BY MARVIN JACOBO

The young people of your church will catch the cell vision and principles sooner than the adults. Experience has taught us that the older the person, the greater their allegiance to program-driven institutions. In contrast, the young generation has no emotional ties to conventions and agendas. The youth will grab new ministry ideas–keep what works–and throw out what doesn’t.

What can you as the youth pastor do to build your cell church through the youth? For starters, consider the idea! Why not? Church history has proven that the Holy Spirit brings revival through young people. They gathered in small groups, praying for themselves, the salvation of lost loved ones and global impact through the Gospel.

Your church of today is your youth of today! Plan your investments for a greater return. As your teenagers grow in Christ with cell life values, they will influence their parents. They will challenge adults, lost and saved, by what God does in their lives. They will launch vision and enthusiasm in the adults.

Light a passion in your youth leaders for the cell life values. Invest in them. Expose them to conferences and mentors to help them build an effective youth cell ministry.

Empower your youth leaders to make the tough decisions in order to thrust your youth ministry into the cell paradigm. Help them implement. This means cutting and reshaping programs to edify the cells. Help them overcome their fear of change.

Protect your youth leaders from pressure and criticism. Don’t allow parents and other adults to intimidate your youth leaders to regress to the ’70′s. Enforce an effective and relavent ministry for the ’90′s! Champion your youth and student leaders in the same way you’d want them to back you up. Confront and uproot any discouragement within the ranks.

Pray with your youth leaders constantly and consistently. Give them plenty of opportunities to pray with you personally. Your leaders need to hear your heart for God. In doing this, the Holy Spirit will implant your passion and zeal into them.

Discern and hire the called. Volunteers will quit. You need leaders who own or are able to adopt the cell life values. Don’t settle just to fill a position. Pray hard and search for the called of God to work with the youth, whether they be an adult or a teen. Pursue them, and they will commit to you for the long haul.

Mentor your youth leaders. You must personally invest in their lives. Don’t neglect contributing to their calling by your excuses or lack of time. Your relationship with your leaders is vital to the edification of the youth cell ministry.

Model healthy living for your youth leaders. If you work 80 hours a week, they will. If you take care of your family, they will. If you are faithful to your Sabbath rest, they will be too. Your influence will trickle down to the health of the cells by reflecting the health of the leaders.

Learn your senior pastor’s heart. Know his dreams and desires for the church. Do you understand his deepest ministry concerns? Are you communicating your own ministry values to him? Are you in sync?

Transitioning a program-driven church can also take its toll on the relationship between the youth pastor and the senior pastor. Satan uses poor communication, lack of trust and questioning of motives to undermine the leadership team of any church.

Godly submission will challenge you to align your vision with that of your pastor’s. Your calling is to be his under-shepherd, caring for the adolescent lambs. There is no place for hidden agendas, undisclosed dreams or selfish goals. Pray for your senior pastor daily, supporting him 100%.

Keep the big picture in perspective and avoid tunnel vision. Don’t become prideful, possessive or territorial. Work toward an “our ministry” mentality with servanthood and a team approach. Success in youth ministry is longevity.

Transforming a church takes a minimum of five years. You must give your people time. Each person has their own process of understanding. Most people in your ministry are not rebellious and disobedient, they just don’t understand. Be patient with them. Keep loving them and praying for them. Learn how to articulate the pastor’s vision for the church. Vision only has worth if you can communicate it.

If you want to build an effective cell church through your youth ministry, you must empower the church. Coach, equip and release your adult and student leadership to live out their calling. We must remember that the church is the Body of Christ working together. Every person is a minister. Every student is a shepherd.

Marvin Jacobo has over 20 years of youth ministry experience at First Baptist Church in Modesto, CA, achieving over 33 student-led cells and 250 teens. He and his wife, Cheryl, have been married for 18 years and have two daughters.

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BY DR. JESSE MIRANDA

Recently I was reading in The Daily Bread, a devotional guide of millions of believers. That day’s selection mentioned that during the El Ni√±o winter storms, the lush forests of the Pacific Northwest region suffered great damage. The writer informs readers how the gale force winds leveled acres of trees; the trees that stood alone. However, the trees that grew close together had a root system that was intertwined and stood through the strong winds of the storms.

I was reminded of a major biblical idea which has all but been forgotten in recent times. That is, the idea of “the People of God.” This may appear as a term used by those who boast of some moral superiority or those who claim some preferential status in God’s Kingdom, but in reality, it is a central theme in the Bible. It is a theme that belongs among the ranks of such great biblical themes as creation, covenant, redemption, grace and faith.

UNIDOS IN HISTORY
From the book of Genesis to the book of Revelation, the People of God is a unifying theme. The idea was in the mind of Abraham on his pilgrimage to follow the promise and in the mind of John on the island of Patmos as he had a vision of the multitudes around the throne of God.

Historically, the People of God designation was reserved for the nation of Israel. The people of Israel coming out of Egypt regarded themselves as the People of God on the basis of God’s promise to Moses, “I will take you for my people, and I will be your God” (Exodus 6:7). The prophets referred to it in Isaiah where it says, “I provide water in the desert and streams in the wasteland, to give drink to My people, My chosen, the people I formed for Myself that they may proclaim My praise” (Isaiah 43:20-21 NIV).

The New Testament expands on the idea of the People of God. Paul is careful to state that Israel was not rejected as God’s people (Romans 11:1-2) but informs the Romans that the gospel enabled the Gentiles to enter the People of God. During the Council in Jerusalem it was announced that God visited the Gentiles with signs and wonders “to take out of them a people” (Acts 15:12-14). The gospel became the power of God for salvation and created a new fellowship: the church.

