Name a couple of early leadership lessons that still impact you today.

First, I’m not God. Second, if I’m going to make it long term in ministry, I better get good at feeding myself spiritually.

Both of these lessons came at a great price – the price of failure. We meet students with huge needs and voids in their life – lack of a family, mom, dad, emotional or physical abuse, great hurt and needs – and part of what makes us good is that empathy and desire to meet those needs, to help. The danger is stepping in over our heads and thinking WE are going to make the difference.

They need Jesus more than anything else. They need that personal connection with Him because He is the only one that will heal completely, restore completely. If I step in and all of a sudden I am the hero – then I’m taking the place of God and it might be so subtle of a change that I don’t notice it until it is too late. So a student becomes more dependent on us than God or more in love with us than Jesus. Dangerous place to be for both them and us.

Eventually, we minister out of the overflow of who we are and what God is doing inside us. And if we aren’t consistently learning and feeding ourselves spiritually – there will be a crash.

If you are just starting out a student ministry, what’s the first thing you suggest doing?

Start with finding a couple of other people that are as crazy about students as you are. Then do life with them, grow with them and start investing in students. Size of group doesn’t matter at this point (if ever) but it’s the pattern of life on life discipleship that you want to learn and start reproducing in your workers.

Give students access to your life so they can see and hear and taste and touch Jesus in your everyday life.

How do you find volunteers

Pray like crazy. And start being observant. Teens are great at recruiting their own volunteers. Just watch what adults your students talk to and hang out with during church events or school events. What parents or mentors seem to attract students?

Get specific when you ask for volunteers. Have a task that is measurable for first time volunteers — like setting up this space, providing these resources, doing this certain job. Start this way and as they get ‘infected’ with the student ministry, they’ll move into deeper areas of serving.

Our culture is so sexual and there is this over-emphasis on physical beauty. The girls dress so provocatively – almost every media outlet uses sex to sell – how do we combat this? How do we speak to our students about this?

Tough question, one we face in the States as well. Amy and Lisa spoke to this question better than I did. I talked about ‘taking them to the crash site.’ In other words, walk the students to the inevitable conclusion of where their actions are taking them. Not a bad answer but Amy and Lisa’s answer was better.

They said — keep taking your students to the Word as to the kind of man/woman God wants them to be. Keep pushing a God-centered identity and being accountable to that. Mileage may vary but only a heart captured by God is going to be able to withstand the world’s temptation.

Youth ministry and youth workers have very little respect in our culture. How do lead in that kind of context? How do you deal with parents and students who won’t respect or follow leadership?

This was another tough question. After swapping war stories, I shared with them the passage God seemed to laser in my heart this last year and half as a new lead pastor — Philippians 2 — the whole chapter but here is the focal point for me happens in verses 3- 7:

Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.

Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant…

I’m not sure if there is any magic pill we can take to make others follow us or give us respect. The best thing I think to do is make sure every decision I make is because Jesus told me to do it. Nothing out of selfish-ambition. Having a team that is sold out to the vision will help discern what those decisions are but as leaders we have to make sure that we do what we do because it’s God-directed.

Here’s a quick list of the challenges they face:

* There are two kinds of Christianity competing in this culture. The “God wants you rich so do these things in order to secure his blessing” kind and those that stress the grace of God and Jesus death and resurrection. They are struggling hard to emphasize the Gospel and the grace of God, not man’s attempt to make God happy.

* So many churches fight against teens and children, fearing change.

* There are little to no student ministry resources in Portuguese.

* Churches are small and poor. Many times the Senior Pastor is the only paid staff of a church.

* Volunteers who run student ministries suffer from discouragement as there is no infrastructure of support for youth workers. There is also very little training for youth workers.

* Student culture is highly SEXUAL. Lot’s contributing factors to this – Brazilian teens can’t get a job until they are 18, school is only in session for half a day, and there are no sports or clubs for teens to get involved in after school. There is a lot of free time for students to do whatever they want with little to no accountability. Workers said they feel completely overwhelmed by sexuality in the culture – and it is everywhere – music, movies, fashion.

* Parent involvement is next to nothing in most churches. This has two huge negative side-effects for the churches. There is a very small pool of people to find volunteers. Whatever “good” the church does has to compete and stand against the 6 days, 22 hours they are away from church.

* Southern Brazil is called the Missionary Cemetery. The average lifespan of a Christian missionary in the area is 18 to 24 months.

