Ever feel like GIVING UP in Student Ministry??? You need a FOLDER!!!
Lets face it Student Ministry isn’t the easiest thing in the world! Sometimes, a student will get on your nerves or you get that parent email that makes you just want to throw in the towel. It’s not easy because we are sinners dealing with sinners.
But we ALL NEED to REMIND ourselves WHY we do what we DO!!
“To BRING students to JESUS who can CHANGE their LIVES!!”
There is MORE JOY in that than anything in this world!!
No student is ever worth you quitting over!!
No parent is ever worth you quitting over!!
No leader is ever worth you quitting over!!
No email or text is ever worth quitting over!!
SEEING one STUDENT meet JESUS for the FIRST TIME is worth years of MINISTRY!!
In times that you feel like giving up in Student Ministry, do this!!!
-Start a folder where you can collect emails, tweets, Facebook posts, notes, and cards of how God has changed lives in your Student Ministry
-Pull that email out from the parent who emailed you saying how God changed their student’s life!
-Pull out that hand written card a student wrote you saying how much of a difference you have made in their life!
-Look back at your Student Ministry and see what God has done and rejoice!!
-Pull out that tweet and Facebook post of how a student’s life was changed!!
You will encounter times of wanting to give up and when you do PULL OUT that FOLDER and remind yourself of why you entered ministry in the first place!!
This suggestion came from Doug Fields book, “Your First Two Years in Youth Ministry.” It is a must read!!
Great suggestion! I’ve been keeping a “Keep Going File” for so long it’s actually turned into a keep going box and for christmas one year my wife got me a treasure chest to keep it all in. It’s been a tremendous encouragement to me to dig back through all the notes, cards, e-mails and encouragements I’ve gotten over the years every now and then when things get tough. I also throw stuff in there like my name tag and program from conferences and retreats just as a reminder of the good times.
Timbo, Thanks for sharing! Glad to see others doing this also! Praying for your ministry!