eQuip Spring 10

Spring 2010 volume 7, issue 3

Your Guide to 365 Days of Youth Ministry

Keep In Touch Staying Connected With Your Group Through the Summer

Experiential Worship A Lesson on How to Experience God

Fasting Using Spiritual Disciplines to Strengthen Your Leadership

www.youthunlimited.org

NEW YU E See VEN 2 Det 011 Liv T ails e insi

de!

It!

THE INFO FROM THE DIRECTOR Youth Unlimited eQuip volume 7, issue 3 Editor Publication Coordinator

Connected

& Graphic Designer Kristen Van Stee Contributors Rick Roeda Gretchen Driesenga Kristi Kruithoff Cody Statema Mark Knetsch Megan Wunderink Kristen Van Stee Jeff Kruithof Youth Unlimited eQuip is printed in the United States and is a FREE resource to contributing churches. eQuip is available for purchase at $25 /yearly subscription.

Canada Canada Post International Sales Agreement #41124116. Return undeliverable Canadian addresses to Youth Unlimited eQuip Box 1100, Norwich, ON N0J 1P0 CANADA Youth Unlimited Board President Ben Fergus (Herndon, VA) Vice President Brad Laninga (Holland, MI) Treasurer Cindi Riemersma (Tinley Park, IL) Rick Abma (LaCombe, AB) Roger Drost (New Maryland, NB) Mark Elgersma (Minneapolis, MN) Jake Hiemstra (Goderich, ON) Arlana Huyser (Inwood, IA) Zan Ingalls (Somerset, NJ) John Rop (Muskegon, MI) Eric Tolbert (Kalamazoo, MI) Paul VanHofwegen (Tolleson, AZ) Frankie Wunderink (Henderson, NV)

2

I often discuss ways to keep young people connected to Jesus Christ and the church with those in youth ministry. During these discussions, two points frequently get brought up. First is the need for young people to see adults living it…real, authentic lives which show a committed and growing relationship with Christ. Second is the need for young people to be part of something larger than themselves. Obviously I get passionate about these types of conversations because everything we do at Youth Unlimited (YU) tries to help churches challenge youth to commit their lives to Jesus Christ and then live that out for Him.

wanting to be part of something larger than themselves, YU is creating a new large youth event called Live It! (see page 12). The purpose for this event is to help young people see a God sized plan for reaching this world using their gifts and areas of interest to do it. This experience will serve as a spiritual catalyst in their relationship with Christ by giving opportunity for personal discovery of why God uniquely created them the way he did. They will learn from those who share their interests, passions and gifts while being given the opportunity use those to be God’s hands and feet through serving in the surrounding community.

To see students make a commitment to trust and follow Christ, we as youth workers need to start by examining our own relationship with Christ. Can the students God has entrusted to us see a committed Christ follower…willing to go, do, give, trust and follow wherever and whatever He asks? In this issue of eQuip you will find articles and resources which will help examine your relationship with Christ (are you living what you’re saying?) as well as helpful suggestions to draw closer to him.

You will also find the practical youth ministry components to assist in preparing, connecting and continuing to spiritually invest into young lives.

It is my prayer students return home from Live It! recognizing God’s love for this world and their important role in living it out…God’s plan, our purpose! Look for more information on this event in this issue of eQuip and upcoming YU communication.

Hearing from youth workers and recognizing the truth that students desire an authentic relationship with Christ while

What a blessing to take part in God’s plan to love young people. May you experience the joy of watching Him work in their lives of as you live it for Him. Jeff Kruithof is the Youth Unlimited Executive Director. He serves on the Student Ministry Advisory Team at Providence Church in Holland, MI. To get in contact with Jeff, write to him at jeff@youthunlimited.org or call 616.241.5616 ext. 3043.

CONTENTS 4-8 Season at a Glance: Spring Ministry Timeline

ON THE WEB All of the websites you find in eQuip are easily accessible from the YU website. Find them all at www.youthunlimited.org/equip.

You will be prompted for your username and password. username: yupartner password: partner2010

Communication 4 Invested Throughout the Changing Seasons 5 Grafted into the Church 7 The Expert Says - An Interview with Professor Ron Nydam

Youth Group Community 9 Keep In Touch

Leadership Development 10 Let Us Not Break Bread Together?

11 Tainted by Sin

Events 12 Live It! 14 Coming Down from the High

Teaching God’s Word 16 Experiential Worship 18 Radical Passion - A Series on Spiritual Disciplines

Insight 19 Laugh It Off

{

}

EXPERIENTIAL WORSHIP: It means different things to different people, but is most commonly described as an interactive form of worship engaging all of our senses, including heart, soul, mind, and strength.

Rather than going through the motions, it is truely meeting God through praise and adoration with your whole self.

11

Tainted By Sin Talking about sin in youth group, and appropriately disclosing our own struggles with sin.

3

COMMUNICATION

Transition

{}

Invested Throughout the Changing Seasons Summer is coming! As youth workers, you’ve powered through the school year and the looming summer months are often viewed as time to take a break from regular schedules and events to relax. Volunteer leaders do so much to make the year a success and in hopes of having them continue to serve next year, they are encouraged to take some “time off”. While rest and regrouping are important aspects of staying charged, this “time off” results in missed opportunities to keep volunteer leaders engaged in the youth ministry and prepared for the year to come. If we can agree that communicating with leaders throughout the summer months is an important thing to do, there are still the questions of why, how, and where? Stay connected with youth leaders throughout the summer with these easy tips:

Be creative. There are many possibilities to expand and try different ways to communicate. Try new games, brainstorming, picnics.

Summer is an excellent time to take a break from “regular” schedule of events.

