More than 60 years of existence have not slowed down the worldwide "Young Life'' movement, the founder of the youth organisation's Bermuda chapter said this week.

Present on the Island since 1964, Young Life, an inter-denominational Christian outreach fellowship, is currently working with young people on every continent and even breaking new ground in the former Soviet Union, Mr. Francis (Goose) Gosling told Hamilton Rotarians at the Princess Hotel.

"For three summers since the break-up of the Soviet Union, 100 kids from the USA have gone on an exchange visit to work with youth groups in club and camp situations,'' Mr. Gosling, a former Olympic diver and long-time supporter of Young Life, said in his lunchtime speech.

"It was so successful that a suggestion was made that the Americans should assist the Russians to build a camp near Moscow.'' In a contrast to its current worldwide activities, the Young Life movement had a modest beginning in 1938, when a young American seminary student named Jim Rayburn was challenged by a senior Presbyterian minister to bring the wayward youth of Gainesville, Texas into the church.

Since then, the guidance and sense of community that the organisation prides itself in offering to its charges has expanded to an unprecedented degree, overseeing camps and spiritual retreats from the wealthiest of industrialised nations to the slums of Asia and Africa.

Mr. Gosling, who represented Bermuda as a springboard diver in two Olympic Games (London in 1948 and Helsinki in 1952) and was made a Member of the British Empire for his work with youth and sport, established the organisation in Bermuda in the early 1960s, when he was working as a football coach.

According to him, the need for Young Life in both Bermuda and elsewhere is now more pressing than ever.

"It seems,'' Mr. Gosling told the assembly, "that every year it gets harder and harder for kids to grow up. The teen years are the beginnings of the big decision-making years of our lives. If (youths) are not well aware that there are consequences -- often very serious consequences -- to every decision they make, they flounder.

"Young Life,'' he continued, "believes that there is a higher authority -- God's word -- to which we should all submit. Some of us find this out later in life. We believe it is much better to find it out at the beginning.'' As Mr. Gosling pointed out, the Young Life organisation tries to provide youths with the answers that society and the media cannot.

"This involves entering into their lives by being where they are, doing what they like to do, organising activities that will draw them together with us.

"As friendships are developed, we earn the right to be heard. They learn that we are genuine, we are interested in them and their lives. They learn that we care.'' Even so, Mr. Gosling said, Young Life's Bermuda chapter, which has weekly club meetings during the school term and sends at least one group of Bermudians to a summer camp in the US each year, does face its challenges.

Chief among these challenges is a dearth of adult leaders.

"Our ability to multiply our numbers depends heavily on the number of leaders we can raise,'' Mr. Gosling told the Rotarians. "Going away to college for four or more years, getting married, new job responsibilities and even leaving Bermuda have all played their part in reducing our leadership numbers.'' Citing ideal leaders as "Christian men and women who have a heart for young people,'' Mr. Gosling consequently urged any interested parties to contact the organisation.

Young Life's programmes are currently aimed at teenagers aged 14 to 18.

Mr. Gosling said this week that Young Life is also developing a programme this year for those aged 12 to 14.

YOUNG LIFER -- Mr. Francis (Goose) Gosling of the local Young Life movement said the need for organisations like his is now more pressing than ever.