Opening up to God

there is a lot on God tv at the moment with an outpouring of God's spirit taking place in Florida America. What do we do with our young people, I would suggest that we open them up to the possibilities of what is happening there, and see what they think of it themselves. We should be able to allow our young people to make up their own minds, and decide for themselves if they accept what is taking place there, and want to be involved in it themselves in any shape manner or form. After all would we want our young peole to miss out on something that God was doing? Why not video, or record some of it, and bring it to a meeting of your yong people and let them discuss what htye see and what they think god might be doing.

Breaking away from traditions

This is something that I have thought about for a while, what do we do when we are faced with tradition, but also look at how young people live today. I was speaking with someone last week, and they said, and admitted they were, and still are very much traditionalist in their approach, but wanted to see yuoung people touched by the love of God. So the challenge is for us, are we prepared to keep hold of the things in tradition that are helpful, let go of those things which are not, and in essence listen to God as to a way forward as aoposed to the tradition we are used too. I am sure that many founding fathers listeneed to God, and am sure there is some good stuff in traiditonal elements, but to listen, follow, and accknowledge God is always going tobring more fruit than following what always happens.

Prepare for the unexpectant

This is a bizzare thing maybe to put as a title, but the unexpected is always just around the corner when we allow God to do things in our lives. this week I have had two extra bits of support which I knew nothing about, and which will be an amazing assistance to our help. But preparing for these would not have been possible, accept for letting god in and giving him permission to do things. How often do we try and do things in our own strength, when really we need to leave things down to God and let him do what he wnats to do. Someone stated once, that allowing god to do things is like an explosion, then we come along and try and tidy up, but maybe we shold just leave the results and see what God is doing.

According to the Management

According to the manageent part of my blog, htis will be the 200th post I have put up on this blog. So as we have reached a kind of landmark, it is probably time to do something, a blittle different, and have some fun on the blog. Next time you have a team meeting, for your youthwork, why not just spend 2 minutes shouting out all the great things you enjoy about your work. It will be a great release and a bit of fun, as well as poitning out that youthwork is a blast as well as sometimes being a struggle . thanks to Ian for this idea.

Listening to them!!!!!

Here is a scarey thing, but something I know that some youth workers do in their work. Do we ever ask our young people what they think of our sessions, or are we to scared to think of what they migt say. Do we ask the following questions, what they remeber, who said what, what they have put into their lives, what they have enjoyed, and maybe even what they haven't enjoyed. It might be an interesting thing to do sometimes, that way we can see how much of an impact our work is having on the peoploe we are working with. Jesus could see the outworking of his work, becaus eof the poeple that followed him, came to find him, wanted to listen to him, wanted him to heal, so hwo do we see the outworking of our work.

giving them a chance

I have come across so many youth work situations where young people are not given a chance, not allowed to do things, just because they are young. I have even faced this myself, but in a different way, being blind. People are reluctant to beleive that I could do something, that I would be able to do it, just because I was blind. this has generally made me more determined to show people what I can and what I can't do. I am generally aware of what I can and what I can't do. So why should others make that judgment for me. And the same is so true for young people, why should we be the ones who decide what they are capable of and what they aren't. Jesus always said, that we should go to him like little children, so why don't we? And if he believed in young people so much, then we shoudl do the same.

Inspire or control

there are many types of people within leadership, but for today I just want to focus on two, and see if we recognise ourselves in either of these, and the consequences to them. 1: controller: this might be someone who has their hand on the situation, and knows exactly what is going on, and how things should be happening throughout the whole place. 2: The inspirer: this is someone who encourages people, believes in them, gives them freedom, let's them believe that they can do things. In our youthwork, I have seen both of these kinds of youthworkers, and even parents as well. those who shout, control, tell young people what should happen, tell them when they haven't achieved, and then there are those who inspire, bring out the positive, demonstrate encouragement, enable the young person to beleive that htey can do, they can achieve. So when we think of these two types of people, who are we more like, and more to the poitn, who was Jesus more like, and what does this say to us if we are meant to demonstrate something of God to those around us?

Infectious personality

I have noticed by watching various people, tha tthe people you hang aorund with actualy impact you as a person. If you hang around happy people, you become happy yourself. If you hang around misserable people you become miserable yourself. So what do you think it would have been like when people hung around Jesus? I reckon that it would have been exciting, chalenging, and amazing, so why don't we demonstrate some of that today. We all like people to be around us, but people aren't going to be around us if we are angry miserable people are they. People generally generate around happy, positive, forwrdt hinking people, not negative people. So let me encourage you, and challenge you in your youthwork, be positive, be happy, and be forward thinking as this will enoucrage people to be around yo, and the god that we serve.

Youthwork plans, and relevance

It is interesting that there are a load of different youthwork palns for youthworkers to use with their youth groups, but how many of them actually tackle the reality of real life. One part and it is only one part of the Bible that strikes me to be relevant is the 10 commandments, and yet how apropriate these 10 guidelines are for real life. Keep tuned to this blog for 10 sessions on young people and the 10 commandments, as it will hopefully tackle real issues, in real life that young people have to face.

Balanced approach

I have anoticed recently a change in approach for many people. In society we seem to be keen, very keen in fact to pick people up on their faults, point out where they o wrong, and the things which aren't quite right, and we do this even more with young people. But isn't it true that we all enjoy having people say nice things about us, we all seem to do better with some encouragement rather than constant criticism. We all need to be picked up on the things we do wrong, Jesus even did it with his disciples, but he was also loving, caring and showed it constantly to people. So why don't we as the church, change things in society, and yes, pick people up where necessary, in kindness and positivity, but let's also remember to be positive, and encourage others in life and the things they do, you never know you might just see greater results from a positive approach rather than a negative approach.

So how would you describe yourself?

Challening one this, as your face and attitude say a lot about how people would view you, and maybe how you would view yourself. so pick one of the options below from each choice, and see where it fits to you: 1: cheery or misserable 2: angry or relaxed 3: happy or sad 4: critical or positive 5: forward thinking or staing in a rutt 6: relaxed or tense 7: calm or aggressive I am sue there are other choices we could put in there, bt this is a good start, and it is interesting also to ask two other questions attached to this lst: 1: which one of each of these choices would you say Jesus was? 2: Whic option do you think on each list actually atracts people too?

