Forever Changed

The following is a testimony of a student who experienced SERVE in Gallatin Valley, Montana in 2016, which forever changed her life.

Gallatin Valley SERVE 2016 showed me what it’s like to be a true Christian. Through my experience at SERVE, I was able to deepen my relationship with Christ by giving Him complete control of my life during the message that took place at the day at the lake.

My life is now forever changed. Christ is taking me places I could never go on my own. SERVE helped me realize God’s calling for my life. I am now planning on attending a Christian college in pursuit of a degree in youth ministry. I am also going on a six week mission trip to Southeast Asia this summer.

Thank you so much for forever changing my life! God bless!

How to Play Life Size Pac-Man Game (Easy Guide)

Are you trying to find group games to play at your SERVE youth mission trip site or even just with your Youth Group?

I worked at a camp for a few summers, and one of the games we played was life size Pac-Man (also known as “Human Pac-Man”). This quickly turned into one of my favorite games and is not too hard to pull off!

Here are instructions on how to make life size Pac-Man happen at your event.

Supplies:

  • Tape
  • Pool noodles
  • 2 Baskets or containers of some sort
  • A sheet or some kind of costume for a “Ghost”
  • A big room or outdoor space

Set-Up:

  1. Make a maze on the floor with the tape. Make sure the lanes are wide enough for someone to walk through comfortably. Pick two spots somewhere on the edges to be entrance/exits. Put a basket or container at each exit.
  2. Cut the pool noodles into little slices to act as the pieces the player will pick up along the way. You could also use coins or some other round object but we found pool noodle pieces were a good size.
  3. Choose two Ghosts (we found it best if a leader took on this role) and dress them up. We just used white sheets and wrapped them around ourselves.

Psst… Have you checked out our summer youth group mission trip locations for this year?

Rules:

  • There is 1 Pac-Man and 2 Ghosts in the maze at a time.
  • Pac-Men can go any direction and turn whenever they want as long as they stay within the lines of the maze.
  • Ghosts can only move forward, unless they reach a dead end (then, they can turn around).
  • Ghosts have to move at a consistent speed. It’s also more fun if they make beeping noises as they move.
  • A Pac-Man can deposit the pieces they have collected into their “bank” if they make it to one of the 2 exits. They can than re-enter the game to continue collecting pieces.
  • If a Ghost catches a Pac-Man, they lose a life and have to sacrifice all the pieces they are holding.
  • How to Win / When the Game Ends
    • The Ghosts win if the Pac-Man loses all their lives (you can choose how many lives they will have to vary the difficulty).
    • If a Pac-Man collects all the pieces before they lose their lives, they win.
  • Keeping Score:
    • If you want to play more than one game of life-size Pac-Man (ex. a tournament) or want to figure out who came in 2nd and 3rd place, you can count up the pieces each Pac-Man collected at the end of each game and use that as the score for that individual.

Speaking of fun things for youth groups to do, check out our summer youth mission trip locations in the USA and Canada!

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Why SERVE?

I participated in SERVE as a worksite supervisor for the three years my church hosted SERVE, and I can tell you that there are many good reasons to participate in SERVE.

First, it’s an excellent opportunity to engage with the next generation, the youth who will be called upon to sustain the Christian faith in the years ahead and pass it on to the generation after them.

Second, Youth Unlimited is very effective at partnering with churches and sharing their much needed experience so churches new to SERVE are able to host SERVE well right out of the starting blocks.

Third, I had recently completed a spiritual formation course where I discovered I had missed the mark in living a missionally obedient life. SERVE gave me an opportunity to get started.

Forth, once I experienced SERVE the first year and witnessed the impact on the youth, the adult volunteers and myself alike, I was ready to continue the following years. SERVE builds camaraderie among the youth and volunteers. It provides a sense of accomplishment for the projects completed. It emphasizes building relationships with people in the community by sharing God’s love in ways that meet their needs in very practical ways. It gives everyone opportunities to serve in the ways God has gifted them, thereby creating a beautiful orchestration of God’s body at work in unity together.

And most of all, it deepens our spiritual relationship with the Lord. Finally, when community residents come to the community dinner on the last night of SERVE and share their testimonies about the impact SERVE had on them, it caps off a great week by bringing glory to God, which is what we ultimately seek to do.

