Category Youthmark Stuff

Opinions Needed

Brian Aaby 2 Comments

 

In just a couple weeks I will be guest speaking at a Parent of Teens Sunday School class.  I’m thankful for the opportunity to meet with a great group of eager parents.  In preparation I am re-reading Barry St. Clair’s Parent Fuel.  The Pastor of this class has eluded to a question asked in the book, “How do we connect with a disconnected generation ?”  So much we see teens who have isolated themselves from parents, through media or peers.  Conversely, we see parents who have isolated themselves from their teens, thinking they’ve lost the ability to relate with them anymore, or that they just selfishly want to live their lives without interference.

Here is where you come in.  Regardless of age, you probably have an opinion; pick one (or a few) of the following questions to answer.  I will use some/all of these answers in my presentation.*

1. How do parents connect with their teen?  What are the keys?

2. How do parents reconnect if they’ve lost connection for a period of time?

3. How do parents rightly discipline and still retain the relationship?

4. What are the major contributing factors to broken relationships between teen and parent?

5. What do you fear the most for the next generation of teens (those 5-10 right now)?

If you don’t mind, please list your status (students, parent of 3 teens, parent of grown children, etc.) and age (yes, you can be very vague if you’d like…i.e. “Fifties”).

Thanks for your help, I look forward to hearing from you.

Grace,
Brian

*I will not use specific names.

Youthmark Prayer Requests

Brian Aaby 1 Comment

 

 

I am trusting most of my readership is the praying type.  I would truly appreciate your ongoing prayer support.  From time to time I hope I can remember to write out some specifics for you to be praying.  So here goes!

1. Praise God for the Youthmark Fellowship Gathering on Monday night!

2. Pray for the mission brochure to be done in a timely manner so I may begin getting teams/youth groups signed up in the fall of 2008.  Pray in advance for those youth groups/leaders too!

3. Pray for two meetings I have coming up in regard to 360ºParenting.

4. Pray for God to open doors and hearts of pastors/boards I will meet with to be receiving towns for the mission project.

5. Pray for our writing.  May everything we write about be founded in His Word, guided by His Spirit and bring honor to His name!

Thanks so much for your prayers/praises!  

Grace,
Brian

Looking Forward… Youthmark

Brian Aaby 1 Comment

 

 

Several weeks ago I started a blog series entitled, “Looking Forward.”  This series will be a semi-regular post.  In light of last nights Youthmark Fellowship Gathering, I am using Youthmark as the subject for this LF.

In the next…

…hour I look forward to continuing work on my brochure/advertising piece for the mission aspect of Youthmark.  I would guess I have 30% of the content produced, so there is much more to do! Specifically today I am doing some research on some of the communities I will be scouting soon.

…day I am excited to meet with some of my good friends in the ministry.  Nathan Schlaud, Chad Schnathorst, Eric Drumm and I make up the core of the Burien/West Seattle Network; we plan on starting up again in the next couple weeks and I believe most of the guys will be hanging out tomorrow.  It has been since the IDAH08 Mission since we’ve all been together.

…week I am very excited about a few key meetings with some guys I will be recruiting for specific roles in the mission project. 

…month I should have all the promotional materials produced for the mission side of Youthmark.  Besides publishing the “service” side of Youthmark will be initially dominated by this mission project (with many other things on the back-burner simmering).  

…year I am excited to meet with the Youthmark Fellowship Gathering a few times.  Last night was probably the most “information” oriented gathering.  In the future I look forward to “doing life” together more and sharing the praises and prayer requests.  I can’t wait for the day I can bring names of specific Youth Leaders, Parents and Students to my prayer team for the purpose of prayer and praise!  

Father, thank you for allowing me to pursue this dream.  Thank you for the support of my family and friends.  I pray the ministries/projects of Youthmark would honor You!

Grace,
Brian

REMINDER: YFG

Brian Aaby 2 Comments

Quick post to remind you of/invite you to our first Youthmark Fellowship Gathering (Dessert) tonight at the Heider home (7:00 PM).  If you need directions or specifics, don’t hesitate to email me at brian@youthmark.com. Can’t wait to share some of the vision and specific prayer requests for this new venture.

