Vision & Strategy

How do vision and strategy intersect with one another? Can they coexist and inspire creativity?

Do you take time to make plans & develop strategy? What are some of the planning wins and/or frustrations that you've experienced?





Jason has lived in Calgary, Alberta Canada since 1995, and been a youth pastor since 2001. He is married to the love of his life, Bonny, and together they have three incredible children: Saydie, Cannon and Deklon. Jason possesses a desire to see youth, parents and families become who God created them to be through loving and living like Jesus. He currently serves on staff at Centre Street Church in Calgary. He loves hockey, playing guitar, writing and creating environments and opportunities where others can realize their potential in Jesus while experiencing the full life He promised to those who follow Him!

Traffick Proofing Your Youth Ministry

If you are working with youth in Canada, then you need to be aware of the problem and the warning signs related to sex trafficking in order to better protect your teens.

Below is a list of indicators that a teen may be, or is at risk of being sexually exploited, but what do we do with a list like this?

1. Recognize that some of these behaviours are common among teens but if a series of these behaviours are present, they need to be addressed.
2. Voice your concerns; ask the teen how they are doing and if anything is troubling them.
3. Recognize your limitations. Do not fall into a counselling or investigative role; if you suspect sexual exploitation seek professional help like the police and your local assault centre.

With that in mind use the following list provided by the Government of Alberta as a resource for recognizing the behavioral signs of teens at risk of, or being sex trafficked.

ROUTINE

 drops usual friends for a new group that includes children from other schools or communities; they may be older

 skips school

 has a significant drop in grades

 opts out of traditional family events

 becomes a night person, staying out late; unable to sleep at night, sleeps excessively during the day.

LANGUAGE

 adopts slang mannerisms never used before (e.g., ruder, cruder street talk)

 uses disconnected speech (one- or two-word codes)

 uses labels when referring to friends or self (e.g., adopting a street name).

PHYSICAL APPEARANCE/HYGIENE

 dresses more provocatively

 uses excessive makeup and time getting ready to go out

 has sexualized behavior (e.g., inappropriate sexual acting out or display of body parts)

 has bruises or other signs of abuse on his or her body.

Make sure your eyes are wide open when you are in the schools, working in the community and even in your own backyard. We as Christian can be the gatekeepers and watchmen of our communities. The above indicators will not only help you look out for the girls in your youth ministry but also protect the girls in your community so that the neighbour's kids a couple houses down have someone watching out for them. This is Kingdom business. 

Jane Galbreath

Jane is a theology graduate and social work student, living in Saskatchewan. She spends her summers leading international youth mission teams. She has is passionate about empowering young women to serve God particularly young women struggling with trauma and mental health issues. Jane has been a victim of sexual violence so she knows the heartache, shame, strength and courage it takes to face being a victim. Jane is a blogger and advocate for other females who have been victims of sexual violence because she knows that it is possible to not only survive but to come out the other side strong. After many years of healing Jane comes to you from that place! For more information and to visit Jane’s blog click here http://hopeforherblog.wordpress.com/about/

On Shepherding - 4 Traits of a Pastor

Photo Credit: Reza Vaziri (Creative Commons)

I was having coffee with a good friend recently, and sharing about the frequent complexities that come with a life in ministry. We closed our time with prayer, and as he prayed for me, he spoke words of vision and imagination, picturing a shepherd wading through deep and murky waters ahead of the flock behind him. It stirred something in my soul that evening, and the image has stuck with me.

The longer I am a pastor, the more I appreciate the position's origins. Pastor means "shepherd." God gave some to be pastors for the church, to equip the people for service and ministry so the body of Christ would be built up and have unity (Ephesians 4:11-13). Shepherds take care of the sheep, the people God has entrusted to their spiritual care. While the metaphor of people being "sheep" isn't particularly kind, the image is nonetheless fitting. Sheep are slow to move, skittish, easily given to wandering into danger and going along with the crowd. We all act like sheep at times. It's why we need a Good Shepherd.

The Good Shepherd calls others to be fellow pastors over the flock of His church, little shepherds who walk in the ways of the best Shepherd.

