I’m typing this from the backseat as we head to Mexico…the wording of this post may be as bumpy as my ride!

Beginning today, I’m starting a feature I’ll call ‘Junior High Ministry 101′. Once a week or so, Junior High Ministry 101 will feature a short, simple junior high ministry tip, trick, training or tid-bit. If you’re a seasoned vet, you probably won’t learn anything new, but you may glean something now and then that you can pass on to others.

SHOWING UP:

This usually surprises people when they hear it, but I really like officiating memorials and funerals. It’s not because I like crisis, it’s not because I feel gifted in grief counseling and it’s not because I like wearing dark suits. The reason I like officiating funerals is because it is a reminder to me that a key to ministry is simply being willing to show up in people’s lives. The truth of the matter is that I don’t like crisis at all, I don’t enjoy grief counseling and I hate suits. BUT, I do like showing up, and I’ve discovered that the best ministry happens when your willing to simply show up.

I don’t know how well equipped you feel for your role as a junior high youth woker. I don’t know how much training you get from your church or how many Y.S. conventions you’ve attended. I do know, however, that none of that stuff makes as big a difference in the life of a junior higher as simply showing up!

Show Up at a baseball game
Show Up at a school play
Show Up when they get their tonsils removed
Show Up when they need a little extra attention

There’s nothing easy about junior high ministry…there’s lots to it. But it is pretty simple to make a big impact in your students lives just by showing up.

- I’m re-reading The Primal Teen by Barbara Strauch. If you work with teenagers you really do need to read this book that takes a look at new discoveries about the teenage brain.

- Heading down to Mexico for the day tomorrow to meet with the Pastor of the church we are partnering with. Hopefully we’ll be back before dinner.

- This weekend we are co-hosting The Promise with our women’s ministry team. The Promise is a two day event for moms and their teenage daughters. I’m sitting on a panel to help mom’s learn more about young teen culture.

- We are kicking off our sex and dating series this weekend (Exposed…the naked truth about sex and dating). It’s going to be interesting because my daughter will be in the crowd. We’ve had all sorts of talks about the subject, but I do think it will be a bit awkward for her to here her dad talking about sex to all of her friends.

Attendance: Below Average
Lesson Topic: Week 3 of ‘ONE…because change begins somewhere’ (focused on global missions)
‘Fun Factor’: Above Average
Volunteer Involvement: Below Average
Music: Above Average
Lesson Quality: Above average
Length of Lesson: 28 minutes
Student Response: Above Average

We wrapped up our missions series by focusing on global opportunities. We shared stories, showed visitors, had a guest from Kenya and led students through 5 stations that exposed them to the issues facing people around the world. This series has been one of, if not the best, series we’ve done in a long time. I really think it’s going to serve as a launching pad for how our ministry continues to approach missions and serving.

I don’t usually post on the weekends, but several people have asked me to post the 25 ideas we gave students along with their dollar bill a couple weeks ago. This list was stapled to the dollar that we handed each student as they left church.

1. Buy a can (or two) of soup for a hungry person in Orange County.
2. Buy a cake mix and bake a cake for your bus driver or teacher.
3. Get your neighbor an air freshener for his car.
4. Buy a bottle of water (or two) for the local gardeners.
5. Buy a double-cheeseburger and give it to a homeless person.
6. Give it to someone who doesn’t usually receive tips (mailman, substitute teacher).
7. Drop it in the tip jar at your favorite coffee place.
8. Buy cookies for the stranger behind you in the school lunch line.
9. Exchange it for quarters and pay for loads of laundry at the local laundromat.
10. Buy a donut for a Wildside volunteer.
11. Buy a bottle of all-purpose cleaner and clean your kitchen.
12. Buy your mom her favorite candy bar.
13. Combine it with $3 in your wallet and pay for a movie rental for your neighbor.
14. Pay the toll for the car behind you on the toll road.
15. Offer to pay the postage for someone mailing a letter.
16. Add it to the tip the next time you eat at a restaurant.
17. Buy a bagel for your little brother or sister.
18. Buy a package of pens or pencils and donate to a school in Africa.
19. “Gift a song” on i-Tunes to a friend.
20. Give your teammate a pack of gum, for no reason.
21. Buy $1 worth of Top Ramen (about 20 packages) and donate them to a food bank.
22. Drop it in the offering at Wildside.
23. Buy your dad his favorite soda.
24. Buy a bottle of window cleaner and wash your carpool’s car windows.
25. Pay for someone’s topping at Golden Spoon.