UNIDOS AS THE CHURCH
There is a reason to portray the People of God, in biblical times and in all times, as accepting the mission to be a light to the nations and to work together to establish justice on the earth as a sacred task. Contemporary culture has led us to believe that the ideal person is the autonomous individual who stands apart from and above social structures. But this rugged individualism stands in opposition to the corporate nature, identity and destiny of the church.

The primary uniqueness of the church is that it is the People of God as the all-important defining phrase that God would indicate. In the words of Paul Minear in his book, Images of the Church in the New Testament, “First God and His purpose, then the emergence of this people as a manifestation of His purpose. The accent must be allowed to fall on the God who creates this society as His people by His choice of them.”

UNIDOS AS THE PEOPLE OF GOD
The distinctiveness of the People of God is that it is people in Christian unity and purpose. The New Testament writers used the word “ekklesia” to define the church and express the corporate nature and the interpersonal quality of its existence. The church is the People of God in general but more specifically it is the Assembly of the People of God. Paul’s usual emphasis is that of the local congregation assembled for worship and service (I Corinthians 11:18).

The People of God is an idea whose time has come. Though it is not a new idea, it is an idea that needs new appreciation. We live in a society suffering from individualism and fragmentation that is longing for wisdom regarding the problem of how to live together in community peacefully and safely. Driven by a culture of competition in a society of religious pluralism, we are desperately in need of some good news. The good news is that the People of God idea speaks of survival and solidarity, of family and community for our day. Unidos!

Dr. Jesse Miranda is associate dean of Urban and Multi-cultural Affairs at Azusa Pacific University. In addition to teaching theology in the C.P. Haggard School of Theology, he is a Promise Keepers’ board member and speaker as well as the President of the organization, A.M.E.N. (Alianza de Ministerios Evangelicos Nacionales).

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When does a boy become a man? Ask anyone and you will receive a variety of responses. At fifteen years old, one of the local gangs, the Warlords, made me believe that joining their club would make me a man. After I fought several of them in my initiation these guys praised me, made me feel older, and affirmed my passage into manhood. Shortly afterwards, these same guys berated me after they learned that I was still a virgin. They believed one’s masculinity was proven through having sexual experiences and domination. Not knowing any better, I accepted this as true. As a teenager and young man, I never received a clear biblical picture regarding the meaning of manhood or how to become a man.

Should fathers have the answer to this question? I believe so. My father, who spent fifty hours a week working and then the rest of the evenings and weekends drinking at the neighborhood bar, only told me that joining the army would make me a real man. Unfortunately, too many fathers are weak models of masculinity, or do not know the answer themselves. Many are absent from the home and the community, and are therefore unable to guide their sons.

Can a loving mother (woman) instructor and lead her boy into manhood? A woman (mother) can’t adequately usher a boy into manhood (Gordon Daley, from healing The Masculine Soul). A mother does not willingly release the bond she has with her “little boy” though he is already a teenager and/or older.

As boys biologically, emotionally and spiritually reach the adult stage, they do not look to their mothers or other women to affirm them, but desire the affirmation from other older “boys in the hood” and older men. Unfortunately, boys have been getting the wrong messages from the wrong sources.

What about churches and youth leaders? They too have not effectively reached boys in this crucial point of their lives? Look at the attendance factor. Considerably fewer boys (men) than girls (women) attend the senior high groups and sit in the church pews on Sunday mornings. Boys more readily flock to gangs and sport teams where they go through some form of instruction and initiation to gain membership and affirmation from older guys (men).

In response to the absence of true masculinity, Robert Bly (a poet and philosopher on male issues) started speaking out for men in the ’80′s. Men’s groups began emerging around the country, and now we have the Promise Keepers and scores of books dealing with manhood. Some of these books have been helpful to define masculinity, but only a few have developed some ceremony to celebrate that glorious moment of a boy’s transition into manhood. The Christian community is now responding to this need.

A RITES OF PASSAGE CEREMONY
Existing around the world are a variety of rituals by which boys are acknowledged as men. In these ceremonies boys go through various tests to determine their readiness to accept their masculine adult responsibilities. After the ceremony, the boys (ages 12 to 15) are pronounced by the mature men (elders) of their community as having reached the level of manhood. These rituals have the result in building the self-esteem of these young men, affirming their masculinity, and charging them to live responsibly as “men” in their communities and homes.

Did Jesus go through a rite of passage? In Luke 2:42 we read that “When he was twelve years old, they went up to the Feast, according to the custom.” Perhaps Jesus did. In our Hispanic communities (and society as a whole, there is a serious lack of affirmation of young teenage boys into manhood and in defining what real godly masculinity is all about. The Jewish community has its Bar-Mitzvah, and the Hispanic Roman Catholic community has its Confirmation (and a Quince√±era for girls), but these do not focus on affirming a boy to godly masculinity and his entry into manhood.

Do boys need this affirmation and instruction? Yes! Therefore, several mature Hispanic men in Chicago and I have begun to develop a ceremony that defines Biblical manhood. Youth leaders must spend several weeks prior to this ceremony preparing the boys by teaching them what masculinity means, that is, the four main characteristics. It is helpful, when possible, to have the fathers of the boys involved in the process and in the ceremony. Fathers also need this instruction for their own lives. A helpful book to read is Raising a Modern-Day Knight by Robert Lewis.