Here are four ways being a pastor in ministry is akin to the role of a shepherd:

Shepherds guide. Shepherds lead the way into good pastures. When the flock doesn't seem to want to move from their comfortable position into more fertile ground--"We've always been here! We don't want to change! What's wrong with the way things are?"--the shepherd patiently and loving guides the flock to where they don't want to go, but where they need to go. They have good intuition, and are willing to make the tough decisions that others won't. Good shepherds--and leaders--guide people into pastures and postures where they wouldn't otherwise go.

Shepherds protect. A good shepherd goes ahead of the flock, wading through deep and dark waters, through overgrown brush, and checks open fields to make sure it's safe enough to cross without attack. If conflict or danger approaches, most sheep are skittish and react impulsively, often causing more harm. The shepherd is the one who courageously confronts the conflict and protects the sheep, both from the danger and from themselves.

Shepherds are present. Good shepherds are with the sheep. They aren't running far ahead or avoiding the flock, though they are leading and guiding the flock where they need to go. Shepherds are present; they know the sheep, and are known by the sheep.

Shepherds sacrifice. In their protecting and guiding, shepherds are prone to injury. Being a shepherd is a fairly thankless and tiring vocation. The sheep need care and love and guidance and protection, regardless of how the shepherd may feel in a given moment. The good shepherd leaves the ninety-nine other sheep to crawl down craggy cliff walls to bring back the stray sheep who has fallen.

Being a shepherd is a tough vocation. It is often exhausting and heartbreaking and uncomfortable and frustrating. It's also a beautiful and worthy calling, partnering in the gospel with the Good Shepherd as He guides the flock into life-giving pastures and quiet waters, restoring our collective souls.

Who are the shepherds in your own life? Send them a word of thanks and encouragement today!

(This post originally appeared at The Mayward Blog)

Joel Mayward is a pastor, writer, husband, and father living in Langley, British Columbia. He’s been serving in youth ministry since 2003, and is currently the Pastor of Youth and Young Adult Ministries at North Langley Community Church. A writer for numerous youth ministry publications and author of Leading Up: Finding Influence in the Church Beyond Role and Experience, Joel writes about youth ministry, film, theology, and leadership at his blog, joelmayward.blogspot.ca.

March Break Social Justice Ideas

Looking for ideas on what you can do with your students this March Break? Here's a few simple ideas.

1. Do a screening* of the Academy Award director's Girl Rising, an innovative new feature film about the power of education to change a girl and the world featuring star-studded narration cast, then have a discussion about it after:

2. Do a fundraiser and donate the money to a cause your students are passionate about:

• Purple Potty: Paint an old toilet purple . Tell your church community that there’s a purple potty flushing out hunger all over town . $15 sends the toilet to the yard of the donor’s choosing . $20 gets it removed and the donor gets to pick the next destination . $35 buys “potty insurance”. Make it a competition and award the prestigious “Golden Plunger” to the student who sells the most potty insurance policies.
• ‘Yarrr’d sale: everyone loves a good yard sale . everyone loves dressing up likes pirates! Combine the two for a golden opportunity to raise funds by selling your old treasures.Your awesome garb will grab the attention of people passing by.
• Check out the Famine101 resource guide at famine.ca for more ideas

3. Bring water to the well: Feel the difficulties people face in getting clean drinking water . Put a large bucket or drum somewhere in your school, church, or community centre, far away from a tap. Have your group fill it using only a small drinking bottle they carry back and forth from the tap. You could even turn this into a race.

4. Volunteer locally: Help out at a local soup kitchen or nursing home. You could also collect cans for a local food bank. 

Proverbs 29:7 "The righteous care about justice for the poor, but the wicked have no such concern."

*To borrow a copy of Girl Rising feel free to reach out to one of our World Vision Youth Canada Coaches:

• Eastern Canada/Quebec: Leanne_Prescott@worldvision.ca
• Central Canada: Jobin_Sam@worldvision.ca
• Western Canada: Alexandra_Hayes@worldvision.ca 

About me: I live a pretty simple life... trying to love God and treat others as good as myself... I epically fail at this but mercifully God loves me anyway... different cultures inspire me... the outdoors is my passion... I'm pursuing my MDIV / Masters in Counselling at Tyndale... I spent 22+ years in the skate / snowboard / entertainment / marketing / retail industry at the executive level... led the charge at West 49/Billabong for 12 of them... I've worked in youth ministry leadership roles for more years then I can count.. after many moons in the corporate world I switched to the dark side and am currently the Manager of Youth & Student Campaigns at World Vision Canada... but more then anything I love giving my heart to mentoring and helping youth! #lovelife #dreambig #keepitreal #socialjustice #jesusjustice I/T @cindymielke  facebook.com/cindymielke

Building The Temple (1 Chronicles 22)

Have a quick look at 1 Chronicles 22 through 2 Chronicles 5.

