Thursday, January 25, 2007

Week one!

Well, my first week of interning has happened. It has been an exciting week, I would by lying to say that it was a little uncertain at first but I have very excited to see what the next few months are going to hold.

Wednesday night was my first time being with the youth group. It went well. Its interesting to see the interactions that the youth have and how a leader is supposed to handle that. I haven't started reading any of the assigned books yet and I kinda doubt they will be able to answer that question. But how does a leader let a youth know that they are still on their side and are still supporting them but in the same breath have the ability to be able to guide them? It seems that is one of they key parts of being a leader and I would imagine (time will tell as a I continue to interact with the group) its a lot about learning a balance. Respect and friendship have to remain a quality with guiding the youth to what is right in the same hand.

The message that was given in the evening after we had an activity was on joy. The message was giving the real definition of joy and not what society thinks. It was interesting to hear from the youth and to understand their immersion in the society and how that tied into what they thought about things in relation to God.

It took awhile for them to be able to grasp the idea that joy is not happiness. I found it helpful to be able to hear the different analogies that were given to try and show this. The roots of a tulip were talked about, being compared to joy and then the flowering part of the tulip was being compared to happiness. Layers of something were also another analogy with the core layer being joy and happiness only being a layer on top of it.

When I think about the night as a whole and the greatest things that I have begun to learn these would be the highlights.
  • A leader must learn how to both support and guide. This takes a leader being totally in tune with God so that they may be able to take on the role of a servant. Because when it comes down to it, supporting and guiding are part of the role of a servant leader.
  • When presenting a message there must be more then one way in which it can be given. There must be stories, analogies, and direct relations to what is happening in the lives of the youth, then and there.
  • Time is a huge constraint. There is a specific window of time in which the message must be presented. So when creating the message, it must be made direct and effective while remaining interesting and easy to listen too.

And so the lessons begin. And I am only excited to be able to understand what a youth pastor looks like and I know that the lessons I learn in that will only continue to show me that true leading comes from a heart totally in tune with God.

Sunday, January 14, 2007

Very soon I shall start posting regularly. My internship begins next week. Until then. Peace.