Child protection

This is always a contentious issue, but one that has become more and more imortant over the years. It is so important for us as the church, or as people who work with young people, to demonstrate a level of care, of protection, and of supervision above all others. There are of course times where this might be questioned, ie, in the film dangerous minds,ayoung lads life was at stake so the teacher let im stay with her, this might bring questions, but on ur weekly work with young peole we should not compromise on our protection or care of our young people.

Scary parts of youthwork

I have a youthwork friend who had a dream about a session he was leading. The dream was remarkably close to the session he was likely to lead. the room was the same, the poeple were there, but there were a number of comments already up on the board, and they weren't possitive. He woke up at this point. Have you ever had one of those moments, and how do you treat it when it arrives. do you treat it as a dream, or as something prophetic, and allo it to bother you. Personally, for me, it would be a dream, bt it might awaken me to somethings that I might need to change before the activity started.

What would you suggest?

A good friend of mine is doing some youthwork training, and he asked people what they would say to people who were doing the training. What is there about youthwork you would say to people in training, that may be different to their training. You weren't allowed to e to cinical, so what would you say. If you were talking to anyone who was in training for being a youthworker, what would you say about youthwork?

allow ourselves to be challenged

In so many places I hear that adults are leading young people, advising them, telling them, directing them, but in how many places do we hear that adults are actually open to being challenged by young people? Recently having done an event with some young people, a teacher at the school suggested that she had been challenged, and reminded by the young people who wanted the event, that sometimes the Christian faith is about taking risks. She has made this public, and I think this is a brave, courageous, and very open statement. How refreshing it is to hear an adult to be challenged by some young people, and isn't this a challenge to us all, especially when Jesus suggests we should all come to him like little children.

Staying up to date!!!!!

I was recently looking at a youthwork website, and it hadn't been updated for a number of weeks, and a number of the things on the front page were also a number of weeks and months out of date. This made me think about how relevant we try to make our youthwork. It is important that we face issues, and tackle the situaitons that our young people face who we work with. And more than this, we also need to keep up to date with our relationship with God, and ensure we are stilling in the right place,and doing the things that he wants us to do. the idea of staying up to date is important as far as work is concerned, but also as far as our calling upon our life, and our relaitonship with god is concerned as well.

Service

I recently came across an exerpt from a book which looked at human ideals of empire, power and authority, and those of Jesus. the interesting part was that it suggested that those who would have power, IE, those who maybe would be leaders would be those who would, for example e cleaning the toilets. It made me rember that the last shall be first, and that god respects all, values all, and those who are classed as last in our society, are generally first in god's. I remember a teacher once saying to me about the kids in his school: that the kids were being conditioned to pass exams, go to uni, and get firsts, but his challenge was what about those who wouldn't make it, the milkman, the dustbin man, or the street cleaner, and then he said something that has stuck with me for over 10 years now, society needs these people, and wouldn't function properly without them, so why don't we value them as much as others. such a strong point, and such a challenging one, so let's remember how God views all the young people we work with, and remember that rathr than seeking the biggest, or in earthly terms the greatest work, let's just do what God called us to do, and be who he called us to be, even if that means we have to clean the toilets sometimes.

Power and authority

People sometimes look at youthworkers as those who have power and authroity over yong people, but how did Jesus look at power and authority? Basically he washed feet, told stories and played with kids, not the type of authority and power that people think of in todays society. So what does this say for us? Well sometimes the power we might seek is not the power that Jesus would want us to have, and maybe the influence we could have is found in different ways than we think. Let's addopt the Jesus approach to power and authority and we shall make a huge difference in eople's lives.

Making sure it works

I have recently just bought a new laptop, and realised a number of difficutlies tat come along with Windows vista. It doesn't offer the same easiness as outlook express, and the voice that I need for a screen reader also doesn't help. So do all new thing swork, and do they elp us out in life? Not at all. So the chllenge for us is to realise those things that work, those things that are good for us, and those things that are going to enable us to work better with the young people we work with, and enable us to fulfil the calling that God has placed upon us, rather than just aking everything on board because it is new and sounds great. As sometimes it can make life much harder than easier to take new things on board.

Ever on a break?

It is one of those amazing things with youth work that none of us ever seem to be properly on a break. Even when I had met some friends in town for a birthday party, and was walking back, some young people still stopped me to talk about what I had done in school. When we went shopping to get our daughters some shoes, the assistants in the shop had remembred me from school also, so never of duty. But the flip side is that it says something about our work, something about our relaitonship with young people when they actually come and chat to us, even when they don't have too. Is this the same with our relationship with God, we don't have too spend time with him, but hey he really does enjoy us coming and chatting to him, no matter what the issue. So let's enjoy the time the young people come and chat to us, but hey, always remember it does help to get away and have a break as well.

Body language and chat rooms

Sounds like a strange one yes? Well you migt well be quite right, but it is something tht has struck me over this last while, for youth workers and others that have any association with young people, that the more time people spend in chat rooms, and involve themselves in chat room discussions, the worse their ody language is. chat rooms enable you to have quick discussions, without the face to face interaction, and you only have to give that quick response, so demonstrating interest, or showing that your attention is not evided is impossible in a chat room, as noone knows if you are making a cup of tea, chatting to someone else, making the dinner, watching TV, or doing a whole hoast of other things. So my conclusion is that the more time that people spend in chat rooms and discuss things, the worse their body language is in reality, and the less they demonstrate interest in others in real face to face relationships. this is a challenge to all of us who work with other people.

Following up on responses

follow up to any event is one of those things which first of all is vital if the event is going to be a success, but it is also one of those things which can be remakrably difficult to get right in all circumstances. Is it better, to suggest something to young people and wait and see how many actually sign up before you make it happen, or is it better to put something on and see how many come along to it? My own persoanl opinion is to put something on and let young people know about it, rather than just waiting for them to sign up. If something is there, organised and ready, they are more likely to come along. But do you have any experience of this kind of thing, and what works best for you.

Remaining true

Ths is always a tough situation when things start to go really well. Recently I have been faced with a couple fo situations where things have gone extremely well, better than I could have expected, and have brought results and possibilities that I would never have dreamt of. It takes a lot of work to remain true to the call, to the work that I know I am meant to be involved with. I enjoy the geat things that God has done, and I look forward to the great things that God is going to do next, but will enjoy the great things he is doing at the moment. So let me encourage you, to stay true to the call of working with young people, and enjoy the great moments, give thanks to God for all the great things that take place, but don't become arrogant, or fall into the pit of pride, but smile, enjoy, and keep true, and always remember what God has called us too, and continue to look forward to the next thing as well as enjoying the moment.

