My life now..

Here is a letter that I am about to send out to my Young Life donors and prayer warriors and wanted to share with you guys as well. This is an update on my life of sorts. Enjoy!

MISSIONS BEYOND AFRICA-5/13/2010
A couple of years ago I went on a mission trip to help aids orphans in Zambia, Africa. I raised over $3,000 in just 2 weeks for that trip. It was an amazing opportunity that I will forever be grateful for. However, recently it has made me ponder the giving that is sent my way in YL. I heeded God’s call on my life (to be on missions) when I was a Sr. in High School. At that time, I too believed that to be a missionary you must go overseas. But over the years I realized that is not entirely true. Jesus Himself didn’t go beyond only several miles from His own home. Yet, I see people be so quick to give to someone going overseas for a 10 day mission trip, verses someone who has decided to live their life on missions. And don’t get me wrong, as a missionary with Young Life, I hate asking for money. But unfortunately, that’s what missionaries have to do, and that’s what Jesus told us to do. I too support many missionaries myself. With that being said, I want to try and clarify what I am trying to say, with a quick story.

Just yesterday I sat with a college age girl over coffee and was blown away by how far she has come in her life. This girl was in my YL group and three years ago I sat beside her at her mom’s kitchen table and held her as she cried. She had just found out that she had gotten herpes and another STD from one of her many partners. She was only 16. We talked about how God wants to be the main man in her life and she cried even more about how it’s hard for her to believe that b/c even her own father didn’t care for her. He is an alcoholic who abandoned her. And her own mother didn’t portray the right lifestyle for her teen daughter either. This 16-year-old girl was in pain and all her friends either encouraged her to be promiscuous or disowned her for doing so. A few months later I talked her into going to camp and it was there that she accepted Christ. The next year was a rough road for her as she struggled in between 2 lifestyles. But she was hungry and we kept meeting. And all this brings me to yesterday. A couple years later and this young girl is home, from college, for the summer and she and I were meeting to discuss her role as an YL summer intern for me. She then whipped out her journal and bible from her purse and proceeded to share with me all that she is learning from Jesus. She was beaming. She shared how she is a Young Lives leader in Austin (YL to High School girls with babies) and how perfect she fits there. And then she shared how she is in a relationship with a guy who, for the first time, prays with her instead of takes advantage of her. She even wept over her lost friends. I walked away from our coffee date praising God for how far this girl has come. And then it hit me, when I went to Africa, I spent just a few days telling these little kids about the God that loves them and hugged them. But then I left. Don’t get me wrong, that’s better than nothing. It was a privilege. But then I left them in the same situation as before, with no one to walk this hard road with them. But with this former YL kid, not only did I get to tell her about Jesus, but also I got to walk the hard road with her and watch a transformation, which wouldn’t have taken place without discipleship. That is more of missions to me than my trip to Africa. A week in a foreign country, loving on kids for a short time is easy. The long haul, everyday is the hard part. Will you help me continue to go on missions right in your back door? These kids need you. I need you. Being in YL is a mission. Will you partner with me? Our area is in need of $25,000 to do “all that we need to do”, to keep me on staff, to hire more staff, to continue to get kids to camp, and for kids to hear the Gospel and be discipled. This young girl is even helping us financially. According to her, “YL changed my life. I want to help change others with Jesus too!” Please keep praying as well. Prayer is our main need and our camping season is right around the corner…
Thank you for your time,
Corrie Cline ☺