Help a Youth Worker Out

Hey,

Some friends that work at a website called Chimp have extended an opportunity to me that I had to share with you. As you may or may not know, all of the youth work I do is funded by people, like you, that believe that young people need someone to walk along side them as they try to figure out life. Just in the past few months here are some examples of the types of situations I have walked in teens in Langley.

 

• I spent time in the hospital while a young man underwent surgery for kidney failure
• I spent time in a restaurant with a teen mom and her baby as she asked my wife and I for parenting advise
• I spent time in a coffee shop with a young lady who in tears said she just needs a family that loves her
• I spent time in an art gallery with a group of teens from an art club we run.
• I spent time in a mall food court with a group of teens who shared some of their life hurts with me.
• I spent time sitting next to a young kid who's brother had died over Christmas and how much that has effected her
• I spent time in front of a crowded room of community stake holders and advocated for the high risks teens face in our community.

 

And there is more. Thank you for your encouragement and support to be there full time for these young people. Here is where it gets exciting. Right Now Chimp has offered a matching fund donation. What that means is if you give $50 and give it toward Greater Vancouver Youth For Christ and make a note that it is for Danny Ferguson - they will in turn give an additional $50. In doing this you can help assure I can be there for more situations like these above. Here is how it can happen.... Right now.

 

 

Simply click on this link https://chimpfund.com/cyw

 

Set up a chimp account

 

Allocate it to Greater Vancouver Youth For Christ

 

Make a note that it should be directed toward Danny Ferguson

 

And feel proud to be a part of make a difference.

 

Thanks for considering this. It means a lot.

 

Danny

Exploitation A Reality Of Surburban Youth Work

As a youth worker, my job entails the opportunity to intersect into the lives of young people wherever they happen to be. I spend time on the streets, in the parks, the alleys, the movie theaters, schools and local coffee shops.  


Through this work I have encountered many things that I wish that I could unsee.  This includes but is not limited to drug deals, suicide attempts, violent exchanges and the issue of human trafficking.


So I have made it my responsability to serve as an advocate for the many young people I know personally that have struggled through the terrible realities of being sexually exploited, but have thought it was just a normal part of life.


Exploitation is the stepping stone toward trafficking and it happens all the time.  In doing some research the past few years I have come torecognize that the issue is even more widespread than I once thought.  This isn't just a big city issue either, it is happening in my neighborhood with the kids I work with every day.  This isn't about stats, it is about the faces of the kids I know personally.

I have talked with kids that think it is normal to send a nude picture to a person that says they like you

I have talked with kids that have been date raped

I have talked with kids that been abused 

I have talked with kids who have traded sex for a place to stay or food to eat

I have talked with kids who have had pictures of themselves in compromising situations distributed Round the school

I have talked with kids that have been recruited into the sex trade by someone they thought was their boyfriend.

and on and on it goes...


For this reason I have partnered with Miss Canada 2011, Tara Teng, and a local political activist, Todd Hauptman, to create a community task force taking on this issues.  On the evening that I am writing this we have organized an event called Wake Up. Which is aimed at community stakeholders such as mayors, school board officials, and Member of the province and Federal government.


You can read about the event in from our local news paper here: 


http://www.langleytimes.com/community/137449258.html


I am planning on making bold statements of action at this event and if you are reading this before the event transpires or after the fact, please join me in prayer for the resolve to continue to do what is right.  

I was told, "Those kids are not worth your time." I responed, "thbbbbbb"

If you have ever seen the movie, “Chariots of Fire” then you will remember the powerful line made by the Olympic Runner Eric Liddell struggling with his decision to take part in a competition being held on a Sunday, which was taboo in the Christian circles of his day.  The quote goes like this:

I believe God made me for a purpose, but he also made me fast. And when I run I feel His pleasure.

As a youth worker I have seen the ugly side of what life is like for young people.  I have met with kids that have been a part of murders, violence, gang activity, drug deals, rape, sexual exploitation and substance abuse to name a few.