When young people face trouble

This is possibly a contravertial posting this morning, but I have been watching the news and noted that they have arrested a young person on suspecion of murder last year. Of course if it is true then the young person needs to take whatever punishment society decides is appropriate, but do they also need help? Do they also need to know that God loves them, and there is a second chance, and even moe chances in life with God? I imagine a number of christians will walk away from the person who committed the crime, and walk to the people who are sufering from the crime, but I would suggest that the person commiting the crime also needs to know that God is still there and God still wants them to knwo that he loves them and wants that relaitonship with them. This is our challenge s youth workers, because young people will not always do what we expect, or hope they will, but at the same time we need to stay with them and support and encourage them, even through those really tough moments.

Inspiring young people

When 4 girls approach you and suggest they want to put on an event in their school, and make it an evangelistic event, you know that you are going to be in an exciting place. the challenge, and the great thing is, to guide, advise, but most of all to inspire those young people, because once they have seen the event take place, then they will go and make a huge difference throughout the world. We should not just dismiss, but examine, inspire, and encourage and see what we can do to put on the event that they want. The event went ahead that I spoke about at the beginning, and the outcome is still being worked out, but we know that it has had an amazing response.

Linking with schools

Last week we took a huge risk, we put on an evangelistic event for a whole school. The event was dreampt up by 4 girls in the school, and we got alongside them and supported them in the venture. We had a band, Superhero, who I would reccommend to anyone who wants decent lads, playing amazing Christian music, and prepared to get to know people as well, not big into the celebrity style of things. I spoke, and we had so many young people, and staff just getting involved and enjoying a quality Christian event. It worked well in a small school of under 800 pupils, but also worked well, because of a longstanding link with the school. Is this something you could do in your area. We also had follow up cards so girls who were challenged by the event could fill them out afterwards, and we are waiting to see how many actually filled these cards out. We have also got a discussion group in place to folow up anyone who may be interested. It was a great success.

Making it relevant

It i interesting when I chat to young people, they don't always think that the Bible, or some of the guidelines are still relevant today. But once you engage them in a discussion about their lives, and about the guidelines the Bible suggests they soo see that some guidelines do actually make sense to them in their lives today. let me suggest to you to look at the 10 commandments and see how you can make them relevant to young people today, I am writing a programme for youthworkers, so if anyone would liek tojoin in and hlep e write it, then please do get in touch through. andy@rolltherock.org.uk chat soon, and keep it releant.

Online troubles!!!!!

So have peole seen the issues recently about social netowkring sites, and also games for young people. I now that this is something that I blog abot regularly, but it is something that concerns me more than a lot of things as far as young people, and the protection of young people is concerned. It went to awhole different level lst night, when watching panorama, and they suggested that sectarian troubles still existed in Northern Ireland, due to comments left on Bibo and other places on the internet. Are we as youth workers, and parents eally aware of the issues and troubles that young people face on the internet.

Reclassification

Just in case some of you were not aware of it, there is a discussion going on at present as to whether they should reclassify canibis. Some are wanting it to stay as a class C drug, and others think the danger is to great and it should be reclassified as a class B drug. All that I can suggest, is that if the issue comes up within your yoth group, that you get some good drug training material, and maybe just point out to the young people, that the Bible regards the body as a temple for the Holy Spirit to reside in, so why would we want to damage a temple. How much do we value the temple that is our body. there are various sites, such as Talk to Frank that can provide good information, but I would suggest if the issue comes up, a frank, and open discussion about the situation might be a good way to start the process.

deconstructing

Here is a challnege, how far are we prepared to deconstruct, all that we do in our work to ensure that it is as pure, and right as possible. Are we prepared to deconstruct all our work, and ll our faith, to ensure that the reasons behind our work, and the work itself is as pure and right as possible. Do we deconstruct our faith to ensure that there is little tradition, but mainly pure relaitonship with god, and all that he wants us to do in our jobs. This is not a suggestion that we throw everything out that we do and believe, but it is a bit of a suggestion for a spiritual and work mot if you like.

the ratings questin?

Recent news aricles suggest that games should be rated by age in the same way that films are. do we think that this would help our young people, would they pay atteention to it, and here's the big one, what difference would it make to what we provide for our young people in outh clubs and places? Would we or could we stick to the rtings that they might put on games. It's a challenge and a thought, because if they rate those games, and part of me thinks they should, then we have to take that into account in our youth work as well.

Different situations!!!!

Isn't it interesting the different responses from different young people when you put them in situations they aren't necessarily used too. Let me encourage you over this term, let your young people experience different things, face new situations, and then reflect on these with them, and just see what their responses are. You never know, they might just enlighten you as well.

positive and negative

How many of you can think of situations where something negative can be turned into something positive? Hee we are at good friday,and the murder of Jesus on this day is refered to as a good day. Of course this is true, but can you imagine being there on that day, could you think of what was happening as good? Are there things today, in our lives, or in our work, that we think are bad, tough or wrong, but yet, they just might be good?

Salt or light?

Here is an interesting question as far as our youth work is concerned. Because to me a light attracts, it stands out trying to attract people to it, whereas salt actually flavours, gets involved with what it is changing. So which approach do we have for our youth work, are we the light attracting people, or are we the sat that is involved in theirlives and flavouring what is happening in their life? Interesting thought?

How they speak

I was recently having an interesting conversation with a taxi driver, yes indeed, a very interesting one. He was interested in the work that I do with young people, and wanted to know more about it. We got on to the subject of how people view young people, and the way they are, and he made a point in the way they speak that I had not thought off, but is quite obvious really. Sometimes people will judge young people for being loud, and always shouting, r wanting to put their point across and this taxi driver suggested that rather than being awkward, or ignorant, just maybe that is the only way that they can get themselves heard at home. I thought thiat this was a really interesting idea, and will be following this up in other work that I do at some point. Just makes you think, that the way people appear on the outside, may be because of other reasons, as oposed to the reasons tat come to yor mind straight away.

