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Feeling Friendly: Design

Brian Aaby 1 Comment

You have to know the backstory on this “Feeling Friendly.”

MTV’s The Real World pretty much started it all; reality TV. Several years later it really hit the mainstream with the breakout show, Survivor. I immediately became (and two this day am) a big fan. It was nearly 11 years ago and I credit the show for one of my favorite Youth Ministry memories as well.

The New Year’s Overnighter and the yearly outreach fall retreat, entitled “The Great Escape,” were the two events in which we’d pull out all the stops programatically. Because the year 2000 was an election year, Jimmy (our Jr. High Pastor) and I decided in the spring the theme “Decision 2000” would be a hoot to build a program around for our fall retreat some 6 months later. Think: campaigns, scandal, delegates, etc. Now fast forward a couple months after we had already announced and promoted the theme, Jimmy and I sat down for our customary brainstorming lunch (nothing like some Azteca spices to get the juices flowing). Well, no “election” juices were flowing. After an hour or so it came to us… the ol’ switcheroo! We spent the greater part of two months pulling off a secret thematic switch.  All of our advertisements, decorations, registration forms and announcements continued to push our “Decision 2000” theme.  But everything behind the scenes was spent discretely creating the most creative program I had been a part of.  There were literally four of five of us that knew about this (not a single student or volunteer leader).

Because the Great Escape had such a great reputation, students, though skeptical of the theme, invited their friends to “Decision 2000.”  We packed the camp out with a record 190 students and nearly 30 adult-leaders.  The anticipation was electric.  Then it started.  The camp chapel decorated in red-white and blue.  The lectern sitting up front as if a political speech was to begin; the Decision 2000 video started. It was filled with slow patriotic music, black and white pictures and a voice-over filled with boring facts about the U.S. Governmental history.  Students literally started fidgeting; our core students began questioning in their minds why they brought their non-believing, church-skeptical friends.  Jimmy and I were receiving the glares; then about two minutes in to the bore-fest the video went static; an announcement came across the screen, “Sorry for the interruption, Decision 2000 has been Cancelled, to bring you the next episode of…”

The Survivor theme song came on with a wonderfully spliced video with our unknowing leaders highlighted in the video (our staff retreat just two weeks prior had initiative games in which we used bandanas; the leaders had no idea we were capturing snap shots and videos to use for this Survivor video).  While students paid close attention to the projection the entire Chapel was transformed in one-minute (we had let our work-crew know thirty minutes prior).  The “election” stage scene became the set for a Survivor Tribal Council.

The weekend was a HUGE success as 16 leaders (supported by their teams of about 11 others) competed for the crown. The advertisements, graphics and video really set the stage and enabled us to pull of the big surprise!  We were not voted off the island!

This memory has made me “Feel Friendly”

Feeling Friendly is a weekend series I started a few weeks ago. Because weekend readership fluctuates so much I thought it’d be fun to get something consistent going on the weekends. It is essentially a plug, advertisement or “Brian approved” product or service! I know that word-of-mouth marketing is the best form of marketing out there; so this is my word to you about some of the folk I have used, will use or really like! To see past “Feeling Friendly” posts, click here.

Jimmy and I were the ones who master-minded the theme, but there was NO WAY we could have pulled off this heist without Peter Beringer.  Peter was our intern at the time.  Peter masterfully did the graphic work and produced all of the videos.  It was seamless!

Since 2000, Peter went on to be a Youth Pastor for a number of years while still dabbling with design work, web site design, photography and video.  A few years ago he launched PeterBDesigns.

I am privileged to have Peter and his family as close friends, but I’m also blessed to have Peter as one of my graphic design guys (I’m also honored to have the graphic design guy from our Publishers at Spire!).

Peter works so well with his clients.  He is gracious in both pricing and time.  I’d HIGHLY suggest you contact Peter if you deal with any of the following (or anything sort of related):

  • Cover/Poster Design
  • Logos/Icons, etc.
  • T-shirt (or other apparel) graphics
  • Advertisement Graphic Design and Layout
  • Business Cards (or all things letterhead/stationary, etc.)
  • Photography

He may even be open to some simple video work as well (ask him, I didn’t seek his permission to say that!  ha!)

