Helping students become givers is both important and difficult in this instant gratification and materialistic culture. While our students are too young to remember the "Pepsi Challenge," we took 12 pack boxes or 2 liter bottles and made "offering plates" out of them. We then challenge students to give at least $2 each week, which can be done easily by giving up just two sodas a week.
Do the math with a 30 student group. $60 a week x 50 weeks = $3000! Where I come from, that increases my budget by 50% and decreases the need for fundraising! You can use the funds for your general youth ministry budget, give it to the church, use it for a project like sponsoring a World Vision or Compassion International child as a youth group, use it as a special trip scholarship fund and so on.
I've heard of one group who gave their budget back to the church saying they would fund themselves. Through giving alone, they raised enough funds to build their youth center themselves!
This post is also a great place to explore teenagers and attitudes toward money.
(1) Be careful not to assume students have no money and therefore don't need to learn how to give. Statistics show that they spend billions a year and millions more through their parents; a lot more than they let on or we would like to believe. The process of becoming a giver, just like God gave us His Son, is more important than the amount collected. Students are energized when they see that their sacrifice and giving can really change things.
(2) Don't be afraid to challenge students (and their families) when they are asking for help paying for a mission trip while they are listening to their new iPod while texting on their new cell phone and talking about the new X-Box they just got! Don't shy away from using both giving and paying for trips and events to help teach about choice, responsibility and stewardship.
Consumed is all about equipping students and their youth ministries for greater impact in God's Kingdom. I have a huge desire to see you change the world for Jesus Christ, and I am tired of seeing ineffective us-4-no-more youth groups. It’s time to create a movement impacting our schools and communities! Thanks for stopping by, and let me know if there is anything I can do. Andrew
Friday, July 16, 2010
JAM Time
Try offering a JAM (Jesus And Me) time periodically during your youth group or every week, for that matter. Keep spiral bound notebooks with your students' names handy at all times--during youth groups, retreats, etc. This is a guided quiet time experience where you have your group break out into groups (of one!) to just journal, pray and worship God quietly on their own.
You can give them questions to answer, Bible verses to look up, a free writing suggestion and so on. You may want to start small--say five minutes or so--but it may catch on. My students often crave more and those who don't and can't sit still will benefit from learning how to sit still for a few moments out of their day! Your adult leaders can help keep students on task. I would suggest that they don't journal during this time but spend this time praying over your students. (They should be having their own daily quiet times anyhow!)
The hope is that being exposed to some quiet JAM times in our youth ministries, this would develop into a daily habit in their lives. Not to mention the power of gudiing your leaders to pray over each student by name.
You can give them questions to answer, Bible verses to look up, a free writing suggestion and so on. You may want to start small--say five minutes or so--but it may catch on. My students often crave more and those who don't and can't sit still will benefit from learning how to sit still for a few moments out of their day! Your adult leaders can help keep students on task. I would suggest that they don't journal during this time but spend this time praying over your students. (They should be having their own daily quiet times anyhow!)
The hope is that being exposed to some quiet JAM times in our youth ministries, this would develop into a daily habit in their lives. Not to mention the power of gudiing your leaders to pray over each student by name.
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Summer Camp Alternative
Summer Camps and Retreats are amazing opportunities but they also are large ticket items for families, especially in a recovering economy. Make sure to provide a local option in the Summer as well. If students can stay on campus, go for it. If not, make it a day camp where they come in the morning and leave at night. A VBS for "big kids." The theme and target can be discipleship or a missional focus, etc.
We had our students serve as VBS leaders in the morning and then had some fun activities in the afternoon followed by youth group each night of the week. You can also do a service or missions week for folks in the church or community. One church I know served others all week and then ended with a big party in the parking lot of their church. This is also a great way to do an inexpensive mission trip. Simply partner with another church in another location that will let your group come and stay while they do work in the community away from home.
Borrowing from Mike Novelli, we began to call our youth weeks "Merge" like "Merge into God's Story" or "Merge into God's Mission," etc. What are some other themes and ideas you have?
We had our students serve as VBS leaders in the morning and then had some fun activities in the afternoon followed by youth group each night of the week. You can also do a service or missions week for folks in the church or community. One church I know served others all week and then ended with a big party in the parking lot of their church. This is also a great way to do an inexpensive mission trip. Simply partner with another church in another location that will let your group come and stay while they do work in the community away from home.
Borrowing from Mike Novelli, we began to call our youth weeks "Merge" like "Merge into God's Story" or "Merge into God's Mission," etc. What are some other themes and ideas you have?
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