State of AHYEAH Report 2010

State of AHYEAH Report 2010

Looking Back:

In the past year of 2010, there has been growth in programs, attendance, and in both spiritual fruit and personal spiritual relationships with our Lord. May the noted forward motion and spiritual increase in this report give all praise, honor and glory to our amazing Father God for His blessings, tests, and giving of strength through all challenges. This has been a year of evaluating priorities, hilarious stories, powerful God-moments, and God’s provision in crazy circumstances.

A continuing theme of the body of Christ today is that living for Christ and living it loud usually stays within the walls of the church building. We felt this check in our spirits and from it sprung the A-Team. The A-Team is a group of youth within AHYEAH that have made a commitments to live their faith and take ‘Action’ outside of services and events. We meet every other week and give them a challenge to fulfill. The following meeting we debrief the events of our doing the challenge and receive the next one. It takes more than showing up to remain on the team. It is open for anyone to join, but each member must complete the challenges. If a youth misses two then they are out for a month, but then can jump back in where they left off. The challenges range from simple stuff like buying a snow cone at a place where 50% of the profits go to an orphanage to more challenging ones such as recording your testimony, posting it on Facebook and tagging all of your friends. Also, the youth of the A-Team have been asked to alternate leading the discussions on Wednesday nights. This will stretch them towards leadership and being comfortable sharing in groups (some benefits of this could include future, practiced home-team leaders, Christian club leaders, business people comfortable with leading meetings, etc.) The A-Team presently consists of 14 very faithful youth who are passionate about serving outside of youth.

A new benefit to being the parent of an AHYEAH member is that there are even more ways to keep up with what is going on within the ministry. Basically an online newsletter, we now have an AHYEAH blog. This covers every AHYEAH Event (major and minor) giving stories, details, and testimonies. This can be set up to email the latest blog updates (once a month) directly to a parent’s inbox keeping them informed on recent services and events that their youth have attended. Also, for even more real time updates parents can follow AHYEAH’s Twitter which reflects all texts that have been sent to AHYEAH as a group. This can be set up for free to text their cell phones with the latest updates. This way, updates such as “remember to wear athletic shoes for our game Wednesday” will be sent directly to the parents cell phone just as their youth are receiving them.

Since my last report, God set us on a series of events that ultimately established a new and growing sub-ministry of AHYEAH. A parent at the end of last year saw a gap in the transition between children’s and youth ministry, and planted the seed for a “tween” ministry. This ministry, Grapplers, would overlap youth so that Jr. High kids that aren’t ready to be surrounded by Juniors and Seniors had a place to meet friends their age and move into youth with support from existing friends. Grapplers has since been championed by Kristi Brungardt along with Tammy Anderson, Mike Embry, and Nick Stoeful who have incorporated a fresh curriculum and have been instruments by God for doubling its size.

This past August the staff was given the opportunity to take a retreat and seek God about what is next in each of our ministries. For me, that retreat was the single most spiritually refreshing event in the last year. During the escape I felt led to study Doug Fields’ The Purpose Driven Youth Ministry. God directed me through the book to reevaluate each of our programs and design them to target specific categories of youth. The five categories ranged from the non-attending community to the core, dedicated youth. A program designed to cater to all of these categories would be so broad as to be either too deep for guests and half interested teens or too shallow for those who are hungry and looking to press into God’s word. Presently, there are three weekly programs (AHYEAH, The ‘9’, Fantastic Fri. on Wed.). We have since honed each of these to target specific groups. Fantastic Fri. on Wed. is our entry-level service targeting the Community, Crowd, and Congregation through light worship, youth led discussion, and increased game time. Our Sunday night service, AHYEAH, is geared for youth who would fall into the Congregation and Committed categories with food, deeper worship, a message, and small groups that are age and gender specific. The youth oriented Sunday morning service, The ‘9’, has taken on a curriculum which crosses leadership training with scripture and prayer to better serve the Committed and Core youth. Each of these services hope to usher youth to a deeper level of commitment and relationship with Christ where a teen will grow from simply being in the Community to hungering after Christ and developing spiritual disciplines in the Core.

As in last year’s report, we hoped to develop leadership in the youth to the point of passing the Wednesday night service fully to them. Part of this vision has recently come into bloom. One of the requirements of the A-Team is to alternate leading the Wednesday night discussions. They are to pray and decide on a relevant topic, seek out several scriptures, plan discussion questions and lead the conversation. So far they have done marvelous and many of them are looking forward to taking their turns. This will serve two purposes. First, it will exercise the A-Team in taking leadership, and secondly, it will maintain relevance because the topics are chosen from people their own age. Our God is so cool.

