Check out my new blog at www.dougfranklinonline.com
I will be closing this blog on June 1 2009
Thanks
Friday, May 1, 2009
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Three mistakes youth workers make with mission trips
I lead my first student mission trip in 1985 – I am old and I have made lots of mistakes. Trust me, I am qualified to discuss mistakes. One of my best ones was when I left $2,800 at a McDonalds on a trip to Arizona. I find that I most often make mistakes when I don’t challenge my own thinking, when I don’t focus on the why.
Three common mistakes I see most often by youth workers.
1. Prepare for logistics not spiritual outcomes
When were preparing to lead a group of students on a mission trip we can feel like all the details are overwhelming and so we focus on logistics. Do we have the forms, housing, work project and ministry set up? This focus is important but it’s not priority. We aren’t just taking students on a trip; we are preparing an opportunity for them to live out their faith in Christ. They need to understand what God’s word says about living a missional lifestyle and living out the power of Christ by serving the least in this world. If we fail to prepare them for this then the trip loses its potential and becomes an outing, nothing more.
2. Focus on trip site not heart
I know the pressure of making sure enough students sign-up for a trip and I know the pressure of having to get parents to believe where you’re going is safe. But are your students more excited about going to ________ (your site location of your trip) or serving the God who made them and has redeemed them? Honestly, have you talked more about the site and what they will see or about the heart they will need to serve those that have less than them?
3. No plan to debrief
I can’t tell you how many times youth workers have told me that when they return from their mission trip they are going on vacation. It seems odd to me that when your students are most ready to make applications and life changing commitments that we are out of town. When I was a youth pastor, on returning from a two week mission trip the first thing I would do was sit down and write a note to every student on the trip about how I saw God work in their lives. I would then take it to the post office so it could be delivered by the time they woke up the first morning home. That first morning back home students will decide, are they living the same or will they live out the changes they committed to on the trip? If you want help debriefing your mission trip check out Mission Life in the LeaderTreks store. It’s a great curriculum resource.
I want to challenge you to ask yourself WHY. Why are we doing this and what difference will it make? These questions could lead you to make some changes in your missions program that will help your students mature and grow in new ways.
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Mission Trip Trap
Going on a mission trip this year? What is your plan to develop your students spiritually?
When I was a youth pastor I would have to make sure I had all the details covered before I would go on a mission trip. Forms, supplies, drivers, housing and rentals; the list never seemed to end. The pressure on me was to make sure that every part of the trip ran right. Mostly that pressure was there because finances were tight and I needed to make sure we didn’t lose money on the trip. The funny thing is that there never was any pressure to see the students grow spiritually. It was weird, the pastor and parents never asked me about spiritual growth. They asked about money and safety, but never about my plan to see students grow.
It’s easy to get caught up in going on the trip, after all isn’t that enough? The truth is, it’s not. Going on a trip is nice but it doesn’t make that much of a difference. Using the trip, however, to intentionally develop your students spiritual life is the benefit of a mission trip that will last a life time.
LeaderTreks offers tools that will help you before, during and after your mission trip develop your students spiritually. Check them out at www.leadertreks.org
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Drill Down on Leadership Principles
Do we have a shortage of leaders or do we have an inability to develop leaders? For a long time we thought leadership was a matter of natural selection; now we understand leadership is a skill that can be learned. Don’t get me wrong, I believe some people have been given the gift of leadership and it comes to them naturally, but I also believe people can learn leadership because everyone in their life is going to play the role of leader at some time. Got two kids in the back seat? Guess what? You’re a leader.
Then with a crisis of leadership in many of our churches, how do we train more leaders? Our strategy to date seems to be to complain we don’t have enough leaders. Not working! The way to develop leaders is to teach our volunteers leadership principles like:
• Intentional communication
• Navigation of obstacles
• Focus
• Risk taking
• Vision casting
I can already hear people saying, “these are not Biblical terms but business terms." No, they are not Biblical terms but are universal truths, and they are found in the Bible. Noah had to navigate obstacles and be a risk taker. Paul was a great vision caster and Peter had incredible focus. By teaching these principles and giving volunteers feedback and evaluation on using them we will be creating more leaders, not just complaining about a lack of them.
