Tag: Youth Unlimited

A Look Back at Brighton Serve 2015

The following is a reflection on Brighton Serve 2015 by Linda Jeronimus:
“As the Father has sent me, so I send  you.  Receive now the Holy Spirit.” John 20:21b
Our church responded “Here I am (we are) Lord.”
From prayer shawl makers, prayer partners, kitchen help, worksite volunteers, creative Gems, encouraging words, those who donated food and items needed to make our church home to 40 youth and leaders, to the sound and overhead booth experts, the clean up crews, the tech savvy, drivers, financial help, to the host team planners, what an amazing church response! Brighton Fellowship showed what Serve is all about! Our church family embraced the teams that came in and encouraged them to go out as we are called.
We sure did not do this alone. We thank Ajax Serve for letting us job shadow last summer. In February, a group of us attended Youth Unlimited’s Summit in Grand Rapids where ideas and encouragement were shared by all. (Thanks also to Alesha and Jerry for keeping us on track, you helped make our first year as a host team a very positive experience! Please know that you are an important part of our team!)
And now, we had a great week! Gord Park was our speaker for the week and our worship band was FMReset. Together they shared their gifts through words, thoughts and ideas, testimonies and music – inspiring!
During the days we worked at different homes in Brighton and Colborne through an organization called Community Care. Much of the work in Brighton was painting, yard work, some renovation work and light construction. We also had a chance to offer a free car wash with the Fire Department donating all the supplies needed. On Friday, we had a Food Bank Drive at No-Frills with many shoppers picking up groceries to fill up the van. The Food Bank sent us a thank you note for the large supply of food and money donated. Great job to the youth and leaders for helping feed the hungry!
One of our jobs was in the Frankford area, getting an old building ready to set up for a Community Partners for Success program. The building was nothing special to look at on Monday but by Friday there were fresh painted walls and a finished mural at the front entrance!
Another one of our jobs was the New Life Girls Home, a home for young women struggling with issues. A Serve team worked one day and were invited to come back and be treated to lunch the next!
We learned to be flexible. We had a really neat opportunity to be part of a community track event. We showered everyday at the local high school and for the first time the community was hosting a twilight track event with a steeplechase run.  Some of our youth and leaders wanted to participate so…..everything got shifted 20 minutes and we all put on our Serve t-shirts and cheered our youth and leaders. It reminded me of running the race set before us with a “cloud of witnesses”!
Lives were changed and the Lord breathed his Spirit into all who were here. Youth and leaders shared how the Lord changed their hearts and made them stretch in ways they could not imagine.
Below are just a couple excerpts of some of the notes we received:
From Heather – “What a wonderful service you have initiated to show God’s love in the community. I have been blessed by the wonderful people who have worked diligently to fix up my home. I am more grateful to them and all the people at your church who have contributed to this wonderful service to God and the communities you have helped.” Heather gave all the youth at her place little gifts, it felt like Christmas! She has no money and still gave gifts and a donation to us for next year.
From Alice – “To everyone, I had a wonderful time with all the young people also the leader Eric, it was a wonderful day. I got all my windows nice and clean.” (Alice has come to church every Sunday since.) One of the youth sent a beautiful letter to her prayer partner, an elderly lady and one of the youth also sent a beautiful letter to Alice. Both these women are sharing the letters with others to read!
We also received a thank you from John, a youth leader from Flint, Michigan who has no support from his church. Two of his youth committed their hearts to the Lord during Serve and John was overwhelmed. He told me I had to tell our church that he was truly encouraged by the love and support of our congregation and said, “This church is Spirit filled – it is so obvious.” He told us he was going back encouraged to continue to work with the youth and share the good news of Jesus!
I can go on and on, we were so blessed and we thank the Lord that others were blessed through us.
God has an amazing way of using our plans to change hearts. It was all in his plan from the beginning. We were overwhelmed.
Thanks to the Lord for all He has done!

 

After Serve – The Other 51

What do people experience after Serve?