However there is no reason why summer can not be about relaxing and building for the future. Its just as important to build leadership commroderie as it is to build relationship with the youth. *For ideas on staying connected with youth, see pg. 9!

Rick Roeda is the Youth Pastor at Mountainview Christian Reformed Church in Grimsby, ON.

Start thinking about next year. Do you need to recruit new youth leaders?

4

APRIL

Each issue of eQuip will contain a ministry timeline. This will be your general outline to keep track of where you are at now and what you should be planning for in the months to come.

•

If you haven’t already, begin recruiting chaperones/leaders/drivers for summer trips.

Your Guide to 365 Days of Youth Ministry!

Ecclesiastes 3:1

Distribute invitations/make an announcement to the congregation about your upcoming summer trip fundraiser.

Communicate via the church bulletin with leaders during the summer. This not only communicates with the leaders but also the rest of the congregation. The congregation will see the unity and teamwork of the leaders during the summer, helping lay the foundation and support for the fall ministry season.

Get together casually.* • Plan a couple of BBQs or gatherings with leaders and the youth along with their families. You work with students all year long, many times leaving the family left out. Use the summer months to bring the families and leaders together. This allows the family to see what is happening throughout the year as well as builds relationships.

Bless your youth leaders and church school teachers for Easter.

•

Easter is April 4. Host an Easter celebration, perhaps a pancake breakfast.

Prepare for continued communication even before summer arrives.

• In May/early June, plan a leaders only retreat or day in June or July to come together and discuss the future.

• Plan dates, times and locations of summer meetings so that everyone will know and be prepared.

Communicate throughout the summer.

• Use email or Facebook to communicate what is happening. Encourage your leaders to stay connected with the youth throughout the summer by doing the same. It is amazing what an inbox or post will do to continue relationships built with students. Use this also to encourage and build an excitement about the fall with both leaders and students.

To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven.

COMMUNICATION

Grafted into the Church I can wiggle my ears. I am actually quite good at it. Truthfully, I am not very proud of my well-developed auricular muscles used to wiggle my ears. Even though it makes easily impressed people laugh, every time I wiggle my ears I feel a twinge of guilt.

Why? Because I learned how to wiggle my ears while I was spacing out during worship as a ten year old. It makes me sad today that this was the extent of my participation in church growing up and I often wonder if the students in the church where I serve today are in a similar place.

Sure, I faithfully attended Sunday school, Cadets (the young boys’ ministry), and youth group. I went on mission trips and helped with fundraisers. I am glad my parents didn’t give me an option between youth group activities and swim team functions, or Catechism and practice; however, when I graduated from high school and went to college, I was very happy to not attend church every Sunday.

Who are Ministers?

As an ordained pastor, I can tell you that the answer is not “ordained pastors.”

Everyone who is a part of the Body of Christ is called to serve, or minister, in the Kingdom of God. The smallest child and the oldest adult are ministers of Christ who all have a calling to fulfill, not just the ordained pastor or the staff at the church. Encourage and offer opportunities for parents to serve with their children in the community. Encourage parents to team-teach Sunday school with their child, mentoring them in ministry. Find ways to meaningfully include children and youth into the ministry to foster a sense of ownership in the life of the church.

Are Youth Participants or Recipients?

Many students have been recipients of ministry all their lives in Sunday school and youth groups and rarely participants in ministry. As a recipient, church is a place to “get what I want” setting our focus inward on my needs and wants. As a participant, church is a place to grow, lead, serve, worship, and sacrifice, setting our focus on others and most importantly Christ. As the church we are called to educate our youth, but we are also called to equip them, help them to grow in their spiritual gifts, and offer opportunities for them to use their gifts to be participants in the church now, not just when they are adults.

Who Can Relate?

When students do go off to college, our relationship with them should not take a four month break. This one is a no-brainer, right? With the advent of Facebook, email, Skype, etc. anyone with a computer and an Internet connection can stay in contact with a student who has gone off to college. However, cookies and letters and

Choose an encouragement gift for your graduating Seniors.

Continue to thank and bless your volunteer adult youth sponsors and teachers!

Begin prepping students for summer trips. If there are supplemental devotions or resources that would be helpful begin reading those.

continued on next page

Schedule and notify youth group about a summer trip meeting for the student teams and their parents.

Host a congregational summer trip fundraiser. Bake sale, spring clean-up, or something similar.

MAY

If possible, make final payment for summer mission trip or other summer event.

Many churches struggle with the question of how to help graduating students make the transition from youth group attendee to involved church member. Many parents

weep in frustration to see their children graduate from high school and later graduate from church, as they begin their first year college courses. There is no magic solution to this situation, however I offer a few ideas to run with that have been born out of my experience as one of those students who “graduated from church” and is now a pastor praying that my students will be grafted into the church.

5

COMMUNICATION

Grafted continued

The Expert Says - An Interview with Professor Ron Nydam

cakes (well maybe not cakes so much) can still be sent via snail mail. What if each student who graduates from high school was given a prayer partner from the church in addition to the congratulatory card and Bible? Are there some empty nesters who would have a heart to develop a network of peers in the church to make it their mission to send a care package/ letter/email prayers with every student who has graduated who is working or in college? Seek creative ways to relate with students after they graduate to communicate you love them, pray diligently for them, miss them, and definitely have not forgotten them!

I recently had the privilege of sitting down with Calvin Seminary’s Professor of Pastoral Care, Dr. Ronald Nydam. Realizing that many of us who hold positions in youth ministry often find ourselves counseling our students, Dr. Nydam shared with me some wisdom as we seek to minister to our students in effective and appropriate ways. We covered a lot of ground and here you will find the first installment of this inspiring interview.

Equip volunteers who are leading/cheperoning summer trips.