-SERVE Host Team Member

Would your church be interested in hosting SERVE? Click here for more information. You might also visit our SERVE Locations page to view other locations.

Seven Different Mentors Your Students Need

The following is a blog post by Tim Elmore of Growing Leaders. To view the original post, click here.

One of the most common questions I receive from college students is: “How do I find a mentor?” What they mean by this is—how can I locate or identify the right kind of mentor for my personal plans?” Over the years, I’ve found the majority of students say they desire to have a mentor in their life; someone they could call and bounce a question off of; someone who is slow to judge but quick to offer hope.

A couple of years ago, Gallup released findings from the largest representative study of U.S. college graduates. The Gallup-Purdue Index surveyed more than 30,000 graduates to find out whether or not they’re engaged in their work and thriving in their life. In short Gallup wondered: “Do college graduates end up with great jobs and great lives?”

One of the most memorable findings is: where you went to college matters less to your life after graduation than how you went to college. Inside Higher Ed states:

“Feeling supported and having deep learning experiences during college means everything when it comes to long-term outcomes after college. Unfortunately, not many graduates receive a key element of that support while in college: having a mentor. And this is perhaps the biggest blown opportunity in the history of higher ed.”

The students who succeeded were the ones who said, “I had a professor or a staff member who built a relationship with me and offered counsel during my tough semesters or uncertain days. It made all the difference in the world.”

Why Don’t We Do This?
Most of you reading this article will agree—students benefit from mentors. At the same time, more of us talk about mentoring than actually do it. Some of us excuse our lack of involvement by saying we can’t find “hungry students.” Others say they just don’t know what to say to connect with students. After all, they’re . . . uh . . . different. Many of us never mentor anyone because we hold a stereotype in our minds of what a mentor looks like. And . . . alas, we just don’t fit our own stereotype.

Perhaps this list below will help.

In their insightful book, Connecting, Dr. Robert Clinton and Paul Stanley outline the seven different kinds of mentors that most often exist in our lives. Dr. Clinton was one of my professors as I did my doctoral studies and has remained a long-distance mentor in my life. I have tweaked the list he offered to fit our world today, and I offer it to you below. It is important for us to examine these seven roles for two reasons:

  1. To determine which kind we most need in our own life.
  2. To determine which kind we are best suited to be for someone else.

Seven Kinds of Mentors

Knowing your personal style and gifts will enable you to better decide what kind of mentoring role you will successfully fulfill in a student’s life. Note these different kinds of mentors below:

  1. The Mentor Tutor
    They help with basic qualities and skills of maturation. It generally involves frequent meetings, and the agenda originates from the mentor—not the mentee. Why? Because the mentee is often young and inexperienced, not knowing what they must learn.
  2. The Mentor Personal Guide
    They offer accountability and direction as the mentee makes significant decisions. The mentee may already be mature, but just needs advisement on an infrequent basis. It still involves a maturation process, but it can be done by a peer with gifts or perspective.
  3. The Mentor Coach
    They provide motivation and skills needed to meet a task or a challenge. While there is a relationship, it can be a short-term connection until the mentee acquires the ability to perform a task independently. It involves meetings that are scheduled more on a project basis.
  4. The Mentor Counselor
    They furnish timely advice and perspective on self, others, and interests or passions. This mentor enables the mentee to step back and gain a big-picture view, adding insight on issues, for a person who’s less mature, experienced or has blind spots.
  5. The Mentor Teacher
    They impart knowledge and understanding on a specific subject. Mentor-teachers are most common when a mentee needs to learn more about a new issue and the mentor has the insights needed. It can involve frequent or infrequent meetings.
  6. The Mentor Sponsor
    They give out of their network, experience and accumulated knowledge. They may not be “conversationalists,” nor know a lot personally, but they generously give from their wealth of contacts and reading. They can offer protection and direction.
  7. The Mentor Model and Consultant
    They offer a living, personal example for life, marriage, family or career. Often seasoned veterans, they embody a wise lifestyle in each life station they experience along the way. They may be people of few words, but their lives are vivid sermons.