There is much more to leadership development then just teaching leadership principles but if you forget this step you will be way behind.
Then with a crisis of leadership in many of our churches, how do we train more leaders? Our strategy to date seems to be to complain we don’t have enough leaders. Not working! The way to develop leaders is to teach our volunteers leadership principles like:
• Intentional communication
• Navigation of obstacles
• Focus
• Risk taking
• Vision casting
I can already hear people saying, “these are not Biblical terms but business terms." No, they are not Biblical terms but are universal truths, and they are found in the Bible. Noah had to navigate obstacles and be a risk taker. Paul was a great vision caster and Peter had incredible focus. By teaching these principles and giving volunteers feedback and evaluation on using them we will be creating more leaders, not just complaining about a lack of them.
There is much more to leadership development then just teaching leadership principles but if you forget this step you will be way behind.
Monday, March 30, 2009
How Change Happens
At the end of my second year in youth ministry I had come to believe that upfront speaking was not my thing. I was good with a small group but not with groups over 40 and not when I had to speak for over 15 minutes. I was the king of the small and short. Students were getting feed by the small group leaders but not from me. It hurt my ability to speak truth into their lies and it was hurting our unity because there was not a common voice calling students to growth in Christ. A caring volunteer made it very clear to me that I needed to grow personally in this area in order to help the youth ministry grow. So I changed – I found some great speakers and I started to study how they crafted their talks and over time I began to get better and better at speaking.
Most of the time when we want to see change happen it starts with us. If we want a relationship to be different we can’t just wait for the other person to change; it won’t happen. The same is true about our ministries. If we want an aspect of the ministry to grow or change, look in the mirror because that's where it starts.
Most of the time when we want to see change happen it starts with us. If we want a relationship to be different we can’t just wait for the other person to change; it won’t happen. The same is true about our ministries. If we want an aspect of the ministry to grow or change, look in the mirror because that's where it starts.
Friday, March 6, 2009
How to develop student leaders
Just returned from another youth ministry conference where there were many good speakers about student leadership development but again I noticed the specific question of how to develop a student into a leader was not addressed. Let me layout for you the tested and proven LeaderTreks model for student leadership development.
1. Teach students leadership principles
We need to make sure students understand the principles of leadership; like intentional communication, focus precedes success, risk taking, navigating obstacles, problem solving, conflict resolution and strategic planning. We must teach students these and other principles before we release them to lead. Giving them leadership experiences before we teach them principles is sure to fail. Check out the LeaderOne video training available in the LeaderTreks store. This training will teach your students leadership principles.
2. Give students real leadership experiences
It is here that students are given leadership roles of true importance. The temptation for many youth workers is to hold onto the true leadership opportunities and never allow students to make decisions that really matter. The staff’s role is empowering students to feel safe and be successful. It is never a good idea to put students in a position where they are set up to fail. Be sure to allow room for failure but don’t create it. The outcome for students at this level is for them to take ownership of the experience. Their actions will determine the success or failure of the mission.
3. Give students a challenge
After students learn leadership principles, they are placed in leadership roles. The natural outcome of experiencing leadership comes as students face challenges. Students need to experience the stresses and struggles of leadership while under direction of adults who care about their growth. The temptation for staff is to step in and rescue students when they face challenge for the first time. It can be very uncomfortable for adult staff, especially volunteers in your program, to watch students as they experience challenge.
4. Teach students the power of evaluation
We have found that evaluation is often overlooked by youth workers because they are not comfortable pursing it with students or don’t know how to use it in their program. Evaluation is vital to developing student leaders. It is important to create an evaluation environment that is peer to peer and not adult to student. When students learn to confront each other and overcome obstacles to teamwork by speaking truth into each other’s lives, true leadership development takes place.
The role of the staff at this stage is to facilitate the evaluation process. Students have a tendency to take evaluation to one extreme or the other. Sometimes evaluation turns into a punishment session for the weakest member of the team. Other times students are too afraid to bring up hard issues in front of the whole group. The goal is to create an atmosphere of love and care.
