New In New England

April 15, 2013April 14, 2013Brian Aaby Leave a comment

This blog post was written at approximately 37,000 feet above the earth as I travel from Boston to Seattle. I’m certainly flying high after our first Mission51 Retreat in New England this past weekend!

Just like San Diego we had three different churches represented, which to me was a major victory for a first-time market! However, the most major victory belongs to the work of the Spirit in the lives of these teens. God did a new work in so many ways, here are a few:

Friday Night: This year we launch our Friday night program in the most unique way thus far… Without giving anything away (still have four more M51 Retreats this year), it was very evident from the start that this group was different than any we have had the last few years. Because there were no groups that had ever done anything Youthmark, this felt very new (much like 2009). We were about two-thirds through the night and it became abundantly clear to me that I needed to jump off track for a few minutes. I sensed the Spirit telling me to pause and simply present the Gospel. It was as if the Lord was telling me, “some are ready to trust in me.” I was obedient, He was faithful. Nine students placed their trust in Jesus for salvation for the first time!

Student, Jonah, leading his peers at M51

Saturday: There were several “new” things that took place on Saturday. Our Band, Double Vision (15 year old twins Micah and Mason) continues to do a wonderful job leading not just in worship but in several other areas, well this time we recruited a couple other local teens to facilitate and speak. We are pushing Student Led, Adult Mentored Ministry (SLAMM) and it was phenomenal to see these Rutland teens step up into their areas of giftedness.

Double Vision

On Saturday evening, after an impromptu after-event concert (Double Vision performed), Rob Townshend had a conversation with one of his teens and she placed her trust in Christ as well!

Sunday: Though the M51 Retreat was complete, I was asked to stick around and preach at Calvary Bible Church. What an honor and the second time this calendar year! This time though I got to do a new thing; Rob Townshend and I tag-team preached, it was a blast!

I tallied one more new state as we traveled to Boston via lunch in Maine! While on that drive I received one more bit of new-news! Incredibly, one of the young ladies, who almost didn’t come to the Retreat (she says, “my dad made me go”) send me a Facebook message to pray for her as she was sharing her faith with an atheist. About 20 minutes later a second message… “He just trusted in Christ!”

I like all this new stuff! Thank you New England!

Grace,
Brian

Five Things You May Have Forgotten

April 11, 2013Brian Aaby 2 Comments

When asked “what do you do?” most youth pastors can identify some major areas of his or her week (church meetings, youth group and message prep). Obviously there are other small areas that require more thought. However, many are forgetting some very basic but BIG areas. My hope is that this post will serve as a simple reminder.

Some things you may have forgotten to put on your schedule (in no particular order)…

Did you forget to encourage (and inform) your team members?

An early-week (short) email to your team (lay leaders) goes a long way. Share the wins from the weekend, the schedule for the next program event and give praise for the role your leaders play!

Did you forget to “read your Bible and pray?”

This may seem like a “duh” category, unfortunately I have to list it. I am discovering an increasing number of youth leaders who are only spending time in the Word to prep a message and MANY admit to not really spending any time in the Word itself, most just glance at the verses provided by curriculum. In addition, few of us are scheduling time to just listen to God and respond in prayer.

Did you forget to program as if someone new could be coming?

Take a minute to think about your Sunday School, youth group and small group settings from the perspective of the new kid. Would a new person know where to go upon arrival? Would he/she be greeted? Are people even trained in how to greet? Would you even be able to capture the new persons information so that proper follow-up can be done? Believe it or not, these things take time.

Did you forget to set the example in the areas of application that matter to you the most?

If I were to sum up my youth pastor-passion it would be to have students fall deeply in love with Christ, showing/sharing that love with the lost and propelling their Christian friends. But, I can only lead students/staff as far as I am able to go myself. Part of my weekly rhythm needs to include time prioritizing my own (peer, my age range) time with the unchurched and personal time with Jesus.

Did you forget to give others permission to develop and exercise their gifts?

Calling it as I see it: too many youth pastors spend too much time doing their own thing (agenda/direction for the ministry) rather than taking the time to equip and empower others to do the better thing. Even though it takes time, schedule times to collaborate (with students, staff and parents) and make space for others to use and develop those gifts!

Do these five things and you’ll see immediate results and long-term fruit!