If needed, host a second summer trip team meetinging. Finalizing details and answering any questions.

JUNE

Host a summer trip informational meeting for parents and students.

6

MAY continued

For those who are not trained but are wanting to care, the first thing is that you need to listen for the heart of the person more than the content of the story. Giving advice is dangerous. You have to shut up for a while and just let somebody tell

There are basic listening skills, such as active listening, in which you reframe the heart of the matter and present back to somebody. When teens get going and start telling their story, they’re probably the best people to active listen to, because they’re the ones who are going to deliver the material so well.

Next, you need to refer when you have some sense that it’s in the person’s best interest to get more help than what you can offer. And that’s going to happen awfully quick in a youth ministry setting.

Understand that if you’re making a referral, if you’re getting into something deep,

Stay in communication throughout the summer with your new and continuing students.

Dr. Nydam: When somebody sits down with a teenager these days and starts to talk about life, it doesn’t take long for that conversation to go fairly deep and lead in a significant way to all kinds of human struggles. It gets messy, and it is understandable that youth workers would feel like they’re in over their heads rather quickly. So a couple of comments about this.

the story. You hold your curiosity in check about the details because that is intrusive, and be curious about how this person is experiencing the story. So you’re listening for the heart of the person you’re talking with.

Contact incoming students to welcome them to the youth ministry.

Cody Statema is the Pastor of Youth and Outreach at Calvary Christian Reformed Church in Edina, MN.

Gretchen: Recognizing that many of our readers do not have training in counseling but often find ourselves in such positions; can you give us a few basic tips for counseling youth?

COMMUNICATION

Lesson that referral only works if the person trusts you. And so sometimes it’s good for a youth worker to go with a teenager to the first counseling session if a referral happens.

But this whole thing about getting in too deep and feeling paralyzed relates to the question of confidentiality. And as far as that goes, I think there need to be limits on what we promise. Youth leaders are in a jam here because you want to provide the promise of trust, but you have to have clear boundaries around that. It’s obvious that if someone is a danger to themselves or others, you break all the rules because in systems thinking, you have to spread the problem.

Unless there is a suicidal/lethal piece to it, if I needed to talk to someone else I would never talk behind the student’s back. I really want to emphasize honesty.

I would say to a teenager, ‘You need to know that I need to talk to your mom and dad about this.’ Now the best way to do it is to say “Could I talk to your mom and dad about this?” and see if you can get the cooperation of the student. You want

to be an advocate for the student in the family.

This also raises the question of what should youth workers do? Should they help persons or should they help families?

This is huge. Youth pastors can burnout quickly because of the role they play in the church system. There is so much loaded on them. They’re supposed to be the solution to the churches problem with the youth. Rather than equip families to be healthier families, sometimes we find ourselves pulling teenagers out of families, dealing with them as individuals, but then they go home at night to the same families and we haven’t helped them all that much. So I’m wondering if how even philosophically we think of youth ministry, we would give more thought to families being families. This would mean that teens take Mom & Dad along on the canoe trip down the river. This would be a different approach, but it taps those types of questions.

Gretchen: So, talking about families and the family system, how do you handle families who have the mindset that

Ronald J. Nydam, Professor of Pastoral Care at Calvin Theological Seminary. Rev. Nydam served as a pastor at Third Christian Reformed Church of Denver, CO for ten years and as the agency director of Pastoral Counseling for Denver for fourteen years.

He is the author of Adoptees Come of Age: Living Within Two Families, and has a special interest in the study of relinquishment and adoption. (excerpted from www. calvinseminary.edu)

you should be the answer to their kids’ problems? How do you go about retraining the parents as to what your role as a youth pastor is?

Dr. Nydam: I’ve thought about this before and I know that at the beginning of the year, I’d have a parents meeting. I’d push back right there, right away, and say that our job as a youth worker is not to simply take over your roles of parenting. Our job, in some sense, is to equip you to be better parents. In terms of how I’d approach youth ministry, however, I wonder about the wisdom of seeing it in such individual terms. I wonder about saying, alright this is something that would be really helpful if we could talk as a family about this.

‘You’re not getting along with mom or dad, what do you say we all get together and have a conversation about it.’ That’s more

Attend open houses and graduation celebrations of graduating youth group members.

With your senior pastor, plan a service where students are able to share their summer experiences.

continued on next page

Need More Help?

At www.youthunlimited.org/eQuip you’ll find an ongoing calendar as well as updates of what your groups should be doing now. Visit today or add something new!

Cody Statema is the Pastor of Youth and Outreach at Calvary Christian Reformed Church in Edina, MN.

7

COMMUNICATION NEXT ISSUE Dr. Nydam’s list of books every youth worker should read, topics that are worth talking about in youth group, and the spiritual health of youth workers.

Continued: Expert of a systems approach. And then you’re ministering to a unit, a family, rather than an individual.

Gretchen: How do you approach a family who is minimizing the issue that their child is dealing with? For example, I sat down with the parents of one of my students (with her permission) to share with them her struggles with cutting and bulimia. After hearing the news, her dad almost laughed and said, “well, she does have a double chin.” What, if anything, can a youth pastor do in that type of situation?

Dr. Nydam: You are somewhat powerless to be an advocate in that setting.

The problem becomes your hesitance in invoking some kind of wider accountabil-

8

ity. I know that I would like you as a youth worker to sit down with the rest of the ministry team, including the senior pastor, and tell them what we’re up against. From a church perspective, it really becomes the responsibility of the elders because they are responsible for the spiritual life of the people in church. So having the senior pastor and an elder in on that conversation would have much more muscle in it. What is wise about that approach is that it spreads the problem. You need to spread the problem in systems thinking, and you have to think about who has the most power to make change. Somebody has to hold these parents accountable.

