I’m looking forward to this summer in my youth ministry. Last summer we did an amazing thing called “Just Add Water” where the students in our ministry raised more than $9,000 to provide clean drinking water, and working showers and toilets for children and their parents in the Mathare slum of Nairobe, Kenya. But this summer we’re focusing on “Shape-Shifting”: helping students recognize who God created them to help them learn how to make a kingdom impact. We’re having several smaller workshop or activitiy times for the students to learn and develop in their spiritual gifts and natural talents and help them discover where and how to use them for kingdom purposes.
Another side benefit of this type of undertaking is that it allows us to recruit leaders on a “trial basis.” It allows us to give leaders an opportunity to try out the ministry and see if it’s a fit for them without asking a terribly big commitment of them or making them feel overwhelmed. I’m excited because several of the women from my adult small group are going to help out. They really have a passion for making sure there are people in the lives of students that they feel they can speak with who will be open, honest, and loving. I’m glad they’re going to find an outlet to use this passion as well.
I’m also looking forward to this weekend. This weekend several key leaders in the ministry are going to take a mini retreat to do some dreaming and vision-casting for the future of the ministry. I hope to have a report on that and my thoughts about it after the retreat.
