July 2004
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As Christians, sometimes our job is to teach lessons that we have learned, or wish we had learned, to those that are younger. Our thought has often been thatwe have to prepare an elaborate speech, teach a Bible Study, be a Youth Pastor or otherwise think of something creative that will engage the minds of those who are younger. As is often the case, we were wrong.
Sometimes, we just have to be willing.
Back in June, we accepted an invitation to help a friend with a youth group during a service trip to Colorado. While this thought generally makes us shake with fear (Thad leading a bunch of youth, Jana White Water rafting… who thinks of these things), we accepted anyway. The chance to go to Colorado to expand our comfort zone was too tempting. If you couple that with the opportunity to minister to a group of youth, as well as help out a friend then the trip had all the ingredients to be very memorable.
Now that the trip is over and the only thing that remains are the pictures, we wish we were still there. That feeling is not because the food was good, nor that the mountains were beautiful, not because the activities were fun or that there are still peaks on those mountains that we need to climb. We would like for the trip to continue for a bit longer because we still have a lot to learn. The youth group we helped lead is a great group of kids, with lessons to learn and teach. There were many times that we saw ourselves in the youth to whom we ministered. At some point, we ceased being “David’s friends” and became people with names that could relate to them and the struggles that they have. The Lord brought us there to help them in ways which we will never fully know.
The real point though, is how did that happen? That answer will keep us going straight on into the next question for our life. Many times the Lord asks us to go places that we do not want to go. There are several ways to answer Him, but only one correct course to follow. When the Lord asks, there is little else to do but show up and allow Him to work. There are many things during that week in Colorado which we could not accomplish on our own, but the Lord could accomplish through us.
Yes, Thad not only lead a group of youth, but also related to them and as well turned out to be a lot more “cool” than he thought he could be. And yes, Jana did go white water rafting, not to mention mountain climbing…and even along her way, she helped a few youth stretch themselves to climb farther than they ever thought they would. So one of the lessons we learned in Colorado is to just keep going, even when the path ahead seems like it is too steep to climb.
A short note…Before we can head to Germany, we will need to attend a Cross-cultural training called AIT. To be able to attend this training, we must be at 70% of our monthly goal by September. While this is very tight timing, we believe the Lord will accomplish His plans, in His timing!
What is AIT?
According to the AIT website, “The AIT Internship is designed to equip [staff] to survive (even thrive); and to have an impact cross-culturally... Our goal is to maximize [their] impact. We want to equip [staff] to know how to become an insider in a different culture by positioning [them] as a servant and as a learner.”
How do they accomplish this? AIT staff are committed to…
• experiential learning as opposed to a purely academic model
• an interactive learning environment
• a field ministry-oriented context
We know this is only a brief introduction to AIT but there is a lot to it!! In the coming months, as we approach AIT, we will provide more details of when we will go and what exactly we will be doing during that very important preparation for our ministry in Germany.