Pretty much anything to do with graphic design, vector files, photoshop, etc. he would love to help you with.

Here is a link to some of Peter’s portfolio of work, a number of these items he did for me/youthmark.

In addition, I have added a couple designs you may recognize recently from Youthmark.

Contact Peter and he’ll hook you up with a quote!  Just mention me, because then his quote will be better (again, didn’t ask him for permission to say that!).

Grace,
Brian

Peter developed this logo for Youthmark

and this one for our spring retreat in 2010

You Know What I’m Thinking?

Brian Aaby 1 Comment

Jerry Seinfeld had a great line in one of his stand-up acts, he was talking about the difference between men and women and our thought processes.  It was something like:

“Women, you want to know what men are thinking?” (sounds of applause from women).

“Nothing!” Seinfeld answers his own question, “we’re just walking around, looking around.”

Well, there are times when that is me; but lately, I’ve been thinking a lot! I’ll give you a few of those snapshot thoughts.

  • I’m thinking: We have a great family at Faith.  We’re truly blessed by our church.  Though I love the worship services, teaching and other programs, it’s not at all what I think of when I think of our church, I think of the people.
  • I am really thinking: I’ve allowed doubt and discouragement play too major of a role in my life the last couple weeks.  Spiritual attack is evident, but that does not mean the enemy can defeat me/us.  Praise God for His grace!
  • I’ve thought: I am not as disciplined as I’d like to be. My biggest “time” enemy is balancing out what needs to get done for me/Youthmark and meeting the needs/wants of others.  I am social and really enjoy relational ministry, but I can only be free to minister best when I’m done with what needs to be done.  I’d like to create better balance by being more disciplined with the number of meetings and even better, the length of time I spend in these settings.
  • Another thought: Of all the things I get to do with Youthmark, the Spring Retreat may be the thing that excites me the most. Creative thinking, time with teens and youth leaders and inspiring us all for Mission51 gets me pretty pumped. April and May are going to be awesome! (Here is a highlight video from last year if you want to see in two minutes what one of our retreats is like.)
  • I’m thinking: My wife is truly a gifted woman of God!  I really dig her. I love dating her and I really appreciate learning from her (she’s a wonderful Mommy and by her example spurs me to be a better Daddy).
  • Another something that I’ve been thinking: Spending money can be easy and not spending money can actually be fun.  Weird thing to think, but it took us not spending money for me to discover this. We’re excited about some of the cost-saving measures we’ve made and I’m actually pretty pumped about some of the time, family and financial ramifications these measures will have.  However one more thought about this; medical bills stink.
  • Something else I’ve thought: I still love Youth Ministry!  Seriously, it’s so much fun to teach college students each week.  I love some of the discussions we get into.  But I’m just as jazzed about my work with Young Life.  A couple weeks ago we had one of the most fun discussions with a group of 12-15 high school students, most of whom would admittedly say they aren’t Christians.  We gave the group the opportunity to bring up any subject they’d like to discuss.  “Creation,” “Porn,” “Relationships,” and several other questions about Christianity topped their list.  These students WANT to talk about spiritual matters and have a lot to say.  I wish Pastors and Youth Pastors had a little more time freed up to be with these wonderful wanderers!
  • I’m sitting here with this thought: I don’t think the Mariners will be very good this year. I’m hoping for .500, but honestly, I’m thinking 75 wins and 87 losses.
  • I’m also thinking about my 4Runner.  It needs work, but I can’t afford it and even worse, don’t know how (or have the confidence to do it myself); secretly I’m hoping that someone reads this blog and says, “Brian, I know how to replace brakes and do some other general maintenance things on cars, I’d be happy to do that for you.”  Like I said, I’m just secretly thinking that.

Sorry Mr. Seinfeld, this time you are wrong, I’m a man and I’m thinking a lot of stuff.

