UPDATED Spring Calendar

JANUARY
5 TUSD Class Begins
8 Committee Meeting at Arneson's @ 7PM
16-19 Winter Leader Retreat (San Diego) $120
19 MLK Day (No School)
24 Prayer at Aprende MS at 10AM
25 New Leader Training Part 1 at 5:30PM at Gray's
25 Area Fellowship @ Grays w/ Dinner at 7PM
31 Prayer at Kyrene MS
31 Follies Fundraiser at Tempe Center for the Arts @ 7:00PM (Seating at 6:30)

FEBRUARY
6-8 Campaigners Camp at Lost Canyon
Prayer at Corona at 10AM
8 New Leader Training Part 2 at 7PM at Gray's
14 Prayer at McClintock at 10AM
15 New Leader Training Part 3 at 5:30PM at Gray's
15 Area Fellowship at Grays w/ Dessert at 7PM  at Gray's
16 Presidents Day (No School)
19 Committee Meeting at Hardenbrook's at 7PM
21  Prayer at Marcos at 10AM
21 Summer Work Crew Training Part 1 at 7PM at TBA
28 Prayer at Aprende at 10AM
28 Summer Work Crew Training Part 2 at 7PM at TBA

MARCH
1 Area Fellowship at Curry's w/ Dinner at 7PM
5 Committee Meeting @ Sally's @ 7PM
6-8 Committee Weekend @ Lost Canyon
7 Prayer at Kyrene MS at 10AM
7-15 TUSD Spring Break
14 Prayer at Corona at 10AM
15 Area Fellowship at Currys w/ Dessert at 7PM
21 Prayer at McClintock at 10AM
27-29 Pebble Beach Golf Trip
28 Prayer at Marcos at 10AM

APRIL
2 Committee Meeting at Cindy's at 7PM
4 Prayer at Aprende MS at 10AM
5 Area Fellowship at Curry's w/ Dinner at 7PM
10 TUSD Random Holiday (No School)
11 Prayer at Kyrene MS at 10AM
13 All Arizona Club at North Phoenix Baptist Church at 7:30PM
17 Golf Marathon at Lone Tree GC at 6AM
18 Prayer at Corona at 10AM
19 Area Fellowship at Curry's w/ Dessert at 7PM
25 Prayer at McClintock at 10AM

MAY
2 Prayer at Marcos at 10AM
3 Area Fellowship at Gray's w/ Dinner at 7PM
14 Committee Meeting at ______ at 7PM
17 MANDATORY Camp Training at Grays  w/ Dessert at 7PM
21 TUSD Graduation
22 Worship and Prayer Night at TBA at 7PM
23-31 Frontier Ranch (High School)

JUNE
26-July 5 Malibu Beyond (Discipleship Second Year) 

JULY
11-18 Mountain Lodge (Discipleship First Year)
24-29 Oakbridge (Middle School)

Assassination: The Game

Rules:

mccain_shining.jpgThe object of the game is to be the last assassin standing on September 5th. How will you do that? You will receive a name of an individual that you are to assassinate. You must then hunt, stalk, and eventually shoot your assigned target with the water pistol provided or a similar caliber pistol purchased at a fine local retailer. Once you make your hit, text or call 480-209-2049 to confirm ASSASINATION. Once you are shot you out of the game. After you kill your target, you take their target and begin to hunt down their person. There is no limit to how many times you can assassinate others.

If you know who is trying to assassinate you, you may shoot them before they shoot you. This would kill your assassinator and you will have 24 hours of assassination free hunting. If your target becomes eliminated in this manner, call 480-209-2049 for a new target.

If there are multiple people still in the game as of midnight on September 4th, the first person to shoot the Grand Master will be crowned Assassination Champion. Championship victory is FREE LEADER WEEKEND.

-        No Shooting at Work, Church, During Class, or at a Young Life event.

-        No entering someone’s house unless you are invited in by someone in the house. Forced entry is not permitted.