Questions:

Which of these mentor types do you need most yourself?

Which of these could you naturally become for a student?

 

Youth Unlimited organizes summer youth mission trips called SERVE at many different locations across the US and Canada. Click here to visit our SERVE Site Locations page.

Faces of ThereforeGo Summer, 2016

The following is from our Spring 2016 magazine. To view the whole magazine, click here.

Tyler Gaastra

Beckwith Hills Christian Reformed Church

Grand Rapids, MI

Q. What do you do in your free time?

A. In my free time I read history, philosophy and theology books and visit Civil War sites.

Q. Where would you like to travel someday?

A. I’d like to do a Reformation History Tour: Germany, Switzerland, the Netherlands and England.

Q. What do you do to stay relevant to youth?

A. Embrace change and technology.

Q. I never leave for youth group without my _____.

A. Wife.

Q. What’s your favorite place to meet with students, and why?

A. I like to have students over to our house for movies, sporting events and swimming.

 

Lesli Van Milligen

CrossPoint Christian Reformed Church

Brampton, ON

Q. Where could we find you at 10:00 AM on a Saturday morning?

A. Probably doing some type of youth ministry re-visioning retreat on behalf of Faith Formation Ministries. Many churches are rethinking their approach to youth ministry and I enjoy coming alongside them as they brainstorm new ways of reaching their youth.

Q. What’s your favorite place to meet with students, and why?

A. Any place with good coffee or interesting food—Student’s choice. I like them to introduce me to places that they enjoy and where they feel “safe”. They will want to introduce me to their friends or they will choose a place where they have the freedom to talk and not be recognized. I always make sure that their parents are aware that we are meeting and where.  

Q. What do you do to stay relevant to youth?

A. I find out what they are reading and read it myself so we can talk about it.  We often had students share music, TV shows or movie clips with the group, using a rubric we put together as a group to help students talk about why that particular piece of pop culture was relevant to them and to dissect where it supported or challenged their faith.  Great discussions. 

Q. What do you do in your free time?

A. Because we love to cook, when we are not having folks over for a meal, my husband and I are working through a list of 501 must see classic movies.

Q. Where would you like to travel someday?

A. I would love to return to Spain. I studied and interned there on several occasions. I even preached my first sermon in Spanish while working with youth outside of Madrid.  

Kevin VanderVeen

Covenant Christian Reformed Church

St. Catharines, ON

Q. What resource has inspired you for ministry lately?

A. I have been journeying through the Ridder Church Renewal through Western Theological Seminary. The process has been inspiring and encouraging.

Q. Where could we find you at 10:00 AM on a Saturday morning?

A. At home, sitting by my fireplace, reading Scripture. Saturdays are my Sabbath.

Q. If your students described you in five words or less, what would they say?

A. Giving, athletic and sensitive.

Q. What do you do in your free time?

A. In my free time I play hockey, exercise, host friends at my home or support my youth by going to their games/events.

Q. What do you do to stay relevant to youth?

A. Love them and listen to them. The most important part is being present with them and leading them into the Word of God.

An Open Letter to Our Graduating Seniors

Dear High School Seniors,

It’s here! Your long-awaited, joy-filled, nerve-racking day is finally here! You are graduating from high school, and today we are certain you’re looking back saying, “Wait, where did the time go?!”

Oh seniors, there are so many things we want to tell you, it’s hard to know where to begin. Your life is such an adventure; each day ordained by God. In the days to come, you will know trial, pain, loss and grief. But more than these things, you will know peace, love, comfort, joy and hope beyond what you can even imagine.

God’s plans for you are so much bigger than you can comprehend, and this is only the beginning of a long period of looking back and being amazed at what God has done. Take this moment; take this day to stand in awe of his faithfulness to you over the last 18 years. The things God has brought you through, the doors he has opened for you and the passions he has placed on your heart are the opposite of small.

Perhaps as you look back you feel a mix of things. There are seasons where your life looks more like a battlefield than a safe haven. You have known loss and trial beyond what any 18 year old should know. You are in his hands, and yes, he IS working all things together for your good. There is time for things to improve. He has an amazing plan for YOU.