I don’t expect you as a youth worker to have the presence to say to these parents ‘Hey, you’re really minimizing this’, but you

can give witness and testimony to how seriously you’re taking it and lay out your concerns. When parents blow it off, I think you need to invoke more power in the system somehow. It’s hard for you to push without getting in trouble with the parents, and you need to make the decision, in some sense, to get in trouble with these parents. And then you’re also trying to protect this child, from the response of the parents. You’re in the middle of a pickle, so invoking more pastoral authority makes sense to me.

Gretchen Driesenga is the Youth Director at Plymouth Heights Christian Reformed Church in Grand Rapids, MI.

YOUTH GROUP COMMUNITY “...how can we keep our students connected throughout the summer?”

Keep In Touch Time flies! Summer is almost here and with that, youth group attendance is usually sporadic at best with families travelling and out of town. For this reason, many church programs take a hiatus during the summer months. Unfortunately, while breaks and time off may be needed and very beneficial, summer is often a time when church members drift away, especially the youth of the church.

By the time September rolls around and youth groups start up again, some youth find themselves too busy with school schedules and sports to commit to spending time at church. Friendships may have faded along with the eagerness to hang out with “church friends”. Students may have made some bad decisions over the summer and aren’t sure they want to “do this whole Christianity thing” any longer.

So how can we keep our students connected throughout the summer?

Whether your church programs stop for the summer, or you struggle with low attendance in your regular programs, consider implementing some of these ideas to help your group stay in touch with each other through the summer months.

Schedule some fun!

Don’t overwhelm yourself or other leaders with too many details or a lot of planning, but pick one or two days a month where your youth group can hang out. These can be cheap and easy ideas, like a pool party at a church member’s home. Or head to a beach, a lake, or a park. Go see a movie, play mini-golf, or go bowling. Plan a scavenger hunt, paintball…you name it. Just

provide a time for students to see each other and keep their friendships alive.

Provide Service Opportunities Don’t only schedule fun, schedule some service too. Make time to do yard work for someone in your church, or provide babysitting services. Clean the church, or spend time at a local nursing home or soup kitchen. Go on a SERVE, locally or in another state or country. Give your students the opportunity to give back to their church and community while spending time with people of different backgrounds and ages. Involve the whole church in these service opportunities to remind your youth group that they are an important part of their church family.

Provide Leadership Opportunities Many churches host Vacation Bible School or a Youth Unlimited SERVE during the summer months. Involve your youth group!

Let them be part of the planning, hosting, and volunteering. If you’re only relying on adult helpers for these programs, you might be missing out on extra labor and support. As an incentive, our church will often “pay” the youth group for helping with our summer fundraiser and Vacation Bible School. The money goes into their youth accounts and can be “spent” on retreats, camp, SERVE and other events.

Summer is also a time to really focus on your student leadership team, if you have one. Schedule a short retreat or dinner and involve your student leaders with planning the upcoming year and youth group kick-off. Get their input and put them in charge of making some of the decisions.

Being part of the decision making process can ignite excitement and passion in your youth, carrying them through the summer.

Build Small Groups If you have a larger group of students, consider dividing them into small groups to help stay connected over the summer.

This could be another way to challenge the leadership in your group. Encourage your student leaders to call and spend time with their small group, or to start a Bible Study during the summer months. You could also group them with an adult or two who can pray for and encourage them during summer break with cards and emails.

Another option would be to pair your older students with younger ones, like a bigbrother or big-sister. Whatever you decide, make sure it’s edifying the whole group, not forming or re-enforcing cliques.

As summer approaches, focus on building relationships and momentum with your youth that will carry through the various schedule changes of your church’s programs. Even if you don’t have a lot of time, keep track of the students that normally fly under the radar or are less consistent in coming to church or youth group. Spend a few minutes calling, texting, or sending a card to those students who struggle to fit in, personally invite them to church or an event. You might find that those few minutes a week are enough to keep the connection going.

Megan Wunderink is the Youth Pastor at Grace Valley Church in Las Vegas, NV.

9

LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT

Let Us Not Break Bread Together?

Fasting as a Leadership Team What is fasting? What is its purpose?

What kinds of fasting are there?

Fasting is a spiritual disciple that requires a person to abstain from something for the purpose of drawing close to God. There are many different ways to fast. The most common (and probably most effective) is to fast from food for a period of time. When experiencing this type of fasting, we willingly deprive the body of nourishment and the pleasurable taste of food.

The body requires food for sustenance; therefore our hearts and minds must be totally focused and directed towards God so that He may be the full source of our strength during our period of fasting. Fasting can be used as a tool to help us resist temptation, a sign of repenting, a guide to discern God’s will or a way help us grow closer to God.

•

In addition, you can also fast from other material things like watching television, listening to the news or radio etc. It is ideal that you give up something that you do or use on a regular basis so that when you are fasting, it will remind you to focus on God.

How can you use fasting as a youth group leadership team? Why is it an important tool?

Fasting together as a team can be used for a few different reasons. First, it can prepare you to face a challenge in ministry together. Some of these situations may include presenting a proposal to the church leadership, confronting a student or a parent about a particular behavior, or helping a teen through a difficult life situation. Second, fasting together can help your leadership team discern God’s will or direction for the youth group year’s theme, how to teach a difficult topic, or where to take your group on a service project or mission trip. Last, and perhaps most im-

Read the following passages to see some examples of fasting in the Bible: • Acts 13:1-4: In this passage, worship and fasting helped church leaders guide Barnabas and Saul to follow God’s will for their lives. After fasting and praying, they placed their hands on both of them and sent them off to do the work of God.