Assassinations begin on Monday August 25 at 12:01AM 

Those who are still alive...as some assassins fall. 

ASSASSIN ...12 left!!!!
Holland Boone
Kate Clarke
Kasi Felix (HS)
Fritz Goins
Kelly Gray
Noah Harkey
Rachael Isaac (HS)
Amy Northrup
Chris Prendergrast
Clare Richardson
Luke Samuels (HS)
Elyssa Urquhart


KILL REPORT
Monday, 9:41AM: Mike Nunes was killed in his sleep by Casey Jensen. Mike was to kill Casey, but Casey found out about the plan and capped Mike first. Casey has 24 hours of freedom. 

Tuesday, 10:32PM
In an eventful evening, there were three kills. Amy Northrup killed Logan Shidawara in self defense. She was clued into her assassin and took matters into her own hand. Casey Jenson killed his second person in as many days as he took out Steven Sheets. It was a rough day for the Sheets/Ross relationship as Morgan Ross was also capped by Clare Richardson. 

For clarification sake: You may shoot people at any point in the day or night or at any location inside or out. The only restrictions to shooting include DURING Young Life events, Church, Work, and School. A general rule for "during" is once inside a classroom, once you have stepped into the sanctuary of the church, once you have entered the building of your work, or once the songs, message, or prayer has started and/or stopped a Young Life event. 

Wednesday, 9:30AM
Dean Stock was shot down Tuesday evening but the body was not recovered till Wednesday morning. Scotty Milam knocked off Stock with a Nosey Cricket. He was shot 37 times in the head, chest, and back. 

Wednesday, 1:30PM
Chelsea Snyder was shot down early Wednesday afternoon by AT Holder. AT took a sniper shot to Chelsea from the rooftop of his Hazelton home. Chelsea reportedly came to the house to take out AT, but the plan was shattered as AT struck her down by Super Soaker before she was able to enter the premises.  There is no word on how AT knew that Chelsea was going to be at the home at that time. Some reports believe AT was camped out on his rooftop for upwards of 54 hours. 

Wednesday, 4:30PM
The attacks are becoming more frequent. Dan Morganelli took out Bobby Mitchell. Details of the shooting have not been released to the public at this time. 

Wednesday, 6:51PM
There was a shootout at the O-Gray-Corral. Clare Richardson held down fort inside the Gray's house for close to 45min. She locked all the entrances except the one she was stationed behind. After 20 minutes of looking through a peep-hole, Amanda Arboleda got out of her car. Amanda was out to shoot Clare, but Clare (who early on appears to be one of the top assassins) found out Amanda was after her and planned this assassination. The strike was quick and Clare was on her way. Keep your eyes open for her this killing season. 

Wednesday, 8:43PM
Brooke Bishop has made her presence known in the game. She committed the first double killing. In a matter of minutes she took out both Colby Blades and Sam Smith. Brooke was moving a lot like Laura Croft from Tomb Raider as she jumped across the floor and struck Sam between the eyes. In a very active day, Colby and Sam become kills number 4 and 5 on the day. 

Wednesday, 9:02PM
Just when you thought the day of killing couldn't get any more intriguing, Matt Clark took out the first high school kid of the game. Allison Palmer put up a good fight but was shot by Clark as he hid in the laundry room. A nearby observer called the killing "Nothing but dirty laundry." Another witness who confirmed the kill mentioned that "He took her to the cleaners." 

Wednesday, 9:43
In the game's first "drive by" Kelly Gray took out Brendan Butler. The unsuspected target was riddled with sprays of water as Gray popped from the backside of a truck. During the shootings it is reported that Gray uttered such phrases as "Gotcha" and "Boom" and "Who rocks the party that rocks your body. I rock the party that rocks your body!" 

