Last night we had our Delta Small Groups Kickoff Party. We all met at the church, had food, played some dodgeball, then I cast vision for small groups and our dream to see every student connected in a group. We introduced all of our incredible small group leaders then showed a preview video for Youth Alpha, the curriculum we are using in our groups this fall. (Yes, I know … there are a lot of Greek letters flying around here. I should tell you that before deciding to do Alpha in Delta, we ran a Beta test.) Finally, the students got into their groups to get to know one another and their leaders. I am very, very excited that we are adding two more groups this year, for a total of 7! I dream of the day we have 50 all over Long Island! Next week the groups begin meeting in homes, and I am praying and believing for an amazing year of connection, decisions for Jesus, and spiritual growth. If you are a student or a parent and you want information about groups, click here for times and locations.
5 Things to Do When You Meet a New Student or Parent
It’s that time of year when everything is ramping back up again in youth ministry. Here are a 5 things that I communicate and resources that I want to get into people’s hands when I meet them on a Sunday morning; and I want all of our adult volunteers, student leaders, other church staff members, and greeters/ushers to do the same.
- Give them our Student Ministry Calendar. The calendars have our regular gatherings listed on them, but are general in nature (Dates and Events intended as “Save The Date”). Tell them to use the e-mail address listed on the bottom to Signup for the Student Ministry Weekly Update E-mail which has the specifics (Times, Locations, Costs, etc.).
- Give them a Delta Small Groups Locations Card. Our goal is to get every student connected in a small group, and this card contains all of the addresses for the homes in which they meet. (Note: Small Groups do not meet during the summer.)
- Give them a Student Ministry Newsletter. We publish a quarterly newsletter that is full of stories and pictures that gives people a sense of who we are and what we’ve been doing.
- Invite them, or even better, Escort them to our Sunday Morning Program. Our Sunday program meets each Sunday throughout the school year except on Family Sundays.
- Introduce them to a Student Ministry Adult Leader and Another Student. This is the most important thing we can do for new people. Connect them with one of our youth leaders who can welcome them and introduce them to other students their age. This is reassuring to both parent and teen that there are other students in our church and that there is a place for them.
Serve and Swim 2015
It’s been several years since I came up with the Serve and Swim concept, and it’s always one of my favorite things we do during the summer. The concept is simple. Go out and do a simple act of kindness in the community, then take everyone and go swimming at someone’s house. Tonight was Serve and Swim 2015, and we had a great outreach with our students!
We are launching a third Shelter Rock Church campus in Westbury on October 4th, so I contacted a local ice cream store and worked out a deal to buy several hundred scoops of ice cream to give out to people in the community for free. Tonight our students walked Post Ave. in Westbury and gave out 380 coupons for a free scoop of ice cream compliments of SRC, along with an Invite Card for the Westbury launch. We had many good conversations with folks. Several said they would come and check out SRC. One guy told us he’s coming and bringing his whole family. Another lady in a bar started bawling her eyes out in tears of joy when she heard that a church was starting right around the corner from her house. We talked to lots of the local business owners too. Before we left for our pool party, I bought all of our kids ice cream. It was a great way to partner with and support a local business, and a great way to build excitement about our church coming to town.
Nicaragua Mission Day 7
This morning we had devotions at 7:30am and breakfast at 8am. We then set up for something of a “VBS”. We had 2 groups of children bussed in from the community – one group at 9am and another at 2pm. We played soccer, did facepainting, made balloon animals, then had a time of singing and dancing followed by a gospel message. We are super proud of Claudia who preached in the morning, and Timmy who preached in the afternoon. About 5 children prayed to receive Christ following each message! Never underestimate the significance of a child praying to receive the Lord. I was one of those children! Let’s pray for these 10 or so kids. Pray that the seed of the Word of God has landed on good soil, and that it will bear good fruit in their lives. This evening we had rhe 7 year anniversary celebration of Villa Esperanza. We led worship, some of the girls from the Villa did some dances, we ate dinner, had cake, watched a slide show, and shared notes and took pictures with the girls. It was a very fun night. Tomorrow we are loading the bus at 4am to head to the airport. 
Nicaragua Mission Day 6
Today was another day for building relationships with the girls from Villa Esperanza. After devotions and breakfast we loaded a school bus and drove to a water park. The rides and the time at the pool were simply times to show the girls the love of Jesus. We enjoyed conversing with the girls, practicing our Spanish and giving them a chance to learn English. We sought to get to know them better, encourage them, and ask them deeper questions about God. This evening Adriana did a makeup workshop for all of the girls, showing them how to properly apply makeup. Following the demonstration she ministered to the girls, talking to them about their intrinsic value, inner beauty that doesn’t fade with age, and challenging them to become women of God.
Nicaragua Mission Day 5
Today was our free day so after devotions at 7:30am and breakfast at 8am, we loaded the bus at 9am and drove about 45 minutes to go zip-lining. Everyone did it and we had a great time. Afterward we went for lunch overlooking a lake. Just after we finished eating and as we were about to take a group picture we saw a storm approaching over the lake. We took our picture then ran for the bus as the downpour began. We then drove to the market where we did our souvenir shopping. We got back to the Villa at 4:30pm. We have dinner at 6pm then at 7pm we will be having an evening of fun interactions with the girls. 
Nicaragua Mission Day 4
This morning we had team devotions at 7am followed by breakfast and worship and devotions with the Villa staff and some of the girls. We then got into a couple of groups and did work around the Villa. One group did yard work and another group worked on the road into the Villa, shoveling dirt out of the drainage ditch and using it to patch up another area of the road which had been washed out. We also enjoyed some time hanging out and playing with the girls. After dinner we had a service with the girls. Ady and Mike led worship, we did the “Everything” drama, and I preached. Following the message I gave an altar call and probably 30 people came up including both people from Nicaragua as well as our team. We had a powerful encounter with the Holy Spirit and the ministry time lasted over an hour as people were praying for one another. It was an in incredible time as the Spirit of God moved. Following the service we had our debriefing meeting as a team and it was marked by expressed feelings of being overwhelmed by the grace if God. We also heard reports of two girls giving their lives to Christ tonight! God is good! Thank you for continuing to pray for us. 
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