and brought us all t-shirts. I thought that was pretty cool. Oscar and Huberto brought all the youth ministry students (and me) t-shirts from their trip to Cancun. How cool is that? I can feel the group really starting to click. Funny what shared vision will do for your relationships.
Check out the flickr set of photos from their trip.
I spent a few hours at Starbucks last night talking with Huberto and Oscar. They had just gotten back from doing a youth ministry philosophy conference in Cancun. I couldn’t go because the group was here, but I think that might have been a good thing.
They came back energized and encouraged about what we are doing in Mexico. Overall, it was a great experience for them to have the chance to teach a Biblical philosophy of youth ministry to various churches, promote the seminary program, and have some fun while doing it. The vision for youth ministry training is even clearer for them now that they have experienced it. I’m excited to see multiplication happening.
I haven’t been posting much because I’ve been busy with Videoblogging week and working on the new Center for Youth Ministry website. It’s not exactly finished yet, but you can check it out here. I think it’s coming along pretty well.
Today, I worked with Oscar and Huberto to finish up some things for the workshop they’ll be giving next week in Cancun. I still have some things to do for it, but it’s coming along as well.
Today, in my class, we’ll be talking about the characteristics of good answers in counseling. We’ve pretty much been talking about questions up until now because I’ve seen a huge tendency (in myself and others) to want to “fix” a problem before we know much about it. I’ve been hammering them with good counseling starts with asking the right questions. Today, we focus on good answers.
Good answers do the following seven things: confront the pain; accept the unknown; give time to process; minister with presence; share Biblical principles; show that they are not alone in their struggles; remind how God has worked in the past. I know there are other things, but for me, these characteristics are the things that make an answer a good answer.
Below is the mind map of my notes. Click the image to see it bigger (it’s in Spanish).
My class this quarter is one hour everyday. I prefer that over two hour classes two days a week because I have a chance to hit one topic and leave them thinking about it for the rest of the day.
In a two hour class, I feel like I have to cover more topics in one class period. This is hard for me because I’m not really good at transitioning. I’m working on it, but I’m not very good going from one idea to the next. It’s especially hard if the ideas don’t fit together really well. As far as teaching goes, it’s better for me to have a one hour class everyday. Unfortunately, as far as scheduling is concerned, it really hurts my calendar. I have to be there everyday.
I had a great time teaching the Master’s Level class this week, but I sure am glad it’s over. Teaching all day everyday is really monotonous. The students learned a lot, and I believe that they walked away with a greater understanding of what youth ministry is all about. I’m glad to have taught it. I’m really glad to be finished with is. Now comes the regularly scheduled program.