A lot of people who go on Serve find that they are:
1. More thankful for what they have and want to be more generous with it. After meeting people with great needs and seeing God as the Provider we need to practice giving thanks in all circumstances and giving all we have back to him.
2. Quicker to pray about just about everything. Be ready for the Holy Spirit to prompt you and be obedient. You might have had a very close connection to God on Serve – keep it by praying without ceasing.
3. Emotional about worship and changed lives. Fan the flame beyond your emotions to a place of deep transformation and conviction. Make worshipping and caring for others what your life is all about.
4. Ready to serve in his/her own backyard. Sometimes volunteering close to home doesn’t seem as exciting but it is where we can truly be in community and see God work consistently. Grow to a place of maturity where serving others becomes exciting because that’s what God is doing and not just because that’s what your friend is doing or there is a trip involved.
5. In a spiritual battle. Don’t be too hard on yourself if you got home and messed up somehow. Set your attention and your affection back on God (Colossians 3:1,2) and be sure to stay close to your youth group or a couple friends from church for the rest of the year.

To those who were at Serve this past summer, continue to Serve the other 51 weeks!

The Promise of Serve Projects

The following is a piece by Jason Leif, originally written for The Twelve.

At the institution where I teach I’ve come to be known as the “guy who hates serve projects.” This comes from my ineffective attempts to carefully critique all of the money and time that go into these projects, as well as the terrible theology that is often used to justify them. As much as I would try to tell people that I don’t hate them and that I believe they can be important transformative experiences—the label has stuck. I stand by my critique, and I’m not the only one who feels this way. Over the past ten years or so there have been a number of people who have articulated the problems with these projects much better than I can.

St Pauls Indian Mission Door

This morning, however, I’m getting ready to lead my second serve project in as many years. Tomorrow young people from Canada and the U.S. will gather in a small church in Sergeant Bluff, Iowa for a week of worship, fellowship, and work. We call it Prairie Serve. The idea came to me a few years ago when I was having a conversation with someone about the issues facing rural America. Look at a map of the most economically impoverished parts of the United States and you’ll see they are not in urban areas; they are in rural areas. Arizona, New Mexico, and South Dakota are all lit up on these maps…the one I was looking at was a dark blue. These are the places Native Americans inhabit—the reservations as they are called. This week a group of young people will be working with Pastor Lowell from the Winnebago Reformed Church painting houses, doing yard work, demolishing dilapidated structures, and meeting new people. But that’s not why we go.

Inside St Pauls Indian Mission

The reason I started this serve project is because I want young people to encounter the diversity that lives right in their own back yard. As a planning team we try to make sure that we deal with the messiah complex right away. We’re not “saving” anyone by painting houses or mowing a lawn; in fact I’m not sure the work we do matters all that much in the end. But we are meeting our neighbor; we are putting ourselves in a place where we encounter the other…where we encounter difference. My hope for this project is not that these young people will think they are bringing God to the Native people or the Lao people, but that the Native people and the Lao people will open up an encounter of God for us—that we will come to see how God is at work in ways we could never imagine.

 

Country Road and Field

So that’s why I’m helping to lead a serve project this week. Sure there will be time for silliness, time for play and time for eating good food, but this will all take place within the context of a time of being opened up to encounter our neighbor in ways that crack open our own religious and cultural worldview. In teaching VBS to Lao kids, in attending the annual Winnebago Pow Wow, and in painting a house for a young family in need, these young people will be opening themselves up to encounter the God who in Jesus Christ has promised to come to us in ways we never expect. That’s my hope for this week, and that’s why I love serve projects.

No Longer a Mission Trip – Just Life – The Other 51

The following is an excerpt from the student’s devotions in our 2015 theme material at Live It and Serve this summer.

It was Friday of my mission week. That week was the first week I had ever sat with a homeless man. I took my tray and sat with him at that soup kitchen. That moment changed my life. That was Monday night. For the rest of the week, I jumped right in. During the day, we served at a drop-in for children who did not know if there was a place for them to sleep at night. There were children as young as five years old living outside at night. My heart was broken. God had ripped my heart in half with the injustice that thrived in North America. Daily, I became better friends with these children. They had so much life in them. One young boy could almost dunk a basketball and he was much shorter than my six-foot frame. We re-told Bible stories, sang worship songs, and ate meals together. I loved the life I was living that week, but it was now Friday. We were going to leave the next day.

