Encouraging Words

Growing up, I didn’t have a regular youth minister until I was in High School. It was lead by volunteers of all shapes and sizes and egos. At one point, we joined with another church’s youth group to join in there programming. Not that this was a bad thing,( although the program we went too was based on a Steven Curtis Chapman song ) but it was a little bit frustrating as a student growing up in the church.

There was someone for everyone else, why wasn’t there someone for me?

That was the question that rang in my head a lot of the times I was in church. Granted, I dont want to sound condescending to any volunteer youth leaders because a lot of those leaders shaped the way I live and think about faith, life and love. But there was still that longing feeling for someone I could pour questions in to and I could get poured into right back.

I received that wish when I was a freshman in High school. My youth minister came to our church and it flipped the whole thought of youth ministry on my head. It was an incredible difference when there was someone available all the time to talk to and his job was in a sense to hang out with students like me.

My youth minister, John, was pretty awesome the moment that he got there. I didn’t quite know what to think when I first met him in my basement. But when we sat in my basement with a few others and played Risk until 4am on a Sunday morning, I had a good feeling. John and I clicked and connected very easily. He also helped me get through a lot of interesting times in my life. I would definitely have to say that John also shaped my thought and helped me find my calling to go into youth ministry.

Here is the point:

Youth Minister’s, you matter.

No matter what battle you are facing, you mean more than the world to a student.

Without you speaking into student’s lives and being a part of student’s lives, we would be in big trouble.

A word of encouragement from one youth pastor to another:

Stay the course. Love God. Love your spouse. Love the church. Love the students. Live those things out in your ministry and you will do amazing things. Be there for a shoulder to cry on, be there to yell and scream. Be there to teach and critique. Be there to help. Be there to pray. Be there to influence a student into following God’s call in their life. 

Without a youth minister, I would not be where I am today. I just wish he knew that more.

I hope and pray that you have an incredible week!