Last week at our district youth leaders retreat we were reminded how vital it is to make contact with students transitioning from high school to college within the first two weeks of their first semester. It’s an easy way to remind them that they are not alone during what can be a difficult time.
I know how true this is as I remembered a letter that I received from my youth pastor in the fall of 1996 as a freshmen at Trinity Bible College. That note of encouragement reminded me that one of my heroes knew where I was and was cheering me on. It could not have come at a better time for me. I still have that note…
Our friends in Belle Fourche at FOECUS Student Ministries will be hosting Michael Fugitt on Thursday, January 29th! He will be providing great music as well as challenging us to share the “immeasurable worth” of our relationship with Jesus Christ! Invite your friends as Michael is also passionate about seeing people come to know Jesus as their savior!
Date: January 29, 2009
Time: After BFHS Basketball Games!
Place: Christian Life Center
Cost: $5 @ the door or $3 w/ a can of food
RSVP: Facebook or MySpace
More info and promo materials @ bellefourchechurch.com
We opened up this month’s gathering by praying for God’s vision and purpose in 2009. Then we shared what we believe God has in store for our student ministries in the coming year. It makes for a good prayer list. Check it out…
VISION FOR THE NEW YEAR
SHAWN
- Believing that God will continue the outreach growth that we’ve seen this last year
- While at the same time discipling and maturing students in our fold – taking them to the next plain spiritually
- We’re really going to focus on students hearing the voice of God personally this year
CLAY
- Already planning for a Pre-teen Blast Battle of the Bands event
- Skate boarding clinic
- Online Missions Trip (for details, visit http://onlinemissionstrip.com)
SHELLY
- Touch the kids that don’t get attention
- Get core group of kids to focus outwards
- Epicenter will grow and that we’ll be able to find a permanent building
- Carry on ministry throughout the entire year
- Having a baby in May
TONY
- Grant is good through the end of the school year
- Stop and Think (better organization and funding)
- Pregnancy Care Center (CareNet) – cutting hours / financial woes
- That churches support the cause
TODD
- Praying for vision, direction
- Serving in the community has been their student ministry highlight
- Wanting to figure out how to connect students more to that vein of ministry through local outreach
KYLE
- New senior pastor
- Training for student leaders / adult leaders
- Step of faith: “Fire Proof” outreach
PATRICK
- Make sure my children and wife know ME, not the “church and me”
- 52 weeks of ministry: use them effectively
- Student leadership
- Investing in student lives
Next month, Patrick will be facilitating a discussion on youth culture and, in March, Kyle will be facilitating a discussion on the youth ministry calendar and time management.
We also talked about upcoming plans for the Harvest Crusade. Details and upcoming dates for youth workers are available at the following web site: http://blackhills.harvest.org.
A featured post from our friend, Clay Conry, who just finished up planning, promoting, and hosting the region’s biggest New Year’s Eve outreach event…
Well, it’s over. Done. Fin.
And now that I have had sometime to consider last Wednesday’s New Years Eve Teen Blast. We had a great time and learned a lot!
The first thing I learned is that when you coordinate the event with this many logistics, if you try to remember it all… you won’t!
So the First thing on the list for next year’s event is delegate!
The next thing I learned is that people who participate in the ministry don’t just magically appear. They need to be prayed for and asked and prodded and asked again. They will come and when they do come they will be blessed to participate as a volunteer. At first they may not want to, but when they get involved, they will be blessed. When they have participated they will be more concerned for the success of the event. When they have invested themselves, not just their money, they will want to see if flourish!
So, the Second thing on the list is like the first! Delegate, not just for the sake of your sanity, but for the blessing of those being involved as well.
The last thing I learned is that buzz only comes from excited people. When people see the benefits occurring in their own life and the lives of those they are serving, they will talk. You won’t have to ask them to, they just will! You won’t have to print out 400 flyers and postcards each (which I did) you won’t have to put it on the radio (which I did) or put it in the newspaper (which I did) or being annoying with mass amounts of email blasts, blogs, and social network buzz (all of which I did)! If people are excited about what is happening, all of that will happen on its own!
So, the final thing is a no-brainer! Word of mouth is your best marketing! However, how do you generate that word of mouth? By having a subject that is truly buzz-worthy!
WARNING! Buzz and attracting mass amounts of people to your event is only a good thing if you have the Gospel/Jesus as the #1 priority for the night! All of the crappy marketing and buzz in the world is vanity and meaningless if Jesus isn’t lifted up and people aren’t drawn to Him!
That’s my soap box and I’m stickin to it! Here is a highlight video for your trouble!
Big props to Clay for hosting a fabulous and successful New Year’s Eve event! From what I understand, the numbers had tripled from last year. That’s so good to hear as we all love Clay and his passion for Jesus and reaching out to students. Here’s some highlights that our group brought back from the evening (although we didn’t catch much footage of Remedy Drive)…
If you’ve never been introduced to the Skit Guys, please allow me the pleasure. We get to see them about once a year at youth worker training events and they always crack us up! A guy behind me was laughing so hard when we saw them this year, that he spit out his soda — fun times! The great thing is that the Skit Guys are also really great at applying truth in hard hitting ways. Check them out at skitguys.com.
The following video was filmed at the 2005 National Youth Workers Convention and features a senior pastor introducing a new youth pastor to the students for the first time…
Join us @ 8:30 am on every first Wednesday of the month at the Alternative Fuel Coffee House on 620 Main Street in Rapid City. Come early and get some coffee; we’d love to meet you there!
The first hour of our gatherings are focused on youth worker fellowship and prayer and, starting at around 9:30 am, we shift to a training / discussion time. All are welcome.
