As a youth
minister, the beginning of summer always brings mixed emotions. On the one hand,
I am extremely excited about all the trips and fun events we have planned this
summer. On the other hand, the very sight of this calendar makes me exhausted.
With our students being out of school, we as a youth group have more
opportunities to serve and worship together. We also have more opportunities to
have tons of fun as well. At the end of every summer, I always wonder if I’m
getting too old for this (and I’m only 29!). Nevertheless, I cannot wait to see
how God works in our student ministry over the next couple months. So here are
my top 3 things I’m looking forward too!
1. In
June we are taking some of our Senior High students to Haiti! Except for
myself, this will be the first international mission trip for everyone in our
group.
2. In
July we will have a mission camp right here at our church. We will have two
mission trips in one summer! Our students will do local service projects around
our county and then we will throw a block party for our neighborhood. The party
will include food, games for kids, and a movie. At night we will have worship
services, games, and small group classes.
3. Beginning
on July 7th, I will begin preaching every Sunday. I am very hopeful
that even more youth will participate and serve in our Sunday morning services.
The more that youth are involved in the church as a whole, the more likely they
are to stay in church after graduation. Also, on that date we will start Sunday
morning small groups for our students. We will have snacks and drinks, icebreaker
games, and small group lessons. Youth will be divided by age and gender during
the lesson. The lessons will focus on different books of the Bible and the
2-year curriculum will cover the major themes of scripture. The curriculum comes from the awesome people at Simply Youth Ministry. See the chart below
for more info.
As always, the
summer will be crazy and will leave me exhausted. But it is the best kind of exhaustion…one that comes from being with God’s people and being spent in the
service of Christ.
