Tag: GSM

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Student Ministry is a family affair

I try to always remember that in pursuit of our mission there are SO many things to consider.  Sometimes when I read our vision statement "Helping students take their next step towards Christ...together" I quickly forget that it's not just about STUDENTS. One of things I feel we're called to do at GSM is "walk along side of parents as THEY raise their students." I know that a lot of student ministries SAY that's what their about, but I want us at GSM always to remember where our place is in a students life...along side the parent. I strongly believe that Student Ministry is a family affair and if we forget that we're not the parents we could really ruin our parents influence on their student. Let's be real, most students think their youth workers (unpaid and paid) are pretty cool. Every student wants to be "cool".  Well if the "cool person" says something contradictory to mom or dad, guess who the students normally wants to listen to.   Yep you guessed it.  I've seen this happen many times. It concerns me because we've made a promise to parents that we would "walk along side them" and if we're getting in their way we're not beside them, we're trying to stand in their place. I think we need to at all costs avoid making promises to parents we can't/don't keep so as youth workers we need to rememeber our place. (You might be saying, "i know that already". If you know that already awesome!  But ask yourself; Do I make my decisions in light of that knowledge? If not, why not? I find it easy to scream, 'i know that already' but sometimes struggle to really operate out of my knowledge.  Maybe you know what I mean.  How are those 'Fruit of the Spirits' coming along?  Do you just know them or are you living them?)

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Failure to act = missing God?

"Often we miss the opportunity to act with God in the now. We fail to find, quickly enough, new wineskin for the new wine." - Dallas Willard How true is that?!! What used to work in church doesn't prove to be working as effectively anymore. (not saying it doesn't work, but the western decline in church attendance would prove that it's not AS effective as it could be) What used to be innovative is now 'old news'. What used to be cutting edge isn't even an edge anymore. As GSM kicks off this coming weekend I'm going to be looking for what new wineskins we need for the new wine God wants to give us!  I can't wait for this season of GSM to start!!!

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MOVE 2010 Day 2 & 3 Photos

We just finished the 'MOVE 2010' Mission Trip the way we end all mission trips/events at a weekend service at GCC. We try to end all of our student ministry events at the church so that students keep in the front of their minds what we're apart of!  We say over and over again in our ministry, our goal is that when you graduate GSM, you don't graduate church! We recognize that we're always disciplining our students 'to' and 'away' from things and student ministry can easily become a place where students are discipled AWAY from The Church body because "student ministry is more fun", or whatever other junk student pastors tell their students to make them want to be there.  (If you want I can write a BOOK on this one...it drives me NUTZ!!) ANYWAY, We love having our student body in the weekend services with the adults...WE all are the church and at Granger we show that by allowing students to be fully invested in the global church, not just the Student Ministry niche. HERE ARE SOME PHOTO'S FROM DAY 2 AND 3 OF 'THE MOVE 2010' TRIP

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MOVE Day 2 Photos

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MOVE 2010 Day 2 thoughts

(Some of the team going to homes gathering kids to come to MC3 for "Fun Friday" - a program designed to give the kids something fun to do Friday afternoons during the summer) I posted some little videos I did today during a couple of the work projects on the move trip today! I posted them HERE if you wanted to go look at em.  I'm uploading some pictures right now that should be ready in a while.  They'll be on my Flickr Page HERE titled "Move Mission Trip Day 2" I'll make sure to post those when they get done, things are going great.  This team works hard, has fun, complains none...what more could we ask for!!! Thanks for the prayers and comments.  This trip is so great! A couple thoughts from today:

1. Center for the Homeless here in South Bend is a top notch organization and they are truly advancing the Kingdom through their efforts.
2. We heard two touching stories from residents of Center for the Homeless today that moved me in ways I know I needed to.
3. The vision for the plans down at our community center (MC3) make me really wish I had more time to be there with them!!
4. The way people let our students serve makes me thankful for having great organizations to partner with.
5. Many hands make light work...even when it's hot!
6. The High School Group got to hang out with some of the kids from Monroe Circle today!
7. The guy who brought the snakes, frogs, & salamander to MC3 for the kids from Monroe Circle was hilarious, educational, & engaging.  He did a great job.
8. Carrots right out of the ground taste good once you get the dirt off.
9. A couple of students have "tails" that they're excited about. (Bandana's tied to the back look on their shorts)
10. Some of our girls might be just as strong as some of the guys.
11. We have a very 'smiley' group! I love it!