Wednesday, 10:15PM
Fritz Goins stumbled upon an easy kill in Tempe. His to-be assassin Casey Jensen was sitting in a cafe only to have Goins randomly walk up on the scene. The unsuspecting Jensen took a shot or eight to the neck and chest and was eliminated rather easily. This created quite a turn of events in the game as Jensen was tied for the overall "kill lead." To shoot or be shot, that is the question. Tonight, Goins answered: to shoot. 

AT HIS POINT IN TIME THERE ARE ONLY 24 PLAYERS LEFT. AFTER A QUIET BEGINNING, ASSASSINS ARE DROPPING LIKE FLIES. 

Wednesday, 10:28PM
Matt Clark took out another target. It appears "rooftop shootings" are becoming the norm as Alyssa Nelson was suprisingly capped by Clark. This was Clark's second kill in an hour and a half. In her last words, Nelson was said to have utter the word "shucks."

Saturday: 9:45PM
The Arizona State Football Game was no safe zone as Allison Hatasaki was killed by Scotty Milam. Gavin Smith was an accomplice to the assassination as he stole the gun for Milam. The unsuspecting Hatasaki was drilled in the back several times as she was getting ready to leave the game. 

Sunday, 7:01PM
Praxis Church was the home to three assassinations. Joe Hatasaki, Casey Ratleif, and AT Holder all went down quickly after the service ended. Hatasaki, who was the second and final Hatasaki to go down in as many days, was shot by Kate Clarke. Kate knew Joe was after her but acted first. Casey Ratleif was also shot by Clare Richardson. Richardson used Kelly Gray's gun. Gray was a willing accomplice. Scotty Milam killed AT Holder with two shots to the back of the chest. 

Monday, 3:15PM
Elyssa Urquhart shot Nick Moore. Details were not released to the public because of the severity of the shooting. 

Monday, 9:38PM
After a 20 minute stake out in Holland Boone's car, Amy Northrup capped Dan Morganelli in the chest, neck, and abdomen. Was was most amazing about this kill is that Amy began screaming a good 4 seconds before she actually shot Dan. The bystanders looked in amazement as she ran across Tie-Dye. 

Tuesday, 4:45PM
Noah Harkey entered killing action as he took out Matt Clark. Clark didnt stand a chance in the computing commons and Noah shot Clark from behind. It is reported that the debris from the shot splashed on the computer screen. Not very "user friendly" if you asked me. 

Tuesday, 10:28PM
There was no silence after YLASU Tuesday night as many took the opportunity to shoot people down. When I say many I mean Elyssa Urquhart. She racked up two more kills as she shot down Scotty Milam and Marc Dacany. The double kill eliminated two strong players in the game. 

Tuesday, 10:42PM
Brooke Bishop was taken out by Holland Boone on Tuesday night. Apparently the stress of finding her kills lead to her death. 

Wednesday, 11:00AM
Kelly Gray made another kill as she knocked off Rawd Allen in his own home. As Allen opened the door he was shot thru the screen door. Allen was suspicious since Gray's hand was behind her back but did not have time to run for his gun to pop Gray. In an unrelated story, the TV sitcom Friends will be airing repeats all day on UPN45. 

8 WOMEN AND 4 GUYS REMAIN...THE WOMEN ARE VICIOUS IN THIS AREA. 

HERE IS A FUNNY LINK TO THE GAME: streetwars.net (watch the videos)

Fall 2008 Prayer Calendar

Meet at the schools' front entrance: 

September 13  Aprende Middle School
September 20  Corona High School
September 27  McClintock High School
October 4        Marcos High School
October 11      Tempe High and Future Middle Schools
October 18      Aprende Middle School
October 25      Corona High School
November 1     McClintock High School
November 8     Marcos High School
November 15   Tempe High and Future Middle Schools 
November 22   All Area Prayer

Saturday Mornings from 9:30-10:15

"Ask and it will be given to you..."  Matthew 7:7
 
It's so simple really.  When I want to see God work, intervene, fill me with His love all I have to do is pray.  We all know that's where the real power resides.  Just ask, Jesus says, and He'll hear and respond. 
 