In other seasons, looking back is sweet. God has filled your life with joy and good things. Rejoice in what he has done and the ways he has provided! Know that every good and perfect gift is from above, and praise him for how gentle he has been with your heart. Use this season to pursue him more, so that when trials come, you have a solid rock to stand on.

Seniors, we want you to know how much we have loved you. Our prayer for you is that you go forth into the world in confidence and hope; knowing his ways are higher than your ways and his thoughts are higher than your thoughts.

We are so proud of you. You have accomplished much; you have amazed yourself, your parents and us through your service, love, commitment and growth. You’ve been leaders this year through your words and actions. As you step into new adventures, be they college, work or missions, know that we are right behind you, cheering you on and believing in you more than you’d ever think possible.

We are having a hard time letting you go. You’ve brought us joy, laughter, life and love. You’ve led us into a deeper knowledge and revelation of God; you’ve driven us into the throne room for intercession, and you’ve shown us what it means to live in wonder of God. Your leadership in your schools and youth group has inspired us to say “yes” to the Kingdom more, and you’ve blessed us beyond what you’ll ever know.

As you step into a new season of life, know that we are never far away. In your youth leaders, you will always have a confidant, a prayer warrior and a friend. God goes before you; do not be afraid.

With all our love,
Your youth leaders

“The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.” Deuteronomy 31:8

Learn about our SERVE high school summer mission trips.

Combat the Ministry Blues

We love the students in our ministry, don’t we?

They cause us to laugh so hard we cry. They challenge us to staring contests with billboards (we always lose). They come up with the wackiest ideas, and they try their very hardest to keep us up to date on the latest slang (bless their hearts).

We would do anything for them.

They are the reason our cell phone is on loud next to our bed at 3:30 in the morning. We have cried tears of bitter pain on their behalf and along with them. They have shown us the incredible amount of hurt in the world, which seems to be exposed to our high schoolers at younger and younger ages.

I know I am not alone in saying if I could, I would give my students the world. I would take away the pressure of being skinny enough, of making the baseball team or of finding the perfect date to the prom in a heartbeat if I were able. But I can’t.

Youth ministry (or any type of ministry, really) can be just plain emotionally draining. We feel it – the ache, the tension, the joy, the excitement. A text from a student can change the entire course of our day. A Wednesday night at youth group tires us out in ways we didn’t even realize were possible. Sometimes, we come back from youth group and want to share the amazing ways Jesus was working in our students’ hearts in such a short amount of time, and sometimes we come back and just want to throw a pizza in the oven and have our backs rubbed.

Both are legitimate.

Youth worker, your emotional health matters. Because each day has the power to be filled with such intense emotions, we need to recognize the mood swings and learn how we respond to them. It is downright difficult to lead a student who struggles with depression if your own depression is out of control. It feels like the straw that breaks the camel’s back when a student makes a joke about how “old” you are after a long day of fighting for more funding for your summer mission trip. Sometimes, stress from our own personal life causes us to have to take the night off, or the month off, or the rest of the year off.

Learning to cope with the different mood swings you will have in youth ministry begins with recognizing that this is not an easy task. Retreats and Serve trips can make it seem like youth ministry is a lot of fun, and it certainly is. However, if we are only in it for the fun we get to have sporadically throughout the year, I would argue we are in it for the wrong reasons. High school is hard, and it tests our kids. Being an adult is hard, and it tests us in some pretty significant ways as well.

So when the hard times come, and they frequently do, it’s important to have an action plan in place for yourself to combat the ministry blues. Treat yourself to some alone time, and do what it takes to recharge there: buy yourself a cup of coffee, take a walk, or take a nap. Make time for those you are close to outside of ministry: leave your phone in the car when you’re out for date night, binge watch your favorite series on Netflix with a friend, or call your parents.

Know that your emotional health matters equally as much as that of your students. Do what you need to do to keep yourself healthy for the sake of your family and friends.

Bridging Generations

One of the many tensions in youth ministry is how much to integrate youth programs with the larger church. Many youth programs have their own separate wing of the church and do not feel connected to the church. It is essential that teenagers maintain their Christian identity with the larger church so they continue to attend, post-graduation. However, teenagers have unique needs that are different from children and adults that require special attention. So how does a church find this balance?