Still have things to learn

This is one of the amazing things about our job as youthworkers. Even if we are the people leang the session and the person leading the young people, I don't think that any of us would say that we have all the right answers at the right time. The great, and yet challenginthing about our job is that different situations, experiences and attitudes all bring different things to our life and our job. So is it wrong for me to suggest that we should not addopt the position of knwoing everything when we work with young people,but allow ourselves also to learn, especially if we are commiting ourselves to go on a jounrey with them through life.

The challenging questons?

I was in a class in a school recently and they had a few minutes at the end of the lesson, so I asked if anyone had any questions. Daft, I know, of course they did, and the questions they had were deep meaningful and challenging. What I was left with, was the thought of the stuf I had done in the lesson may have meant somethng to them, but they also had their own quesitons, their own exploration to go on, and was I trying to teach them what I wanted them to know, or was I trying to help them along that journey of exploration. Wat do we all do, do we give thoughts, and ideas, or do we see where our young people are going on their journey and try and impact that journey with meaningful stuff? Jesus always seemed to meet people in that journey, and engage with where they were,and where they needed to be, and I want to aim to be in that place as well.

All in a story

So which menas more to our young people today, a picture or a story. I would suggest that young people today love telling sotries, they love telling us what they have done during a day, or over the weekend, and they tell it in such expressive manners. Maybe we need to let our young people express themselves in a manner that they are confrotable with, ie that of stories, and allow them to express their stories and tell them.

What works?

I have recently had the pleasure of visiting a youth work not to far from where I live. They seem to have a thriving work going on with about 40 yong people on their books. When I sat down and chatted to the workers there, I came aware of thee issues that seem to have made a difference tot his work. I wonder if they could make a difference elsewhere? 1: consistancy, they do nt put the workers on a rota, the young people know who is going to be there week in week out, and this seems to demonstrate, reliability, and also the fact that the young people are worth being there for every week. 2: Relationship, this is certainly born out of the first one, consistancy. Because the more consistant you are, the more you can build relaionship, and the more you build relationship the greater the impact of the work, and the greater the trust, and all sorts of things can develop from there. 3: Driven by Youth, The young people in the group have asked for a separate Bible study during the week, and have come up with a whole range of questins and ideas that they wish to pursue. although the workers are there, and offer protection, relaitonshioship, consistancy, and to an extent guidence, the young people are allowed to develop their relationship with God, and not rely on others, and this seems to have made a huge impact on the lives of the young people that are there.

who has impacted you?

Here is an interesting challenge, because we often think of the lives we can influence, the lives we have an impact upon, but who is it that has impacted upon us, and maybe even greater challenge than this, is which young people have impacted us, or impacted our ministry? Let's just not think about impacting young people's lives, but allow ourselves to be impacted by them.

How we ensure we don't let them down!!!!!

with everything that has gone on in Bridgend over this last year, how can we ensure that we do not let our young peope down. Something is happening in that area, whether the police, or oters wish to recognise it or not, there is something happening for 17 young people within a year to commit suicide. The challenge for the country, for the world, is to look after our young people, to ensure that tey know they are valued, they know they are appreciated, and they know that there are people they can go to if problems arise, and if things aren't right. And most of all, they need to know tat their life is worth something, they are alive for a reason, they have a purpose, so let's be there, and let's encourage these young eople.

young people in public places

What does it say to a generation when sops and areas have devices that only they can hear, and that are meant to deterr them from gathering there. what does it say to a generation when in essence these devices are saying that they aren't welcome there? What is wrong with young people wanting to gather together, isn't that what we encourage in Church? We encourage people to gather together, we encourage them to meet together, we encourage them to share issues and life together, so what is so different about young people wanting to gather together? There is a campaign, petition on the Prime Ministers website to ban these devices, and the Children's commissioner is behind it as well, so let's sign up and ensure that young people are allowed to meet, and actually just be themselves.

understanding teenagers

Someone else pointed this ut to me recently, how to understand teenagers, how they interact in tough situations, dealing with sleep deprevation, testing their levels of sneakiness, and testing their planning skills, could all come under the umbrella of a sleep over. Are you brave enough?

connecting with culture

Here is a subject that could be devisive, or could be provocative at best, Where are we as Gods people meant to fit in when it comes to culture. Obviously the Bible says that we are not of the world, but we are in it, so if we are in itthen we need to engage with it. This surely means that whatever our message, we need to put it across in a manner and format that is relevant to those living in the current culture. So all it suggests is that a repackaging of a meesage is required. Not that we change the message, because I am sure and convinced that it is possible that we can keep the message, but just engage with the people in the culture, who we are meant to reach, in a manner that is apropriate, relevant, to where they are at in their lives. there is no point in presenting something in the same way that it has been presented for the last 20 years or so, so there lies the challenge, can we present our message, our message of hope, of love, of forgiveness, of value, of God, in a manner tat is relevant, not just for today, but for the next number of years.

Guiding without forcing

I know I have posted on this before, but again it is an issue that has come up recenlty in my work. Many young peole ask about the Christian faith, and they have all sorts of issues due to the way that people react to them. So all that I should do is to guide them, give them the honest answers and allow them the opportunity to do what they like with the information. shouldn't this be true with all that we do with young people, offer them information, offer them our thoughts and guidence, but leave them to accept, reject, or do with the information that thy wish too. After all young people can't hang on to our beliefs and thoughts, they have to go through life with their own beliefs, principles and ideas.

Calling!!!!!

this is a great thing to think about, as those of us involved in christian youthwork, should know that they are there because God has called them. If we don't know that, if we are unsure of that in our hearts, then maybe our call is to be elsewhere. The problem is that osmetimes even though we have a call, even though we try our best to follow that call, and even when we set down guidelines for that call, other people try and get in the way of tha call, and push their way in and can even divert us from the call that we have been given by God. Let me encourage all those who are called by God to e involved in yothwork, to stay true to your call, to stay true to the things that God may want you to do, and I am sure that we will all see great things happen amongst young people. Let us not try and take other people's call away from tem, nor get in the way of their call, and ensure that we encourage people in their call, and acknowledge our own.

What is centre of our work?

Maybe the title of this post is wrong, maybe I should have asked Who is the centre ofour work? Because if we have the right person or the right people then our focus is right. So if Jesus is the centre of our work, then we will have the right focus for us to continue in what we are mant to be doing. If we focus on Jesus, and what he wants us to do, then we iwll be able to focus on our young people better, and then we will be able to achieve even more in our work.