The rite of passage ceremony takes place on a Saturday afternoon session of a men’s weekend retreat. The ceremony is normally no longer than one hour long. The Hispanic boys are charged to live up to the above definition of masculinity, and affirmed as having passed from that stage of boyhood into manhood. The reason for having teenage boys and adult men together is so that these adult men, along with the boys’ fathers, can bestow the “blessing” of manhood upon the boys. Gary Smalley, in his book, The Blessing biblically explains the enormous benefit and power there is in blessing others and especially our children. Words of affirmation are like prophetic words of destiny for a boy. At the end of the ceremony, the pastor and elders, along with the fathers, come forward to pray and ask God’s blessing on the boys. Then the men shout in unity, “Today you are a man.” This will have a lasting impact on these young men. Every teenager I have witnessed going through this ceremony has always appreciated older men’s affirmation and guidance.

Fathers, pastors, and youth leaders can no longer abdicate their responsibility of instructing the next generation of men. “I will open my mouth in parables, I will utter hidden things, things from of old-what we have heard and known, what our fathers have told us. We will not hide them from their children; we will tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the LORD, His power, and the wonder He has done. He decreed statutes for Jacob and established the law in Israel, which He commanded our forefathers to teach their children, so the next generation would know them, even the children yet to be born, and they in turn would tell their children. Then they would put their trust in God and would not forget His deeds but would keep His commands (Psalm 78:2-7 NIV).” If we want to see the next generation of men rise up as godly men, then we must not fail to guide them through this transition of boyhood to manhood. “When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me.

SHORT ORDER OF CEREMONY
Have the men sit in a circle or semi circle around the boys going through the rites of passage ceremony. This ceremony is to be led by the pastor or elders of the group.

THE KING- SERVANT- LEADER (Have a basin with warm water and a towel ready.)
-Briefly explain this character to the teenagers and men.
-The teenagers are to answer the following questions before the men. Each boy kneels with his right hand placed on a Bible and vows (confesses) allegiance to King Jesus.
-Do you recognize Jesus as your King and Savior?
-Will you respect, bless and care for men, women and children around you?
-Will you follow King Jesus’ servanthood example by serving others?
-Boy responds with, “I do (will) with God helping me.”
-The pastor-elder briefly prays something along the lines of Ephesians 1:15-23
-Then the boy washes his father’s or youth leader’s feet as a visible example of servanthood. (As the boy does this the men sing a song)
-After the foot-washing, all the men respond loudly and in unity, “Today you are a man!”

THE WARRIOR-SOLDIER (Before beginning, have the boys hold ice in their hands, palms up and hands open. When they accept the challenge to live as warriors then they are to close their hands and keep them closed around the ice, until the ice melts. The boys’ willingness to hold ice is a visible demonstration of his willingness to endure the pains of life.)
-Briefly explain this character to the teenagers and men.
-Questions teenager answers before the men:
-Will you endure the suffering of life with the courage of a warrior and not give up when life gets hard? (Have the boy close his hand around the ice.)
-Identify your talents or skills (this does not relate to spiritual gifts).
-Identify the goal of your life as it may relate to God’s mission for you.
-Boy responds with, “I do (will) with God helping me.”
-All the men respond loudly and in unity, “Today you are a man!”

THE MENTOR (A mentor who will spend the next six months discipling this boy should be identified before this ceremony.)
-Briefly explain this character to the teenagers and men.
-Questions teenager answers before the men:
-What truths have you learned so far about yourself, about being a man, and/or about God?
-What verses have you memorized that are significant to you?
-What area of knowledge (expertise) will you pursue to develop in the future?
-Can you identify the spiritual gifts you have? (This is different from the warrior question which relates to talents and skills)
-Who will be your mentor for the next six months? Have his mentor come forward and state his commitment to train this teenager.
-Ask the mentor, “Are you willing to guide this boy into manhood and train him in the following months?” Mentor responds with, “I do (will) with God helping me.”
-All the men respond loudly and in unity, “Today you are a man!”

THE FRIEND (led by pastor or elder)
(Have the musicians [or a tape] ready to play a fast celebrative song so all the men can dance. The boy should have prepared a poem, an art or craft piece, a song (rap) or a reading, expressing his feelings of gladness.)
-Briefly explain this character to the teenagers and men.
-Questions teenager answers before the men: In a poem, an art or craft piece, a song (rap) or a reading, have the boy express his feelings of gladness at this time about this ceremony.
-All the men respond loudly and in unity, “Today you are a man!”
-Have each boy stand. Then invite the fathers, the other leaders and older men to stand around each boy and pray blessings over them.
-Then the young man (boy) receives a gift (some pin or ring, like the ones the Promise Keepers sell) which can symbolize his passage to manhood.
-At the end, other men may come forward to receive prayers and blessings, men who feel a need to be affirmed as a man, men who were not affirmed when they were young boys.
-The older men with the new young men form concentric circles to dance together in celebration of the boy (New Young Man) completing the rite of passage. The song should be upbeat with a fast tempo.

END OF CEREMONY

Pedro Aviles is a second generation Puerto Rican born and raised in the inner-city of Chicago, Illinois. He is one of the founders as well as the pastor of Grace and Peace Fellowship. While pastoring GPF, he was interim principal at Humboldt Community Christian School as well as a campus minister for InterVarsity Christian Fellowship.

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BY JEFFREY DE LEON

En el ministerio juvenil existen algunas cosas que realmente traerán vida a tu grupo de jòvenes. Las Misiones y el Servicio son ingredientes indispensables para un ministerio juvenil dinámico.

La mayoría de nosotros hemos escuchado el reto de la Gran Comisión (Mateo 28:16-20). Hoy en día debemos seriamente considerar como podemos proveer a nuestros jóvenes la oportunidad de involucrarse en Misiones y Servicio. Misiones, en este caso, lo definiremos como un proyecto que tiene como fin el llevar el Evangelio de Jesucristo a otra cultura. Servicio en este caso es definido como un proyecto en el cual llevamos acabo alguna especie de ayuda a nuestro semejante.