Grace,
Brian

Here, There and Social Justice

Brian Aaby Leave a comment

I was on a conference call yesterday with a couple prominent leaders of two different humanitarian aid organizations. These men are solid believers who want to see not just physical needs met, but spiritual needs met as well. “Social Justice” has been a buzz word the last few years; and Humanitarian Aid organizations are a part of the buzz.  Some have even become polarizing among churches and individual Christistians because of the organizations practice of providing aid  (food, water, shelter, medical, etc.) or aid-plus (the Gospel, education, etc.).  We’ll return to this phone call in just a bit…

About a week ago I posted the first in a series of posts that touch on a similar theme.  Through these posts I am basically asking the question about how a youth leader, church or leadership team should go about choosing a mission trip. The first was entitled, “Their Needs vs. Our Wants.” It built a case that we should be more mindful of the “need” of a receiving area then just meeting the “wants” you have as a group.  The second was entitled “Us/Them.” This post essentially gave a little balance to the first by making the point that you can both meet needs presented to you and see discipleship/growth take place in the lives in your group.  I believe this is done through training and has little to do with your destination.

Today, we bring in this “Social Justice” aspect.  We’re just a blink of an eye away from another natural disaster, whether something happens today, next week or not for a few months, something will happen on this planet that will tug on our heart-strings.  It may not even be a natural disaster like an earthquake, hurricane or tsunami; it may be a Depravity Disaster you become aware of (sex-slavery, violence and crime-rings, neglect of children in the inner-city or rural setting, etc.).  Regardless, our hearts will break and we’ll feel a natural, Spirit-born desire to do something about it.  And we should!  Sometimes the call is for financial support; other times we’re called to action… called to go.

Even as I write this blog a “tweet” just appeared in my TweetDeck from a nationally known Pastor “find a need and meet it.”

Let me get back to that phone call with the two humanitarian aid organizations (both have national and international influence).  We (Youthmark) are specifically looking at a specific area of need,  an area I have been aware of for about the last six months and consistently been thinking about how we could be of help.  I discovered this need after the publishing deadline for our mission brochure, but am certainly adding it to the places we want to serve.  Listen to what was said of this destination during this phone call:

  • “It’s not uncommon to see a 12 year old girl with all of her adult teeth already rotted out.”
  • “Just last week one of the 14 year olds we work with told us she is pregnant, I wish this wasn’t just accepted as ‘normal’ here.”
  • “We have women who walk to the store with completely unkempt hair, because their moms never ran a brush through their hair, they don’t know any different.”

When I asked about possibly bringing in a group or two they said:

  • “We’d want you to work with the children and youth the most; we’d have to put up flyers weeks in advance, you’d have to go door to door, because nobody has Internet… but you’d get a ton of youth to show up, they have nothing going on.”
  • “Some of these kids have NEVER been outside of this community.”
  • “You’d be such a blessing to this community, thanks for even considering this.”

To me it almost sounds like an underdeveloped, typically labeled “Third World” country.  But it’s not.  It’s a rural suburb (if there is such a thing) outside a major US city in the sun-drenched south… very close to what others have called “The Happiest Place on Earth.”

Social Justice causes will always exist; but I’d like to see a team raised up to meet both the physical needs in this community (stuff as simple as painting, assembling park equipment, repairing hurricane damaged trailers, etc.) but then extend that aid by providing education, hope and have all of it done with the Gospel in mind!

This year’s Youthmark training is entitled Anywhere for a reason, I truly believe God is calling us to all places.  No matter where we are we’re to be a missionary showing grace and compassion and always being ready to share why!  It’s because we are recipients of that very same grace, compassion and the Gospel!

I’d love for you to spread the word about these opportunities and the others.  Ultimately we want participants trained to be missionaries ANYWHERE!  It’s all about Mission51, but let’s do the “other one” (the one week mission) really well too.  Perhaps your “other one” this year would be to Florida? That would be pretty Socially Just of you! Contact us at 800.455.1450 and find out the details.

Grace,
Brian

SMS: Confessions Of A Youth Pastor

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I received an email some time ago that I thought was worthy of posting to give the readers of brianaaby.com a glimpse into the heart and mind of other Youth Pastors.  I sought permission from this Youth Pastor and let him know how I thought his or her words accurately portrayed the mindset of many of us (even if just for a season). This YP was unable to attend a network lunch but wanted to share with the rest of the group his response the discussion topic I had thrown out for that month: In your ministry, where is the sometimes fine-line between motivation and manipulation?  Where is the Spirit-leading vs. where are you trying to make something happen?

If nothing else, I hope this Student Ministry Stuff (SMS) blog-post will speak to the value of participating in a local network where refuge, encouragement and unity in Christ are key elements!