Another goal from last year was to have four solid and fully functioning small groups. At the end of last year our small group leaders included Dave, Nat, Jacqueline, and myself. This left me the exciting challenge of leading the Jr. High Girl’s small group. It felt like trying to write with your left . . . foot. Needless to say, we had fun and it was a growing experience for all of us. At the beginning of 2010, God brought in a new family and their friends from dispersed youth group. The oldest was Sunny Shepherd who was DHS certified and was a leader in their former youth group. She has since grown into the position of small group leader and relieved me of my former duties. The girls have welcomed her and it is now the closest and most tight-knit of our small groups.

Two things that AHYEAH heavily embarked on in the fall of last year were Tailgating at High School Football games to create awareness of AHYEAH and also attending as many of the youth’s extracurricular activities as possible. We as a youth group would attend football games, dramas, band competitions, hockey games, and etc. The plan was to have a tailgating party at every school of our youth (Union, Bixby, B.A., and Jenks) and give away food, t-shirts, cinch bags, and raffle tickets, and we did it. The teens that we met were able to take home a cinch back pack and a t-shirt giving us exposure, then we took the raffle tickets and used the addresses to mail information and prizes to each of them reminding them of us. We gave away almost 300 shirts and bags and collected as many raffles. I have heard several reports from our youth that they’ve seen kids at their schools wearing our paraphernalia.

Through money, hard work and the efforts of faithful leaders and youth, we brought a little more exposure to AHYEAH, but it was our attending the youth’s functions that has left a permanent impression on them. Much simpler than setting up tents, cooking hotdogs and giving away Monster energy drinks is loading 10-20 youth in a bus and going to support a friend. We have received numerous thanks from parents for making their teen feel special and supported. After each event we take the celebrated individual out with the group and buy them dinner. We fellowship and laugh and celebrate each other’s performance. This was where the ministry rubber met the road.

One major success in outreach of the past year was our Soles 4 Souls drive. This was a two part event. First, all of us who had them would donate any gently worn shoes, and then on the Sunday that we promoted it to the church all of the youth went barefoot for a day to empathize with those who do not have shoes around the world. Between the adults and the youth we collected and donated 123 pairs of shoes to Soles 4 Souls. What a big-hearted congregation we have the privilege of being a part of.

Involvement at AHYEAH has increased over the past year. Regular attendees in 2009 included about 35 youth. As of September, 2010 (which is after our seniors graduated) we have 45 active members. That’s a 22% increase. Our average attendance at Fantastic Friday on Wed has grown from 18 – 25 (28% increase), and AHYEAH nights from 29 – 32 (9.5% increase). When viewing a typical youth group, the spiritual status would resemble a teacher’s grading curve. There would be a few students who are sold out and on fire for Christ. About equal to that number would be those who are basically disinterested and usually forced by parents to be there, then the bulk of the group would fit somewhere in the middle. To brag on our Lord for a minute, I’d like to make the bold statement that our curve is rather top heavy. Our majority is in the category of loving God and developing their relationship with Christ leaving a handful that is in the middle and only a couple, if any, on the opposite side. God is awesome and working mightily at AHYEAH.

In the report last year, we hoped to see an increase of our attendance of major events by 50%. Our Out of School Bash grew by 22%, but had many attendees that have never visited before. Also, we included some new activities which I’m confident will bring them back for another taste this summer. Our spring break trip where we take the youth camping, hiking, climbing, and caving was a smashing success despite the second trip being changed last minute. On our spring break trip our attendance grew by 100%. Last year we took 10 on one trip and this year we made two trips and took 20. AMEN!

Extreme Camp also saw a large increase from 2009. Last year we took 12 youth to camp; this year we hauled two busses and a van full of 26 youth. That’s a 116% increase! God is awesome! Because of camp prices escalating and the economy deescalating, we set out to help any youth come that wanted to, despite money being an issue or not. Through Flamingoing, our church family raised $900 in funds to make it possible for every youth that wanted to go to go. Thank you Abiding Harvest.

Another big hit of the past year was our New Year’s Eve Lock-In. This was 12 straight hours of activity, food, services, games, and more food. For this event we saw a 121% increase in attendance. The same party the year before saw 14 attendees. This past January, 31 youth came out and partied hearty for the New Year and dedicated this year to the Lord.

May God continue to move and manifest His glory at AHYEAH.

