Janitors For Jesus?

This was AMAZING! Our Preteen Ministry is focusing on being "Every-Day-Missionaries" so I decided that an amazing every-day-mission opportunity would be to stay after church and gather a team of preteens to clean all the pews and pick up trash left behind. 

You might be thinking..."no way, kids hate cleaning!" 

And I would normally agree with you, but when they are cleaning as an act of service instead of a demand, they feel empowered, dignified and needed. This motivation is absolutely inspiring. One of our preteens exclaimed, 

"We Are Janitors for Jesus!" 

I don't know about you, but I love that statement!! It symbolizes the humility and zeal God desires from each one of us. 

The picture above is a graphic I designed for a post card mail out I sent about 5 days before the event. I also passed them out again that Sunday morning so they could show their parents. Let me know if you would like to use the image, and I would love to send you the file with a higher resolution. 

So You Want to Start a Preteen Clean Team? 

Here is how I did it: 

Our Preteens Finishing up the first: Preteen Clean Team

• Pizza lunch right after church. I had 2 other adult volunteers with me as well
• Put preteens in teams. We had 10 kids on 2 teams. This helped us be more organized with who cleaned what. 
• Keep it simple. I say 'clean' but really we emptied trash cans and picked up left-behind trash. 
• Have fun! Be "Janitors for Jesus" and go impact your church today!

Is Your Ministry On a Mission?

This semester in our Preteen Ministry we have been on a mission. Not just any mission of course, but the greatest mission of all! Spreading the Word of God.

But are not all Christians on that same mission too? 

I would say yes! But...how many of us are actually doing something about it? At FBC Lubbock our Preteens are on a mission every day, and so we call ourselves: 

Every-Day-Missionaries!

I absolutely believe that our preteens encounter opportunities every day to be the presence of God in their community. From this idea we have "Every-Day-Mission Opportunities." 

These "opportunities" can range from encouraging a friend running the mile at school, bringing in the groceries to help mom and dad, anything that examples the missional attitude of serving the people in our lives. 

I wanted to preteens to believe that God can, and will use them even though they are only 10, or 11 years old, so I showed them a video about a young girl named Rachel...

I have noticed an amazing response by our preteens! We have seen a huge increase in visitor attendance as a result of our preteens inviting their friends to various events. There continues to be fruit each week as I listen to all of the testimonies our preteens share on Sunday mornings. I love it! 

"How can I implement Every-Day-Mission Opportunities in our Ministry?"

• BE SUPPORTIVE! You have got to be the catalyst for the change, so be excited and encouraging!
• Create various points-of-entry. This means have a variety of ways for new visitors to get plugged in. Sunday School is great, what about something on a Friday night? Or a Wednesday evening? 
• Be consistent. Each Sunday remind everyone in your ministry of the goal to be Every-Day-Missionaries. 
• Find ways to spotlight your preteens. Each Sunday morning in our large group time, instead of asking about their week, I ask our preteens 'How have you taken advantage of an Every-Day-Mission Opportunity this week?' They loveee sharing in front of everyone!
• Teach what it means to you to be an Every-Day-Missionary. Each week during our large group time, I teach a short lesson on a the traits of an Every-Day-Missionary. 

Be Blessed!

Return of the Blogger!

It has been almost half a year since I last posted on this blog and I certainly have missed it! Well, I have been incredibly busy, with finishing college, getting married, riding a 100 mile bike ride with my dad and beginning seminary at Golden Gate.

I took a break from all things blogging as I realized I had been seeking fulfillment and affirmation from the success of my posts. This was troubling to me because I had allowed my blog to become an Idol!

I am so excited to be back to writing and I look forward to sharing with you all of the exciting things I have learned about Preteen Ministry.

So if you're looking for great Preteen Game Ideas, I will be posting some awesome games. If you are looking for fun mission ideas for preteens I have lots of tips and ideas to share with you!

I will be praying before I begin my next post and I look forward to seeing how God may bless your preteen ministry.

Be Blessed!

"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! 

Jesus on Facebook for Christmas!

I wanted to add another post similar to the post about Jesus on Twitter. This is another video that is very similar in format and style. I think it does a wonderful job of presenting the story of Christ's birth on Earth.
Check it out!

I love the way this video really connects all the characters in the Bible during Jesus' birth. I hope this video is both an encouragement for you and a resource for your ministry!

Be Blessed!

Jesus on Twitter this Easter?

I wish I could have found this video just a few days sooner! I would have loved to get the word out and shared it with you to show to your ministry! But maybe now since Easter was only yesterday, it is still relevant! And personally, when you're talking about the resurrection of Jesus Christ, that is ALWAYS relevant!

This short video is super cool to me! I love how it showcases the Gospel in a unique and engaging medium. I showed this to our preteens on Easter and we had a short discussion about it too!

I hope you enjoyed the video as much as I did! I definitely feel like it is a powerful resource that could be used for numerous lessons. 

Christ is Risen....Risen Indeed! 

Be Blessed! 

Does the Easter Bunny go to Sunday School?

Today is Good Friday, which means Easter is only a few days away! It is remarkable to me how quickly Easter came up, I still remember seeing all the fast food restaurants changing their marquees to advertise their fish sandwiches!

With one of the most anticipated days in the church calendar coming up, I am certain many of us involved in ministry are asking ourselves

What should I do to get preteens excited for Easter?

This is a simple question with a not so simple answer. Some of you may use cool lights, fog machines, beautiful productions or skits, maybe even some form of magic tricks. All of these methods for teaching are of course useful and exciting! But I wonder how Jesus would have taught preteens...

Easter in our preteen ministry is always a challenge for me. I spend hours upon hours in prayer, asking God what He desires for me to do. Last year was definitely a stretch for me, but it was a powerful leap of faith as God called for me to lead a short worship with our preteens (and I am by no means a singer!). It was so amazing to see our preteens enraptured by the overwhelming joy of Christ. 

My simple petition to you, is that you take a pause in the middle of all of your planning and designing, and consider God's will in it all. I am not trying to say whether or not you should use a strobe light, or a laser show, an acoustic guitar or an electric guitar. I am trying to say, have you asked God what He wants to do? 

Yet not as I will, but as you will

May you and your ministry be blessed this Easter weekend as you pursue heavenly things and equip your preteens with the awesome saving truth of the Gospel and Jesus' Resurrection. 

Be Blessed!