Youth Ministry | Wonderings and Wanderings

Wonderings and Wanderings » Youth Ministry

On the Road Again

July 10th, 2009 | Add a Comment

I leave Sunday for the third and final mission trip of the summer. This time around I’m heading out with my youth to Atlanta, Georgia, for a week of service at the Moncrief Center. Atlanta We will be spending each day working with about 60 children in grades kindergarten – fifth grade. Most of the children are Hispanic children that live close to the Moncrief Center. They provide many ministries throughout the year. During the summer, groups come for a week and prepare different activities and lessons to both teach the children and have fun.

Each evening the youth also sing at various locations – churches, senior centers, hospitals, homeless shelters. They are basically busy from 8 am – 8 pm.

I’m taking 34 youth and 14 adults along for the journey. We are so excited to spend time together as a youth family as well. On Saturday, we will be touring the Coca-Cola Museum and the Georgia Aquarium. Some of the youth are headed to a Braves/Mets game. Watch it on Fox! Those ants way in the balcony? That will be them.

Thanks for your prayers for our trip! We appreciate all the prayers that we can get. I’ll be posting updates from the trip on our website at http://www.refugeonline.org. Check there throughout the week to see and hear about our amazing week!

Filed under: Youth Ministry

Burn, Baby, Burn

May 27th, 2009 | 1 Comment

We finished our second day at the beach but we weren’t out very much. Most of us (okay – all of us) are burnt – some worse than others. We, Missourians, are not

Our Beach House for the Week

prepared for the beach sun. Which is a shame because today was a gorgeous day outside!

Rick and Theresa (the other two sponsors) were up around 8 am and headed out for some morning adventures. Rick hit the nearby golf course and Theresa checked out some local antique shops. I got up about and hour or so later and worked for little while before the seniors stirred. Most just chilled inside or did sporadic trips outside.

The group went into Gulf Shores in the afternoon to do some souvenir shopping and to eat out. I stayed back at the beach house to get some work done. I leave as soon as I get home for Kenya and a week after I return from Kenya, I head to the Dominican Republic. I have a lot to get done before I head out on those trips. So it was great to have the afternoon to focus in on those events. I also did laundry, washed some dishes and made puppy chow – a favorite snack of the kids.

When the sun was lower in the sky, we headed out to enjoy the evening. The seniors got in the water, I took several pictures and we walked some on the beaches – picking beach houses that we would purchase if we could.

This is such a fun and relaxed group. They’re laid back and get along together great. They enjoy spending time together -whether watching “The Office” or playing Scattergories. It has been a lot of fun which is the point of the trip – to just spend time together before we go our separate ways.

Tomorrow we are headed back to town for the afternoon for some watersport activities. All of the seniors are going to jet ski for awhile and then four of the seniors will go parasailing. Should be a fun day!

Filed under: Travel, Youth Ministry

Office for the Week

May 26th, 2009 | Add a Comment

Today is the first day on the wonderful beach for our senior trip. I left with two other adults and six seniors Monday morning at 12:30 am and we arrived in Gulf Shores at 3 pm on Monday. Great drive down and now we are enjoying the relaxing beach house. The seniors love it here and are a great group! We do miss our three soccer girls that weren’t able to come because they are just too good at soccer and won their district soccer game. We wish them the best for tonight’s game in Jefferson City! Go support them if you are in town.

We had a great pasta dinner last night and I think everyone was in bed by 11 pm. Tired from the first day’s drive.

Today we’ve been sunning and funning. The girls have been laying out all day and the guys went to town and bought skim boards. Its been pretty hilarious watching them learn how to use them. We are hoping to make some awesome videos before the trip is up.

I’m working this afternoon on upcoming trips and the like. Just couldn’t get it all done before I left town. But this isn’t too bad of an office. :)

My office for the week

Tonight is Mexican night and I think the plan is to go rent some jet skis tomorrow afternoon!

We had a good devotion time last night as we talked about our fears for what lie ahead. Graduating high school is a huge transition with lots of unknowns – roommates, bills, grades, new cities, etc. I told them the story of my nephew Blake who woke up with a fright Monday morning. During the night, his teddy bear had fallen between the bed and the wall and the only you could see was its paws sticking up . When Blake woke up and saw the paws, he thought it was a monster coming to get him. Scared him really bad but he laughed about it later.

Such are our fears often. We see something not too clearly and it looks horrible and like it is out to get us. But in reality, it is really something that isn’t scary at all. And no matter what, God is there to care for us. I Peter 5:7 reminds us to “Cast all our anxieties on Him because He cares for us.” What a great promise to take with them on this new journey.

Wish all of you could be enjoying such a gorgeous place!

With sand between my toes,

Melissa

Filed under: Travel, Youth Ministry

Shift – Day Two

April 23rd, 2009 | Add a Comment

The second day of the Shift conference consists of three break-out sessions followed with a large group worship and teaching tonight. I’m signed up for three break-outs and decided last night to skip the first one today. Mike Yanconelli gave me permission. Mike and Karla Yaconelli

Several years ago at Youth Specialties’ National Youth Workers Convention, Mike greeted us the very first day. In Mike’s unique way, he told us that we had permission to make the conference what we needed it to be. If that meant not attending a single thing, then don’t. If we needed refreshing time alone, stay away. (As an introvert, I really appreciated that.) If you needed to work on your marriage, stay in the hotel room. (As a single, I was envious.) He then introduced a guy and brought him up on stage. The youth minister shared the story of how he attended the National Youth Worker’s Convention the year before and how his marriage was strained under the toil of ministry. When Mike told them to get a room, he and his wife did that.