All of these factors are what pushed Thomas Schneider to start Palavra da Vida Sul 20 years ago. Over the years, he’s developed a long-term strategy and team to help churches and communities in reaching teenagers with the clear message of the Gospel. Their Bible Club ministry is designed to train leaders how to teach the Scriptures to teens in a systematic way as well as providing Portuguese resources to churches for student ministry. Some of these Bible Clubs stand alone in communities where there is no evangelical presence, many of them partner with local churches as their student ministry. Their camp ministry and sports tourneys are opportunities for churches and these Bible Clubs to bring lost students to an environment where they can hear the gospel clearly.

As I listened to these youth workers talk about their struggles, so many of them were just like the ones we face in the States. Lack of parent involvement, the constant sexual pull of the culture, church cultures that seem to fight against teens instead of for them.

When I see what Thomas and PVSul is doing to help churches, I know I’m a part of something very special and unique in this culture. They are the pioneers right now, emphasizing to local churches the importance of life on life discipleship and engagement in the teenage world.

Tomorrow, Part 2. The Question & Answer session with these leaders.

And it was awesome.

When we started planning the service months ago, there was some hesitation. Sure, it could be an awesome spiritual marker, but what about those who hadn’t made their faith a priority? What about those who came only to the midweek life group? The rest of the church wouldn’t know who they were. What about those students whose families weren’t believers? Would they even show up? What if nobody said anything?

Is the reward of having a spiritual marker for our graduates, our student ministry, and the church as a whole worth the risk? That’s the question that ultimately we had to deal with and I’m proud of our Creative and Student Ministry Teams in their answer – YES.

Losing Control Of A Service
We had in our minds the service lasting about an hour. There were a couple of times when I tried to ‘wind down’ the sharing. Wasn’t going to happen. People kept getting up telling stories of how this student coached their kid in Upward. This student babysat and the kids wanted to grow up to be like them. A couple of students were now followers of Jesus this past year because of these students. Life change story after life change story.

Every time there was a lull, I’d stand up to close the service but someone else would stand up. Finally the seniors just took the microphone from me and said – “Just sit down.”

But what a marker it was for our seniors. What a marker it was for the rest of our student ministry. What a marker for our church.

9.00 am
I’ve been up at the church for almost an hour now, listening to the worship team practice, smelling the eggs and sausage from the men’s breakfast. I didn’t go to the breakfast this morning. I normally do but today is going to be a long but an awesome day. We’ll spend some time after church with the worship team interviewing our potential new part-time worship leader, youth have a service tonight where we get to hear what God has done in and through them this summer, potential youth volunteer meeting after that…

But before all of that happens, I have to ‘unpack’ Ephesians 2. Struggling with how to end the message. This is the part of my preaching that I struggle with – landing the plane. It’s not how you start but how you finish. I’ve crash landed a few sermons since I’ve been here. It’s painful. I feel like I’m in the groove to start, have good insights in the middle then when it comes time to end it…wheels off the wagon. I’ve slammed it down in the runaway a couple of times and just prayed that no one was injured.

This is where the craft of speaking comes into play. I REALLY want to get better at this. The creative team that meets every week helps with this. The teaching time must end with a point of response. What does God want us to do with this information? How should we respond? It’s not really worship until that happens. It’s just a learning experience, a mental exercise. I want more than that. I want worship, an encounter, a transformational opportunity.

9.20 am
I get out of my office to get wired up and see some old, dear friends from Emporia – the Euseys. I met Don at BK every week at 8 am for about a year. He’ll never know how much he helped me. I wish I had words. Lucy is one of the most creative, insightful people I’ve ever been around. I love catching up with them. It’s not enough time with them.

9.30 am
Service starts with video of last week’s VBS. We had several kids accept Christ last week, we gathered over 1,000 items of school supplies for McCarter Elementary School. I love to see children ‘get’ the gospel but on the other hand I know there will be a time in their life where the re-evaluate their decision. They’ll question the validity, wrestle with the depth of which they made this decision. Almost every kid that makes a decision as a child goes through this. It’s why I’ve never been comfortable baptizing children. I want them to go through that process first, then get baptized so that it means something to them. At any rate, I’ll still think it’s important to teach kids the truth in a way that can understand it. It’s worth the process.

10.43 am
First service over and it was good. I do feel like I struggled with landing the plane but it wasn’t a crash landing. Interview with Brandon was great, plugging the youth service tonight.

10.55 am
Second service is about to start. I’ve met numerous new families that are starting to become regulars at Western Hills. I’m nervous. I love the new faces, I love the slow growth we’re seeing. The need for Life Group leaders who reproduce followers of Jesus is increasing. It’s the missing piece of the puzzle for us. We’re not unique in this. Most churches have a hard time reproducing leaders. This is where we are starting in a couple weeks with a Turbo Group.