10

•

1 Kings 21:25-29: King Ahab knew he had sinned so he humbled himself before God and fasted. God had mercy on Ahab because of his act of worship and repentance.

Luke 4:1-15: Jesus fasted to draw close to God during the temptation that he was about to go through with the devil while he was in the dessert.

Take a close look at verses 1-2. The passage says that Jesus had been fasting (and was tempted) for 40 days. He was hungry! But the really interesting part is in verse one. Even though Jesus had an empty stomach, the passage says he was full of the Holy Spirit. Fasting helped Jesus resist the temptation and allowed the Holy Spirit to work in and through him is this time of need.

portant, fasting and praying together will enable the leaders to grow closer to God and resist the temptations and attacks of the devil on the youth ministry in your church. The youth group leadership team will be able to unify their efforts and focus on glorifying God while guiding students and making life long disciples.

Just remember, giving up something just for the sake of fasting is not what it is all about. It is important to have a purpose for fasting from something in order for it to guide you in your walk with God. It is obvious in scripture that fasting is useful because Jesus himself used it in order to help him in his time here on earth. This particular spiritual discipline is not used very often in our lives. Why do you think that is? Perhaps it is because practicing fasting can be uncomfortable both physically and emotionally. Our culture teaches us that we have the right to have whatever we want, whenever we want it. We have grown accustomed to living extremely comfortable lives. Sometimes God challenges us to step out of our comfort zones so that he can show us his power and glory. The spiritual discipline of fasting is not something that we readily turn to in order to get to know God. But maybe God is calling the leadership team of the youth group in your church to experience him in a brand new way.

Kristi Kruithoff is the Director of Youth and Young Adult Ministries at Hillcrest Christian Reformed Church in Hudsonville, MI.

LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT Re Respectable Sins: Confronting the Sins We Tolerate

by Jerry Bridges

Tainted By Sin

The heart of our ministries needs to start with our own hearts. We all realize that our personal faith is interwoven with our ministries. So what types of sins are you tolerating in your life? When is the last time you cried out to God because of your sin? When is the last time you’ve done a spiritual inventory of your life to determine where you need some pruning? What are the specific sins in your life have you left unchecked?

Let’s be honest and admit that we sometimes become apathetic to the gospel message. We may recognize this in our personal lives, but let’s remember that even our best attempts at ministry are always tainted by sin. Whether we show it or not, we favor certain students and have little patience for other ones. We talk about our students behind their backs.

We complain about and judge parent’s

priorities in the name of ‘venting’. We are lazy and write lessons an hour before youth group starts. We are not always the best stewards of our budgets or volunteers’ gifts. We allow our lesson writing to replace our personal times with God. We get jealous of other youth groups, youth rooms, budgets or their cool vintage style and guitar playing abilities. We get prideful about how amazing our program is compared to the lame one at the church nearby. I suspect that all of us are guilty of justifying a few of these or other sins within our ministries.

{ }

My accountability partner and I are currently reading through the book Respectable Sins: Confronting the Sins We Tolerate by Jerry Bridges. While this isn’t a book review, I do highly recommend this thought-provoking, sin-convicting book.

Over the last few weeks of reading this book, I began to ponder what types of sins are common among youth workers.

Working in ministry can often lead to a pride in ourselves for our holy living. We sometimes behave as if we have reached our full sanctification. I have a suspicion, however, that we tolerate sins in our own lives, and that this practice affects our ministries as well as our students in ways we may not be aware of.

If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

1 John 1:8-9

It may not seem uplifting to bring these issues up, but perhaps our attempts at always being uplifting is part of the problem. Too often we merely help our students feel good without helping them see the reasons they have for that joy. It is intolerable that many of our students are learning apathy toward sin, and we are a part of that problem! When is the last time you had a night of confession at youth group, or taught your students about the

importance of daily repentance? When did you last equip your students with the Scripture tools for them to fight sin in their lives? How are you holding your students accountable for the perpetual sins they struggle against?

In order to live lives that are worthy of being watched and followed, we need to be living lives of repentance and showing our students what that looks like. We need to teach them how to confront and deal with sin. We need to talk about sin in youth group, and appropriately disclose our own struggles with sin. We need to share the best news anyone could ever receive, that “the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 6:23 NIV).

But we also need to share the dark and unpopular news that the beginning of that verse is still true as well, “For the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23 NIV) and that, “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23 NIV). A person cannot understand the good news of the gospel without first understanding their need for the gospel. As we humbly try to live and breath the word of God, let us never neglect to pray the prayer of the tax collector found in Luke 18:13, “God, have mercy on me, a sinner”, and may we teach our students to do the same.

Gretchen Driesenga is the Youth Director at Plymouth Heights Christian Reformed Church in Grand Rapids, MI.

11

EVENTS “...enrich the God given gifts of young people and awaken a desire to serve Christ...”

YU Live It! Youth Unlimited introduces Live It! set to launch in July 2011. Live It!, a large youth event incorporating experiential worship through track programming, is the spiritual catalyst for your high school youth to begin living their unique lives for Christ.

The Live It! purpose is two-fold — first ,meet and build upon the spiritual gifts of each individual teen in your group, recognizing that each comes to the table with his own personality, interests, and talents.

The Track Format has been designed to tap into those gifts and challenge youth to use them in the body of Christ. Secondly, while we are created as unique individuals, we are called to be a community in Christ. The “Pull It Together” portion of Live It! will bring all participants under one roof to offer communal praise and worship to our one risen Lord. By combining these two aspects into one event, Youth

Unlimited Live It! is breaking the mold in the world of large youth events.