Estoy convencido de que nadie tiene que convencernos de la necesidad de involucrarnos consistentemente en Misiones y Servicio. Pero la pregunta es ¿Cómo? Paul Borthwick escribió un libro directamente relacionado al tema de los jòvenes y las misiones. Si tienes la oportunidad, compra el libro.

No hay duda que tu puedes desde ahora empezar a involucrar a tus jóvenes en estas dos grandes tareas de la iglesia. Puedes empezar informando a tus jóvenes acerca de las necesidades de diversos países (considera comprar el libro e “Operación Mundo.” Este libro contiene valiosa información misionera). Además informale a tus jóvenes acerca de las necesidades en tu propia comunidad.

¿Alguna vez escuchaste el dicho “Las Palabras No Son Suficientes?” Segunda cosa que debemos hacer después de informarles, es planear alguna actividad misionera o de servicio en la cual le permitas a tus jóvenes el compartir el evangelio en otra cultura y servir en esa cultura. Idealmente podrías combinar las dos clases de actividades.

En uno de los grupos de jovenes en el cual participé activamente, planeamos un viaje misionero con enfasis de servicio. Este proyecto no solo expuso a los jovenes a otra cultura, pero también les dió la oportunidad de servir a otros y ser transformados en el proceso. Hoy en día puedo contar varias vidas de jovenes y señoritas que han sido transformadas al haberse involucrado en la Gran Comisión y el servicio. Ninguno de estos proyectos debe de ser el fin de tu ministerio juvenil, sinó deben de ser medios para involucrar a tus jovenes en la obediencia a nuestro Dios. Piensa que tu próximo proyecto misionero podría ser llevar a tus jovenes al barrio cerca del tuyo y pintar la casa de alguna viuda o llevarlos a una carcel a cantar o compartir testimonios, dramas y/o mimos. No olvides que la consistencia y buena planificación son indispensable. Nota: Para algunas otras ideas prácticas por favor no dejes de contactarnos.

Te dejo con el pensamiento de un joven de 15 años que regresó de un proyecto misionero durante sus vacaciones. “Nunca pensé que Dios me llamaría a ser misionero. Esta semana pude ver el mundo como Jesús lo vió y esto tocó mi corazón. Esta semana realmente entendí el valor y la satisfacción de servir a Dios y a otros.” Continuemos sirviendo hasta que toda lengua confiese que Jesús es el Rey de reyes y Señor de señores.

Jeffrey De León is President of Leadership Training Ministries, an international ministry dedicated to training Latin youth workers (also known as “El Instituto para El Ministerio Juvenil”). Jeffrey has been in youth ministry for over twelve years and is the youth pastor at Iglesia Emanuel in Waukegan, Illinois. He is presently finishing his Ph.D in Education at Trinity International University in Deerfield, Illinois.

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PETE CONTRERAS
Pete Contreras grew up in the inner city of Los Angeles, California. His parents were married for about four years before they got a divorce. Pete and his brother lived with his dad and his mom soon remarried. In 1970, while only 7, Pete’s mom and half brother were murdered by his mom’s new husband who also took his own life. This one event had an incredibly negative impact on his life as he not only lost his mom, but he also became an extremely hurt and anger filled boy. Pete’s pain and anger often led to fighting and violence.

During his elementary school years it was being involved with sports that helped him to somewhat stay out of trouble. However, during his jr. high and high school years as his rage continued to grow he began using drugs and alcohol to cope with the pain. Soon Pete found himself enrolled at Pacific Christian High School. While preparing to graduate and having to share his plans for the future with the student body he said, “I don’t know if God is real or if I am a Christian, but if He is real I will find Him.”

During the summer of 1982, after graduating from high school, Pete met Jesus Christ at a camp. His family did not understand his new beliefs. For a Hispanic male to leave the Catholic Church was a terrible thing. As a result he was asked to leave the house. Pete left home with little in his pocket, but he had a dream. Part of that dream was to graduate from college. God proved His faithfulness to Pete by providing for his needs and he soon graduated from college. God brought mentors into Pete’s life who discipled him and showed him the ropes of urban ministry. It was while working in the housing projects in Long Beach, CA for four years that God gave Pete a heavy burden for street kids and their families. This was when he made a commitment to serve the urban poor.

After further training in urban youth work in Hartford CT, Pete returned to the west coast with his wife Julie to help start a new church and reach out to the street youth in East San Diego. This led to a dream to start a Midnight Basketball League (MBL) where he could reach street young adults and empower them to become responsible, successful members of the family, community and society as a whole.

Presently Pete works with High Five America reaching high-risk youth in the inner city of San Diego. HFA provides a comprehensive structured program designed as an alternative to criminal activities for high risk, young adult males 17 to 25 years of age living in the inner city. The Midnight Basketball program involves an NBA style league with games played between 10:00p.m. and 2:00a.m., the hours of highest crime occurrence. All participants are required by contract to participate in pre-game workshops dealing with such issues as: pre-employment training and job placement; continuing education through G.E.D., junior college, trade school or university; health related issues including sexually transmitted diseases; violence and conflict resolution. Participants are assigned a case manager who provides guidance toward a meaningful and responsible lifestyle. Over 400 youth have participated in Midnight Basketball in the past 2 years. None of those participants have been arrested for a crime while involved with the program.

