It's a momentous time for us and we have spent much time considering the past and recalling memories. Looking back, we feel we've learned many things and in reality we are still learning, but here's 11 things we've got hold of in the last 11 years.
1. Draw people to Jesus, not to yourself. They need role models and people to imitate, but they need a ongoing relationship with Jesus more. In other words, if they think we're cool, but can't read the Bible or pray we are failing them.
2. You are building the church. Not your ministry. Not the youth work. It's the church Jesus gave himself up for. It's the church who is Jesus' bride. It's the church who demonstrates the manifold wisdom of God....
3. You're primary call is to make disciples, not put on events. If putting on events helps you make disciples, great. If they take up a lot of time, effort, finance and energy and give you a short lived sense of achievement, but nothing else. Scrap them.
4. Make sure your church leaders are involved in what you are doing. Get them preaching, mentoring, helping, teaching, inputting - whatever they have capacity to do.
5. It's more important that team members work well with you & each other than work well with youth.
6. As Ronan once said, 'Life is a rollercoaster you just got to ride it'. Youth work is just the same. It's ups and downs. Expect them, ride them, praise in the highs, and pray in the lows.
7. Pray for your youth. Go on. Pray! Get your youth leaders and the church praying for the youth. Get everyone praying. Simple.
8. Don't copy. Hear God for yourself. There's no blueprint for how a youth work should be put together so by all means, check other groups out, but you need to get hold of God for yourself and build it.
9. Set high standards, have lots of grace. Young people rise to challenges. Ask little of them, they will give you little. Ask a lot and they will have a go at giving you a lot. Give them responsibility, get them praying for the sick, get them to prayer meetings, get them posting apologetics on their Facebook page, get them challenged.
10. Don't just pick the obvious people to be youth leaders, pick the best. Married couples with kids, mature people with life experience - not just the young single, just-got-out-the-of-the-youth-group-ourselves types.
11. Be slow to get involved with youth events outside your church, but be quick to build relationship with other youth leaders.
No comments:
Post a Comment