| TheSource4YM.com | |
 | Jonathan’s Resource Ezine |
Weekly Resources, Ideas and Articles from The Source for Youth Ministry
Wednesday, August 20, 2003
| In This Issue |
- New ideas you can use this week! Ever played Slime Twister? (A messy twist on the classic game!)
- Questions from a burnt out youth worker. "I’m out 4 to 5 nights a week, I’m practically doing everything myself,
I need help . . . I don’t know if I’m even cut out for this!!!" - More answers to the questions we ask. Now even more great questions many of us ask on our updated "Ask Jonathan" page.
| If you aren’t a subscriber of this EZINE and would like to subscribe – it’s free – just pop on www.TheSource4YM.com and sign up in the upper right hand corner. |
| NEW IDEAS YOU CAN USE THIS WEEK! |
August 20, 2003
Check out some of the new game ideas just added to our web site. Try them out this week!
– – FLY SWATTER HOCKEY – –
Go to a local "dollar store" and find 2 different colors of fly swatters. Buy as many as you need to make 2 teams in your group. In a large room, either place goals at opposite ends or tape off an area of the wall to represent goals. Use ping pong balls for the puck and only let students hit the ball with their swatter. Have a face off between 2 opposing students after each goal. First team to 5 goals wins or set a time limit. Lots of fun.
– – TOILET PAPER FIRING SQUAD – –
If you don’t mind A LOT of clean up, this game is one kids will remember! For this game you need several packs of toilet paper, depending on the number of students you have. This is a variation of Toilet Paper Dodge Ball. Line all but two players against an outside wall with side boundaries clearly marked. The two “marksmen” pull off a wad of toilet paper and dip in a bucket of water, making it really soggy. Then they try to hit the other players who are allowed to move side to side from about 15-20 feet away. The last person to be hit and the runner-up are the two “marksmen” in the next round. If the game is taking too long, put a 1-3 minute time limit on each round, and pronounce the winner as the one who has the least amount of people left standing (and dry)!
– – PAPER PLANE ONSLAUGHT – –
For this game you need two different colors of 8? x 11 paper, as many sheets as you have students plus extra, just in case. Also, give everyone a pair of cheap sunglasses, because you’ll need eye protection for this one. Then you split the room with tape or another similar divider. Give half of the group one stack of color paper and the other half the other color. Choose a time limit between 1 and 3 minutes. The idea is to see how many paper airplanes one team can throw to the other side before the time is up. The team that has thrown the most planes to the other side wins.
– – SLIME TWISTER – –
This is a MESSY twist (pun intended) on the classic board game Twister. Did we say messy? That’s an understatement: you play this version using puddles of pea soup, blue pudding, ketchup, and mustard on the plastic dots.
| Questions from a burnt out youth worker. "I’m out 4 to 5 nights a week, I’m practically doing everything myself, I need help . . . I don’t know if I’m even cut out for this!!!" |
August 20, 2003
– – Does this sound familiar? Here’s a cry for help from a youth worker named Dan. I think many of us can relate:
Dear Jonathan, Currently I have been serving here at this church for about 14 months. I am the only youth staff right now. We are a church of about 650 with about 60 active youth. I am having a hard time staying focussed and driven with BOTH jr. high and high school. Often times one gets more priority when the other is not. COMMITTED leaders are a rare comodity. What would you suggest as an ideal set up for success? Currently we meet on Friday evenings for Junior High and Sunday evenings for Senior High, that is also quite tough for me because it often means I am away from home at least 4-5 out of 7 evenings a week. What do I do? I can not combine to one night because my Senior Pastor forbids it although I think it would work. I just do not know what I should do. It’s making me wonder if I am even cut out for youth ministry. HELP MAN!
Dan, NJ
I hear ya Dan! That’s always tough.
You brought up four different issues. Let’s break them down:
- You’re not alone! A ton of youth workers ask the same question you’re asking right now and wonder the same thing. Am I cut out for this? Is this too much? Is this impossible? Am I really even making a difference?
