Today we have a group continuing to work on the house. It’s a new home for Bevin and Curline who are a wonderful couple that serves in the Raise Praise Ministry with Charlie and Sally. We also have another group that is digging and laying cinder blocks for the addition to the chicken coop. And it’s the hottest day of the week, of course! This morning we had chapel at the Christian school with John and Pastor Todd leading worship and it was wonderful. These kids are taught to sing out, and so the worship sounds so joyful and loud. Take note in America!

Last night our team got together to process all that we have done this week. In total we had a meeting with the ministry of Agriculture, a meeting with the senior 4-H young adults, one with the local delegates from the ministry of Ag, a meeting with the junior 4-H Kids, another with the local 4-H leaders, a half day of farm visits, and more. So I’m sure we need time to process and vision, but here’s my big picture thoughts.

The island has already had 4-H for 50ish years. But they are struggling with resources and rebuilding since hurricane Ivan in 2004. The government has had budget cuts in past years, familiar I know. But with new gov’t changes and a renewed focus on agriculture the ministry of agriculture is very positive towards strengthening the agriculture on the island and see 4-H as a very useful tool. As far as our church’s involvement as well as America/Ohio State/etc, we hope to use 4-H as one of many tools and opportunities for leadership development. Because we, as a team, see the lack of leadership and drive for success to be the islands biggest issues to overcome the poverty. I’m sure there are all sorts of difficult situations within the government and systems on the island. But we have a passion to see leaders rise up to take on the problems that exist. 4-H will be a successful way to implement the needed life skills for leadership. We also envision the youth of Celina coming down here to work with the local teens on spiritual growth and leadership qualities. We imagine the worship band coming to lead traveling worship concerts and ignite a passion for music. Maybe they can give music lessons and equip kids with instruments so they can become excited to take part in the arts. We can see folks coming down to teach sports camps to the older kids while the younger kids take part in the VBS programs Ohioans have always offered. And through these opportunities we imagine young people getting excited about taking a role in their community, desiring to become entrepreneurs and being successful at their trade. Sports, the arts, VBS, retreats and leadership training are all ways we imagine Grenadians can be challenged in leadership development.

So we feel this visioning trip has been very successful so far. There are so many ways that folks at St. Paul’s can be involved as we begin this long term sister-town relationship with Pearls, Grenada. It’s a beautiful county that is trapped in a cyclical pattern that will take a long time to escape. But God is all about restoration and bringing Heaven to earth. And He is here already with a plan in mind. We just want to join up with the plan that God has. We offer salvation (like this morning) and in addition we offer hope for this life. And we are very excited about the possibilities.

So besides that here are a bit more random thoughts… We haven’t been to the beach yet, even though we can see the ocean off of the front porch! So sad I know. It’s been very busy but we hope to get there tomorrow for a bit of a break. I absolutely love the fresh juices they make for us. Usually passion fruit is involved as well as this local orange type thing called goospow or something like that. And Bevin made us homemade smoothies with fresh bananas, passion fruit, cinnamon and ice. It was heaven! Today we had lunch at the school. It was a pea soup made with these local peas that are more like lentils and chicken and dumplings. We see lots of lizards and there are semi-wild dogs everywhere! The roads are narrow and super windy and today I got the most nauseous I’ve been all week. Yesterday I got to “babysit” for a bit for a young mom in the senior ag meeting. She had a 14 month old boy named Ethan who wasn’t interested in sitting still for the meeting. So I offered to take him out to the walk to play with him. He was so sweet and had a contagious giggle. I taught him some nursery rhymes and songs we sing and we chased each other and tickled. And he just giggled!  I am fighting a pretty tough cold that seems like it is settling in my chest with a bad, deep cough. Please be praying for health, because of course I am not interested in medical care here.

In the nest few days we will be having the worship concert that we’ve been planning for all week. We will hopefully be going to the ocean up at the north end of the island for a bit of relaxed sun soaking. And we are hoping to meet with some folks at St George’s University about the 4-H program. And of course we’ll continue to work on the house for Bevin and Curline and we’ll finish up the chicken coop and maybe add a bunny hutch. Greg and I would love to squeeze in a trip to the orphanage but we’ll see if that happens.

