If you are in Student Ministry, Youth Ministry, Parent Ministry… well ministry at all you need to check out Simply Youth Ministry’s 40.40.40 sale starting today!
For 40 hours, up to 40% off and 40 free backgrounds for your ministry go check it out!!! click here to spend your churches money or your tithe for the month
Tell um Brit sent you… not really it doesn’t matter just go check out these great deals!
This weekend we took 26 youth & adults to participate in 1ByYouth, an awesome new ministry from Group Cares, (who bring us Workcamp‘s & Week of Hope‘s). On Saturday we loaded up in our cars around 530am to head down to Denver for a day of community repair and renovation. Our group worked on a total of 12 town blocks cleaning up trash, removing graffiti, and engaging the community while we were out. There were some logistical things I would tweak and improve on but over all a great ministry to engage in as a church to emerse your kids into missions in a easy to do way.
This is not a review or critique of 1ByYouth but rather a thought I had while serving with our kids. 1ByYouth provided a devotion for the groups which was brought to us from Isaiah 6.8 “Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, ‘Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” A great rallying call for those to come and serve god and serve others. What got me thinking was that we have lots of locations we can serve at
The where is important, so is the how, but it hit me as we talked with our students the why is the most important of all.
So why do we serve? Why do we go on mission trips? Why do we help others? The why we go, the why we serve is by far the heartbeat behind it all. We go not simply because there is a need, not because the ‘people over there‘ need us. We go because of the heart of God longs for His kingdom to come. We go to paint & repaint the canvas that we call our community, our neighbor, our world so that it looks more like vision God has for it. God speaks to Isaiah and doesn’t ask “Who will go for the sake of the homeless, the sake of removing graffiti, to rebuild homes, to fill community service hours“. No God asks “Who will go…FOR US?” We go for God and His heart to transform the world around us.
The where is only as important as how we hear God directing us. The why is what truly matters and the gut punch is the why is not an ‘IF‘ It is a ‘WHEN‘ and that answer is ‘ALWAYS‘. We have to be very careful in how we teach and show mission because if we are not careful we can enstill in the minds of our church and youth that mission is ‘only if we are where…’ kind of thoughts. We have to help our communities of faith understand God’s heart for ‘why’ more. Once we understand the why, the how and when questions will come and be less relevant.
So here are some questions for you to think about…
Take some time and answer this for your ministry and more so for your own self.
Can’t believe that in just a week I will be with 2,600 incredible brothers and sisters just like you who have devoted their lives to the youth of this generation and helping connect them to the Eternal God. Simply Youth Ministry Conference & Group hold a huge place in my heart as they have been a constant encouragement for me and so many other great friends in ministry. These organizations of ministers have devoted their lives in providing resources, experiences, accountability, and yes sometimes even a crying shoulder for so many of us in ministry.
So are you going SYMC? If not you are going to be missing out for sure this year as we have incredible sessions with Doug Fields, Louie Giglio, Duffy Robbins, Ruth Haley Barton, Rick Lawrence, Michael Novelli, the Skit Guys and so many others, along with outstanding worship from Shane & Shane, Gungor, Tim Timmons.
The break out sessions will be equally incredible, as they touch deep at the heart of so many of our hurts and pains in ministry, helping hurting kids, helping the technologically challenged, finding balance and rhythm, training leaders and so much more.
For those of you going you can download this awesome app for SYMConference to use on your smart phone. You can also use this planner here to have a plan of attack for maximizing your experience at SYMC.
Several friends of mine have been posting some great thoughts about preparing for SYMC. Mark Riddle has a great one here you should check out here, as well as my sister from another mister Steph Caro giving tips each day.
SYMC isn’t your typical youth ministry conference. You are encouraged to not simply be a consumer of all the activities but a participant in them all. This is a conference for youth workers by youth workers just like me and you!
If you are going here are somethings you should know.
These are just a few super simple basic tips for going to SYMC. Check back here tomorrow as I will be sharing with you something that will possibly be your highlight of the entire conference, & no I’m talking about Jake Rutenbar’s new video 
Stacie first introduced me to Sweet Sleep when we started dating. They are an incredible ministry that provides beds (really more than beds… but you can check that out for your self here) for orphans all over the world. They provide great opportunities for churches and individuals to go on mission trips to help provide those beds. Stacie & I are excited about planning a trip some day soon for our church to go with us and serve with this group… but until then…
….We made a challenge to our youth ministry tonight and to our families.
