Well, I thought you'd all want to hear about my interview on monday. I met with the Regional Director for Young Life (she is in charge of North Dakota and MN) at Caribou Coffee at 11 on monday morning. We talked about the position of Area Director for a local high school here in MN. The more we talked the more I thought about Student Venture. I would be doing something VERY similar to what Bob Kline did for us in doylestown, except I wouldn't have to raise all my own salary support. I would be in charge of the volunteers (parents and other supporters) who help out on our once a week big activity. The purpose of the once a week activity, called Club, is to create an environment where teens can come relax, have fun, and begin to ask questions about Christ, Christianity, and God. From there they can get plugged into a small group where they are mentored in a smaller group by one of the volunteers in a Bible Study setting. The goal is to attract kids to Christ that would never really want to hear about Christ in a more "traditional" setting. 

One of the cool parts of the job is that YL requires all their staff to take continuing education classes. So by the end of my two year intern program I would receive another Master's certificate. The subject area would vary depending on what classes I decided to take and they would only meet once a month. The best part is I wouldn't have to pay for any of it!! After I completed my intern program I would receive approx. a $10,000 raise in salary which would be sweet!!! 

YL, unlike Treehouse, does not intentionally target at-risk teens but it does have other branches of ministry that interact and work with those types of teens so when you compare the two side by side that would be the only big difference. They both follow the same relational model of ministry and target the same age brackets, do summer camps, and want community involvement as well as parent involvement in their ministry.

So, overall I guess right now I would rather do the YL job than the Treehouse job. But right now I'm much further along in the Treehouse interview process so we'll have to see what happens. If both places offered me a job I would take the YL position but if Treehouse offers me a position and YL is not ready/at the point where they can offer me a postion I'm not sure what I will do. Just pray that I will make a God-honoring, wise, and informed decision.

Well, I'll talk to you all later!! Have a great day.

dan