So… it has been a very productive week and it’s just the tip of the iceberg for what we can do here in Grenada. Make sure to go over to facebook to see some of the pics we’ve been taking all week. We want to thank you for your prayers and all the donations that you have made because we have been extremely blessed to have this opportunity.

i am sitting in a living/dining room that is open to the outside with the beautiful sunset darking the sky pink. and i am absolutely amazed at the beauty of this country of grenada and it’s people.

today we spent the day in a couple different meetings regarding the 4H program with the local 4H leader and the ministry of argiculture and some other folks. my understanding at the end of the day is that there is a basic structure in place for 4H, as many of the school have clubs, a few of them are even going well. but there is a lot of work to do in regards to support, leadership training, and suppling resources. in the past few years, the gov’t has really cut the funding to the current programs and there is very little resources to be had as far as materials. so we are doing a lot of listening to hear where exactly God wants us and where we can be of the most help.

we got to spend some time with some beautiful young teens who were working on their after school craft projects and doing some work with young lettuce plants. they seem to work really hard (even in the heat) and a few want to grow up to do agriculture.

when i talked with sally last night on the long ride over, i asked her to identify what some of the major issues are for the people here. and i gathered that there are serious issues that have to do with healthy family networks and motivation to acheive something (anything) in life, after all everyone lives on island time and it’s so relaxed you don’t have to do anything! there is a LOT of sexual promiscuity and therefor lots of broken families.  (maybe a good sex retreat is in future for Grenada?)

but overall these folks love to worship, and are so warm and welcoming. and the countryside is so incredible! the locals will paint anything that is standing still with the country colors (red, green and gold). and the vegetation is bright and dense.

before we departed yesterday i was a little fearful of the plane ride. but i discovered i should be more afraid of the combination of the narrow streets, super windy roads, and fast drivers in high milage, beat up island vans. let me just say, don’t put your arms out the window or you’ll lose it! and don’t ride backwards or you’ll lose your lunch!

Blessings to you all!

Remember…

For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

“The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’

Matt 25!

This year’s conference had a resounding theme throughout. And that was the theme of change. Many of the speakers talked about ways to know are “stuck in a rut”, how to navigate change, and why God calls us to change. And the ‘God thing’ is that they don’t collabroate their messages. The teachers come from all walks of church leadership. There were Denominational and Non-Denoms. Young guys (one looked like one of my 9th graders!) and old guys (one was my prof from school and he was old ten years ago!). There were professional church and youth ministry consultants and some were staff at small churches. And it was very clear that across the country and across all walks of church life, we are all dealing (or not dealing) with this thing called change. 

There were statistics and quotes…. 

“We change when the pain associated with the status quo becomes greater than the pain associated with change”

“Change for the sake of the mission.”

“Most of the time change is too slow and not radical enough”

Make a change over 6 months time, you’ll lose %30 (people, income, etc). Make the change over 2 years time and you’ll lose… %30. Except your teams, leaders and congregation will be burned out and tired. 

“Characteristics of churches that are stuck include… the thinking that we “just” need any number of things… new programs, a new building, more money, etc and then everything will be fine. Churches think that hiring, firing, or “seminaring” away the problems will fix everything. And churches just think they need more “ideas.”

When in reality we need system changes cause you can’t just fix the church by fixing a little area like a program, finanaces, or space. We don’t need new ideas, we need to apply the ones we have and do it well for the context in which we live. And when we change we need to ask the question “why?”

But otherall, and this was the clincher for me… we need to understand what is “core” and what is “cultural”. In that, I mean we need to come to a good understanding of what is core to the Christian Faith and what the scripture says. And then anything outside of this core is cultural. And Reggie Joiner summed up this core for us by quoting the scripture “Love God, Love Neightbor” And all other scripture falls in under these two of the greatest commandments… including worship (not how we do church), prayer, service, and outreach, etc.

What churches do, is they try to interpret how to follow through with the core of the scriptures. And we do that in a cultural way. Having church on Sunday morning is cultural. Using the instruments we use, the color schemes, the programs and the litergy is cultural. Using movie clips, and skits, and modern music; it’s cultural. Traditions are developed when we use culture to interpret the “core”. What we have to ask ourselves at all times is this, “Is the culture in which we do church acccomplishing the goals of the core, of Love God, Love Neighbor.” And we know that culture is constantly changing. So we need to evaluate what we do, on the basis of whether or not we are achieving “the core”.

So here are my initial thoughts on what is core to our faith. But first a little John Wesley… he believed that the “living core of the Christian Faith was revealed in scripture, illuminated by tradtion, vivified in personal experience and confirmed by reason.” 

I believe in a triune God consisting of the Creator, the Christ and the Holy Spirit. I believe God has a redemptive plan for all of mankind. I believe Christ lived, died and was risen to atone for our sin. I believe those who call on Christ’s salvation will join all believers in heaven. The body of believers is called the church and Christ loves the church as his bridegroom. The church, enabled by the work of the Holy Spirit, is called to love God and to love neighbor. 

Now this is just a piece of what I consider to be our core. I don’t want to give it all up or anything. I want to hear what you have to say! 

What would you define as core? What would you define as cultural? How do we accomplish the mission of “the core” within our cultural context.