And sometimes I do just that..and I see miracles or perhaps see nothing at this moment but recieve a peace that nothing else brings.  But often I get distracted, lazy, tired, busy, or lose faith that my prayers are making any difference.  I need help and accountability from other believers. 
 
We all want God to change lives in Tempe Middle and High Schools, so let's join together and pray.  Every Saturday morning from 9:30 to 10:15 I'll be on the campus of one of Tempe's Schools walking and praying.  We'll have a short group prayer, share some prayer needs and leader requests for the school, then start walking the campus. 
 
Who's invited?  Tempe Committee, leaders and campaigners for the school where we're meeting, and any Tempe YL supporter.
 
Please come any week you can make it and each Saturday you have other plans--pray at home or on the road.  Let's watch and see what God will do!

Heather Curry
Tempe Committee Member since 2008
 

Any New Club Song Ideas?


I am a Talk Radio kinda guy. I am not "hip" on the music scene. Any new song ideas for Club this year? As you post, think Content more then Artist (of course popular artists help). Many secular artists sing some very REAL songs about pain, love, fear. All great things that we talk about with kids during the year.

Respond below...I need some good ideas.

Focus on 10...or 12


I carry a large burden when it comes to kids. I want to reach as many as I can. As a matter of fact I carry the burden for our entire club...even though others leaders do a great job and carry a similar weight. 

As we look at the way Jesus does ministry he has different groups. First, Jesus ministers to the masses. He feeds 5,000,  4,000 and always has a crowd around Him. He hand picked 12 that he would be close with. But he had three of those twelve, John, Peter, and James, that he was the closest with. 

This is not a new discovery. I have taught for years that we need to look at this model for ministry and apply it to Young Life. We look at the masses (our entire school or area that we are apart of), and have our 12 (kids whom we make regular contact with), and we have our 3 (kids whom we replicate our life in). 

The problem is I do not practice what I preach. I own the burden for the entire club. I want to impact every kid...myself. The outcome: I become irritated. Stressed. Not a great leader. I miss kids when they show up. 

This year, Tempe Young Life will own this. I am committed to it. ONE OF THE MAIN AREAS OF EMPHASIS ON THIS YEAR WILL BE FINDING YOUR 10...OR 12. 

How does this look? It begins with BELIEVING that this is greatest way to impact the lives of kids. If we actually own this for even a year MORE KIDS WILL KNOW JESUS AND THAT KIDS WILL BE DISCIPLED BETTER. Thats what we want, right? (I can only pray that the Lord will use us in a big way!!!)

Practically speaking, we have an area of about 25 leaders. At the end of the year we had about 120 kids active in the ministry (club or campaigners somewhat regularly). We took about 110 kids to camp. That is a 1 to 4 kid to leader ratio. Not bad. Not great.  My hope (my prayer) is that if we ALL own this we will more then double (maybe even triple) the number of kids we reach every year.  With 25 leaders, owning this method of ministry, 250-300 kids are active in club and going to camp. 

Can you imagine every leader with their own cabin of kids???? Isn't that what every leader wants anyway? 

We then are able to meet kids where they are at. For example, lets say you start off this year with  7 girls that already know Jesus...great! Take them to campaigners and then discipleship camp. Help them grow into leaders (Young Life, Church, community). This year you can take some energy and go find 3-5 new girls (not try to fill the entire club room with new girls) that you can bring to club and outreach camp. If you did that you would be an AMAZING leader. Any Area Director would love that in their area or club. Some other leader may have 1 campaigner girl and 8 kids who dont know Jesus. The combination is great.  It makes for a complete club where you are discipling kids and reaching new ones. It is nice to know that it is not YOUR job to be responsible for 10 girls at campaigners and 30 at club. 

There is so much more I can say about this. This will be a focus at every Area Fellowship and pushed as a direction at Team Meetings. I pray that this year we reach more kids, better. 