Standards for youthwork

Just to let you know that the Life long learning council have produced new standards for youthw ork. do go and have a look, see what you think. www.lifelonglearninguk.com

a new language?

So how aware are we of the new language that young people are using in textology. preditive word text have taken over from proper words, so I have found out from another youthwork blog. cool reads as book, beer reads as adds. so what would our texts read if we were to follow this line?

Give thanks for people!!!!

At the beginning of his letter to the phillipians, Paul gives thanks for them, he tells them that they are people who e always gives thanks for they encourage him for the things they do. How often do we give thanks to God for the people around us, for our teams, for the people that enable our youth work to happpen, or even give thanks for our young people, for all the different things about them. Here is paul, and he does it in other places as well, giving thanks for peoplle, all sorts of people, because they encourage him, maybe we could take something from this, and rather than pointing out people's faults, which is easy, maybe we should learn to give thanks for the great ngs about people aorund us.

The need to work together?

Here is an interesting issue. I have heard from too many places recently the need for Churches, leaders, and youth leaders to be physically seen to be working together, but is this really necessary? do people outside of Church really care? does it really achieve anything? And is it what was meant in the Bible when the issue of one body was mentioned? I would suggest that a recognition of who we all are, and all our diferent gifts, and the ability to be nice and relate to each other is fine. I don't see that there is any atual need for us to physically do things together, becausse we may all be called to wrok with different people, at different times, and do different things, so is it more imortant that we work tother,or be seen to be work tother, or that we follow the calling that God has placed upon us. Support each other, encourage each other, meet together, look after each other, and pray for each other, and let's see what hhappens when we follow the alling by God, and support each other in that.

competition or support

It is interesting that there are now so many diferent streams of church, so many different organisations, and so many different conferences as well. Is this stemming from something that is within our culture, that of competition. It is right and proper that Churches should have their yoth work, and something for young people, but there does seem to be an element these days of the need to put something different on, the need to prove ourselves, the need to demonstrate something to others, but is thsi need real? Maybe sometimes, what already exists needs to be allowed to exist, and grow, and develop and be suported, and even be adjusted a little as well, rather than trying to create something different. Maybe we need to learn the art of tinkering rather than competition and recreation?

Info and questions

Bits of info for you: 1: in Oxford, 13th March, Ann Holt discusses the Youthworker as theologican. 2: On March 1st inter faith discussion and young people in London. For more info on these things, visit, www.youthblog.org Did anyone watch the bbc2 programme last night on the classification of drugs, I missed it, what was it like? Anything useful on it, or any useful comments and ideas?

Finding spirituality on the tv

Do we watch things and seek God in all that we watch and in all that we do. There is a lot of talk about the new Dr Who series, and the fact that they have commissioned the programme until 2010. does this mean that there is an inquizackle search with people about myth, spirituality, maybe even God. Do we seek out God in all situations? In all situations that people exist in, so tht they can find him? Maybe there is the challenge.

Every family should have one

Recently chtting to a friend, we came to a conclusion, that any fmaily who had a young person in the house, should also have a youth worker attached to them. Interesting thought this one, because it brings up so many different questions: 1: Can families no lnger cope with their kids? 2: Are there things that need to be put in place to assist, or encourage parents with their children? 3: Are we facing a genration of parents who struggle to relate to their kids because of things they have grown up with, computers, play stations, mobiles, and such things? 4: Is there stigma attached to having a youth worker attached to a family? 5: What does this say about our wider community? 6: How does this reflect upon the thoughts and attitudes of our young people? 7: How would this make young people feel if a outh worker was attached to a family? And I am sure there would be more, but there are always questions when suggestions are made.

Stretch ourselves

Sometimes we have to try out new things, get involved in different activities that might not necessarily suit us, or something we think is us. I have recently done some writing for a website and the devotionals that I have written, get sent out to over 7000 people each day. And of the back of this a couple of people have emailed me to offer bits of help. Writing is not something that I would suggest is my strngth, I would suggest that talking is more of a strength than writing, but it is being involved with the writing that has brought me offers of help. Don't always turn down new things, even if you think that they aren't you, god might just be opening up new opportuntiies for you in different places.

Giving Direction

I have often wondered what would happen if marathon runners did not have a blue line to follow. The likelihood is that some of them would get lost and not folow the root they should be going on. If anyone has seen any of the horse racing at Cheltenham, there is a cross country race there apparently and on a number of occasions a number of the horses and riders go the wrong way and are disqulified. Are we the blue line for young people in their lives, instead of in a marathon race. The marathon race goes on for a long time, and sometimes can seem tough, hard, dull or even boaring, but yet peole need to keep on going to get t the finish line. Maybe this is the position that God has put s in so that we can help young people get to the right finish line, and follow the right direction in life.

Being creative

This is always a challenge, because not only does the youth worker have to be able to relate to young people, understand them, but they also have to have a creative mind, so that they can creatively get across the message that they are wanting to get across. Is it possible to be someone who is able to build relationships, and also someone who is creative. Possibly, but I would suggest that maybe a team context is the most helpful. There are always different roles for people to perform within a team, from building relaitonships, to creative thinking, amongst others, so do you have a team around you to enable you to do all the things you want to do for young people?

Opportunity or loss?

In many situations in ministry we are faced with things we just don't understand. And we have no idea how they could work out for the best. Even when situations change on us, and we don't eem to be able to have any control over them. the challenge for us is how do we approach these situations. A writer once said, that life is 10% what you go through and 90% how you go through it. so how do you go through situations? Do you see them as problems or do you see them as opportunities? Much of how we look at things will determine our approach on life, and whether positive things will happen, and we will enjoy life. Let me encourage you to look at things as opportunities, and then you won't get down when things change, and positive outcomes may well arise.

Dealing with change!!!!

I guess that this is something that every youthworker will go through on a regular basis. Not one session is the same as the next, or even the previous ones. But we can do things about some of the change that takes place, infact we might even initiate some of that change. The porblem arises when change occurs and we have had nothing to do with it, and we don't even have any power over it. How do we cope with that level of change. Change is always going to be there, and many changes will take place that we don't have any control over, so the challenge is not avoiding the change, it is how we deal with it. Someone once wrote that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it. If we look at Jesus, he went through so much change, and he stayed calm, reflected upon it, and spent time with his father. Maybe this should also be an approach that we should take as well.

