I’ve been blessed with the chance to serve this week as an affinity group leader at Group’s Lifeserve 2010 conference in Columbus, OH. More specifically, I’ve had the privilege of leading a fantastic group of youth/ children’s pastors and volunteers in daily de-briefing and encouragement sessions. Though I didn’t know what to expect coming into this experience, I’ve been pleasantly surprised by the work God’s done ahead of me. Let me explain.
In the Lifetree Cafe (http://www NULL.lifetreecafe NULL.com) ministry we host at our church, we’re always talking about how God seems to put just the right people at the tables together. That is, connections are made that we could never have orchestrated on our own. The same has been true here at Lifeserve. The relationships that have been built in just two days together are nothing short of God’s providence. And out of those relationships have come some wonderful discussions on youth ministry.
As great as the ideas generated in these sessions have been for the participants, I think they’re things that apply to all of our youth ministries. So, with that in mind, I wanted to share some of the “best of the group” ideas with you. These are in no real order or ranking, and I take no credit for coming up with these ideas. (If I had come up with all these ideas, they’d be in my best-selling book instead of on my blog!!)
Ways to Encourage Students
- Send “I prayed for you” text messages
- Divide group members into lists by day (ie. Freshmen – Monday, Sophomores – Tuesday, etc.) and pray for each group member individually on their day.
- Affirm them by giving them your trust.
- Hold them accountable. Don’t be afraid to have expectations for them, and let them know what those expectations are.
- Remember that accountability works as a rapport is built through repeated encouragement.
- Use facebook as a way to encourage and affirm students. (ie. Leave a message on their wall when they helped out in class, prayed, etc.)
- Remember to encourage kids that have graduated from your group and gone on to what’s “next”, whether that’s college or just the senior high group.
Activities that Get Kids Involved
- Hand out cards for kids to write encouraging notes to each other and to mentors
- Have a “Human Knot” prayer circle. Start by creating a human knot (everyone grab someone’s hand randomly in a circle), and when the group has “untangled”, have them pray for the person next to them.
Books That We Like
- Deep Justice Journeys – Kara Powell
- Your First Two Years in Youth Ministry – Doug Fields
- The 9 Best Practices for Youth Ministry – Kurt Johnston & Tim Levert
Like I said, these are in no particular order. They’re just a small collection of some of our discussion.
Have an idea, book, or something else to add? Please join the discussion by leaving a comment below!
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