David had a dream. He was crazy passionate about building a temple for God. To say that he was 'driven by this dream' is an understatement. 

If you thumb through 1 Chronicles 22, you'll see that David not only stockpiled his own resources, but he collected from his leaders and then went to the people. In the end, the pile of materials was mind bending. About 8,100,000 lbs of gold; 76,750,000 lbs of silver; 1,350,000 lbs of bronze; 8,000,000 lbs of iron. Putting this into today's economy, 8 million lbs of gold (at 16oz per pound) x 16 ounces x $1000/ounce = over $129 billion in gold alone.

               

      HOW PASSIONATE WAS DAVID ABOUT THIS CAUSE?

Flip over to chapter 28:9,10,11,12,14,15,19.  David knows he's not the one God is using to build the temple. We have a brilliant description of his hand-off to Solomon. What is involved in this??

• David clearly (painstakingly) communicates his vision
• David puts the expectations way high
• David preps by stockpiling resources
• David communicates his vision again
• Detailed instructions so Solomon could carry it out meticulously - has the plans for the cups and candle holders.... And it is all written out!
• 2Chronicles5:13b,14.   Cloud filled the temple - so thick that the priests couldn't do their work.

So, here's my challenge for you...

 

What if we approached our youth ministry with the zeal, vigor, intentionality, resources, people, communication, vision, and passion that David approached the building of the temple? We sing about dancing like David (naked... cool) but David exhibited 130 billion times more passion for the building of the temple!!!  What if we sang: "build the temple like David built the temple"....   

Here's my point...

 

Zip over to 1 Corinthians 6:19. You are the temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you.

David stopped at nothing to build a dwelling place for God on earth. He insanely prepared ahead of time, he collected the best of the best resources, he poured out his highest passion, he drove this with clear intentionality, crazy attention to detail,  months, maybe years of dreaming and communicating with great detail to those that would be overseeing and doing the work... he focused on setting them up for success. This would be the BEST. This was going to be the most spectacular thing ever built.

 

How is my passion for building the New Testament temple? The New testament dwelling place for God on earth ? How is your passion for the cause? This cause makes the popular causes in our world look bland and colourless. David's intentionality in planning and preparation, his attention to detail and his crazy passion to this puts us into perspective.

Build the temple. The most spectacular thing ever built.

  dave

Dave Brotherton was a youth pastor from 1984-2006 and now teaches youth ministry at Ambrose University College in Calgary. Dave is also the National Youth Guy for the Alliance churches in Canada, the director of Legacy Youth Conference, and a junior high volunteer in his church. Dave is married to Lisa and they share 2 of the greatest kids in the world. Fishing, camping, and cheering on the Leafs are some of his favorite things. 
twitter: @oldbrotherdave

Making the Most out of Lent

“Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.” (Hebrews 13:16)

If you ask a young person what he might be doing for Lent, you’ll likely get responses along the lines of:  “I’m giving up Facebook” or “I’m giving up eating chocolate.”

Granted, these may be noble notions on their own, but young people (along with many adults) often get too caught up in what they might be “giving up” for Lent instead of why they are doing it.

We know that Lent is a solemn, reflective season that prepares us for Christ’s glorious resurrection at Easter.  The forty days of Lent recall the forty days that Jesus spent in the desert resisting Satan’s temptations before starting his public ministry.  During Lent, Christians are called to renew themselves through prayer, fasting, and almsgiving (charity).  Think of it as a spiritual tune-up.

Solemn and reflective does not have to mean miserable and depressed.  Lent gives youth ministers a wonderful opportunity to teach about sacrifice, and how these sacrifices can be pleasing to God.  When we sacrifice in one area, we grow or make room in another; in the case of Lent it’s in our relationship with God.  Fasting is a perfect example: it’s less about what we are giving up (food) and more about how we are growing (in prayer).

