The History of YoungLives The History of Young Life's Ministry to Teen Moms Written by Mary Somerville, Mentor Moms* Founder *YoungLives was formerly called Mentor Moms In 1991 the Young Life Committee of Tulare County, Calif., appraised the situation regarding teen pregnancy and parenting in their county and came to the conclusion that the traditional clubs were not reaching the needy young mothers. As about 1,000 babies were born to teens each year in the county, the committee had a large target group to reach. They talked and prayed about it over several months and brainstormed what should be done. The group came to the conclusion that God wanted them to take action, even though it was not in the budget, and look for someone to develop a program. Dave Hanson, the area director, searched for a woman with a burden for this ministry and was led to Mary Somerville,. who had five years of experience working in Young Life many years previous. Somerville is a pastor's wife with a master’s degree in pastoral counseling and many years of experience discipling women. She was convinced of relational ministry -- that is to win the right to share the Good News through building friendships and showing Christ's love. She had specifically been working with teen moms for three years and had seen God use His Word to change lives through the power of the Holy Spirit. She had seen the tremendous needs of teen moms and believed that these needs could best be addressed in a one-on-one relationship. That is why she set up a mentoring program. The Young Life committee took Somerville on staff to work two days a week setting up the program, paying her what she would make as a substitute teacher. She contacted many local churches and set up an informational meeting to present the opportunity for Christian women to mentor single teen moms as a Young Life volunteer for the purpose of evangelism and discipleship. In the fall of 1991, 13 women were matched to teen moms, and the ministry began under the name of "Young Life's Mentor Moms." Somerville discipled the mentors in bimonthly meetings in biblical principles relating to mentoring. The mentoring is indepth contact work as the mentor meets with her teen mom at least once a week and ministers to her at her point of need through friendship-building activities. Each mentor committed to meet with her young mother for the course of one year through all kinds of circumstances. These mentors learned a lot about unconditional love. They learned that they could not mend all the hurts or repair all the pieces of broken lives. It was hard! But God brought some of the young women to Himself, and their lives were changed. Some saw what it is to be a Christian yet remained unchanged. However, they unmistakably felt the claims of Christ upon their lives and will never be the same. Over the past 11 years, approximately 187 teen moms have had a caring Christian woman reach out to them in a one-on-one relationship and many dozens more through the clubs. The ministry has supported itself. Every fall when the Young Life fund-raising banquet takes place, a mentor and teen mom tell their story. Mentors are recruited, and pledges are made for the ministry. The community is grateful that Young Life is addressing this pressing problem. Different gifts have been given from service organizations and businesses as well as individuals and churches. Women who would not be brought into ministry any other way are brought in because of their desire to help a young woman who has chosen life for her child. After the program had been going for a couple of years, the vice president of Young Life asked Somerville to put in writing what was done to set up and sustain the program so it would be available to others within the mission with the same desire -to reach teen mothers for Christ. "Mentor Moms, A Handbook for Mentoring Teen Moms" was printed and listed as a resource in "Inside the Mission." The Service Center began making it available through Mission Assistance. A seminar was offered by Somerville at the Young Life All Staff Conference in Orlando in 1996, and interest heightened. She was asked to become the national coordinator on a volunteer basis in an effort to promote this specialty throughout the mission. In that capacity she kept a listing of those involved and sent out a Ministry Memo for five years in an attempt to network. Seminars were also offered at the 2000 All Staff Conference in Orlando, and more interest was generated. Chapters began springing up around the country. Mentor Moms grew to about 30 areas. The first focus conference was held at Oakbridge with 32 in attendance in 1999. There have been several Young Life camps for teen moms and some areas are doing their own camps and day trips. Woodleaf had its first teen mom camp in 1996 and most recently in 2002. These are great tools to expose the moms to a great deal of fun and adventure, but also to great doses of the love of God and the proclamation of that love. The bonding that takes place between the teen mom and the mentor is tremendous. God uses camp in a unique and powerful way. The work crew is stretched as they give of themselves unstintingly to care for the needs of the regular campers but also the babies. It is the passion of this mission that every kid, everywhere, should be given the opportunity of clearly hearing the Good News, and that includes the often isolated and ostracized teen who has become a mother. Betsy Stretar, from Cleveland, Ohio, has been handed the baton to take the teen mom ministry into its next stage of growth. Stretar's burden for reaching teen moms stems from the fact that she was once a teen mom herself. She started the teen mom ministry in Cleveland after joining Young Life staff in September of 2000. In December of 2001 she became the national director for Young Life’s ministry to teen moms, now called YoungLives. We look forward to what God has in store for this exciting aspect of the mission of Young Life!