It's too quiet!!!

Man, it's been way too quiet here at synergy!!!  I hope everyone is well!!!  I, for one, missed having Lucid this week because of the winter weather and despite popular belief, it wasn't just because our latest round of cow trivia had to be postponed...Lucid truly is one of my favorite parts of every week.  I love the things God is doing in our ministry and seeing the kids grow...

Just so all of you know, Mark has agreed to extend the penny war, our change-raising effort to buy a cow another week to February 11th (that is a Growth Group week)...so that gives you and/or your kids even more time to save up those pennies or other lovely coinage to donate to the cause. 

It is going to be a blast counting all this change to see how much was raised and I have NO doubt that goal will be reached, if not exceeded...

Of course, as I am sure most of you already know, there are other great opportunities for your child(ren) to get involved in the coming weeks...the 30 hour famine is coming!!!  I've already talked to some of the kids about this event and though it is new to pretty much all of them, there seems to be a lot of excitement buzzing around the 30 hour famine, which I think is awesome!!!   I am not totally sure what to expect either, but one thing I know is that it will be a wonderful learning experience while helping people AND hopefully spending time with many of you on Saturday afternoon at our meal :-)

Planet Wisdom is the following weekend from the famine and the funds are due on Sunday...let this be a last minute encouragement - SEND YOUR CHILD TO THIS EVENT!!!  Now, because of work conflicts and previous plans, I can't go this year; as a matter of fact, I've only had the pleasure of going to Planet Wisdom once, BUT it was one of my favorite events...they jam pack the event with great music, humor and some serious teaching of God's Word and it goes fast, but your child will certainly be blessed by what they experience there!!! 

Enjoy the weekend, everybody!!!  GO CARDINALS!!!!

Middle School Ministry - Minor Leagues?

Those of you who know me well have come to realize that I am a huge baseball fan.  On top of that, I can take almost any situation in life and turn it into a baseball analogy.  Youth Ministry is no different.  Actually, I'm not sure I made it an analogy as much as the enemy was trying to use a great passion of mine to discourage me in another. 

It wasn't too long ago that I was feeling discouraged with numerous things in life, generally feeling that I wasn't doing enough and/or wasn't good enough at the things I was doing.  The way the enemy did this in the case of my work in youth ministry was to try to tell me that working in middle school ministry was the equivalent of the minor leagues in baseball; that it wasn't as important as high school, that middle schoolers can't get what it means to truly follow Christ, and that middle schoolers can't do anything great for Christ.  What's more was that the enemy tried to convince me that any work I was doing in middle school ministry wasn't good enough because I wasn't good enough; a common message he tries to send to followers of Christ. 

But as he always does, the enemy was simply twisting the truth.  As I've been thinking through my work, qualifications and desire in youth ministry, I've thought about what youth ministry really is; specifically what middle school should look like.  What I've come up with is that in the true sense, the enemy is right about one thing.  Middle School Ministry IS like minor league baseball, but not for the reasons he was trying to drill into my head. 

The enemy is also correct that I'm not good enough to work in youth ministry...on my own.  I don't have anything in and of myself that could do a lick to help these students come closer to Jesus Christ.  What I do have are the multitudes of blessings I've been given through the 27 years of my life and the assurance that I am a true follower of Him.  Any and every good or great thing that I have ever accomplished in youth ministry is to the praise and glory of God, because I know it's only through Him I can do anything and it's because He wants me doing this that I do this. 

Back to the main point, though...Middle School Ministry is, in some ways, the minor leagues of youth ministry.  That sounds degrading, but hear me out.  What is the main purpose of minor league baseball?  Well, for the most part, the purpose of minor league baseball is to develop young players and help them mature so that they can become quality major league ballplayers.  Ok, what is the main purpose of Middle School Ministry?  The purpose of Middle School Ministry is to develop young students and help them mature in their knowledge and relationship with Jesus Christ so they can go out and show the world who He is. 

For the players, as well as the students, it starts with what kind of coaching they receive.  Players need to rely on coaching to tell them how to play the game the right way; what that means and what that looks like.  It is then the player's responsibility to execute what they've learned to get the desired results.  In the same way, students rely on us as a staff to coach them, guide them, advise them on what following Jesus Christ looks like. 

