Archives For Student Missions

GUEST POST: Missions in Student Ministry

Matt Lawson —  March 2, 2011 — Leave a comment

Guest Blog Post: Jeff Borton is the Pastor to Students at Christ Fellowship in Miami, FL as well as the co-author of Simple Student Ministry with Eric Geiger. Jeff’s ministry to students reflects a focused passion to launch students into the mission of God. He’s one of the best, and missions is in his wheelhouse. Follow Jeff on twitter, read his blog, or buy the book.

Student ministry and missions are synonymous.

Well, should be synonymous.

Luke 15 illustrates God’s passion for those apart from Him; we must also be passionate for lost people. Historically, God has used teenagers in phenomenal ways to advance the Kingdom.

How we choose to program our ministry (and how we use our budgets) is a clear indication of how we view the call God has given us to make disciples. We aren’t called to teach students to be good, moral people who attend church weekly, but rather passionate worshippers of Christ who embrace living missionally so that the Gospel can be heard.

In order for students to engage their world missionally, two things must happen:

Encourage students to live missionally.

The Great Commission passages come to life in students as they are challenged to live out the message of reconciliation from Christ. (2 Cor. 5:17-20) They must hear from God’s Word why missions is important to God.

The encouragement is huge; we must challenge students to live the Gospel every moment of their lives.

Not only should we challenge them verbally, but also show them by making it a priority in our programming.

Give students opportunities to engage in mission

Our calendar is the litmus test for our ministry’s priority of missions.

Challenging students to live missionally cannot consist of talking about the Gospel and taking a yearly trip. One focused trip a year only reinforces to students what they probably already think: missions is a place you go and when you get back, you’re done.

Missions must be weaved throughout our process of disciple making.

Two ideas to consider:

Personal opportunities:

Create “invite cards” (business size) with your student ministry information for your students to carry at all times. Encourage students to use these cards to invite friends and people they meet. For many, inviting someone to church with them is huge. These invite conversations will help equip them for future, deeper spiritual conversations.

Local opportunities:

Engage your groups consistently to be on mission together. Small groups, Sunday School classes, ministry teams–mobilize these groups so they break out of the “Christian bubble” and show the love of Jesus to others, together.

These are just a couple of ideas; but look for ways that missions can be an integral part of your programming and watch how God will change the hearts of students in your ministry.

WHAT IS YOUR STUDENT MINISTRY CURRENTLY DOING TO ENGAGE STUDENTS IN MISSIONS?

Jeff Borton is Jen’s husband, Micah’s dad, Pastor of Students at Christ Fellowship, Miami, co-author of Simple Student Ministry and a spearfisherman.

 

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Final Thoughts From Honduras 2010

Matt Lawson —  April 11, 2010 — Leave a comment

Honduras 2010 was a phenomenal week in the lives of our 9/10th grade students at Woodstock. What started out as a long and arduous preparation process (October 2009 through March 2010), culminated in a life changing week. Nearly half our team experienced their first international mission trip. I remember my first international trip. It left an unalterable mark on my life. To this day, I can’t take a hot shower without thinking of a week in Mexico sleeping on a concrete floor with a slow drip, cold shower. I believe Honduras 2010 has left the same mark for many of our students as well.

Parents, you would be ultra proud of these students. They prepared well and performed even better. This past week fifty-seven of our 9/10th grade students and adults pushed back the darkness and advanced the Gospel to the nations. The reality of Matthew 24:14 being fulfilled in this generation inched closer this week. Thank you for entrusting your son or daughter to our team for a week to the nations.

Adults, I am amazed. A Student Pastor can’t lead effectively without leaders like you. You lead by example. You fight through the tough stuff. You love in spite of. You see the vision and carry it. I love you and I’m deeply grateful to God for you!  Thanks for your investment this past week!

A few summary thoughts from this week:

1) The raw enthusiasm of students can change the world (and make Youth Pastors go crazy at the same time)

Lila & Shannen

Student ministry has the unique challenge of channeling the roller coaster of emotions, enthusiasm, passion, desire, and naivety of students towards the Gospel. In a week of international missions, we have essentially drawn up the bumper lanes for students to march forward with the Gospel. It’s amazing how our students rose to the challenge. Every presentation found our students eager to take the Gospel to students in one on one conversations…even after five days of ministry and all the loss of sleep. The Gospel was a motivator. Seeing students come to Christ was an encourager. It was almost a personal competition within each student to see how many students they could share the Gospel with and beg to come to Jesus. In total, there were 1134 recorded decisions this week!

2) What if?

Here are a few what if? questions that I’ve been rolling over in my head for several weeks. This past week shed light on a few of the answers for me in programming student ministry.

  • What if a student spent four years in high school ministry but decided in the fifth year they no longer wanted their faith or the church?
  • What if a high school student was prepared biblically and theologically for most any challenge?
  • What if parents were intimately involved in their student’s spiritual life?
  • What if 50% of Southern Baptist Churches launched just one graduating senior to a Global Missions Year just once in the next four years? How many more when other denominations are factored in?
  • What if middle school and high school students had an intentional plan to prepare for a Global Missions Year following the first year after high school?
  • What if every spiritually maturing (the qualifier being maturing not mature) high school student took at least one international mission trip during high school.