At this point, a picture of a baby was displayed on the screens and the youth minister shared that this is what he took home from NYWC last year. Everyone applauded.

So, today I’m taking Mike’s advice – I’m making a baby. Not literally, of course. But I more than a breakout session, I need some time to process, to think, to dream. I’m breaking out. Just for awhile.

Thank you, Mike. As always, you still continue to teach, inspire and convict us youth ministers. We miss you.

Filed under: Youth Ministry

Shift

April 22nd, 2009 | Add a Comment

I’m in Chicago for the week attending the Shift conference at Willow Creek Community Church. My first time at Shift and at Willow Creek. I’ve wanted to visit the campus for quite awhile and I must say it is impressive. It is huge and overwhelming but they have a lot of friendly, helpful volunteers around. Nothing but great help so far. You just have to ask.

Flew in yesterday evening. Driving a Toyota Yaris. Good way to narrow down what type of car I might want. I definitely don’t like the tiny, compact car. Especially after 13 years in my jeep. Check.

Opening conference featured Francis Chan speaking on complacency. He was outstanding and it was definitely what I was needing. One of the reasons I chose this youth ministry conference over others was the sense I picked up from their speakers and breakout sessions that they were really focusing on the need for spiritual transformation in leaders and youth. We put too much hope in programs, books, knowledge, personality, etc. to build a great youth ministry. There is so much pressure to have the biggest and the best youth group and to build it out of your own resources.

Even when I know this isn’t true and when I fight against the traditional models, there are still so many times when I am self-critical and grasping for the latest and greatest youth ministry trick. I know the dangers of a youth ministry built around personalities or program styles rather than a love for God but the temptation and struggle is still there.

Chan gave such an incredible message this morning about how the church (and we) are complacent and not living out of the power and the courage of the Holy Spirit. As youth pastors, our fiercest and most powerful “tool” is the Holy Spirit. If we are praying and begging for the Spirit to be alive and at work in our own lives, first and foremost, than we don’t stand a chance. If we don’t make our biggest commitment to be that of praying for the Spirit to be alive and at work in the lives of our youth and our volunteers, then we don’t stand a chance. Chan spoke of how noticeably different the church now is from the early church in Acts in believing in and living out of the power of the Spirit. We know more than the apostles yet we don’t believe that the same Spirit 2000 years ago can do the same things in 2009. What’s the problem? What’s different?

One of the many things Chan said that really spoke to me was about how easily the church would fall apart today. Get a bad speaker. Get a crappy band. Move the worship times. Any of these, Chan said, and people would leave. If we aren’t coming out of love and thirst for God, then we are tossed around by the waves of preferences.

Filed under: Spiritual Formation, Youth Ministry

New Band: Highland Fall

April 6th, 2009 | 1 Comment

If you want to be among the first to hear about an awesome new band, then you need to check out the band Highland Fall. They had their first ever CD release party on Friday. You can purchase their cd, Those Crazy Northern Lights, on iTunes and Amazon. Click on the link below to go to their myspace. They have an awesome sound – and I’m just not saying that because I’m their youth pastor. I’m beyond proud of them.

Filed under: Ministry, Youth Ministry

Getting Schooled By My Youth

March 30th, 2009 | Add a Comment

The youth in my youth group teach me a lot of things. There are the very useful things like how to master the Wii, how to have fun, how to fart on demand (okay, I already had that mastered.) They remind me that you can make a difference and that it is never to late to start. They remind me to relax and that to be present in some one’s life is more important than designing a stellar program or event. They teach me that selfishness is pervasive and that I once was as awkward and self-conscious as they are and I would be wise to not forget it.

They frustrate me a lot, too. I can’t count how many times we have a really great discussion or retreat and then in the next breath my youth are treating each other like no class citizens. I love social networking until I read the passive-aggressive status that “wish a certain someone would just get over herself” or “hate it went so-called ‘friends’ ditch you at the last moment for their loser boyfriend”. One can’t helped but feel used when the only time you see or hear from a youth that you’ve cared for is when they need a reference or recommendation or they are having a horrible time in life. But you hang in there with them. Because you love them. Because God strengthens you to love them. And because you are reminded ….

The way my youth behave is how I behave with God. First of all, let it be noted that I’m not comparing myself to God. Despite my occasional joke stating otherwise or because of that one t-shirt I wear that declares “I have the body of a god” accompanied by a picture of Buddha. The comparisons here are completely in the way my youth act and respond to someone that loves them and the way I act and respond to Someone who loves me. How many times does God teach me something and I’m totally excited about it and like, ready to live it out 24/7 and then, like, forget it, like, in 24 minus 7. How many times do I acknowledge the debt that God has forgiven me and then turned around and expect a friend, a church member, or a youth to pay up now or pay later with interest (aka passive aggressive behavior). How many times do I run to God only when I need God to fix a problem, calm a worry, answer an unknown, or recommend me to an awesome guy whom He knows really well. Yet God hangs in there with me. Because God loves me and forgives me. Sure, God lets me fall on my face or down the stairs in front of hundreds landing, wisely, at His feet. But He is always waiting at the bottom to pick me up, to brush me off, and walk with me again. And after making sure I’m okay, to rib me until my ego is put into place.

It took me awhile to learn this lesson but it was a lesson well-learned. I’m a better youth pastor for it. By no means perfect but glad that when I get frustrated with my youth, God whispers in my ear, “I know exactly how you feel.”

Filed under: Youth Ministry