How To Last In Ministry: Defining My Target Student
When I was a rookie in youth ministry, I felt like a failure if I couldn’t reach every student. It wasn’t as much about my ego as it was feeling a need to be everything to every student. Regardless of how much I tried, there were some students I just couldn’t make a deep connection with.
All of that has changed. Instead of beating myself up for not reaching everybody, I’ve defined the target student who I reach best. Doing this has eased my guilt while allowing me to focus on the ones I connect with best. I believe this is an important key to why I’ve been able to last in ministry.
Students I connect best with are:
- Not in the most popular crowd
- Not overly involved in sports
- Can be found behind the scenes and are very dedicated
These are my guys (many of them are in the picture at the top of my blog):
- Hansel, Zack and Kevin run lights and cameras for our weekend services
- Cris, Ryan N. and Jay are into drama and music at their school
- Ryan S., Evan, Connor all run cross country (individual sport where introverts thrive)
- Devon is a football player who is here because of Connor
- Chad is also a football player who I’ve known since he was a boy
- Josh is my freshman who is getting a fresh start
I’ve found that these students are the ones I can connect with best because I was like them as a teenager. I can do for them what I was glad people did for me when I was their age. I wouldn’t want it any other way.
One of the reasons it’s great to have variety on our volunteer staff is I could never have a small group full of senior football players. I leave them to the sports enthusiasts who can connect with them best. Everybody’s happy this way.
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