Youth Specialties Blog

Re-entering home culture: Help for parents after a mission trip.

By Brooklyn Lindsey on August 20 2009 | 0 Comments

Mission trips are our sweet spot. Mission trips provide a place where  knowledge and method can meet praxis, where the head can meet the heart, and the body gets introduced to action. Nevertheless, every youth leader realizes that everyone eventually goes home. Going home is different for everyone and varies with every trip you take. I recommend the new deep justice journeys by Kara Powell and the Fuller Youth Institute. It’s extremely helpful and comprehensive as we debrief and re-enter our former way of living together.

But the point of this blog is about a letter from a parent that really impressed me. Kate Perkins, a former student of ours who currently works for InterVarsity, gave me permission to share her mom’s letter. Sarah (Kate’s mom) experienced first hand, what it was like to have a child come home from a mission trip “high” as many might refer to it. She wrote the letter as a gift to her daughter who works for InterVarsity.

Check it out:

I (Kate) asked my mother to share a little of her experience receiving me back from similar missions experiences in order to help prepare family and friends for some of the changes they might see in their students returning home.

My daughter Kate Perkins has asked me to write to you from the parents’ perspective about receiving your children home from their urban experience in Washington, D.C.  Obviously I don’t know you or your child, but I will tell you some of our reactions to similar experiences Kate had when she did urban projects in Camden, NJ and in Bangkok several summers ago. Your child has had an incredibly intense 24-7 immersion experience in an alien environment the past seven weeks where they have lived beside the poor and tried to understand the injustices that contribute to their problems.  All of this has been framed by Bible study and prayer to understand God’s heart for the “least of these.”

Your home and family may be like ours.  We have very deliberately and carefully saved for our children’s college education and lived in school districts and neighborhoods where they would have opportunities and advantages we wanted them to have.  For us this has always been a vital part of our responsibility as a parent, a basic value-a trust.   And God has blessed us immeasurably with wealth, good health and incredibly good kids who make great grades and have never, ever got in trouble.

When your student comes home, the contrast between what they have seen and experienced these past few weeks and how you live will probably be obvious and glaring.  They may huff around about consumerism and excess.  They may plow through the closets and drawers to give to Good Will. They may even give you some grief about some decisions you have made about how you live. Get ready.

I’m not going to reassure you that they will get over this; they may never be the same.  God may have changed their hearts forever, and they may never look at possessions and wealth the same again.  Engage them in conversations about what they have done and seen.   Above all, your child needs your approval and involvement in how they are maturing in their faith.  Be proud of your child-enjoy the rest of the summer together.

Blessings,
Sarah Perkins

Some tips to help your students:
—listen to them!  Be someone who will listen to them tell the entire story of their summer
—help them rest, sleep!
—be patient to give them time and space to process, pray and journal
There’s nothing like a parent’s perspective. What a great message and reminder. Thanks to Sarah for being willing to share her journey. Thanks to Kate for being proof that what we do—-leading students to missional living and justice—-is just that important.

By Brooklyn Lindsey on August 20 2009 | 0 Comments

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5 ways Scott Rubin is still a middle schooler

By Adam McLane on August 13 2009 | 1 Comments

It wouldn’t be fair to point out that Middle School Ministry co-author Marko is still a middle school unless we shared the truth about Scott Rubin. I asked Scott’s co-worker and friend, Jason Raitz to share a few ways in which Scott is not just the middle school pastor at Willow Creek Community Church, he is a middle schooler:

By Adam McLane on August 13 2009 | 1 Comments

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5 Ways Marko is still a middle schooler

By Adam McLane on August 13 2009 | 2 Comments

This week we are celebrating the release of Marko and Scott Rubin’s new book, Middle School Ministry, with a week of fun we’re calling Middle School Week. Just for a little fun, I asked Marko’s friend and YS publisher Jay Howver, to share a few ways in which Marko still is still a middle schooler. Here’s what he passed along:

1. He sings songs about Poo. I’ve spent a bit of time around Marko, suffice it to say that I’ve seen him in a lot of different situations…but my favorites are when he’s around his family. He loves his family. They do some of the most creative things around Easter and other holidays…and they sing songs about Poo. I can’t remember the exact context, but the song is titled “Poo Stew” and over the course of weeks and months was developed into a full blown song with a chorus, bridge and an encore…
2. Like a middle school guy going through puberty he occasionally trips over his feet (you can check out the incident here)
3. He changes his hair (color/style) about as often as middle school guys change their underwear.
4. He rides a skateboard to work… but not as well as middle schooler rides one to school.
5. Like a middle school kid he tries on different identities… from kilts to skateboards to nail polish.

