Col 1:28

Video Clip: Cast away. Tom Hanks lands on the island and calls for help, he then makes fire and proclaims “Him man made fire” (2min)

My name is Quinton Smith I have been in youth ministry for 8 years and would like to say I have it all down to a T; however I would be lying. If there is anything that I have found it is that it is a journey that continues on a daily basis.

I love the movie cast away it’s so different, it has one actor through out the whole movie. For those of you who do no know what it’s all about Thom Hanks gets stranded on this desert island, and gets pretty distressed and crazy when he realizes that he is all alone, he’s victories and disappointments are short lived because there is no one to share them with.

I think as leaders in ministry we have a cast away moment. A time where we face significant victories and terrible lows:

The Lows

Some one in your ministry gets offended and leaves,

Some on in your youth ministry turns gay

Or after racing the church combi you get nailed by your leadership, for being irresponsible.

Your leadership makes a decision that you do not agree with and that has disastrous affects.

Then there are the highs:

Youth leaders pursuing a career in ministry

Real life change taking place in front of our eyes

Young people walking in on drugs, alcohol and abusive situations and a year later are totally sold out for Jesus.

Wow, there is so much that we go through?

I have a youth ministry of an average of abut 30 kids, 20 of them pitch on a Friday night and the other 10 I don’t see except for maybe once a month on a Sunday morning and then when connect out side of church programs.

Six years ago we averaged about between 80 to a 120 kids, I did not know all their names or background or even where they lived. Our ministry had flashy programs, great fellowship and good stable numbers, however if I have to tell you that effective life change was taking place I would be lying. I was constantly running around phoning smokers parents to come pick them up, two girls go pregnant one was a youth leader and my leaders were simply there to pick up chicks. The church was happy because we had the numbers, and for a short period of time our ministry seemed to be the place to be.

As two years past, the youth got tired of our flashy programs and the pressure was on to go bigger and better. And when we did not succeed the majority of our youth would move to the cooler churches because they were new, or had a new youth pastor or they had some great ministry team. I became disillusioned and felt more like an event coordinator than a pastor. It took three years and we were down to 10 kids.

It’s at that time that several people started picking up the despair in me and in our youth ministry, I felt like a total failure my idea of grand youth ministry had crashed and burned. These individuals where not from my church, or any great ministry, but had a heart for discipling. We started going out for coffee, they shared their life stories and slowly I shared what was happening in my ministry and then in my life.

There is something amazing that happens when we start to engage in the dark and hurt full areas in our lives, we suddenly realize that we are not alone, that God is in control, and no wonder things came falling down. I was building on the wrong plan. I was building on what I thought a successful youth ministry looked like, not what God wanted. There where no fire works, lightning bolts or anything miraculous on the out side but in the inside knowing that I was not alone and that others where walking with me made the world of difference. Real life change stated happening in my life and in my idea of what we were called to do.

Taking hold of this we started implementing this in our youth ministry, purpose full discipleship. We did not call it a model or make a program we simple realized it was a state of being an ethos of going out for coffee, picking guys up and dropping them, visiting them at their homes, meeting their parents, taking some one with to schools or when getting supplies for our Friday night. We spent more time engaging in their lives than working out programs and events.

Paul brings this to our attention in

We announce the message about Christ, and we use all our wisdom to warn and teach everyone, so that all of Christ's followers will grow and become mature.

Col 1:28

Relationship, mentoring, investing and discipleship all became the goals in our youth ministers, the flashy programs took second stance, the numbers were not important and the question at the end of a week or Friday night was do they feel loved, and discipled.

I would love to tell you that we no longer have programs, and that every Friday night is a mighty worship session or that our youth ministry is a 300 but that’s not what we are about. We still have our Friday program; I am still having to sit between the two misbehaving guys and every now and again some one some, still gets into trouble. The difference now is that life change happens from a place of discipleship.