Encouragement vs support

I have been thinking bout this for a while, as there are often situations where I want to encourage young people into doing something, being involved with something, and yet, the support I give them might be very different. this may well be due to the fact that I may have experience, knowledge or knowhow in a certain situation that they don't. But the problem then arises, of how to encourage, but yet support in a way that will ensure success. I totally believe in empwering young people, but maybe we need to examine how we empower, and can give guidence at the same time.

Send in your stories

Pleaseremember to send in the stories from your young people and all that they did on Go MAd day, info@rolltheorck.org.uk

Using young people in what we do?

I was recently at a Church where the youth leader was wanting to reach out to some more young people. The idea he had I thought was fine, but he said that noone under the age of 18 was allowed to go out and be involved in the work he wantd to do. I have often found that reaching young people works best when using other young people, any thoughts on this?

Go MAD day January 21st

Just a quick reminder to get all your young people to do something on Monday, 21st January, go MAD, go Make A Diffrence, just do something that makes a difference in someone's life. Let us know about it and we shall publish the stories, send your stories to: info@rolltherock.org.uk

Retreats?

Someone has recently invited me to go on a retreat next month. Which is very kind of them. I was recently reading another blog where someone was on a retreat and they asked a great question. Had they advanced enough to go on a retreat? How far hav I advanced? or how far have we all advanced?

Making you aware

Just incase some people weren't sure about the new situation that comes into place on 1st April this year. The rate of income tax drops, which will mean a dropage in the rebate for charities and Churches with charitable status. Where up to now, people were able to claim back 28 p in the pound, it will drop to 25p, instead. It is just something to bear in mind when thinking of income and payments for youthworkers and Churches.

Balanced commitment to work

I am currently recovering from that sickness bug, and mixed in with it, I had a touch of flew I think as well. And before any women start it wasn't man flew. I was sick over the weekend, and am trying to get back to work today, things to plan for , and things to ensure our supporters know what is going on. Still very hot and shivery though, so where does the balance between realising our sickness and our commitment come in. I have felt a need to get back to work, but don't know how effective I am going o be Id there any point in being at work if not effective? How do others work this balance?

Sport and church

There has been a recent discussion on another blog that I ften look at and leave comments on, about young people's attendance to Church, and whether their sport practice gets in the way on Sunday monrings. There is a debate as to whether we should make young people go to Church, or whether they should have the choice. There is also a debate as to when people should woship, shoudl that be on Sunday mornings, or could that be at another time. It is an interesting debate, with something quite central. Should our time be prioritised by going to church, and everything else fit in around that, or is our prioriy, to be in the world, and also include and ensure that we are worshipping and praying to God. Personally I think it is important, vital that we are part of society, part of twhat is going on in the world, but yet, influencing it, helping to bring Christ into those situations. So if a young person has sport training on a sunday morning, then fine, as long as they are involved in worship and prayer at some point during the week. Faith and society, there needs to be a balance, as we need to worship, but also need to be lt and light in our world.

Every family should have one!!!!!

I was recently chatting to a youth work adviser friend of mine, and we were chatting about the difficulties that parents have with tenagers. He suggested that every family doesn't need a social worker but very family with a teenager should have a yoth worker attached to them. Often the relationship between the yoth worker and the young person is different than that between the parent and the young person, and maybe if there are problems, then the working together between the parents and the youth worker may make life that bit easier and better for all, and enable the young person to have the best of all worlds. Any thoughts?

Values in young people?

Where do most young people get their values from, and if it is us, how much influence does that mean we have over the future of our young people, and of society in general. If you think that we try and install values into young people, then the values we try and instill into th are the values they will demonstrate in the years and years to come, that is if they have taken on our values. The lfip side is that they may not take our values and create theor own, and again this will say a lot for the society we have in the decades to come. So let's think about the values we have as people, and the values we wish to instill into our young people, and the values we wish to see in our society in the years to come.

Panarama on social networking sites

Did anyone watch this programme last night. Ian Macdonald the DYO for the Oxford area has been flagging this up for some time, as well as others. I thought they dealt with it really well, and I have thought about showing it to some of my young people and even to my teenage daughter. Do we really think that our teens realise all the probs with social networking sites on the internet? And yet where do we fit into this as youthworkers, if we engage on a social netowrk site, do we give it permission, and if we don't get involved are we missing out on a segment of young peoples lives that are important. Difficult blanace here, but Panarama tackled the issue really well, and lots to chew over.

Fun at Christmas,

Does anyone here remember the 12 presens of Christmas sung by Frank Kelly, a number of years ago, got reminded of this o a different blog, and thought it was really funny. Christmas is the birth of Jesus, but it is a load of fun as well.

Dealing with emotions

How can we put our emotions aside when in the midst of a situation? time and time again I have thught that we need to stay professional in our approach, stay calm, stay real to our faith and our calling, and yet, we face al sorts of situations in our work. I wonder what strategies Jesus put in place, so he remained faithful to his call, without getting overly angry, frustrated annoyed with the people aorund him. How do we continually show that unconditional love to our young people, and let them know, that whatever the situation, they will always be loved?

Representing them all

I have recently got into a discussion with someone from a film company because they only want those young people who achiev, they only seem to want to use the young people they know rather than looking at the whole of young people. Do we sometimes fall into the same position, do we notice all our young people, all their gifts, all their abilties and all their tallents, or do we nly recognise those who could be up front and in the public eye. all our young people have gifts and abilities, so let's remember that God loves them all and so should we.

Bringing hope

If we think about Christmas, and the meaning behind it, can we take a principle here from the Christmas story and apply it to our youthwork. I think the idea that God recognised a world that had drifted from him, a world that had lost hope, and yet he sent Jesus, to give us hope, to give us a new chance of that relationship with him. So are we prepared to give our young people a second chance, can we do anything within our work, to give our young people a second chance and let them know that they are worth so much, a life, a lifetime of work, and also new beginnings each time something goes wrong.

what's most important

What is it out our work that makes it the most important thing? Is it the number of young people we reach? Is it what we actually do with the young people we have? Is it how the lives of the young people we work with turn around? And in all of this, where does Child Protection issues fall in, and do we pay enough attention to them?

