Leaders on the Horizon

2009-06-11T15:02:00.001-07:00

LOH News

June 2009

Leaders on the Horizon

PO Box 1224

Stanwood, Washington 98292

360-629-4067

LOH is moving into its 4th year! We are excited to see the LOH family continue to grow. Thanks for being a part of investing in students' lives, discipling them, and empowering them to be missional people!

From Former Student Leaders...
Investing in kids makes a difference!

"Student leadership gave me my foundation as a high school student as well as the building blocks in developing relationships and doing kingdom work. I learned how to press into relationship with God and lead by His example in Jesus. I was taught how to read and understand different types of people and facilitate healthy interaction while showing them how valued they are to both myself and the group. In my adult life I constantly use the tools I was given in most group settings in which I find myself."
Kristen - now works in the RCA MFCA office

Ricky, youth pastor
"As a high school student, I was constantly surprised at how much ownership I was given for leading in the youth ministry. When I graduated, I naturally assumed it was my role to continue being a leader. I'm now the high school director of the same youth group."

Monique, missionary in Amsterdam
Being a student leader empowered me to minister and love my peers in a way that I hadn't otherwise felt free to do. Student leadership was used to help cultivate my gifts, passions and dreams. In addition, it helped me discover my place in building the kingdom. As a student leader I was cared for, invested in and equipped which enabled me to do the same. My time as a student leader greatly shaped who I am and what I am doing today... for that I am forever grateful!

It's Time!
To start thinking about LOH this fall...

Summer - camps, mission trips, fun with your kids! It's also a great time for some deep conversations and for prayer about LOH in the fall. Which kids are wanting to serve? Which kids are asking questions and wanting to go deeper? Invite them to be a part of LOH, even if they don't seem like "leaders."
Some youthworkers choose to invite the entire youth group to do LOH, then offer an application process. Others do individual invites. Whatever you choose to do, sometimes an invitation and someone believing in them is what kids need to rise up and realize their God-given potential!

Leaders on the Horizon
PO Box 1224
Stanwood, Washington 98292
360-629-4067
www.leadersonthehorizon.com
bboersma@rcamail.net
bcleveringa@heartlandsynod.org

In This Issue

From Former Student Leaders

It's Time!

Ideas from Student Leader Groups

S.A.L.T. (Stanwood Area Leadership Team - an ecumenical group of student leaders) is doing a "Summer of Service." The kids have planned several service projects to do in the community, all summer long!

Forward email

This email was sent to synodyouth.leaders@blogger.com by bboersma@rcamail.net.

Update Profile/Email Address | Instant removal with SafeUnsubscribe™ | Privacy Policy.

Email Marketing by

Stanwood Area YFC | PO Box 1224 | Stanwood | WA | 98292

Leaders on the Horizon Newsletter

2009-03-30T15:05:00.001-07:00

March 2009

Latest News

Get Help!

LOH at Camp!

New Look!

Preview the Program

Get Help!

Never underestimate the power of a volunteer! To save yourself some time, have a volunteer in charge of LOH stuff - one to get your supplies, one to make copies, one to plan meals and snacks,one to contact mentors, etc. You'll be surprised how many people will help if you give them simple tasks that don't take a lot of time!

Info

www.leadersonthehorizon.com

bboersma@rcamail.net

bcleveringa@heartlandsynod.org

360-536-6163 (Brooke)
We're on facebook!

Newsletter Signup

The Value of Youth Ministry by Brooke Boersma

As a veteran youthworker with a degree in ministry, I know that youth ministry is valuable from a philosophical and even a practical standpoint. In the last few months, I've learned it from a whole new perspective - as a parent. Now that my son Caleb is a "big kid" - in 4th grade and a whole 10 years old, he now gets to go to our church's program on Tuesday nights. It's a great place for him to learn from others, worship, and play. As a youthworker, I know that establishing healthy relationships with safe adults (actually 5-7 adults at least) is a way to insure success in life for him. As a parent, I now know that these relationships can provide something for him that I can't.

Case in point. We are a foster family, but several months ago had yet to have a placement of a child in our home. We received a call on a Tuesday to pick up a brand new baby girl from the hospital the next morning - and we would have the opportunity to adopt her. Caleb's an only child and desperately wants a sibling. We were so excited and ran to the store to get a few new things for her. A few hours later, we got a call that another family was going to take her. It was devastating for us. Caleb was very upset. It was a kids' church night, and he immediately said he didn't want to go. I remembered some advice of my mom's a long time ago, "Sometimes when we're sad, church is the very best place to be." I shared this with him, and later on dropped him off.

