ICC retreat presentation on international youth ministry

International Youth Ministry

I am glad that I get the opportunity to talk with you today about youth ministry because I believe it is a door that God has opened for us here in France and Europe. If we are to look for the places that God is moving I believe this is one of the major ways specifically with the internationals.

The factors making this an open door:
1. Open to the gospel at a younger age. Once they become adults they’ve already formed their world view and if no one was there to tell them about Jesus than how can we expect them to have Christ as the center of their lives. In adults we are battling against preconceived notions, things that are already learned like skepticism and to not trust anything. Kids are more willing to trust and look for the unseen and mysteries in life.
2. TCK’s. They get that name because they are not fully from their parents culture nor fully from the culture in which they were raised so TCKs develop their own life patterns different from those who were basically raised in one culture. It is a culture between cultures and they tend to have more in common with each other than with the first two cultures.
Two key components of TCKs are
a. Belonging. That they don’t fit in- have a need to belong. They can belong in the youth group and more importantly in God’s family. “They admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth. People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them” Hebrews 11: 13b-16
b. Identity. Cultures change as well as the way they relate to each culture. Each culture brings its own behaviors, words, customs, traditions, beliefs, values, assumptions, and though process. As these change so does the child’s sense of identity. (ex someone who saw themselves as quick and funny in one language questions if he/she still is funny while they struggle with a new language.) They will find their identity in Christ and not in a place or a culture. See in Christ I am…
These two factors change the way I do Youth group. Every kid needs to belong, but in few places is a youth group the only place they really belong. There are other kids like them. They are normal.

This thought will get us started in the key ingredients in cross cultural youth ministry.
1. Creating an environment where they can belong. We can’t make it happen but we can set up the conditions. We can’t make a seed grow into a plant but we can water it and turn the soil and create the environment for it to do well. We can focus on community and including each other, love, embracing new friends, togetherness, and creating an environment of grace. We can give them un-programmed time where they can just hang out with each other and talk and play games. We can create places where they can be accepted and not excepted. This is meeting a felt need. One man hungers for food so we serve him in a soup kitchen and another hungers for acceptance so we create a place for them to belong.
2. One quality of TCKs is they can seem more mature from a younger age and in some ways they are, but in other ways they are still just kids which means they
a. Love/ need to have fun
b. Love to be goofy and silly
3. It is different from other youth ministry in the states because you can’t rely on the parents to bring the kids. Only a small % of parents will send their kids from small international church plants typically. The kids need to want to command to invite their friends. It needs to be attractional to them. It needs to be an environment they are drawn to.
4. Get as many good leaders as you can to love the kids, spend time with them and to be another voice speaking the truth to them. It is easier to trust many voices and not just one or two. Each kid will connect differently with different leaders. No matter what their personalities each leader will connect best with certain kids. More leaders means more types of kids and closer connections.
5. Camps are huge for connecting with local kids, keeping up with kids that have moved and going deeper.
6. Know that many international parents who want little to do with the church will encourage their children to explore their own faith and beliefs. They want to be tolerant and not imposing and this creates a place where Christ can enter into their worlds. This is an opening with agnostic families. This dynamic makes it especially important to have a relationships first approach where the kids are presented with Christianity but don’t feel pressured into it. This is the key to many parent’s trust.
7. If you do nothing else; love, love love em. That is still 90% of it.


See also