I'll be able to talk to Nicole tomorrow morning (afternoon for her) and then see her (hopefully if all flights go as planned) on Monday night.
I've found myself missing Nicole way more this year than last year. I think the primary reason for this is because last year I mostly just wasted time playing video games and such while she was out of the country. This year, not playing video games at all basically, I've found myself really busy and really wanting to spend time with Nicole doing things together.
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Thoughts on Youth Ministry
This summer I've been blessed to have lots more hours at church. Most of these hours have gone into spending time with students and hashing through my thoughts on youth ministry and setting up some short and long term goals and objectives for our youth program.
I've really been wrestling with what I see as a basic dichotomy between the need to provide a youth environment that is cool, exciting, engaging, etc. in order to attract students vs. the desire to be real, genuine, and avoid the pitfalls of feeding youth self-centered entertainment all the time.
On the one hand, I've seen from personal experience that one has a hard time growing a youth program without answering the question, "why would 16-year old so-and-so come here tonight instead of going out with his friends?" This leads me to believe that part of reaching students with the Gospel really does mean catering to their desire for entertainment, coolness, and excitement.
On the other hand, I look at "successful" youth programs at large churches in this country and all I see are glorified video arcades with a little bit of Jesus sprinkled on top. I do not believe it is good for youth to spend their lives plugged in to games, and I do not believe it is good for youth to believe that the world should cater to their desire for entertainment and amusement.
I also do not believe that unchurched youth are liable to attend a "boring" youth program and hear the Gospel.
Somewhere between these two extremes I think is a youth ministry model that offers students the life-changing Gospel of Jesus Christ, manages to excite their interest, and avoids teaching them that their entertainment is the chief pursuit in life.
I've really been wrestling with what I see as a basic dichotomy between the need to provide a youth environment that is cool, exciting, engaging, etc. in order to attract students vs. the desire to be real, genuine, and avoid the pitfalls of feeding youth self-centered entertainment all the time.
On the one hand, I've seen from personal experience that one has a hard time growing a youth program without answering the question, "why would 16-year old so-and-so come here tonight instead of going out with his friends?" This leads me to believe that part of reaching students with the Gospel really does mean catering to their desire for entertainment, coolness, and excitement.
On the other hand, I look at "successful" youth programs at large churches in this country and all I see are glorified video arcades with a little bit of Jesus sprinkled on top. I do not believe it is good for youth to spend their lives plugged in to games, and I do not believe it is good for youth to believe that the world should cater to their desire for entertainment and amusement.
I also do not believe that unchurched youth are liable to attend a "boring" youth program and hear the Gospel.
Somewhere between these two extremes I think is a youth ministry model that offers students the life-changing Gospel of Jesus Christ, manages to excite their interest, and avoids teaching them that their entertainment is the chief pursuit in life.
Thursday, June 18, 2009
SL Update #2
Just got off the phone with Nicole (which is awesome).
* In-services are going really well
* Nicole is healthy
* Team dynamic is great; everybody is getting along well and working together
* Nicole got to participate in a "dance-off" with the youth group last night... :)
She and I should talk again next Thursday, so until then you can keep an eye on the SL team blog for updates from Sarah.
* In-services are going really well
* Nicole is healthy
* Team dynamic is great; everybody is getting along well and working together
* Nicole got to participate in a "dance-off" with the youth group last night... :)
She and I should talk again next Thursday, so until then you can keep an eye on the SL team blog for updates from Sarah.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Thankfulness
Things I'm thankful for today:
* A beautiful wife who has a beautiful spirit.
* A group of folks to work with who love Jesus and love me.
* New friends and old friends.
* God's grace.
* A beautiful wife who has a beautiful spirit.
* A group of folks to work with who love Jesus and love me.
* New friends and old friends.
* God's grace.
SL Update
Rather than reposting the material here I'll just redirect you all to the SL team blog for the most recent update (bags have arrived!).
Lord willing, Nicole and I should be able to talk tomorrow night if all goes well with our calling card, their phone, etc.
Lord willing, Nicole and I should be able to talk tomorrow night if all goes well with our calling card, their phone, etc.
Friday, June 12, 2009
Safe Arrival
I was able to talk to Nicole this afternoon for about 5 minutes. They had just arrived in Freetown and were waiting for the ferry to take them from the airport into the city itself.
The team missed their connecting flight in London and was rerouted through Nairobi, Kenya, adding an additional 10 hours or so to their travel time. Nicole is feeling pretty healthy, which is a definite answer to prayer as this point in the trip last year she was pretty sick.
Things to pray for:
* Safe arrival of luggage. Currently everybody on the team just has their carry-on stuff while their checked baggage sorts through England, Kenya, and Sierra Leone.
* Safe travel from Freetown into Banta
* Good health for Nicole and other team members
In other news, I'll be heading to the mountains tomorrow with some of our youth for a camping trip. Forecast said it might snow...
The team missed their connecting flight in London and was rerouted through Nairobi, Kenya, adding an additional 10 hours or so to their travel time. Nicole is feeling pretty healthy, which is a definite answer to prayer as this point in the trip last year she was pretty sick.
Things to pray for:
* Safe arrival of luggage. Currently everybody on the team just has their carry-on stuff while their checked baggage sorts through England, Kenya, and Sierra Leone.
* Safe travel from Freetown into Banta
* Good health for Nicole and other team members
In other news, I'll be heading to the mountains tomorrow with some of our youth for a camping trip. Forecast said it might snow...
Sunday, June 7, 2009
Bleh
Doxy equals blehness.
I took my first pill this morning.
All I have to say is- Doxy you better do your job and keep the malaria away.
And now I'm off to Sierra Leone! Please pray for our team, the teachers, and the children. We will hopefully be able to provide some updates of my trip here:
http://teachersinsierraleone.blogspot.com/
I took my first pill this morning.
All I have to say is- Doxy you better do your job and keep the malaria away.
And now I'm off to Sierra Leone! Please pray for our team, the teachers, and the children. We will hopefully be able to provide some updates of my trip here:
http://teachersinsierraleone.blogspot.com/
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