The important thing about coaching is that if you're going to coach something, it's best for the coach to know a lot about what they're coaching.  If I'm a baseball coach, I need to be able to tell a player what to do when there's a guy on second and third with one out.  I need to be able to tell a pitcher what to throw when the count is 1-2 to a power hitter with a runner on second base.  It would be awkward for a person like me to coach gymnastics...picture that for a moment...actually, it might be better if you don't...but anyway, if we are to take on a role as "coach" on a youth ministry staff, it is imperative that we continue to "learn more about the game" so we better equip ourselves to guide our students.  The same, of course, goes for a baseball coach. 

The interesting thing about this comparison between baseball and youth ministry is that, whether you know it or not, there are seven levels to team-affiliated American professional baseball.  They are:

rookie, low A (or A-), A, high A (or A+), AA, AAA, and MLB. 

Coincidentally (or is it?), our youth ministry covers...7 years...

Of course as in baseball, there are minor league players with major league talent, and perhaps unlike our enemy, I believe if Middle School Youth Ministry is indeed much like minor league baseball, I wouldn't be going out on a limb by saying that many of our students have "major league talent" in that they not only have the ability to do great things for Jesus Christ, but many are already doing great things for Jesus Christ, even today.  There are certainly some limitations for middle schoolers in that they don't drive, they don't have much money and in general, they are less independent...but it doesn't mean that they can't do great things and have grand ideas and execute them and help people in the world.  The Lucid staff has been blown away by the involvement of our students in the Lucid Service Series...they've shown us so much and encouraged us in so many ways that it can't even be described in words. 

So I embrace wholeheartedly the role of coach in helping to develop your kids, our students, to come closer to Jesus Christ and not be discouraged by the manipulative ways of our enemy...

And as a "coach", I love when we get students who come into our ministry with so much "natural talent", or a working knowledge and/or relationship with Jesus Christ.  For the work you do at home, teaching your kids, talking to your kids about Christ, praying  with them and for them, THANK YOU...I encourage you to keep "throwing the ball with them in the backyard" and partnering with us so that one day, we can see these kids make the 'Hall of Fame" and bring others with them...

Wishing you all many blessings,

Todd

We're Buying a Cow!

A cow?

Such a crazy idea, it has to be middle school! Since October, middle school students have been participating in on-going service opportunities we’ve named the Lucid Service Series. The Lucid Service Series gives our students a monthly service opportunity to take part in with a little guys vs. girls competition/ice-cream-party-prize-on-the-line thrown in for fun. For more details on what the Lucid Service Series is, what we’ve done past months, or the awesome way that God brought it about, just ask any of us! 

So that brings us to January’s project, buying a cow! That’s right. This past Wednesday, we began a penny war! Pastor Mark contacted a local spring water company to donate two jugs, and after one night, these kids are already well on their way to owning their very own cow! With limited chance for reminder announcements because of the holidays, Sno Glo and weather, the staff honestly didn’t know how many of them would remember to bring their change the first night. But kids started showing up at Lucid with baggies full of copper and emptying their pockets! Sure, the competition factor is a draw, but we’ve noticed that the kids are getting more and more excited each month to participate. They’re thinking outside of themselves. The Service Series is not about guilting them into participating and there are non-money opportunities planned. We’re asking them to participate as they feel led by God. Through each of these service opportunities, they’re seeing in a practical and fairly easy way how they can help others. In this month’s case, the cow we buy will not end up grazing along William Penn Highway, but is instead going toward a family in a developing country who can use the cow for milk or other dairy products… for their own family or for trade. We’ll have more details on the organization soon, but I just wanted to say how proud of our kids all the staff is!

What can parents do? You could ask your kids about the Service Series, to explain some of the events or what we’ve done in the past. You can talk with your kids about what the Bible has to say about service, how we’re called to serve, and brainstorm ways your family can serve others together.  Oh, and you can save your change! We’re collecting until February 4th.

So on behalf of the middle school youth staff, it’s a pleasure to serve our God by working with your kids!

Erin

Yummy Food With Funny Names

Last night’s staff meeting was at my house, and I had some recipe requests, so I figured I’d post them here.

The first is for No Peek Chicken, or as my family fondly calls it, Chicken “No Peek”… It’s really more of a technique than a recipe:
1. Grease a 9x13” pan
2. Sprinkle a box of wild rice on the bottom
3. Spoon a can of cream of chicken soup around the dish in dollops
4. Repeat step 3 with a can of cream of celery soup
5. Pour in one soup can of water
6. Place boneless chicken breasts on top of soup
8. Optional: sprinkle with ½ packet of onion soup mix
(or the seasoning packet from the rice)
7. Cover with foil
8. Place in 250° oven for 2½ hours – no peeking!

