Benjer's Five Favorite Youth Ministry Moments
The high school group in my first year on staff at a church. You know those really cool youth ministry stories where a youth pastor started at a church, and only a few students showed up the first week, but the group prayed, and the youth pastor cast a compelling vision, and before you knew it tons of students were showing up and starting a relationship with Jesus? Well, that wasn't my first year of ministry. Our high school group averaged about three or four students a week. All year. And one of those students was in eighth grade, but said he was in ninth grade so he could go to youth group with his brother. We needed students, so I let him stay. More than a handful of times, it was three leaders and one student at youth group. But that was a fun year with those high schoolers. We learned, served, worshipped, laughed and had tons of fun. If I could narrow that year down to one great moment, it would be at Beau Jo's Pizza in Idaho Springs, CO (if you've never been, go the next time you're in Colorado. But only the one in Idaho Springs, the other locations are terrible). We had a retreat (three leaders and five students) in a cabin in the mountains, and stopped for pizza. I just remember laughing tons and having great discussions about life and faith. I really, really miss those students and still remember them by name: Ryan, Kyle, another Kyle, Hannah, Michael, and Melissa, as well as Kristina (special K), a leader who I don't think missed a single week or event.
A mission trip to Chicago. In my second position, I served at a really small church. We joined forces with another small church in our area for a mission trip to Chicago with Center for Student Missions. In all, we had six students and three adults. It was my first mission trip with students, and to be honest, we were under prepared and really didn't know what to expect. But those students did amazing. It was really a turning point for me in youth ministry, because it was the first time I witnessed what can happen when students are let loose to serve Jesus with their lives. They cared for the people we worked with, and committed to not letting it stop when we left Chicago and came home. One other great memory from the trip: when we crossed the state line from Colorado into Nebraska, Michelle, an amazing teenager we still keep in touch with, quietly got my attention and said "Benjer, can I tell you a secret? This is my first time leaving Colorado."
DCLA Conference (Los Angeles) with my current church. The DCLA conference was good, but not great. What really made it a great trip was that I had only been at the church for a few weeks. Since I started right after school got out for the summer, loading the bus at 5am was the first time I had met most of the students going on the trip and their parents. I got to know students on that bus ride and during the trip far better than I ever could have in a year of Sundays. And what made the trip a great memory was realizing that I was going to be a lot of fun serving with the leaders on the trip, especially Chad, the junior high pastor. I have so many snapshots in my mind from that trip: watching the sunset in the Mojave desert, helping a homeless guy get on a bus to go back home to Missouri, and having the privilege of leading a student to Jesus (he's now a fantastic junior high leader).
Baptizing Jordan. Jordan is an amazing young woman. When she first came to our church one November, she was staying with her aunt and uncle while her mom packed up their house to move up to Utah. Jordan's uncle asked if I would talk with her, so I made a point to meet her before church. She clearly had no interest in talking with me. I invited her to the high school gathering that morning (she didn't come) and gave her a coupon for a free drink in our coffee shop. The next week I did the same. And the next. Finally, she came, and one Wednesday night after an Alpha session, she gave her life to Jesus. It's been a blessing to know her and walk with her through some really tough stuff, and this summer, she was baptized. So cool.
Having a former student at my first church speak at an 11th/12th grade retreat. Kaia was in eighth grade at the church where I had my first youth ministry position. Last year, when I started a retreat for 11th and 12th grade students, I invited her to come and lead worship and speak about following Jesus after high school. It was so cool to hear her share some wisdom with our students, and I'm proud of her for continuing to serve Jesus with her incredible musical talents.
Those are my top five. Now it's your turn: what's your favorite youth ministry memory?