By Adam McLane on August 13 2009 | 2 Comments

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Global Youth Ministry Continued

By Brooklyn Lindsey on June 30 2009 | 0 Comments

My wheels have been turning this week on the topic of global youth ministry, especially as I head into mission trip mode on Sunday. Today I stumbled across a book that has been foundational and motivational  for me as we work to bring the students in our youth ministries together on a local level, as well as  provide them chances to interact and serve the world.

The Revolution: A Field Manual for Changing Your World (Edited by Heather Zydek). Below are some questions it begged of me a few years ago.

Perhaps it would be good in the conversation to know that what I’m referring to here isn’t just an openness to other world cultures but an openness to understanding the differing plights of our world and how we, as youth ministers in America, can respond to them by giving our students a chance to think in opposite ways of our culture and offer Christ to a world in diverse and imaginative ways.

Listed are a few of the things that grabbed me, things I am still working through:

P. 4- Head to hands

How are our mission trips working? Local outreach? How do very young middle school students relate to missional experiences? How do they process them? What are the outcomes. Kara Powell’s materials might be able to help us here.

8- Reshaping worldview

How do guide the adolescent worldview to a place where they begin to see and respond like Christ may have responded? How do we do this organically? What’s the most important thing? Bible study? Experiential learning? Modeling?

14- Prayer

What’s the role of prayer in our youth ministries? Is it often overlooked and undervalued?

17- Violence

Are our eyes becoming immune to violence? What stories can we tell to help our students see pain found in violent acts? How do we tell these stories without being manipulative?

35- Susan B. Anthony

How are are we expressing this radical kingdom message to our students? Are we comfortable with the status quo? Are we willing to take risks to articulate the message?

67- Hunger

Do we give our students opportunities to empathize, to enter into the pain of another and experience solidarity at their own level? Is it important? Can things like the 30 Hour Famine become more than a weekend, but a way of life? How do we do that?

And finally, how do we break all of this down? How would this blog be different if I were writing it for a 13 year old? Maybe that is what I should do! Nevertheless, these are the questions as of late.

Maybe you have thoughts of your own?

By Brooklyn Lindsey on June 30 2009 | 0 Comments

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Living Missionally for Evangelism

By Adam McLane on June 30 2009 | 0 Comments

It is quite fashionable these days to live missionally. Doing evangelism, on the other hand, does not get you invited to parties.  I am sympathetic but nervous about this inclination on the part of Christians.

For far too many years the church in America has focused on getting the words said right and delivered widely.  We have wrongly assumed that evangelism simply requires better coaching in our presentation of the gospel.  Lots of good folks spent lots of hard-earned money and precious time getting these presentations into a transferable form, a package that was easily understood and easily passed on.  No one actually said that words were more important than a loving lifestyle, but our training values sure weighed heavily in that direction.

In recent years we’ve been listening a little more to those we want to reach.  It’s not been without pain we’ve realized that an unintended consequence of guarding the gospel through witness rehearsal may be Christians who come off as glib and insincere to many non-Christians.  This has led to a proper corrective, I think.  Our lives must be beyond reproach if our words are going to have impact.  Living missionally is about putting the horse before the cart, where it must be.

What, then, about using words to point people to Jesus?  Still critical, in my estimation.  In fact, research cited in our new book specifically identifies the importance of a well-timed, well-framed invitation as students reach out to their friends for Christ.  And there is evidence that student explanations about how their friends can begin their own relationships with Jesus still work—they are especially important to those teens who don’t have a church background.

Preach the gospel at all times.  Use words if necessary.  And by the way, words may be necessary more often than we think.