The first thing a youth pastor can do is observe and assess what is currently being done. How many graduates stay in the church if they stay local? Do they attend another church if they are carrying out their vocation elsewhere? What types of services do students attend currently? Is the midweek program highly attended by teens but not Sunday mornings? If there is also a Sunday morning youth gathering, and do students attend that and the preaching service? If not, a good, small change to start is to encourage students to attend the preaching service so they will continue to attend upon graduation.

Another area of consideration, in addition to regular weekly programming, is how much to integrate events. Even though many teenagers loathe their parents during their teenage years, they can be connected to other generations. Perhaps high schoolers can join a young adult group for worship or they can share a camp for a winter retreat. Giving students informal ways to connect with older generations, other than their parents, gives them valuable relationships.

Some churches opt to involve parents in annual events such as a school year kick off. It really depends on the culture of the church. Some churches, however, find it best to have parent meetings separate from youth gatherings. Having “parent nights” or events where parents attend alienates students who do not come from Christian families. It wouldn’t be uncommon at an event in which parents were encouraged to attend with their students for the youth pastor to ask the parents to pray with their students. This has the potential to be a difficult situation to navigate, both practically and emotionally speaking, for a student whose parents may either not be present or may be present, but not be Christians. Youth pastors must think through the implications of events like this. Perhaps, the youth pastor could have warned the student before and/or assigned him another family with whom he/she could pray.

Youth can join their parents and be included in annual church wide events such as picnics. However, the key to getting teenagers to attend is getting them to serve in some way, or having an aspect of the events that will appeal to them. (Lots of students have always wanted to put their youth pastor in a dunk tank!) Teenagers have gifts that need to be used by the church at large—from dishing out food to playing music. These experiences are invaluable to their spiritual development and religious identity.

Overall, a youth pastor should not be making these decisions on his or her own. “Outsiders”, such as parents, elders and other pastors, ought to be included on these discussions. Asking outsiders to brainstorm alongside the youth pastor can bring in different perspectives and judgment calls. Ultimately, a youth pastor should be in prayer on this tension to seek the Spirit’s guidance on what is best for the specific congregation.

 

Youth Unlimited organizes summer missions trips for young adults, high school and middle school age at locations across the United States and Canada. Visit our SERVE page for more information about the trips, or visit our site locations page to see where some of our next SERVE Missions will be held.

Why Your Next Training Event Will Fail

Do “life changing” events really change lives? The following is a post by Tim Elmore of Growing Leaders. To view the original post click here.

A few years ago, a university invited me to come and speak at their annual leadership lecture series. This is an endowed event every year, but that particular year—they decided to really make it big. The staff wanted to see life-change in the students who attended. We spent hours on the phone preparing for those two days, brainstorming creative elements, interviews to be done, videos we could show, etc. It was certain to be the highlight of the school year and a surefire life-transforming event.

We pulled off the event spectacularly. Everything came off without a hitch or a glitch. Sadly, however, the administration told me that within a month, nothing really changed. Within four to six weeks, life on the campus returned to normal. The routines continued and all the great ideas evaporated.

I wish this was an isolated incident. But too many life-changing events don’t actually change any lives.

As a kid, before I became a type one diabetic, I loved cotton candy. It was the snack of choice when our family visited a theme park or local carnival. For me, there was nothing like eating a huge swirl of blue or pink cotton candy on a summer day—walking between Tomorrowland and the Matterhorn at Disneyland. One afternoon, my sister couldn’t finish her cotton candy. Naturally, I offered to finish it for her. I had just downed mine, and I had no idea how a second helping would impact my stomach. I soon found out. I got sicker than a dog. It was an awful way to spend an afternoon.

I have since come to understand the true value of cotton candy. It is a tasty treat in small doses. It’s delicious, but it was never intended to replace a nutritious meal. It’s pure sugar, for Pete’s sake. It’s a dessert. You don’t eat it until you’re full. In fact, it disintegrates when it hits your tongue or fingers.

