Thesis: Volunteering builds your reputation in the community.
You planned for months for this event. You found the most amazing bands in your area. You filmed some amazing media clips. You honed your presentation to perfection.
Then the night finally comes, and you stand back watching and waiting. The start time comes, and your volunteers are in place at the door. Fifteen minutes pass, then 30. After 45 minutes, you pull the plug. No one shows.
Your budget is blown. Your ego is crushed. Your prayers are angry.
Maybe you try to justify what has happened: a sporting event at the same time, a traffic jam, a misprint on the posters, a Facebook error. Maybe you just accept the disheartening event as a sign that your passion for reaching out to the community was not meant to be. So you settle the best you can back into the hum drum of the daily church routine. Maybe you deny the event was a failure at all, citing it as the stepping stone to build momentum.
The facts remain: You wanted to build some bridges into the community. You wanted others to know your church is there. You wanted to impact the lives of teens you see smoking pot in the alley behind your church. What you wanted did not happen.
If you can relate to this, I want to say thank you for trying. Many people never see the need to work outside the walls of the church at all, yet you tried something. If it worked out the way you had envisioned or not, you still tried. That is a start.
Now I acknowledge that I don’t know your particular circumstances, but I may have some insight in to what went wrong with your event; it comes down to two simple words: Come and Go.
Generally speaking, Christians focus on the word come. We expect people to come to our events. We invite people to come to church. We challenge people to come to the Lord.
On the other hand, Jesus said, “Go and make disciples of all nations…” (emphasis added). Here the key word to focus on is go. So how can we do that? Think simple.
Go get involved: There are countless organizations looking for quality volunteers. I did data entry for the local police department. This may not seem relevant, but in so doing, I got to know many of the police officers quite well, as well as many of the problem spots for troubled youth in my area.
Go ask questions: I learned so much about our community through scheduling meetings with people in the area. I met with people who were political leaders all the way to street sweepers. Each person shared his or her unique view of the youth problems in the city. One business owner had trouble with kids loitering outside his store late at night. His solution was to play the local Christian music radio station as loud as possible outside his place. It effectively scared them away.
Go address needs: Even though we want people to realize their need for a message from God, the average person doesn’t see they have such a need. Instead of trying to convince them of that need, go and address the needs they do have. If they are hungry, feed them. If their car needs repairs, help get it fixed. If they need help with homework, become a tutor.
Then instead of asking people to come, you will find them following you back to where you came from because they want to know what makes you go.
Danny Ferguson just a normal guy. He likes to ride motorcycles, watch movies and discuss philosophy. He also happens to be a youth worker. You can follow his blog or connect with him on Twitter and Facebook.