I’ve changed his or her name to “Jordan” just to be silly and gender-neutral!

Over the last few months, God has been working in my heart like never before. I must admit, as a youth pastor, my selfish motives get in the way many times. “How I would love to see our youth group grow to 500 teens!” Don’t get me wrong – those 500 kids represent 500 souls, but in my selfish mind – those 500 kids would be the fruit of MY success story.

Youth ministry had become more of a functional program (or dys-functional at best) with all of the “bells and whistles” (new TV, cool stage lights, polished band) with the hopes that teens would get excited and start inviting their friends. And our group did grow a bit. Last year, there was some awesome momentum built and we saw some teens receive Jesus which really ignited a spark in our group.

But, something BIG was missing in the ministry. It seemed like at the end of the day (or night), it was status quo for me.

The ultimate problem was – ME. I realized that I was leading the ministry – well, in the power of JORDAN and not God. A MAN-MADE ministry. Sure I would do things like opening up my time studying for a message by praying, “Lord bless this message, amen.” When it came to picking worship songs, they weren’t chosen by prayer, but by what made me sound good. In other words, I really wasn’t coming to God and asking for His leading, I was more or less “winging it” myself.

I had to take a step back and do a spiritual inventory. Here’s what I’ve learned:

God is faithful – He doesn’t need ME to lead the teens. But He’s called me into this ministry and wants to use me. And, He wants ME to get off my duff and get serious for Him, which takes me to 3 months ago…

Up at the crack of dawn, 10 am….. JUST KIDDING! 5:30am which is HUGE for me! – seeking the Lord through prayer, spending time in His Word. Spending time (consistently) with Jesus! Not because “I have to.” But because, I love Jesus and if I’m to lead my family, if I’m to lead others, I need to lead by example.

What I truly believe is going to MOTIVATE the teens (that we all have the honor of leading) isn’t going to be a polished sermon or rockin’ youth band. It’s not going to be in our brand new 60’ plasma (keep your hands off guys!). What is going to motivate the teens is them seeing my love for Jesus and my love for them. I cannot take the teens where I haven’t been. Seek FIRST the Kingdom of God…. He’ll take care of the rest! This isn’t my ministry…. These aren’t my teens…. They belong to Jesus.

Brian, I am really enjoying the youth pastor luncheons each month! I love the group of guys that make up this family! Thank you for putting this group together…

I love you all!

Jordan

Taking an honest look in the mirror is needed (James 1); I appreciate “Jordan’s” confession and path described.  There isn’t a magic-pill or rabbits foot to rub, it truly is about intimacy with Christ.  As you grow in your intimacy with Jesus and rely on the Spirit you can’t help but fall deeper in love with the people the Lord will place in your path.

Grace,
Brian

Us/Them

Brian Aaby 2 Comments

Several days ago I introduced the topic of Us/Them in my post “Their Needs vs. Our Wants.”  In it I essentially ask the question of youth leaders and churches: should we look to do mission trips to areas that best serve our purposes and meet what we want next for our group, or should we plan a trip by responding to needs that have been presented?

It’s something that I’ve certainly been wrestling with at Youthmark and it has influenced the way we market our Youthmark Mission Ventures to churches here in the states.  On one hand I fully recognize that a Youth Pastor really should be assessing his/her youth ministry and considering what it will take to get them moving forward. The “cool” factor of going to a “destination” may get more participants involved (and on that path).  This was certainly a major consideration I had when I was a Youth Pastor.

In 1998 I pitched a mission trip concept to our church elders.  Knowing that my students were not confident (nor active) in sharing their faith, the concept of taking a “mission trip” seemed a little silly.  I really wanted my students to be missionaries at home before we took them “over there” to do missions.  So, my choices were: (A) do a “service” trip; one that emphasized working with our hands or (B) properly prepare and train our students to be missionaries wherever God may have us go.  Because I decided on the latter and then designed a discipleship program to train and equip the students I knew that our “destination” should be one that had the “cool” factor as well.  I simply wanted as many students trained and equipped for mission at home and I’d use the mission trip as the motivating factor!  IT WORKED!