I could say the same things about leadership training events, hosted by organizations or schools across the U.S. Administrators make the mistake I did with cotton candy. We overdose on events that can never actually nourish us. They motivate, but they can’t mature someone in their leadership skills. And even the motivation vanishes quickly. I bet that annual conference you just attended is nothing but a great memory in the minds of your students. No lasting change took place—except for a notebook that now collects dust on your shelf. Like cotton candy, we all love events—but they’re sugar. They energize us, but don’t last.

Events and Process

It’s not a new thought. People enjoy events because they stimulate and motivate—but we all know we need a growth process following the event, if we hope to make it last. In other words, after attending a training event, most people require an on-going journey; a community of relationships where the discussion expands. In the process, people continue to talk about and apply the principles that were introduced at the event. This is how good habits begin. This is how life change occurs. Every one of us needs a process that follows the event to seal what was learned. Look at the value of both:

Events Process
1. Encourage decisions 1. Encourages development
2. Motivate people 2. Matures people
3. Create a calendar issue 3. Creates a consistency issue
4. Challenge people 4. Changes people
5. Become a catalyst 5. Becomes a culture
6. Usually influence a big group 6. Usually influences a small group
7. Typically are easy 7. Typically is difficult

There is nothing wrong with events. I believe, however, that both students and adults require the combination of events and process in order to grow. They often need a catalyst (at an event) to spark a decision. Then they need a week by week process to follow through and implement that decision into their life. The younger an audience is, the more they need a process to be in place to foster growth. Further, the younger an audience is, the more concrete this process must be. It cannot be abstract or conceptual. The process must be specific and intentional. Sadly, for most students—this is a luxury. We whisk them off to the next concert, retreat, conference or convention. We’re on to a new subject. This is why so few lasting changes happen after summer youth camp. It was a great event—but no process followed

The Non-Negotiables: What Does a Student Development Process Look Like?

So just what is required to do a leader-development process? No doubt the process can take on many forms. No two may look alike. I believe, however, the essential elements are listed below.

  1. Community Interaction

People need to interact. They learn as much through uploading as they do receiving a download of information from a leader. They learn best in social contexts. Engagement and ownership of the issue increases as students have the opportunity to push back and think out loud with a handful of others.

  1. Relevant Resources

To insure the interaction doesn’t get hijacked into a black hole, resources are helpful to furnish direction and discovery. They are not a “god” but a guide. A resource could be a book, a podcast, MP3 download, article, CD or DVD to stimulate thoughtful reflection and discussion on the topic.

  1. Facilitated Exercise

This element stimulates members of the community by involving them in more than discussion. It invites other senses through role-playing, case studies, activities, or hypothetical situations. By engaging their imagination, these exercises awake the creative right brain.

  1. Real-Time Modeling

A good process always includes a leader within the community who incarnates the principle being discussed. Because people do what people see, the conversation gains traction because a leader is providing a living example—not merely words. As the saying goes, actions always speak louder.

  1. Action Steps

At some point in the process, a leader should challenge the community with a real-life assignment. People must have the opportunity to practice the truth they are learning. Many students today are primarily kinesthetic learners, and they require activity in their growth process.

  1. Measured Assessment

It has been said that experience is the best teacher. I believe evaluated experience is the best teacher, because folks can easily have a bad experience and draw the wrong conclusion. Students need adults to help them process successes and failures in order to draw the right life application. A process should include a time of evaluation of each student’s growth.

  1. Time Elapse

A process cannot take place overnight, any more than a mom or dad can parent a child overnight. Learning requires time to pass for ideas to be digested. Most plants and animals do not grow up in a day or two. Neither do leaders. They are grown in crockpots—not microwave ovens.

I suggest that you never plan an event unless you also plan a process to follow that event. When I visit a campus and teach leadership, our team works with the host to plan that follow-up process. When students are placed in mentoring groups for a semester, they begin to apply leadership principles to their life. The event gains traction. The groups provide accountability, support and a laboratory to practice leadership skills with one another. Someone once said: “You can usually do less than you think you can in one week, but more than you think you can in one year.” I believe the same is true about events and process. Never underestimate the power of the process—it leads to healthy growth. You might say that process is like eating several good meals…along with your cotton candy.

He Delights in Using Young People

“And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days. I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and billows of smoke.” Joel 2:28-29

Sometimes we forget I’m not old enough to rent a van…or drive a rental van, for that matter.