Pete Contreras
Director of Community Service
HIGH FIVE AMERICA
10455 Pomerado Rd.
San Diego, CA 92131
619.536.3211 ext. 112
www.highfive.net

BENNY PEREZ
After ten years of local church youth ministry where Benny was used by God to grow two youth ministries (one from 18 to 200 and another from 20 to 700), God led Benny to begin Pacesetters International. Pacesetters is a non-profit organization dedicated to reaching this generation for Christ and envisioning leaders to more effectively lead today’s youth. Benny’s passion is to see revival flood our nation and the world. As an organization, Pacesetters International is committed to helping people live life at a higher level in God by imparting and renewing their spiritual passion. Benny says, “our objective of equipping the saints to do the work of the ministry is accomplished through three avenues:
1. Cross generational church revival meetings
2. Mobilizing Christians through short term missions- “Ignite the Nations”
3. Crusades and Conferences”
Pacesetters International is also committed to networking with organizations which are serious about building God’s Kingdom as opposed to their own. Presently Pacesetters partners with Generation Jesus, a ministry which focuses on rallying young leaders who share strategies for impacting middle schools, high schools and university campuses for Christ.

For more information about Benny Perez and Pacesetters International, please write or call:
Pacesetters International
1309 8th Street #404
Marysville, WA 98270
360.658.6238
fax: 360.651.2793

ALEXIE M. TORRES
Alexie M. Torres is the Founder and Executive Director of Youth Ministries for Peace and Justice. Founded in 1994, this youth development ministry engages young people in the process of faith development for peace and social justice. Through the ministry, Ms. Torres is involved in community struggles for housing, economic development, community policing, environmental justice, community arts, education and health issues.

A national speaker at churches, organizations and universities, she has spoken on issues of peace and social justice as they relate to the spirituality of youth and community development. She has presented at Fordham University, NY, Middlebury College, VT and Harvard University, MA. She has also shared her message with the Alianza de Ministerios Evangelicos Nacionales (AMEN), the Hispanic Association of Bilingual Bicultural Ministries (HABBM), the Latino Pastoral Action Center, Youth and Latinas in Ministry programs, and the Christian Community Development Association (CCDA). She has been a National Speaker for the American Bible Society and has written for Sojourners Magazine.

Ms. Torres has been a part of the founding of the Fountain for Youth in Manhattan and its Communities of Faith Council, the El Puente National Association and the Shepherd’s Place Catholic Youth Center of Yonkers, NY. She is a member of the PAX Christi International Peace Movement and a Board Member of the Latino Pastoral Action Center.

Ms. Torres resides in the Bronx River Section of the Bronx, her childhood home as well as the location of her ministry.

Youth Ministries for Peace & Justice
1372 Stratford Ave.
Bronx, NY 10472
718.328.5622

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BY MICHAEL A. MATA

All vital youth ministry is relational in nature. However, the most effective programs have “points of entry” that affect or touch upon the developmental needs of youth. That is, if you address the particular needs of youth you are going to have them, more often than not, respond positively to your outreach. One area that has been overlooked or found lacking is that young people need to feel that they are socially useful. A community development approach to youth ministry engages youth as active contributors in the welfare of their community.

Most approaches to youth ministry focus, appropriately so, on “points of entry” for building relationships. This is done by addressing some fundamental need of the teen: emotional, social, intellectual, physical or spiritual. Currently, computer learning centers are popular, especially among urban youth programs. The intent is to help youth engage the new technology as well as help the student improve her or his academic performance. Special interest groups, like bike or drama clubs, develop personal skills and bring together like-minded teens. Likewise, discipleship and prayer groups help deepen a teen’s sensitivity to Godly things as well as create stronger bonds among peers. Yet as good as these are as vehicles of God’s life-changing power, they tend to underestimate the need of youth to feel that they are valuable members of our society.

Admittedly, no single program can cover all the needs of all youth. Often the type of youth program we have is shaped by the kinds of resources at hand and the kinds of youth we are called to serve. Nonetheless, a community development approach to youth ministry can rectify a current gap in youth work.

Community development, as understood in the public square, is the development of the structures that allows people to work, live and take care of their basic needs; it is about increasing the standard of living. However, that translates differently for different folks. To some it means creating more jobs, to others the production of affordable housing, while still others want a good social service delivery system. To be sure, these efforts are essential to sustainable and viable communities. However, community development from a Christian perspective is just as interested in other priorities.

John M. Perkins, founder of the Christian Community Development (CCD) movement, advocates that Christians with resources move into distressed neighborhoods (relocation), that they help poor people own the means for their own economic self-sufficiency (redistribution) and that Christians work to break down barriers between white people and people of color (reconciliation). In other words, CCD is on one level about solidarity with those who are on the margins of society as a result of their economic status, ethnic identity or lifestyle choices. On another level it emphasizes the stewardship of resources so that all benefit. Finally, CCD seeks actively to develop relationships across all boundaries. In essence, CCD is seeking shalom.

Shalom is the Hebrew word for “peace”- but it means more than the absence of conflict or unrest. In the letter from the prophet Jeremiah to the Hebrew exiles in Babylon, God tells the exiles to actively seek the shalom of the city for then they would find their shalom (Jeremiah 29:7ff). God didn’t tell them to pray, though that’s implicit in the letter, instead God instructed them to build houses and plant gardens for their children and the generations to come. Obviously, they could not comply without the Babylonians appreciating the benefits of such endeavors. In short, shalom is about the well-being of a community.

All this hints at elements that make for an effective community development model of youth ministry. First, we are to take seriously the broader socioeconomic realities in which youth live. For example, many capable youth in urban and ethnic communities are hard pressed to find jobs-they either don’t exist or few businesses will hire teenagers. The issue is not so much what is to be done (surely something must) but why does such a situation exist in the first place. More importantly, youth themselves should be considered as part of the solution.

