Who needs encouragement? This girl, and that girl…and that girl…

Oct 26, 2010 by     1 Comment     Posted under: Featured, Girls Ministry, guest blogger, Mentoring

The following post is an article that was received from guest contributor Tiffany Haynes during her mission trip to Casper, Wyoming. I think you’ll find it’s a great reminder of how we as leaders need the encouragement of fellow laborers and if we need encouragement…think how much more our students may need encouragement from their leaders. The word encourage means to fill one with courage. As you read Tiffany’s post, perhaps it will jog your memory of some of your summer roadtrips and remind you of that student that God is calling you to fill with courage.

It’s 2:22 p.m. and we’re still in Kansas. Seven hours ago we rolled out of the church parking lot in
a 25 passenger bus filled with 17 students and six adults headed towards Casper, Wyoming. Each
year we take students on a mission trip and this year we’re headed to work with the World Changers

organization in the city of Casper for four days.  It’s definitely a trip of mixed emotion. In years passed, my good friend Kathy would always make these long bus trips along side of me. We’d talk and laugh for miles on end. Beautiful memories were formed on these journeys and such a deep bond was created. Last October, Kathy met her sweet Jesus.
The seat next to me will forever be vacant – not because no one sits there, but because no one will ever replace that which she gave me. Kathy could love with such fervency and grace that it is nearly indescribable. She was an encourager to the core.

As I scan the faces on the bus I think about what each student brings on board – not just their luggage and sleeping bag, but what is carried in their hearts. Are they feeling the same mixed emotion I am? Are they well-focused after weeks of preparing for this trip? This week holds not only a lot of sweat, short nights, and needed caffeine hits, but workings within the soul. Many students will be seeking God for direction in their life, renewal in their walks, and peace back home when they return.

Right before we left another youth leader told me, “I’m going to need encouraging on this trip.” Don’t we all feel like that sometimes? There just never seems to be enough people who encourage with intensity in this world. It’s important as our students pursue God that we encourage them through their voyage. While they seek immediate answers and fixes, we must be ready to remind them to persevere.

I love a song Addison Road sings called This Little Light of Mine. Its lyrics prompt us of the light we are to shine because Christ is illuminated in us. One of my favorite verses says: “One day there will be no more pain, and we will finally see Jesus’ face, so until then I’m going to try to brave the dark and let my little light shine.”

Brave the dark, leaders. We must stand firm for the generation rising up behind us and speak Truth into their lives. You have been called to shine your light in a pitch black world, so let your light shine in your sphere of influence. First Thessalonians 5:14 serves as the perfect reminder: “Brothers and sisters, we urge you to warn those who are lazy. Encourage those who are timid. Take care of those who are weak. Be patient with everyone.” That sums up our role as ministers to our girls, doesn’t it? Our girls
need to be reminded that they are beautiful – without make-up. They need to be reminded that their feet may stink but their excitement is contagious and will permeate the lives of others. They need to be reminded that they too carry the flame.

GUEST BLOGGER: Spiritual Jaws need Meat

Jul 8, 2010 by Amy-Jo    No Comments    Posted under: Girls Ministry, guest blogger, Mentoring, scripture

Tiffany Haynes has done us the favor of sharing another guest blog for us.  I am so very thankful because girlsminister.com has been very busy going from mission week to summer camp to VBS to missions week and I haven’t had a chance to take a breath and process all that God has been doing. Thanks to Tiffany, we have a post this week!

If you haven’t met Tiffany, check out her other articles here.

Exposing God’s Word To Students

One of common understandings we know regarding the nature of girls v. boys is that girls typically mature faster than boys.  However, one thing we often fail to remember is that this truth is not only relevant from a physical and emotional standpoint, but also from a spiritual standpoint.

As we teach our girls, we need to remember that providing them with spiritual meat to chew on is muy Bueno (that’s “very good” in Spanish.  See, I did pay attention in college!).  As my friend, Gregg, states – we must tear muscle to build muscle.  We need to be giving our girls’ spiritual jaws a hefty workout by tossing God’s meaty Word their way.  Too often we get skittish of going “too deep” in our topics with them.  The bad part is, we’re so anxious about the deep waters that we over-compensate and then find ourselves (and our students) standing in the shallow end of the pool.