What else would you say are areas we may be forgetting to schedule?

Grace,

Brian

Things That Bug Me Most About Youth Ministry

April 4, 2013Brian Aaby 11 Comments

I’ve been involved in youth ministry for over 20 years! I absolutely love it, so please don’t let the title of this post be an invitation to a Debbie Downer moment.

God is at work and there is much to rejoice about when it comes to student ministry. The following is simply a list of stuff that has gotten under my skin… the good news, every one of these is fixable! I’m praying that naming these may be the first step towards the solution rather than just naming the problem.

Low standards bug me. Check out the dichotomy of messages we send students: We recruit teens to defend our country. We see those naturally gifted/talented in their sport and push them to the limits so that as a teen they can sign multi-million dollar contracts. We lead them to believe that if they work hard enough, take AP classes and keep their grades up they’ll receive massive scholarships for school. Yet in the church and youth ministry I don’t think we believe students are capable of so much more. We keep the standards low, we entertain them rather than include them in the development. Too often I hear, “they’re so busy with everything else we just want youth group to be a retreat for them.” When it comes to priorities, which one is winning, the areas that students are being pushed in or the refuge and retreat ministry?
Celebrating “growth” bugs me. I love when youth groups (or churches) grow! But the growth that should be celebrated is when someone who was not connected (to Christ or to a body of believers) begins to attend and be discipled. When a person comes from a different church or a different youth group our first reaction should be to protect the bride (unity). If your group is growing with already committed believers transferring in understand that another church/group is shrinking. This isn’t to say there aren’t reasons for people to leave, but please take the time to speak to those issues, seek reconciliation in the relationships involved even if it means your “numbers” are growing as rapidly. Equip your teens to seek and to save that which is lost! Sheep stealing is not growth.
Expecting teens to do something you aren’t even doing yourself REALLY bugs me. We (youth leaders, parents, pastors) become discouraged when students don’t do what we’ve asked them to do. “Read your Bible.” “Pray about that.” “Invite your unchurched friends.” “Get discipled.” “Be committed.” These are all things that we seem to expect of our teens, but are these things that you’re doing? I interact with a lot of pastors and youth pastors, many volunteer leaders and scores of parents of teens and I can tell you, the apple does not fall too far from the tree. The very expectations we have for teens are the very things that are NOT prioritized in the lives of adults. Are you pouring over Scriptures? Is prayer a priority? When is the last time you prioritized sharing Christ with your own peers?

On one hand I’m terrified about the future of student ministries, the very things I named can become an uncontrollable snowball that leads to entertainment only, numerically judged, low standard youth ministries. Or, through prayer, a recommitment to relationally driven, biblically based and Spirit-driven responses we could see a generation of teens lead the cause of Christ!

Grace,
Brian

April (No) Foolin’

April 1, 2013Brian Aaby Leave a comment

Move: Mission Prep Workbook

This is an INCREDIBLE deal we are offering throughout the month of April. It represents a $40 savings for the Strategy or Strategy Pack Plus deals!

For just $59 per person you will receive a complete package to train participants for before, during and after a mission trip!

By ordering for a team (8 or more) you receive for each person:

A Mission Prep Workbook (10 studies and 10 applications)
A RoadGrip Devotional for the mission trip
A HomeBase Guided study for parents back home
A Merge Book; 18 studies through a book of the Bible after the mission

In addition, youth leaders receive a complete Leaders Guide which covers all the admin and fundraising as well as 10 outlines for teaching the entire youth group through the core Bible section of Acts the mission team is dealing with.

Many will want to take advantage of not just the curriculum but will want to do the Strategy Plus Pack which gets participants to one of our Mission51 Retreats. You get all the curric and the retreat for only $110!

To take advantage of either the $59 or $110 deals, click here.

Grace,
Brian

Spring Forward Announcement #2

March 14, 2013Brian Aaby Leave a comment

As I stated in my last post, this week I am posting two successive posts pertaining to partnerships and announcements that have me pretty jazzed!

In my last post I introduced the readers to Double Vision, a band we have partnered with for our Mission51 Retreats.

Youthmark is not the only organization who believes in this concept I have deemed SLAMM (Student Led, Adult Mentored Ministry). My friends and partners at Youth Missions International are among the others who believe in this and are partnering with Youthmark to make this venture a reality.