The second is for Emeril Lagasse's Brandy and Orange-Mashed Sweet Potatoes in Orange Cups. With a name like that, you can practically make the recipe from the title alone! :] I find that my grocery store typically has yams, rather than true sweet potatoes, so you may only need four or five to get to three pounds.

Now if we can only get Suzi to post the recipe for the dish she made last month... ;)

How Can I Know??

Sno Glo was a blast! Not only did we have   a  lot of fun, I believe God was working in our hearts through His Word. I would like to take a minute to summarize the focus of this year's sno glo.

The theme was "How Can I Know"? All of the lessons and the worship focused on the topic of salvation and how we can be sure that we have a relationship with God. We were in the book of I John where we considered different evidences of salvation. Here are a few that should be true in our lives if we are a child of God:
1. We love God
2. We love others
3. We keep God's commands
4. We hate sin
5. We confess our sin

One of the most important times was when we gathered as a group in our "break-out" sessions. Here each member of youth staff shared their personal story of how their relationship with God began, and students had an opportunity to ask questions and even share their experiences.

Here are a couple talking points for you as a family to discuss further:

• Each family member can share how they began a relationship with God


• Discuss doubt and where you see a lack of faith in your life


• How sure are you (on a scale of 1-10) that you are a child of God?


• Talk about the relationship of our faith and our good works - how important is it that we show spiritual fruit in our lives?


• What is it that our salvation is based on?

The Glowing of Snowing

We just got back from a wonderful weekend at SnoGlo, the BFC’s annual student winter retreat at Pinebrook in the Poconos. This year was rather atypical in that it actually snowed! Perhaps that’s because they switched the weekends around this year, and the high school group got to go on the weekend that typically belongs to the middle schoolers, who often get snow. In any case, woo hoo!

You may think that wonderful must translate into amazing speaker, big-name band, gourmet food, and stellar accommodations – but…not exactly.

The speaker was solid. His message was simple, his illustrations were clear, and rarely was I sitting in my seat thinking that I needed to be somewhere else. But, honestly, I learned more from the more intimate break-out sessions than I did from the main sessions.

The band was an excellent fit: musically diverse, humble, talented enough to engage your interest, yet local enough to fit the budget. I was especially impressed every time I saw them eating dinner or playing games with the students. I love that they were so accessible.

The food was, well, camp food. Except for a batch of amazing fried chicken, the rest of it was pretty much fuel more than anything else. But I need to add to that the fact that the chef is a really neat guy who is about to depart Pinebrook for an inner-city hunger project where he teaches local churches to feed their communities – how cool is that?

The accommodations…um, let’s just leave it at the clichéd “If you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all.”

So then you may be wondering how I came to the conclusion of “wonderful” or why I’m even writing this review at all. Here’s why: I think this weekend was a great example of church as family. And I think that’s something we need now more than ever.

I love when we do BFC-wide events. My brother and sister go to Bethel BFC in Emmaus, and I got to spend a lot of time introducing my friends to their friends. Perhaps that’s a part of why I really picked up on the sense of community so much. I just loved seeing students there who knew so-and-so from church who knew so-and-so from school who knew so-and-so from their church and etc. I think a lot of people made new friends while getting to know old friends in a deeper way.

Another part of it was that 89% of the youth staff was able to attend. When you have eight adults to share the work of the “grown up responsibilities”, you end up having a lot of time left over to play. We as staff got to spend hours and hours playing volleyball, sledding, knitting, and talking – both with students and with each other. In one of the break-out sessions, we all shared a brief summary of our experiences walking with God, and I learned amazing new things about people I have known for years. We are certainly a more tightly knit staff after this weekend.

However, the main reason I’m writing this blog entry is that I want to emphasize to you as parents how much we as staff need opportunities like this to truly get to know your children as they are. I would like to encourage you to make these trips a priority when you are working out the 2009 budget and calendar for your family. The year is off to a great start with SnoGlo, and we still have Planet Wisdom, DCLA, and Kickback – perhaps even more.

It’s in overnight trips like these that we all let down our guard. That there’s time for us to get to know everyone better. That there’s opportunity to play sports with the athletic student and have earned his respect for future conversations. That there’s time to hang out with the shy student for hours while she gets up the courage to talk about her latest fears. That there’s the chance to make memories doing crazy stuff in the snow, building the relationships we have with our students so they’ll come to us later when they are in crisis.

In the fast-lane world we perpetually experience in the crazy-busy 21st century, it’s so healthy to slow down, get away from it all, and just be family.

~Susannah