More than once I’ve asked myself.  What am I going to do about this?  Of course I never really know the answer to that question.  Of course I contact the police, counselors, social workers and the like to barrage these teens with “help.” But I am still left wondering… what am I going to do about this?

I decided to start a student leadership team for kids like this.  I figured they needed some empowerment in their lives.  As I discussed this idea with other youth workers, teachers, and social workers it was constantly shot down.  The primary advice was that it would be a waste of my time.  I remember being told, you need to start a leadership team made up of kids that are already leaders.

I am the type of person that doesn’t really care being told by others how I should spend my time.  I also felt like this was a bit of a challenge.  I wondered why kids that were already high achievers needed people to tell them that they could be high achievers.  Talk about a waste of time.

I started the team and it has been messy.  My “leaders” often caused me more problems than the demographic we were reaching out to.  It wasn’t uncommon for them to disappear from the ministry site and come back high and it wasn’t surprising that they had problems with the police.

I just kept thinking of the leadership team Jesus created and I realized that most youth workers, teachers or social workers, would chose the team Jesus did.  I admire that he saw more of what they could be than what they were at the time.  With that inspiration, I keep working with kids that are “not worth my time”.  We address problem, but more often address inspiration as I try to help them feel God’s pleasure in something they do.

5 Ways To Go From Good Youth Worker To Great Youth Worker

I realized a long time ago that I do not have all the answers to being a great youth worker.  There are so many other people that have traveled the path that are much better than I am.  I am thankful for meeting people like Shae Pepper who has some suggestions for youth workers on what could move them from being good - to being great at what they do.  Enjoy:

I have met some good youth workers in my time. However, I have only met a handful of great youth workers. One in particular popped into my mind when I was asked to write this post. He exemplified all of these areas and now runs an entire youth department of effective, evidence-based youth programs. I am grateful for the time I had to learn from him as he modeled youth work greatness each day.

1. Clear Core Values- Have a clear understanding of your core values. To be a great youth worker it takes more than just being passionate about young people. You need to know what you believe and why you are there.

2. Strategic Thinker- Have a solid vision for what you want to achieve with the young people you are working with. You need to identify the goals for your face-to-face work and in your own professional development.

3. Organized- Develop the ability to plan, book venues and trips and keep track of risk assessments, receipts and permission slips all at the same time. At the very least, you need to be self-aware enough to know that you need someone in your program that can do this for you.

4. Effective Leader- Be able to lead in a way that helps everyone (even your volunteers) on the team feel empowered, creates a sense of ownership for the program and allows for constructive professional development.

5. Teachable- One of the greatest skills is a humble, teachable attitude. Admitting when you've learned something new from your youth, volunteers or other team members empowers them and endears you to them.

Do you agree? What differentiates between a good youth worker and a great one?

 Shae Pepper has been a Professional Youth Worker for six years and a Volunteer Youth Worker for seven years. She has a Master’s in Youth Work and Community Development from DeMontfort University in Leicester, England. Shae has provided training for youth workers in England, the USA and Rwanda. She has worked with young people aged 8-21in England, Rwanda, the USA and Thailand. She recently started Youth Workin’ It, a consultancy service designed to equip and support youth workers and youth organizations around the world. This supports her personal and professional goals to provide better services and programs for young people worldwide.

Book Review: Soul Survivor: How My Faith Survived The Church by Philip Yancey

The title of Philip Yancey’s book caught my eye. 

Soul Survivor: How My Faith Survived The Church

There are lots of things that frustrate me about the intuition of church. 

The politics.

The religiosity.

The people.

What I was looking for were some answers to how to deal with these issues, what the book was about the people that shaped Yancey’s faith and theology.  This was greatly encouraging as I began to realize that God has used a small collection of people to help shape my theology and faith in the mist of my frustration. 

These are the relationships I wouldn’t have had – if it wasn’t for church.

Yancey’s list is interesting and to some controversial.  Some of the people he met and interacted with, some he only read about and some were not even “Christian”.  Some were well know political figures, some people were not well known at all. Who were they?  Here is his list:

Martin Luther King Jr.