Like it says in Colossians 2:7 (NIV), we need to be “rooted and built up in Him.”  It’s important to expose girls to the depth of our Lord and Christ.  Oftentimes, we take a reverse approach and try to address a common issue by crafting scripture around the issue.  We work diligently at wrapping the message in a ritzy bow in order increase the appeal of our words instead of just allowing God’s Word to do the work for us (check out Nehemiah 8:3).

As leaders, our purpose is to expose our girls to God’s Word and then allow His Holy Spirit to equip.  In order to expose them more, consider teaching from an “expository” approach.  Expository is just a fancy word for going through a book of the Bible and describing, informing, and defining the author’s writings – and referencing other Scriptures to reinforce the context – to the reader.  This will definitely stretch your own spiritual muscles as you study and prepare for these types of messages (try using commentaries, concordances, and other credible study sources); but remember, it was never God’s intention that we play hop-scotch with His Word.

Deep Calleth Deep

Back in January I began doing a study on the book of Exodus.  I read nearly every day out of this 384 page book with insanely tiny print.  It’s July now and I’m only half way through it!  There’s much to chew on, but it has truly been the most breathtaking ride to study God’s Word in such intimate detail.  The parallelism between the Old Testament and the New Testament has simply rocked my face off and I pray leaders would help their students learn to study and known God’s Word with such depth.

We truly serve a God of details.  Did you know that the Ark in Exodus was made of “shittim wood” (also known as acacia)?  Funky word and can easily be glossed over, but it was said to be from a tree which many thought to be imperishable and could thrive in very dry conditions.  Furthermore, it’s interesting to find that when this tree is pierced, it actually oozes and produces a type of gum which is used in medicinal preparations.  Does this “piercing” remind you of anything?  Ah, yes, our Jesus who was pierced for us and whose blood flowed forth from His side.  Through His death, we experience healing.  What a phenomenally intricate reassurance to know how God chose the very wood the Ark would be comprised of in order to foreshadow what Christ would achieve for us thousands of years later.

Do our girls clearly understand the intensity of our Father?  How can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard?  And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?  (Romans 10:14) As leaders involved in girls ministry, it’s so vital to ensure we don’t linger in the shallows too long, but teach our girls to immerse themselves in the rushing waters of Christ.
Good words Tiffany! What about you? How are you seeing God make His words jump off the pages and bring the spiritual nutrition you need to do what He’s called you to do?

How are you leading the girls that God places in your life to see God’s word as the meaty meal they need?

How are you helping them to excercise their spiritual jaws and really start chewing on God’s word?

Guest blog from Tiffany part 2: after you return home from summer camp

Mar 24, 2010 by     No Comments    Posted under: Girls Ministry, guest blogger

Today we welcome Tiffany Haynes back for part 2 of her guest blog series on moving students from the Summer Camp High to a practical relationship with Christ in the day to day. If you missed her first post you can find it: here

Overcoming Insanity (the “after” step).

Albert Einstein was a smart cookie. He once said the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. If you were a church camper once, you remember it well. Every year you’d go to camp, get hyped up on sugar, pumped up on Jesus, and then pack up and head back to reality. Same thing happens to students today (and that’s not a bad thing!). The bad part is – reality isn’t always fun to come home to (especially when the home life is rocky).
One thing we can do to counteract the post-camp slump is to help our girls develop fresh, godly habits. Routine ruts suck the joy from people. When we sense students falling prey to the “old life” or simply sense a downer day, we can help by introducing them to a new challenge. If you have student resources at your fingertips – scan through some books or material and see if anything jumps out at you to share with your girl, check and see if the camp speaker has podcasts that you could send to remind your girl to stay in the Word, or ask God to show you a verse to share with them. Whatever you do in relation to girls ministry, let God lead and remember that tiny sparks can ignite titanic fires. Be a sparker.