At lunch, that Friday, our church family for the weekend hosted an outdoor picnic for the people in the neighbourhood. Picnic tables were set up in the church parking lot as the sun blazed down. Beverages in coolers full of ice and ham sandwiches were brought out from the kitchen. As with the rest of the week, we sat with our friends on the street. We did not serve them. That sets up a power play. If you serve someone, you are telling him/her you are higher up and have power. If you sit with someone, you are declaring that you are his/her friend. In sitting together, you can serve one another. The impoverished can serve the rich and the rich can serve the poor. We are one. I sat with three people I recognized from the week. We shared a few laughs about pro football teams. We talked about the church.

“They really love this community – do meals like this quite regularly…and they even sit with us!”

“Not every church does that,” another chimed in.

We finished up the meal, chatted a bit longer, and they got up to leave. Handshakes and hugs followed.

“I’ll be praying for you brother as you go home.” Thomas said as he walked away.

Pastor Steve was standing and watching. He and I had had a few talks during the week about why they do what they do. After my three friends left, I walked over to him.

“You see those three much?” I enquired.

“Two of them yes. Thomas disappears every now and then…” Steve started.

“Disappears?”

“He gets too close to us. It reminds him of too much of his past and he just disappears. Drugs sometimes. Another city sometimes. He’s back right now, and I think he likes you.”

I smiled and started to drift into reflection. I wanted this life so badly. I wanted to know Thomas, each of those five year olds, my friend with whom I studied Romans in the soup kitchen. God had broken my heart and wasn’t putting it back together. I wanted this life. Steve could sense something in my silence.

“So,” He caught my eyes. “How are you gonna bring this home?” Steve went on to say none of this mission week really mattered if it was just a week. If it just stayed a nice memory, it would remain like a fun holiday at best. But, if I took some of it home, to live out, maybe this would allow God to change me forever.

I did take it home. Within five months, I had to quit my job – I no longer fit. My heart wasn’t in it anymore. I began working on the streets. It is something I do to this day. I am a pastor of a small church in the downtown area of a North American city. My friends are people who live under bridges, in tents, and in houses with four car garages. I have learned a little about love along the way, a little about poverty and a lot about Jesus.

I liked the mission experience so much that I made it my life. My prayer is one day we will no longer call it a mission trip. We will just call it life.

A New Attitude in Missions

I love mission trips and service projects! In forty years of youth ministry, I have been on close to 100 of them. What’s not to love? We get to obey God’s command to minister to the “least of these.” We travel and experience different cultures as we meet new people, make new friends, and strengthen the unity of the youth group. We come home excited, blessed, and ready to live fully for Christ. It’s all good, right? Well…maybe not.

Experts are discovering that one barrier to effective ministry is that sometimes our good intentions and well-meaning help can actually harm those we are trying to serve when we do it without sensitivity and understanding. Another barrier is the rise of narcissism in youth culture. Students have told me they will go on a mission trip if it is out of the county, someplace warm, or if there is a fun “day away” activity. How can we break these barriers and open up our hearts and minds so the Spirit can work through us to bless others and glorify God?

Perhaps we can begin by asking and wrestling with some questions such as:

  • Does the ministry we do strengthen or weaken those we are serving?
  • Is this service going to enhance or erode the recipient’s work ethic?
  • Will this cause the recipient to become more independent or more dependent?

We need to be sure that the ministry we offer does not in any way diminish the recipients, rob them of dignity, or devalue their unique individuality. We don’t intend to do that, but without understanding and sensitivity, it can happen.

Here are some questions and suggestions to help you and your students wrestle with these issues as you prepare yourself to be servants of the one true King:

  • Why am I doing this? Is it to get away for a nice trip with friends or is there a willingness to deny oneself, give sacrificially, and put the needs of others first?
  • What is my attitude? Do I see myself as some kind of redeemer come to rescue from injustice or am I aware I am a fellow pilgrim on this journey of life willing to walk with a brother or sister while we lean on and learn from each other?
  • Who am I ministering to? Am I willing to set aside all preconceived ideas, judgmental attitudes, and biases to see those I meet as image bearer of God, redeemed sinners, brothers and sisters in Christ? Am I humble enough to learn what they have to teach me? Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “Every man I meet is my superior in some way.”
  • How am I ministering? Am I willing to work hard work to understand what it means to live with injustice, bigotry, or marginalization? Am I willing to try to walk in their shoes, to be sensitive to their unique situation?

