Youthwork Got Harder This Year?

Anybody out there who works with young people will probably be able to attest that the start of a new academic year can be a tough time. Since September our youthwork has definitely got harder!

It's quite normal I think. Lots of the young people moved to different clubs this year because they grew too old for the one they were in, and this meant a lot of new groups forming. In new situations, making new friends, young people are often out to prove themselves and find their place, so they can act up. Those that were already attending the clubs can be unsettled by the influx of new faces on their territory, and the new members haven't necessarily built relationships with the leaders yet, so they can be less inclined to listen to them.

Well, while I'm glad that there's a logical reason for it all, the fact is, in practical terms, the Youthwork. Gets. Harder.

In nearly all our clubs we have experienced young people 'testing the waters' as it were, pushing boundaries, trying to see how much they can get away with. It's a time when they are testing you out, and if you don't have a lot of patience, and a robust system of support and discipline, you might struggle to get through.

But this IS what we're here for, so we all try our best. We try to get all the training we can on behaviour and class management and we leave the rest up to God. Who can control a hall full of rowdy teenagers if they all decide to rebel? No one I know. But God can. Who can teach a class of up to 30 children on a Friday after school and always make the right calls? No one I know. But God can.

Youth and children's work is messy. And that's not just because of the paint and the glue. It is messy because you are dealing with lots of little lives. Each one individual, with its own struggles, talents and background. It is messy because some of these little lives need help and they are acting out because of it.

Jesus didn't spend much time with the 'perfect' holy types. They were the Pharisees, and in fact He often disagreed with them. He said "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners." (Mark 2:17) And so He spent His time with the rough and ready in society. Those that didn't know to behave well, those that were going through tough times and needed a lot of grace. Tax collectors, prostitutes, lepers.

If our church and our youth and children's clubs attract some of the messy, or difficult or rowdy members of society, chances are we are right where Jesus would have us be. So do pray that we have the patience, and love to know how to manage it.

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Interested in more?

Check out some of our Sunday sermons at: http://www.buresbaptistchurch.org/sermon_catchup.php