Youth Unlimited is enthusiastic about the unveiling of this modern day event for youth. Being involved in planning Youth Unlimited events and working with the youth in her church for over 30 years, Youth Unlimited Events Manager, Millie Hoekstra says, “The Live It! experience will enrich the God given gifts of young people and awaken a desire to serve Christ so that they will return to their local church empowered to live for Him and make a difference.”

Join your youth group with many others in connecting with God, and gaining an understanding where they belong in His Kingdom, and realizing how they can know and serve the purpose He has for them! Come to Youth Unlimited Live It! at Indiana Wesleyan University in Marion, Indiana from July 20-24, 2011. We look forward to building momentum for Christ with you!

LIVE IT! Planning Team Dawn Ryswyk, Pull It Together Lana Huyser, Grow It Millie Hoekstra, Youth Unlimited Events Manager John VanEck, Do It Bob Grussing, Team Chair Jim Stech, Play It Jevon Willis, Create It

12

EVENTS

Create It! (Arts):

Work with other musicians, vocalist, actors/actresses, drama and video production specialist. Learn and experience how to enhance and use your God given talents with greater purpose and intention.

Do It! (Service):

Learn that service is not just about feeling the joy of giving selflessly to others but expressing the love and joy of God to the people to serve!

Grow It! (Discipleship):

Want to grow in your relationship with Jesus Christ? Would you like to have devotions that come alive, learn new ways to pray and how to practice spiritual disciplines? Learn how your story fits into God’s story and be able to share your story with others.

Lead It! (Youth Ministry):

Youth leaders, along with student leaders (if applicable), will receive help in creating an intentional and sustainable youth ministry plan for the upcoming ministry year.

Play It! (Athletics):

Opportunities to use your God given talents to play, to learn, and to share. How better to praise God for the talents he has blessed you with than to spend time playing your favorite sport with other kids who are less fortunate or who have special needs.

Pull It Together! (Worship):

How do we make sense of all these different areas at this event? Each evening we will focus on what it now means to be the Body of Christ. Each one of us has a special place and purpose in the body. Through worship we will pull it all together.

The vision of Youth Unlimited Live It! is to minister to young people in such a way that they would experience the power of God in their daily lives. Our mission is to enrich the God given gifts of young people and awaken a desire to serve Christ so that they will return from our event to their local church empowered to live for Him.

{

Track It! A brief glimpse at the tracks to be offered at the 2011 Live It!

}

The Indiana Wesleyan University— Marion, Indiana campus is located just an hour north of Indianapolis and an hour south of Fort Wayne, off of Interstate 69. In addition to the suite style, air conditioned dorms, Live It! will occupy the Student Center, the Recreational Wellness Center, and the brand new Chapel Auditorium. Come see this beautiful campus.

13

EVENTS

Follow Up Coming Down from the High Spiritual highs and mountaintop experiences that are formed through events such as a Youth Unlimited SERVE, the AOYC (All Ontario Youth Convention), FYF (Facing Your Future), History Makers, etc. are an amazing and exciting part of student ministry. They can also be extremely frustrating and hard to deal with when students come back down.

The Challenge: Taking these life changing events and helping to transition your students back into their everyday lives.

The Solution: Prepare, Connect, Continue Prepare Many times, as youth leaders, we use these as stand alone events. Along with the students, we jump in head first excited for what is come. If we literally were to jump into an unknown area head first, wouldn’t we want to check out where we were jumping and prepare ourselves accordingly. The same is true with these spiritual experiences and events.

1.

Weeks before the event happens gather your students and leaders together. Discuss what everyone thinks the event will be about and what they will experience.

• Discuss spiritual highs and “mountaintop experiences.” Ask the group what they are; who has had such experiences and what happened, why, and how. Use this time to prepare the group for what they will experience.

• During the trip tell them to think of ways that they can use what they are experiencing at home.

14

2.

This prepares them to connect the event to their home lives, preventing it from becoming an isolated event.

• Make a time and place that the group will meet again upon their return to discuss the same questions.

Before you go, create a group page on Facebook or similar networking site.

Allow students and leaders to connect ahead of time. Ask questions, post information, etc. This page will become key in keeping the group connected after the event as well. This also allows others (family, friends, congregation members) not directly going on the trip to stay connected with what is going on.

Connect During the event have a leader or someone you know connect with students to ask them questions of not only “are you have a great time” but “what are you feeling?” Remind the students of the question that was asked before they left: “what can they use and do with what they are experiencing at present when they return home.” “What do you think life will be like upon returning home?” There does not have to be an answer just time to think and reflect.

FACEBOOK: Not convinced that Facebook is for you or a good way to connect with students/parents/leaders? Read this written by a youth worker who was wary as well: www.youthworker.com/youthministry-resources-ideas/youthministry/11553171/

EVENTS EVENTS IN YOUR AREA If you haven’t checked it out already, be sure to visit youthunlimited.org/leaders and click on”what’s happening in your area” for the latest youth worker and youth events near you!

Continue Shortly upon returning home have a debriefing time with the group to discuss what they felt during the trip. Host a BBQ at the church or have the group to your house for dinner.

• Connect students with other students and leaders who have experienced similar things and allow them to talk about their experience.

• Ask participants how they feel after they return.

• Reassure participants that it is normal have a wide range of emotions and feelings upon their return home.

It is part of our spiritual growth and journey.

• Ask participants about practical opportunities and ways they or the group can continue to do what they learning/experienced in their own community and home.

• Remind participants of the group page that was set up to post pictures, share experiences and plan future gatherings.

Overall these events are incredible opportunities to shape and build students lives.

By preparing, connecting and continuing we can help ensuring that these are not just stand alone events but events that are woven into the whole of the ministry.

Rick Roeda is the Youth Pastor at Mountainview Christian Reformed Church in Grimsby, ON.