Know this: 1 Cor. 15:58 (NIV)Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.
You’re making a difference in the lives of youth for eternity. Although the rewards are sometimes lost in the fog . . . don’t give up. I’m sure that many of us feel that way at times. But we only have to think of that one story of a kid whose life has been changed forever by Jesus through your ministry. That makes it all worth it. Just last week I saw a kid I led to Christ almost a decade ago. He’s going to church, he’s about to get married and he’s working with youth. Wow! All that exhaustive work was actually worth it. A life was changed . . . and God let me in on the process. - You scared me when you wrote 4 to 5 nights out a week. I only say that because I was doing that very thing almost 7 years ago until my wife HAD ENOUGH and put the smack down! You didn’t mention if you’re married . . . but if you are married, 4 to 5 nights out is TOO much. You need to rework your schedule to change that immediately!
“How?” You ask? Glad you asked. I wrote an entire article on that very issue, telling the story of my wife almost walking out, and giving some proactive steps you can take to AVOID that happening by better managing your time:
https://thesource4ym.com/howdoi/balancedlife.asp - Don’t put jr. high and senior high together! A 7th grade boy and an 11th grade boy are TOTALLY different and have entirely different issues going on in their lives. Although you can do similar programming with each, I find that the methods or models used to reach these age groups are very different.
When I ran both jr. high and sr. high (on separate nights) I actually used the same curriculum for each on a given week. But I tweaked it to fit their age group. I used a lot more activity for jr. high and less “talk” time. My high school kids, however, wanted to talk all night long. Small groups worked great for them.
But this brings up a big question. How is a youth worker to run both high school, junior high, Bible studies, events, trips, etc. without getting burned out? Glad you asked. Something I touch on in the above article is delegating. And delegating takes volunteers . . . which brings me to my next point. - GET MORE VOLUNTEERS! A good team of volunteers can help you run your ministry so that you will only be out just 2 to 3 nights a week. You should go to your weekly junior high program, your weekly senior high program, and to your monthly events. But volunteers can take up the slack of Bible-studies, small groups, etc.
But how do you get volunteers? Glad you asked. Check out the two articles on recruiting and keeping volunteers on my HOW DO I . . .? page: https://thesource4ym.com/howdoi/
I go into greater detail about recruiting volunteers, programming, and planning ahead in your ministry in my book THE TOP 12 RESOURCES YOUTH WORKERS WANT:
https://thesource4ym.comhttp://www.jonathansresources.com/Books/default.aspx
(And since you know I like to give things away free, you can pick
it up on my web site right now and get free shipping)
Keep up the good work!
Jonathan McKee
| MORE ANSWERS TO THE QUESTIONS WE ASK. Now even more great questions many of us ask on our updated "Ask Jonathan" page |
My staff act worse than my kids!
We’re leaving this ministry, how do we say goodbye?
How do I reach tough kids?
Find the answers to these questions and many more on our ASK JONATHAN page:
https://thesource4ym.com/askthesource/
Or, if you have a question you would like to ask about youth ministry, just pop on the page and "Ask Jonathan."
If you have any other youth ministry ideas you want to share, please email me at jon@thesource4ym.com
Jonathan speaks at schools, camps, and youth events all over the U.S. He also trains youth workers and student leaders at national conferences and seminars. Check out Jonathan’s speaker page and who’s recommending him!
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KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK!
God Bless,
Jonathan R. McKee
THE SOURCE
for Youth Ministry
www.TheSource4YM.com
Jonathan McKee
Jonathan McKee is the author of over twenty books including the brand new The Guy's Guide to FOUR BATTLES Every Young Man Must Face; The Teen’s Guide to Social Media & Mobile Devices; If I Had a Parenting Do Over; and the Amazon Best Seller - The Guy's Guide to God, Girls and the Phone in Your Pocket. He speaks to parents and leaders worldwide, all while providing free resources for youth workers on TheSource4YM.com. Jonathan, his wife Lori, and their three kids live in California.