There are times when Student Ministry feels like a sprint. There are other times when Student Ministry seems like a marathon that really doesn't have a finish line. Over the course of a school year volunteers and group leaders will have highs and lows. There are moments your team will feel like they just climbed Kilimanjaro and others when they will feel like students think they are nothing more than a door mat.
Typically my week has some sort of roller coaster flow to it. One second a student will tell me that their friend is finally coming to them with questions about God, and the next second a parent will be asking me why we haven't had an Air-soft event in the past few months. Sometimes the people questioning or complaining about something are caring and considerate about how they communicate their issue, but a lot of the time they don't even realize how they are coming across.
I'll be honest. There are times that I would like to get off of the roller coaster. It's not always easy to stay balanced. I am sure that similar things take a toll on a lot of our volunteers and group leaders. I really admire their passion and perseverance. It's incredible to see them push through a year full of ups and downs. All that being said I would like to take a minute to share one of our high points that happened this Sunday Night. I hope you will celebrate it with all of us in Student Ministry too.
At the start of this school year there was a Middle School student who was coming to Friday nights at the Crossing and we will call him Danny. We had seen Danny a lot in the previous school year and we had our share of run ins with him as well. He was a guy who was dealing with a lot of different problems that he really didn't know how to handle. There were points we had to pull him aside and talk with him. He could be frustrating at times to say the least.
Our Crossing Staff does a great job and it came to our attention some time in September that Danny had warrant out for his arrest. He hadn't done anything horrendous. He just made a small mistake and missed his court date. On a Friday night we pulled him aside and asked him about it. We told him he needed to do the right thing and go work it out. Danny left in a squad car that night. It was tough on us. That night we committed ourselves to pray for Danny. We also promised Danny that we would follow up with him in a couple of weeks to see how he was doing. We wanted to help him through this.
A few weeks later we went to the address we had in our database for Danny. The house was completely empty. We talked to the neighbors. It seemed that Danny's family had just left abruptly a few days ago. We spent the rest of the day going from park to park and even talking to some of Danny's relatives trying to figure out where he had gone. Our search proved unproductive and the trail went cold. That evening we sent out an email to our church staff, elders, and all of our Student Ministry Volunteers. We wanted everybody to be praying for Danny. We might not have known where he was but Jesus definitely did and we liked that.
That was all that happened until about a month ago. Seemingly out of the shadows Danny reappeared at the Crossing. He told us about where he had moved and what he had been up to. He also told us that he had gone and talked with the judge and everything had been resolved. That was a great night for us at the Crossing. We got to play basketball with him and just catch up with him. We let him know we had been praying for him. He has been at almost each Crossing since that night as well.
We always encourage students who come to the Crossing to take the next step and come to Rel Community. The difference between the Crossing and Rel Community is that the Crossing is a place to come, hang out, and get to know us. At Rel Community, we get together and talk about the person who changed our lives forever, Jesus. Danny never seemed interested in Rel Community, he liked the pick up basketball games at the Crossing.
This Sunday night Danny surprised us again. He and 4 of his friends came to Rel Community. In our groups that night we talked about forgiveness and Matthew 18:21-35. Danny and his friends joined into the conversation. They shared real thoughts and real struggles about forgiveness. After our group time I told Danny that we had been praying for him for a while now because we cared so much about him. His response was, "Thanks. I am really trying to make good decisions."
Last night wasn't the finish line for us or Danny. He still needs to meet Jesus in a life-changing way. In all reality Danny may never come to Rel Community again. He might disappear into the shadows like so many students do. We need to keep praying for him, but something truly incredible did happen on Sunday night. Danny emerged from the shadows to talk about Jesus, and it was our privilege to be able to plant and water seeds in his heart. That's worth celebrating.
Showing posts with label the crossing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label the crossing. Show all posts
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Year in Review Part 3
July
Bigger Picture: Bernie Madoff's life just kept getting worse. As evidence of his huge ponzi scheme became clearer everyone was dumbfounded by the size of it (ponzi just sounds like corruption). Thankfully as a recent college grad and a student minister I had no millions to have squandered by him.
In My World: Alicia took her NCLEX test. The test is just a big shiny way of the US deciding whether or not you get to be a nurse. Anyways the precautions to make sure people don't cheat just make the test more stressful. Everyone that Alicia and I talked to said they had a breakdown after they took it and they were sure that they failed. I bet you could make a ton of money offering counseling sessions outside of the testing facility on test day. Well, sure enough Alicia passed with flying colors and started working at Anderson Mercy Hospital like the next week.
In Student Ministry: ISAIAH 117!!! This was one of my favorite things from the past year. We had such a great time serving our community and just growing with Students. Everybody worked so hard. It was just such a God thing. The neat thing is that cool Kingdom of God coming to Earth kind of stuff is still happening because of Isaiah 117. If you are wondering what the ISAIAH117 CHALLENGE was/is go read Isaiah 1:17 and that will sum it up pretty well. Basically we spent a week trying to Glorify God by learning to do right in our community.
