Saturday, in a youth leaders’ network meeting, one of the girls who was there was telling of her experience in the treatment center earlier this year when her mom was being treated for cancer.
She said that, although it was a trying time for her (her mom died this year), she had the chance to spend more time with God.
She mentioned that the other people in the treatment center noticed something different about her and her mom. They noticed something unexplainable. They recognized that they had faith and that their faith influenced their attitude and actions.
I thought of the story in Acts 4, and especially verse 13. People notice a difference when you have been with Jesus. Although you may not be the smartest or most beautiful person, being around Jesus changes you. It makes you better. And it’s noticeable.
Some of my best memories as a youth pastor in Dunedin, Florida, were going to a monthly youth worker meeting. I would sit in the youth room at Clearwater Community Church and talk shop with a bunch of like minded people. Every month it would be a little different, but I remember looking forward to this meeting, unlike many other meetings I had to go to in those days.
Leadership can be lonely. Often times, you go about your business, and it seems like nobody even notices what you do (unless it’s bad) or even the struggles that you have in your own personal life. Most of the time, ministry is difficult. But because we recognize the need that leaders have to connect with each other, we held the first ever youth leaders’ network meeting in northwest Mexico City.
I don’t know about you, but I always feel great after hanging out with people who share the same vision I do (like we did when we went to Ecuador). Networking is more than just seeing what you can get from other people or even how you can work together to extend your reach.
It’s about a shared vision and a shared passion. It’s about shared dreams. It is about identifying with other people so that you can understand that you’re not alone in ministry (and so they understand this, too). This type of connection is vital.
Yes, leadership is lonely, but we are doing what we can to encourage those youth workers in our area and let them know that what they do is important.
What can you do to help connect other like-minded people? You need it as much as they do.
If you ask a typical church member if they would like to improve their prayer life, they will likely answer yes. I mean, who doesn’t want to improve their prayer life?
Recently, in a quest to improve my prayer life, I started praying through my contacts (both my address book and my Facebook friends).
What I do
- I pray for a letter of the alphabet every morning (sometimes two letters, depending on how many people I know with that particular letter and how much time I have).
- I write a little note to most of the people I pray for that day (either an email or a Facebook message – I prefer email) telling them I’m praying for them and asking for specific requests.
- Throughout the day, I usually receive emails back from those people and pray for their specific requests, which causes me to pray again for my friends.
- I file the emails in a special folder in gmail that I can review later.
- I mark the requests that are time sensitive on my calendar so I can remember to pray again on specific dates.
What I’ve Noticed
- It has helped me think about my time with God first when I wake up in the morning.
- I actually find myself praying for these people throughout the day, not just in my specified “prayer time.”
- When I write the email or a facebook message, almost everyone responds, both to thank me for praying for them and to give me specific prayer requests. I also have gotten a few responses that include, “Tell me how I can pray for you.”
- Many people have situations in their lives for which they need prayer but have nobody to share them with. I have a lot of ministers on my list. Sometimes they are the loneliest people and have nobody with whom to share their requests, so it’s good for them to have someone ask them for specific prayer requests.
I’m wondering if anyone else has any creative ways to pray for their friends. Leave your ideas in the comments.
It is dangerous to be in ministry. You put yourself out there to help people, and at times, you get taken advantage of. Sometimes, you get emotionally involved, causing you to lose sleep. Being in ministry requires sacrifice. Sometimes, it leads to the ultimate sacrifice.
That’s what happened to Edward Frank Harris Jr, the youth pastor at Pendergrass Baptist Church in Cleveland, Georgia this past Sunday as he decided to help some people and give them a ride. He was found dead later that day. (see the news here)
Ministry is dangerous. Of course, we understand that. An angry mob killed our leader. Life was dangerous for Jesus. He told us to expect nothing less. But we reach out despite the danger. We reach out to share the love of the One who gave His life for us. And sometimes, it costs us.
I’m praying for Edward Harris, Jr’s family. I’m praying that God will be exalted despite the tragic circumstances. And I’m renewing my commitment to reach out regardless of how dangerous it is.
What about you?
(Via: Tre Lawrence)
Remember the political ad this year about the phone ringing at 3 am? The question was whether a certain candidate would be ready to make a split decision. It was an interesting ad. .
Well, Friday night/Saturday morning, our phone rang at 2:30 am. I sleepily answered, and on the other end of the line was Jon, the intern from Huntington University that has been working with us for the last 6 months.
He told me that his landlord’s dad had passed away and there was a lot of movement in the house (their apartment is basically a part of a big house, and his landlord’s dad was living across the hall). He asked if they could come sleep at our house, since it was having a big impact on them.
There’s not much public transportation at 2:30, so I dragged myself out of bed and drove over and got them. This whole experience got me thinking about things. As usual, my thoughts turned to ministry, especially youth ministry.
What do you do when someone calls you at 2:30 in the morning? Almost nothing good happens that makes people call you at that hour. It’s usually always an emergency. It’s usually always bad news.
In youth ministry, we must be ready to take the call at 3 am. We must be prepared to make the split decision that will reach out and help someone who is in need. We spend lots of time planning life-changing events, but often life-change comes from an event for which we did not plan.
We also must be willing to be the ones they call at 3 am. In Jon’s case, he had nobody else to call (we’re pretty much the only other Americans they know). But in youth ministry, if we haven’t spent time with people and gained their confidence and trust, they won’t call us when they really need someone. They will look to someone else. We must make it part of our job to be the person they trust enough to call in the middle of the night or in the middle of a crisis.
So, what are you doing today to prepare for the 3 am phone call? Are you ready?
(Photo by Mylla on Flickr)