And what a blessing. He was able to share his hurts (and I think a few tears) with his children's pastor Tami as well as his small group leader. He got prayed for and hugged and was reminded that God is faithful and has a plan for each one of us. In my own pain, I wasn't able to give this to him right then, and the body of Christ - his youthworkers -were.

We as youthworkers have a high honor. We get to walk alongside students, hopefully partnering with their parents, in raising them up to be men and women who follow hard after God. We get to be there for them when maybe no one else is. We get to love them with the love of Christ. Youth ministry is valuable. You are valuable. Keep up the good work of loving kids well and standing in the gap for parents too!

	Leaders on the Horizon at Camp!
Camp Manitoqua and Inspiration Hills are using a tailor-made version of LOH for their summer student leadership tracks. If you've got kids interested, let us know and we'll get you the info! (Two more camps are on the way, too!)

	New Look!
LOH materials are getting an updated look! Coming this fall!!

	Preview LOH
If you're not on board for LOH, but you're interested, contact us and we'll send you a packet with information, as well as some materials to preview.

$10 OFF	Refer a friend to Leaders on the Horizon and receive $10 off your leader materials when they sign up for the program!

Forward email

This email was sent to synodyouth.leaders@blogger.com by bboersma@rcamail.net.

Update Profile/Email Address | Instant removal with SafeUnsubscribe™ | Privacy Policy.

Email Marketing by

Stanwood Area Youth For Christ | PO Box 1224 | Stanwood | WA | 98292

News from Leaders on the Horizon

2009-01-27T12:03:00.001-08:00

January 2009

On Eagles' Wings

by Brooke Boersma
I don't know about you, but I'm definitely in the throes of the "blahs" of winter. January and February seem to be a time of exhaustion and depression for many - here in the Seattle area, we definitely attribute it to lack of sun. I think our daily coffee consumption at least doubles! (And we're a city full of people that drink an average of 4 cups a day!)

This time of year is hard on kids too. They're tired, feeling pressure, maybe experiencing seasonal depression along with all of the hormones they already have raging through their bodies...it can be wearying.

It's in this season that I think about Isaiah's encouragement, "For those who hope in the Lord will rise up on wings like eagles, they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not faint."

I never completely grasped the meaning of this passage until last summer. Brent (my husband), Caleb (my son) and I went on a hike on the Pacific Northwest Trail. We had hiked about 8 miles round trip and were ready to head back to the car, pretty tired from a few steep climbs. There was a branch off the main trail, though and intrigued, we decided to take it. Plugging along in some pretty thick forest, not knowing where we were going, with Caleb whining most of the way - I was about ready to give up. It was then that rounded a bend and made an amazing discovery. We emerged into a favorite launching spot of hang gliders! We got to watch as over and over these brave people jumped over a steep ledge and launched into the air, gliding around and around, up and down, over Puget Sound, the oyster fields below, and the surrounding hills and farm land. What a gorgeous sight!

A professional hang glider saw us watching and began to tell Caleb all about how the gliders, like birds, find a thermal - heat rising off the side of the mountain or hill, and circle around and around allowing the rising heat to send them higher and higher into the sky. The gliders have been known to fly from this spot all the way up into British Columbia, simply finding the right winds and thermals to give them speed and height. Energized and excited about what we had seen and learned, the hike back to the car was a breeze.

We have several eagles that live near our house, I see them when I'm out running. I've always appreciated their regal beauty and have been reminded of that verse in Isaiah as I've watched them. Armed with this new information, that bit of Scripture comes to life. On a recent run, I saw some of the eagles, gracefully circling....rising higher and higher as they were lifted up by a thermal. Eagles have a stark beauty, their giant wings spread wide. I watched for over 15 minutes as these eagles circled and rose, then riding the wind, came back and circled up again, not once beating their wings.

Now I understand what Isaiah is talking about. We can be exhausted by work, the demands of family and ministry, but we who hope in the Lord will rise on wings like eagles. The Spirit is our wind, like the thermal that lifts and lifts the eagle with no effort of their own. We may be tired, but we are able to fly, lifted by God.

This winter, may you and your students rise on wings like eagles. May the Spirit of the Lord fill you, hold you, lift you, and give you strength.

Coming Up...
Spring Retreat
If you're thinking about doing a spring retreat with your LOH kids, now's the time to start planning. Let us know ASAP if you'd like to use our materials, or have one of our staff lead the retreat!

Orientations
If you're considering LOH for next fall, we'd be happy to talk with you and help you get started! Set up an appointment with us this spring so you're ready to go when school starts!

