YouthQuake Live

The host with the most....Sean Yost!

There are times in our life that we make a random decision and we have really no idea how it will affect our lives and the lives of others. In 1995, I kept getting these phone calls from a Sean Yost, a local youth pastor.  I was a youth pastor at my church and a Young Life leader at the time.  He kept inviting me to this new thing he was starting called YouthQuake Live.  I blew him off for as long as I could then he wanted an appointment to come talk to me.  I admit, I was irritated.  I was out almost every night of the week with, youth group, youth group fun nights, Young Life and Wyld Life (Young Life’s Jr. High outreach)  I was at a point in my life where I was trying to set boundaries and not take on anything additional.  Sean came to see me and brought Bowen Slade, also a local youth pastor, who was helping Sean start YouthQuake live.  It was a monthly, Christian outreach that was much like a Christian Saturday Night Live. They were so sweet and enthusiastic and invited Dan and I to come and bring our youth group.  They wanted to interview us about our Young Life involvement.  Of course, they suckered me in and I said yes.  We took a bus of kids to a strip mall in Ponte Vedra and it changed my life forever. There were probably only a total of 50 kids in attendance and we brought half of them. The passion that the kids in the cast had for Jesus and their zeal was contagious.  Those teenagers worshipped like crazy and I was shocked.  Sean spoke and still to this day, I can tell you his message.  It was so real and personal and my youth group kids flocked to the altar and I sat in my chair utterly amazed at how the anointing affected my youth group kids.  Needless to say, I was totally hooked forever.  We started doing a skit every month with our youth drama group and I joined as a leader and started helping with organization and promotion.  It was such an exciting time.  I was truly honored to be in leadership with such sold out, passionate, people who truly wanted to change the world and believed with God we could do it. 

Two of my favorite firstborns who make YQL happen!

We started these monthly prayer groups with local youth pastors and got all of them on board with YQL.  We started moving YQL shows from church to church and the shows started really growing.  All the Youth Pastors came together and we brought in recording artist, Eric Champion, for the first True Love Waits YQL show.  My church hosted it and I laugh now but I remember us sectioning off with yellow tape so people would only sit in the center section.  We had maximum amount of attendance and quickly had to remove the tape and set up more chairs for that concert.  It blew our minds and was the biggest YQL up to that point.  It continued to grow at an incredible rate topping out at over 5000 people at the Jacksonville Landing. 

I presented Sean with a 15th year
anniversary gift - a REAL light saber!

I truly believe that YQL is a visible example of that scripture in the Bible that says, where there is unity God commands a blessing.  I think it pleases the heart of God when churches come together to reach the lost.  His favor, blessing and anointing has always been on YQL and I think it always will as long as someone with Sean Yost’s heart is at the helm.  I have worked very closely with Sean for all this time and my respect and admiration grows daily.  He lives what he believes and that is my favorite thing about him.  There is no “real” Sean that you get to know eventually, disappointing you.  He is the real deal.  What you see is what you get.  He lives what he believes and wants to be all that God has called him to be. He sincerely loves people and will promote anything that he believes in.  I don’t think he has a competitive bone in his body.  He wants everyone to succeed.  He lives that verse, “whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things.” (Phillipians 4:8)

Pregnant with Bonnie!

Recently, he introduced me to a local pastor and the introduction he gave me was shocking.  I smiled and stood there and afterwards wept when I got home, the whole next day and every time I would think about it.  I didn’t even recognize the person he was talking about.  He was so kind, complimentary, and gave me WAYYYY too much credit for growing YQL and so many different things.  He loves me and sees more gifts and talents in me than I do. He has always insisted that I be on the YQL board with him and truly values my input and opinions. (which is a rare thing :)  I am truly thankful and humbled to serve with Sean.  I had no idea that random decision to be interviewed would so profoundly impact and change my and Dan's life forever, also my own family, youth group kids and next year, my own Bonnie! YQL has developed hundreds of Christian leaders and inspired countless others to make a difference in the world locally and through missions.  Today, Sean is on his way to China to start a YouthQuake Live and my heart and prayers are with him and always will be.  Thank you Sean for being an incredible example to all who know you!  Thank you for believing that we all can change the world and for teaching us if you aren’t living on the edge, than you’re taking up too much space!

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