Second, we must recognize the tremendously undervalued asset youth are to the community. Too often the public (and if we are honest, the church) is overwhelmed by the needs in our barrios and end up blaming youth for many of the problems. We end up wanting to protect our teens from such barbs as well as the perils of the streets. We, thus, limit unintentionally what teens can do to combat the problems. Youth have a lot of energy (if not pent-up hormones), active minds, and entrepreneurial instincts, to name a few strengths. So, no matter how gangly a young person is, no matter how smart she might be, no matter how fractured a teen’s family is, every teen must be viewed as a potential agent of change and hope in the community in which they live.

Third, matching the assets of youth with those of the church and community greatly enhances the potential for effective action. There are tremendous opportunities to improve the community-look around the neighborhood. Frankly, just ask the teens, they see it all. Street clean-ups, graffiti paint-overs (with caution, of course), celebrations for the neighborhood, errand escorts for the elderly, and planting community gardens, are just a few examples of youth engaged in community building. Indeed, these activities are more than the occasional community-service project, as necessary and good as they are. Youth can even benefit monetarily and certainly by the recognition garnered by their efforts (don’t forget to celebrate individual and group achievements)! The focus is about on-going activities by which youth work for the betterment of their own community-efforts that are making a tangible difference.

Fourth, we must help youth to reflect on what God says in Scripture about community development. There is plenty in the Bible to help youth integrate and support their experiences in community building. In addition to Jeremiah, the first three chapters of Nehemiah details a strategy for community building. It isn’t solely about spiritual formation or service but the participation of God’s children in developing something new in the “hood.”

In CCD language, we are to involve youth in cultivating and nurturing the assets that they have and that exist in the community, connecting with those outside the mainstream of their lives and intentionally finding ways to develop relationships with those different than themselves. In that experience they not only become part of the process of transformation but they come to realize that it is in their power to make a difference. In effect, they develop into real agents of hope. That is an empowering feeling. In the end, as they seek the well-being of their communities, they may find their own sense of God’s shalom. That’s what a community development approach to youth ministry is about.

Michael A. Mata is the Director of the Urban Leadership Institute and holds the Mildred M. Hutchinson Chair of Urban Ministry at the Claremont School of Theology. He served for seventeen years on the pastoral team of Los Angeles First Church of the Nazarene, a multi-ethnic, multi-congregational church with highly regarded community programs and a prominent Hispanic ministry. He is currently engaged in the Ph.D. program of the School of Planning and Development at the University of Southern California.

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BY BENNY PEREZ

Throughout my years of youth ministry I have had the opportunity to see God grow two local church youth ministries. I write this article not as an expert on growth, but as one who is still learning and growing as well. However, I have seen the Lord grow one ministry from 18 to 200 in eighteen months and more recently, another from 20 to 700 in six years. It is with this experience that I want to share a few of the principles I have learned.

ADDITIONAL PRINCIPLES FOR BUILDING ATTENDANCE

-Take care of the youth you already have. The most effective attendance builder is to make sure your are nurturing and building into the kids who are already a part of your group. If their needs are being met, then they will be your greatest helpers for growing your youth group. Disciples will reach their friends.

-Find a need and fill it. As you strive to meet a need in your community that isn’t being met, your group will grow. Starting a late night basketball league, a computer lab, an after school learning center, a recreation program, a drop-in center, etc. are great options for building relationships with unchurched teens.

-Have enough leaders. If you want to increase attendance, then first increase your volunteer leadership team. The better the adult to student ratio, the greater probablility for healthy numerical growth.

-Work within your area of strength and recruit to your weakness. If your strength is discipling Christian students, then recruit street and campus level outreach workers. If your strength is teaching, then recruit creative leaders to help with drama, music and media!

-Think Small. The most effective large youth groups think small and build their ministry on relationships. If youth don’t make friends in the group and feel a genuine part of the community, they probably won’t stay very long.

First, understand God’s perspective regarding growth. I believe that it is God’s will for your youth church to grow. You must settle this in your heart that God wants your youth ministry to grow. I believe that God wants to build it in two ways. The ministry should be growing both spiritually and numerically. We find in Acts 2:42-47 a tremendous explosion of numeric growth along with spiritual growth simultaneously. As long as this continued, the Bible says that the Lord added to their number daily those being saved. I believe that growth is important to God because He mentions numbers in the book of Acts. However, numbers just for numbers sake is wrong. Each person in your youth ministry should be important to you because they are important to the Lord. So really settle it in your heart that God is into growth both spiritually and numerically.

Second, the Holy Spirit is essential for growth. The Bible says that where the Spirit of the Lord is there is liberty. I believe that young people need to sense that there is something different when they walk into our meetings. My friends, we cannot out-perform the world, but we can out-power them. We read in 1 Corinthians 2:4-5 and 4:20 that we need to have the power and demonstration of the Spirit. This way the faith of the young people will not rest on the wisdom of man but in the power of God. Student after student has told me that they have felt something different when they came to TC (Totally Committed to Christ) Youth Church. The atmosphere is charged with the presence of God. The tangible presence of God is essential for growth.

Many people would ask, “How do I get that power operating in my life and my meetings?” It begins with prayer in your personal life. Prayer is the key that plugs you into the power source for your life and ministry. Listen my fellow youth pastor and youth worker, we are in a spiritual battle like never before and this battle is fought and won on our knees. E.M. Bounds once wrote that the devil trembles most when he sees saints on their knees in prayer. Also, we need to be leaders who spend time in the Word of God. You see, the more we spend time in the Word for our own enrichment, the greater will be the flow of the Spirit. The reason for this is that we will operate out of the overflow of our heart because it is full of the Word. Faith will increase in us because faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. The Bible makes it clear that the Word of God is a sword and an offensive weapon that is essential if we want to see the power of God operate in our meetings. Make no mistake friend; prayer and the Word of God are keys to seeing growth in your life and your ministry.