For a better understanding on how to develop a new attitude that will enable you to serve effectively, I recommend two books to use with your group before the mission trip: “Toxic Charity” by Robert D. Lupton and “When Helping Hurts” by Brian Fikkert.

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Prepping Students for Missions

When asked about my favorite mission trip, I always say the next one. As a Youth and Family Pastor, I took my school students to places across North America, Mexico, and even to Vietnam. Later, while at CURE International, I became close friends with nationals in 11 countries (including Afghanistan, the UAE, and several African and Latin American countries) learning from them what helped and hurt their long-term ministries in short term missions.

Since I oversee Serve, people naturally think I help churches plan student mission trips. Close, but not quite. At Youth Unlimited, we are helping churches engage students in missional living, not just for one week. I’d like to be known as the guy who helps church youth groups become more missional the other 51 weeks of the year and through their life journey.

Here are 3 things I keep in mind when preparing students for mission trips:

  1. It’s a wave, not a mountain top experience. While the mountain top analogy has worked for years, it’s time to retire it. There is now a rhythm to our mission trips and we can look over the course of 12 months and see waves of God’s work in a student’s life. Hopefully there are some big ones like a mission trip, camp, retreat, convention, etc. Some waves maybe smaller but make up the ocean of consistent Christian growth: youth group meetings, church attendance, classes, personal mentoring, etc. We can even look at the 6 years of middle and high school and plan for the bigger waves periodically. The mission trip experience is simply another wave of God’s work to make the most of. And this is so important: that experience is simply a wave in the life of the people they are ministering to. God is working there all through the year as well.
  2. The MISTM Grid (found in the book Maximum Impact Short-Term Mission by Roger Peterson, Gordon Aeschliman, and R. Wayne Sneed). MISTM gives an at-a-glance tool for planning. It highlights that the “Goers” are only one of 3 sets of participants. The “Hosts” (those that receive the team) and the “Senders” are also experiencing waves of Gods work through this trip. And while we are all very concerned with preparing our group of “Goers”, we must also be as concerned about the post trip follow through of the “Hosts” and the “Senders”. For another great source, check out the 7 Standards of Excellence at www.soe.org.
  3. Speaking of post trip, what about the outcomes? What do you want the students (Goers) to experience and learn? What do you hope they integrate into their daily life long after the suitcase is unpacked? What do you want your Host to experience and learn? What about the community of people you are serving? If the outcomes aren’t obvious to the participants, how do you know if you are accomplishing what God wants? Download the attached set of Serve Outcomes as an example. Email me, or comment below, and I will send you 6 Outcomes I believe God accomplishes in students on nearly every mission trip. Also take a look at the ebook, Rebuilders of Almost Anything (the link will be coming shortly).

If you’re having success in this area, I’d invite you to tell your story! We have a number of church leaders from across Canada and the US who are engaging students missionally throughout the entire year.

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My 51 – Austin Serve

We, here at Austin Serve, were excited when we saw “The Other 51” theme for 2015 because it’s sort of what we’ve been doing here ever since we started in 2011. One of our stated goals for our site is to be a launching pad for young people to go back to their home contexts and home church as havoc-wreakers for the Kingdom. We recognize that one of our roles in our family of churches is to be a bit of a research and development (R&D) outpost on the front lines of Kingdom mission and so we not only want to invite young people into that experience but to give them ammunition to take that back to where they came from.

One of the things we tried this year during our Spring Break Serve (which was the first Serve of the 2015 season), was to use the tools afforded to us by Asset-Based Community Development (ABCD). ABCD was a concept developed in the early 90’s and used extensively in mission environments which try to help empower people rather than just do things for them. ABCD recognizes the image of God in all people and helps everyone play a role in community development rather than having the “haves” do the work and the “have nots” learn to be dependent. As facilitators of short-term missions, I think this should be especially important to us because they always run the risk of becoming “hit-and-run” scenarios.

