At the end of InsideOut, I realized that I need to refocus on the way in which I was leading the Activities Team (A-Team). One of the things I wanted to accomplish was to push the A-Team staffs forward to other ministries, such as small group, media, prayer, or worship. The reason was that for most of them, they have been with me for almost 3-4 years, which I appreciated and cherished every moment. Yet I know that they need to grow…and being on this team can only push you so far on your spiritual growth that they need to move on to other ministry to continue to grow. After so many years of helping with this area of summer camp, I finally realized that the A-Team is not about accomplishing a task or just coming up with creative games for the campers or even topping the games from the year before, but also the staff growth. And I don’t think the A-Team can provide that type of care that is needed for them. I see the A-Team as a less threatening way for new staffs to come and see what this VAY summer camp is about. It is a ministry for people who don’t feel that they are ready to serve the campers directly but still would like to help.
Second, I came to realize that I needed help with bible studies portion of this ministry. Joggling with games and at the same time leading bible studies wasn’t great as in the qualities of it. What I meant by this is that I think I tend to drop the ball and not give my full attention if I was focusing on more than one task. What I wanted was to have someone in the A-Team to focus on just the games or just the bible study…like a co-leader so the both side doesn’t lack qualities. But this person has to be part of the group and has to come to every meeting so that the team would follow their instructions and earn their respect.
So these are the two main things I wanted to accomplish for Treasure for Life (TFL).
Sailing into the Storm
Just as last year, this year has continued to stretch me as being a leader. What I realized was that it is not enough that you have a crew that follows you, but that you need the right kind of crew because accepting just anyone won’t be beneficial for you or everyone else. So this year I had to confront and denied this person from joining this team on the fact that it would not be beneficial on both of us.
One reason is that I would only end up using this person because I needed the extra hand. I know that a ministry cannot be built on this. If I overlook where this person is at with their walk with God for the sake of needing help, then I would fail as a leader because I fail to minister to them. The work is not important, but their relationship with God is.
Second, it would hurt the campers. By having this person on staff is the same as asking this person to minister to the campers. And if this person doesn’t have a strong relationship or understanding of God, then this person is not equip to minister to other. Doing so would only hurt them and the campers.
Third, it would hurt them and their relationship with God. What I fear is that if I had allowed this person to join, then this person might have justified their spirituality to mere works. I fear that for this person, they might think that the only way for them to grow was to do work…but I think it’s wrong. They should focus on their relationship with God so they can be mature enough to do the work of God. Not the other way around.
X’s Marks the Spot
Have I accomplished the goals I wanted to set out? No. Even though we have new first time staffs for summer camp, they wanted to do either media or small group, which is great. But as the same time, I can’t help but see that the A-Team rarely gets anyone new. And if we do, they are usually from one of two churches (MWC or NewLife). I think it is a potential danger because it seem like either the A-Team is an exclusive ministry or that we failed to recruit or invite others to join us. I still need to meditate on this and see where God wants to take us in this situation.
Second, I end up working with the same people instead of pushing them to other ministry. But at least I got one new person on the team.
Third, I failed to minister to them. What I mean by this is that are group didn’t have bible study so the only feeding they were getting was from the speaker. I ended up stretching the discussion of what Pastor Ben talked about and making sure that they had the right perceptive, especially their motives of either serving themselves or God.
The Next Adventure
Well, it has been 5 years now being part of the planning staff, 2 as a regular staff, and 3 as a camper (Total of 10 years now). The reason I’ve been coming back so much is not so much to help, but I truly believe in this ministry. In fact, this is where I committed my life to follow Christ ten years ago at Idyllwild Pine with Pastor Scott. But I also realized that I need to hand the torch over to someone someday. So the question comes down to is, “Will I come back?” What I learned about God for the past 10 years is that when He asked…you obey. Yet the question has not been answered. So….
Bible: Character studies, book studies, and investigation of the basic doctrines of the Christian Faith. The emphasis here was on Christian truth.
Life: Topics that dealt more with felt needs and daily lifestyles issues. The questions we investigated here were along the lines of how Bible truth could be made a part of our daily lives.
Body: Groups of topic that dealt more with our role and responsibility as members of the body of Christ. In addition, to discuss relationship issue - (e.g. how do we confront a friend who appears to be wavering in his commitment? How can we show support for each other in the body of Christ? What are my spiritual gifts and how can I use them?) Also, studies of the role of the church in the world as a topical studies.
What it means: The more I looked at this the more I just appreciate the time and energy that he/they put into planning this all out. For one thing, he doesn't just rush in and try to provide all the answer at once...but spread in all out in 3 years. He took the time to Jesus Christ in one year, God, in the second year, and the Holy Spirit in the third year. Second, he builds a foundation first. What I mean by this, is that when you look at the BODY section, you can see that over the 3 years period, he cares enough to lay a foundation of "what is the church" to "Caring for others" (particularly ppl inside the church) to mission (reaching the ppl outside of church). It's basically a inside-out approach. I think we often mistakenly, especially in church, follow the outside-in approach. Thinking that as long as they do this or that, that their spiritual lives are good. When it should be the other way around. If you don't believe me, then read the Sermon on the Mount.
