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10 Books for Youth Workers

March 9, 2009 in Technology, Youth Ministry with 0 Comments

Last week, Amazon released the Kindle App for the iPhone. I love the fact that I can download newer books online and read them on my iphone regardless of where I am.

Since I can’t go to the bookstore and pick up the latest books, having the ability to buy ebooks from Amazon is very appealing to me.

Here are ten books that I’d love to read on my iPhone. All these books would be great for youth workers. Which books from the Kindle Store would you recommend?

  1. When Church Kids Go Bad
  2. Engaging the Soul of Youth Culture
  3. Youth Ministry Survival Guide: How to Thrive and Last for the Long Haul
  4. 101 Ideas for Making Disciples in Your Youth Group
  5. The New Breed: Understanding and Equipping the 21st Century Volunteer
  6. Getting Fired for the Glory of God: Collected Words of Mike Yaconelli for Youth Workers
  7. Youth Ministry 3.0
  8. The Pirate’s Dilemma: How Youth Culture Is Reinventing Capitalism
  9. Comparative Youth Culture
  10. Communicating for a Change: Seven Keys to Irresistible Communication

I’m looking forward to reading some of these on my iphone. What do you think of the new Kindle app?

Check out my post on using my iphone to improve my spiritual life.

Big Picture and Small Picture

March 4, 2009 in features, resources, Youth Ministry with 1 Comment

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.

Youth Ministry in Mexico

January 29, 2009 in Center for YM, Global Youth Ministry, Youth Ministry with 0 Comments

We did a survey of the Seminary students (and a current survey is up at our Spanish youth worker site) about the problems that the young people in their churches are going through.

I’m not sure what to make of this information. I just thought it was interesting to see the answers. It’s not a very scientific survey, but it helps me know what the Seminary students (not the YM students) are dealing with in their churches.

Also, the responses that are coming into the forum on our Spanish youth ministry site are a little different than those that the Seminary students gave. I’ll post those responses later.

Here’s how it went:

What problems exist today in the youth of your church?

They gave more than one answer on a sheet, so the percentages are per seminary student, not per total answers.

30 surveys given – 59 answers

  • Rebellion – 21 (70%)
  • Dating Problems – 14 (47%)
  • Sexuality – 8 (27%)
  • Alcoholism – 5 (17%)
  • Apathy – 4 (13%)
  • Drug Addiction – 1 (.03%)
  • They go with whatever teaching – 1 (.03%)
  • Commitment to discipleship – 1 (.03%)
  • Self-esteem – 1 (.03%)
  • Loneliness – 1 (.03%)
  • Youth leadership – 1 (.03%)
  • Nothing – 1 (.03%)

What are you doing about it?

  • Talking with them and their parents, counseling, Involving the family, Talking to them personally
  • I haven’t done anything yet, I don’t know, It’s not being dealt with, Nothing
  • Studies, Sermons, Learning activities, Organizing conferences, Teaching doctrine classes
  • Camps and activities to talk about the problems they have
  • Trying to involve them in the work of the church, Programs to involve them
  • Individual Discipleship
  • Evangelism
  • Gaining their trust so that I can later counsel them and their parents, Building relationships, Spending time with them and their parents
  • Praying for them

(Photo by Hfabulous on flickr)

How to be a Global Youth Worker

January 21, 2009 in features, Global Youth Ministry, Missions, YMI, Youth Ministry with 0 Comments

Series: Global Youth Ministry – This post is part of a series on Global Youth Ministry. Be sure to check out part 1 – Why Global Youth Ministry is Important, Part 2 – What’s a Global Youth Worker?, and Part 3 – Benefits of Being a Global Youth Worker.

Youth pastors have tons of things to do. Sometimes, when you look at your calendar, you think, “How could I possibly fit one more thing in here?” I remember that feeling. I just had it this morning.

But it doesn’t take much to be a global youth worker. Here are some practical things you can do to think globally as far as youth ministry is concerned.