I started leading a youth group at the age of 19. Being just months older than a handful of my students was daunting at best, terrifying at worst. For every time a student questioned my authority, I questioned my own authority five times. I really did not have a clue, and now in my second year of youth ministry, I can confidently assert that I still have absolutely no clue how this came to pass in my life.

I’m still a baby in the faith, honestly. I made the commitment to serve God with my life five years ago this summer, and though I am a theology student at a brilliant private college, I find each day I have more questions about who God is and what he is doing than I did before I started.

My church is made up of young leadership. We have a young pastor, a young worship leader and a young youth leader. This has its negative aspects, for sure, but there are certainly some amazing positives.

I often feel like I have an incredible advantage because of my youth. The insider perspective I have on youth culture helps me to have grace for the students’ situations, however large or small they may be. This gives me grace to be an advocate for them, an advocate to their parents and an advocate before the throne of Jesus to intercede for them. This is a responsibility I do not take lightly.

I love to watch my students grow. I love to grow with them. I love that we are all new to this “follower of Jesus” thing and I love that we are asking the same questions. I love that we are asking different questions.

I love that Jesus delights in using young people, as messy, confused and fallible as we are. I love that his Spirit is poured out on all of us, men, women, young and old – he holds nothing back in his outpouring of revelation. I love that he is raising up a new generation of leaders, and that, for some crazy reason, he decided to give me a front row seat to the most beautiful journey I could ever imagine.

Review: Youth Ministry in a Post-Christian World

The following is a post written by Eric Woods on EricDWoods.com.

Youth Ministry | Youth Unlimited Summer MissionsI finished this book on an 8-hour drive, alone in the car. And although it was my Kindle reading out loud to me with its robotic, text-to-speech voice, I felt as if Brock himself was in the seat next to me, telling his own story. And that’s what this book is: it’s Brock’s own story. It’s how he came to the realization that youth ministry today had to look different than it did twenty years ago.

This is, without a doubt the best book on youth ministry I’ve read in over a decade.

And, while this is not a how-to manual for ministry in this new world, you simply can’t read this book without stopping to rethink your own approach to the students you love and serve. In fact, I think that’s his goal. He says, “The world needs great youth workers who will teach students how to think, not spoon-feed them what to think.” And so he models it for us in the pages of this book, not so much telling us what to do in response, but inviting us to rethink it together.

One warning: if you’re still like the guy Brock heard on the radio who said, “When I was a youth pastor in the ‘80s, we just taught the Bible and that was enough,” this book may offend you. And that just might be a good thing.

Don’t Eat the Last Twinky

The following post is from How to Plan a Mission Trip. To view the original post, click here.

For years, I have invited long term missionaries to the trainings I do with short termers. One story in particular stood out… the missionary recounted how the remoteness of their field left little room for luxury. Each time they returned to the USA, they brought back a package of Twinkies for the freezer. On a family member’s birthday, they pulled one out… put a candle in it… and sang Happy Birthday.

One summer, a short term team came. The missionaries offered the typical “mi casa es su casa” to the team but were horrified a few days later when one of their children ran in blurting through tears “They ate the WHOLE Twinkies package!”

Undoubtedly, the short term missionary was hungry for a late night snack, walked to the fridge and said to a teammate “Dude, they have Twinkies in here! Want one?” One simple act of inconsideration obliterated a year’s stash of birthday hope.

Short term missions can easily deflate, discourage and undermine the work of a long term missionary. How do you make sure that your team does the opposite on your visit? Here are a few principles to follow.

1. Go as a servant rather than a consumer. Ask short term participants to discuss how they would want a guest to behave in their own home. Then ask them to apply these thoughts to their stay as a guest with the missionary.

2. Let the missionary set the pace. Sometimes a short term missionary attempts to help by being proactive and creates more work for the host. Show your willingness to help, but let the missionary tell you what to do, how much and when.

3. Remember, they may want something different. It may be that help with the dishes is far less important than the enjoyment of carrying on a full conversation in English. Missionaries have physical and emotional needs that result from their location and service. Be sensitive to these needs and try to meet them, even if they are not so obvious at first glance.