Grace,
Brian

Your Vote Will Count!

Brian Aaby 1 Comment

 

Living in King County for most of my life I have heard “your vote won’t really make a difference.”  I have to admit, that most of the time I have had to agree, we live in a quite liberal area, and most of the time my vote leans more toward the conservative.  However, I want you to be aware of a voting opportunity in which I know your vote will count.

As I wrote about a few posts back, the Heiders are hosting a Youthmark Fellowship Gathering this coming Monday, August 18, at 7:00 PM (email me if you need an address or directions). At this gathering I will introduce the attendees to a couple of my “major” Youthmark offerings.  One of which is a mission-oriented project.  I know a number of the places I will be offering these mission trips, but there is a mystery location in which I am going to count on my “voters” to help pick!  So, come one, come all, and help me make a critical decision for the Summer 2009 Youthmark Mission season!

Looking forward to sharing the vision and direction with as many as possible.  Thanks for the many who are committed to praying for the Aabys and Youthmark!  Hope to see you Monday.

Grace,
Brian

YFG

Brian Aaby Leave a comment

Acts 2:42-47 has always been a favorite Scripture of mine, however, over the last few weeks and months I have been made keenly aware of what was exemplified in this passage.  In essence, this passage speaks of the first acts of the early church.  The church sought the Word together, prayed with one another, broke bread and had fellowship… then they dispersed and continued the work of the church–only to come back together again.

Youthmark is not a church, however, Youthmark will not survive if it is not supported by the church.  Of course, the majority of my “paychecks” will come from churches (those purchasing our books, participating in our events, etc.), but what about the other support needed?  The spiritual support and encouragement?  The prayer support?  And perhaps even the physical support?

I would like that support to come from you! On Monday, August 18 (one week from today), Andy and Terri Heider will host the first (of what I hope will be a quarterly) Youthmark Fellowship Gathering.  At this gathering I hope to briefly share with you the hopes and dreams we have for Youthmark and the prayer we will need to see these things come to fruition.  I would be honored if you could be in attendance.

The Heiders are hosting a dessert time at 7:00 p.m.; I will share for a few minutes around 7:30 or 7:45 and then we will spend some time in prayer together.  This isn’t a service, really it’s an open house and time for fellowship where we can “be the church.”  I greatly appreciate your love and support and can’t wait to share the vision with you.  Your prayer support is essential.

If you are interested in coming and don’t know the Heiders and/or need an address, please email me at brian@youthmark.com.  Otherwise, just show up at 7:00 (they live just off Hwy 518 as you approach Burien).

Grace,
Brian

Youthmark and Brandon

Brian Aaby 2 Comments

Keeping my streak alive of blogging about multiple subjects, I’ll post two non similar topics this time…

Youthmark Fellowship Gathering:  Several months ago a friend/mentor of mine challenged me along the lines of “support.”  Since we are going to do our best at making Youthmark a for-profit organization (versus a support based ministry) my friend suggested we still “raise support.”  His challenge–get a consistent prayer base around you.  So, here is where things stand:  I am a little over a month into Youthmark being my full-time endeavor and I feel I am now at a place where I have some legitimate direction and specific prayer requests for my friends/supporters.  It is nice to have an average readership of 65 or so each day (at least that’s what the wordpress stats indicate).  So, hopefully I can parlay some of this readership into solid prayer-ship.

On Monday, August 18, we will be having our first fellowship/prayer gathering.  At this gathering I will have the opportunity to briefly share where the company is headed and how you can pray.  I hope you will be able to come.  I will talk to hosts, Andy and Terri Heider, over the weekend and will give you the full details by Monday (it will be an evening gathering, just don’t know if we’re doing food or anything yet).  Andy and Terri live just off 518 near the airport, so it is very convenient in terms of driving.

