The Process

We have been here for nearly three weeks now, and it is beginning to feel like home. How do I know I've settled in? Because I visited my old town last week (it was good to see my friends again), but when I came back here it felt like coming home. And now that we have a couch to sit on (was delivered yesterday), I can finally relax.

And yet, I have so much work to do! For some reason, I thought that starting in a new town would entail a few weeks (at least) of not too many commitments. But I was wrong! Starting up a new youth ministry sure takes a lot of hard work. But I'm enjoying every minute of it.

I thought it would be good to record what I'm doing in the process of getting this thing set up - so that at least I (and perhaps you) can look back if we ever wish to know once more what is involved in starting a youth ministry from scratch. The process I've basically followed so far has first of all involved seeking God absolutely every day as to what He wants me to do. I will not do this task on my own understanding or strength; I must hear the voice of God, otherwise I will simply slip back into doing what I have always done, from what I already know (which would be bad).

As I have sought to hear from God and obey Him, I have been working on gathering together some young people from a list of contacts my pastor gave me. The list is about fifteen people long; I have discovered that probably about ten of those are actually solid contacts. I think it is a good number to begin with.

I organised a couple of low-stress social events during February and March - we had a coffee night at a local cafe the week after I came, and will go Go-Karting in a few weeks' time. Apart from these, a few combined-churches events are happening that I will encourage the young people to be a part of. This Friday we will start up a youth home group which will facilitate fellowship, discipleship and outreach. In all of this, I hope to see unity and vision grow within the group, and to see the young people become more committed to their local church. My focus for the moment is on mentoring and discipling this group, from which will emerge future youth leaders, and from which we will begin to outreach into the community.

Importantly, in the last week I took the time to write out our vision for the youth ministry, and to present this to the church leaders. I have a 2-3 page document that details our specific goals and direction, and will be a great basis for me to work from as we begin to set the culture of the group and begin to form partnerships with others in fulfilling our vision.

It's all very exciting - God is beginning to draw people together and into the church, and I know that great things are going to happen in the future. Importantly, I remind myself and others that God is going to do amazing things, that peoples' lives will be changed, and that we must not limit our vision to our own understanding. We serve a great big God, who loves us, and desires to do great things through us. And He will!

Here I am

We have finally, after what seemed like an eternity, arrived in our new house, and have begun to settle in. It's been a week now, and I have to say, I find this a wonderful place to live. The beach is only an hour away, and the mountains even less.

On the flip side, I have felt challenged personally throughout the transition time in many ways - the enemy has especially tried to attack me in the area of the mind - in the area of fear, narrow-thinking, and so on. But it has been a time where I have felt so close to God - more than ever, because He has been my hiding place in this time. I have left friends and familiar things behind, but have been able to cling on to my God, who is with me wherever I go.

Things are beginning to move along now; I'm currently working on getting to know all the young people on our contact list, and starting up a small group to facilitate discipleship and leadership development in the group.

God has reminded me of this Scripture through three separate sermons in the last few weeks:

"Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us..."

Ephesians 3:20 TNIV

I'm excited, because we serve the God of Immeasurably More - and He is going to do amazing things here. I can't let the enemy contain me - and I must not think small. Because at work within me (and you), is the God who created the whole universe. What he can do through us when we give our days to Him, is literally without limit!