Today's guest post in from Tom Zalatnai, a friend from Twitter. Tom is special for 2 reasons. First of all, he loves working with youth in the name of Jesus. Secondly, he is Canadian. That's just cool. Thanks for sharing with us today, Tom!
It's my pleasure to be writing a guest post for this blog today! Since this is a site primarily about youth ministry, I thought I would write about something that I think makes a huge difference!
I've been involved in youth & children's ministries for the last 6 or 7 years now, and during part of that time I was both leading and a member of a youth group, and have been touched by the amount of love that comes through those kinds of ministries. I've met so many leaders who love their students, love their jobs and love the Lord so much, and that has been a major influence on my leadership as well. But what is it that makes a good youth leader? Is it good organizational skills? How about a nice car? Or a lot of money? While all of these things are handy, I think it's pretty obvious at this point that I'm leading into something here, and that none of those things are the answer to my question!
Caring.
A leader who cares- who really loves and is passionate about everything they're doing in their ministry- is going to make the biggest difference. I would argue that it's even more important than having any training or experience. Now of course those things are super important, but when I was first involved in children's ministries in the summer of 2005, I had no idea what I was doing (I was also 11, so that didn't help) and was super discouraged, but somehow managed to make a big difference for at least one of my campers. At the end of that summer, one camper came up to me and told me that it made a big difference having me there as his leader because I cared so much. As I got older, I still wasn't really all that well equipped, but I was passionate about what I was doing, and God was using me in powerful ways! Through that passion, I gained the experience and training that made me the leader I am today.
Looking back, I can remember countless times I've gone to my own leaders with problems or concerns, and have felt totally loved and respected and been given amazing advice by people who cared enough to invest their time and prayers in me. It should be the mission of every minister to train up disciples in love and show them leaders who are invested in their well-being :)
Appreciate your willingness to share, Tom. Looking forward to returning the favor next week for our Thanksgiving!
ReplyDeleteMy pleasure! Excited to see your post next week :)
ReplyDelete