The LeaderTreks leadership development model is designed to continue in a cycle of growth for students. Students constantly experience the various stages of leadership development. This tool can be useful to many youth workers looking for a process to grow student leaders in their ministry. To apply this model to your youth ministry think about these steps.
1. What principles of leadership do you want to teach your students? You need to prepare your students for the leadership roles they will fulfill. If you need a place to start contact us at LeaderTreks and ask about our ten leadership principles.
2. What leadership experiences can you offer in your youth ministry? Remember to find experiences that offer true leadership challenges. Possibilities for student leadership include planning and running a missions trip or heading up a ministry in the church.
3. What is your plan for challenging your students? You will need to educate your volunteer staff on your plan. Be sure to leave room for students to struggle.
4. How will you evaluate your student leaders so they can grow from this process? Youth workers will want to have regular evaluation meetings with the student leadership team.
Even though the road to developing an effective leadership development program can be long and difficult, it is well worth the effort. The Kingdom is in need of young people who are equipped with the skills necessary to lead the Church. As a youth worker you have the ability to create an effective program for your students. By applying the LeaderTreks model to your program you can create a healthy environment that will produce powerful leaders.
1. Teach students leadership principles
We need to make sure students understand the principles of leadership; like intentional communication, focus precedes success, risk taking, navigating obstacles, problem solving, conflict resolution and strategic planning. We must teach students these and other principles before we release them to lead. Giving them leadership experiences before we teach them principles is sure to fail. Check out the LeaderOne video training available in the LeaderTreks store. This training will teach your students leadership principles.
2. Give students real leadership experiences
It is here that students are given leadership roles of true importance. The temptation for many youth workers is to hold onto the true leadership opportunities and never allow students to make decisions that really matter. The staff’s role is empowering students to feel safe and be successful. It is never a good idea to put students in a position where they are set up to fail. Be sure to allow room for failure but don’t create it. The outcome for students at this level is for them to take ownership of the experience. Their actions will determine the success or failure of the mission.
3. Give students a challenge
After students learn leadership principles, they are placed in leadership roles. The natural outcome of experiencing leadership comes as students face challenges. Students need to experience the stresses and struggles of leadership while under direction of adults who care about their growth. The temptation for staff is to step in and rescue students when they face challenge for the first time. It can be very uncomfortable for adult staff, especially volunteers in your program, to watch students as they experience challenge.
4. Teach students the power of evaluation
We have found that evaluation is often overlooked by youth workers because they are not comfortable pursing it with students or don’t know how to use it in their program. Evaluation is vital to developing student leaders. It is important to create an evaluation environment that is peer to peer and not adult to student. When students learn to confront each other and overcome obstacles to teamwork by speaking truth into each other’s lives, true leadership development takes place.
The role of the staff at this stage is to facilitate the evaluation process. Students have a tendency to take evaluation to one extreme or the other. Sometimes evaluation turns into a punishment session for the weakest member of the team. Other times students are too afraid to bring up hard issues in front of the whole group. The goal is to create an atmosphere of love and care.
The LeaderTreks leadership development model is designed to continue in a cycle of growth for students. Students constantly experience the various stages of leadership development. This tool can be useful to many youth workers looking for a process to grow student leaders in their ministry. To apply this model to your youth ministry think about these steps.
1. What principles of leadership do you want to teach your students? You need to prepare your students for the leadership roles they will fulfill. If you need a place to start contact us at LeaderTreks and ask about our ten leadership principles.
2. What leadership experiences can you offer in your youth ministry? Remember to find experiences that offer true leadership challenges. Possibilities for student leadership include planning and running a missions trip or heading up a ministry in the church.
3. What is your plan for challenging your students? You will need to educate your volunteer staff on your plan. Be sure to leave room for students to struggle.
4. How will you evaluate your student leaders so they can grow from this process? Youth workers will want to have regular evaluation meetings with the student leadership team.
Even though the road to developing an effective leadership development program can be long and difficult, it is well worth the effort. The Kingdom is in need of young people who are equipped with the skills necessary to lead the Church. As a youth worker you have the ability to create an effective program for your students. By applying the LeaderTreks model to your program you can create a healthy environment that will produce powerful leaders.
Student Leadership Teams are UNFAIR
Has a parent or a pastor ever said something like this to you ….