Mike Yaconelli put it this way: As I look at the lay of the land in our denomination and as I see the growing numbers of passionate and gifted young people and young leaders in our midst then I believe the best way to keep this younger generation connected to our churches is to find ways for them to be the church. Having them connect to youth ministry programs is nice but it tends to create consumerism. (ie. an “entertain me” attitude) as opposed to a participation-ism (an attitude where the participants realize that the church won’t exist without them).

It’s interesting to see that some of the leading thinkers in youth ministry are writing books that (in my estimation) are really applicable to the future of the church. With titles like “Deep Ministry in a Shallow World” by Kara Powell and Chap Clark, “Practicing Passion: Youth and the Quest for a Passionate Church” by Kenda Creasy Dean, “Contemplative Youth Ministry” by Mark Yaconelli, and “A New Kind of Youth Ministry” by Chris Folmsbee it seems clear that this is not just a message for youth groups in North America.                              

As I have reflected on “better good” youth ministries I have noted the following essential characteristics. Perhaps you have others you might add to the list. “

“Better Good” Youth ministries are places of:

• MENTORSHIP: Where we are mentoring and being mentored. And in the midst of this mentorship there is a place where young leaders are identified and nurtured.
• COMMUNITY: We live lives that are genuine, teachable and vulnerable. We are a messy community that embraces the joys and sorrows of life.
• SPIRITUAL FORMATION and DIRECTION: We are learning to practice spiritual disciplines and to posture our lives in ways that enable us to encounter God and listen to God.
• “GLOCAL” JUSTICE and COMPASSION: We desire to be followers of Jesus who are concerned about social justice issues in the local and global community.
• PASSIONATE CHURCH CONNECTIONS: We have connected to a church that joyfully provides places for youth and young adults to dream, lead and to share their gifts and passions.

“So, how might we move ahead in the light of these reflections?”

Excerpt from On Line Article by Ryan Sato, Youth Director for the Canadian Baptistsof Western Canada

 Well what a good question! So answer me these questions! How do we create a “better good” youth ministry? Where is God calling our youth ministry at St Paul’s? What does a consumerism youth ministry look like vs. a participation-ism youth ministry? How are we doing?

We in the youth ministry want to spend the summer discussing these questions, praying for our youth ministry, reading and studying and moving in God’s calling on our ministry!

I want to invite all our current adult and teen leaders and anyone interested in joining this discussion to a series of meeting that I want to call, “THE DREAM TEAM”. So come on out and join the discussion: the more, the merrier! So grab one of those books listed above and get dreaming! I also recommend “Postmodern Youth Ministry” by Tony Jones and “Youth Ministry 3.0” by Mark Oestriecher.

DREAM TEAM MEETINGS!! The working schedule right now is… the 2nd and 4th Tuesday evenings of the month at 6:30-8pm in the Greenhouse

June 9th & 23rd,  July 14th & 28th,  Aug 11th & 25th

what is it? how do we do it? why should we do it? what does a spiritually mature person look like?

“I have a lot more to say about this, but it is hard to get it across to you since you’ve picked up this bad habit of not listening. By this time you ought to be teachers yourselves, yet here I find you need someone to sit down with you and go over the basics on God again, starting from square one—baby’s milk, when you should have been on solid food long ago! Milk is for beginners, inexperienced in God’s ways; solid food is for the mature, who have some practice in telling right from wrong.” Hebrews 5:11-14 (the message translation)

how do we become mature in our faith, living on solid food and not just milk?

“it’s ok to be where you are now, it’s just not ok to stay there”

discussion anyone?

This is my first blog… ever. I am a little bit technologically slow. But I am looking forward to the discussions.

I especially like youth. I like hanging out with them. I like going on trips with them. I like teaching and talking with them. I like how they are honest and real.  And I really love when something connects in them and they get “it” and they grow in faith. I am only one person. I have just the same amount of hours as everyone else. I wish that I was blessed with the gift of freezing time and be able to keep ministering so that my time is multiplied. But I can’t. And here, we can minister and teach each other. .. and mature in faith together.

“milk to solid food,” right?

So hopefully this blog will be an opportunity to dialogue about topics youth are dealing with. To get new ideas for youth ministry. And to better disciple students on their walk of faith. We’ll ask questions… What about other religions? Sex or no sex? Did Jesus really walk out of the temple angry? Why do you kill plants at youth fellowship? Are the programs we are doing working? How can the confirmation class fit into the discipleship plan for youth? Are you all going to Lakeside camp? Where does youth ministry fit into the larger church body, at St. Paul’s and in the world? How can we be disciples in a broken home? Easy questions, hard questions, and a dialogue that leads us all to seek out Christ’s calling on our lives. 

It’s about relationships. With each other, and with Christ. Join me…