About our guest blogger: Dave Rahn is the co-author of Evangelism Remixed. Dave Rahn is the vice president and chief ministry officer for Youth for Christ/USA and continues to direct the MA in youth ministry leadership (http://www.youthministryleadership.com) for Huntington University. A youth ministry researcher, author, and leadership strategist, Dave now guides a team whose focus is to coach, train, resource, and serve Youth for Christ men and women from all over the country who lead nearly 2,100 community-based relational outreach ministries among teenagers. He and his wife, Susie, are empty nesting and cheering on the youth ministry careers of both recently graduated children, Jason and Alison.

By Adam McLane on June 30 2009 | 0 Comments

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Evangelism is a Value

By Adam McLane on June 19 2009 | 3 Comments

Our new book just released today, June 19. It’s the same day that Apple’s upgrade to the iPhone is released.  There will certainly be lines outside the store for one of these releases.  But here’s what I know about evangelism.  iPhone will NOT be able to develop “an app for that.“

How we see evangelism has everything to do with how we help students understand it and embrace it as part of their journey with Jesus.  Some have seen evangelism as a bundle of conversational skills.  This skill set can be taught, demonstrated, practiced and coached.  To the degree that this is true we should expect that those trained well in this “how to“ approach will likely be effective in reaching their friends for Christ.  I don’t think the evidence is there to support the notion that skill-improvement training is the answer for the masses of Christians to engage in evangelism.

I think evangelism is a value, better caught than taught.  When students really care about sharing Jesus with others they find a way to do so.  Skill coaching helps those who are already motivated to do better at what they WANT to do.  It doesn’t convince the unpersuaded that actually talking to people about Jesus is important.

The tough news for youth workers is that values almost always get passed on naturally. There’s not much hope that our students will become actively engaged in evangelism if their adult leaders aren’t modeling its importance.

You know, the new iPhones have video capabilities; a little footage of us in action could work to help show the way.  Maybe I spoke too soon about that app thing…

About our guest blogger: Dave Rahn is the co-author of Evangelism Remixed. Dave Rahn is the vice president and chief ministry officer for Youth for Christ/USA and continues to direct the MA in youth ministry leadership (http://www.youthministryleadership.com) for Huntington University. A youth ministry researcher, author, and leadership strategist, Dave now guides a team whose focus is to coach, train, resource, and serve Youth for Christ men and women from all over the country who lead nearly 2,100 community-based relational outreach ministries among teenagers. He and his wife, Susie, are empty nesting and cheering on the youth ministry careers of both recently graduated children, Jason and Alison.

By Adam McLane on June 19 2009 | 3 Comments

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What are you reading?

By Brooklyn Lindsey on June 01 2009 | 7 Comments

There are seasons in ministry when I feel an overwhelming urge to read. It’s not every day that I feel like this, mainly when a project ends or a trip is complete. I find that these times are often the most fruitful and creative moments in my ministry experience.

When the reading bug bites I find myself looking in a few places. I look at my already read shelf. I find my most precious jewels of inspiration there: Walter Brueggeman’s The Prophetic Imagination, Henri Nouwen’s In The Name of Jesus, Mike Yaconelli’s Dangerous Wonder, and my oldest copy of C.S. Lewis’ The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe.

Another place I look is to the list of books that have been referred to me by friends in ministry, a list so long and beautiful it’s hard to know where to start, maybe with Robert Lewis’ The Church of Irresistible Influence or Kevin Carroll’s Rules of the Red Rubber Ball?

Then there are the books that speak to me from the shelves. They may have nothing to do with ministry but they have jumped out at us either at a library or a store and you were drawn in and changed. Anne Morrow Lindbergh’s Gift From the Sea, and Sara Shandler’s Ophelia Speaks were like this for me.

This morning I find myself in that space, desiring very much to learn from someone else.

What are you reading? Would you share the book that has changed you and challenged you the most so far in 2009?   Dave Gibbon’s The Monkey and The Fish that has lingered with me long after I read the last page so I would say it’s my book for the year…so far. How about you?

By Brooklyn Lindsey on June 01 2009 | 7 Comments

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