Author: Adventures

I’m in my late 20s, independent, and haven’t lived with my parents for more than a decade. Yet I still want approval from Mom and Dad. I talk to them before every major life decision: moving, job offers, and yup — marriage proposal. They are the two people who have had the most impact on my life by far. Their love, guidance, and character (even their mistakes) have made me the guy I am today. ( <— That’s Mom on the left.) Our job is to work with youth and help them grow in their faith. Those who are full-time devote their careers to that goal. But when it...

As a leading voice in the youth ministry world for years, we’re thrilled to have Mark Oestreicher take some time to answer our questions on discipleship and teens. In this Q&A session, Marko lays out his thoughts on the evolution of teenagers and youth ministry, shares the best piece of discipleship advice he ever received, and discusses the value of missions in youth ministry. Q: What has changed about the way youth workers (yourself and in general) disciple students over your career in youth ministry? There’s been a healthy shift away from a one-size-fits-all mentality....

In his yet-to-be published book, Scandalous Discipleship: A Disciple-Making Primer, Seth Barnes writes about our use of time and what we give precedence in our daily lives: The urgent often masquerades as the important. The tasks of the day are often urgent.  But if we call Jesus Lord, we must affirm daily – by our choices of how to spend time and energy – that discipling others is what is truly important.  It is his mandate to us and our identity must be measured against his last words, to “go and make disciples”. Our commitments must allow time for...

God calls us to live lives of passion, just as Jesus did. He was passionate about righteous living, specific individuals (usually on the fringe of society), and about saving the lost. Seth Barnes, founder of Adventures In Missions, regularly makes the argument that mission trips stimulate, encourage, and grow passionate behavior. Here are the seven ways he says mission trips arouse passion in youth (and leaders, too). 1. Mission trips are themselves bold, passionate acts  They defy spiritual gravity. There is nothing in us that naturally would cause us to want to raise money so...

I love summer camp. I remember as a teenager having the first try at managing my own schedule, eating what I wanted (ice cream for every meal was one of the coolest things ever), and having fun however I wanted (good clean fun, I promise). In my experience working with teenagers and young adults, I’ve discovered that these little “interruptions” in our life open the door in a wardrobe-Narnia kind of way.  Let me explain… Last week I took one of my sisters and one of my brothers down to Port-Au-Prince, Haiti (there are six kids total in my family). My youngest...