F O R S T A R T E R S

f r o m D o u g F i e l d s

TRENCHE SI N T H E

YOU T H LE ADER T RAINING ON T HE GO

TRAINING on the GOIn what ways are you learning

from other youth ministry

volunteers?

Who are two people you have

learned from in ministry?

Today I left a soda can on my desk, and a few minutes later, it was full of ants. To remedy the situation, I got rid of the can and scattered some ant-killer substance; within a few minutes, the ants were swarming in it and dying. Satisfi ed with my solution, I raced off to a meeting. When I returned, I was surprised by how many more ants had gathered and died; new ants just kept showing up to devour the mystery ant-killer substance.

Do you have the scene in your mind? OK, now imagine what the scene might look like if one of the brighter ants decided to do some-thing about the situation. What if an ant put up some kind of ant sign: “Danger. Stay back. Eat this and die!” A simple warning would have saved the day for countless ants.

What’s the moral of this random and silly illustration? First, don’t allow other youth ministry leaders to ingest ant-killing substance. A better moral might be: Learn from one another and warn one another, and your youth ministry will be long-lasting and effective.

L E A R N F R O M O T H E R L E A D E R S

A healthy volunteer is always learning. If you want that to describe you, it’s important to get in the habit of regularly asking yourself, “Am I learning from other leaders in ministry, or am I simply repeating others’ mistakes?” Another question might be, “What lessons should I be learning from another leader?” By asking these types of questions, you’ll keep learning on your radar and move along the path toward becoming an ever-better youth leader.

If there are several volunteers on your youth ministry team, you probably have tons of experiences and lessons you can share with each other. To make this kind of learning a goal, you must possess humility; a desire to learn requires being humble enough to know that you always have more to learn.

Here are a few ways you might consider helping one another to become better learners:

Learn from others’ life experiences. It’s valuable to share your own life experiences with the other volunteers and learn about their life experiences. Not only will knowing about one another’s experiences help your ministry team, but your students can benefi t from what you learn about one another, as well. For instance, imagine that a student is dealing with a tough family sit-uation (that doesn’t take much imagination, right?). If you know that another volunteer has been in a similar situation, you’ll be able to direct that student to a volunteer who’s able to use personal experience to relate to the student.

Learn from past mistakes. A common trap for those of us in leadership is the fear that others will see our weaknesses and failures. Th ough it is diffi cult to admit failures, it is oft en through the confession of our mistakes that others learn and succeed.

Leaders need to be learning from one another’s mistakes and painful experiences. Don’t limit your sharing to your good experiences; learning from the past (all of it) is a great way to prepare for future ministry. I’ve made plenty of mistakes and have seen my share of failures and hurts. But aft er 25-plus years of youth ministry, I become a helpful asset to other leaders when I share those painful experiences—and what I’ve learned from my failures and hurts. God won’t waste my hurts. He’ll use them to help others.

Train for the future. Get in the habit of arriving at your volunteer leader meetings with the goal of sharing with others. Ask for advice, help train others in skills you’ve developed, share the problems you’ve encountered, and make a commitment to keep sharing and growing as a team. As you support one another in your failures, you’ll create an accepting environment where learning is valued. During your times together, look for opportunities to ask fellow volunteers to share about what they’re learning in their ministry to students.

Learning is essential to leading. If you aren’t committed to learning, you’ll either continue making mistakes or miss growth opportunities. Learning from the experiences of others will maximize your ministry eff ectiveness and prepare you to better meet your students’ needs.

MA K E I T P ER SONA L

CONNECT to God’s Word

Permission to photocopy this handout granted for local church use. Copyright © Doug Fields. Published in Youth Leader Training on the Go by Group Publishing, Inc., P.O. Box 481, Loveland, CO 80539. www.youthministry.com and www.simplyyouthministry.com

T O T H E PO IN T

T R Y I TFind a fi le folder, and label it “my experiences.” Keep it within easy reach. On the outside of the fi le, make an identifi able grid of what’s inside. For example, “1. personal experiences, 2. painful experiences, 3. ministry experiences, and 4. spiritual experiences.” Then, every week, take some time to write on index cards key words that fi t with each of these four headings. Number the index cards (1–4), and fi le them accordingly. Before your volunteer meetings (or when you’re hanging out with youth leaders or the youth pastor), grab the fi le. During your time with other volunteers, share one of your current stories so others can learn from you. These experiences will enhance your ministry to students as well as help train other volunteers who are humble enough to learn.

• Value learning and make it part of your culture.

• Pursue humility.

• Learn from others’ experiences.

“ Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a r ighteous man is power ful and ef fective.” —James 5:16

• What place does confession have in learning from

others?

• How are you currently learning from someone

else’s failures or successes?

• Which of your failures and successes will others

learn from?

Write a response and prayer to God here…

L E A R N F R O M O T H E R L E A D E R S