  1. Pray specifically for missions. (Check out five times to pray for us and a great way to remember the world’s youth)
  2. Participate personally in missions (more than just with your group) – YMI is always looking for people who are interested in teaching courses in one of our seminary programs. You can contact us for more information.
  3. Teach your students about missions.
  4. Read biographies of missionaries and use them as examples in your teaching.
  5. Keep up to date with current missionaries by reading their blogs. (Check out missionary-blogs.com for a list of missionary bloggers.
  6. Take short term mission trips with your group. (Interested in coming to Mexico? Contact us.)
  7. Learn about other cultures and expressions of Christianity.
  8. Develop relationships with international missionaries and youth workers.
  9. Give to missions – books, money, resources, etc.
  10. Minister to international students in your area.
  11. Donate your time and talents to missions. There are a lot of things you can do to help the cause of Christ overseas. Get on board with what you’re good at.

If you’re interested in training youth workers internationally, please contact me or leave a comment. Youth Ministry International is constantly looking for international trainers, and I’d love to talk to you more about the opportunities there are all over the world.

Youth Marketing Trends 2009

January 20, 2009 in Youth Ministry with 0 Comments

All 50 Youth Marketing Trends for 2009 by Graham Brown mobileYouth.org
View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: mobile mobileyouth)

Graham Browne from Mobileyouth.org published this presentation of 50 Youth Marketing Trends for 2009. It is focused on people marketing to young people, but it is relevant for local church youth workers as well.

A few of my favorite thoughts:

  • Let’s get it in our heads that youth don’t wake up thinking about our brands. Let’s get it into our heads that they don’t wake up thinking about our youth ministries, programs, or latest sermon.
  • What am I if I’m not here to serve my customers? Shouldn’t we be serving the students in our ministries, too?
  • Drivers: Can you help me be significant? Can you help me belong? These are the two timeless and culturally independent requests youth have of your brand. These two things are fundamental and thought about constantly by our students.
  • Your young customers don’t care that you know unless they know that you care. This is an oldie but a goody. How much do we actually care?

What other trends mentioned in the presentation do you think are relevant to youth ministry?

Expanding Youth Ministry Training in Mexico

January 12, 2009 in Center for YM, features, Global Youth Ministry, Seminary, Youth Ministry with 7 Comments

For a while now, we’ve been thinking about a way to expand the youth ministry training we do in Mexico. We already started one of the only Bachelor’s degrees in youth ministry in Latin America. But we know that it’s not enough to offer a bachelor’s degree in youth ministry.

Although the bachelor’s program has been growing, we recognize that not everyone who is working with young people can come to the Seminary full time for training. With the problems that come from living in Mexico City, it makes it difficult to do a lot of informal training.

Saturday was the first day of the long-awaited Diploma in youth ministry. We started with 6 students who are working in various churches. Each one of them told us how important it is to get training in youth ministry, and they are all very happy to have this informal type of training.

The purpose of the diploma program is obviously to provide practical training for youth workers as well as promote the other youth ministry programs at the Seminary.

We are praying that this Saturday morning course (9 months out of the year) will help many local church youth workers and spread throughout the country.

We’ll keep you up to date with this new program, which we think will grow and expand in the coming months.

Always Have a Plan B

December 31, 2008 in Latin America, Missions, Youth Ministry with 0 Comments

One thing I’ve learned in my time in ministry (and especially missions) is that you have to be ready with an alternative plan.

Randy Smith, the president of YMI, is scheduled to go to Cuba this Friday to teach a class for the Seminary in Santiago. We’ve been diligently planning the trip for months, purchasing tickets, getting visas, preparing the class, and all the things that have to be done for a trip. But I got an email from Randy the other day.

He’s having health issues, and it looks like he might not be going on the trip after all. He still hasn’t been able to make a final decision, but we are waiting to see what happens. All of us are on hold. The professors in Cuba who invited him are on hold. He’s on hold. I’m on hold. The office staff at YMI are on hold. We’re all investigating “plan B.”

In Latin America, “plan B” isn’t very popular. When I teach it in my programming class, the students all nod their head in approval, but I doubt that they ever have a very defined Plan B.

But as I think about myself, I don’t really have a plan B either usually. The word plan usually means something that is thought out ahead of time. However, usually if something happens to my “plan A”, I’m forced to try to wing it. Sometimes that’s a good thing, and sometimes that’s a bad thing. It just depends.

Anyway, please be praying for Randy as he goes through these health issues. Pray for the project in Cuba and the guys there who are forced to react to this situation. I’m sure they’ll do well. They’ve been taught all about plan b in the classroom. And they all nodded in approval.

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