"Out of the Pew Thinking" Preteen Style!

Have you ever thought of how Jesus often ministered to His people? Numerous times throughout the Bible I see how Jesus sought out His sheep. Like the woman at the well,
Jesus pursued her heart and met her where she was at. 

This is such an important lesson for us to effectively minister to preteens! We must find a way to meet the preteens in their environment, to discover their unique passions and minister to them there!

I spoke with the worship minister at the country's fastest growing church (still surprises me that it's here in Lubbock!)  and asked him about how they grow their church into the culture of these new believers without becoming a part of the sinful culture. He said to me,

"we are willing to do anything short of sin to get these people in."

Now I firmly believe God has different purposes for different churches and different ministries, but I can't help but feel that sometimes our ministry needs to get up and step out of the pew, pass the gleaming white steeple and step onto a playground, a sidewalk, and maybe even a gravel path....

This past summer after seeing how many of our preteens loved running, I decided to start a new preteen event called "The Preteen Mile"

Each Saturday morning I woke up early, laced up my running shoes, clutched my Bible in hand, and anxiously awaited the 4-7 preteens that came prepared for a mile-long run followed by a short devotional and  then another mile-long run afterward. 

My intention was to challenge the preteens to run with all their heart, and to trust in God not just when they felt their strength weakening but with every step. Not only did the preteens get to experience God's strength and loyalty in their times they felt weakest, but whenever one of our preteens began to feel exhausted from running and finished after the others, they certainly did not run toward a quiet finish line. All of their peers were cheering and encouraging them to finish the run! 

It was absolutely incredible to see the preteens pray for God's help and then see how their attitude changed as their hearts received the blessings of our Lord. I loved the summer months that I was able to have the time to serve our preteens outside the church, doing something they love! 

This is what I am talking about, listen to your preteens, all of them! Find out what types of activities they are involved in and pray to God for Him to give you the opportunity to minister to your students there! 

The impact of God's love outside the church walls is powerful. 

Ideas for Ministry Outside the Church

• So maybe you have lots of preteens who dance, then have a dance workshop where you practice choreographing dances to Christian songs, and take a break to study the lyrics! 
• Perhaps you have lots of athletes, come up with a way to make a soccer team, or a pick-up football team. Get parents involved and have fun! 
• What about lots of artists?? Draw, paint, create visual illustrations of Biblical stories! Have a gallery night to showcase their work to parents too. 
• Singers? Start a choir! Sing Christian songs and study the lyrics, watch as the preteens realize that many of their favorite songs are filled with Scripture! 

I could go on and on!! Please let me know if you are looking for ideas, and I will do my best to help get you started. You just gotta choose to be used! 

Be Blessed!