Ryan Nash, 15, takes a ride down the slip n’ slide during the final WyldLife and Young Life event of the year at Wagner Farm Park in Millstone on June 15. More photos on page 29 and at gmnews.com. ERIC SUCAR staff In Young Life and WyldLife, smiling and laughing are encouraged and crying is not considered weak. The leaders of these groups believe that taking the time to reach out to youths and enter into their world will have a positive impact on their decisions now and in the future.

Brian Cullinane, a member of WyldLife and Young Life since their inception in Millstone, said, “Throughout these last seven years, I can honestly say that through WyldLife and Young Life I have discovered my place in life. With these clubs, meetings and camps, I have truly found people who have become some of my very best friends — individuals that I know will be in my life for a very long time and I can almost always count on for any situation.”

Clockwise from top: Kids of all ages form a human pyramid during the last WyldLife and Young Life event of the year at Wagner Farm Park in Millstone on June 15. Youth group members play tug-of-war. Indiana Gaffney, 17, plays a messy game. Brandon Barge (lr) and Tyler Newman participate in the egg toss. The now international, interdenominational Christian youth groups started as one small club in Texas in 1938. Jim Rayburn, a Presbyterian youth leader, developed Young Life as a way to reach kids who had no interest in church. Attendance in the first club grew as singing, acting and other fun activities became the group’s focus. Today, Young Life has more than 700 multicultural ministries, reaching more than 18,000 young people across the globe. In the 1980s, the mission developed WyldLife for younger children, according to information on the Young Life website.

Young Life and WyldLife’s missions are the same — to help adolescents grow in their faith by building genuine friendships. WyldLife is for youngsters in sixth, seventh and eighth grades while Young Life is for high-school-age youths.

Cullinane’s mother, Gina, who began the WyldLife program in Millstone, said “We have been active in Millstone for the past seven years. This past year we have expanded our Young Life to include a ‘Weekly Campaigners’ meeting, where the high school young adults meet and we discuss Bible passages and relate it to our everyday life.”

WyldLife and Young Life members in Millstone participate in monthly club meetings that have various themes. Both groups also host special events like pizza and game parties. Young Life members also perform community-service projects and go camping, she said.

Her son said the youth groups broadened his horizons, introducing him to many opportunities that he would have never encountered otherwise.

“It’s also good to know that this club hasn’t just changed my individual life, but also the lives of many other adolescents and peers in my community,” he said. “I also cannot thank my mom enough for the things she has done for not only me, her only son, but also [for] an amazing [number] of kids in this town. She is a mother and a caregiver to numerous kids.”

His mother said that she and her husband, Ed, and the other leaders — John Marr and Dee and Denis Balint — aim to provide teens and preteens with a safe environment where they can be themselves and grow to their potential.

“What we have seen come to fruition is that our kids surround themselves with other young adults that are accepting, kind, patient and have the same [faith] or would like to grow in their faith with Jesus Christ in a very nonchalant, fun manner,” she said. “[We leaders] have grown with our kids, and we have enjoyed spending time watching our children grow to beautiful young adults.”

PHOTOS BY ERIC SUCAR staff For the most part, the groups are about kids having fun, and sometimes that means getting messy, she said. “We [leaders] grow in our faith when we see the light in our children’s eyes,” she said. “We have enjoyed being pied, super-soaked, running around in the mud, playing crud wars, spitting peas — just to name a few fun things that not only the kids do but what the leaders do.”

Her son said, “These moments are priceless to me, events that I truly will never forget. I wouldn’t trade the memories and relationships I have made in the group for the world; that’s how much it means to me. ” Youths can also use the time spent with peers and leaders to discuss issues or any problems they are having.

“I have had a number of young adults confide in me and have shared their daily issues in confidence,” she said. “I have many tell me that WyldLife and Young Life made a difference in their life that they will remember forever.”

Her son said, “Without this group, I don’t think I would be half the person that I am today, pertaining to the people I know and the things I have learned.”

The club, which is free, is open to any youth who would like to join.

“We do need parents and high school kids to step up and become leaders,” she said. “If we don’t have leaders, just like everything else, we will not be able to continue.”

Next year, the WyldLife and Young Life leaders hope to continue with the monthly themed meetings, winter camp, special events and “Weekly Campaigners.” Adults or high school-age youths who would like to volunteer can contact Gina Cullinane at 609-259-7958 or at gkabak@yahoo.com.

For more information about WyldLife and Young Life, visit www. younglife.org.