Team Get-A-Ways

Marcos: August 22-24
Location: Camping in the Wilderness

McClintock: August 29-31
Location: Brendan's House (Buckeye, AZ)

Corona: August 30
Location: Tukee YL House

Aprende: August 21-22
    Location: TBA

Campaigners: Location Location Location


Before I knew anything about Real Estate I was told: Location is everything. I now own 2 homes and only "kinda" bought into that philosophy. However, I am certain that good Campaigners are spawn out of a similar theme. 

Have you ever tried running a good Campaigners in a bad location? Sometimes you dont realize it is bad or good until you have given it a shot.  We would think a Coffee shop might be a great spot. It leads to a "talking environment." People feel comfortable there. But, if a girl needs to share that she feels uncomfortable with her body will she do so sitting next to the guy with the beard and glasses who smells like he hasnt showered in over a week. Probably not. Plus, your only option to pull out a guitar and sing worship songs requires you to use a mic and and have "Smelly Cat" (a Friends reference) in your set. 

What about a house where you walk in and it looks as if you just stepped back in a time machine. The only place you see this furniture is at grandmas house or at a museum. Rule of thumb: if it looks like a museum then people will act like its a museum. Quiet. 

I can go on forever on places which may or may not work (I have seen Campaigners at each of the above locations. I have just found them to be a little more inconsistent on how well they are run based on the surrounding environment. If you are having Campaigners there now and it is working then more power to you). 

Here are a few rules that I live by when selecting a campaigners location...
1) If you dont feel comfortable then kids wont feel comfortable.
2) Have campaigners in a place that is fun. If you are bored then kids will be bored. 
3) Be consistent. Consistency produces comfort. If kids are comfortable then they are more likely to share. 
4) It is 98.7% important that the family who's house you are at removes ALL possible distractions while you are meeting or sharing: pets, other kids, themselves, TV, music, etc. 

Location. Location. Location.

I would love to hear some of your best Campaigners locations. 

Club: Goals


Do you ever feel weird about counting kids in club or perhaps an emphasis placed on numbers going to camp? It is a funny balance. "Numbers People" (like myself) will argue that we want to reach EVERY kid. EVERY is a number. It means ALL. But before we get to EVERY we need to get from 40 to 50 (if you are a "non-numbers person" you are now cringing). 

Those who dont like numbers will argue: its about the individual kid. If I impact one then this whole thing is worth it. They might also say, numbers are human and not divinely inspired. Who said 50 was a magical number of kids we need to take to camp ("numbers people" response: the bus company). 

So how do we find a common ground here. Most likely there are leaders with each of these very different views. As you plan a semester this is an important thing to figure out. After all, if your team is trying to set goals and one person is thinking "I want 100 kids at club" and the other person is thinking "I want to connect with kids well" then someone will not be very happy with the outcome. No goal will matter and your team wont be on the same page. 

Here is what I suggest (you may not like this so if you dont then give me another option below). You need a little of both (this is not a copout answer). To throw out numbers all together is silly. To be all about numbers and miss people seems to be the exact opposite of what Jesus did with his ministry. So use both. 

I have always been taught that goals need to be tangible. There is no way to measure if kids had fun at club. How do you measure this? What if 20 kids had fun and 4 kids didnt? There is no right answer. It can be argued either way. So make your goals tangible (numbers people like this). We want  60 kids to club and we will fill a bus to camp. Now, have your "non-numbers people" evaluate the goals IN THE CONTEXT of how you are doing with kids relationally. If we have 70 kids in club (met our goal) but dont know 20 kids names then are we really doing a good job of ministering to ALL the kids? Of course not. 

You need both types of people. 

A note for SENIOR LEADERS: know what you have on your team. Numbers or Non-Numbers people. You might be able to tailor your goals so that everyone is happy. 

A note for LEADERS: your Senior Leaders are not bad people if you do not agree with them on what a goal should be or how it is written. Try to be open and see how you can use different types of goals. 

