Be a Blessing to Your School
Most schools truly want help from the church, but they don’t necessarily want Bible clubs. How can youth workers bless schools with real help, especially as the school experience is changing so greatly?Yo...
More than a Mission Field: The YWJ Roundtable on Schools
Youth spend far more time in school than church. Yet, most youth workers rarely set foot inside their local schools, leading some to argue that our schools are the church’s forgotten mission field.Because...
All You Need Is Love
Every so often, we need to remind ourselves what this thing is all about—“this thing” being youth ministry, in particular, and the Christian walk, in general.I suggest we could boil the whole...
Do You Really Know Who You Are?
Do you know who you are? Most of us know the pat answers to this question. We share them regularly in our teaching and counseling; but in our heart of hearts, what is the truth for you?Having worked with thousa...
Urbana Has Helped Nearly a Quarter Million Young Missionaries
It’s so easy in our globalized world to buy airline tickets and take teens straight to the mission field, allowing them to experience missions firsthand for a week. Is that the best way to introduce them ...
Twisting Scripture for the Kids
My wife and I recently taught Sunday School to 4- and 5-year-olds at our church. The lesson was about John the Baptist, so we gave the kids a spin at acting like first-century hippies. They dressed up in camel&...
Making the Transition to College
Summer's the time when high-school grads go to parties and turn their sights toward college. Then, in what seems like a few moments, this group of wide-eyed students arrives on campus to navigate a whole new wo...
The Worship Leader as Creative Curator
I constantly am amazed by the popularity of reality TV shows. They aren’t just entertainment; they’ve changed the way viewers watch TV, allowing viewers to alter the outcome of the action!These show...
School Rules for Youth Workers
My school years were far from “Happy Days.” I grew up with a simmering prejudice against public schools that preoccupied my early life until that day in June 1974 when I received my high-school dipl...
Reaching Over-Churched or Home-Schooled Kids
They’ve heard it all before. Half are home-schooled. They’re fluent in Hebrew; Leviticus is their favorite book; and they have a well-articulated position on the authorship of Isaiah.It’s easy...