a room where at the end of camp you say you are committing your life to Jesus. There is another room for those unsure of their commitment.

I went to the Jesus room and was considered "born again" per a card they gave me after...it was my 15th birthday and my "born again" day.
I wrote my college essay about the experience and years later as an adult looked into Young Life bc of all this.

They carefully select kids in the school who are accessible and popular and build the program around them. There was an adult who was always around the school, he was a substitute teacher but was "cool" - he was recruiting kids in.

I know people who loved the camp but I would be wary, especially if they don't have the ACA accreditation. I don't think the way they handled adults and kids was above board and I also don't think my parents had any clue I was going to be alone with adults I didn't know who were telling me to condemn non-Christians to hell. I didn't go back after that experience and would not let my DD go. FWIW I'm still Catholic and practicing so not opposed to religion but opposed to that.

This was Fellowship of Christian Athletes at my high school. It worked, too.

As a committed Christian I hated it because the people who they recruited were not at all good representatives of the real faith.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My teen’s school is going to younglife camp this summer and she’s interested in going. Camp isn’t excessively expensive at $1100 and cost is not a factor but safety wise, what have your experiences been? Moreso how do they ensure kids are safe in the water, on zip lines, ect. Also how do they manage safety with the leaders and the kids? It seems like a lot of people are in and out through the summer so wondering how background checks were handled. Also don’t see they are ACA accredited like other camps they have been to but know the format is different for YL.

Only feeling a little paranoid after going down a rabbit hole with the Camp Mystic stuff last summer, and making sure kids are safe especially with ropes course type stuff and weather.

OP is your teen's school going to an actual YoungLife run camp or doing a school run camp on YoungLife property? The campgrounds do both. If it's school-run, you already know what the safety policies are and are already OK with them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My teen’s school is going to younglife camp this summer and she’s interested in going. Camp isn’t excessively expensive at $1100 and cost is not a factor but safety wise, what have your experiences been? Moreso how do they ensure kids are safe in the water, on zip lines, ect. Also how do they manage safety with the leaders and the kids? It seems like a lot of people are in and out through the summer so wondering how background checks were handled. Also don’t see they are ACA accredited like other camps they have been to but know the format is different for YL.

Only feeling a little paranoid after going down a rabbit hole with the Camp Mystic stuff last summer, and making sure kids are safe especially with ropes course type stuff and weather.

You're worried about the wrong things. Young Life? No way. Even if it's free.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I go to church on Sundays and Wednesdays. My husband has been a deacon multiple times and we lead our church marriage ministry. So those are some of my “Christian credentials” for lack of a better term. I’m also a Christian who does not think my non-Christian friends are going to burn in hell. And I believe that being Christian doesn’t mean you are inherently a “good person.”

YL would not be reflective of my values system. I currently attend a Methodist church that is LGBTQ affirming and focused on social justice issues. I would not send my kid to a YL camp because it is not reflective of how I want to raise my kid. My kid has done various church camps/retreats over the years. I do also believe that YL targets the pretty and the popular, which I don’t think is in the spirit of WWJD.

My kid goes to the Arlington/McLean young life and what you’re saying cannot be further for the truth. Many of these kids INCLUDING MINE have family members, friends in the communities you say young life is disparaging and they would not put up with that for two seconds. Especially my kid who is an activist ! You are stating this as truth, while you have never even personally experienced it- yikes- and it’s not reflective of everyone’s experience. I agree with you that many evangelical environments are terrible when it comes to human rights, but you’re painting young life with a broad brush that isn’t reflective of many of our experiences.

You don't know what goes on in YL. So don't assume because other people have made the mistake of letting their kids get involved in it, that it's safe.

+1
Not every catholic has been sexually abused and the church still hid it from the public and protected the abusers. Not every girl at the camp will be abused or experience misogyny or be encouraged to hate others. There is enough documented cases I wouldn’t put my daughter in that situation. There are other Christian camps without this checkered past/present