Adventures – Page 4 – youthworkers

Pausing During a Thunderstorm

August 19, 2010
Adventures
Leadership

It’s a busy time of year. There are back-to-school kickoff events to organize, lesson plans to pull together, and we’re working hard to get the youth and leaders are all excited about what the year ahead will bring. Personally, I’ve been pretty swamped lately — you? I just started a new job (I’m a volunteer youth leader with a full-time day job), so I have another schedule to adjust to and a learning curve to navigate. This summer has been jam-packed with my wife, Sonja, and I running from one event to the next each weekend. Even our brief vacations...

Social Justice Scavenger Hunt

August 11, 2010
Adventures
Discipleship

Looking for an activity for the fall or to kick off a season of planning as your group prepares for a mission trip? Why not put together a Social Justice Scavenger Hunt? We can’t claim credit for this idea (that goes to the guys at Rethinking Youth Ministry). The premise is simple. Take several Bible verses that discusses the poor or help for those in need. Then split up your group into teams, giving each of them a few verses, and task the groups with the responsibility of heading out and snapping shots or shooting video of images that illuminate the passages. Go ahead, let them shoot...

Extended Adolescence: Helping Youth Grow Up

August 10, 2010
Adventures
Discipleship

Following last week’s discussion of putting youth in crisis mode as a way to stretch their faith and help them grow, it’s worth talking about how we treat/work with the young adults in youth ministry. Whether that’s volunteer leaders, upperclassmen, or transitioning the graduating senior class off to the next step, it’s an important thing to consider. Mark Oestreicher shared some thoughts on our culture’s “extended adolescence“– the idea that we’re holding off giving young people responsibilities for as long as possible, which...

Selecting a Short-Term Missions Experience

August 5, 2010
Adventures
Preparation

Given the recent surge of interest and involvement in short-term missions, you’d think that it was a new phenomenon. Actually, it is a tradition as old as Christendom. In the sixth chapter of Mark we see that Jesus sent not a select few, but all of his disciples out as missionaries for a short period. This gave the disciples a taste of what life would be like once they eventually became full-time missionaries. The experience was a foundational one in their growth as they traveled from village to village with only God’s power to guide them. Wouldn’t it be great if the...

Putting Youth in “Crisis Mode”

August 4, 2010
Adventures
Discipleship

Last week, Adam McLane was down in Haiti with Adventures in Missions. While the above video doesn’t really have anything (technically) to do with his trip, it does have everything to do with putting teens in a position of “crisis” where their faith can be stretched. Not many other crises can equal the still-ravaged landscape of Port-au-Prince — which could be a perfect place to encourage spiritual growth and development in students. Adam writes, “My view of discipleship has radically changed in the last two years. I’m increasingly...

Relating to Students and Their Culture

August 3, 2010
Adventures
Discipleship

I recently read a post that really hit home. And if you’re a fellow travel addict, you’ll probably have some of the same takeaways.Andy Blanks over at youthministry360.com wrote a post on cultural relevancy and youth ministry. He said: “You wouldn’t travel to rural Chongqing, China and teach the exact same lesson you would teach in Idaho Falls. While the underlying biblical truths have a universal application, the cultural “vehicle” through which your lesson is communicated would be wholly ineffective.I believe as youth workers we should approach reaching...

Author: Adventures