We ended up taking five teams of with about 12 people each to five rural communities.  In most of these communities we did some sort of children’s ministry by day (VBS), service projects in the afternoon and then Youth Outreach at the local ball field/park at night.  Youth came out of the woodwork in these rural communities!  Our students became bold in their sharing, were blessed by meeting practical physical needs and gained great experience by serving the children as well.  Because we had 5 teams, the trip itself served as a great training ground for my volunteers as well; because I could only be in one place I learned to trust my leadership with the other four towns served.

My motivation was certainly what I wanted for our group! I wanted to see them grown in their “at home” witness by training them for an “over there” trip.  But we did it with wisdom.  There was no language barrier, there weren’t the huge financial burdens  yet there was still the “destination” motivations.  Our students returned with a passion for their lost friends at home.  Students began boldly proclaiming Christ… at home!

This summer Youthmark has some trips to similar “destination” places.  Let me tell you about “Their Needs.”

Alaska: We’ve now served in 7 different locations in Alaska.  Each has unique needs.  Let me relay some “facts” from last year about one of these places:

  • Before the Trip: The Pastor was hesitant about a team coming, he said, “we have 3-4 youth we ever see, so don’t come with expectations that a lot of teens will be reached.”
  • After the Trip: The Pastor was praising God for the work done through our Youthmark team. “There was one night we had about 50 people at the beach Brian, several students trusted in Christ, it was nothing short of a miracle!”

Hawaii: The most common statement I hear when I announce we have “Hawaii” as a mission location is, “Oooh, I bet that’s tough (sarcasm)? Sign me up, I’ll do a mission to Hawaii!”  Well, the bottom line, we’ve had ONE team “sign up” and go to Hawaii so far.  Unfortunately, church leadership teams, parents and others don’t see Hawaii as anything other than a “vacation” destination.

Let me tell you about Anahola.  Anahola is where we served two years ago.  1200 people call this village home (most are native Hawaiians).  In the 10 months before our team arrived the community experienced three teen suicides.  It has been the toughest place I have ever been to in terms of a mission trip.  There are true NEEDS in this place, the biggest need is the Gospel to be presented so that the people can know the grace of God is present!  They need hope!

In addition to the great ministry, our teams got to experience some awesome “stuff” in both states (typically with the teens we ministered with/to). Meeting the needs of a community and the wants for your group is entirely possible.  Maybe you know of a group still considering what to do this summer?  It may not be Alaska or Hawaii they are looking for; perhaps a different state so they can save on flights; or perhaps Canada, Mexico or Costa Rica? Additionally, you may know of teams simply looking to enhance their training for a mission. Youthmark would love to help equip them for Mission51– not just the mission, but the 51 weeks beyond the mission as well. Please have them contact us at 800.455.1450 and we can talk specifics (or pass on the brochure here)!

Consider passing this post on to Youth Leaders, Pastors and churches you think of that could/should consider partnering with Youthmark!

Grace,
Brian

Feeling Friendly: YTN

Brian Aaby 1 Comment

Most weekends I will be posting a series entitled “Feeling Friendly.” In essence, its a heads-up about a great ministry opportunity or extension of ministry that you, the reader, should know about.  Last week I highlighted a sound and tech offer from my friends at Impulse Audio.

Let me start today with a poll question…

I assume you’d be able to give a few reasons for your answer.  The USA Today gave their reasons in this article.

Regardless of a hard and fast answer, the fact remains, all of the teen years have varying degrees of challenges that need to be addressed, many which could lead to another statistic we should all be concerned with. I’ve heard varying statistics for the last five years, but the number that seems to be the most consistent is that approximately seven out of every 10 students will leave the church post high school.

If you are in your latter years of high school, if you are an educator involved with teens, a youth leader or a parent of teens (or soon to be teens) I would highly recommend you consider taking part in one, if not both, of the opportunities coming up through Youth Transition Network (YTN).  I’ve met and been around Jeff Schadt a few times (founder of YTN).  His ministry is very unique and a tough one to market, simply because his target audience is this teen-in-transition and the parents of these teens who already have so much on their plates.