“One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes forth from the mouth of God.” (Matthew 4:4)

An avid cola drinker, for the past 12 years I have proudly proclaimed that I am giving up pop for Lent.  But it wasn’t until a few years ago that I realized that simply sacrificing pop wasn’t enough…God was challenging me to do more.  To spend more time in prayer.  To be a better steward of my resources.  To be more generous.  And to be more “present” to my wife and children.

As youth ministers, we can pray for humility; that we can “die to ourselves” and instead set our hope on the living God.  In doing so we recall the sacrifice He made for us on the cross.

So yes, I will once again give up drinking pop.  In fact, I’ve cut back on my cola consumption since January 1 of this year.  But it’s admittedly only a small part of my Lenten plan to strengthen my relationship with God and with others.

I know that some people like to let everyone know what they’re sacrificing, whether it’s for accountability or for sympathy.  Others may declare their Lenten promises to show people that they are actually doing something.

However, I see no need in posting my other Lenten promises and sacrifices here or on Facebook or Twitter for the world to see.   If you want to really know (for whatever reason) what I’m going to be doing for Lent, just ask me.

May we all use these next forty days to strengthen our relationships with our loved ones and with our loving God.  Amen.

Clayton Imoo is husband to Gail and father to sons Sean Isaiah and Jacob Isaac and daughter Kayla Marie.  He has served as the Director of the Office of Youth and Young Adult Ministry of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Vancouver for the past ten years, helping parishes develop their own youth and young adult ministries.  When not doing ministry, Clay enjoys spending time with his family, playing music, playing sports, playing naptime, and writing blogs on topics such as family, faith, and the Vancouver Canucks.  Learn more about him at http://www.claytonimoo.com or follow him @claytonimoo     

When your leadership feels threatened

Every leader will face a season where his or her influence seems to be fading. Sometimes this can be due to age, sometimes to irrelevance or sometimes due to a copious amount of mistakes that are made.

In other moments and seasons, a diminishing influence in leadership may occur when a younger and perhaps even more gifted leader comes into the picture.

The biblical narrative is chalked full of a number of different stories of leadership transitions, both positive and negative. For the purpose of this short article I simply want to focus on two such stories highlighted by Dave Brotherton in his live interview with Mark Buchanan conducted online through Canadian Youth Worker here.

Saul meets David
Saul was the first king of the nation of Israel. The story of Saul and David begins with David defeating an enemy, Goliath, who was terrorising the Israelites. David, a teenager at the time, fought Goliath in battle. No one from Saul's court or mighty army was willing to lead out in battle against this supposed giant.

In this moment, David not only seized a level of authority and fame, but also elevated his leadership voice substantially.

As this story progresses, Saul becomes increasingly threatened by the ability, talent and popularity of David. At one point, Saul tries to end David's life by hurtling a spear at his head...side note, if someone physically threatens you as a leader, I would say this classifies as a failed leadership transition...just saying.

Saul maintained the title of authority, but David's leadership ability and anointing from God elevated him to a place that surpassed Saul.

Every leader will face their own David and/or Saul moment. As a youth pastor, there are leaders and teens in my ministry who are going to do even greater things that what I've been able to accomplish in my leadership thus far (and in the future). I have a decision to make when the stories of these brazen, young & incredibly gifted leaders collide with my own leadership story. Will I hurl a spear at their heads hoping to wound or kill their ability, or will I have the confidence to step outside of myself, lend whatever leadership reputation I may have built to these younger leaders for the sake of the Kingdom?


Eli mentors Samuel
Eli was the high priest of Israel at the time when a young boy named Samuel came to live with him. One evening, the Lord began to speak to Samuel (which was a privilege typically reserved for the priesthood in Israel...of which Samuel was not yet a part of). Samuel, not knowing what was happening runs to Eli several times seeking to respond to what he thinks is Eli calling out to him.

At some point, Eli clues in that Samuel is hearing the voice of God, and instead of letting his jealousy overwhelm him...he coaches Samuel to embrace the Lord's invitation. Eli knew he was being passed over, and he could have held on to what "he built" for the sake of his family and his reputation, but instead he allowed wisdom to shape his decision to celebrate Samuel instead of destroy him.


So when threats occur...
When your leadership feels threatened will you throw a tantrum like Saul, or embrace wisdom like Eli and support, coach, empower and cheer on those who will do more amazing things that we can possibly imagine?

Are there people in your current sphere of influence as a leader that you need to begin to view differently in light of these two stories? What is God saying to you, and what are you doing about it?