In This Issue

On Eagles' Wings

Coming Up

Finishing Year Two

Finishing Year 2?
Are you finishing up with Year 2 kids this spring? Your time with them doesn't have to be over! Now's the time for them to be able to use the skills and the maturity they've gained and give back. Encourage them to help lead an LOH group, serve in another church ministry, or take a leadership position in a non-profit somewhere else where they can build relationships with people and share the love of Jesus. Connect with your group of "veterans" over coffee once a month to let them know they're still important to you, and make sure that they're in a group somewhere where they can continue to grow in their faith.

Brooke Boersma
bboersma@rcamail.net
360-536-6163 There are several LOH Facebook groups! Bob and Brooke are on Facebook too!
Bob Cleveringa
bcleveringa@heartlandsynod.org

Save $10	Share LOH with your friends! If you refer a friend to LOH and they sign up this fall, you can receive $10 off of your leadership materials!

Leaders on the Horizon Newsletter

2008-12-05T14:18:00.001-08:00

Leaders on the Horizon

In This Issue

Ministry Out of the Box

Retreat Recap

Google and Youth Ministry

Books

Latest books we're reading:
The New Breed by Jonathan McKee - about finding and caring for the 21st century volunteer
The Same Kind of Different As Me by Ron Hall and Denver Moore- challenges how we think about the poor
And, this sounds weird, but Jodi Picoult has some real insight into what teens are thinking and doing. Her books, though fiction, are strikingly similar to students' real lives - check out The Tenth Circle and 19 Minutes, but beware if they were movies, they'd be rated "R".

Info

www.leadersonthehorizon.com

Facebook group LOH Michigan

Facebook group LOH Meredith Drive

Facebook group LOH General

LOH news and youth ministry ideas for you!

Ministry Out of the Box by Brooke Boersma

What would your ministry look like if you no longer had a building?
Most of us never dream of this happening, but with the current economic crisis we are beginning to think this way in our ministry. Working for a parachurch organization after being in church youth ministry for over a decade has already forced us to think differently about how we do things, but the economy has truly become a catalyst for us to literally be thinking "out of the box" - the box being our building. Recently we have been challenged to truly ponder what our ministry values are, and how we can accomplish them well with the least amount of resources possible.

And you know what? Ministry, minus the building, is possible....and often times more effective than any programming we do inside of it. For us, it means trimming down office space to one office for our administration, and one for each of us to share for work space when we need it. And we'll be sharing with another, secular, non-profit organization. This means less rent for us, and an opportunity to be in daily relationship with the other folks in the office, several of whom don't know the Lord. This also means that most of our work day will be out in the community - at the local coffee shop, the pool hall where most of the kids in town hang out, and other places where we can be visible, have conversations, and not be hidden away in an office.

For us, this means that we have to know exactly what we're about, and being able to do those things for the most part without a building. (We will still have a small hang out center for kids - this is one of the few places in our community that kids have to go after school.) It means being on campus coordinating their community service requirements and doing that service with kids rather than planning games in a building. It means doing small group at the coffee house where we'll have an opportunity to talk with and be seen by other kids too. This means hanging out at the Saturday night concerts at the pool hall, taking walks with kids, and inviting them into our home.

So, what would your ministry look like if you didn't have your "box?" Would you spend more time raising up volunteer leaders and less time writing lesson plans? Would you be on campus more and in your office less? Would you meet kids at the local hangout instead of in the church gym? You may not face that dilemma, but it might be good to consider - it could bring some creative thinking and help you to focus once again on your values in ministry. May you do ministry "out of the box", reaching new kids in new and creative ways!

	Fall Retreats!!
All three fall retreats (2 in Iowa, 1 in Michigan) this year were great times for LOH students to connect with each other and their leaders, get excited about participating in the "process" and experience God in new ways. Check out the LOH facebook pages (there are several groups - one for each region) for pics!

Google and Youth Ministry

Check out Google for some hot new applications. Google calendar is great for sharing schedules with others in your circles and office. Google documents are sleek for sharing with others and saving paper. Google forms are my favorite - create your own form that people can fill out online and it will automatically put the info into a spreadsheet for you as well as put together graphs and charts of the info. The possibilities for youth ministry are endless - from registering new kids, to sign up lists and med forms for trips, to surveys, as well as collaborating on talks, lesson plans, calendars, and other ministry ideas with your volunteers.

Contact Us! Brooke Boersma - bboersma@rcamail.net, 360-536-6163, Facebook.com/brookeboersma Bob Cleveringa - bcleveringa@heartlandsynod.org John Cleveringa - john@orchardhill.org Duane Smith - duane@eyms.org Dave De Kuiper - ddekuiper@kalnet.org