DISCIPLESHIP TIPS
We are living in unprecedented times in youth ministry! But one of the greatest weapons that we can use during this time is discipleship. Our teens need their youth leaders more than ever to be there for them and do life with them. We may not be able to hang out with them on a Friday, jumping around in the mosh pit or sitting with them at church on a Sunday, but we can still be effective disciples during this time.
DISCIPLESHIP TIPS
PHONE CALLS
Phone calls are more key now than ever before! We can’t see our kids on a Friday or a Sunday to ask them about their week or see how school work is going, so phone calls are key right now. For those kids you usually call every few weeks, now is the time to call them every week. They may not answer (we’ve all experienced weeks when no one does) but follow up the call with a text- ‘Hey bro, just calling to say hey, how’s your week been?’. If your teen doesn’t have a phone and it’s appropriate to do so, try and call their parents. Especially if they’re a church parent they will love getting a call from you.
ZOOM CALLS
We’re seeing that a lot of youth ministries are doing zoom calls on a Friday night as part of their youth program. This is an awesome way to connect with your teens. Make these a memorable time of connection- play a group game, get one of your teens to run a game, speak positively about your week, pray with your teens, do a study! This is your greatest connection point for them!
DEVOTIONS THROUGH THE BIBLE APP
Another way of connecting with teens during the week and also getting them to talk about God is doing a devotional together. The YouVersion Bible app has some great resources which you can use with your teens.
Switch Youth - the youth ministry of Craig Groeschel’s Church (Life.Church, USA) has a number of practical & relevant devotions which you can do with your teens. At the end of each devotion, it has a ‘talk it over’ section where teens can write what they got out of each day. This is a great way to get teens talking about God!