Here's a few shots from the day.

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Move 2010 is rockin!!!! Photo's included.

My thoughts so far:

1. Great leaders make for great ministry!!! Pick the right people for the team and the team will soar!!!  Leaders are great...thus the teams doing great!
2. Our Students like each other!
3. It's hot outside...our students noticed, but that didn't stop em!
4. Feed the children has lots of boxes for people to pack, haha.
5. I love the time I get to spend talking to our leaders and students in environments like this.  Fun conversations are always birthed!
6. Had a funny/nasty conversation with a group of middle school boys (well I listened and laughed)...it commenced while we were pulling weeds and it went like this "so & so (name to remain undisclosed) had a nasty wet fart earlier...he needed to go check afterwards" followed by much laughter! (TMI for the blog...I think not, it's mine! haha)
7. I like taking photos but I also like putting the camera down and working with the group!  I murdered some weeds today with the boys!

I asked Steph her thoughts on the trip so far.  I paraphrased what she said but here's the gist!

1. Our students are working really hard.  Today, they worked at Feed the Children in the morning and didnt' take a break at all from 10:00 a.m. - 1 p.m. in a factory with no a/c!!  They packed 1200 boxes!
2. From there we went straight to GCC where we worked on many various projects.  They would finish a project and think they were done...then there were more projects thrown right at them and they never complained, they just kept rolling!!
3. "I'm so proud of them! "

Here what John had to say:

1. "Everyone's working hard, everyone's loving it, everyone encouraging each other, it's going great"

Here's a few photo's I took, more to be posted later:

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Why do a local mission trip?

(A group of guys on the MOVE 2010 local mission trip that's currently in progress)

This week we are having our local Mission Trip called "Move".  It's all about mobilizing our students locally. Here's a couple of the reasons we specifically offer a local mission trip opportunity within our larger missional movement as a student ministry:

1. So often mission trip experiences are targeted at traveling long distances and helping people who desperately need it.  We found that there are people in our local community who are just as desperate, just in different ways.
2. We believe, "it's not where you go, it's what you do". If the bulk of our missional efforts are focussed abroad and we never help at home/in our own backyard, then we might have actually missed the point of being a missional force in the world.
3. Our students serve in these same places throughout the school year at our second saturdays! As a church we believe in helping our community so our second saturday efforts are focussed on nearby areas.
4. It's an easy on-ramp for students who want to jump start their missional purpose on this planet without having to travel far distances and pay lots of money. (The farther the trip, generally the more it cost and the more challenging the entry point)
5. Helps the community know we're with them and for them.  We don't see the community as our project but our territory to love like Christ would love!

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June 2010 Camp Videos

Here's the videos from June Week Camp!!!  Jeff Myers produced all these videos...he's a rockstar! CA June 2010 - Monday Recap from Jeffrey Myers on Vimeo. Monday Recap CA June 2010 - Tuesday Recap from Jeffrey Myers on Vimeo. Tuesday Recap CA June 2010 - Wednesday Recap from Jeffrey Myers on Vimeo. Wednesday Recap CA June 2010 - Commitment Night from Jeffrey Myers on Vimeo. Commitment Night CA June 2010 - Friday Recap from Jeffrey Myers on Vimeo. Friday Recap

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More July Camp 2010 Videos

Here's more videos from camp. Jeff Myers is the amazing producer of these videos! Nice work! CA July 2010 - Monday Recap from Jeffrey Myers on Vimeo. Monday Recap CA July 2010 - Tuesdsay Recap from Jeffrey Myers on Vimeo. Tuesday Recap CA July 2010 - Wednesday Recap from Jeffrey Myers on Vimeo. Wednesday Recap CA July 2010 - Commitment Night from Jeffrey Myers on Vimeo. Commitment Night CA July 2010 - Friday Recap from Jeffrey Myers on Vimeo. Friday Recap

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Camp Adventure Morning worship Video

Here's a little clip of our Morning Worship at Camp Adventure. It's always awesome to see Middle Schoolers giving their all for Jesus this early in the morning. Camp Rocks!