Strengthening our atrophied missions muscles
Average Youth Ministry Blog
by Benjamin Kerns
3y ago
Many of us have been working so hard to keep our own ministries afloat that the ministries and missions organizations that we are connected to have diminished. This is understandable, but it is now time to re-engage with our ministry partners. As our own church is attempting to do this, we are finding out that this is harder than it seems. Some questions we are asking: "Do we even have the bandwidth to look outside ourselves?" "Do we have the resources to minister outside our context?" "Do we have the strength to re-engage in contextual, relational, cross-cultural ministry after this challeng ..read more
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Taking Advantage of Teachable Moments on a Mission Trip
Average Youth Ministry Blog
by Benjamin Kerns
3y ago
Youth ministry is all about setting the table. Throughout everything we do as youth workers, we know that Jesus is the one who changes lives, so we continually create spaces for Jesus to show up. Intuitively, we know certain youth ministry events are better “tables” than others, and a mission trip might be one of the greatest tables we could invite our students to partake in!  Mission trips are full of teachable moments. With some intentionality, mission trips can be a deep well of discipleship opportunities that point students towards Jesus. Here are a few suggestions that will help max ..read more
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6 COVID Safety Measures for Your Mission Trip
Average Youth Ministry Blog
by Benjamin Kerns
3y ago
Looking for the right COVID safety measures before your mission trip? These 5 things will help get you started.  Your next mission trip is within sight, but like all of us, no one gave you a roadmap for how to prepare for navigating COVID-19 safety measures. There are layers of complicated details that you have to keep in mind, and not to mention, having Plan A through E ready to go if necessary.  We’re doing all of that work too, and we wanted to help.  Our team at YouthWorks has been planning COVID-19 safety policies, fine-tuning all of our safety measures and contingency pla ..read more
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6 Steps to Planning an At-Home Mission Week
Average Youth Ministry Blog
by Benjamin Kerns
3y ago
An At-Home Mission Week can be your Plan B for this summer’s mission trip.  More than ever, youth workers across the U.S. are weighing the options and risks associated with mission trips in another community. I get it. Our team at YouthWorks is hard at work organizing all the logistics and details to help create safe mission trip experiences this summer, but we also know a lot of churches are choosing to pause their typical mission trip.  But losing the “trip” doesn’t mean you’ve missed out on the “mission.”  A core goal of every YouthWorks mission trip has been to open the eye ..read more
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More than conquering Covid-19
Average Youth Ministry Blog
by Benjamin Kerns
3y ago
It feels like total chaos right now. The coronavirus pandemic has given way to live in a moment of crazy uncertainty. Anxiety and fear are steadily increasing. Shelters are being put in place. And people expressing xenophobia and racism are targeting members of the Asian American community. There is much to cause feelings of tremendous panic and fear for our students.  But I want to remind us that amongst all of it, our God sees us, and he is for us. These things do not have the power to speak into our lives when we recognize that the love of God speaks much louder. This is an incredible ..read more
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Ash Wednesday: The beginning of the lenten journey of penitence
Average Youth Ministry Blog
by Benjamin Kerns
3y ago
This Wednesday is Ash Wednesday. This is the start of the lent. According to Wikipedia "The traditional purpose of Lent is the penitential preparation of the believer—through prayer, penance, repentance, almsgiving, and self-denial. Its institutional purpose is heightened in the annual commemoration of Holy Week, marking the Death and Resurrection of Jesus, which recalls the events of the Passion of Christ on Good Friday, which then culminates in the celebration on Easter Sunday of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ." Everything about this paragraph is an anathema to our modern understanding of ..read more
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Movies, Music, and Memes Seminar (Week 3: Memes)
Average Youth Ministry Blog
by Benjamin Kerns
3y ago
Every year at our church we have a midweek spiritual formation and connectional event for our entire church. We have dinner together, then classes and activities for kids and adults. (I know, it is what the church has been doing this forever, especially our Baptist friends) For our church, 3 weeks in January is all we can do. This year, I have decided to do a three-week class helping our adults navigate pop culture, the good, the bad and the ugly. The problem is that I am getting old and am out of touch. So I invited one of our high school students to help me teach the class. Karl Barth has b ..read more
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Movies, Music, and Memes Seminar (Week 2: Music)
Average Youth Ministry Blog
by Benjamin Kerns
3y ago
Every year at our church we have a midweek spiritual formation and connectional event for our entire church. We have dinner together, then classes and activities for kids and adults. (I know, it is what the church has been doing this forever, especially our Baptist friends) For our church, 3 weeks in January is all we can do. This year, I have decided to do a three-week class helping our adults navigate pop culture, the good, the bad and the ugly. The problem is that I am getting old and am out of touch. So I invited one of our high school students to help me teach the class. Karl Barth has b ..read more
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Movies, Music, and Memes Seminar (Week 1: Movies)
Average Youth Ministry Blog
by Benjamin Kerns
3y ago
Every year at our church we have a midweek spiritual formation and connectional event for our entire church. We have dinner together, then classes and activities for kids and adults. (I know, it is what the church has been doing this forever, especially our Baptist friends) For our church, 3 weeks in January is all we can do. This year, I have decided to do a three-week class helping our adults navigate pop culture, the good, the bad and the ugly. The problem is that I am getting old and am out of touch. So I invited one of our high school students to help me teach the class. Karl Barth has b ..read more
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Helping parents walk through divorce this Christmas
Average Youth Ministry Blog
by Benjamin Kerns
3y ago
This last week I had a meeting with one of my favorite moms.  Her love for her daughter, for me, and for Jesus is palpable.  And for a verity of reasons, due to long histories, and for things that I really have no idea about, this mom is in the middle of a divorce.  While the ethics of divorce are complex and worthy of lengthy discussions full of truth and grace, this blog post is not about the ethics of divorce. As the youth worker, no one is coming to me for marital advice, or trying to navigate a difficult situation, asking for prayers, or discernment for whether or not it i ..read more
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