Back to the Lifeboat

Brandon Yorker, aka, the tall one, has been a part of the lifeboat all four years as well.  He calls Calvary Chapel South his home church (like Tim), but has been a small part of the BPPC youth group as too (occasionally doing stuff with Harbor/retreats).  One of the traditions in our Lifeboat was to rotate houses about every 5 weeks.  The Yorker house was the last house of the rotation each year.  Their back yard holds a hot tub, trampoline and a fire pit.  It also was a great battlefield for the annual waterballoon/squirt gun battle.  Brandon takes his faith seriously and is a solid (not to mention tall) kid.  He and his family were a blessing to our lifeboat.  Brandon is, by far, the king of useless knowledge in our group.  You name the movie or potential sequel to a movie and he will tell you the most useless knowledge about it.  Did you know their was a, “Back to the Future” cartoon in the 80’s?  Yeah, neither did I, but how did he? Brandon is working toward his AA at Highline CC and should be done by March.

My Bold Prediction for Brandon: He is not a sports fan at all, however, he has some untapped athletic talent he has yet to discover.  While in college will be recruited to play on the intramural Ultimate Frisbee team.  He will play so well that the entire student body will come out to watch this athletic phenomenon.  Brandon will gain fame, and the fortune will follow soon; you see, the Circus happens to be in town at the same time as his championship Ultimate Game.  The circus master attends and recruits Brandon to join as the Giraffe Frisbee trainer–a new act in which the Giraffes play frisbee catch with each other.  Brandon’s height will bless him big time!  And to think, he was in my lifeboat.

Tim (background) at 6'6" is dwarfed by the much taller Brandon Yorker!

Alex (background) at 6'7" is dwarfed by the much taller Brandon Yorker!

Back to the pool!

Grace,
Brian

Balancing Act

Brian Aaby 1 Comment

One of my favorite park activities growing up was the teeter totter… I had friends that were bigger than me, and could keep me in the “up” position because of their weight.  And I had a brother who was smaller than me who I could cause to crash by jumping off (yes, I could be can be a punk at times).  The art of the teeter-totter is when you found the person who weighed the same and you could maintain that perfect balance.

It’s been awhile since I have written specifically about Youthmark.  I want to keep my blog balanced between family, spirituality, Youthmark and perhaps a little humor from time to time.  To be honest, I think my family, my faith and Youthmark will actually provide most of the humor! 

This last week was a mix of joy and struggle.  There were times I felt balanced, times I know I let the totter crash and other times I felt I was being lifted high (supported, yet vulnerable).  I was under the self-imposed gun of getting the things done for Youthmark that needed to get done before my Lifeboat trip; yet my week was also consumed with getting ready to preach at Boulevard Park (which was a lot of fun to do this morning, great to see so many loving faces).  I am beginning to understand that balance of the time it will take for certain aspects of my job.  However, I have little-clue right now what it is going to take to keep the balance of perspective and control.

I want to be a person who is seeking help where help is needed; but I also don’t want to be ruled by the help or opinion of others.  Balance is needed.

I am working on an informational brochure, so-to-speak, for the mission side of Youthmark.  To begin I have been writing copy (the written material) for the piece.  On top of that I am gathering ideas for the icons, logos, pictures, etc. As the project comes to the point where it is time to put ideas to action (as in produce the brochure) I find myself in need of help in some areas, but wanting/needing to keep things the way I originally intended as well.  How much control am I willing to yield?

I am young in the business side of things.  I am not skilled in many areas of the “industry” but I also want things done a certain way–with my heart, my passion and my vision.  The contrast is between being confident/driven and arrogant/domineering.  I want the first, and I abhor the second.  I want to be a learner who applies not a self-driven stubborn man who thinks he can do it on his own.

I am thankful for those the Lord has provided me as “help.”  Your influence, your expertise and your experience is invaluable to me.  I can’t wait to have your marks on these Youthmark projects.

However, I am also driven by my vision for things being done a certain way.  I pray I may find the balance. May I be a person who listens to critique, advice and encouragement.  And may I be a person who can apply those if applicable or graciously not apply those same critiques or advice if it stands in contrast to what my intention for any particular project is calling me to do.  I had much smarter/experienced people helping me this week–yet some of their advice/opinions clashed with each other or my ideas.  Fortunately for me, these friends are all humble people who love and support the Aabys and Youthmark.  I thank God for their help and encouragement; I am learning much from them.

Ahh, balance.  May I find that sweet spot in the middle.  May I trust all those that are on the other end of the totter.  May they trust me as well.  