Last night I was at the rehearsal dinner for the wedding I’m officiating tonight. Believe it or not, there are a total of 24 people in the wedding party! The bride and groom each have 12 friends that they have asked to share in their day.

As we hung out last night, and as story after story was shared, an interesting theme began to develop. The vast majority of these friendships could be traced back to their junior high years. I was reminded of the fact that friendships made in junior high almost always shape the future character of our students and many of these friendships last into the adult years. I found myself asking these questions:

- Is our ministry doing enough to acknowledge the power of friendships?

- Are we really helping students navigate the ‘friendship waters’ safely?

- Have we helped them develop the skills of choosing good friends, being a good friend and getting out of unhealthy friendships?

- Are we helping our students recognize that who they become will, in large part, be determined by who the choose as friends?

A few thougths about today:

- I hung out at my house this morning watching various morning news shows and didn’t see any mention that today was national day of prayer. You don’t have to be a far-right fundie to wonder a little about that one.

- I love America, but God isn’t American.

- I love America, but found myself praying for God’s will to be done, his kingdom to come and his power to reign on earth not only on my home turf.

- I believe that for all our flaws, America is still the greatest country in the world. Our belief in freedom, our efforts to treat each other as equals and our attempts to protect and expand those values to other parts of the globe (even though we don’t get it right much of the time…) sets us apart from much of the world, and for that I’m thankful and proud.

- I live for Christ and I hope I’d be willing to die for his cause. I live in America and hope I’d be willing to die for its cause as well.

In yesterday’s post I mentioned that we gave each student $1.00 and challenged them to do something creative with it and to let us know what they did. This morning I had this email waiting for me. It’s from an 8th grade girl:

This is how I spent my one dollar.

At my school the P.E. teachers often go unappreciated; mainly because they are the only teachers that require endless running and push-ups for a grade.
I have even been asked to come egg one of the P.E. teacher’s houses because the students were so fed up with running. The teachers are hugely disliked throughout the entire school and even some of the other teachers have begun to be prejudiced against the P.E. teachers.
I used my one dollar to buy a cake mix and brought cupcakes to school for the P.E. teachers Monday morning. They were very appreciative and surprised to have someone remember them. I got a hug from each teacher and a big thank you. None of them mentioned the cupcakes during the period to my relief, but as I was dressing out to go to my next period I saw my seventh grade P.E. teacher ,whose husband had just died, biting halfway through a cupcake with a grin on her face. Did I mention it was 9:30 in the morning?
Thank you for coming up with the one dollar idea. I hope that there are more awesome stories about how the dollar has influenced this community and made a difference. Thanks again!

Man, just reading that gives me goose bumps!

Saturday:
- Woke up at 5:30 a.m.
- Drove to Airport to catch flight (to las vegas)
- Put my suit on upon arrival
- Hung out for a few hours
- Performed wedding for close friends
- Attended a long, but wonderful reception

Sunday:
- Woke up at 5:30 a.m.
- Drove to Airport to catch flight (back home)
- Put my suit on upon arrival
- Drove to San Diego
- Hung out for a few hours
- Performed wedding for close friends
- Attended a long, but wonderful reception

Oh, and took great picture with Kayla (world’s cutest 7th grader)!

I wasn’t there this weekend, and only have partial information:

Attendance: Average
Lesson Topic: Week 2 of ‘ONE…because change begins somewhere’ (focused on local missions)
‘Fun Factor’: Above Average
Volunteer Involvement: Above Average
Music: Forgot to ask!
Lesson Quality: Above average
Length of Lesson: Forgot to Ask!
Student Response: Above Average

Apparently, I missed one of the best weekends in a long, long time. I received two separate phone calls telling me how fantastic it was. A few of highlights:

- Austin Gutwein, The 7th grade founder of Hoops of Hope (he founded it as a 5th grader!), flew in from Phoenix to share his story and challenge our students to do something…anything…to make a difference.

- For our ‘Impossible Shot’ we brought in a basket ball hoop (it’s usually a big hole in the backdrop of our stage) and let four students from each service take a shot from 3-point distance. If they made it, our ministry would donate $200 to Hoops of Hope. 2 students made the shot which was awesome. In addition, at one of our services, an adult volunteer said he’d give $200 if Austin Gutwein could make it…which he did. All in all, we were able to give Austin’s ministry a gift of $600!

- As a takeaway, we gave each student a one-dollar bill with a list of 25 possible things they could do with that dollar. We’ve asked them to write down what they did and share it with us. I’m excited to see how creative students got with a buck.