So, in addition to giving them context for all of our worksites, we spent one of our evening sessions doing some community asset mapping. The process is super simple and it helps groups think through the connection between what they’re doing on your site and what they’ll do when they get home.

Materials Needed: Lots of Post-It notes, markers, three boards to post things on.

Step One: Ask kids to gather with their own churches, rather than their small groups. If it’s a good-sized church, split it into groups of 6 or so.

Step Two: Have the group brainstorm assets of the area five miles around where they live and five miles around where the church is located. Suggest some based on what people come up with – things like vehicles, farming knowledge, etc. are often not seen as assets at first. Write each asset on a Post-It and have them stick them to the board on the left (of the three). Challenge each student to come up with at least 3.

Step Three: Have the group brainstorm needs of the same five-mile areas or city centers, if necessary and write their ideas Post-It notes, sticking them to the board on the right side (of the three). You may have to get the ball rolling with some suggestions. (This activity is often harder for people who come from rural or more affluent communities where needs are not as forefront).

Step Four: Read as many of the Post-It’s out loud. There’s bound to be some humorous ones. Then ask the kids to use their groups to throw out some tangible projects that could use the resources of the community to meet the needs in the community. Be as creative as possible. Our Host Team also formed a group and just took an outsider’s crack at combining the two lists – which worked really well.

This process not only gets people thinking about assets and needs in their community but it also begs the question: why isn’t your church already doing these things? Use that as a springboard to talk about some real things that a youth group or church could tackle in the next 6 months. Talk about what role serving the community has in their youth group back home or their church back home.

Some good stuff is bound to bubble up!

Community Assets

If you’ve got more questions, please feel free to contact Mark at mark@sunriseaustin.org or @markhilbelink on Twitter.

The Case for Well Rounded Kids

photo credit: 12 via photopin (license)

We live in a day when adults are pushing kids to discover their strengths and focus their lives. Thanks to the Gallup organization and author Marcus Buckingham, we have learned to concentrate on building strengths and to only play in that space. Not surprisingly, this has caused parents to hone our styles and launch our kids into football, ballet, piano, theatre, tennis or gymnastics at five years old. As a result, a lot of our kids today have the notion that they can just sharpen their skill until they go pro. We’ve embraced the idea of mental focus.

While this represents progress in many ways, it’s also had its downside. I’m not so sure we’ve embraced the idea of emotional health. Over the long haul, we’re now seeing the outcomes of our leadership styles. Parents, who are convinced they are raising the next Derek Jeter, or Tiger Woods or Serena Williams, push their children to make the grade, make the team, make the dream.

In our work with students, I’ve seen the problem surface in a handful of ways:

1. The Oversized Gift*

Young people cultivate a single gift (or talent), and it becomes their source of identity (sometimes, the sole source). The gift becomes bigger than they are. Soon, they begin to wing it in other areas of their lives, thinking they really don’t need to develop skills in other areas. After all, they’re an incredible ________________. (You fill in the blank: tennis player, singer, actor, musician, dancer, etc). Their growth

becomes distorted and lopsided. Later, when that gift is no longer able to carry them, they’re in trouble.

2. Early Burnout

Young people who are pushed in a single area often burnout early. They get sick of softball, gymnastics, you name it—and end up quitting the very activity they once loved. It was too much, too soon. They needed to have a childhood where they played a variety of games, but they never got it. It may just be my opinion, but kids should never “burn out” in middle school. They should be exploring at 12-13, building general, personal skills that’ll be relevant, regardless of where they end up.

3. Emotionally Unhealthy, Angst-filled Young Adults

Young people who are pushed too soon and too much are vulnerable to a lifestyle of angst and emotional depression. As their brain develops during adolescence, it becomes challenging to navigate the emotional highs and lows of hormone changes and intense competition. It’s especially sad when it’s mom or dad pushing them—simply because they enjoy the competition—but have no idea what it’s doing to their child.

Because we work with several NCAA Division 1 athletic departments, I’ve had the opportunity to meet a lot of coaches, and more of them than ever are telling me they now recruit athletes from multiple sports, not just theirs. The reason? They believe they get a healthier student athlete, one that is more balanced and able to handle the ups and downs of wins and losses. In addition, they get an athlete who isn’t burned out, but one who’s ready and able to give a lot to the sport at 18 or 19 years old. They get happy, well-adjusted players.