I have to remember, as a child I liked the teeter totter.  Perhaps I can learn to like this adult teeter totter as well?

Grace,
Brian

The Office

Brian Aaby 1 Comment

I’m excited to go to “the office” each day.  Part of the reason I love my office has to do with me liking change. In my position my office can change each day.  One day it might be in Renton, the next in Kent and the following in Burien.  Today it is in Puyallup (South Hill to be exact).  

I came to South Hill (Cutters Point Coffee) to meet with Mike England.  He is the Youth Pastor at Graham Evangelical Covenant Church.  Mike was at Taproot Church in Normandy Park for the last couple years but has now moved to Graham and is doing a partnership with Youth For Christ.  He is most likely going to be a part of Youthmark’s Mission initiative this next summer.  We connected on this and a few other ministry happenings.  Quite the blessing to be partnered in ministry, even though the miles separate us.

I am now awaiting the arrival of Brad Hostak.  I have had the privilege of ministering with Brad over the last few years.  He interned for me, then moved to Oregon to intern for one of my good friends, Wes.  Brad has now been the Youth Pastor at a River Ridge Covenant Church in Lacey for about two years.  Brad was one of my original “clients” for Youthmark (the coaching/consulting side).  The last year has been a blast being able to help Brad in specific areas.  We’re going to connect one last time on the official side of coaching and help him prepare for the upcoming ministry year.

I am thankful for the mobility of my new job.  Who knows where tomorrow will take me.  Cutters Point has treated me well today, will it be Starbucks, Tully’s, Olympic or something else tomorrow?  We’ll see!

Brad has arrived, so gotta get back to this office work!

Grace,
Brian

 

Just caught Brad off guard!

Just caught Brad off guard!

Benefits of Networking

Brian Aaby 1 Comment

In May of 1995 I was a brand new Youth Pastor in Roseburg, Oregon when I received a phone call from the local Youth For Christ guy inviting me to Mom’s Cafe.  This is where the local Youth Pastor network met once a month for breakfast.  I felt a little bit like the new kid at the new school when I walked into the cafe and heard the laughter of men who were obviously familiar with one another.  I was welcomed well.  They each took the time to introduce themselves and I was given a few minutes to tell my story as well.

After the highly greasy, yet very good, breakfast, Kirk Petersen approached me with his business card in hand and said, call me, I’ll treat you to lunch.  Having been a starving student just 2 weeks prior, I took him up on his offer (I think I waited a full day before calling him, didn’t want to be too forward).  Kirk (and subsequently the entire YP network) welcomed me to Roseburg and the ministry in a very genuine way.

To this day, Kirk is a great friend.  He is now in Portland and still in ministry (though not youth).  He and the other guys in Roseburg helped set a standard of excellence I strive for in networking… that is, to be Biblical. In Acts 2 we read about the believers being devoted to each other, the Apostles teaching, to breaking of bread and to prayer.  Obviously we are supposed to experience this within the context of our local body.  But the refuge aspect of having this outside of your body was very needed for me in Youth Ministry.  

For the last four plus years I have been networked locally with the guys in West Seattle/Burien/Des Moines.  In fact, I am at Olympic Coffee right now, where we have met for the last couple years.  It has been my prayer that I could be a “Kirk Petersen” to the guys in my local network.  I hope the new guys feel welcome and the old guys continue to be devoted to one another, prayer and to the breaking of bread.  We too, have that familiar laugh of men (and ladies) that know each other.   We enjoy being a refuge for one another and we occasionally partner together by doing events for the greater local body!  

It is my hope to be even more involved with networking through Youthmark.  I am a member of the National Network of Youth Ministry, and one things I’d like to see happen the the greater south-end is to see some stronger Youth Ministry networking take place.  Pray that I can help get those started/strengthened.

Whether you’re involved in youth ministry or not, I hope you have a network of people you can do life with. One in which you can spur each other in the Word, spend time in prayer, laugh together (and probably cry too) and, of course, break bread!

Though only one other guy showed up this morning (way to go Schlaud), we will still “break bread” together… off to our favorite local eatery, La Costa! One of the greatest benefits of networking!

Grace,

Brian