We know that people want more than just a good worship experience from their church (as they should). They want a group of other believers to do life with, to serve with. To be discipled and to disciple. We’re heading that direction, we will get there but the unanswerable question is this – will the ‘newbies’ hang on while we get there? Will they go there with us or will they bolt for another church that is further down the road than we are? Ultimately I know this is a ridiculous stupid discussion to have with myself. We are who we are right now and God’s working on us and He’s moving us on His timeframe. Trust that, not anything else. Rome wasn’t built in a day…

12.10 pm
For the first time in a long time, I actually feel decent about how the service ended. Big point this morning – Objects of wrath is self and/or Satan inflicted, not God inflicted. God wants us to be objects of his great, unmeasurable mercy. But it only comes through Jesus Christ – his death, burial and resurrection. Had some folks pray with me after the service…wrestling with the grace of God. It’s a good thing.

12.30 pm
Worship team is meeting with Rick Stones. We’re thinking Rick is the next worship leader for us at Western Hills. It’s been unreal how this process came about. After working with him 4 weeks, seeing him lead practices, work with creative team, how he reacts to critiques – I’m impressed. We’ve had them over for dinner, lunch. I played 17 holes of golf with him. (Don’t ask about 18.) I’ve never been this positive or sure of hire in my life. I’m floored that God has moved the Stones and Western Hills this direction.

Worship team asks some great questions. How’s your walk with Jesus? What is going to be difficult for you moving forward? What prompted this movement at this time? Rick is himself and it’s just wonderful to see it all click. Randi (wife) – gosh…how blessed are we going to be with this couple? The team is amped about them, the future, working with Rick and Randi. We go to Church Council Wednesday night to affirm this. I’m becoming a crying idiot because I’m just overwhelmed at what God is doing.

3.00 pm
Finally home, time for a quick nap before youth service.

5.30 pm
Back at church to help prep for youth service.

7.00 pm
Service is over and the word ‘awesome’ was used at least 97 times. And what incredible life change stories we got to hear! It was….awesome. (98)

8.00 pm
While students are playing volleyball and eating pizza and ice cream, we get a room of around 11 potential youth volunteers to talk about the future of student ministry. I’m floored by the response. We have the makings of an incredible team here. I’m once again humbled at what God is doing in our people. Looks like we’re going to get at least 4 new coaches, lots of support help out this crew.

9.55 pm
Still in gym laughing and goofing off with Rob Ginder. I’ve found a new goofing off buddy. Of course, Lisa T has called me down a few times in meetings. I’m guessing this will continue – us goofing off, Lisa getting us back on task.

10.30 pm
Home, put kids in bed, catch up on Burn Notice.

Monday, August 3rd

8.30 am
Up at church, loading up 3 cars to take school supplies to McCarter Elementary. Dale and Marion Liby are here to help as is Brandon and Hannah. It’s 50 some odd bags of school supplies plus a huge bin.

9.00 am
Get to school, principal is there. She sees the stuff (we’ll have a video on Sunday) and I can tell she’s not sure what to say. She tells us this is huge for them. Many students don’t have all the supplies, this lets them supplement them in a way that isn’t embarrassing. We talk about the mats that Marion and the ladies bible study have made.

10.00 am
Back to WHBC with Brandon.

BG: “That was cool. This is really what it’s about.”

GE: “Yeah…”

I want to say more but that pretty much summed it all up. An extraordinary 25 hours.

Stone of the help. “Here I raise my stone of the help.” A marker to help us remember the provision or presence of God.

Our students are having their own “Ebenezer Moment” this coming Sunday night. (6 pm, at Western Hills, whole church is invited). They’ve had an incredible summer. We had a few of our students lead a small group, help lead and staff our VBS, as well two weeks of Super Summer where over 6 students made Jesus the Lord of their life. Two other students feel like they are called to full-time missions. Then there are the life change stories of students making major decisions about their life because of Jesus.

I’ve been fortunate to be a part of all this. Now the rest of the church is going to be invited to get in on it as well. Student Ministry Team came up with this idea of having a worship service where the stories could be told…from the students themselves. And that’s what is coming on August 2nd. I’m amped to hear the God-stories from our students.

Perhaps this night will be an ebenezer of another kind for the rest of us, huh? Maybe we ought to have an all-church ebenezer night? I’m liking that idea…but for now – I’ll see you Sunday night.