Today only (January 26, 2012), get (regularyly $6.99) for only $2.99! Click the picture below to save some cash!
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Tonight at a memorial service for Jessi Rees, I got some insight about why we die and have funerals.
Jessie was only 12. Why would she die and why would we have a memorial service? Memorial services aren’t a new concept. They have graves dating back to ancient times. It’s something we’ve always done, but why?
I could go into a deep research project on this, read several books and scour the web. The answer, I think, is probably quite simple and the reasons are probably multiple – and I don’t think they all have to do with the dearly departed. I believe God is up to somethings much bigger. Here are a few that I imagine:
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Tonight I attended the memorial/celebration service for a 12-year-old cancer victim named Jessie Rees. The word “victim”, however, hardly describes her. She was a warrior. Jessie saw so many other cancer patients who could use some joy in their lives so she created Joy Jars. Her goal was to deliver 1 Joy Jar to each of the 50,000 children with cancer in the United States.During her 10-month struggle with cancer, Jessie managed to get 3,000 Joy Jars delivered. At her memorial tonight, her dad vowed to finish the job for her.The service from start to finish was amazing and inspiring. While I plan to do what I can to advance the cause of Christ by helping with Joy Jars, I want to pass the opportunity along to others, too.
If you and/or your office, youth ministry, club, etc, would like to pitch in or learn more, please visit The NEGU Foundation website by clicking here. NEGU stands for Never Ever Give Up. |
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The Landing lanyards are available for purchase for $5.00 each. They come with a plastic holder for a name tag for your leaders or without the plastic holder for students to use as a keychain.
Click here to download an order form
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(1 votes, average: 1.00 out of 5) Loading ...We had an AMAZING celebration tonight to conclude year 1 of The Landing (Celebrate Recovery for jr and sr high students).
- One of our students made a year-in-review video
- We did a trivia game about facts from The Landing
- We gave away T-shirts as prizes and explained the importance of wearing them to help other hurting students become aware of The Landing. I encouraged the group to purchase them or the lanyards to help get the word out
- The band played an extended set
- We had 2 students read the 12 steps with their biblical comparisons (from Celebrate Recovery material) to review where we’ve been in the last 12 months
- We acknowledged all of the leaders and applauded them like crazy
- We handed out the long-awaited 1-year key tags – the highlight of the night!
We took a picture we took of everybody on stage behind a paper banner that read “The Landing Year One”. We burned the banner outside after small groups in the fire pits to symbolize leaving stuff behind (even old victories) and striving toward what’s next so we don’t stagnate or go backward. Before burning the signs we did a little open share time around the fire. People voluntarily shared what they were leaving behind and what they were striving toward. Then we all had s’mores.
FANTASTIC way to cap off a great year!
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I’m writing this post while sitting in a volunteer leadership event. Its a GREAT event. They’re doing a great job. Pastor Rick Warren came and spoke, videos and pictures of stuff we’ve done were put up on the big screen. Letters of changed lives as a result of our work have been shared. It’s been awesome!
All that said, the most encouraging part of the entire meeting, no knock against the meeting itself, was a couple of text messages I got from a youth ministry friend during the event.
I spoke at a retreat for his youth ministry in Kansas a couple of months ago. He sent these messages about how I impacted his students and gave credibility to some material he’s using because I know the people who wrote it.
The takeaway, other than being encouraged, is:
1. General words of encouragement to the crowd is great, personal words specific to an individual for sacrificial contributions are deeply impactful and straight to the heart
2. Being an encourager and pouring into the lives of others, while not immediate, comes back on you. Encouragement, much like revenge, then can sometimes be best served cold. Sometimes years after pouring into the life of a knucklehead student (not the case with the students in that camp I mentioned), all those years of wrestling with a kid to lead him down the path of God’s way will bring the encouragement of a thank you. It’s so great!
3. Leaders don’t lead for the sake of being encouraged. Their focus is on impacting the lives and situations around them. It’s an act of dedication, love, purpose, or something outside themselves. However, when they’re blind sighted with encouragement, it really packs a punch.
One of my life verses is 1 Thessalonians 5:11, “Therefore, encourage each other and build each other up, just as you are already doing.” We each need to serve without our own benefit in mind. I think we have that down. However, we also need to encourage our co-laborers (fellow volunteers) so we’re all preserved and encouraged to carry out the call.
I’m super thankful for my friend in youth ministry, Justin Dougan, for illustrating that for me tonight. I guess I should quit blogging and pay attention to the meeting now. Stay strong for the cause of Christ through youth ministry.
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This Post It note was attached to a Christmas gift I got in the mail today. There’s some back story to why this is such a big deal. This family has been through a lot this year. I’ve had the privilege of walking with them though it. To get this note today put words to how working through a crisis that still is going on bonds youth leaders and families together.
When a crisis hits, people tend to shy away to give a family space. It seems like the polite thing to do. However, what they need is people who will stand with them through it, bring comfort and lend a listening ear while fighting the temptation to fix the situation. That’s a generality that’s not always true, but we do need to be sensitive about when to lead and when to just listen.
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I was happy to see VolunteerYouthMinistry.com has made its way into 124 countries! My goal with this blog is to be a resource for other volunteers helping students make their way into adulthood as devoted followers of Christ.
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On the lighter side of youth ministry…
Here’s a little harmless prank I pull on students. I love messing with people. If you do, too, you might consider using this if you can do it with a straight face.
Here goes… When you’re out and about with a student, at the checkout counter when he hands his ATM card to the cashier, say loud enough for the cashier to hear, but soft enough to be believable, “You’re still using that guy’s card? He’s going to find out and report it stolen. You’ve got to give it back to him!”
The casheir’s expression will be priceless, yet subtle (usually) and likely include:
- Nervous laughter
- The look of terror because of the conflict between being rude and asking for ID or taking a risk that you’re joking and finish the sale
- A call to 911 after you leave the store and getting to tell the joke to some humorless authorities
(only the first two have happened so far)
The student typically stands there not knowing what to say or do the first time this happens. The following times, it just becomes a running joke. What’s funny is when they try to pull this on me, they usually can’t keep a straight face or botch it. Either way, it’s funny.
Now, for some of you, you see a big flaw in this. Students don’t pay for anything when they’re with you. If that describes you, you might be a ministry newbie. Let the kids pay their own way except for the occassional surprise treat or special occassion.
If you use this prank, good luck. It might take a couple of times to do it well. The cool thing is, you can use it on the same student several times, just don’t do it every time.
I’d love to read some of your fun pranks. Leave them as comments on this post.
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The Problem: Each week at our program, The Landing, we have a few students who stay outside during large group time, then go to small group. No amount of encouragement has brought them consistently inside.
The Solution: We haven’t fully figured out a solution, yet, but I think we took a big step closer last night. We have free dessert after small group each week. This week we handed out dessert tickets at the end of large group. Without a ticket, dessert cost $2.00. While free dessert alone might not get them into large group, there’s a certain psychological feeling of being left out that might get them to start coming in.
Unexpected Benefit: A leader told me that his students who are regularly in large group liked having the tickets. Even though they always get dessert, there was something about having a ticket that made them feel better. I think it might have brought a feeling of belonging. I didn’t expect that, but I’ll take it.
As youth workers, we’ve got to continually think of ways to nudge our students in the direction we want them to go. In a month’s time, I’m hoping to see some benefits from moving to this system.
I’d love to know your thoughts and also some things you’ve tried that have worked or flopped.
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Dennis Beckner is the director of The Landing at Saddleback Church and has been serving in the youth ministry there since 1999.