Campaigners: Be a Teacher and Go DEEP


Leading a Campaigner lesson might be one of the most difficult things you do as an "up front" leader in Young Life. Why? First, and most importantly, there is an assumption that you (THE LEADER) know the scripture WITH MORE DEPTH then the kids whom you are teaching. 

If Club talks are focused on kids who care about Jesus the very least, well Campaigner talks should challenge and engage the kid who cant get enough about Jesus. I think way too often we give our kids a little bit of the weak sauce when it comes to Campaigner messages. 

Giving a Campaigner talk requires tons of prep. You dont want to talk about the woman caught in adultery and give the same info that you would give to non-Christian kids during a Club talk. What is new in this story? Go deeper with Jesus. Answer the who? what? where? when? why? questions. There will be studding and re-reading the passage(s) over and over again. Let the LIVING WORD reveal something to you. God can do miracles, but let God speak to you over time, dont prepare the day before the talk. 

The talk prep is not over once you know what you are going to say, you now need to prepare some good questions. THIS MIGHT BE THE MOST DIFFICULT PART.  Who wants to answer the question: Does Jesus love you? NOBODY. Dumb question. If questions are too easy people wont answer because the answer is too obvious. However, if the question is too difficult people stay quiet so they dont say a wrong answer and look stupid. Also, personal questions are hard to ask. Try to ask the question: Why do your friends (or people in your school) not care about Jesus and not Why do you not care about Jesus in your life? 

These are just a few helpful hints to how to give a great campaigners talk. My encouragement: MAN UP. CHALLENGE KIDS. CHALLENGE YOURSELF. 

Club: Events

What is more fun then putting together a great Event for Club? Events, if used well, are great when you need to break up a long semester of consecutive "regular clubs,"  get new kids who normally would never go to regular club, or even if you are starting up a Club and dont have enough kids to do regular Club, Events are perfect. 

Here are some of my favorite...it is just a beginning.

- Cops and Robbers
- Dodgeball
- Kickball
- Wiffleball
- Amazing Race
- Messy Games/ Tank Wars
- Photo Scavenger Hunt
- Crab Soccer
- LazerTag

This is just a start. Post some more ideas below. If you need some help with some ideas then just watch this video. It always helps my creativity grow. 

Club: Themes


You may be thinking to yourself: Self, I would love to have more themes in our club this year. Well, here is just a start of some random theme Club ideas....


- Yellow Club (everyone comes dressed in Yellow)
- Star Wars Club
- Christmas Club
- Tennis Club
- College Club (wear a shirt of your favorite college team)
- Love Club (sing songs with the word "love" and play a Kissing Game)
- Geek/Nerd Club
- Fear Factor Club
- The Ultimate Kid/Leader Challenge Club
- Duct Tape Clu
- 70's/Disco Club
- Cowboy/Cowgirl Club
- American Idol Club
- Reality TV Show Club
- Thanksgiving Club
- Baby Club (which lucky leader gets to wear a diaper)
- Egg Club (this gets messy...fun...and gross)
- Wet and Wyld Club (good for Wyldlife)
- Pizza Olympics Club
- Olympic Club
- America's Got Talent Club
- Dance Dance Revolution Club

DONT FORGET: You can put together a stupid sounding club (if we are honest, many of them are). IT IS ALL ABOUT LEADERSHIP. CLUB ONLY GOES AS WELL AS THE LEADERS MAKE IT HAPPEN AND BELIEVE IN IT!!!!!

Post some of your favorite Themed Clubs here. 

Club: Does Club Still Work?



 







There are many good reasons to have club. But those are not the real reasons -- not if I'm honest. Club is good for me. After 20 years of leading meetings, it still isn't easy. I don't know if I will ever get used to the pressure of wondering whether any kids will come.

