FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE July 26, 2021
Lucky Sevan Foundation – Founded in 2007
Leading up to the summer of 2006, two return missionaries, Paul Miller and his best friend, Evan Rogers were guided to mentor two Hawaiian teenage young men. They mentored them through some challenging spots in their lives, and eventually took them surfing. The positive vibes these youth felt from that impromptu trip encouraged them to identify and invite (7) more young men within their local LDS Stakes. This trip allowed them to mentor and teach them to surf in just one weekend in San Diego that turned into a life changing experience for these youth, too – several of the young men that were not planning to serve full-time missions, ultimately found their testimonies on the beach and decided to serve missions as a result of this one weekend together!
15 years and counting Lucky Sevan, (L7) as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit foundation in the U.S. with over 1,500 youth attending, L7 has a honed and proven curriculum for LDS Youth discovering that the beach is one of the safest most inclusive places God created for his children to find peace, joy and even feel the Savior’s love and acceptance for them.
Lucky Sevan Young Men’s Leadership Retreat photo in 2018 at San Onofre State Beach, San Clemente, CA.
It is in this dynamic beach environment – much like in the lives of many youth – L7 is figuring out how to successfully stretch and teach youth core character life building skills through tailored workshops, yoga and meditation sessions, team building activities, and powerful and spiritually filled evening devotionals founded on LDS gospel principles taught in the Book of Mormon. The youth of today CAN, and MUST do hard things, learn accountability, and understand how to access the Atonement of Jesus Christ, but in a visceral and tangible way that becomes powerfully unforgettable and authentic to them to be truly converted successfully in their life’s journey, and prepare them to make and keep sacred covenants in preparation for the Lord’s Second Coming. But yet, sadly more and more LDS youth are not, and are falling away from the covenant path.
Today, L7 holds (2) separate 5-day youth leadership retreats each summer on the west coast at The Cliffs of San Onofre State Beach in San Clemente, San Diego: (1) camp youth leadership retreat for (70) young women (15-19 years of age) in June, and (1) leadership retreat for (70) young men (15-19 years of age) in July. It is the retreat’s inspired organization and the way in which each youth belongs to a crew that makes these retreats for youth so impactful. Part of each youth’s registration process is to complete a personal bio that allows the retreat’s camp director to prayerfully select each of the (10) crew captains and co-captains, and then determine to which of the (10) crews they will be assigned. The (70) spots fill up in months after opening up, and due to COVID, they are now booked out to 2025 in advance. (2) youth retreats per year are just not enough. The foundation is now adding more camps each year to accommodate the ever-growing demand, and COVID of 2020 has only made this that much more apparent to the youth, parents, and leaders of youth.
Lucky Sevan Young Women’s Leadership Retreat photo in 2019 at San Onofre State Beach, San Clemente, CA.
An 8 minute demo from the documentary highlighting a 2019 young women’s youth retreat (pictured above) can be previewed here: https://www.facebook.com/108127507335692/videos/735704560245925
Additionally, the foundation’s board has garnered support to help bring this impactful program to the East Coast, and Internationally. The board is committed to helping the foundation reach their goal to raise $2,000,000 in the next (2) years so they can expand their program to the East Coast in Cocoa Beach, Florida, and abroad globally to other coastal countries. In September 2020, they met with local stake presidents, and additional influential LDS church leaders and members in Cocoa Beach, Florida stakes. All endorsed L7’s program and mission for helping LDS Youth. L7’s Board is also in conversations with church and community leaders abroad in (7) other countries that were introduced to their program with an excitement akin to the L7 Founders to create L7 Chapters in their native countries.
To help with the foundation’s cause of expanding globally, they have begun filming a documentary that will be available to media outlets such as BYUtv, YouTube, Amazon and other channels to help in expanding the foundation’s mission and awareness to help even more youth and adults in and outside the LDS Church come unto Christ. To this end, they have been meeting privately to identify executive producers to produce The Spirit of Power, Lucky Sevan documentary so they can continue and finalize film production. To view the upcoming documentary packet for executive producers, click on the link below: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1n6DrQdcY-slB1mK6DVfHU6MEhIMXp_1d/view?usp=sharing
Concluding retreat devotional on the beach with the youth reading their scriptures by the aid of their headlamps.
Lucky Sevan Foundation is a nonprofit, 501(c)(3) organization. To learn more about Lucky Sevan (L7) online, please visit them at www.luckysevan.org. You may also contact the foundation’s Founder and CEO, Evan Rogers with any questions and to inquire further information about its upcoming programs, dates, and locations for youth and adults, email: [email protected], mobile: 602.620.3417