Youthwork a future?

I was recently at a conference where this was the title, with the word Christian in there as well, and thorughout the day, there were many discussions on various issues. But the one thing that I suggested on one of our tables was the fact that our work is centred around young people and God, not us, not us trying to validate our jobs, but if we are committed to youth work, then the young people we work with should be at the centre of our work, not us. So as long as there is young people around, then youthwork should be around, and this should include Christian youthwork as well.

Embracing the future

recently I was in a conversation with about 8 other youthworkers anwe were trying to decide what the future would look like for young people in our country. There were all sorts of issues that came up, but the big question was, that whatever the future would look like, were we prepared to embrace that future and addapt and change and ensure that we were relevant to the young people of the time? Any thoughts?

Meaning of relationships?

I was at a conference recently, and we got into a debate about the ethics of relational youthwork. I argued strongly, that if we are in any kind of relationship then we stay in that relaitonship regardless of whether people do what we want and when we want them to do it. This came out of a discussion as to whether or not we act ethically by not telling people that we are in relaitoship with them because we want them to become Christians. But surely the deffinition of relationships means that we are in that relationship whatever the outcome, and just because someone does or does not become a Christian does not determine whether the relaitonship carries on or not. any thoghts on the ethics of relationships.

Christian workers dilemma

So here is the dilemma when dealing with life, or issues, or with other people, how do we balance our Christian herritage, IE, all those things inbedded in us through our Christian faith, and our experience, the things we go through in life. Where is the balance, and how do we find God through the experiences of life?

Principles of youthwork

I have thought about this for a while, as having two daughters, I have had to check myself, as sometimes i have treated them differently to the way that I treat other young people, applying different principles and different expectations, which is notalways fair or right. So it was just a thought, what Principles are there that underpin our yothwork?

Mission shaped Church?

This is something I just want to throw out there as a thought, or a challenge, or even as something that is just a little provocative. When I examine some of the stuff written in the New Testament, it suggests to me that Church, whatever that may mean was created of the back of various mssions that took place. This is particularly true within Acts. So why is it that we expect young people to go through a double converstion, first of all to believe in Jesus, but then also into the culture of church which is alien to the culture that they have to exist iin. Shouldn't church be part of life, not something that means us changing as people at a certain time during the week to be in a different place. Thnk of how we gain information, and then think about how information is given out in church. How do we learn things, and then how do people try and teach us at Church. It is just a thought that maybe we could create something around the people who we are meeting, and create something that is relevant for them and where they are at. Thoughts please!!!!!!!

Prepared to explore

So many times in youth work especially we come to something, a situation, or a person, and all ready have something inmind, we already have the answer, the thing that needs to be done. But how many times do we actually face something, and think, or decide well maybe we need to go on a journey with this, and just see how it turns out. So many times we think we know best, as adults, youthworkers, teachers, whatever, we just believe and know in ourselves we have the right answer, but maybe, just maybe sometimes it is worth exploring things with young people, no destination set out, and just see where you end up, you never know, they might just get something from it as well.

Empowering not enforcing

This is something that I always ty and do with young people. there is no point in me trying to enforce my beliefs, or even my suggestions in their lives, as they belong to me, not the young people I work with. It would be far better if I was able to empower young people to do things, in their own relationship with God, and therefore take ownership of their own events, activities and ideas. I am only the person who helps, assists, releases and empowers them to be the people who they are meant to be, I am not the enforcer who tells them how thig shsould be and how they need to d things. This is how god works with me, He releases me, empwers me to be who he wants me to be, but does not enforce or restrict me, he allows me to make mistakes, mess thing sup, and learn from that, maybe we should learn tha twithour own young people.

glamour or beauty

Here is an interesting question, do we go for the glamour of our work, the upfront stuff, in the public eye kind of stuf, ordo we go for the work that actually changes people's lives, which is the more beautiful? Sometimes we go for the glamour of something, without realising the beauty of the tough work. If you examine anyone who works on creating a carpet, they have to spend time, get their hands dirty, and get messy, but the outcom is beautiful, whereas someone who just takes the capret and sells it, loooks for the glamour. I think that Jesus is more interested in the beautiful than the glamour, more interested in the depth of change and difference in people's lives, than the headline fiure. So let's be involved, and create something beautiful.

Do we give them a chance?

So it is now the 21st November, the 20th has gone, Go MAD is now in our past, so did we give our young people a chance, did we get this idea out there, did they know about it? If we don't give them a chance, if we don't allow them the opportunity to do something, to make a difference, to change things in their lives, should we be really surprised if things don't change. God is always giving us opportunities, chances to change things for others, and for ourselves, we would not be happy if he didn't, would we? So why shouldn't we do tat for our young people as well.

give our young people worth

The whole idea of this day, this Go MAD day, is to give our young people worth, to help them realise that they are worth something, that they are psecial, that they make a diference in people's lives, and they the effort that they put into society is worth something as well. Is that what Jesus would have wanted, to ensure that everyone knew that they had worth, purpose andvalue as they lived?

One day to go!!!!!!!!!!

Ok people, just one day to go, before the whole country goes MAD. We have many people arond the country who are going MAD tomorrow, and Making A Differnece someone's life. Let me encourage you, to get your young people involved, get them t go mad, get them to Make A Differnece in someone else's life. Doesn't matter how big or small the act is, it would just be great if Hundreds of young people, Made A Difference in people's lives, then we can go to the press and get them to print it. So go on, get involved, get your young people to go MAD and let's make a big difference in someones life tomorrow, And get them to send their stories of what they did to info@rolltherock.org.uk

creating the environment

I have been examining what it means for me to have the environment to be able to reflect on various situations I have to face and also allow situations where my thoughts and my feelings can be allow to express themselves. Surely this is also true for our young people whom e work with. Because we need to create the environment for them to be able to express themselves, and be able to feel free to do so without restriction. this will be how they will grow as people, and also grow in their relaitonship with God.

Are we polarised?

This is an interesting question for me, as I have been doing some studying recently. the idea is that there are 3 perspectives that e can aproach things from: 1: do we constantly and only approach things from the Bible, or from our Christian Heritage point of view? 2: Do we approach things from our life experience point of view? 3: Or will we go on an exploration, and bring our life epxerience, and Christian heritage with us, and see how it all impacts us as people, and the life we live? The exploration approach will allow us possibly to be more open to God, and allow him to impact all aspects of us as people and our ives, so let me challenge you to explore, go on that Journey I spoke about yestrday, and see where you end up, rather than setting up a specific plan or destination.