Re Look for these helpful resources when following up group events: Short-Term Missions Workbook from Mission Tourist to Global Citizens byTim Dearborn

The Go Guide: A Manual for Short-Term Missions from Faith Alive Christian Resources

15

TEACHING GOD’S WORD

Experiential Experiential Worship Copyright 2010 Youth Unlimited The following prayer exercise is intended to be a complement to teaching related to the Youth Unlimited 2010 theme “Who Cares?” You can use this prayer exercise by itself but make sure to connect it to prior teaching if you want to focus your entire time on this prayer station experience. May it be a helpful tool for you and your ministry as you together passionately pursue Christ.

Note to Leader: Experiential worship is a way to engage all of our senses in worship. Prayer stations are simply any space set aside for interacting with God based on a particular scripture or theme. Stations utilize symbols and objects to help tell the story of God and God’s involvement with people in creative and engaging ways.

You’ll Need: • Small stone for each person present • Small lump of clay or a small individual-sized play-dough container for each person present • Index cards • Pens or markers • Set-up for the worship environment (candles, drapes, stones, signs, small tables or crates, etc) Note to Leader: During this reflection time, make available somewhere in the room (or at various stations, depending on the size of the group and your room) a place students can visit to exchange their stones for clay—either modeling clay or small containers of play-dough. You can make these stations very simple or more elaborate if you’d like to include candles, copies of the scripture passage, signs that say “Stones for Flesh,” or some other creative elements.

REFLECT AND PRAY: As students enter, have a designated person or place offer them a stone to keep with them throughout the session. Invite them to hold it tightly in their hand.

After your opening and teaching time regarding apathy from one of the YU theme materials for 2010, ask students to open their hands and reveal their stones. Invite students to reflect on the following questions silently: What are the qualities of the stone in your hand?

How is this stone like the experience of apathy?

• Do you ever feel like this rock?

• Do you ever feel like God is responding to you like this rock?

• Do you ever feel like you are responding to God like this rock?

Next bridge the gap between the apathy teaching and their stone exercise, saying: When it comes to our own apathy, ultimately the Holy Spirit is the One who enlivens us, replacing our hearts of stone with hearts of flesh (Ezekiel 36:26) that are able to feel and care deeply as we begin to live out of a core of true compassion. This is the miraculous work of God in us.

Read Ezekiel 36:26 and invite students to write out the verse on index cards.

16

Instruct students to read their written scripture verse (Ezekiel 36:26) several times slowly;

encourage them to soak in God’s Word and pause at words in the verse that grab their attention. Ask them to notice what the Holy Spirit may be stirring in them about apathy and passion.

After several minutes of this reflection, say: Now consider this: where or when in your own life is your heart stone-like? Take a few moments to ask God to reveal any hardness in your heart and to begin to soften it.

Next invite students to visit the station or stations for exchanging rocks for clay. Say: Around the room you’ll notice that there are several stations set up. You’re invited to go now to one of those stations and exchange your rock for clay. Leave the rock behind and return to your seat with your clay.

Give students the opportunity to reflect on the following questions as they work their clay in their hands. Either read them out, project them on a screen, or print them for each student to read and reflect: What does this new substance feel like?

How is it different from the rock you’ve been holding?

What do you think it would mean for God to give you a heart like this?

What new thoughts are stirring about the way you think about God and engage the world around you?

After some time to reflect on these questions and work their clay, invite students to share either in small groups or all together. Take a few moments to debrief the experience by asking some of the following questions: • What was this experience like for you?

• What was God like during this time? What were you like?

• What reflections came to mind about stones and clay?

• What was it like to hold the stone for so long? How did it feel to release it? How was the experience of holding clay in your hands different?

• What other thoughts do you have about our time together today?

Close in whatever way seems most appropriate to your context. If you spend time in worship through music, consider inviting students to keep holding the soft clay as they sing, or even to keep working the clay and creating something with it. Or allow students to contribute their clay to create an altar somewhere in the room representing your collective hope for God to put malleable hearts in you.

Brad and Melissa Griffin have been partnering together in youth ministry since 1995. Brad serves as Associate Director of the Fuller Youth Institute leveraging research into resources for youth workers, and Missy is a mentor for college students in Los Angeles. They live in Pasadena, CA with their three children and volunteer at NewSong Church.

17

TEACHING GOD’S WORD

A Series Radical Passion: A Short Series on the Spiritual Disciplines A year ago our leadership team got together and brainstormed this year’s teaching themes. Because we go through a four year cycle of curriculum, we are constantly gauging where the youth are spiritually, and then figure out how we can teach solid, Biblical truths that will touch their lives throughout the year.

1.

The last eQuip article focused on one lesson taken from a year-long curriculum based on the Heidelberg Catechism.

This issue, we’ll look at a month-long curriculum—a mini-series—focusing on the spiritual disciplines of prayer, fasting, and Bible reading. Why? The hope is that this mini-series will spark a desire to go deeper in faith inside in such a way that will show more passion for Jesus on the outside.

Matthew 4:19 says, “Come, follow me...”

Jesus invites his disciples to follow Jesus, to spend time at his feet, to learn, to be transformed. It continues, “…and I will make you fishers of men.” That internal transformation bubbles to the surface, and the result is the multiplication of even more Christ followers! Through this series, I am amazed to find out that many of our youth already have this deep desire to get to know Jesus more. We’re not teaching doctrine this issue so much as actually going through these disciplines together.

It has blown us away to see how our youth gravitate towards this short series.

So what are we actually doing? What follows is a rundown of what we’ve done.

18

2.

3.

30 Hour Fast: We hosted a 30 Hour Fast at the Church from a Saturday to Sunday.

- We started the evening off with our regular Hour of Discipleship focused on the topic of fasting.