Benefits:
Everyone (especially the staffs) is on the same page (no more repeats)
Being Proactive in the direction of where we want to go
Knowing the end-goal (both ourselves and the students)
Like a preview for a movie
Bring them along (the students) and discover it together
Teamwork (we will be working together for one common goal and direction)
Meets a broader range of audience (avoid the mistake of singling a group out)
Allow for better retention with small series
Disadvantage:
Certain topics might not be address till later (in the next year or two)
No more spur of the moment topic (if you felt that a topic should be address, then come to the planning meeting)
Might not meet the need of your small group (Again, your small group need might not be what the rest of the group need - that why you have Saturday meeting to address it- Sunday is aim for the broader audience/crowd - don't single them out in front of everyone)
Changes to schedule:
Most likely due to major events (e.g. suicide, pregnancy, or alien’s attack)
From my last entry, I wanted to show the trend that churches are heading in the way they view the Bible. It seems to me that knowing the Bible is not require, especially to become a mature christian. As the arthur points out, christian faith is not being built on the firm foundation of hard-won thoughs, ideas, history, or theology. Spirituality is being built on private emotional attachments. So I think the solution is not to allow them to open the Bible, but also to train them how to read and used the Bible. I truly believe that if we don't do this, all we're doing is having them depend on the leaders to spoon feeding them the Bible instead of depending on the Holy Spirit.
Second thing I wanted to express before the "Sunday School Proposal" is how I've notice that we are in need of it. As of right now, I truly don't consider Sunday School a ministry anymore. This may sound blasphemy to some, but I do have good reasons. I consider ministry as one body. Each working together, even if it's responsible for something different from the other, to accomplish something. For example, the eyes is used to see, the feet are used to move, the head are used to coordinate, and etc. Together, they are working together to move this one body.
However, this is no longer the case. It has become what I call a lone ranger. We can all agree that we want to help out youth, but we are no longer working as one body. It seems to me that we are now working as separate bodies because each has its own direction of doing thing. Why is this a problem?
Most of the time, one group needs is not necessary the need to the rest.
Thing are often repeat
we, as the leaders, are no longer on the same page
each one has their own idea or direction of where they want to go, when its not in-line with the rest of the group
lastly, it hurt the HS more because if we can't agree on the direction, then all we are doing is pulling them in all kind of directions without actually moving anywhere.
I'm sorry if this sound like a complaint, but I see it as a warning sign. If we keep over looking these potential problems, then it might become to big to handle.
It's been awhile since I really wrote an entry. The reason I'm posting again is because someone told me last weekend that I have stop writing and because I would like to share something I think is often over looked within the church. In an article "The Greatest Story Never Read" by Gary Burge, he did a survey of bible literacy taken by upcoming freshmen in Wheaton College. Here are some highlight of the result: (taken from Unleashing God's Word by Barry Shafer)
80% could not place in order Moses, Adam, David, Solomon, Abraham
20% know to look in Acts for Paul's Travels
33% could find the Sermon on the Mount in the New Testament
80% did not know how to find the Lord's Prayer
However, some might argue that the working knowledge of the Bible does not matter and that the christian faith is a matter of faith and the Spirit. Burge responded (which I strongly agree with) is "to disregard this resources - to neglect the Bible - is to remove the chief authority on which our faith is built. We are left vulnerable, unable to check the teachings of those who invite us to follow, incapable of charting a true course past siren voices calling from treacherous island such as TV programs, popular books...I am amazed at the number of times mature Christians have come to me bearing ideas discovered in some spiritual flea market, ideas about the Spirit or prayer, eschatology or prosperity that flatly contradict the plain teaching of the Bible"
One of the primary problem is that "the Bible has become a springboard of personal piety and meditation, not a book to be read." In addition, "christian faith is not being built on the firm foundation of hard-won thoughs, ideas, history, or theology. Spirituality is being built on private emotional attachments."
Gary Burge continuous on and offer some solution to this silent problem. Yet, I wonder if I were to perform this survey on high school students who has been attending all through out their lives, would the responds be similar. Or better yet, would people in position of church leadership pass with flying color?
If you know me, you know that I like to think short and long term. I've learned in my many years of teaching in children all the way through college that I can't half ass bible study, nor can I neglect the Bible as a primary source. It might be easier to do so, but in the long run I would be rising up people who would have the wrong idea of who God really is and yet not know about it. Second, they would mostly likely depend on the leaders for their spiritual feeding rather than God. And right now I do see this problem especially in the ministry I help out in.
One thing that stuck out to me was Barry Shafer stated that "it's not a matter of memorizing facts; anyone can memorize such a list but never move an inch closer to God. Rather, it's a matter of increasing our knowledge of God's word- paying attention to the things that are important to God...God gave us his Word so we could know him better. If these stats are any indication, we have a long way to go."
I think one of the thing that is often lacking in ministry is equipping. "A major goal of student ministry is to equip teenagers for the many challenges adult like will throw their way" And often I notice is that most ministry view is only feeding them weekly and only enough to have them get by. If the church wants to thrive in the future, then I think we have to start investing and equipping so they can depend on God.