After you read about this, I’d suggest you pass this blog post (or the links) to other teens, educators and parents of teens.  The future is now and our teens can/should be our best missionaries and hope for change on our campuses, at our clubs, in our communities and at our churches!  Youthmark is doing our best to equip students for this mission field, but we need the word to spread and I believe the ministries of YTN will help as well.  Here are the two VERY AFFORDABLE opportunities:

  • Shepherding Your Teen: This conference is specifically designed for parents of 8 – 18 year olds.  It examines the transition we need to make as parents to set our kids up to flourish on their own. According to attendees Shepherding Your Teen is very different then any parenting conference or book they have encountered previously.  For those in the Seattle area, the live conference is taking place February 25-26; for those outside the area, a live webcast is being offered, pass this on to your pastors, leadership and others and get it set up for your area.  Check out the details here.
  • Succeed 2011: The event is based upon research conducted with over 2,000 teens and 400 video taped interviews with students who made the transition, some well and some with disastrous consequences. This research was combined with research from UCLA, Ohio State, and Fuller Seminary to build an event designed to penetrate the often distant hearts of young people who cannot wait for their freedom. Geared for parents and juniors and seniors in high school, this conference is being held on March 19 in Bellevue, WA, but their site has free resources and a webinar as well.

Spread the word about YTN and these two events.  I’d love to see a viral word-of-mouth campaign begin and ultimately see students not just equipped to make better choices, but live fully for Him in these so-called “tough” years!

Grace,

Brian

Will you consider posting a link to this blog on your Facebook, on Twitter or even through email to parents of teens?  I firmly believe that we will see better equipped teens become true missionaries for Christ on our campuses!

One Movie I’d Pay To See!

Brian Aaby 2 Comments

I can remember when a matinee movie cost $1.50.  Yep, I’m that old.

Now that EVERY MOVIE is produced in 3D, a person could easily pay $20 for an evening show and $12 for a matinee.  A non- 3D (yes they do exist), will cost $10-$15! I am stubborn enough to say that I just won’t do it.

Well, that is, until I saw this preview.  Now I am prepared to pay $20, maybe even $25!

You in?

Grace,
Brian

 

Their Needs vs. Our Wants

Brian Aaby 2 Comments

Over the next few  days I am going to address an issue weighing heavy on my heart.

“Their Needs vs. Our Wants?”

I’ve been leading Youthmark for nearly three years now; one part of Youthmark is us trying to be a responsible business, it needs to be. On the other hand it is ministry; it needs to be.  So, each year, as we set out to market our curriculum, our training and our trips we’re trying to earn the business and ministry trust of churches and youth leaders.  We want to meet felt needs and provide the best stuff to help students be trained for what we call Mission51– training for the 51 weeks beyond the mission trip.

The hardest part of my job is the line between marketing to a group who may sign-up for a trip vs. getting teams to join us to meet the needs of the communities we’re trying to serve.  In our western culture we’re so accustomed to “choice” that we have bargaining power; this mindset certainly exists in the church as well. Youth Pastors are looking to to meet the desires of many people (board, pastor, parents, students and self).  As a Youth Pastor/Team decide on a mission they often consider:

  • Cost: what’s included in the mission package cost?  Food?  Lodging?  Transportation? Adventure stuff? T-shirt?
  • Location: is it an attractive enough place that can get people excited to sign up?
  • Leadership: is there an organizational staff member there leading the group so I’m freed up to be relational with my students?
  • Results: what is the end goal for my students? If I want them to be more thankful for what they have, we may want to go “third-world;” if I want them to work harder we should do a service trip; etc.

At Youthmark I understand that these questions are being asked; but I struggle that these questions are the questions that sometimes guide the decision making process.  What about the NEEDS that you can meet?  Has consumerism of Western Culture now shaped not just they way we serve but whom we’ll serve and where?  Is it just about the bang for the buck and the feeling produced?

The consumer thinking has certainly influenced the way that Youthmark markets, for instance: we want attractive literature – I would argue we have the best looking brochure.  We want people to see the value in a Youthmark Mission Venture (YMV) – No doubt I’ll put our value up against any other organization and say that we have the best value.  We have distinctly valued the Youth Pastor being the leader on trips, therefore we front-load all the leadership we provide through the Leader’s Guide, Spring Retreat and shepherding the relationship with the host community so that a college-age staff is not needed.  If we’re looking at the consumer side of things, I really feel like what Youthmark offers is the best.  BUT I don’t want to just be about consumer.  I hope you’re not just about being a consumer… but balance can be had.  Real needs can be met, real training should be done and a good time will still be had by all!