Their Source of Stress

I have written much about how stressed out American high school and college students are today. 94% of college students say the number one word they use to describe their life is overwhelmed. In a UK survey, they report that their number one source of stress is their parents. This is negatively affecting everyone.

Dr. Eric Herman, a clinical psychologist at Children’s Hospital of Michigan in Detroit, tells us that when a parent pushes too much, the result is an overwhelmed child who is too stressed out to get things done. Your child needs to relax and have fun. It will help him recharge his batteries, just as relaxation helps you recharge your batteries.

For the past decade, Daryl Capuano, educator and founder of The Learning Consultants in New Haven, Conn., has been counseling parents on understanding key igniters in motivating children and the harmful effects of nagging. When a child hears a message repeatedly, she starts to view it as a big negative. If you often tell your child, “You are not going to get into college if you don’t study harder,” she might avoid studying or any discussion of college. She could begin to slack off on homework or even skip school. This pressure creates a significant motivation deflation, warns Capuano. Even a very young child can lose interest in playing baseball if he fears he’s not measuring up to his parents’ expectations.

A Balancing Act

I am simply arguing that we must strike a healthy balance in the lives of our students. Whether you’re a parent, teacher, coach or youth worker, we must balance:

1. Helping them find and develop their strengths so they can be productive.

2. Helping them mature emotionally and live healthy, balanced lives.

Here’s to developing well-rounded kids who become well-adjusted adults.

*(“The Oversized Gift” is a Habitude from Book One of the series.)

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My 51 – Alamosa CRC

In our town of Alamosa, Colorado, we are set in the San Luis Valley, surrounded by purple, majestic mountains and green fields where the farmers raise alfalfa, barley, oats and potatoes. Along with the landscape, there is a community where people look out, take care of and serve each other.

Our church, Alamosa Christian Reformed Church, also noticed that there was a huge population of residents that needed an extra hand. The San Luis Valley is the home of two of the poorest counties in the nation, so with willing hands and hearts, Christian Community Service Projects (CCSP) was formed.

The mission for CCSP is to address the physical and spiritual needs of people in the San Luis Valley Community in the name of Christ by helping them to rebuild and improve their lives. We do this by hosting groups that go into our community to do home improvements for residents who do not have the resources to help themselves. As manager, I’m able to see every aspect of the operations and guide the process relationally. My favorite part is calling the residents to let them know a group is being coming to meet their need. My second favorite part is seeing the look of satisfaction on the volunteers’ faces when they make a difference through their selfless hearts and attitudes. Galatians 5:13b comes to mind – “serve one another in love”!

My husband, Keith, is also making a difference in the lives of others in Haiti, Honduras and Peru. His talents in woodworking and innovation with limited resources are a real gift to those looking to use what little they have efficiently and effectively. While Keith goes to teach skills he has also learned so many life and spiritual lessons. The best part of serving in other parts of the world is realizing that even thousands of miles away from home we all serve the one, true and Almighty God.

Our church enjoys hosting Serve with Youth Unlimited every other year and we wish it could happen every week, all year around. That’s why we’ve tried to integrate service principles into the life of our church and families.

Whenever we talk about what inspires us to serve and to host Serve for our community, we have to mention Keith’s sister, Christine Tolsma, Christine was tragically killed in 2008 when she was just 17 years old. This terrible loss was only eclipsed by the blessed assurance of seeing her again one day in Heaven. Her faith was strengthened by attending Youth Unlimited’s Serve which definitely created milestones in her walk with the Lord. At those experiences she made lasting relationships with other students, friends from her own community and with Jesus Christ. She also made lasting commitments that caused her to serve the Lord the other 51 weeks of the year, so we are inspired through the legacy she left to serve the other 51 as well.