“Student leadership teams are unfair because not every student gets to participate.”
“The application process implies that some students are not good enough.”
“The selection process seems unfair. Aren’t you just picking the students you like?”
“Why do you have to make it exclusive? Why can’t it just be open to everyone?”
I believe student leadership teams can be unfair – but who ever said the goal of student leadership development was to be fair? The goal is to take students that have shown a desire for growth and challenge them with additional leadership responsibilities in an effort to strengthen them in peer-to-peer ministry. If you think student ministry is the ministry of the church to students then you would be right –student leadership is unfair. However, if the goal of the student ministry is to help students minister to their world and if students can be ministers (I believe they can) then using the Biblical model of giving more responsibility to those who have shown responsibility makes sense.
Student leadership teams have a number of perception problems. Some may think that only the good kids, the youth pastors’ favorites, or the kids who do everything are included. This leads to a strong reaction that the teams are unfair. We need to understand these perceptions before we start our leadership program. We need to be clear in communicating the purpose and goals of having a student leadership team. Remember most parents just want their students to belong. Belonging that includes leadership opportunities is even better. What parent doesn’t want their student to be labeled a leader? Most youth workers want more for student leaders than just a label – we want them to lead.
To battle this negative perception issue, help your student leaders understand the power of service. We have to be sure we are not creating a leadership position instead of servant leaders. We run the risk of having a leadership team that is all show and no serve. We have to be honest with students and tell them that leadership will cost them more than they want to spend and it will be harder than anything that have ever done. I like to describe leadership as living in an upside down pyramid. We are not on top. We serve from the bottom, holding everything in place by our willingness to be last.
It’s easy to give into the negative pressure and scrap the whole leadership development program. Before you do, remember that the cost is worth the outcome. When you hear the argument that student leadership is unfair, remember the other person’s perspective. Leadership is a big deal to adults. Clarify your purpose and communicate the focus of the program. Explain to them what you’re looking for in students. If their student doesn’t measure up, offer to create a plan with them to help their student reach the criteria. What could be better than you and parents working together to teach students servant leadership?
“Student leadership teams are unfair because not every student gets to participate.”
“The application process implies that some students are not good enough.”
“The selection process seems unfair. Aren’t you just picking the students you like?”
“Why do you have to make it exclusive? Why can’t it just be open to everyone?”
I believe student leadership teams can be unfair – but who ever said the goal of student leadership development was to be fair? The goal is to take students that have shown a desire for growth and challenge them with additional leadership responsibilities in an effort to strengthen them in peer-to-peer ministry. If you think student ministry is the ministry of the church to students then you would be right –student leadership is unfair. However, if the goal of the student ministry is to help students minister to their world and if students can be ministers (I believe they can) then using the Biblical model of giving more responsibility to those who have shown responsibility makes sense.
Student leadership teams have a number of perception problems. Some may think that only the good kids, the youth pastors’ favorites, or the kids who do everything are included. This leads to a strong reaction that the teams are unfair. We need to understand these perceptions before we start our leadership program. We need to be clear in communicating the purpose and goals of having a student leadership team. Remember most parents just want their students to belong. Belonging that includes leadership opportunities is even better. What parent doesn’t want their student to be labeled a leader? Most youth workers want more for student leaders than just a label – we want them to lead.
To battle this negative perception issue, help your student leaders understand the power of service. We have to be sure we are not creating a leadership position instead of servant leaders. We run the risk of having a leadership team that is all show and no serve. We have to be honest with students and tell them that leadership will cost them more than they want to spend and it will be harder than anything that have ever done. I like to describe leadership as living in an upside down pyramid. We are not on top. We serve from the bottom, holding everything in place by our willingness to be last.
It’s easy to give into the negative pressure and scrap the whole leadership development program. Before you do, remember that the cost is worth the outcome. When you hear the argument that student leadership is unfair, remember the other person’s perspective. Leadership is a big deal to adults. Clarify your purpose and communicate the focus of the program. Explain to them what you’re looking for in students. If their student doesn’t measure up, offer to create a plan with them to help their student reach the criteria. What could be better than you and parents working together to teach students servant leadership?
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