learning | More Than Dodgeball

Josh GriffinMore Posts Lifelong Learners: Instilling a Love of Learning

In your ministry, you have influence. You can use this influence to shape the way each student views learning about Jesus; His love, creation and His expectations of us. You can create engaged and active learners who are eager to learn more. Instilling the love of learning in those you minister to can be done by engaging your students through their creativity and simply by loving them!

Engaging your students through their creativity

Look for ways to be a blessing – Take a stuffed teddy bear to someone who isn’t feeling well, bring a copy of last week’s sermon to someone who missed church, smile when you pass someone by, buy someone a Bible. It doesn’t have to be complicated. Simple is powerful.
Build things together – Houses for the homeless, a set for a ministry video, build a new podium for your senior pastor. When you build things together, you are learning about teamwork and about caring for other’s through skills you may or may not have had before.

If you are not so creative, delegate tasks to the students who are, they would love to put their talents to work! Someone great at designing t-shirts, have them design some for a fund raiser. Someone great with woodwork, have them design a set for a play geared toward teaching other’s about Jesus. Someone great with the camera? Have them take some pictures for a new ministry photo album. Short on ideas? Ask the creative ones, they will have many ideas on how they can use their talents to serve the ministry.

Simply love them!

This means showing grace in what may seem to be the worst situation. Things happen. They are here today, done with tomorrow. Loving others should be our focus. Remain at peace through the storm and let God handle the details.
Listen – Sometime we are so busy teaching and talking, we forget to listen. Take some time out to hear what they’ve got to say.
Be transparent – Be real with them. You have struggles just like them.
Spend time with them with no expectations – Let time spent with them flow whether it be into conversation or into a crazy fun game night!
Be involved in what they enjoy – When you enjoy being around someone, you’ll make the time to be involved in what they enjoy. It could be you showing up at their soccer game, going to the mall with a group of students or going to the arcade. Spend time in their world.

When you engage your students through their creativity and simply love them, they are actively learning about Jesus; His love, creation and His expectations of us. They will leave your ministry with the tools needed to equip others with the love of lifelong learning as well. Which is so important because this is how we grow in spirit and in stature, we’ve got to be actively engaged and eager to learn more for all of our lives.

Ashley Fordinal is the Children’s Church volunteer at Family Life Church in Sulphur Springs, TX.

Add Comment March 30, 2013

Chris WesleyMore Posts How To Grind It Out

There are those days in youth ministry where it feels like you are running through mud. They are slow, there is no significant progress and the only thing moving is your blood pressure rising from the frustration you feel. I can’t tell you when these days will come, they just seem to emerge and when they do they are awful. So what do you do when ministry is mud?

YOU GRIND IT OUT

That means having a plan that is going to help you move forward, no matter how hard it is to be creative or productive. To develop that plan means:

Setting A Firm Schedule: A framework to your day will make sure you aren’t wearing yourself out. That means start time and stop times. Breaks and times when you just sit back and learn. During the times that you schedule for writing, creating and developing you may notice little fruit; however, having the framework will make sure you aren’t dwelling too long in the frustration they might bring.

Fuel And Rest Up: Just like an athlete when the days get hard you need to make sure your energy level is at it’s highest. That means not staying up later, eating right and taking care of your body. Sometimes the writer’s block that you feel is because you are tired or not feeling well. It’s at these times when it’s important for you to focus on your health and not your productivity.

Become A Learner: You could simply be out of ideas. Taking the time you would usually write and create and devote it to reading, watching podcasts or meeting with other youth workers. Listening to others and reading their thoughts will sometimes kickstart the productivity engine. Just make sure anything that develops you write down.

Spend Time In Prayer: When you are in a void of ideas it’s easy to feel disconnected. The best way to reignite this connection is to talk with God. I find that quiet time in scripture calms me down and takes away the frustration that I may feel when it comes to a writer’s block, lack of ideas or a hard day at work.

Youth ministry is just like any industry where you’ll find moments where you just need to grind it out. Do not stress, just go to a plan that will help you move forward. Stay focused, put your head down and lean in. Remember these seasons are temporary.

What would you add to the plan?

Chris Wesley (@chrisrwesley)