Sabbath Summer

A few years ago we (the Youth Ministries Committee of the Ann Arbor Christian Reformed Church) began to take a look at our youth group meeting and retreat schedule for the middle and high school youth programs at our church. We were noticing a drop in attendance and after talking to families, we confirmed what we knew… our teens were really busy. Of course we were a tad indignant that our programs were taking a hit. Where were these families’ priorities? But then, after taking an honest look at our own programming, we realized that we were contributing to the busy-ness of life for these teens and their families. Our middle school youth had two programs that met on alternating Wednesdays, thereby filling up every Wednesday night during the school year. The same thing held true for our high school students on Sunday evenings. In addition, multiple programs were doing multiple retreats, some with significant overlap of purpose or theme. Families had to make choices as to which events to attend, causing overall numbers at a single event to decrease.
We realized that we were not following through on our responsibilities. We were tasked as a committee to minister to BOTH the families AND the youth of our congregation. Our youth offerings were taking away from family time. It was time to address the over-scheduling our families were feeling. As a first step, we consolidated the multiple offerings we had for middle school and high school students. Now these age groups meet every other week, instead of weekly. We also looked at our summer and winter retreats. We looked at time commitments required of the teens, families and chaperones for each of these retreats. We looked at the costs of the retreats. We realized that we were asking a lot of families if we expected their children to attend all the options.
So, out of this, our “Sabbath Summer” was imagined. Why “Sabbath”? Sabbath is about being present – not concentrating on tomorrow or being regretful for yesterday. One goal we have for our over-committed students is that they learn to rest in the grace of the present. Therefore, we hope to provide a summer where we don’t ask families to budget hundreds of dollars to go towards sending their sons and daughters away from home for a week. This coming summer will be our first Sabbath Summer, which will occur every 4th year going forward. We will be asking the families and students to engage the meaning of Sabbath as rest, balance, health and wholeness. During this summer we will challenge them to also keep a traditional Sabbath day. A few times throughout the summer we will meet to discuss what it means to have a holy day of rest – how to create the time and space to be quiet, not connected to our technology, in the hopes of experiencing spiritual growth, awakening, healing.

Your Story and God’s Glory

Catching a glimpse of what God is doing across North America would be instantly overwhelming. It could be like what Moses experienced on the mountaintop (Exodus 33) when he asked to see God’s glory. In that passage, God agreed to show himself to a man, to a friend, but not in fullness.

Youth Unlimited has the incredible privilege of seeing a glimpse of God’s work each summer. All summer, we see, hear and experience the goodness of God displayed in the power of the Gospel through congregations and youth groups that are advancing the Gospel into their community and around the world.

Join us at Serve or Live It and you might catch a glimpse of:

  • The widow whose loneliness dissipates with the help of 12 students who didn’t just come to paint her garage but to help meet her social and emotional needs. She is cared for by a local church all year and this is tangible expression of that care.
  • The man living on the streets who has a “home” in a congregation. Even though he lives under a bridge – he belongs. He worships weekly, depends on others for daily care and, most fulfilling, he is depended on by those in the congregation for the care he can give to them.
  • The diverse congregation in a diverse setting effortlessly expressing body-like coordination and unity while beautifully highlighting the uniqueness of each ethnicity and each individual member.
  • The mono-ethnic youth group in a mono-ethnic region that prays for and longs for relationships with a diverse congregation. While this group is culturally sensitive and accepting of others, their community just does not have diversity in ethnicity. They really do reach out beyond their four walls and their congregation really does reflect the spectrum of ethnic diversity of their region (none or very little), so to make relationships and learn, they invest time and money to travel.
  • The girl who admits her eating disorder for the first time and, now that her secret is out, is willing to make a plan to deal with the roots of it.
  • The single mom who is moving her children out of the shelter and into her first home with the help of the church and the work force of students who came to a Serve week or participated in the Service Track of Live It.
  • The grade 12 student who realizes her college choice and career path can be used for Kingdom purposes.
  • “That Guy” in the youth group who never entered into worship before and finds his expression during a week focused on Christ.
  • The boy who struggles with self-esteem and self-condemnation, who, by God’s grace, grasps freedom.
  • The adult leader that is deeply moved.
  • The pastor overjoyed because the youth group inspires the adult congregation.

Join us at Serve or Live It, and we are very sure you will catch a glimpse of The Church mobilized and the glory of God.

You will see how your story and the story of your youth group is woven into the fabric of the North American Church and what God is doing down the street, across the continent and around the world the other 51 weeks of the year.

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