Third, have a Kingdom vision for your youth ministry. In Proverbs 29:18 we read that without a vision the people will perish. Young people need to have vision cast before them so that they can understand the plan and then be released to fulfill it. In Habakkuk, we read that we need to write down the vision and make it plain so that those who read it may run with it. Once the vision is defined, then build your youth ministry around it. The first thing you must do is to start with the meeting. The weekly meeting must have the three R’s. Your meeting needs to be radical, real, and relevant to the young people.

RADICAL:
Preach messages that they need to hear. You must speak about salvation, prayer and praise, The Holy Spirit, radical evangelism, identity, etc.

REAL:
Remember this, if you are speaking truth young people will not only respond, but they will return. Essential to being real is that your meeting must have genuine worship which is imperative for growth.

RELEVANT:
The Word of God must be preached clearly and concisely. Call young people to commitment at the altar. In ten years of youth ministry I have kept Worship, the Word and the Altar as the focal points and I have seen God move powerfully.

Well, many of you may be saying, “That is great, but tell me some practical things I can do to see growth take place in my ministry.” I want to give you the following ideas that have worked for us:

-Train and mobilize your young people to share their faith.
-Print up tracts for young people to hand out.
-Print up T-shirts and hats to promote your youth church.
-Make yourself visible and known among youth. Go to the campuses, their sporting events, the neighborhoods, parks, etc.
-Get your youth involved in ministry. Involvement is the key for keeping and developing young people.
-Start up cell groups to close the back door.
-Start a visitation program that follows up on all visitors.
-Pray, pray and pray some more. Organize pre-service prayer, personal prayer and early morning prayer times.
-Keep the vision, purpose and strategies in front of the people!!
-Whatever you do, NEVER GIVE UP! (Galatians 6:9)

This generation needs you and your ministry to touch them. Let us believe God for a mighty youth revival that will cause change in this nation. God is looking for you to believe Him for growth both spiritually and numerically. Let us go after it for the sake of this generation!

Benny Perez is a graduate of Southern California College in Costa Mesa, CA and is the founder and president of Pacesetters International; an organization dedicated to helping people live life at a higher level in God. He has actively been involved in ministry for ten years. His ministry currently consists of being the youth pastor at Marysville First Assembly of God in Marysville, Washington, and ministering across the nation as an itinerant evangelist.

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BY ALEXIE M. TORRES

When residents of the Soundview section of the Bronx decided that their community had suffered enough from the growing drug trade in their neighborhood, nearly 400 of them rallied in October of 1992 for an anti-drug march, organized and led by the youth group of Holy Cross Church. The marchers, representing diverse ethnic groups and religious backgrounds, boldly stopped their procession in front of a known crack house and remained there for half an hour reading Scripture, singing, and praying.

Just two days after this event, the drug dealers retaliated. Seeking to send a message that would scare local residents from organizing further active opposition to the drug trade, dealers broke into Holy Cross Church and committed $20,000 worth of vandalism, setting several fires in an attempt to burn down the church.

The response of the church and community to this act of vengeance was the opposite of what the dealers expected. The youth group sent out flyers for another anti-drug vigil even as workers were sealing their damaged church with plywood. Alexie Torres, then a volunteer with the youth group at Holy Cross and now Founder and Executive Director of Youth Ministries for Peace and Justice, said she cried throughout the following week, but deep down believed that the desecration of the church would serve a higher purpose. And she was right. An act that was meant to instill fear and deter the community from fighting the drug trade brought the community closer and made them more determined than ever to rid their neighborhood of drugs.

Two weeks later, 1200 people turned out for the next anti-drug rally. Torres, who has seen many of her friends die from drug-related shootings and from AIDS, said, “The attack against the church became a call to action against the desecration of people, the true sanctuaries.” In the aftermath of the church desecration, Torres and several other youth leaders vowed to create a different type of sanctuary for community youth that would use faith, the arts, education and community organizing as points of entry to raising a consciousness about the Gospel’s call for social justice. Since churches are the last stable institutions left in many low-income communities, they are effective places through which to teach, mentor, and organize youth, and to build community.

Youth Ministries for Peace and Justice is actively involved with training and organizing pastors, lay leaders, and youth against drugs and violence in the community. In speaking to churches around the country, Torres tries to convey that a congregation that is truly alive provides not just a refuge, but also an active voice in the community around it, by challenging its members to take responsibility for the well-being of their neighbors.

Youth Ministries for Peace and Justice has a social justice vision that is grounded in Old and New Testament spirituality. Drawing strength from the biblical concept of each person’s sacredness, and seeing the community as a living body that works together as one, the members of YMPJ sign contracts committing themselves to the development of their bodies, minds, spirits, and community. Their faith provides the moral authority for and sustains the integrity and commitment these young people demonstrate in their work for social justice.

Alexie M. Torres is the Founder and Executive Director of Youth Ministries for Peace and Justice. She speaks nationally on issues of peace and social justice as they relate to the spirituality of youth and community development. Ms. Torres resides in the Bronx River Section of the Bronx, her childhood home as well as the location of her ministry.

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BY LUCAS LEYS

Hay veces que cada uno de nosotros necesitamos experimentar la autoridad de Dios a través de alguien de carne y hueso. Es cierto que es dificil encontrar la persona adecuada para hacerlo pero lo cierto es que cada pastor o lider debería ser alguien tan confiable como para contarle hasta los pecados con que luchamos. ¿Nunca te pasó que orabas para pedir perdón y sentiste que tu oración pegaba en el techo, rebotaba en el piso y terminaba bajo la cama? Sabes que Dios te ha perdonado pero te da la impresión de que no has sido liberado, que solo te has confesado a ti mismo.