In My World: George Frank and his wife Cassi went to Ireland. It made Alicia and I very jealous. Don't worry we got over it.
In Student Ministry: The school year was just around the bend so we had a Student Ministry Movement seminar for our parents and ministry leaders. The Chicfila was definitely a highlight. My favorite parts of it though were having students there serving our parents and leaders, having time to talk and pray with the parents of our students, and getting a chance to share my passion for growing students to be Engaging Christ Followers. A lot of good things came out of that Saturday afternoon.
In My World: I Rick Rolled the staff at Parkside. I thought it was all fun and games until I came out to my car and Bart had slit my tires. He didn't really, but he totally could have.
In Student Ministry: Rel Community and Friday Nights at the Crossing got kicked off for the school year. Our volunteers and group leaders have done an awesome job all year. It has been so incredible to see students come to the Crossing on Friday night and a few weeks later end up coming to Rel Community and joining a group . Its awesome to get to see people who are passionate about their relationship with Jesus share their story with students who are trying to figure out what life is all about. Its definitely one of my favorite parts of my job.
Bigger Picture: Bernie Madoff's life just kept getting worse. As evidence of his huge ponzi scheme became clearer everyone was dumbfounded by the size of it (ponzi just sounds like corruption). Thankfully as a recent college grad and a student minister I had no millions to have squandered by him.
In My World: Alicia took her NCLEX test. The test is just a big shiny way of the US deciding whether or not you get to be a nurse. Anyways the precautions to make sure people don't cheat just make the test more stressful. Everyone that Alicia and I talked to said they had a breakdown after they took it and they were sure that they failed. I bet you could make a ton of money offering counseling sessions outside of the testing facility on test day. Well, sure enough Alicia passed with flying colors and started working at Anderson Mercy Hospital like the next week.
In Student Ministry: ISAIAH 117!!! This was one of my favorite things from the past year. We had such a great time serving our community and just growing with Students. Everybody worked so hard. It was just such a God thing. The neat thing is that cool Kingdom of God coming to Earth kind of stuff is still happening because of Isaiah 117. If you are wondering what the ISAIAH117 CHALLENGE was/is go read Isaiah 1:17 and that will sum it up pretty well. Basically we spent a week trying to Glorify God by learning to do right in our community.
Oh and CIY Move was awesome too. Joe, Kyle, Lindsey, and Jess... Can you say SARDINES?
August
Bigger Picture: The Bengals made Cincinnati proud by capturing America's attention in this year's addition of Hard Knocks. During the show Chad Ochocinco blessed us with new catch phrases like Kiss Da Baby and Child Please. Which were really cool until someone besides Chad Ochocinco said them and then not so much. Still the best Bengals memory form August was Chad kicking not only an extra point, but also the ensuing kick off in a preseason game. SMH.
Bigger Picture: The Bengals made Cincinnati proud by capturing America's attention in this year's addition of Hard Knocks. During the show Chad Ochocinco blessed us with new catch phrases like Kiss Da Baby and Child Please. Which were really cool until someone besides Chad Ochocinco said them and then not so much. Still the best Bengals memory form August was Chad kicking not only an extra point, but also the ensuing kick off in a preseason game. SMH.
In My World: George Frank and his wife Cassi went to Ireland. It made Alicia and I very jealous. Don't worry we got over it.
In Student Ministry: The school year was just around the bend so we had a Student Ministry Movement seminar for our parents and ministry leaders. The Chicfila was definitely a highlight. My favorite parts of it though were having students there serving our parents and leaders, having time to talk and pray with the parents of our students, and getting a chance to share my passion for growing students to be Engaging Christ Followers. A lot of good things came out of that Saturday afternoon.
September
Bigger Picture: Parkside's river campus opened up. The whole process of the River Campus coming about was a God thing. It was real privilege to be a part of the process. It is great what God is bringing about in our lives, at Parkside, and in the Kingdom of God. I still love it when someone asks me, "How many Parksiders were at the River Campus this Sunday." (The correct answer is ALL of them at the River Campus are Parksiders).
Bigger Picture: Parkside's river campus opened up. The whole process of the River Campus coming about was a God thing. It was real privilege to be a part of the process. It is great what God is bringing about in our lives, at Parkside, and in the Kingdom of God. I still love it when someone asks me, "How many Parksiders were at the River Campus this Sunday." (The correct answer is ALL of them at the River Campus are Parksiders).
Oh and how could I not mention Kanye West interrupting Taylor Swift at the VMA's. I would offer up my thoughts abut when I first saw it, but I don't want to get dogged by Kanye on his next album. Come on though Beyonce's video was the best video of all time right? File that whole incident under "Things I Don't Care About"
In My World: I Rick Rolled the staff at Parkside. I thought it was all fun and games until I came out to my car and Bart had slit my tires. He didn't really, but he totally could have.
In Student Ministry: Rel Community and Friday Nights at the Crossing got kicked off for the school year. Our volunteers and group leaders have done an awesome job all year. It has been so incredible to see students come to the Crossing on Friday night and a few weeks later end up coming to Rel Community and joining a group . Its awesome to get to see people who are passionate about their relationship with Jesus share their story with students who are trying to figure out what life is all about. Its definitely one of my favorite parts of my job.
