Everything important in life can be learned from duct tape, raffles and 20-foot long banana splits. Perhaps this is a slight embellishment, but each of the aforementioned has been an integral part of a typical Friday night WyldLife club meeting.
The Thunder Mountain and Enumclaw middle school chapters of WyldLife are getting ready to put summer behind them and kick off the school year with a season opening joint meeting from 6:56 to 8:30 p.m. Sept. 23 at Dwight Garrett Park in Enumclaw.
WyldLife is the middle school-aged chapter of Young Life, a Christian-based organization founded in the 1940s with the goal of teaching Christian values to adolescents while providing a safe and fun venue for youths to meet, enjoy activities and experience fellowship. Duct tape fashion shows, extreme dodge ball challenges, flashlight egg hunts, food challenges and multiple raffles are just a few of the activities experienced during a typical WyldLife Friday evening club meeting.
“We like to think of a Friday night club meeting as a party with a purpose,” said Jane Matson, organizer of the Thunder Mountain Chapter of WyldLife. “It is controlled chaos that’s almost impossible to describe, but kids ‘get it’ when they see it. Before the party ends, we share a simple message about God’s love for them which is what the celebration really is all about. Middle school is a time when kids make important decisions about who they are and what they believe. They are full of life, yet experiencing profound emotional and physical changes.”
The WyldLife leaders and helpers, range from high school and college students to moms, dads and retirees.
The WyldLife clubs meet every other Friday at each school’s respective gym or other pre-arranged venues throughout the school year. At the culmination of each school year, WyldLife members can go to camp. This year, the Enumclaw and Buckley WyldLife groups shared a camp experience at Washington Family Ranch in Antelope, Ore.
“Kids consistently tell us that WyldLife camp is the best week of their lives,” Matson said. “Deep relationships are forged with one another and, ultimately one with God.”
For information about joining or volunteering for Enumclaw or Glacier Middle School WyldLife clubs, call the Young Life office at 360-825-6425.