G.K. Chesterton

Dr. Paul Brand

Dr. Robert Coles

Leo Tolstoy

Feodor Dostoevsky

Mahatma Gandhi

Dr. C. Everett Koop

John Donne

Annie Dillard

Frederick Buechner

Shusaku Endo

Henri Nowen

Each person on his list helped him to form his thoughts, philosophy and life actions in different areas of thoughts blended into a beautiful strength of ideas to help propel him toward a deeper relationship with Christ.  His soul survived church because he surround himself with people that modeled a Christ like behavior that he wanted to imitate.

The book is a challenging read and leaves you wondering who you would write about in a similar book about your own life shaping relationships. 

Success in youth ministry…is waiting on God

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In July, I introduced you to Rachel Blom who runs the website:

www.youthleadersacademy.com

She wrote this article that I think many youth ministry veterans can relate to, and need a reminder of: Waiting is hard.  I hope you enjoy this post:

We had just started out in youth ministry in a church and we didn’t know any of our students. So we spent a lot of time getting to know them. Sunday after Sunday we would eat together, hang out, have small group sessions or go to youth group together.

Besides having fun we were having some good discussions and we could share a lot of our experiences and beliefs. We tried to come up with creative means to teach, using songs, paintings, games, videos, independent study and group assignments. We did everything we could. We did a three session study on the basics of the Christian beliefs (called the “Fifteen steps of Christian Faith”),

But while it was clear these students were having a good time with us and loved hanging out together, we didn’t see much ‘result’ or ‘fruit’. Nothing seemed to change in their beliefs, in their behavior. I had worked hard and it somewhat frustrated me that I wasn’t as effective as I had hoped I would be.

Were we missing something?

Were we doing something wrong?

Were we having any impact?

I started praying more.

After a year and a half of investing in these students, we couldn’t really come up with something good to teach on, so we just sat down with them and asked them what their ‘spiritual new year’s resolution’ was.

I wasn’t expecting that five of them to say that they had made the decision for Christ and wanted to get baptized. I was completely stunned, and then overwhelmed with joy when two of them mentioned the Fifteen steps study in particular and said that that had convinced them they wanted get serious about their faith.

I learned something that day.

I learned that being successful in youth ministry is sometimes about waiting, and waiting and more waiting… on God to do the work.

All that time that we weren’t seeing results, God was at work in their hearts.  We just couldn’t see it.

I have to confess, I’m still not good at waiting.

I’m a doer, impatient as ever to see immediate results, but I’ve tried to remembered that lesson and be more content with trusting the timing of the Lord

Rachel Blom is a youth ministry veteran from The Netherlands, currently residing in Germany with her husband of sixteen years and their wonderful three years old son. She spends most of her time on her daily youth ministry blog www.youthleadersacademy.com, aimed at training youth leaders world wide to better serve in youth ministry. You can also find her on Twitter via @youthleadersac

Can you encourage teens when you feel like scolding them?

I had a young person sitting across the table from me.

They had just confessed a whopper of a tale to me.

I believed in them and they had failed.  The silence between us was deafening as they waited for my response.  In reality this was as much a test for me as it was for them.  I wanted to be truthful and loving at the same time.

To say, “it’s no big deal.” would be a lie. 

To say, “how could you?” wouldn’t help.

I waited, letting my own emotions subside.

I prayed, asking for God to take control of my mouth.

As I prayed, I was able to think more clearly. 

I knew that what had been done could not be undone.  There was no point in scolding them. 

I knew that this was weighing on their heart or they wouldn’t care what I thought.  There was no point in objecting.

I knew that if I were in their place, I would want my confession to be met with care.

I asked a few clarifying questions to buy time for my true answer.  I knew that this was an opportunity to mentor them through a learning opportunity and I didn’t want to blow it.

Then with one last prayer, I spoke.

What I said was for their ears.  I can’t share it here.  What I can say is this.  I have been honored time and time again for laying aside my emotion, speaking the truth with confidence and offering care in the midst of great turmoil.

Kids mess up.  They need someone that will care about them from prisons to mansions and someone that in the midst of that to tell them how it is.

As a youth worker, be a coach – not a judge.