PictureJeff Bronner (in the middle) with his kids from Northwest

One of the awesome things about working with YOKE is getting to work with volunteers and leaders who are former YOKE kids. Many of these chose to become YOKE Folk because of the impact that a YOKE Folk had on them as a middle school student. Now, as young adults, they want to have that same kind of impact on students. Jeff Bronner is one such volunteer. 

When Jeff was a middle school student, he regularly attended YOKE club at Northwest Middle and came to every camp. According to Jeff, “YOKE was a place where people were happy.” At home things were much different. Jeff looked up to his two older brothers, but both were into drugs and crime. 

Jeff said, “I often came home and expected not to see my brothers, but I would go to YOKE and knew that my YOKE Folk Chad would be there every week. Chad was cool, easy to get along with, and was about the same age as my brothers. He was the most influential person shaping my behavior. I loved YOKE because I had a solid brother-type relationship with Chad. “

As Jeff went through high school and started college he said, “I often asked myself what would Chad do in this situation? That was how I made decisions.” But it wasn’t until six years after Jeff left YOKE that he decided to put his trust in Christ. As he grew in his relationship with Christ, he began to recognize his job as a believer was to minister to and share with others. When he and his fiance’ applied to work with YOKE, Jeff’s desire was to go back to Northwest and invest there. “I love it,” he said. “At camp I got to develop better relationships with my boys. I realize just how blessed I am.”

YOKE is always looking for more volunteers like Jeff to pour into middle school kids. For more information on how you can get involved, visit our volunteer page or email us at yoke@yokeyouth.com.