Nathan’s First Big League Game

Nathan’s First Big League Game

Furlough, or “home assignment” is a time for a missionary family to get to do some things that they don’t necessarily get to do while on the mission field. Yesterday was one of those days.

We’ve been Tampa Bay Rays fans since they came into the Major Leagues, and this year, they are playing really well. So I decided to take Nathan to his first baseball game yesterday. We got some cheap tickets on StubHub and took off for the day.

Our tickets were 2 rows behind the wall in left-center field, and every Sunday at Tropicana Field, they have Family Fun Days, with all sorts of fun things for families with kids to do. They also happened to be giving out Super Hero Capes (which is why Nathan wanted to go, I think).

So, we ate peanuts, got a foot long hot dog, ate some Carvel ice cream, and watched baseball. It was fun to hang out with my big guy all day.


Check out all of our pictures on Flickr.

Five Places for Free Youth Ministry Resources

Five Places for Free Youth Ministry Resources

Yesterday was free cone day at Ben and Jerry’s ice cream. All over the world they gave away a free ice cream cone with absolutely no requirements. Of course we went to the local Ben and Jerry’s to get our cones.

Free cone day at Ben-n-Jerry's - Mexico city edition.I got to thinking about Ben and Jerry’s, free stuff, and of course, ministry.

It’s amazing how people will line up to get free ice cream. Who wouldn’t want to eat ice cream (besides some super healthy people I know)? I don’t think Ben and Jerry’s made money today, but it wasn’t about that. It was about the community. It was about getting their message out to the public.

There are lots of things in the world that should be free. I’m a big fan of sharing resources in ministry and offering things for free. We even have a site that has free youth ministry resources in Spanish. Ministries ought to share resources to further the Kingdom.

I use lots of different sites to get free resources for youth ministry.

Five Places for Free Youth Ministry Resources

When I tell my students that I want to offer some resources on the website for free, they look at me like I am crazy. But, why not? Free is good. Free resources for ministry have helped me a lot. We can all benefit from each other.

If Ben and Jerry’s can offer free ice cream, why can’t we offer free stuff in the church? I loved free cone day.

Big Picture and Small Picture

Big Picture and Small Picture

Last week in our Youth Ministry class we talked mostly about how to create lesson plans. We talked about putting in details like goals, indicators, transition statements, and other things.

Today, in the continuation of that topic, we started talking about the big picture of how to create a teaching plan for youth ministry. It’s not enough to know the details…we have to know where we are going with each of those lessons.

So, we started off the class with this powerpoint game called What is it?. I created it to use in either an English or Spanish setting, so it’s bilingual. The first image is a super close up of an object. The participants have to guess what it is. After ten images, the answers are given. There’s even a bonus in case of a tie.

Feel free to use the free “What is it?” powerpoint game for your ministry. My students did fairly well. I don’t think it’s too difficult or too easy. Have fun with it, and let me know if you use it.

Oh…and while you’re at it, maybe you’re looking for a free Easter Powerpoint game. I created a trivia game about Peeps (the candy) a while ago. Click here for the link to the free Peeps Powerpoint game.

The Bible Illuminated

The Bible Illuminated

There’s a new product coming to North America in the Fall of 2008 called Bible Illuminated. It is an oversized (8 ¼ x 11 ½), full-color, 264-page glossy magazine that has striking, provocative, contemporary photographs. It uses the Good News Translation (GNT) and it is aimed to be less intimidating than traditional Bibles.

You can see what it’s all about online at Illuminated World.

One of the cool things is that it is the actual text of the Bible put into a format that is easy to read and feels more like something you would pick up and look at today, either on the subway, the doctor’s office, or anywhere else.

Here’s a video of the creator of the project talking about the motive behind it and what he hopes happens as a result.

(via: Boing boing)

Free Missions Resource – WorldMap

Since we’ve been thinking about global youth ministry, you might be looking for more information on world missions. If that’s the case, then The World Missions Atlas Project, over at Worldmap.org, is a great resource for you.

The site contains different types of information, including maps, data sets, and descriptions of various countries and regions of the world. There are maps of various regions linked to the missions data that is known for that region or country.

You can download PDF files, maps, and data to share what is happening in the world of missions.

I haven’t had enough time to fully explore the entire site because there is so much on it, but if you’re looking for free maps for missions, the World Missions Atlas Project is definitely the place for you to begin your search.