With all that said, I think a few of my next posts will be along the lines of Needs vs. Wants.  I’ll start with snapshot of a need!

An email I received from a Pastor in North-Central California:

“Dear Brian,

… as I told you before, we have many teens in the area, but few who would ever venture into our church; they just don’t see church as relevant.  My heart aches for these students, they need the Gospel!  My congregation is older, but they’re ready.  They know their failures, they know the failures of their sons and daughter, heck, it’s their grandkids we want to reach…  Brian, they’re here, they just don’t know we’re here!“

This letter is from California, but it could be from Anytown, USA!

The corner of main and 1st in any number of USA small towns!

Mission is needed overseas because the World does not know Jesus.

Mission is needed across the street because our neighbors don’t know Jesus.

However, we (the collective American church) typically see mission as “over there.” We lack confidence in sharing our faith; we fear rejection, we feel ill-equipped with the right things to say and more often that not, we don’t see our leaders, parents and pastors modeling it.

I’d love for you and your group to consider meeting the needs of the community I mentioned above.  Understand it may not be that specific community, but I can give you a myriad of towns in CA, ID, NV, AK, CO, MT, WA, OR, HI, TX, LA, etc. who all could write the same thing.

In these small towns we equip you and your team to “do life” in that community (1 Thess. 1-2) so that concepts really are 100% transferrable  back home.  An average day in Ruralt0wn USA consists of service projects (meeting practical needs), often has some sort of children’s ministry (Sports Camp/VBS, etc) and always includes youth outreach at the local ball fields.  Teens from the community show up simply because “you’re in town.”  Your teens, by the Spirit, grow in courage and experience in sharing their faith.  This transfers back home while meeting the physical, emotional and spiritual needs in these communities!

If you know of a church, a youth group or a youth pastor seeking to meet a need, I’d love for you to pass on our name; have them check out this preview and have them get in touch with me!

Grace,
Brian

SMS: Know Your Margins (Part 3)

Brian Aaby Leave a comment

Do you remember the Southwest Airlines “wanna get away” commercials?  Typically they portray a person making a crucial mistake or getting caught in a very embarrassing situation.  More-than-likely you’ve had wanna get away awkward moments in ministry; but I’d argue that you’ve had the wanna get away feeling more because of busyness than embarrassment.

“Too busy” may be your reality.  “Too busy” may be your defense mechanism. “Too busy” may be your perception but it may also be your downfall.

I started this series of posts about a month ago in an effort to help Youth Leaders discover whether or not they had margin in his or her life.  The first post dealt with their own “perception” of available time.  The second post begins to address the “reality” of margins.  I had every intention of posting the third past last week, but I was too busy. (I kid… sort of.)

With this post we’ll look at the ramifications of your results.

The key questions you were asked to answer at the end of each “test day” play a key role as we begin to unlock the ramifications…

  1. What task did I do today that I enjoyed the least?
  2. What, if anything, could I consider “wasted time?” Furthermore, how much time was wasted?
  3. What key things did I not get to today that I wanted to get to?
  4. What part of my day brought me the most joy?

These four questions and the patterns you most likely see develop lead to our four ramifications.

Tasks You Like The Least Probably Don’t Align With Your Gifts: I’m not the person who should be asked to go on “mercy” visits to the hospital.  I care that grandma is dying, but I should not be the person asked to make multiple visits.  Your “margin” in ministry is most likely being shrunk because of tasks that are not consistent with your gifts.  Two practical ramifications pop up:

  • Don’t Voluntarily Take On Tasks Outside Your Gifts and Passions: This isn’t to say you shouldn’t stretch yourself or be anti-biblical; simply don’t create a pattern that leads to your frustrations increasing.  I see this pop up when Youth Pastors are trying to “get ahead” by performing more for his or her elders, pastors or parents.
  • Get Trained In an Area of Frustration: Some tasks may be taking up too much time simply because you don’t know how to work efficiently in that area of ministry.  Hate data entry?  You may find someone who loves entering addresses, but it also could be as simple as someone teaching you the database system.

