youth group - youthHOPE

10 Marks of a Successful Youth Ministry

April 27, 2012 by Justin Leave a Comment

I recently spent the weekend at Impact Student Ministries of First Baptist Church of Vandalia, OH. I had the honor of being their guest speaker for a DiscipleNOW weekend they call “Morphis.” Dale and Christa Puckett have led the youth there for 3 years and what I saw in my time with them was nothing short of fascinating. Psalm 115:1 “Not to us, O Lord, not to us but to Your Name be the glory, for Your mercy (love) and Your truth (faithfulness).” Success in youth ministry is not quantified by numbers, but rather by fruit. A youth ministry will not bear fruit unless it is Jesus centered. This is not an exhaustive list. However, here are 10 marks of a successful youth ministry, as evidenced by what I saw at FBCV: A team mindset – the small group leaders at Impact serve joyfully. They know they are part of the team. Dale & Christa do not micromanage them, they trust that they will minister well to …
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Filed Under: General, Gospel, YM Advice Tagged With: adolescence, church, conferences, gospel, grace, leadership development, making disciples, missional, parents, preaching, relationships, service, team, worship, youth group, youth ministry

Don’t Walk Away

April 2, 2012 by B Sue Leave a Comment

A recent post by our global youth ministry partners Urban Action: Youth are mean, rude, and they cuss all the time. Half of them are on drugs. They don’t respect their elders or anybody else for that matter. They think they know everything and won’t listen to advice no matter how wise it is. They waste all their time doing stupid things like playing video games, listening to terrible music, skateboarding, and chasing someone of the opposite sex who is even stupider than them. It’s no wonder no adult wants to spend time with them! Right? Or maybe it’s us adults. Maybe we’re just tired. Work, kids, spouse, friends, email, church, small groups, studies, exercise, hobbies, and Facebook. Who has time to invest in youth? Maybe we start to think so negatively about youth as a way to feel better about not spending time with them. I know. I know. It can be tough to work with youth. I’ve chosen to …
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Filed Under: General, YM Advice Tagged With: adolescence, Chile, youth, youth culture, youth group, youth ministry

24/7 Global Youth Ministry

March 19, 2012 by Justin Leave a Comment

We've all heard that youth ministry requires a 24 hour a day, 7 day a week commitment, but imagine this: You plan a youth event in your home. You invite teens, make food, pick out games/activities and everything is set. The youth arrive and have an amazing time. Ministry happens, fun happens and relationships are built. 4 hours later, the party ends and none of the high school boys leave. They don't leave because they live with you. All. The. Time. In 1997, Matt and Jan King left their home in the US to go and serve at the Rift Valley Academy in Kenya, Africa. The current student body of nearly 500 includes more than 20 different nationalities. The families these students represent serve with 80 mission organizations in over 20 African countries. The King family committed to a 4 year term, and are still serving there 14 years later. In addition to teaching, and raising 4 kids of their own, they are dorm parents to 22 …
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Filed Under: Global Youth Worker Stories, YM Advice Tagged With: Bible College, holistic needs, Kenya, mission work, missionary kids, relationships, youth group, youth ministry

Potential Energy

March 13, 2012 by B Sue Leave a Comment

I spent 4 years studying the body, how it works and functions. Every function of the body is a result of stored potential energy. Runners use this form of energy by positioning their legs at the most optimum angle in the starting blocks. Divers depend on the potential energy in the elasticity of the diving board to launch them into the air. These athletes see the advantage of positioning themselves and others on their team in a place where they can use potential energy in its purest form. On March 10th, 2012 there were an estimated 6.9 billion people in the world, half of which are under the age of 25. If I did my math right, that is equal to 450.5 trillion BTUs (British Thermal Units) of potential energy (averaging 150 lb person) in the youth of the world. Lets put that in practical terms shall we?? That is the same amount of energy contained in- 78 million barrels of crude oil 4 billion gallons of gasoline 1600 …
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Filed Under: General, Global Needs Tagged With: adolescence, Christ, church, global needs, global youth, missiology, mission work, relationships, resources, youth, youth group

A look back: ‘Ends of the Earth’ 2012

February 23, 2012 by B Sue Leave a Comment

Check out our journey "to the ends of the earth" and hear from youth pastors about the ride. Thanks to all for your help and support to help the Hillman's reach youth in Bulgaria in Jesus name!! Click on VIMEO to see video on a bigger screen! …
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Filed Under: Featured, Outreach Tagged With: Bulgaria, global needs, global youth, global youth ministry, global youth worker, missiology, support raising, videos, youth, youth group

Obsessed with safety?…

February 1, 2012 by Adam Leave a Comment

Do you know someone going on a short-term mission trip this year? What are they doing to prepare for the project? I highly recommend that they watch episode 5 of this last seasons The Amazing Race as part of their preparation. I’ll admit I have a slight bias, not because I am a huge fan of the show (I prefer to fill my allotted reality TV time with Survivor) but because the teams were in Thailand. Reason enough for a recommendation via a Facebook Story (or status if you are old school), but the need for the blog post comes out of the episodes potential to help future participants do less damage in their attempts to advance the kingdom. An idea that takes more than 140 characters to unpack. All short-term mission participants go with the hope of having a positive impact, unfortunately that is a feat some fail to achieve. Much has been written about this issue of doing harm while attempting to help lately, mostly regarding …
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Filed Under: General, YM Advice Tagged With: holistic, leadership development, mission work, trust, youth, youth group

Service without Sacrifice

January 23, 2012 by Adam 2 Comments

Do we make it to easy for youth to serve? A few weeks ago I was in a gymnasium at a Bible College recruiting for YouthHOPE's summer internships and began pondering this question. There were nearly 25 organizations or churches gathered with the hopes of enticing a student, into working with them. The burden in this scenario falls on the churches and organizations. They work to present their opportunity to students in a favorable light (the best attempt, a church looking for a youth ministry intern brought a George Foreman grill and cooked bacon to hand out). I realize part of this is a result of the reality that Jesus predicted with the hands and harvest analogy; there always seems to be more work than workers, but part of it seems wrong. I think it is an extension of a flaw in how we teach students to serve in youth group; an extension that has the potential to follow students through Bible College and into the rest of their lives …
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Filed Under: General, YM Advice Tagged With: commitment, sacrifice, serve, youth, youth group

Sex; Proceed w/Caution

December 6, 2011 by Adam 2 Comments

Have you had the sex talk? With your child? With the youth you are discipling? With your youth group? You should. Do it early and often. Seriously. There are tons of resources out there. Books. Articles. Youth workers with tons of experience in a similar context you could ask for advice. Consult some of those, even if it is only for building your confidence, then the very next time you see youth you have some influence with begin the conversation. Proceed, but please proceed with caution, because some that have gone before you in their attempt to provide Christian guidance to the next generation have actually done some harm. In their attempt to communicate Christian teaching about sex they have actually contradicted the basic tenants of the faith. Matt Chandler, the lead pastor of The Village Church, makes this point in a sermon a few years ago way better than I could with words. Take a moment to watch it, and …
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Filed Under: Global Needs, YM Advice Tagged With: church, youth group, youth ministry

10 Marks of a Successful Youth Ministry

Don’t Walk Away

24/7 Global Youth Ministry

Potential Energy

A look back: ‘Ends of the Earth’ 2012

Obsessed with safety?…

Service without Sacrifice

Sex; Proceed w/Caution

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