How to Produce Evangelistic Students

At its heart, Christianity is an evangelistic religion. We have been so moved by what Christ has done in our life that we are compelled to share it with others. However, one of the biggest problems that faces mainline religions like the one that I am associated with is that we have lost the passion to share what Christ has done in our life with others. Furthermore, we have experienced or witnessed evangelistic methods that are turnoffs therefore making the word “evangelism” a bad word.

Be that as it may, here are a few suggestions on how you can encourage students to share their faith with others.

Lead by Example-If you want your students to share their faith with others, then you also have to share your faith with others… This is a leading by example! This is a practice that Jesus used often. He didn’t just tell his disciples how they should share about the kingdom of God, he showed them. If you want your students to be evangelistic and share their faith with others, you need to model it for them.

Help Students Know Their Own Story-Students need practical ways to share their faith with their friends and family… One of the best ways is helping them articulate their own spiritual journey. If their story is filled with sex, drugs, and rock ‘n roll-That’s okay because it’s THEIR story-but make sure the focus rests squarely on Christ and his redemptive work. If their story isn’t quite as dramatic, encourage them to point out how God is moving in their life. Either way, having everyone write out their personal story is a great way to help them build confidence around sharing their faith with others.

Create Opportunities to Share Their Faith-Every opportunity you get, have some students share their personal faith testimony. This can be done during worship, on a mission trip, on a retreat-ANYTIME! The more opportunities you allow students to share their faith stories with others the more confident they will become and the easier it will be for them to share it with their friends, family and even with people they don’t even know.

5 Practical Things you can do to have a Healthy and Relevant Youth Program Webinar PowerPoint

Webinar - Get Real-Youth Ministry for the 21st Century from Warren Bevacqua

Ministry Transitions

Summer is a season of transitions in young people’s ministry. Depending on how your local church program runs, you will have Grade School students joining the youth ministry program, junior high or middle school students joining the senior high program and graduating seniors moving on to college or post-high school jobs and life. This time of transition can be difficult not only for the young people but for the leaders of those various ministry programs. Here are a few ideas to help make these transitions as smooth as possible in your particular ministry situation.

Work in Harmony with the Other Areas of Ministry-All areas of ministry in your local church should work in conjunction with one another. The staff and volunteers that work in the various age levels throughout your church (Grade School, Junior/Middle school, High School and post High School) should be working in concert with one another knowing each other’s programs, keeping regular communication about calendaring events, and being aware of this transitional time so that a coordinated plan can be made to help all students make the transition well.

Prepare Your Students for What Is Ahead-Communicating with your students, staff and volunteers on these transition points will help everyone. As mentioned before, your local church should have a coordinated plan so that everyone (including students and parents not just staff and volunteers) know what to expect. This communication can be done in a variety of ways and should be understood by everyone involved. Pick the best way of communicating that works for your specific location.

Create Spaces for Questions- as a part of your transitional plan it would be good to have a time for Q&A. Invite staff, volunteers, those students that are affected as well as their parents and any other leaders you think need to be there to help relay proper communication and introductions to the various programs. One of the biggest problems in any ministry program is a lack of communication. If a ministry learns how to communicate well it can be successful.

Celebrate Every Step of the Way- Find a way to celebrate these transitions in an appropriate manner with each age group. That could simply be one big party, individual parties, a transitional fellowship dinner, etc. You know what will work best in your particular location.

Any transition can be difficult for anyone. But if you properly prepare, communicate and celebrate those transitions it will pay off in big dividends down the road.

Mission Trip in Connecticut

Blog entry number 2

Today we are nearly done with the week. I have a great group of guys who have been working incredibly hard. In fact, the entire camp has been working very hard. 

Every night worship we light candles on the altar to signify the number of jobs that have been complete below is a picture of last night's altar. 

It's amazing to see students from all over the country come together to serve people that they have never met before . If you get ever get the opportunity to go on a youth mission trip, TAKE IT!

You can follow us on Instagram (youngpplministry) or on Twitter @yngpplministry. And check out posts with the hashtags #SUSUMC, #SUSmissions, #authenticwitness

First Day of Mission Trip

Today is the first day of our experience working with UMARMY (United Methodist). The theme for this years trips is "Authentic Witness"-how can we be an authentic witness to the community in which we serve. Our group has been divided up with various groups from across the nation and below is a pictures from my all guys group

You can follow us on Instagram (youngpplministry) or on Twitter @yngpplministry. And check out posts with the hashtags #SUSUMC, #SUSmissions, #authenticwitness