Things That You Wasted Time Doing Are Probably Misguided Areas of Passion: While writing this blog post I certainly “wasted” much time in Instant Message conversations on both iChat and Facebook.  I value relationship above most any other thing. However, I have many tasks at hand that don’t get done because I lack discipline at times.  Two practical applications I’d suggest.

  • Be Accountable For Your Time. In my case, Facebook and I-M is enhancing relationship, but it distracted me from getting a task done.  Whether it’s Facebook, reading, daydreaming, networking or even “meetings” that you see becoming a distraction some accountability may be in order.  Let someone know your limits.  One thing that I have done in the past is literally ask the person I am “chatting” with to come back online in an hour and see how much we both have gotten done in that last hour.
  • Consider a Fast: Taking a break from something usually leads to a greater appreciation of the thing you’re taking a break from.  I know some folk who are taking too much time with each other; their network meetings were 90 minutes and have now become three hour times of fellowship, prayer and accountability.  There is nothing wrong with the content of the meeting, however, these same guys and gals have grown frustrated with their lack of productivity on these Tuesdays. To them, I’d suggest taking a month or two off and come back with a renewed vigor for the original 90 minute  agenda.  The same can be applied for me; a one week sabbatical from Facebook, blogging, etc. may be exactly what I need to create better margins.

Things Left Undone Are Typically Not Priorities: This one is a tough one for me to swallow.  I really love teaching God’s Word and my “gifts” inventories seem to indicate that “teaching” ranks high on the list.  However, I never seem to prioritize the time for study for talks.  I’m more of a last minute guy when it comes to studying for messages.  This really leads to a lack of margin in my life when leading into weeks I am speaking. For you it may not be teaching, rather a feigned attempt to say “campus ministry” “staff relations” or “communication” is a priority. This leads to a couple suggestions.

  • Compartmentalize: This word is typically a “bad word” in our spiritual life, but when it comes to getting things done I’d suggest that you literally set up two hour chunks that are set aside to do such things that you say are priorities but in reality are not.  For me this would have meant at three, maybe four different “compartmentalized” chunks for study during a week I was preaching in big-church.
  • Have Check-Points: Another area of accountability, but if you truly want to gain margin in your life, increasing accountability in areas of “tasks” typically will create better time-management.  You want that flyer out by Friday? Make sure someone knows by Monday that you’re working on it and ask them to ask you to have a rough draft to them by Wednesday so your “priority” can become exactly that!

Things That Bring Joy Are Probably An Indication of Your Next Position. This is not an invitation for that grass being greener on the other side of the fence.  Remember, that growing grass needs to be mowed as well.  We are all in process and the things that are bringing you the most joy are probably the things that you ought to be freed up to do more.  This may take place in the morphing of your current position, but it also may be an indication of the next position you’re called to. For instance, a friend of mine who is probably the most passionate guy I have ever seen for campus ministry has literally been hired part-time by the high school and was able to drop his church position (pay and hours) by 25%.  The church was able to hire someone with that 25% savings to serve in another position and the Youth Pastor is freed up more for the lost souls on that campus.  Though “Joy” is not the goal, joy may be the indication you’re serving in your sweet spot. Two things you can do as a result.

  • Find Out What Others Are Joyful Doing: We spend so much time focusing on what brings us joy that we’re often unaware of what brings joy to others on our team.  The tasks you hate doing may bring another person joy; the task you love doing may also be a task that brings someone else that same joy (are you willing to share)?  Perhaps you’ll find you’re freeing someone up for their next position?
  • Excel in Your Sweet Spot: Do what you’re doing all the more!  Instead of just trying to improve your area of weakness, excel in the area of strength.  If you get an A in art, B’s in everything else and a D in Math I would give you a suggestion:  shore up the D (make sure the weak spot doesn’t make you fail) but excel all the more in Art!  Too often in ministry we spend time dwelling on the D or trying to improve the B’s that we ignore the A.  Unused gifts and talents become dormant.

As you have looked at your perceived margins and then further examined the validity of those margins it is my hope now that you are able to apply some practical tools to advance the Lord’s call in your position.  May you be freed up to do what you’re most passionate about and most gifted to do.  Be faithful in your position, be honest with your authorities and be willing to make the changes in your disciplines to bring Him all the glory!

Grace,
Brian