Thanks Tiffany for sharing from your heart this week. A great resource I have been talking about is Haley Dimarco’s “God Girl” and “God Guy”. It would be a great after camp read as it really lays out what it looks like to be a girl or a guy that is abiding in Christ. In addition, to get students into the habit of daily reading get their hands on either the message remix PAUSE or The message remix SOLO.  The pause leads students through the bilical text and then asks them some key questions regarding it. The Solo is a lectio divina tool in getting your students to READ THINK PRAY LIVE the text.  What about you readers?  What are some tools you like to put into the hands of students after a mountain top experience like summer camp?

GUEST BLOGGER: Moving students beyond the God-fling at summer camp

Mar 22, 2010 by     1 Comment     Posted under: Girls Ministry, guest blogger, volunteers

I’ve had the chance to meet Tiffany Haynes on www.mygirlsministry.com which is the social network for those who work with girls in their churches. I asked Tiffany to share a little about herself and this is what she told me:

GUEST BLOGGER: Tiffany Haynes

Experiences are addictive.  Shopping sprees, the latest tech-buy, the emotional rush from your latest crush, a    job    promotion… the list continues! Marketing gurus spend millions creating experiences for consumers to indulge in – just check out the latest advertisements, movies, and television shows.  Pictures of ecstasy are painted so delicately that we often forget the reality of reality.

Summer church camp can be just another experience for our girls if we’re not cautious.  While we want our students to participate in Christian-driven events and set aside time to recharge, we don’t want them to become addicted to the feeling of camp and forget the function.

The big question:  how do we create an environment of knowing God instead of just experiencing Him?  God created warm fuzzies for a purpose and I’ll be the first to admit that the days when I experience those fuzzies are fantabulous; but, most days we just live life.  We wake up, scrutinize ourselves in the mirror while getting ready, head to class (or work), participate in extra-curricular activities (or kiss boo-boos and pay bills), and come home.  In a culture that is drowning in “feel goods”, how can we steer our girls away from craving an experiential high and navigate them towards the God who truly satisfies?

Below is a tip to help you grease those church-camp wheels before summer camps hit and also how to keep them oiled once camps have passed…

Dig Deep Roots (the “before” step).

If you ask girls why they like church camp so much, you’ll probably hear that they like being away from home, the praise and worship is stellar (have you noticed no one ever runs up to the stage when the speaker walks out?), or they like chillaxing with new friends.  But when you crack the shell, it comes down to this:  they love the high.  Jesus does too – He is the Most High, after all.  But He’s also a God of tremendous depth and we need to ensure we’re sufficiently communicating to girls the intimate depth of God’s nature.

One way we can approach this is simply by asking students, one-on-one, what God is revealing to them.  If they mutter the typical, “I dunno.” then they are either too shy to respond, have no flippin’ clue, or aren’t sitting still long enough to actually discover what God might be saying.  Regardless of the reason, you can apply these steps:

1. Make note of their response.  Either jot down a note on a piece of paper, use your handy-dandy iPhone, or text yourself.   That way you’ll remember their name and their response.
2. Pray for them.  Try as we may, we cannot do the job of the Holy Spirit.  Meaning, we can’t create in others an appetite for God’s word; however, we can consistently pray the Holy Spirit work in that student’s life and that we be used to sharpen them (Proverbs 27:17).
3. Follow-up.  Invest in several follow-ups with your girl.  It could simply be an encouraging Facebook posting letting them know you’re praying for them, a note you slip into their Bible during small group, or just sitting down with them over a Slurpee and talking between the brain freezes.  Whatever route you choose, be consistent and ask open-ended questions like, “So, last week you said you were having trouble getting along with _____.  How’s that going?”

By applying these steps over time (one hit wonders won’t work, by the way), you’ll build a stronger relationship with your girl and have the privilege of watching them bloom as they lay open their heart to you.

Tune in later this week for Tiffany’s continued thoughts on moving students from an experience to a practical relationship in the everyday rhythms of life after summer camp.