We watched this video here that educated us on the needs for giving providing beds for orphans in Haiti.
So we encouraged our students to figure out what they personally have that they could give to the organization tonight, and then over the next week invite others into the mix to provide beds for orphans. Next Wednesday we are going to tally all the money and see what our Students & Families were able to provide in the name of God, hope and joy for children in Haiti.
If you want to help our cause, leave me a message and I will let you know how. You can also Click Here to go directly to Sweet Sleep
Mission trips are in incredible way of teaching your youth and adult leaders about the power of serving like Jesus and plunge your youth into some transformational life experiences. Our ministry is very heavily mission minded and for the past 11 years we have joined with Group Cares organization and participated in Workcamps all across the United States.
You can’t beat the excellence of the staff that run each camp, the program that is put together every morning and night that help prep you for the work ahead and wrap up the evening with Christ centered messages that challenge all the participants to grow deeper in their relationship with Him and others, and the overall experience of impacting a community with home repair and community outreach. My wife, Stacie Windel, has worked with Group Cares for 5 years now and has personally attended over 30 trips herself, as a participant, staff crew, and Group Staff. This will be my personal 4th year of attending while our ministry has been on over 11. I highly recommend this mission trip experience to any and everyone.
Below is a incredible offer from the men and women of Group Care’s Workcamp and Week of Hope mission trips. Check it out and give them a call.
Dear Youth Leader,
We understand choosing your summer youth mission trip is a big decision – so many choices! We asked Workcamp veterans how our camps are different and they said “it’s awesome, but it’s something you have to experience to understand…” They also said, “Make it easier for first-timers to try a camp!”
We think that makes a lot of sense. So until February 28, bring your ADULT VOLUNTEERS to camp for FREE (you get one free adult registration for every five youth you bring to camp.)
Last year, 98% of kids said they connected to Jesus through serving others. Your youth can too… With 30 years experience and over 300,000 people served, you can count on an organized, life-changing mission camp for your kids…one that continues to impact them long after you return home.
Here’s what one youth told us after he returned from camp:
“I can honestly say that is was one of the best experiences of my life. I grew much closer to both God and everyone in my youth group and I worked the absolute hardest I ever have for free but the end result felt so good that I would do it a hundred times over. If you want to grow spiritually and help a lot of people along the way this is where you should be.”Watch our Home Repair video and our Week of Hope video to see youth in action serving others and connecting to Jesus. Then give us a call to get your group serving in
20102011!Your friends in youth ministry,
Group Workcamps & Group Week of Hope
If you have any questions or want some more testimonials from our own ministry just shoot me a message. I would personally love to talk with you more about this incredible organization. So check out these videos, check out the website and give Group Care’s a call.
Ministry ideas.
Rick Lawrence has a great new posting on Parachurch Ministries and the Mistakes they make
Matt Cleaver who is ranked one of the top 10 youth ministry bloggers, and dear friend of mine! Great theology and probing questions about how we do youth ministry theologically.
Doug Fields & Matt McGill have begun a great new daily ministry thought which you can subscribe here to get it. One that really got me thinking this week was Serving outside your passion zone in ministry. Great stuff
Reza Zadeh is an amazing young adult pastor and friend who has just authored his first book called 99 thoughts on leading well.
Kem Mayer on Dissolving Silo’s in Ministry
Consider going to SYMC (Simply Youth Ministry Conference) this year! It will be a breath of fresh air for you and your ministry
Books
New book I have just begun reading The Poisnwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver
Great resource for Service ideas for ministries They will know us by our love: Service Ideas for Small Groups
From Anger to Intimacy by Ted Cunningham & Dr. Gary Smalley
The Emotionally Healthy Church by Pete Scazzero. Absolutely amazing book!!! our staff are reading this one in the fall. very convicting about the heart and soul of a leader.
Media
 | Niamon Wuanti on Lent: the Discipline of S… |
 | Bill Ramsey on Not your Cross to Carry! |
 | Chris Bartley on Not your Cross to Carry! |
 | Stacia Keller on Not your Cross to Carry! |
 | sahar on Dancing in the Rain! |
