Monday, September 25, 2006

Youth Ministry Report

I wanted to tell you several things that are happening in our youth group lately. I thank God for the growth and depth I'm seeing.

  1. Last Friday night we held a See You At The Pole Rally and All-Night Lock-In. Thirteen different youth groups showed up. We had a total of 305 people! That was incredible. We were only expecting 140-150.
  2. We are beginning a Youth Choir. So far I have 11 students signed up. They will begin the first Wednesday of October and start practicing 3-5 Christmas songs by Steve Taylor. Their first full performance will be at a Christmas Block Party our church is co-sponsoring in the neighborhood. If everything works out well, they will also get prepared to sing in the Arizona Assemblies of God Fine Arts Festival in the spring.

  3. Some of our youth have wanted to sponsor a child through Compassion but haven't had the $32/month to carry the load alone. So, I picked up a packet of a little 6 year old girl from Mexico named Maylin. I presented her to the youth group last Wednesday night and I had over 20 kids raise their hands saying they would like to sponsor her. I am going to receive a Compassion offering the first Wednesday of each month to cover the cost. They will need to write her letters too. And hopefully, when we're in Mexico City next summer, we'll be able to travel a short way to see her.

  4. About a month ago I began to sense that God was leading us into a deeper prayer focus. I asked any of our young men if they would like to become a prayer partner with me. Basically, that meant that they would meet me 10 minutes before each youth group service and pray for me and everything that would happen that night. They would also need to correspond with me over email concerning prayer needs, etc. Five guys responded and it has been a good experience so far. I love it when they pray over me. It is empowering and comforting. Praying for them is a joy that anyone who has worked in youth ministry can understand.

There are so many other things that I could mention, like Student Leadership Development, Teen Bible Quiz, our worship team, and the fact that our Senior High Sunday School class is busting at the seams with 33-36 students every week. Sunday School! It is taught by the parents of a couple of our students. They are such wonderful and giving people.

Please pray for students accross America everywhere who will be around their flagpoles at school praying during See You At The Pole. Like everything, after it's been established and organized, it can lose it's purpose and power. Pray that SYATP will be used by those who have a burning in their hearts already for Christ and want to see their world changed. But, also, for the kids who join in, pray that they will catch the Spirit. Pray that it isn't all a routine or tradition.

Amen.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wow Pastor James. It is truly wonderful what the Lord is doing through you with this next generation of people.

Lord please give your strength to Pastor James and his family as they endeavor to do Your work and Your will amoung this group of young men and women. Amen
Sandy

Anonymous said...

"that wonderful"
also HAPPY BIRTHDAY

ruthrap said...

you do appear to have three sites going, jimmybob. two jummybob's places and one jimmybob 2. one of the places has a different post than the other! probably just a glitch, nothing too serious.......the more the merrier, eh?

Anonymous said...

I'm looking forward to youth group tonight and hearing about how SYATP went.

JimmyBob said...

ruthrap, can you send me the URL addresses of those JimmyBob's Places. I only list two sites with my profiles. I wonder what the other one is? Just visit the sites and copy the address from you address bar. Then send them to me. Maybe someone started a MOCK site! That would be hilarious.

JimmyBob said...

Oh, anonymous, thanks for the birthday wish, whoever you are.

JimmyBob said...

See You At The Pole was terrific! I went to Chandler High School and there were 58-60 students there praying in a big circle. I had kids give testimonies at youth service and they were excited. At the close of service I had 6 students come to the microphone individually and lead out in prayer over the group that was already praying with youth leaders. Prayer, it seems, is becoming more and more important to us. We are finding strength and unity in it.

Mike J. said...

Hey there. Thanks for the comment on my blog. I was a youth minister for 8 years and definetly understand the pressures of your job. I pray that God will continue to bless you in your ministry.

JimmyBob said...

Mike, I love your user pic man. That smile is like a million bucks. I'll definitely be keeping in touch now that I've discovered you.