Looking Forward:

AHYEAH is steadily growing in maturity, fellowship, attendance, and in spiritual fruit. It is gradually but consistently developing a culture of leadership, evangelism, worship and love. Although it is still, and always may be, riddled with challenges and set-backs God is molding us to be more like Him and the body of Christ that He’s calling us to be. I believe whole-heartedly that a foundational principal to being that body is for the youth themselves to grow in leadership and responsibilities. “Develop followers, grow a few; develop leaders, grow many.” There are several areas that I believe God is calling us to grow ourselves so that we can achieve this cornerstone principal. First, I would like to continue to pour fuel on the fire of our A-Team. This is the place where the natural leaders of AHYEAH are gravitating, and others are being challenged to grow. These are the ones who are committing to develop spiritual disciplines and live their faith out loud in their schools. A goal of AHYEAH this year is to keep this ministry vibrant and relevant through developing a family/team atmosphere within it. I would like to have at least two minor events this year solely to bless them and to give them an opportunity to have fun together. Also, and more importantly, I want to have several outreach projects for them to work and sweat together as a team. The more that they are confident in the fact that they are supported by a family who is taking the same challenges with them, the more they will leave their comfort zones behind.

As noted in last year’s report, we were shooting to have 4-6 steady and well manned small groups. Several months ago we initiated Sunny as our Junior High Girls small group leader completing the minimal for this goal. In the next couple of months (before 2011) we are hoping to have added a third guys small group to split up the Senior High small group. Along with that addition, I would like to also add a third girl’s small group giving AHYEAH a total of six small groups by the end of 2011. These will only come about if God brings the adult leadership needed to pilot these additions. I believe that God is growing us to this point and I am very excited to see these come to pass.

A vision mentioned in last year’s report was to have Fantastic Fridays on Wed completely youth led. As of presently, the discussion on Wed nights is now primarily led by youth from the A-Team. I am so proud of them. This year, we will seek to complete this vision and pass on worship leadership and game planning to youth-age leaders. A realm of leadership which has only been partly explored is having youth as co-leaders of small groups. As already stated, we are shooting to have six solid and sustaining small groups within 2011. I would like to see each of the group’s leaders take on a youth to begin a discipleship relationship. The leader would on a weekly basis meet with the youth and have bible studies, prayer, and fun together. That youth who is in mentorship with the leader would then help to co-lead that leader’s small group. This would give the youth both a discipleship relationship and also exercise in leadership and leading a small group. That would be six youth growing in Christ and in leadership. This is a vision that can only be brought about by God. Attempts like these have fallen through in the past, but if it’s God’s will nothing can stop it.

Outreach projects are essential to developing youth who will grow into selfless and generous adults who have a burden for the less fortunate. Thus far, we’ve had 2-3 outreaches each year. I would like to increase our charity and have at least one outreach every other month. The A-Team will definitely be involved, but also to develop a culture of giving within AHYEAH as a whole. In addition to these outreaches, we should seek out and execute more support for our church’s Belize mission trip. I would like both to support them with funding, supplies, and creating awareness but also have fundraisers to send our own youth on the trip. This past summer only a few actually made it on the trip because of financial challenges. I would like to support any of our youth who are willing to work hard to go and make up any difference that is holding them back.

Throughout this year, I would like to get more parents connected to our AHYEAH Twitter and Blog. Both of these can greatly increase awareness among parents of the events, challenges, and successes within AHYEAH. I would like to greatly encourage parents throughout the year to connect their cell phones to Twitter for any AHYEAH trips or outings. This will give them the advantage of staying apprised of happenings on the trip. (Example: while at Extreme Camp I could give nightly updates on how the day went – “Today we had 3 salvations in worship service and a great day of games. Please pray for _______ who twisted his ankle.” Or “We will arrive back twenty minutes late because _______ got car sick and needed to pull over.” Regular updates such as these could prove very useful to parents. Our attendance on Sunday and Wednesday nights is another area that I would like to see us grow. Where our average attendance on Sunday nights is 32 it would be a challenge but also an achievable goal to target 40. And for Wednesday nights, whereas we have an average of 25, we’ll target 30. We would also like to see our attendance to major events grow by 50%. This would be 105-120 teens at our next Out of School Bash, and I believe that through similar activities and better advertisement this can be achieved.

Finally, an area that we could really use some growth is our love within AHYEAH. I feel that we have a semi-strong family atmosphere, but the love factor is lacking. It takes very little to stir up gossip and strife within our youth. May God bring the spiritual fruit needed to crush rumors, bickering, and animosity. Love, God’s love is the only thing that can battle the daily drama of high schoolers. Within a group of imperfect people growing through some of their most challenging years it will be impossible to eliminate these strivings all together, but my prayer is that God will so pour out His love to these youth through these youth that these demonic strategies will be greatly inhibited. Amen.

Another year has come and gone but not without great testimonies. God is working mightily at AHYEAH and I am honored that Jacqui and I can be along for the ride. No one knows the future other than God, however it is only God who can get us through it. Thank you Abiding Harvest for the opportunity to be God’s vessel with His next generation.