Youth Missions International (YMI) uses all of our curriculum and training elements for before, during and after a mission venture. In addition to partnering with us through the curriculum, YMI is helping make this partnership with Double Vision a reality. Do you believe in giving teens the opportunity to develop their gifts, skills and talents? Perhaps you’ll partner with us as well?

I had the opportunity to speak at YMI’s annual banquet this last weekend. Beyond the short-term mission trips (STM), they send individuals on longer STM’s, run internships and also have an extensive Sports Camp ministry. YMI is growing rapidly- they recently entered into a fabulous agreement with AWANA which will open up a world of opportunity for both orgs.

I’m seriously pumped up about these partnerships as I believe through Youthmark and YMI we’ll be able to advance God’s kingdom through the proclamation of the gospel through students faster and farther! With teens like Micah and Mason (Double Vision) leading their peers!

Speaking of proclamation, through YMI we are looking for others to believe in this training and support this cause through the Proclaim Campaign.

Double Vision will be flown to all of our seven Mission51 locations this spring. In addition to the twin boys, their manager (who happens to be their dad) will be traveling with. Flights, lodging, rentals and food are among a number of costs, but it’s a cause we believe in, but certainly would love to see others support it as well and offset some of the costs.

If you’d like to donate to this (or other YMI causes) please click here (and scroll to bottom). There you’ll see you can give directly to the Proclaim campaign simply by giving in the fifth box down.

I’ll be sure to post many-an-update and keep you posted on how Micah and Mason are doing and how Youthmark and YMI are encouraged by the hundreds of teens and adults we get to train to share the gospel in Real Life (the theme for the Mission51 retreat).

Thanks for your prayers and for considering a gift!

Grace,
Brian

P.S. I have one more really BIG announcement in regard to this next week!

Spring Forward Announcement #1

March 12, 2013March 12, 2013Brian Aaby 2 Comments

I’m very excited about two successive blog posts I have going out this week (both “announcements”). These posts speak to a couple partnerships we (Youthmark) have developed over the last year.

Let me start with a few of my soap-box issues…

I understand that some teens can come across as punks (just like some adults can be unkind, not classy or mean as well), but I firmly believe that far more young adults are phenomenal and simply need the opportunity to discover and hone their crafts, skills and talents!
I know some churches believe that the youth pastor should be the primary person influencing the spiritual formation of the teens. While I believe a youth pastor can have a great role, I believe parents should be the main disciplers of their sons and daughters. BUT I also know that teens influence their friends decisions more than anyone else. The church and parents need to gain a better understanding of this fantastic fact! We in the youth ministry world need to allow students to use their God-given gifting far more frequently!

The Back Story

While in Kansas City scouting mission locations for a Youthmark trip I began a friendship with my contact, Matt Marrs. I found out that his then fourteen year-old twin boys were part of a band appropriately named Double Vision. Matt shared their music with me. Long-story-short, Double Vision will be leading our worship and participating in the training at Youthmark’s Mission51 Retreats this spring!

During our training times I am consistently saying to teens that they should be the best missionaries that US has ever had. I firmly believe that. 80% of those who place their trust in Christ will do so by the age of 18. Teens have a captive audience of their peers on their campus, at their clubs, in their community and while at church.

In addition to “mission” (read: evangelism), students have other gifts, talents and skills that bring glory to God and influence one another. I simply believe we needed to model that this year by giving the students the platform from time to time. This is not to say adults aren’t to lead. I believe if you have the gift of mercy you should show it. If you’re gifted in admin, you should administrate and if you’re gifted in leadership you should lead (regardless of age).

Mason Marrs

I believe Micah and Mason Marrs should lead. They’re gifted musicians, but they’re so much more than that! I cannot wait to see them facilitate worship, but dive in to the training aspect as they challenge their peers in Real Life, conversational, relational influence! These guys love Jesus and want to make him known!

Micah Marrs

Please join me in praying for these young men! Check them out and like them on Facebook and check out their website. I cannot wait to see how this Student Led, Adult Mentored Ministry (#SLAMM) opportunity works out!

In addition to a post likely to go live on Thursday (another announcement) I’ll have an additional blog post specifically relating to Double Vision next week!

Grace,
Brian