Problem Solving

We lost our children's leader for about three months and there was a need! Last year, we had a period of time like this and it took a long time to find leaders for that time. This time, I decided to do some problem solving and create a great environment. 

I could teach, but what about the youth ministry? I decided to move the youth to Sunday nights, this way I could lead. My next step was to create a kids ministry program. I took our kids ministry name and added one word to it; Graceway Kids Midweek! It would be a night of games, music, message, and small groups. Now I need leaders! I got it! I will use my teens that I have been investing in for five years. This is how I created a new teen program called Student Leaders. I now had a perfect plan drawn out; now I just needed to draw out the little details.

Last night was the first night of my two programs that was formed into a hybrid plan. 

When the kids got there, they signed in and put their names in our game bucket. Then they were allowed to play ping pong, fooseball, air hockey, pool, or jump in the bounce house. With the end of our Midweek countdown; all the kids found their seats. We started with our game, Game On, and used the game bucket to determine our players. Through a PowerPoint game chooser; Blow Darts was the game they played. Using Nerf darts, the players tried to knock down more targets then the other. The winner received a prize! Then we went into our worship time with 4 PowerPoint worship songs and then our message was delivered by Life Church video curriculum. Closing the night off, we broke the kids up into small groups. We had a craft object lesson, small group questions, application, and prayer. Night complete!

When the teens got there, they grabbed their name badges and were assigned to areas to play and invest in the kids till we started. Then I used them for setup, during, and clean up of the game. They participated during the music part with the kids. During the message video, I took them to another room and left two adults in charge of the kids. This time was designed specifically for them, leadership training. Our first session was "What is Leadership?" There was an activity, training, development of leadership statements, and so much more. My goal was not to just have "volunteer unpaid babysitters," but to create leadership opportunities while providing leadership training. After this, the teens were divided up and helped lead in the small groups. 

This is what true leadership is about! Seeing a need, taking the initiative, casting vision, creating a gameplan, and asking others to come along and lead with you!