youth group, prayer is the key!

Regarding my wonderings last week about the youth, well they all came back (and one who had stopped coming cause he was the only boy came as well because other new boy told him to) .

And I actually had a really good evening with them. It is so important to remember that in this working in churches thing we will always have struggles and hard times and these will bring us closer to God. In awareness of this I spent a good 20+ minutes (while walking the dog) praying for the group as a whole, the other leader and each individual group member. I thanked God for them and all they brought to the group and I tried to think at least one positive about every member and it really helped.

I'm not saying I don't still have trials with them and that I do things that don't always work but it was a good evening and we all enjoyed ourselves (well, I did anyway!).

So my recommendation is get praying and think about the good stuff, it makes such a difference!

youth work, should we bother?

So I am facing the eternal problem that seems to be faced by all youth leaders. How do you do a group which is both appealing to the youth you have while still including the most important topic in life - Jesus?

I had the old issue last Wednesday of one of the members - who has come to the group new this year and so isn't used to the kids bit of doing stuff related to God - ask why we were not playing games and she thought we only did fun stuff. It is hard to explain when you have spent most of the evening doing various activities and you thought God was fun.

So, obviously after questionning my ability as a leader and a Christian I am left wondering if this week will be any better. I really need to be reminded of how important Jesus and youth work is at this point, and try and ignore the question of "why bother".

Sorry to sound so depressing but I must remember that God created each one of them and loves each one of them and I need to try and do something similar. Sounds a bit easier when you think like that.

Painting the chapel

One of my experiences, not formal work but doing volunteer stuff at my mums chapel is that I look after the 10's-12's age group and I'm trying to see what I can do with them, not just with the aim of keeping them in the church but also building a relationship with them.

What we have been doing is painting in the upstairs room to make it their space, so that they have somewhere to chill which they respect, have ownership of and just have a sense of achievement with it.

I've also got a new young leader helping me next week which should be exciting because I won't feel on my own anymore and also it will mean there is someone I can chat to about them. I'm quite curious to how it will go!

Welcome

Hi guys

Welcome to the blog, this is where I intend to put my experiences of being a youth and children's worker. It will include updates on the work, how it is all going, tips of what to do and even the real-life experiences of my own work in my church.

Let me know if there is anything you would like to hear more about and I hope you enjoy the read.

Becky