Please Move Your Subscription

If you subscribe to this blog, please move your subscription to the new location for VolunteerYouthMinistry.com. This location will no longer be updated. You’ll find 2 month’s worth of material at the new location that is not found here.

Thanks!

Dennis

VolunteerYouthMinistry.com has moved to a new location. To catch up on the latest tips, videos, free resources and conference information click here

---

Book Review: 99 Thoughts for Youth Workers by Josh Griffin

VolunteerYouthMinistry.com has moved to a new location. To catch up on the latest tips, videos, free resources and conference information click here

---

My friend Josh Griffin just came out with his first book 99 Thoughts for Youth Workers. I read though this book and have some very good things to say about it. It didn’t hurt that he wrote the nice inscription (below) inside the book. I think a better title for this book is The Best Of MoreThanDodgeball.com. Josh has pulled the best from his blog and put them into a pocket-size book of essential nuggets of wisdom for youth ministry. I highly recommend grabbing this book. At $4.99 per copy, it’s even a great gift book for youth ministry leaders. It would be a great way to say “Thank you”, “I believe in you”, “Happy birthday” or “Merry Christmas”. Of course, don’t forget to include a $5.00 Starbucks giftcard so they can enjoy a tasty beverage as they read it.

Service Opportunity: Feed My Starving Children

VolunteerYouthMinistry.com has moved to a new location. To catch up on the latest tips, videos, free resources and conference information click here

---

Today our high school ministry served a mission organization called Feed My Starving Children. By packaging small bags with rice, soy and dried veggies, we were able to provide food to feed 57 children for a year. I highly recommend this as a service opportunity for students in your ministry. They’ll even come to your location so you don’t have to travel. All of the details are on their website at FMSC.org Here are some stats from our efforts today: We packaged 20,736 meals in 2 hours That will feed 57 children for a year Another group served yesterday. Combining our efforts with theirs, here are more life-changing stats: 113,000 meals packaged That’s enough to feed 311 kids for a year All of that is to show a big difference can be made with even a small amount of time. We had 85 people working today. I don’t know how many people helped yesterday. Here’s some more information about this mission organization: Their website is FMSC.org Each meal costs 15 cents $14 will feed a child for about 3 months They have videos on their website about their work On their website you can get information about helping them package meals We had a fun time, they were very organized and easy to work with

Handout for Parents of Students in my Small Group

VolunteerYouthMinistry.com has moved to a new location. To catch up on the latest tips, videos, free resources and conference information click here

---

Tonight we’re having a meet and greet for small group students and their parents. If you read my post What Parents Need To Know, you’ll remember that I put a high value on what I communicate to parents and how I get the messages across. This is an extension of that concept. You’ll see the principles of that post expressed in this document.

Suicide Risks – Do You Know What To Look For?

VolunteerYouthMinistry.com has moved to a new location. To catch up on the latest tips, videos, free resources and conference information click here

---

I read a great article today over at YouthMinistry.com about suicide causes, signs and preventative measures. I like that the article is written mostly in bullet points. It makes for easy-to-read-and-absorb information.

I highly recommend reading through the article so you’ll be more likely to see the signs of suicide. Being aware of this information can help us make our ministries free of the environmental risk factors of suicide.

Click here to read the article.

Here’s a clip of what you’ll read:

• According to HopeLine.org untreated depression is the number one cause of suicide.
• Bullied teens are 4 to 8 times more likely to be suicidal, according to a report released by fightcrime.org. Also, children who are victims of direct bullying (name calling, threats, being hit or kicked) and indirect bullying (ignoring, excluding and backbiting) are more likely to have suicidal thoughts than non-bullied children from a study of pre-teens in the Netherlands appearing in the journal Pediatrics.
• Teens who have been teased about their weight are more likely to be suicidal, according to research appearing in the August 2003 Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine.
• Sexually active teens are more likely to attempt suicide compared to their abstaining counterparts (14 percent and 5 percent, respectively), according to analysis of data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Adolescent Health as conducted by the Heritage Foundation.

Video Interview: Tom Shares Insight About Being a Small Group Leader

This is part 3 of a 4-part interview with Tom and Marla. In this segment, Tom, a 16-year veteran volunteer, answers questions and gives great advice about teaching a small group of high school boys.

Here are links to the other videos in this series:
Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4

Be sure to also check out the brief comments below the video.

___

There are a few things I love about this video series:
– It was videotaped by a student volunteer. This was a great way for him to see some of the heart behind what we do as leaders.
– The video is not professional… much like our service as volunteers. The interview isn’t polished, the camera is shaky, and there are no makeup artists. It’s just regular folks talking about a mutual passion: reaching out to students through ministry
– It’s a good start for other topical interviews to be done in the future

Relating to Your Students’ Parents

Mike Kupferer wrote some great tips for preserving relationship with parents of your students. It’s posted on YouthMinBlog.com. Click here to read the entire post. Here’s a small clip of what he wrote:

Parental Relationship Sabotage

3. Tell them they are doing a terrible job.
When you see a parent being to harsh on their sophomore or letting their senior have too much freedom, it is your job as a youth minister to tell the parents what a horrible parents they are. You might be the only one who sees that they are ruining their child’s life and relationship with God by treating them the way they are. If you ever start thinking this… STOP! It is not your job to critique the parental skills of another person without their permission. You can have your own opinions, thoughts and ideas – but until that parent says “hey, Mrs. Youth Minister, how do you think I’m doing as a parent?” you should keep all of your thoughts to yourself.

Movie Review: 9

I got invited to see this movie I’d never heard of. Now that I’ve seen it, I want to tell everybody to go see it!

Reviewing this movie would be difficult without spoiling the story line. Instead, I’ll write why I’m so excited about it from a youth ministry point of view. Depending on your bent toward youth ministry or ecology, you may have a different reason to be happy with what you see. You can be passionate about either (or both) and have reason to be excited about how the content promotes your cause.

From my vantage point as a youth worker, I spent the entire movie drawing parallels between the story line and God’s desire to do a new thing through us. The plot of 9 illustrates our rescue us from a certain destruction of our own creation. In 9, you’ll see obvious references to David and Goliath, Israel taking the Promised Land, Jesus’ rebuke of the religious leaders and the ultimate sacrifice Jesus made through his death on the cross.

This is a movie for leaders to see with their small group students. A great idea is to prepare students ahead of time by telling them to look for the biblical themes. Following the movie, leaders can have an amazing discussion with students about how it illustrates the biblical truths so boldly portrayed throughout the movie.

New Book: My Generation – Buy One, Get One Free To Give Away

Josh Riebock is coming out with a new book entitled My Generation. The release date is October 1st, 2009. If you preorder the book on JoshRiebock.com, it will come with an extra copy to give away.

Click here to read my other post recommending Josh. He’s an excellent communicator. While I have not read this book, I’m confident it’s going to be great.

---

Here is one of the video trailers for his book. There are more on his site.

Video Interview: Marla Gives Advice For New Volunteer Youth Workers

This is part 2 of a 4-part interview with Tom and Marla. In this segment, Marla, a 14-year veteran volunteer, answers questions and gives great advice about dealing with big issues in the lives of students.

Here are links to the videos in this series:
Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4

Be sure to also check out the brief comments below the video.

___

There are a few things I love about this video series:
– It was videotaped by a student volunteer. This was a great way for him to see some of the heart behind what we do as leaders.
– The video is not professional… much like our service as volunteers. The interview isn’t polished, the camera is shaky, and there are no makeup artists. It’s just regular folks talking about a mutual passion: reaching out to students through ministry
– It’s a good start for other topical interviews to be done in the future