So why do I still do it? Let me try toarticulate a few reasons:

  • Club still works -- at least in our part of the country. At the end of Monday night when club is over, I'm thankful. Kids had a great time, heard about Christ and were with people who love them. I'm convinced this is as powerful as anything we say.
  • Club keeps me honest. Club and numbers are not THE critical standard, but they are a gauge. They let me know we are reaching a certain group of kids. The challenge is to keep reaching beyond clubs to the different groups of kids that club doesn't appeal to.
  • As much as I hate to admit this, club forces me to deal with the right issues -- issues that I might be able to avoid if I didn't do club. Issues like being dependent, humble and prayerful.
  • Club is a structure that facilitates other activities in Young Life that then attract more and/or different kids. It's very hard to sell camp and activities without a platform. I was in Lexington, KY, and for four years could not establish a regular, healthy club. All of the other activities were harder to develop because of that.
  • Club helps others understand what we are doing. We live in a programmatic world that fundamentally doesn't understand relational ministry. They will never understand the value of contact work (incarnation ministry), which, I believe, is the real power of our ministry. Club helps people understand what we are doing.
In spite of all the above, we must be careful not to make club a sacred cow. It may not work for some teen populations, and it may need to look different in others. Let's stay open and always pray for the courage to stop club tomorrow if God gives us a better platform for the Gospel. Till then, I'll see you at club.

John Evans
Regional Director
Mississippi Valley Region

Committee: Ways to Get Involved


Kid Support

  • Visit club or Campaigners – you’re always welcome, just ask.
  • Help at a weekend camp – drive, counsel or be a head leader. Ask if there is something you can do. Help plan a parents’ night and follow up with parents who visit.
  • Organize or participate in a special event – square dance, work-a-thon, Christmas club, alumni club, Valentine’s club, etc.
  • Help raise camp scholarship money.

Leadership Support

  • Get to know a leader better.
  • Host a team meeting in your home.
  • Adopt a leader, meet for breakfast or just pray and care however God may lead.
  • Baby-sit for leaders who have children.
  • Coordinate a prayer ministry around a school team.

Community Involvement

  • Coordinate the use of adult guest spots at summer camps.
  • Lead or participate in a moms’ Campaigners or dads’ breakfast study.
  • Contact area service clubs and arrange for Young Life to get on the program.
  • Work on church relations by meeting with pastors or church mission groups and sharing information about Young Life.
  • Write, plan, prepare or help mail the area newsletter.
  • Minister to the educational community: faculty and administration relations, teachers’ prayer breakfasts.

Leadership: How to get people to do what you want

Have you ever wanted to get your kids to read the Bible more or have a daily devotion with Jesus but somehow just saying "Do it" doesnt work? Well, I have been there. Here is a tip on how to get kids to do things that are important without even letting them know you are telling them to do it!

GIVE SPECIAL RECOGNITION

As you know in your own life, recognition is important to us all. We all love to be noticed when we do good things. Heck, most of us like to be acknowledged when we just do our job. So the question: How can you get people to do things (good things) without forcing them?

I believe that one way you can do this is by giving continued and reinforced recognition to people who do what you want, well. Not only do you give that person an opportunity to share about the great things they have done, but others see the recognition they are getting, they see the value by hearing other peoples testimonies, and they might just end up doing it themself. This is a win/win. Not only are you reinforcing the good action, but it now shows others around them that this great thing that they are doing is valuable and important in their own life (the best part is that they can see the benefit for themselves!!!!) 

This strategy can work for contact work, campaigners, or various other aspects of Young Life. 

EXAMPLE 1: If you want to enforce kids having quiet times, ask your campaigner group every EVERY WEEK: What is God teaching you in your quiet times? There are some kids who will talk all the time at first. Once kids start to catch on, other kids will want to have something to share. Pretty soon many of your campaigner kids might for the first time have regular quiet times. 

EXAMPLE 2: If you want your leaders to do more contact work, ask for contact work stories in team meetings (I do this is for EVERY Area Fellowship if you have noticed). Let people teach each other. The new teachers will be happy and it allows people with different gift-sets to be recognized in a new way. 