Neutral or driving

this is an interesting thought, because if a car is in neutral then it doesn't go anywhere, but if someone is driving, and they do not necessarily know where they are going, then it is often useful to have a navigator. In either situation there is also the possibility that there could be passengers in the car as well, so do we boar our passengers by staying in neutral, or do we actually drive forward and see where we go. the challenge is, that we may not kow where we are going with our passengers, so we need that navigator to help us out. Let me suggest that maybe the navigator could be God, and we need to allow him to direct us where we are meant to be going. Rather than us suggesting that we know where we should be going, thus the journey of life, of work, of living begins. Because if we allow God to direct us, then we may not know exactly where we are going, and at what time or speed, but yet we allow him to direct us. And we go on that journey with our young people, and see where that adventure takes us.

How to move people forward?

Obviously as we reach young people and their lives start to change, and they start to make new decisions in their lives, there is something we need to think about, and that is how are we going to help them move forward. the question and challenge is, do we put them into something that we have aleady created, or do we go on a journey with them and see how we can encourage them and be with them during their journey, without any perscribed, directed way. Do we always know what is the best root, for young people beofre we have actually encountered them. Sometimes it is appropriate to put young people into something that has already been created, but sometimes it isn't, and we have to be big and brave enough to stand up and ensure that although pressure might be placed upon us, we ensure the best thing happens for the oung people we are working with.

We don't always know!!!

I have come across various issues recently that young people have challenged me over, and I haven't been able to answer them straight away. Rather than just feeding them an answer that might just get me thorugh, I have been really honest and said to them that I didn't know the answer, but what I would do, is go away, think it through, and then come back to them. they seem to appreciate this answer, as they know they aren't getting a half answer, but someone is alwys being genuine with them, and doing their best for them, and being honest. It occurs t me that if we are real and honest to the young poeple we work with, then they are more likely to listen to us. This means being genuine, honest, open, vulnerable, nd even at times looking stupid because we don't know an answer. But hey, better that than a half-baked one.

Closeness vs distance

While chatting to a teacher recently about a certain young person, they suggested that the young person in question did not always do what they were told in school. They suggested that the yong person in question did not listen to well to instructions. When thinking about this afterwards, I wondered whether or not the young person in question might need two things. One is boundaries, and that means bundaries that cannot be crossed at any time. And secondly, I wondered, about the approach of the parents, for if the parents are close, and spend quality, undistractable time with the child then the child is more ikely to do what they were told at home, and this may impact school as well. But the challenge is time, things to be done, things that need to happen, how do we balance between things to do and closeness, time, time that isn't distracted by other thins. god gives us time that isn't taken up with other things, it is time that isn't distracted with other things, and he never makes us feel that we have to fight for his time. Maybe that is something that needs to be put in place in young people's lives at home and at school as well.

Making things specific!!!!!

Recently I have heard from someone who has done a lot of research into Tweenagers, that age range from 10-13. they have looked at resources and idfferent issues around this age group. One of the interesting things that seems to have come up, is the difference between the younger end of the age-range and the older end. Is it possible to make something specific for the olders ones, and something specific for the younger ones. At the heart of the question, is making things specific, rather than just goruping people together. God doesn't group us all together, he looks at us as individuals, and treats us as individuals, so why don't we look at people as individuals? So let's remember that everyone is different, and has different neds and outlooks on life, and remember that God treats us as individuals, so we should do the same to others.

reality vs theory

I have been speaking today at another church, and when I was reflecting upon what I should talk about, I thought of Peter, and what he spoke about when over 3000 people became Christians in the one day. All that Peter spoke about was the difference that Jesus had made in his life, during the time he spent with Jesus, and the difference that knowing that Jesus had risen from the grave had made in his life as well. This is the difference between reality and theory. Many can talk about the theory of God, and religion and things, but the reality of knowing God is the thing that makes the differece in people's lives. So what else can we do but show the difference, and speak about the difference that God has made in our lives. Through the people that we are, people will see the difference, and we can only leave people with the thouts of the reality of the truth of what God has done in our lives, the rest is between them and God.

Tenacity

One of the strongest characteristics of a youth worker is that of tenacity. We have to keep pushing on even when other things get in the way, when adversity rises up against us. I always take comfort from Jesus, in that he tried to do good things, he brought hope to so many people, but yet the leaders of the time rejected him. But yet he persisted, he pushed on, he never gave in, right up to the end. So let me encourage you, no matter the struggle,no matter the problem, no matter what others may say or do, let me encourage you to have tenacity, and push on, because you are doing what God wants you to do.

Expectations

It has always been something that I have wresled with, Do we expect young people to come to something that we have created, at the time we have created it, or should we engage wth them, and create soemthing around the discussions we have with them? It occurs to me that if we expect them to come to something we have created, and at a time we have created it, then we are placing expectations upon our young people, hwereas if we create something new around them, aorund discussions with them, and around something that is relevant for them, they might just get ivnolved, and take some ownership of it. Open for discussion though?

Accountability!!!!

It was intresting last night watching Question Time on BBC1, and the question of accountability coming up for Sir Ian Blare the Chief Commissioner of the Met. there was a discussion about whether or not he should take responsibility for the actions of his force? the one thing that struck me, was that as youth workers, if a member of our team does something, then they are responsible and there is a clear accountability structure there. And ultimately the person at the head of the team is responsible for those within his or her team. So where do we all think that the accountability issue lies with us as youth workers? Is it right that we are responsible for the actions of our tea members, and are held to account for them.

Halloween culture shift

Just a thought that occurred to me after last nights interesting visitors. We only had 2 or 3 lots of kids come round to our door last night, but my wife interestingly handed out bananas to them, not sure why, accept we had got a load on monday, so she handed them out. But it occurred to me that these kids were really happy that someone had given them something, so why not change the culture of halloween, rather than it being a trick or treat night, why not make it a night where we give, isn't that part of the heart of the Christian message, giving? so if people expect to be gven something, why not give them something special, what ever that might be, rather than doing it out of fear f the trick, do it out of blessing people.