End of a series but youth ministry continues

Earlier in this series, I mentioned that I had been interested in working with the children’s church at Maple City Chapel. God directed me to junior high ministry first but earlier this year, God provided an opportunity to teach the fifth- and sixth-grade boys.

Another former junior high leader, Gary, had been teaching the fifth and sixth graders. He had taken some teaching and mentoring responsibilities for OASIS, a fledgling singles group at Maple City, and wanted to devote more time to that ministry. Either through him or on her own, Lynette, the director of children’s ministry, approached me about teaching the class. I accepted with the condition that I wanted to feel things out by teaching just once a month the first couple months.

I do not have much teaching experience so I am learning as I go. I feel comfortable with a smaller class of four or five boys. I can get them to calm down a little for the lesson. Two weeks ago, I had about 10 boys and they were more hyper than almost any group of junior highers I have spent time with. In addition, I was late arriving and found them throwing frisbees. I had switched lessons at the last minute, a bad idea, and only got their attention for a very short period of time.

Teaching is very different from my experience as a counselor and game coordinator. I have to think about setting up an environment for learning. I am learning that I will need to attend the first service so I can arrive early to finish lesson preparation and welcome my students to the room. Unlike the junior highers, they do not calm down very well if they play games and mess around before class. We use the junior high room so I have the opportunity to prepare them for a successful junior high experience. They will need to learn to place the importance of learning about God above playing with their friends.

As I seek to develop my teaching skills, I am still looking for new ways to reach out to today’s youth. Choral Camp has provided one such opportunity. Last summer, I spent a week as a counselor/videographer/friend/jack-of-all-trades at the Rosedale Bible College campus near Columbus, Ohio. The camp specializes in teaching music appreciation creatively combined with times for games and Bible teaching. It is a physically draining week that is so much fun that it can be hard to say ‘no.’ I do not have the energy of many of the younger helpers, so I will probably say ‘no’ more often while still wearing myself out. Fortunately, my sister and little nieces live nearby so I can “relax” with them the following weekend.

While I have recently returned to my roots in youth ministry as a camp counselor, I sense that God is challenging me to test the relevancy of my faith. I enjoy ministry in the church and parachurch context but desire to “shine” within the context of the society at large. Sometimes, I miss my days of Practical Christian Ministry at the Boys Club in Chicago’s Humboldt Park neighborhood. These 10-12 year-old boys needed discipline, father figures and friends. But more than anything else, they needed someone to show them what Jesus looks like. In Goshen, the Post invites youth to come listen to bands, play games, talk or just find “something to do.” Campus Crusade for Christ in Elkhart used to meet in the same building. They provide after-school activities, Bible studies and snacks for youth. I am also considering a volunteer position at Boys and Girls Club of Goshen. While the club is not a Christian organization, I have had Christian friends who became very involved there. I can show them that “Jesus is better than drugs” (thanks to a favorite band of mine, Skillet).
Ministry to youth is worth the effort. In the ten years since that first counseling experience at Bethel Camp, I have been privileged to welcome a number of new Christ-followers and have witnessed renewed commitments by many youth. At least one youth has served as a missionary while another now serves in full-time camp ministry. More recently, one of the youth has accepted a role on the ministry team of the senior high youth at Maple City Chapel. At Maple City, we have an unusual, but not entirely unwelcome, problem. Some of the youth who have moved up the last couple years miss their friends in the junior high enough that they visit us before and after the Wednesday night meeting. I hope some of those same kids hear and act upon God’s call to youth ministry at some time in the future. God always blesses a faithful servant.