The answers to many of these questions leads me to the next observation…

3) Could this be the generation?

Katie Nelson

When Jesus describes the end of days in Matthew 24, we observe that nearly all has been fulfilled except verse 14. The Gospel will go to all ethne…every people…and then the end will come. The world is flat and access to areas that seemed impossible before are now more possible than ever. The use of cell phones and internet can never replace human relationship but who knows how the Gospel will penetrate those yet unreached areas. I am convinced though, that students will play a primary role in fulfilling Jesus’ prophecy. Nearly 45% of the world’s population is under age 24. After a week in Honduras with students sharing the Gospel with other students, I am more encouraged than ever that students provide the best vehicle for Matthew 24:14 to be fulfilled.

4) Student ministry is messy and not for everybody

The dots were connected this week for me in regards to why it’s difficult to get adults, volunteers, and student pastors to stick with Student Ministry…working with students is messy, chaotic, frustrating, and not always containable in neat and clean parts. Student ministry can be a roller coaster. One minute there is an a-ha moment of euphoria when students share and live the Gospel. The next minute you’re wondering how they could be such loud, noisy Americans in the airport despite team trainings and repeated admonitions to be pipe down because people are watching. One thing is sure…it takes a person full of grace and mercy to work with students. Others will throw up their hands in frustration and walk way. I love what I do, but I’m pretty sure this is an area that I need to be challenged.

5) One thing every youth group should do

The fruit of an intentional Gospel bearing mission trip will last a lifetime for many students. The seismic impact of this type of week extends to a much larger sphere of influence in friends, the rest of the youth group, family, relatives, and even school campuses. I would like to hammer this point in a thousand ways. But for now, I’ll allow Nike to encourage my Pastor and Youth Pastor friends…Just Do It.

LAST THOUGHTS

Olivia Frost

This mission trip, like most of the other twelve mission trips I’ve participated with in the last thirteen years, have impacted me as much as I’ve impacted a people group. I was stretched. My faith was increased. And, I came home with an increased fear of God, love for my wife and son, and absolute thrill for the place in life God has for me.

God used our 9/10th grade students this week for the advancement of the Kingdom. I’m proud to have been there to see it, and I’m grateful to God for every parent, student, and supporter involved. It was a fantastic trip!

Hey students and adults, let’s do it again next year. What do you say?

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Catch up on all the Honduras and Ecuador updates by going here
Honduras http://highschoolmissiontrips.wordpress.com
Ecuador  http://hsecuador2010.wordpress.com
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Why Our Students Don’t Do Construction Mission Trips

Matt Lawson —  February 18, 2010 — 2 Comments
Long before I ever started at Woodstock, our Pastor led our church to embrace a culture of evangelism and missions. Our church breathes these thoughts unlike any place I know. That culture makes it easy to cast a vision for evangelistic mission trips for our student ministry.

Clay Goswick Sharing the Gospel at a BMX Park in Portugal

Some people often ask why we don’t allow students to do construction or service projects on our trips. We’re not opposed to trips that involve construction or even service projects. Those are good things and can support a missionary or the local church’s work.

Alexandra Morris using the Evangecube in Honduras

However, we’re convinced that the best time to learn to share the gospel and to be thrown into the fire to practice are the teenage years. Teenagers should learn to share the gospel. If not now, then when? If not them, then who? Teenagers can love Jesus with all their hearts and change the world for Him. We’re convinced of that thought.

If they learn it now, there’s a greater chance they’ll be more effective in the future. The passion of teenagers should be exploited for the Gospel. Why should the enemy get all their energy? If their enthusiasm can be channeled into a passionate relationship with Christ, the next generation will be better for it.

Caitlyn Richards sharing the Gospel after a presentation

Every year, our middle school ministry takes a spring break trip to somewhere in the states. Recently, they’ve been to Las Vegas, Cleveland, San Diego, and this year Orlando.  Our high school students take two age graded international trips each spring break and have recently been to Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Paris, Portugal, Honduras, and Ecuador.

In this environment, we make tremendous efforts to train our students over the course of six months prior to the mission trip.  They learn everything from fundraising, prayer support, in-country culture, drama training, and music training in Spanish. Most importantly, we spend a great deal of time training our students how to share the gospel.

Everything Drama at a park in Portugal

Evangelism training is contextualized for each trip but is still applicable and adapted for their everyday experiences here at home.

We take the time to train our students in the following three methods:

  1. Testimony
  2. Evangecube (very effective in a Latin American country because it’s visual)
  3. 7 Verses* as well as the Ten Commandments

It’s exciting to watch students share their faith on a mission trip. The passion for many of them finally has an exit strategy and the joy on their face as they share is worth six months of training!

What have you found to be effective in training students for mission trips as well as evangelism?

* We teach students to use the following 7 Verses in this order – Gen 1:1, John 3:16, Romans 3:23, Romans 6:23, Romans 5:8, Romans 10:9-10, John 1:12

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