And so this is Christmas...

Well, it's Christmas. And over the last couple of weeks I have been reflecting on the year that has passed, and on the year that will come.

One thing I have realised is that although there are some difficult circumstances happening here, I must not allow these things and people to stop me from fulfilling what God has called me to do. No-one can take away what God has called me to do. I can't go beyond it; and the only one who can make me fall short of it is me.

And so, although there are some things that concern me about next year, and even though I couldn't exactly say I'm filled with passion for next year's tasks, I will keep pushing through to see my dreams come to pass. And when the task seems too big for me to do, I must remember that God himself is with me and will supply what I need both within and out of myself to do it.

The Battle Lines Are Drawn

Now that things are beginning to happen with our youth ministry, I am beginning to see just what sort of battle we will have here. It seems that there are a lot of people who have been hurt and/or alienated from the Church. Sadly, many of these have found ways to go on with their lives, perhaps still having some belief in God, but being separated from the bigger family of God.

Along with that, I think there is a reluctance in some people to trust the Church again, or perhaps a reluctance to commit themselves once again for fear of being hurt. I am also dealing with a whole generation of young people for whom church has seemed irrelevant. Gathering these young people together is going to be (and has already proved) a challenge. I will have to ask God how to care for these people in the best way; how to help them to seek Him for healing from all of their wounds, emotionally, spiritually.

It is just as well I'm not doing this on my own. I'm serving a great big God. He is leading me as to how to go about this task, and He will give me the strength and courage to complete what He has called me to do. Bit by bit, day by day, this vision He has given me will come to pass. And I'll be gladly able to say, in perhaps twelve months time or later, that God alone has done it, because I could never do it on my own.

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!

What have you seen?

Vision is seeing something that most others cannot, like the potential for a flower to grow out of a mass of bricks.

Once you see something, a vision of a future God has given you, don't let go of it. Many things will try to crowd out your time, and distract your attention from what you have seen.

I have been reminded this week to keep pushing through, until bit by bit, what I saw so many days and weeks ago, comes into being.

Don't give up on your God-given vision; it is what God has created you to do, and no-one else can do it, except for you.