Contact Work: Give a Dundee


The Office might be the best show on TV. The Dundee might be the best Award. How about getting a Dundee made for a contact work award. Its kinda like an employee of the month award Young Life style. Here are a few ideas for how it may won...

1) Everyone who does 10 visits to campus a month gets nominated for the Dundee. A raffle declares the winner. The Dundee will then be presented at the monthly Area Fellowships. 

2) Most Creative Contact Work story that is shared at Area Fellowship gets the Dundee. 

If you have any more ideas on how to use the Dundee list them below. I think fun rewards are great to have. 

Contact Work: Waiting to Start Club till...


When you plan club you have to pick a day to start. For most areas this is the day or week following leader weekend. However, how about starting club once your team does a certain amount of contact work. 

For example, how about starting club once your team has been on campus a combined 50 times.  If you have 5 leaders that means everyone can go 10 times each or if you have a few super leaders some people might not go as much. You can pick the number for yourself. 

This is one area of ministry that I would make goals team oriented versus individual oriented. It is always more fun do do contact work with other people plus your team can help hold you to a higher standard. Team goals are more public (everyone knows what they are) and are also individually flexible. After all, some people are more available then others. Some people even like going to campus more then others. Now they can be the leaders of this aspect of your team. 

Finally, and most importantly, this would set a standard for how your club will do contact work all year long. By starting off the year having contact work be the standard of what your club looks like then you cant miss. No matter how well club goes, you know your team is doing the dirty work of Young Life. 

Finally you can sit back and let God do his part. 

Club: Planning


The way I see it there are only a few ways to plan club. 

1) Figure out who is in charge of each part of club (message, mixers, skit) and have them come up with the actual game week by week.

2) Figure out what the games you are doing for each part of club and determine who will do run them week by week. 

3) Figure out who is in charge of club and plan the games all at the same time. 

There may be more, but from what I hear these are the most common ways to plan. 

Here is what I encourage you to do, take a weekend and get away with your team. Plan and pray as much as possible. If you can plan out everything then do that. A long weekend of planning will do wonders for how your stress level does during a long semester of club. Not to mention, the bonding time you share with your team is without a doubt one of the best things you will do  all year long. 

Contact Work: Part 1


Two years ago I joined a Young Life Club that was loaded with kids. Our first club was packed with over 100 of them. It took all I had not to ask the same kid what his name was two weeks in a row.  

As good as this situation may sound, it might be the worst possible club for new leaders to be apart of. Let me tell you why.

When you show up for Club and kids are already there, what you find is leaders begin to "manage" what they have and not "go" make contact with new kids. This is problamatic for several reasons. First, if a leader never has to start off in their ministry by "going" it is extremely difficult to learn how to do so when the large numbers go away. Second, leaders begin to take kids out of "what is available that other leaders dont want or connect with." This is often harder on leaders. They dont go after kids that they might be more like. This may burn out leaders who work hard at connecting with kids who they dont ever really connect with. Finally, there is not as much ownership by leaders who have not done the hard work of reaching out and making contact with kids. 

If you are a new leader, here is what you do. Go to the school. Act as if there are no kids in your club. Pursue kids as if there will be no one unless you get 10 kids for yourself.  If every leader has that same ownership and thought process then ALL leaders will understand what it means to reach out to new kids in a school and make ministry happen. 

Worship Song Books


There is nothing better then singing a song in church that nobody knows. You know, when you look around during the song and the only people singing are in the band. So many questions: Do I clap? Do I snap my fingers? You don't want to be that guy who starts singing just a bit before everyone else.  Your buddy looks at you and laughs. All he is doing is thinking to himself, "Man, I almost sang there too. Now he is the idiot and I am just the guy who doesnt know if he should clap here."

Well, if you have opened up a Young Life song book recently you may find many songs that make you think to yourself: I wish I enjoyed talk radio more. 

I have made an updated Worship Song Book for Campaigners and a corresponding book of Song Chords. I hope you find this helpful