Si ha sido así en la mayoría de nuestras vidas podemos tener seguridad que nuestros jóvenes y adolescentes también sienten lo mismo. Es que todos necesitamos un amigo o una amiga a los cuales confesarles donde esta nuestra vida espiritual. Pero siendo lideres, ¿Cómo ser nosotros lo suficientemente confiables para que nuestros jóvenes nos cuenten de sus luchas, pecados y problemas? ¿Cómo enseñarles a vivir una vida Cristiana sin necesidad de máscaras de super espirituales donde puedan ayudarse entre ellos? Por si lo estabas olvidando la confesión es una practica recomendada en todo el Nuevo Testamento y debe ser nuestro objetivo convertirnos nosotros y enseñarles a ellos a ser amigos que sepan recibir una confesión y dar la palabra justa de parte de Dios.

La Lista de Amigos que No Quiero Ser
Es bueno recordar que el objetivo de la confesión por parte del que escucha es la restauración (poner las cosas en su lugar) y no el mero castigo. La confesión abre los portones al cambio. Proverbios declara que él que confiesa sus pecados y se aparta alcanzará misericordia. Por esto me he propuesto no ser un:

AMIGO PERIODISTA: Como investigador de informativo sensacionalista, investiga hasta el último detalle. ¿Cuándo? ¿Cómo? ¿Por qué? ¿Con quién? ¿Cuántas veces? Ametralla a preguntas en busca de saber más, y abre los ojos como hipopótamo a cada nuevo descubrimiento. Nunca seamos así. Esta actitud solo inhibe y hace sentir peor al que confiesa, sin querer le estamos diciendo: Me importa más lo que hiciste, cuando y con quien que tu mismo.

AMIGO VENDEDOR: Este Cristiano no tiene mucha idea de que decir o hacer si escucha algo que lo incomoda y en vez de solo escuchar cree que su deber es decir algo “inteligente” o “espiritual” y empieza a hablar con aires de Sócrates diciendo cosas que ni él esta seguro. Este deja al joven más confundido que antes.

AMIGO PUBLICISTA: Esta es la causa numero uno por la cual no haya confesión en nuestro grupo. Estos son los que andan publicando a medio mundo todo lo ocurrido. ¡Pero cuidado! Tienen algunos trucos. A veces cuentan cosas como motivos de oración espiritualizando la cosa. O también dan “testimonio” a sus superiores de las cosas que andan “arreglando.” Esto es chisme y jugar con la intimidad de un teenager es jugar con fuego.

AMIGO ABOGADO: Este trata de defender a toda costa. No importa que lo que haya pasado sea para cadena perpetua. Siempre encuentra justificativos y alguien más que tiene culpa. Parece un gran amigo, pero puede causar mucho daño.

AMIGO ADUANERO: Este, como los de la aduana, deja pasar algunas cosas pero en otras, enseguidita pone multa. Todo depende si lo que se confiesa es algo en lo que él o ella esta metido o metida. Si en eso es débil también en vez de confesarlo dice que no es grave y si en eso es fuerte “no entiende como podemos haber caído tan bajo.”

AMIGO POLICIA: Bien rápido te lleva preso. Va directo a los padres o a los pastores diciendo “Mire Pastor, estuve hablando con la hermana fulana, y me parece que su condición espiritual” O también con cara de escándalo y defraudación pronuncia su sanción. Si bien es necesario dejar en claro la gravedad del pecado, no es cosa de andar escandalizándose, después de todo” El que esté limpio que tire la primera piedra”

AMIGO PROFETA: Este es el que nos abre la Bíblia, versión personal, y nos da las razones por las cuales nos pasan las cosas que estamos viviendo. “Por cuanto tu has pecado, te sobrevendrá calamidad, y peste destructora” Mas que escucharnos nos adelanta la sentencia que según él o ella, Dios va a pronunciar sobre nosotros. Están más interesados en las causas, efectos y en parecer espirituales que en restaurnos. Tampoco sirven.

AMIGO QUE MAS QUE UN AMIGO: Estos se sonríen y deslizando el brazo por sobre el hombro dicen: “Bueno, nadie es perfecto, no importa. No pasó nada, lo importante es reconocer el error.” De más esta decir que son unos sin vergüenzas.

AMIGO ESPEJO: Su frase favorita comienza con “Yo en este caso” se la pasa comparándonos con él o ella. Nos cuenta lo que haría o lo que hizo para terminar confesándonos toda su vida “modelo” y pretendiendo aprobación. Estos tienen más problemas que soluciones.

La Amistad que Libera
La Bíblia tiene un consejo que ningún curso de psicología puede mejorar, “Gozaos con los que se gozan, lloran con los que lloran” (Romanos 12:15). Si hiciéramos caso a este consejo sería más fácil que los adolescentes nos contarán de sus cosas y nuestras iglesias facilitarían una vida Cristiana más sincera. Si conozco lo que mis adolescentes están viviendo puedo ayudarlos mas efectivamente. Les pregunto, ¿Cómo andas con esto? ¿Estámos progresando? Los jóvenes no necesitan sabelotodos que les digan lo que hacer. Necesitan amigos y hermanos/hermanas mayores a los que recurrir para sentirse más libres de cargas y poder así crecer juntos.

Lucas Leys es asistente y pastor de jóvenes en la congregación hispana de la Catedral de Cristal. Es Master en teología y sigue su doctorado en el Fuller Theological Seminary. A los 19 años Lucas fue el fundador de L.A.GR.AM. (Liderazgo y Adolescencia, Grupo de Amigos) el ministerio a la adolescencia más importante de la Argentina y sigue siendo hoy su director internacional. Ha viajado predicando a la juventud por distintos continentes y es autor de distintos libros juveniles.

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