This past weekend I went to the Simply Youth Ministry Conference and I believe that my mind was opened up to some new stuff and some really encouraging things. It has inspired to me to write about my journey in starting an Urban Youth Ministry.
The journey starts with a desire in my heart to provide an opportunity for the middle schoolers in my program to encounter Jesus outside of children's church. The place they had been attending. So I decided was going to launch a youth group. I prepared everything I knew how to make a youth group happen and only one kid showed up the first week. I was devastated. I figured that it would atleast start strong and then fad as I wasn't doing the right thing. I never expected for it to be just one kid. It only got worse from there. Then the next 3 weeks no one showed up. I took all the blame. I started to feel defeated almost immediately. I gave up. I decided that I would take time to figure everything out. As I allow you all to see a little self disclosure. I realized that I was trying to make a youth group happen by my own strength and knowledge. However I felt like I didn't know what I was doing at all. Then I started to slowly give things over to God.
Two months later, I relaunched the youth group with a blazing success in my mind. I had 6 kids show up two weeks in a row. Then the attendance plummeted back to 2. Some weeks we have 1. I have decided that if only one kid shows up that we will continue to move forward. Pray the whole way. I am confident that God is moving and that he has a plan for this ministry. It is hard still when there is only two but I have to trust that God is moving. I am new to all of this. I have to continue to grow in my own relationship with Christ and allow his spirit to lead me. Lord I pray that you will use me for your glory!
In other ministry news I went to a workshop on Bible storying and I am pretty excited to try this concept in the context of the urban ministry.
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