Youth Ministry

¶ … Jesus Any glancing inquiry into today's youth culture will demonstrate the need for a spiritual revival amongst our youth. The elder generations of this environment have led many of our precious youth astray by providing sinful examples of living and ignoring the higher calling of our Lord Jesus Christ. The purpose of this report is to describe my personal observations of teenagers interacting in a secular environment.

The observations from this experiment are used to incorporate an idea of how the youth culture reacts and is imbedded within the cultural influences that are very pervasive in our world. To accomplish this mission, I chose a local pizza shop, located three blocks away from a large city high school. My first observation was done at lunch time around 11 am until 1 pm on a Wednesday afternoon. I returned that Friday for my second observation.

This spot was chosen due to the secular nature of food and lunch and that it is a good opportunity to witness unsupervised teenagers in their natural environment. Observations And Lessons Learned The most striking conclusions that I reached while observing nearly 50 different teenagers at the pizza shop was that they are truly lost in this world. These youths have very little respect for manners. There is a spiritual sickness that dwells inside these people as they ignore the basic human dignities of life in many different ways.

The dress that these teenagers choose to wear signifies that sex and drugs are very important to them. Many of the females dress extremely sexual with much skin and cleavage exposed. To my surprise, the young boys seem almost disaffected by such overt sexuality. Many of the clothing worn by the teenagers have bold messages stamped across the fabric. These messages are very derogatory, dark natured and intimidating in many cases. The use of phones and technology by these young students demonstrates a reliance on this method of communication.

Nearly every teenager I observed had at least checked their phone during their time spent at the pizza shop. There is an addictive nature about the way that these young people use their phones, and if the right messages were being displayed on their phones, it may be used for positive purposes. The young people were generally, loud, brash and insensitive to others at the pizza shop, especially those working there. A sense of entitlement has immersed these youngsters into thinking that being rude is cool and trendy.

This brashness and exclusionary approach towards life demonstrates a deep rooted fear and a lack of spiritual guidance. These youth are vulnerable to the many influences that are around them at all times. After observing this location for nearly four hours on two different occasions, I feel that God is calling out to these young people by showing them how not to act and how the Lord does not want them to behave.

Jesus' journey was filled with ups and downs, and we should not expect others not to fail and to sin. Sin is necessary for redemption. The fields are ripe with souls that need redemption amongst the youth of today. The oversexed, over stimulated, undernourished, young masses of society are desperately seeking the spiritual truth and redemption that a life of following Christ can offer. Although depressing and confusing at times, this observation experience has brought me closer to God an my mission for Him.

Three Level Strategy The fertile grounds that have provided for spreading the Lord's good message has directed me to create a three level strategy to begin this task and work humbly in His good name. This three pronged approach focuses on a prayer strategy, personal strategy and finally an event strategy. Prayer Strategy Praying on faith and strength are my main goals during this time. The Bible gives many examples of how prayer and faith can lead to blessings.

The exiled Jews suffered much during their time away from the Holy Land, and only through fearless faith and perseverance did they survive in order to bring us our Messiah. These are miracles. Miracles are abound and to pray for a miracle is what God wants us to do. While the Bible offers guidance, I find it best to write my own prayers. Often, I put these prayers to music and dance.

This approach should be incorporated to help attract the lost souls that I have been chosen to selflessly assist in their pathway towards redemption and salvation. By using the creative and imaginative skills in my prayer I feel I am offering something new to the landscape and this can be very appealing to others who have these same creative urges, especially in youth. Personal Contact Strategy The youth are very fertile grounds for new ideas and behaviors. They are programmed to look for novel approaches to.