Monday, November 23, 2009
Monday Morning
This was an incredible weekend for me for a lot of reasons. First off, my dad and I got to do something incredible. We got to go to that town up north and watch Ohio State beat Mich.again. There are so many stories from that alone that I would love to share, but I am sure none of you are all that interested so I'll keep my thoughts on it brief. I simply LOVED having the time to take a roadtrip with my dad. We had so much fun running all over the place and frankly just being childish. It was great. I'll never forget it.
The Game was not the only incredible thing I got to be a part of this week though. I also got the chance to see God do some pretty incredible things this weekend in Student Ministry. On Friday night we had some Turkey Bowling at the Crossing. I head it was a blast and we got some great video (I was with my dad up north so sadly I bowled no turkeys...). The coolest thing from the Crossing on Friday was some conversations our Volunteers had with Students. Our hope and prayer for the Crossing is that it will act as a bridge for students. That they will build relationships with us and other students that will introduce them to Jesus. We hope that for a lot of students that the Crossing is the start of their Faith Journey. Our goal is that they will end up connecting with one of our groups at Rel Community on Sunday Nights. This past Friday night 4 students talked with different leaders and sounded very eager about coming on Sunday Night (And They Did!)
One of the girls from the Crossing even came on Sunday morning and had a great time connecting with our girls in their Sunday morning group. It was great to see! On top of that our sign ups for CIY Believe started and our parents are in charge of the table for Sign Ups. They did a great job and were a huge help. That also freed me up to have the opportunity to chat with a couple of students about making good choices in their Faith Journeys. It was a great morning.
Finally the last thing we need to Praise God for about this weekend happened on Sunday night. We knew that 4 students had said they were going to come to Rel Community that night so we wanted to be sure to pray for them before Rel Community. Let me take a moment to say that we have great group leaders at Rel Community who are super committed to their students. They show up 30 minutes before RC to go over things for the evening and to spend time praying for the students and their groups. Well yesterday in our Pre-RC meeting time we prayed that God would already start working on the students who would be coming to Rel Community for the first time (Little did we know what God had in store for us!).
We finished our prayer time and headed over to the Crossing to greet the students as they arrived. Not only did the 4 students we had prayed for show up, but 8 other students came to the Crossing for the first time. Praise God! He answered our prayer in such an amazingly abundant way. The most incredible part though was how quality our group times were. We talked about Psalm 46 and how God is the Refuge and Strength for those who trust Him.
I just wanted to celebrate with all of you some of the cool things God let us be a part of this weekend. Please be praying for all of the students that showed up for the first time. Pray that God would be working in their hearts, and growing them. Pray that we see them again at Rel Community soon and that they would all experience the LIFECHANGE God has for them.
The Game was not the only incredible thing I got to be a part of this week though. I also got the chance to see God do some pretty incredible things this weekend in Student Ministry. On Friday night we had some Turkey Bowling at the Crossing. I head it was a blast and we got some great video (I was with my dad up north so sadly I bowled no turkeys...). The coolest thing from the Crossing on Friday was some conversations our Volunteers had with Students. Our hope and prayer for the Crossing is that it will act as a bridge for students. That they will build relationships with us and other students that will introduce them to Jesus. We hope that for a lot of students that the Crossing is the start of their Faith Journey. Our goal is that they will end up connecting with one of our groups at Rel Community on Sunday Nights. This past Friday night 4 students talked with different leaders and sounded very eager about coming on Sunday Night (And They Did!)
One of the girls from the Crossing even came on Sunday morning and had a great time connecting with our girls in their Sunday morning group. It was great to see! On top of that our sign ups for CIY Believe started and our parents are in charge of the table for Sign Ups. They did a great job and were a huge help. That also freed me up to have the opportunity to chat with a couple of students about making good choices in their Faith Journeys. It was a great morning.
Finally the last thing we need to Praise God for about this weekend happened on Sunday night. We knew that 4 students had said they were going to come to Rel Community that night so we wanted to be sure to pray for them before Rel Community. Let me take a moment to say that we have great group leaders at Rel Community who are super committed to their students. They show up 30 minutes before RC to go over things for the evening and to spend time praying for the students and their groups. Well yesterday in our Pre-RC meeting time we prayed that God would already start working on the students who would be coming to Rel Community for the first time (Little did we know what God had in store for us!).
We finished our prayer time and headed over to the Crossing to greet the students as they arrived. Not only did the 4 students we had prayed for show up, but 8 other students came to the Crossing for the first time. Praise God! He answered our prayer in such an amazingly abundant way. The most incredible part though was how quality our group times were. We talked about Psalm 46 and how God is the Refuge and Strength for those who trust Him.
I just wanted to celebrate with all of you some of the cool things God let us be a part of this weekend. Please be praying for all of the students that showed up for the first time. Pray that God would be working in their hearts, and growing them. Pray that we see them again at Rel Community soon and that they would all experience the LIFECHANGE God has for them.
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