- We set up a Prayer Labyrinth in the sanctuary. Thirty-one youth and youth leaders took their turn praying for over an hour that night in our Sanctuary. Praise God! - We spent the other hours of the night playing games and watching movies.

- The 30 Hour Fast was concluded by highlighting the event throughout our morning worship service (sleep deprived, the youth had the courage to sit in the front few pews that morning!).

Two lessons throughout the month, one on prayer and the other on Bible reading.

Mini-Series concluded with our annual retreat.

Last summer when our leadership team finalized our program schedule, we knew that particular month would be a busy one. You do not need to do a sleepover and you do not need to cap the series off with a retreat. But be assured that if you put the time and effort into a series like the spiritual disciplines, good things will happen. For us, the hard work has paid off, and God has surprised us once again! Throughout our lessons we have

seen our youth participate in ways we’ve never experienced before. So strength to you and your ministry as you pray for your youth to grow deeper in their relationship with Jesus. This series is working for us, and our hope is that it can be used as a catalyst in your program as well.

Other Series to Consider…

On the following page is a list of series I have used during formal teaching time. I have explained in the past two issues of eQuip how this teaching time is divided up, and so these are just helpful other topics to consider when planning for the future. I should mention that some have gone better than others, but all have been worth doing. Feel free to contact me for more information on these series at pastormark@immanuelministries.ca.

Mark Knetsch is the Pastor of Youth Outreach/Discipleship at Immanuel Christian Reformed Church in Hamilton, ON.

TEACHING GOD’S WORD

Resources

{ }

Re Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke?

Series of Lessons to Consider Sunday Morning Live: How and Why We Worship

by Jane Vogel and Mary Sytsma Every Night Live: Making Choices about TV

by Robert Keeley

Isaiah 58:6

A Sure Thing: What We Believe and Why?

by Cornelius Plantinga Jr.

The Joy of Generosity: A series on Christian stewardship based on an article

by Robert Heerspink in Reformed Worship issue #59. (www.reformedworship.org/magazine/article.

The Ten Commandments.

This intensely practical series is based on the Heidelberg Catechism. A helpful and readable resource includes The Ten Commandments: Manual for the Christian Life

by J.Douma and Mere Morality: What God Expects from Ordinary People

by Lewis Smedes Hot button Topics!

An overview of where your church stands on different ethical issues (for information on these different topics, see http://www.crcna.org/pages/ positions.cfm)

70 x 7: Learning to Forgive and be Forgiven

by Jolene DeHeer (no longer in print)

cfm?article_id=1042)

Mind’s In Love with God: A series loosely based on Your Mind Matters (IVP)

by John Stott’s and Fit Bodies Fat Minds: Why Evangelicals Don’t Think and What to Do About It

by Os Guinness

Bird’s Eye View of the Heidelberg Catechism: A Mighty Comfort: The Christian Faith According to the Heidelberg Catechism

by Fred H. Klooster (Image not available)

19

Dynamic Youth Ministries

Nonprofit Org US Postage PAID Grand Rapids, MI Permit No. 931

Box 7259 Grand Rapids, MI 49510 USA

INSIGHT

LAUGH IT OFF Send us your student of mine found out on our last night in Regina, In the winter issue of eQuip I shared a couple of ‘Foot in Mouth’ stories SK in 2007. anecdotes illustrating the wonderful reality of God and share the blessing calling messed up people like us to ministry. Perof laughter! Write to It was late and we were heading out early that next sonally, I am more thankful than you can imagine equip@youthunlimited.org morning to head home. I had curled up on my floor mat that God does not exclude klutzy, accident-prone, and look for it in the trying to catch some much-needed sleep when it hapjumpy, perpetually tongue-tied, grammatically chalSpring issue. pened. In my disillusioned and exhausted state, I suddenly lenged individuals like myself from giving their lives to sensed the presence of a person hovering next to me accomhis service. panied by a sudden burst of light! Instantaneously my fist whipped around and crashed into the floor at the feet of my presumed I have learned over the years that I cannot avoid these unpredictattacker…POW! Realizing what I had done in the midst of my haze, able situations particularly due to the fact that I am a narcoleptic I looked up to see Jake, one of my freshman students, frozen youth pastor. Yes, I have narcolepsy. Never heard of it? Good! If in place, standing in the doorway to the bright common room. you have you are probably imagining a youth pastor on a ski trip Exhaling the breath he had been holding, he quickly stepped who suddenly falls asleep at the top of the mountain and sliding back, mumbled a quick, “Ohh, ahh, sorry,” and closed the door. I snoozily down the run and face planting into the nearest tree. As promptly slipped off to slumberland again moments later. fun as that would be, for me being a narcoleptic youth pastor has meant that I am tired all the time. Words don’t always flow effectively, and my train of thought is easily derailed, which is a source of many situations that I wish I would not find myself in.

If you have not been on a Youth Unlimited SERVE trip yet, shame on you. Just kidding, but you should really try it out. I have loved our SERVE trips with our students over the years but they do take a lot of energy. The travel, the work, the constant “can-I-havemy-cell-phone-yet,” the worship, the messages, the small group conversations, the fun and fellowship. This combined makes for a life-changing experience and a tired group. Add that to the strain of having narcolepsy and I am wiped out after a week—which a

While narcolepsy is not the most pleasant condition to deal with, it has given me a story to share on every SERVE trip that encourages our boys to go to sleep and not mess around in the middle of the night. I emphasize that you never know what I might do if something odd happens in the middle of the night and it has made for very quiet and peaceful nights every year. Maybe you would like narcolepsy now, eh?

Cody Statema is the Pastor of Youth and Outreach at Calvary Christian Reformed Church in Edina, MN.